How To Survive as a Villain

Zhang Changsong replied slowly: “Hmm, young people are energetic, so there’s no need to worry.”

Xiao YuAn: “…Shifu, are you taking revenge on me for eating your candied fruit?”

Zhang Changsong: “Humph! I’m not that stingy! Do you want me to keep checking on your pulse? Don’t you want to get well?”

While they talked, Yan HeQing had already got up and got dressed. Then, he went to open the door, since Xiao YuAn wanted to do it himself, but Yan HeQing had pressed him back to bed, wrapping him tightly with the bedding.

Zhang Changsong stroked his white beard as he walked in with a medicine box. Once he sat down, he took out a small pillow and padded it under Xiao YuAn’s wrist to check on his pulse. For a while, Zhang Changsong remained silent as he frowned slightly.

Xiao YuAn chuckled: “Shifu, don’t make a face as if I won’t be able to survive.”

Zhang Changsong glared at Xiao YuAn as he angrily pushed his hand forward, put away the small pillow, and replied with anger: “Not able to survive?! If you can’t survive this, won’t you be insulting my reputation?!”

Xiao YuAn replied: “Then I’ll have to get better quickly, so that I won’t ruin my Shifu’s reputation.”

Zhang Changsong gave him a blank stare, and asked: “Are you still feeling pain in your knee these days?”

Xiao YuAn secretly glanced at Yan HeQing, who was standing aside, and replied: “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Zhang Changsong rolled up the medical book and smacked Xiao YuAn on his wrist: “Nonsense! If you don’t say the truth, how can I cure you?”

Xiao YuAn: “It hurts a little bit, not much.”

Zhang Changsong wasn’t in the mood to call out the nonsense Xiao YuAn was saying. When he simply pressed Xiao YuAn’s knee gently, Xiao YuAn immediately stiffed his smile, and secretly clenched the bedding.

At this reaction, Zhang Changsong understood his level of pain, withdrew his hand, and asked: “Are you drinking the right dose of internal medicine? Have you been applying the external medicine on alternate days?”

Xiao YuAn nodded his head: “Yes, yes, yes. I do both.”

Zhang Changsong then said as he packed up his things: “Alright, you’re recovering fine. You just need to rest well these days, stretch your arms and move your waist. But you can’t walk all the time.”

Xiao YuAn: “Yes, Shifu, I’ll do as you say.”

Zhang Changsong stood up with the medicine box on his back, and said to Yan HeQing: “Yan-gongzi, can I talk to you?”

Xiao YuAn was surprised: “Shifu, is there something you want to ask him? Could it be that you want Yan-ge to propose marriage? Shifu, I understand, I’m in a hurry too. However, Yan-ge traveled all the way here alone, and he didn’t bring anything, so you shouldn’t make him lose face.”

Zhang Changsong rarely didn’t pretend to be angry at Xiao YuAn’s imprudent words, but this time he simply glanced at him, and said: “If he wants to propose marriage, then he won’t be asking me. Alright, I have to talk with Yan-gongzi about some serious matters.”

Then, Yan HeQing and Zhang Changsong walked out of the wing room together, and closed the door behind them. Zhang Changsong then asked softly: “Yan-gongzi, I apologize to ask this but, are you and YuAn….?”

Yan HeQing guessed what Zhang Changsong was going to ask, so he nodded his head, and replied: “Yes.”

Zhang Changsong immediately understood, and said: “YuAn is always talking nonsense and loves to joke around so much that old me hasn’t been interested in believing it. However, since Yan-gongzi has given me an honest reply, then indeed I wasn’t mistaken. In this case, Yan-gongzi, regarding YuAn’s body health matters… I don’t want to lie to you, YuAn’s leg may develop into the root of a disease.”

Yan HeQing’s eyes darkened, as the hand hanging on his side slightly clenched in a fist: “The root of a disease?”

Zhang Changsong sighed, and replied: “I don’t dare to say too much now. In any case, I’d better let you know about this first. But, there’s one more thing….”

Zhang Changsong’s face suddenly became a little uneasy. His fist touched his lips as he coughed lightly, and his eyes were wandering around: “There’s also another thing about YuAn’s body, it’s…. well, you two can’t have sex yet. He’s too weak, he has a deficiency of qi and blood, which means that his internal injuries are prone to re-emerge.”

Yan HeQing: “….. I understand. I’ve troubled you.”

Zhang Changsong could see that Yan HeQing was a decent person. After having this conversation, he didn’t have any more to say, so he bid his farewell, and left.

Yan HeQing calmed his emotions and pushed open the door of the wing room. When he walked in, he saw that Xiao YuAn wasn’t lying down, but was sitting on the bed cross-legged with a quilt over his legs. When he saw that Yan HeQing was about to say something to him, Xiao YuAn waved his hand, and was the first one to speak: “I’ve been lying down every day for the past few days, to the point that I’m already tired of lying here. I might as well sit than move around, this way I’ll be relaxing my muscles and bones, but I’ll be more comfortable.”

Yan HeQing didn’t reply, and simply walked to the bed. Once he reached the bedside, Xiao YuAn smiled at him, and asked: “What did my Shifu say to you?”

“Nothing, he just said that I’ll have to take good care of you….” Yan HeQing’s voice stopped abruptly.

While Yan HeQing was talking just now, Xiao YuAn had put down his crossed legs and touched Yan HeQing’s lower thigh with the tip of his toes, as if nothing was wrong.

Yan HeQing took a step back quietly, and asked: “Do you want to drink some water?”

Xiao YuAn was stupefied for a long time. Then, he replied: “Ah…. what? Water? No, I don’t want to.”

Yan HeQing nodded his head: “You can rest for a while, it’s almost time for dinner. I’ll go see if Auntie needs any help.”

After he said that, Yan HeQing turned around, and walked out of the wing room with hurried steps.

Suddenly abandoned, Xiao YuAn sat on his bed scratching his head with confusion. As he re-crossed his legs, he supported his head on one hand, and thought to himself: ‘It seems that the 21st century style doesn’t work on Yan-ge! Come on! The Tyrannical President route was already useless, and now, is the act of the Seductive President also useless? Perhaps I should ask him about his Marxist Principles¹? That may be somewhat useful?’

Xiao YuAn then muttered to himself out loud: “How could he hold back…. it seems like he’s preparing for the night….” As he said, he covered his head with the quilt and lied on his back, wrapping himself into a ball with the quilt. Then, he closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

Ahhhh XYA you better get well soon

Now YHQ will have to resist XYA’s frilting aldjska good look with that Male Lead (∩ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)⊃━☆ﾟ

Footnotes

1. Just a guess, but I think that XYA sees YHQ political, social, and economical beliefs as similar to marxist principles.