Rainy Nights

The enrollment day is finally here. Hu Lei's mood soared when he saw light fill up the skies.

Finally, the ghost boy won't be able to hover around Xiao Li.

Finally, Xiao Li will stop calling him young master.

Finally, he can see Xiao Li as his equal. (Sort of)

Major Sects charge a high enrollment fee for those who are with grade 2 spiritual root and lower. (Aside from rare spiritual roots which are an exception) Because of this, many people with those common and low-grade spiritual roots are not able to afford to enrol and lived their life as common folk.

Servants are not allowed to "accompany" their masters in the Sect, so the Hu Family actually bought Xiao Li with the intention to enrol him together with Hu Lei, fabricating his background to a distant relative when they reach the minimum age of 10.

Of course, they did not mention that Xiao Li was a servant. Since Xiao Li has a 2nd-grade water spiritual root and Hu Lei has a 3rd-grade fire spiritual root, the Hu Family have to pay for both enrollment. Money is not a problem to the Hu Family anyway.

"Xiao Li, do you remember the reason for you enrolling together with the young master?" Old Master Hu strokes his beard as he watches the two youngsters preparing to get up the carriage.

"Yes Master Hu, Xiao Li will take care of the young master secretly by washing his clothes, cleaning his room and ensuring that he doesn't fall sick. And if the young master gets into any trouble, Xiao Li will step forward and take the blame. If the younger master needs help with his homework, Xiao Li will ensure that it is finished…Xiao li will…"

"Dad! Enough already, how many times do you want Xiao Li to repeat himself? I'm already tired of hearing it." Hu Lei brows twitched as he stared at his old man.

"Dad just wants to make sure that he remembers the reason for us buying him. Since he will no longer have a servant status after enrolling, he needs to remember his duty."

"Ya ya ya ya I know. Stop repeating. We are going to go now. Xiao Li lets go."

The chubby boy quickly bid his parents goodbye, grabbed Xiao Li's hand and pulled him into the carriage.

He just couldn't wait to start his new life with Xiao Li.

"Xiao Li, from now on, you can no longer call me young master. If not people will know you were my servant and won't be allowed in!" he thought for a while before sheepishly adding "You can call me… big brother Hu."

"..."

"Why are you silent?"

"Mister Hu (Hu GongZi)" Xiao Li lightly called.

"..."

Xiao Li ignored Hu Lei's pouting face and looked towards the window. When the chubby boy was not looking at him, he let out a gentle smile.

--

When Xiao Li had just come to the Hu Family not long ago, he often had nightmares on rainy nights. He would dream of being kidnapped by the human trafficker during a heavy storm and would scream and cry in his sleep.

"He's such a freaking pest" A servant grumbled while sweeping the halls.

"I know, right? All he does is eat, sleep and play. Maybe occasionally running errands for the young master. Obviously, he didn't need to sleep as much as we do!" Another servant joined in.

"Just wish he would shut the hell up and not bother our sleep. Crying and screaming in his sleep? Come on!" The servant waved his broom in the air, not realizing the chubby young master had already appeared behind him.

On that very day, Hu Lei immediately moved Xiao Li's room from the servant dormitory to one of the rooms in his personal courtyard, giving Xiao Li his own room. As for the two servants, let's just say they were no longer working in the Hu Family.

Every night when it rains, Hu Lei would pretend to be scared of the thunder and demanded Xiao Li to accompany him to bed, even throwing a tantrum when Xiao Li refused for the first time.

But when the two boys fall asleep and Xiao Li has nightmares beside him, Hu Lei would gently pat Xiao Li's back until he calms down and goes back to sleep.

Although Hu Lei never brought it up, Xiao Li knows it deep in his heart.

So every time when it rains at night, Xiao Li would be found inside Hu Lei's room. Sometimes they will both chat when they can't fall asleep or would play board games together.

To be fair, the two young boys depended a lot on each other emotionally while growing up. If Xiao Li had to be honest with himself, he thinks Hu Lei is actually very kind in his heart.

Just that when he eats vinegar it could be ugly and could be smelled from thousands of miles away.