Chapter 21

Yao Fang dragged Chen Dulan into his home. He had started to gain consciousness, so it was easier to pull him, Chen Dulan didn't weigh much.

"Young Master! Who is that!" A maid gasped at the sight of dried blood.

"Help me bring him in. Give him first aid." Yao Fang ordered.

Upon entering the hall, the butler immediately came to his side and took Chen Dulan away. He wasn't treating Chen Dulan like a stranger, so apparently he had known. It was annoying that no one told him beforehand, but he didn't fret it. He sat in the hall for a few minutes, before the butler came back.

"Young Master, are you injured?"

"No. I'm fine. Is he still passed out?"

"You don't have to bother with him. He was sent to protect you, but he's so weak and useless, that Young Master had to drag him here. Did you beat him up?" The butler asked with an annoyed voice, and something made Yao Fang angry.

"Don't call him useless. He- he's my friend now." Yao Fang stood up to look for Chen Dulan but a voice from behind stopped him. It was his mother's.

"A friend I'm hearing? That's new. A-Fang has friends now, amazing." Her voice was gentle but the meanings were intact. "Wasn't he the boy you hated? Chen Dulan, poor boy, just an orphan. And now you call him a friend."

"Mother, we made up. We're friends now." Yao Fang tried to convince her.

"I'll talk to him. If he seems like trouble, then I'll send him back."

Yao Fang took one look at Chen Dulan, who had been completely exhausted from being cold all day, and could have a fever. Another fever within a month of knowing each other, Chen Dulan really had a weak body. Yao Fang insisted to let him sleep and went back to his own room. Madam Yao waited by his side out of pure curiosity. Now, Chen Dulan had started to make some soft grunts of discomfort.

"If you're awake, then get up. You had a concussion and a fever. The blood loss was quite much, but you won't die from it." Was said to him.

Chen Dulan slowly opened his eyes, expecting his Senior Li by his side. He was surprised to see Madam Yao sitting by his bedside. "Madam-" He tried to get up.

"No need to stand. You must be feeling lightheaded."

"Madam... why am I here?" He asked while sitting up straight and making his posture more respectful. He was after all, in front of someone important.

"My son brought you here." Young Master shouldn't have done that.

"Madam... have you informed first Young Master about the... incident?" He asked cautiously. She seemed to have caught his fears instantly and reassured him.

"I know my older son can be... unreasonable some times. So I didn't tell him, yet. The rumor's surrounding the two of you aren't easy. I apologize if my son treats you unfairly; if either of my sons hurt you for no reason."

"No, Madam must not apologize. Young Master Jianguo has only been kind to me. All rumors are exaggerated, he has raised my like a little brother. As for Second Young Master, he's done me a favor today. I may not have survived another fever."

"Right, about today. My son says he didn't hit you, and I believe he wouldn't resort to cowardly methods such as hitting someone with a rock. But it makes me wonder, are you so defenseless to almost be killed by school children?" She asked with an altered tone.

Chen Dulan shifted with discomfort. "A few students had been bothering me for some time. Today they cornered me again, and they don't do anything wild like this. Usually it's a few hits and they let me go. I hadn't expected them to try and kill me."

"You say again, has this happened before?"

"I can count on one hand, how many times they've tried to harm me."

"Chen Dulan, doesn't it bother you to be constantly bullied like that? My son would've killed someone if it was happening to him. You could've died today."

"Madam, I am replaceable. There are many capable men in MinYao, who can do this work, I believe I was sent since Young Master already knew me. And they do tell me that I don't really belong in MinYao, because in there, no one takes a hit without hitting back. I don't see the point in fighting for no reason, so they take me as weak."

Madam Yao listened to him speak with frustration. A boy younger than her son spoke with no self-preservation or ego. Such a boy really didn't belong to MinYao, and yet he was placed as Yao Jianguo's right hand-man. The world was truly a surprising and cruel place, and she only hoped to protect her A-Fang from all of it.