Chapter 297: Contract Brother

A flash of displeasure crossed Duan Xiu's eyes, but it was quickly masked.

"Hou Ting, you've crossed the line."

He warned lightly.

The page boy bit his lip, lowering his head in grievance. "Sorry, Young Master. It's Hou Ting who doesn't know his place. I won't dare to do it again..."

Seeing his eyes were red, Duan Xiu sighed, reached out to pull him into his arms, his tone much gentler.

"You, you just like to let your imagination run wild. How could I possibly like Jiang Zhan? The reason I made a wager with him was just to motivate myself; it has nothing to do with anything else."

As he said this, he pinched the page boy's delicate chin and teased: "Alright, stop making trouble. Your young master has been taking exams all day and is very tired. I'll punish you by serving me well tonight."

The page boy leaned against Duan Xiu's chest and gave a muffled 'hmm'.

Both of them had their own thoughts.

They both tacitly didn't speak again.

In the sound of the carriage wheels, the page boy's thoughts also flew to three years ago.

Three years ago, he had just turned ten, and he had a happy and perfect family.

His father was a carpenter with great skills, and the prices were fair, so villagers from ten miles around were happy to come to him to make dowries.

His mother was very virtuous, always smiling, and never blushed with anyone.

Life, although not very wealthy, was not short of food and drink.

He even attended school for several years. His father said, he didn't ask him to achieve fame, just to be literate and understand right from wrong.

He thought this kind of peace and stability would last a lifetime.

But who knew, disaster would fall from the sky!

That day, his father went up the mountain to cut wood and was accidentally bitten by a poisonous snake. By the time he was discovered and carried back, he had already stopped breathing, without even having time to leave a last word.

His mother couldn't bear the blow and fainted on the spot.

After the funeral was handled, she soon fell ill and followed him before his father's seventh day.

A perfectly good family was left with only him.

However, this wasn't the most tragic part.

The relatives all changed from their usual kindness and harmony, acting like different people. They bullied him for being young and ignorant, and tricked him into dividing up the family's land and property.

The greedy clan leader even declared to the outside world that he was an ominous person who had cursed his parents and relatives to death, and if he continued to stay in the village, he would sooner or later bring disaster to the village.

Just like that, he was driven out of the village.

He wasn't reconciled and went to the county government to report the official, but because he had no money to bribe, he was pushed out with shouts.

Seeing that he was about to starve to death on the street, he could only find work everywhere.

But no matter what he did, he seemed to do it poorly.

Working as a waiter, he either offended guests or broke bowls and chopsticks;

Going to the pier to carry hemp bags, it turned into the hemp bags carrying him;

In the end, there was no other way, so he could only abandon his dignity and go begging.

But even as a beggar, he wasn't qualified. The little food he managed to beg for was either snatched by other beggars or snatched away by wild dogs on the road.

At that moment, he was completely desperate.

Perhaps the clan leader was right. He was indeed an ominous person, a jinx.

He decided to die.

If he died, he could reunite with his parents, and he wouldn't have to suffer these hardships anymore. There was nothing left in the world worth his nostalgia.

Just when he was hopeless and intended to jump into the river to feed the fish, the young master appeared.

Like a savior, he pulled him back from the edge of death.

The young master said that there were no hurdles in the world that couldn't be crossed, and all the hardships arranged by heaven had a reason, either for tempering or for meeting.

Meeting?

He was a bit confused. Was it for meeting... the young master?

The young master took him back to the Duan family, gave him clothes to wear, food to eat, and gave him a nice name.

Called Hou Ting.

"Several sounds of wind flutes at the pavilion late, you go to Xiaoxiang, I go to Qin"—this was a poem the young master liked very much. The young master said he was very suitable for this 'Ting' character, saying he was good-looking and graceful.

After this, he stayed by the young master's side, taking care of the young master's daily life, accompanying him to read and write.

Day after day.

It was strange to say, but ever since he followed the young master, his bad luck seemed to have suddenly disappeared. He no longer broke whatever he did, and even the delicate work of mending clothes for the young master was done with ease.

He believed more and more that the young master was his destined noble person.

So when the young master got drunk that night and hugged him and fell onto the bed, he didn't struggle or refuse.

His life was saved by the young master.

Everything about him, including his body, naturally belonged to the young master.

The young master could do anything he wanted to him.

The next day, the madam called him over. He thought he would be beaten, but unexpectedly, the madam was very friendly to him and even rewarded him with silver.

She let him be the young master's 'contract brother'.

The so-called contract brother was actually the young master's companion for reading and bed partner.

This was very common in big families.

When the children of the family reached a certain age, they always needed to relieve themselves, but the family didn't want them to be addicted to women, worrying that it would affect their studies and future. At this time, they would choose a contract brother to take care of their daily life and also take care of all aspects of them.

He happily agreed.

Being with the young master day and night was something he had dreamed of.

Just like that, he accompanied the young master for three years. In these three years, during the day he was the young master's page boy, and at night he was the young master's bed partner.

His feelings for the young master also deepened day by day.

Deep to...

Seeing the young master's uncontrollable admiration for that Top Scholar Jiang, he felt jealous!

Although the young master denied it, if it wasn't because he liked him, why would he secretly write Jiang Zhan's name over and over in the study?

His heart was sour and a bit sad, but he also knew this day would come sooner or later.

Even without Jiang Zhan.

Once the young master got married, the old master and madam would send him away; they wouldn't let him continue to stay in the Duan family and be an eyesore to the young mistress.

The relationship between him and the young master couldn't see the light of day anyway...

The page boy didn't expose Duan Xiu's lie, and as usual, leaned in Duan Xiu's arms, obediently acting like an obedient puppet.

(This long paragraph looks like water, but it's not; it's a foreshadowing that will be useful for the plot later.) ===== CHAPTER 298 =====