Qin Rui was genuinely heartbroken.
He slept soundly and warmly in Doctor Su's tent, while Qin Chu, separated from him by a tent, endured the cold wind, sitting there with a sword to protect him.
Thinking about this, Qin Rui regretted why he hadn't gone outside the tent to check, and why he hadn't searched for a little longer when he ran out.
If he had persisted a little longer, perhaps he wouldn't have been separated from Qin Chu for so long, and he wouldn't have frequently doubted at night whether Qin Chu liked him or wanted to abandon him.
Qin Rui knew that Qin Chu had always been like this; he would go without food himself to save it for Qin Chu, and even feed him his own blood. Now, he could also go without sleep himself to ensure that Qin Chu could sleep and be completely safe.
But Qin Rui felt that this was wrong.
He straightened up and looked at Qin Chu very seriously: "Brother, please don't do this anymore. I don't want you to save all your food for me, and I don't want you to go without sleep so that I can get some rest."
Qin Rui held Qin Chu's slender fingers in her small hand: "Brother, from now on we'll eat together, sleep together, you protect me, and I'll protect you, okay?"
Author's Note:
Qin Chu: This kid is so sweet, he definitely has nothing to do with some bastard.
Chapter 67, Fourth Story (13)
He was discussing it very seriously with Qin Chu, but Qin Chu never expected him to say such a thing.
For the first time ever, Qin Chu chuckled. He looked at the child in front of him, who was only about waist-high, and never expected that this little guy would so confidently say that he would protect him.
But Qin Chu still felt comforted.
He was tasked with protecting Qin Rui. He always did his best and never thought about getting anything in return, but that didn't mean he wasn't moved.
If others heard these words, whether they took them to heart or not, they would mostly just comfort the child, say something like "I'm looking forward to it" or "thank you," and that would be it.
But Qin Chu was more serious. He put Qin Rui on the ground, compared his height with Qin Rui's, and then said honestly, "You're too short. If you want to protect me, eat more and grow up."
Qin Rui, who always knew he was short: "..."
He will definitely grow taller, and he will definitely be taller than Qin Chu in the future!
The two brothers didn't get to talk for long, as they both had their own things to do. Qin Chu had to go to the training ground for drills, while Qin Rui, despite his short stature, had to help out in the kitchen.
Even as he washed vegetables in the kitchen that evening, Qin Rui was still overjoyed by what had happened that morning.
He was so happy that he didn't feel cold even when his hands were soaking in cold water, and he even washed vegetables much faster.
Because of yesterday's enemy attack, one of the cooks in the kitchen was shot and killed by enemy soldiers. Now, whenever they have a spare moment, a group of people are lamenting, and some can't help but talk about the tragic state of the cook after his death.
As the conversation went on, the topic turned to other people who had been involved in the incident.
A cook sighed, "I never thought Doctor Su would suffer the same fate. These damned people are truly wicked. Now there's only one doctor left in the military camp. We can only search in the surrounding towns and hope to find him. Otherwise, we'll have to report it to the capital."
"That's right, I didn't expect that. These enemy spies are really cunning; they managed to escape all the way to Doctor Su's tent."
As they spoke, the two thought of Qin Rui and immediately looked at him, who was squatting by the stove washing vegetables: "Little Rui, I heard you stayed with Doctor Su those two days, right? Luckily you survived..."
Qin Rui timidly looked up at the person who spoke and only gave a soft "hmm".
Another cook quickly pulled the person who spoke: "Look at what you're saying to a child! How old is he? Don't scare him!"
Qin Rui looked up at the two of them and gave them a sweet smile before continuing to wash the vegetables.
The cold water washed away the soil from the vegetable roots. Qin Rui looked at his fingers immersed in the water and seemed to see the red color being washed away by the water.
That's how he washed the blood off his hands in the icy river that day...
Without a trace of confusion or fear in his eyes, Qin Rui continued washing the item calmly without pausing.
He said that protecting Qin and Chu was not just empty talk.
Although he was short and small, what did it matter? Some things are easier to do the most inconspicuous.
But suddenly, Qin Rui stopped washing the vegetables.
He remembered that Qin Chu had been staying behind Doctor Su's tent all these nights, so when he said that Doctor Su had beaten him so badly that he cried, Qin Chu was so certain that he was lying.
The slightest noise can't be heard through the tent, but a slightly larger sound certainly can't be hidden.
At this moment, Qin Rui couldn't help but feel a little scared. He didn't want Qin Chu to know about this at all.
After Dr. Su died, Qin Chu frequently worried that he was missing that person. If Qin Chu knew...
With a flick of his finger, Qin Rui snapped a leaf off a vegetable.
He was also somewhat relieved that Qin Chu hadn't arrived when the enemy attacked that day, and that he had been cautious enough not to take action the very night he heard what Doctor Su had said.
His brother likes him a lot now... He doesn't want Qin Chu to have any chance of disliking him.
After that enemy attack, the military camp was quiet for a while.
The soldiers lived their routine lives day by day, but the atmosphere gradually became tense. Everyone knew that the real battle could not be delayed any longer, and that it would soon be time to fight to the death.
Qin Rui was quite happy. He didn't care whether life was hard or not. Now that he was by Qin Chu's side, no one was trying to kill him at any time. This kind of life was already quite comfortable for him.
However, even in his comfort, he encountered a small problem.
When Qin Chu woke up in the morning, he had already washed up quickly.
He was about to leave when he saw Qin Rui, who should have been up long ago, still lying in bed.
"You can't get up yet, the kitchen needs to start cooking." Qin Chu walked over and patted the child through the blanket.
Qin Rui poked his head out from under the covers, smiled at Qin Chu with narrowed eyes, and said, "Brother, it's so cold today..." He then rubbed his eyes.
The temperature was indeed a bit low today. Qin Chu assumed Qin Rui was just lazing in bed, gave him a few more instructions, and then opened the tent and went outside.
After he left, Qin Rui slowly sat up from under the covers, his face somewhat pale.
He rolled up his sleeve and looked at it; there were several deep bite marks on his arm.
He bit them all himself.
After Dr. Su died, he couldn't sleep again.
The first two days were fine. Thanks to the joy of being with Qin Chu, Qin Rui was able to stay energetic during the day even if he didn't sleep at night.
However, as time went on, the withdrawal symptoms of sleep problems began to emerge. Qin Rui started to feel restless and his head often ached.
He was afraid that if Qin Chu found out, he would want to find someone else to put him to sleep, so he carefully kept it a secret and didn't let Qin Chu find out.
But the sudden surge of irritability these past few nights has been unbearable. He knows Qin Chu is a light sleeper, so he has been restraining himself at night, not even daring to turn over.
When he couldn't hold back any longer, he would bite his arm hard to soothe his nerves with the pain.
Get up and roll up your bedding.
Before stepping out of the tent, Qin Rui sat on his bedding and rubbed his head before heading to the kitchen.
Qin Chu must not know any of this. If Qin Chu finds out that he is self-harming because he can't sleep, he will definitely be upset.
He could tolerate all of this, but he didn't want Qin Chu to have to stay up all night worrying about him.
Feeling a little dizzy, Qin Rui felt he could still manage.
However, he overestimated his ability to withstand the cold. While fetching water to wash the vegetables, his vision went black and he plunged into the icy cold water.
Startled by the cold, Qin Rui quickly straightened up.
This was just a minor incident; Qin Rui got half his body wet, and while working, he stayed close to the stove, trying to dry himself off with the fire. But at the same time, he had to be careful not to get burned.
After spending the entire day in fear, Qin Rui carefully checked himself before returning to the tent, making sure no part of him was still wet.
Unfortunately, a sneeze before bed gave him away.
"Did you catch a cold?" Qin Chu looked at Qin Rui, who was pulling back the bedding.
Qin Rui shook his head: "No, it's probably because someone insulted me."
Qin Chu glanced at him, then turned and left the tent.
A moment later, Qin Rui heard the crackling sound of firewood being lit outside the tent. He peeked out and saw Qin Chu had started a fire to boil water.
After a while, Qin Chu came in carrying a kettle and a wooden basin, and said to Qin Rui, "Come and soak your feet."
Seeing that the child was standing there without moving, Qin Chu simply scooped him up, rolled up his trousers, and stuffed him into the wooden basin.
The slightly hot water flowed over, and the warm temperature quickly spread from the soles of his feet to his whole body, making Qin Rui shiver and dispelling the chill he had endured all day.
The wooden tub wasn't big, but it was quite tall. Qin Rui was short, so he simply stood in it. He looked at Qin Chu sitting beside him, took Qin Chu's hand, and asked, "Brother, do you want to take a bath?"
"I'm not cold," Qin Chu refused, then added, "Don't splash around, the water will get cold."
Qin Rui knew Qin Chu was afraid of wasting hot water, so when he saw that Qin Chu didn't want to soak, he used his own warm body to warm Qin Chu's hands. Holding Qin Chu's arm, he felt warm from head to toe and couldn't help but look up and say, "Brother, you're so good to me."
So as long as he could be with Qin Chu, he was not afraid of any hardship.
Qin Chu had never been interested in such mushy talk from children, and he never responded. He simply sat there watching, making sure Qin Rui stood obediently in the basin and didn't fall.
When Qin Rui's nose was covered in sweat, Qin Chu scooped him up and tucked him into the blanket, then casually washed himself with the remaining hot water.
After tidying everything up and returning to the tent, the oil lamp inside was already very dim, and the light had clearly dimmed.
Qin Chu took Qin Rui's coat and prepared to hang it up, but when he walked to a slightly brighter spot, his brows suddenly furrowed.
By the dim light of the oil lamp, Qin Chu picked up the coat and examined it carefully.
The outer garment had a thin layer of cotton lining; the outer layer was darker in color than the inner layer. It hadn't bothered Qin Rui when she wore it, but now, as the child casually took it off and rolled up the sleeves, a faint watermark could be seen on the inner fabric under the oil lamp.
It looks like the marks left by clothes that have been wet and then dried.
Thinking of Qin Rui's sneeze just now, Qin Chu turned to look at the child who had already fallen asleep, his brows furrowing.
He didn't ask Qin Rui, as the kid was probably hiding something from him. Qin Chu planned to go to the kitchen tomorrow during the day to ask him if Qin Rui had run into any trouble.
After turning off the lights, the tent was plunged into darkness. Qin Chu tucked the tent in and went to lie down on his bedding.
After Qin Chu fell asleep, Qin Rui moved closer to her and nestled down beside her, carefully avoiding any other large movements.
He's gotten used to keeping himself in one position at night, and today he soaked his feet in hot water, feeling warm and comfortable all over. At times like this, most people would feel sleepy.
Qin Rui also had it, but he couldn't sleep.
He tried many methods, such as closing his eyes and forcing himself to sleep, counting, and even reciting some of the words Qin Chu had given him in his mind, but none of them worked.
Time passed slowly in the darkness. Qin Rui noticed that Qin Chu's breathing had become deep and slow, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.
It was only after Qin Chu had fallen asleep and relaxed that he was overcome by extreme mental exhaustion and anxiety. He tried to control himself from moving his body, but his body desperately wanted to do something terrible to calm his restless mind.