Broken Bonds

106

Ch106 - Christmas Gifts

The end of the New Year was approaching. There were many people in a rush to return to their hometowns. On the northern official road was some horse carriages occupation, temporarily prospering the business of an inn. Today was 30, and tomorrow will be New Year’s Eve. The bustling official roads fell silent again.

The innkeeper was cleaning the hall. According to the experience of the previous years, there should not be any guests by this evening. But as he was thinking about his experience, he heard the horseshoes in the distance. It was a sound his ears had been trained to react. He quickly put down the broom in his hand and went out. He saw two horses galloped and stopped at the entrance of the inn as expected. However, he had never seen these horses. 

Leading was a tall, strong horse whose body was black as ink, but the four hooves were as white as silver. On the forehead of the horse, there was a white road mark.

With many years of experience, even the idiots of the inn knew that this was a rare stallion. The innkeeper determined that the owner who can ride it was also a character not to be underestimated. Thinking of this, the innkeeper hurriedly raised his most professional, most pleasing, and most sincere smile, and said, “Does the guest want to stay or…”

His professionalism stopped for the first time. It was because of the person who stepped down that shocked him. The man was dressed in a white brocade robe covered with luxurious and rare white fur. Most of his face was hidden in the soft and gorgeous fur, only a pair of slender eyes were revealed.

The innkeeper had been in his position for so many years and had never encountered a person of this kind. What made him stunned at this time was not the cold face of the person in front of him, but his chilling temperament and the bright eyes that gave out an icy chill, which instantly froze half of the innkeeper’s words. 

The innkeeper was stunned for a moment, and immediately made a judgment in his heart.

“Innkeeper, we want to stay.” The voice sounded gentle and deep, and the coldness just now disappeared without a trace.

The innkeeper turned around and saw the other guest who rode on the maroon horse. This guest was about forty years old, dressed in big black fur, and handsome with a gentle smile, making people feel good at first sight. The faint whiteness of the temples and the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes also gave him a candid feeling.

“Yes. We are pleased to host the honored guests.” The innkeeper immediately took out his professional qualities and put on the frozen smile again.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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The innkeeper took a peek and could see the cold guest’s face. Sure enough, the guest was cold and beautiful but seemed to be a little older. However, the innkeeper couldn’t see it because the guest’s skin is smooth, soft, and shiny; there was no wrinkle on his face, but a hint of the vicissitude time tempered under his eyes, which made people feel that he was not young anymore.

“You don’t need to ask for what kind of food. Please bring some of the best food here, and hurry up!” The man interrupted the innkeeper coldly.

“Yes. Yes.” The innkeeper grinned, nodded, and replied, knowing that he had met a distinguished customer at the end of this year. Where the white-clothed man sat, how he raised his hand and feet, and the middle-aged man in the black robe beside him was gentle and calm. The innkeeper knew that they were masters of high class. 

“Qianzhi, we order so many dishes that neither of us can eat.” The man in black frowned and said to the man in white clothes gently.

“I’m not afraid of ordering more. In this small place, they probably can’t make any good dishes. I’m afraid you will not be comfortable and throw up. When the food comes up, you will only eat what you like.”

“What do I dislike? We will be here tomorrow as well. Coming all this way, are you afraid that I won’t be able to hold the food in?”

The white-clothed man smiled and replied, “Well, you’ll be the one who can’t hold it anymore. I’m tired of eating three nights this way. Now, why do we have to work ourselves so hard for those two little rabbits?” 

The man in black seemed to be a little bit ridiculous, “Qianzhi, don’t forget that those two little rabbits are your children.”

The white-clothed man snorted, “I should have known that these two would have such troubled days. I would rather never give birth to these two children!”

“Don’t be angry! We’ll know when we go back and ask.” The man in black patted the other’s hand gently.

“Feili, you know I didn’t mean anything else.” 

“Yes, I know.”

The two looked at each other and smiled slightly. The unspeakable intimacy and tacit understanding lingered between the two, making the innkeeper dumbfounded when he brought dishes up.

It was rare for the innkeeper to meet the distinguished guests at the end of the year. Of course, they have to make a good profit, so for fear that they will regret it, the best and most expensive dishes in the inn arrived at the fastest speed. The seven or eight dishes filled a table.

The white-clothed man moved a few chopsticks, picked a few of the dishes and tasted them, and then stopped eating. Instead, he kept adding vegetables to the man in black and whispering in his ear. The man in black occasionally replied one or two sentences, and the two chatted and laughed. The atmosphere was harmonious. 

After finishing the meal, the white-clothed man returned to indifference, and said to the innkeeper, “We want a room to rest in.”

“Yes, yes.” Then the innkeeper shouted, “Hurry up and prepare two rooms for the guests.”

“Wait.” The white-clothed man said coldly, “When did I say that I would have two rooms?”

“Huh? This…” The innkeeper was a little bit stupid. Seeing the way the guests behaved and dressed in noble clothes, don’t they want separate rooms since they can afford them? 

“One room is enough!”

The innkeeper was even more puzzled when he heard this. Although the upper room was spacious, comfortable, and a bed that was slightly larger than other rooms, it would still be uncomfortable for two big men to huddle together! If they had money to live in separate rooms, why should they be so stingy to get only one?

But seeing his cold eyes, the innkeeper didn’t dare to say anything, and hurriedly took people upstairs to prepare.

These days, everything did happen*! 

*He’s referring to homosexuality.

The innkeeper shook his head and went downstairs to fetch tea and water for the two guests.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the white-clothed man was of a higher status than that of the man in black. But when the innkeeper saw them eating just now, it was obvious that the white-clothed man was pleased with the man in black. When he left their room, the man in black just coughed slightly, and the white-clothed man immediately let him rest and ordered himself to make tea.

It was two coughs, did he needed to be so nervous? These two people were masters and servants? It didn’t seem like they were friends? Feeling almost something, the innkeeper considered that they could be brothers? No. It was really hard to guess their relationship. 

The innkeeper was curious. Especially when he fetched water and returned to the guest room, he saw the white-clothed man sitting on the bed head with the man in black in his arms. He was indescribably intimate, and the innkeeper was extremely curious about their relationship, but he was still very professional.

Before leaving, he heard the white-clothed man whispering to the man in black and couldn’t understand what he was saying. When the innkeeper closed the door, he noticed that the gentle face of the man in black whose age did not match with a layer of faint blush. One can only assume that the man in black is… happy…