Sun Yubo squatted on the ground, studying the various tools on the ground with a deep look on his face. Xiao Donglou leaned against the fence behind him and kicked him lightly: “Hey, do you know how to do it? Or let the gardener come.”

“Don’t argue, how could I not know how to do it!” The young man who had just established a firm foothold in Jiangnan and built a huge family business said stubbornly. “I have been a farmer in the countryside, and I can grow anything well. Do you think I need help from others even to transplant a flower like you?”

He seemed a little proud when he said this. Xiao Donglou was not angry, but smiled and said: “Okay, you plant it well. If you kill my Eighteen Scholars, I will make sure you die beautifully!”

Sun Yubo’s face suddenly fell.

Two days later, Yi Qianlong came to have a drink with him. Seeing him still in the garden holding a kettle and struggling with the precious camellia that Xiao Donglou always carried with him, he could not help but be secretly shocked. While Xiao Donglou was not around, he gave his eldest brother some advice: “Brother, go find a gardener to take care of the garden when Donglou is not around. When Donglou comes back, tell him to hide. That’s it!”

“Go away!” Sun Yubo ignored him. “Do you think Donglou can’t see through your trick?”

“He can see it, so why would he be angry with you for such a small matter?” Yi Qianlong didn’t care. Seeing that he was unrepentant, he shrugged and walked away. “Forget it, I don’t want to bother with you two gay men. I’m going to go have a drink with Lao Lu.”

But Sun Yubo is such a man who keeps his word. No matter how small the matter is, as long as he makes a promise, he will definitely do it. When the camellia was first transplanted in the garden, it seemed a little dying, and its leaves were half dead and drooping, but gradually, it recovered its former vitality and grew lushly again. In spring, it even formed flower buds, and like in previous years, it bloomed strange and gorgeous purple flowers, which made Sun Yubo even more proud. He even specially called his subordinates to the garden to invite them to enjoy the flowers and drink wine.

But it was also on that night that Xiao Donglou told him: “I am leaving here to go to a duel.”

At that time, they were lying on the bed together, drowsy under the warm fragrance that filled the room. Sun Yubo suddenly woke up after hearing this: “You know?”

Xiao Donglou raised his chin and asked him with a smile: “What should I know?”

He always looked confident and seemed quite arrogant, but Sun Yubo liked his arrogance. The arrogance of an incompetent person was stupidity without self-awareness, but the arrogance of a competent person was different. Sun Yubo couldn’t help but lean over and kiss the corner of his mouth, then asked him, “Don’t you know that Zhao Wei challenged me to a duel?”

——Few people in the martial arts world know the name Zhao Wei, because they only know his other nickname, King Wanpeng. But when Sun Yubo calls this mortal enemy, he prefers to call him by his real name, which makes him feel proud that everything is in his hands.

Just like he likes people calling him big brother the most.

“Yes, I know.” Xiao Donglou did not hide it. He attached great importance to everything related to Sun Yubo, so how could he miss such an important event. “I wanted to go with you, but now it’s impossible because of the sword agreement with Dizang. I must go!”

At this point, his eyes suddenly lit up. That was the burning will to fight, the greatest respect and expectation for an equally matched opponent, as if there was nothing more important in his life!
Sun Yubo was as young, energetic, and ambitious as he was. He naturally knew how rare it was to have such an opponent. He couldn’t help but sigh, “Okay! I will practice for you, and you practice for me too. When we both win, we must celebrate for each other!”

He did not mention the situation in which he would lose, nor did he mention the situation in which Xiao Donglou would lose, because a duel is sometimes a test of breath, and in terms of momentum, one must not be the first to weaken.

What’s more, at this moment, he was in high spirits and feeling very proud. How could he think that he would lose?
“Okay.” Xiao Donglou also agreed, and casually mentioned one more condition. “When the time comes, you have to play chess with me.”

He left the next morning because he was such a decisive person. Sun Yubo knew that he had to go back to his own world to prepare, but he didn’t care much because he had to prepare as well – although he said a lot in front of his lover, he was the boss after all, and he had to leave a way out for the brothers who had been through life and death with him.

The battle was indeed very tragic and difficult. There was bitter wind and rain, and the weather was changing. After everything was over, he lay in bed for three months before he recovered.

Zhao Wei lost. But he didn’t die after all. Sun Yubo knew that a man like him would never be defeated by a single failure! Failure would only inspire his fighting spirit, making him more ruthless, more tactful, and more thoughtful. He had to be prepared to fight the opponent for a long time.

But before that, he bought some fine wine, carefully took care of the camellia, and waited for Xiao Donglou to come back and drink together.

——At that time he had not expected that this wait would last for more than thirty years.

*
Xiao Donglou did not come back.

At the beginning, Sun Yubo still held on to a glimmer of hope, waiting for the day when he would come through the flowers and willows, gracefully land in front of his window, and call out his name with a smile. However, the reason why hope is hope is that things in the world may not necessarily move in the direction that people desire.

A year passed, and Lu Mantian quietly advised him: “A duel between swordsmen is a fight to the death. Brother, you…you always accept the facts.”

Two years later, Yi Qianlong happily married his fifth concubine, who also held a glass of wine to persuade him: “Brother, if there is any news about him, I will support you to wait, but it has been so long, don’t you still want to believe that he is dead?”

In the winter of the third year, the Eighteen Scholars plant suddenly became dispirited overnight, and its fallen leaves covered the ground.

“Alas.” Sun Yubo buried the flower in the soil, feeling that he was not too sad. Time is so wonderful, no matter how strong the love and hate are, in the end, it will always be diluted by the water of time, and finally return to peace.

In the second year, he married and had a child, Sun Jian. Two years later, he had a daughter, Xiaodie. His wife was gentle and kind. Seeing that he liked to plant flowers and grass in the garden, she learned how to grow flowers from the gardener and helped him take care of the guests. Sun Yubo never told her that under this land, the bodies of all the brothers who sacrificed their lives for him were buried.

This is not just his garden. It has always been a tomb for martyrs!
Unfortunately, she was so unlucky that she died of a cold, just like the camellia that year, refusing to give anyone a chance to save her. After having a child, Sun Yubo no longer wanted to remarry, and devoted himself to raising his two children. Then, he gradually changed from the young man who liked to be called “big brother” to the middle-aged man who liked to be called “old uncle” today.

Time flies so fast.

When he heard Lu Xiangchuan’s report that Yun Chuxiu used the Snow Condensation Technique to deal with Shi Guanyin’s disciples in the desert, he was stunned for a long time before he realized that the beautiful young man was using the same technique as himself! For Yuan Suiyun, he had already checked the origin of this person, but he seemed to have appeared out of thin air and came to this world. With his connections, he could not find out his master and hometown at all.

But now it dawned on him.

It turns out that this person does not belong to this world.

He left Jiangnan and went to Wuzheng Villa, and indeed learned about that person from Yun Chuxiu. It’s strange to say, I thought that the memory of the past had disappeared with the passage of time, but now I think about it, the man’s facial features are still so vivid. After all, there were happy times.

When he returned to the Sun Mansion, he was faced with the confident Lu Xiangchuan and a group of rebellious subordinates.

In his long decades of life, this was certainly not the first time he faced betrayal, nor was it the first time he killed a traitor, but after everything calmed down, he buried Lu Mantian’s body in the garden alone, and suddenly felt unprecedented fatigue surging in his heart.

Lu Xiangchuan is a young man with ambitions, and he can understand that because he was young once. But what about Lu Mantian?

After more than thirty years of friendship, it still cannot compare to interests!

It was Yi Qianlong who climbed over the fence with a wine jug and landed beside him: “Plant flowers, plant flowers, why are you planting flowers again? Brother, this hobby of yours has remained the same for decades!”

He handed over the wine jug, and when he smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes blossomed like flowers: “Brother, come and drink with me!”

*
Xiao Donglou is back.

Yi Qianlong had originally left, but he hurried back for this, surrounding Xiao Donglou and exclaiming: “You have changed, you have really changed, your temper was not like this before, how could it be so good.”

Xiao Donglou sat at the table with one leg up, playing with a white jade chess piece in his hand. He glanced at him sideways and said, “You haven’t changed much. You used to be a little rascal, but now you’re an old naughty boy.”

“Who said that? I’ve changed so much!” Yi Qianlong pinched his beard, looking a little proud. Xiao Donglou added: “Well, when I left, you only had one wife and one concubine, but Yu Bo told me yesterday that you took in your 27th concubine this year?”

“Then… who told me to be so handsome and popular? I can’t resist the peach blossoms when they come.” Yi Qianlong replied with his neck stiff. Xiao Donglou sneered twice: “Really? In my opinion, Yu Bo should check your accounts carefully!”

“Xiao Donglou, you are still as annoying as before!” Yi Qianlong couldn’t help it. “Who has been with Big Brother all these years? It was me! Who has been working hard to help the organization cultivate new blood? It was me! Who has been carrying the reputation of being ungrateful and even ran 800 miles to save his son-in-law for a word from him? It was me! What’s wrong with my account? I have both merits and hard work, so I should get several shares of the money!”

“Yes, yes, yes.” The old man tried to smooth things over. “What’s the point of money? Just think of it as buying our old Yi’s happiness! Donglou, don’t you agree?”

“That’s more like it… No, why do I feel that what you mean is that I took too much? Big brother, I have to have a good talk with you about this. I, Old Yi, have a clean record. I support my family by managing the household well!”

The elders were laughing and joking in the study. In the kitchen, Yun Chuxiu poured a spoonful of beef on the steaming noodles, put one hand on his waist, and breathed a sigh of relief: “Okay, just bring it over like this!”

Sun Jian on the side twitched his eyes: “You said you would show filial piety to our elders, and you spoke so domineeringly, but this is the result?” The toppings were already prepared in the kitchen, but he had only added a handful of noodles.

“What’s the problem? I can only cook noodles!” Yun Chuxiu said confidently. He was a chef with him, so how could he cook? “Don’t worry, my master is here. The old man and Uncle Yi will not dare to find fault with me. Let’s go.”

After he said that, Sun Jian didn’t know what to say, so he just picked up the tray with one hand, and the two of them went to the old man’s study shoulder to shoulder. When they entered the room, Yun Chuxiu’s eyes fell on a painting hanging on the wall, and he couldn’t help but let out a light exclamation, and his steps stopped immediately.

“Little brother, what’s wrong?” Sun Jian also stopped and turned around to ask him. Yun Chuxiu came back to his senses, smiled brightly at him and said, “Nothing!”

It was just that the painting was the one that the old man had used to claim his kinship with him.

And that one glance just now was enough for him to see clearly that there was one more line of poetry on the scroll.

——It is the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan, and I meet you again in the season of falling flowers.

(End of this chapter)