Li Feng: “…”
What was going on? Who exactly had been frequenting the brothels?
Li Feng said, “You looked at other men and even compared them to me. Xiao Liu, listen to yourself—does that make any sense?”
Lu Liu froze. It really did not sound very reasonable.
But what he said was, “So what? Other men all know how—only my man does not…”
Li Feng was left speechless.
How had it come to this?
Lu Liu reached out and felt his broad chest.
“Da Feng, let me have a look. I will not bite. I just want to see.”
Li Feng let him look.
Letting him look did not earn him any benefit either. Lu Liu clapped and cheered, unable to keep his voice down.
Li Feng told him to be quieter. “Do you still want me to face people tomorrow?”
Lu Liu said, “It is enough if you face me.”
He seemed to have sobered up, remembering many things. “You even said that in the future you would run errands for me and help me with work.”
And yet he also seemed not to have sobered up at all, his words disjointed. “I only asked you to perform a sword routine for me. You did not even have a sword—you tried to fool me with a fire poker.”
Li Feng tossed the fire poker aside. He still had the hunter’s staff. He let Lu Liu play with it.
Half drunk and half awake, Lu Liu would say one moment that they could not do this, that he had to go home. The next moment he would say, “Ah, it is my Da Feng. Let me give you a kiss.”
Li Feng did not give him one, letting him stretch forward to peck at him instead. The small grievance in his heart disappeared.
Elsewhere, Xie Yan kept saying he wanted Lu Yang to coax him, wanted Lu Yang to think of ways to keep him company, insisted that Lu Yang properly make it up to him. Yet after returning home, he hurried straight to the kitchen to get soup.
Lu Yang had not drunk much wine. He had talked a lot that evening and drunk plenty of tea. When Xie Yan brought the soup, he downed a bowl to line his stomach and gathered up all the melon seeds Xie Yan handed him.
A lamp lit up in Mother’s room; she said she would prepare some sobering soup.
Lu Yang had only drunk a couple of cups and did not need it. They could take care of themselves. There was no need for Mother to come.
After the light in Mother’s room went out, Xie Yan went back to the kitchen to boil water.
There was already hot water in the pot. He added more firewood to heat it further.
Lu Yang stayed in the kitchen with him, listening to him mutter.
Xie Yan said, “You have no idea how scared I was. I thought you had taken a liking to someone else—my heart was about to shatter. I sat there thinking for a long time. If you really liked someone else, what would I do? I thought maybe I should be more magnanimous and allow you to see him once a month. No more than that!”
Lu Yang fanned the fire with a palm fan and listened with a smile, telling him he was terrible.
Xie Yan widened his eyes. “That is still not good enough? What more do you want from me? I cannot allow more than that—there are twelve months in a year! You should be satisfied!”
Lu Yang nodded. “You really are terrible. Twelve times—listen to yourself. Does that sound reasonable? And you still want me to be satisfied? How am I supposed to be satisfied? You do not have the slightest possessiveness over me. You are even planning to push me out twelve times! Twelve times a year—over ten years that is one hundred and twenty times. One hundred and twenty times—that is four whole months. Why not just let me go live with someone else altogether?”
He turned the tables so completely that Xie Yan was stunned. After a moment of shock, he burst into laughter. The fire in the stove was only half tended; he did not even poke at the firewood before running over to hug Lu Yang.
“Jingzhi, I knew it—you still love me the most. I was wrong. Not even once. You are not allowed to take a liking to anyone else. You can only be my husband.”
Lu Yang snorted with laughter. “I will only be your husband, and then go to someone else’s house to be the big man there, with a few younger ones to serve me.”
Xie Yan would not let him continue. “You cannot do that. No one else is as clever as I am. They would not serve you well. I understand you best. You should stay with me.”
Lu Yang asked him, “What is it that you understand about me?”
Xie Yan said, “I can stew soup and place first in the imperial examinations. I can do both the refined and the vulgar.”
Lu Yang pinched his ear. “Do you think I am some lecher?”
Xie Yan immediately changed his tune. “I can stew soup and place first in the imperial examinations. I will nourish your body and then earn an official degree, raise you well and keep you fair and plump.”
Heavens.
He could even speak in double entendres now.
Lu Yang laughed without stopping, his hand resting lightly on Xie Yan’s shoulder as he turned his head to kiss his cheek. “Hurry and boil the water. Let us bathe together.”
Bathe together.
Bathe together!
Grinning, Xie Yan went to heat the water.
There were only three people in the household. Their previous house had been cramped; the two of them usually kept such matters to their room and rarely bathed together.
Lu Yang gathered their clothes and brought along his dudou. By the time he returned, Xie Yan had already filled the bath barrel and asked him to test the water temperature.
It was hot weather; the water did not need to be too scalding.
Xie Yan added half a bucket of cold water. After testing it again and finding it suitable, they undressed and soaked in the bath.
The bath barrel was even more crowded than the kang. Xie Yan had grown taller; his long legs stretched out, occupying the entire base. Lu Yang could only sit draped over him.
It was a posture they knew well. Xie Yan said he understood him and could coax him; in the water they clung to each other, bodies entwined.
When they came out, Lu Yang dried himself and put on his dudou, then took Xie Yan’s hand and led him back to their room. From Xie Yan’s angle, he could see only Lu Yang’s pale, slender back—like delicate moonlight in the night.
Lu Yang entered and glanced around. He did not pass through the moon gate or go to the study. Instead, he had Xie Yan sit inside the bed curtains. He threw a jacket over his shoulders, twisted his waist on the ground, cast a flirtatious glance, then removed the jacket again and slipped inside the curtains as well.
Such clumsy theatrics left Xie Yan utterly captivated, grinning foolishly.
Lu Yang said he was easy to please. “If some other beauty danced prettily for you, would you not be entranced?”
Xie Yan would not look at anyone else. “My eyes can only see you.”
He had felt especially insecure that day. Even after they were done, his heart still felt empty. Lu Yang performed once for him—awkwardly, perhaps—but it filled his heart completely.
Lu Yang was willing to coax him. He was very happy.
They did not do their studies that night; they would rise earlier tomorrow. Lying there, they chatted idly.
Lu Yang spoke of reading.
“I always knew reading was useful, that you could learn many things. But when I studied, I was very goal-oriented. When I read on my own, I always felt it was too slow and wanted you to explain it to me. Fortunately, I persisted. When you sat at the desk, I sat beside you. When you read, I also held a book in my hands. That was a good habit. In the future I want to read more on my own, learn to think, and truly take the books into my heart.”
Xie Yan asked him, “Were you discussing scholarship at Xiangman Tower?”
Lu Yang smiled. “What do you think? But I have learned how to enjoy life. No wonder wealthy people love to hire opera troupes. Whenever they host a banquet, they invite a few singers. It is truly lively. Listening to little tunes, even conversation gains atmosphere. Somehow, the same words set to a melody sink more easily into the heart.”
Xie Yan took that to heart as well.
“What melody? I will go learn it.”
Lu Yang could not help laughing. “Why do you want to learn everything? What would you learn that for?”
Xie Yan chanted at him, “After I learn, I will sing and pluck the strings while repeating, ‘Jingzhi loves me most,’ ‘Jingzhi only loves me,’ until it sinks into your heart.”
Lu Yang laughed until he nearly broke. “Then go buy a wooden fish drum and knock it while you chant!”
Xie Yan had no intention of becoming a monk.
He still needed to stew soup.
Chapter 165: Xie the Wealthy Household
On the twenty-first day of the sixth month, it was Xie Yan’s birthday.
Riding the momentum of the grand market day, the household had been busy for a stretch. There were also invitations to stroll the Flower Street, and Xie Yan had to treat his classmates to a meal. Everything was postponed to the end of the month.
At the end of the month, on their rest day, Lu Yang steamed longevity buns for him and made longevity noodles. He found a box, placed the jade material inside, and offered birthday wishes.
This year everyone lived in the same alley, and the house was especially lively.
In the morning, everyone ate two longevity buns each. They called Xiao Mai and Zhuang Zhuang over to pay their respects.
The two little children could not even speak clearly. Lu Liu supported them and helped them say the words.
Lu Liu and Li Feng brought eighteen wolf-hair writing brushes as a gift, making Xie Yan grin so widely his teeth showed completely—utterly unrefined.
Li Feng immediately asked for a return gift. Next year, when he and Lu Liu celebrated their birthdays, he wanted Xie Yan to paint a portrait for them.
Xie Yan agreed with a smile, saying he would paint their whole family together, perfectly reunited.
The two brothers-in-law chatted cheerfully for a long time. The atmosphere was rarely so harmonious.
They all came over for lunch. After breakfast, Lu Yang went out to buy ingredients. Xie Yan clung to him and went along.
He had already sent invitations. That evening they would drink at Denggao Tower.
