“I think your whole family is wonderful,” Shu Rui said. “Reasonable, kind—and they treat me so well.”
Back at the inn, the two of them were alone in one room. Shu Rui had taken off his shoes and socks and curled up in a chair padded with a soft cushion, talking with Lu Ling about their visit to the Lu household. His heart was brimming with happiness.
He had expected that, given his background and experiences, he would be criticized one way or another. Instead, Madam Liu, Lu Yu, and even Lu Ling’s father—who had never quite gotten along with him—all treated him warmly and kindly.
Perhaps it was because he had stayed too long in the Bai household, grown used to their ways—where the slightest misstep would be seized upon and punished, especially their habit of belittling others. Because of that, even a bit of kindness from another family now felt especially precious.
“But today went smoothly largely because of you,” Shu Rui added. “If you hadn’t taken on most of the blame for me, it probably wouldn’t have been so easy.”
Lu Ling watched Shu Rui’s relaxed, contented expression and leaned over to lightly catch his bare foot. “Not exactly. They were pleasant because you’re thoughtful and know how to conduct yourself. Without that, no matter what I said, the old man would’ve still pulled a long face. The one people like is you.”
Shu Rui smiled until his eyes curved. In the Bai household, no matter how well-behaved or sensible he had been, his aunt had only grown more annoyed. If he was careless, she scolded him as she pleased; if he was polite and proper, she grew jealous instead. No matter what he did, she could always find fault.
But now things were different. When he did well, the Lu family acknowledged it. There wasn’t that constant, deliberate picking apart. Just that alone already satisfied him greatly.
All in all, he had been genuinely happy going to the Lu household that day. It even made him like Lu Ling a little more. He leaned over and cupped Lu Ling’s face, giving him a quick kiss.
“With things at home more or less settled for now, I can finally focus on preparing for the shop’s opening.”
That teasing touch sent a feather-light ripple through Lu Ling’s heart—soft, ticklish, and impossible to ignore.
He had no mind left for the shop. He wrapped an arm around Shu Rui’s waist and pulled him closer, not content with that fleeting peck, insisting their lips meet properly.
The warmth of the contact left Shu Rui dizzy. His arms came to rest on Lu Ling’s shoulders as he felt their breaths mingle at close range.
They lingered like that for a long while. Suddenly, Shu Rui felt as if a jolt of electricity ran through his body. Startled, he pushed Lu Ling away slightly, instantly sobering up, his dark, bright eyes fixed on the man before him.
“You—”
Lu Ling looked back at him. Seeing Shu Rui’s cheeks flushed from the closeness, unbearably cute, he leaned in to kiss him again. Shu Rui hurriedly covered his mouth, thinking how wicked this man was—how could he sneak a kiss when Shu Rui wasn’t paying attention?
Just recalling that earlier sensation made his body tremble again.
“So even this isn’t allowed?” Lu Ling asked, seeing Shu Rui refuse him, the predatory gleam in his eyes finally dimming a little.
Shu Rui challenged him, “Who taught you to do things like that?”
Lu Ling’s lips curved slightly. “Did you ever think I was proper and upright, in your heart?”
Shu Rui had never thought of him as especially proper—but neither had he imagined he’d be improper like this.
Thinking it over, then looking at Lu Ling again, Shu Rui’s face flushed red. Whenever he got this embarrassed, he tended to act spoiled and try to shoo Lu Ling back to his own room.
“No. I want to stay with you a bit longer.”
Lu Ling stubbornly refused to leave. When he dug his heels in, he was like a wall—impossible to push away.
Shu Rui was already weak-kneed from that kiss; now he had even less strength.
“If you’re staying, then stay—but no more messing around!”
Lu Ling replied, “You were the one who kissed me first. I wasn’t even thinking about that.”
Shu Rui narrowed his eyes slightly. “So now it’s my fault? Fine. From now on I’ll be sure to conduct myself properly and never do that again.”
Hearing this, Lu Ling immediately changed his tune. “It’s not your fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me for having no resistance.”
Shu Rui’s lips curled upward.
Lu Ling held Shu Rui’s hand and looked at his fair, lightly flushed face. “Now that you’ve shown your true face to my family, and my father’s agreed to make a trip to the Bai household for you—do you plan to keep hiding your real appearance, or show it openly from now on?”
Shu Rui had already thought about this. He said, “After all, this wasn’t my natural appearance to begin with. Doing makeup every day is truly exhausting. Now that things have eased somewhat, I’d like to return to my real face.”
“But I’ve been here three to five months already. The neighbors are used to how I look now. If I suddenly change completely, it’ll raise suspicions and might cause unnecessary trouble.”
“My plan is this: starting tomorrow, I’ll reduce one layer of makeup. Then over ten days or half a month, I’ll gradually reduce more. That way my face won’t suddenly turn pale overnight—it’ll lighten little by little, like boiling a frog slowly. People won’t be so startled.”
“By winter, when life’s settled and the business is on track, it’ll be easy to explain that I’ve been eating well and resting properly, so my complexion improved. As for the freckles and moles, I’ll handle them the same way—gradually fewer. I’ll just say that now I’ve made some money, I can afford better products and a proper doctor, and that they were treated away.”
Lu Ling saw that Shu Rui already had a plan, and that it really was the best approach. Slow and steady was good—they had plenty of time and no need to rush a complete transformation.
Besides, he rather liked things as they were now: Shu Rui wore a false face during the day, but revealed his true appearance only after washing up at night—allowing Lu Ling to have that beautiful face all to himself.
They talked for a long while. When they noticed the moon outside had already begun to drift westward, they realized it was indeed quite late, and finally went to bed.
Before sleeping, they agreed that the next afternoon they would go to Zhong Dayang’s place to pick out some wine.
Lu Ling had already arranged things with Zhong Dayang. After work, the two of them went to the shop to fetch Shu Rui, and together they headed north of the city to Zhong Dayang’s home to buy wine.
Zhong Dayang was usually stingy, always talking about saving money to marry a wife. In truth, his family was far from poor. Their home was on a main avenue in the northern district—what a big courtyard it was, with seven or eight rooms!
It was even larger than the place Lu Ling was currently renting.
“My granddad’s dad already came to Tidewatch Prefecture to make a living,” Zhong Dayang said thick-tongued. “Generations saved up bit by bit, and that’s how we got these few rooms.”
Originally, his father had wanted him to learn the family’s winemaking craft, but Zhong Dayang refused. He preferred swords and spears. When he was young and wanted to study martial arts at a school, his father wouldn’t allow it. So he climbed over the walls of the martial school to secretly learn. Once he fell headfirst and hurt himself badly, frightening his mother so much that she secretly took out her dowry to send him to a proper martial school.
As he spoke, he pushed aside his hair and showed Shu Rui and Lu Ling the scar left from that fall.
“Don’t be fooled by how many rooms we have,” he said. “My dad says if I won’t learn winemaking, then I’m on my own. When I get married, he won’t help with the betrothal gifts, and I’ll have to rent or buy my own place outside. He won’t give me a single coin.”
Shu Rui laughed. “No wonder Brother Zhong lives so frugally. I imagine your father was just speaking out of anger. There are only a few people in your family—would he really refuse to let you live at home after marriage and leave all these rooms empty to rot? Houses need people living in them to stay lively; otherwise they fall apart easily.”
“Even if I’m his only son, who knows with his temper,” Zhong Dayang replied. “Saving money can’t hurt.”
He led them into the main hall, where they drank a cup of tea first. His father was busy at the shop. Normally, anyone buying wine would just go there, but Zhong Dayang said there were more varieties stored at home. Since he was close with the two of them, he’d brought them here to take a look.
As for Zhong Dayang’s mother, she was carefree. On a crisp autumn day like this, she had gone out early with a few old friends to enjoy the season and admire chrysanthemums.
Only a hired hand was left to look after the house.
After resting briefly, they went to inspect the family’s large wine cellar.
It was cool inside the cellar. Before going in, Lu Ling took off his outer robe and draped it over Shu Rui’s shoulders. Zhong Dayang glanced at the two of them sidelong and snorted. “You two got together and didn’t tell me earlier, made me put on a whole peacock display for nothing. Today I should’ve been the heartbroken one—but I still brought you here to look at wine. Next time, you owe me a proper meal to thank me!”
Shu Rui smiled at this, a little embarrassed, and tucked himself further into Lu Ling’s robe. Presumably Lu Ling had only told Zhong Dayang about them that day. With things already made public at home, there was no need to hide it from friends.
It was the same with Qing-ge—he had also spoken to him seriously about it.
And the fact that Zhong Dayang could speak so openly in front of both of them made Shu Rui feel he was truly a good person.
At the same time, it showed that the young man hadn’t really fallen deeply in love—more like he thought Shu Rui was nice and let his thoughts wander. He probably didn’t even understand yet what liking someone truly meant.
Lu Ling said, “It’s just that your eyes are big but lifeless—you can’t even tell the difference, so who else could you blame?”
Zhong Dayang touched his nose, thinking the comment wasn’t far off.
Shu Rui quickly smoothed things over: “Brother Zhong, from now on, if you want any dishes, just come to the inn.”
“That’s settled then. Whatever Little Lu eats, I have to eat too.”
Joking back and forth, they finally arrived at the wine storage, where dozens of jars of varying sizes were stacked on wooden racks. Zhong Dayang took a cup and began introducing Shu Rui to the wines, explaining whether they were made from grain or fruit, while sampling some himself. When he offered a cup to Lu Ling, Lu Ling only waved it off. Zhong Dayang thought he was being difficult, but Shu Rui smoothly explained that Lu Ling had a prior condition and that drinking could aggravate it, saving Lu Ling from further insistence. Zhong Dayang grumbled about not mentioning it sooner, but let it go.
Shu Rui tasted each wine, finding the grain wines rich and strong, the fruit wines light and smooth. The Zhong family cellar seemed to impart a unique crispness even to familiar wines, which he enjoyed. After sampling extensively, Shu Rui selected several common wines for the market, as well as Zhong Master’s signature “Ten-Mile Fragrance.” Shu Rui noted that it matched the name of his inn and had a slightly sweet flavor, light enough not to intoxicate easily—perfect for his taste.
Curious, Shu Rui asked how Zhong’s father brewed such a distinctive wine, since most male brewers preferred strong, potent wines to showcase skill. Zhong Dayang explained, “It’s rare that you like it. ‘Ten-Mile Fragrance’ was made by my father when he first met my mother. He wanted to please her, but she didn’t drink.”
Shu Rui laughed, recognizing how stories behind a product can make it feel special. “I suppose I have good taste, picking the most meaningful one at first glance.”
After arranging the wine at the inn, Shu Rui set up a few jars in the main hall while storing the rest in the cellar, keeping the shop tidy. Everything in place, he consulted a local almanac expert and selected September 9th as the opening day.