In the experimental fields of Dahuang City.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Why has Lord Grand Warden come all the way to Dahuang City just to work in the fields?”
An elderly farmer watched Hongyu struggling in the muddy paddy before turning to ask another farmer nearby.
“Probably because of Shu, right?”
The other farmer wasn’t entirely certain and directed the question toward Shu, who was also busy working.
“But is it really alright for Lord Grand Warden to leave his responsibilities at the Sui Regulator behind just to come here and plant rice?”
“Sir has probably already handed those responsibilities over to my second eldest brother.”
Shu appeared beside the two farmers with a bundle of rice stalks in her arms, joining their conversation as naturally as if she’d always been one of them.
SPLASH!
Not far away, Hongyu, who was still unfamiliar with the process of transplanting rice seedlings, lost his balance and landed squarely in the muddy field.
Dirty water splashed all over the clothes he’d borrowed from an elderly farmer.
“Oh, this is bad…”
“I still have to return these clothes…”
Hongyu wiped the sweat from his forehead with an arm that had somehow escaped getting covered in mud.
Then he struggled to his feet.
“Pfft…”
Watching from nearby, Shu couldn’t help bursting into laughter.
It was the first time she’d ever seen Hongyu look so thoroughly disheveled.
“Come back to my little field house and get cleaned up.”
“It’s getting difficult to see the ridges between the fields anyway.”
She bent down to pick up both her own shoes and Hongyu’s.
Then she turned toward the man who appeared to have taken personal offense at the rice paddy and was now stubbornly trying to defeat it.
Since the more experienced Shu had already made the decision, Hongyu had little choice but to comply.
He helplessly picked up the two support frames for the Celestial Masters’ measuring tools, slung them over his shoulder, and followed her with a smile.
The narrow field ridge was barely wide enough for one person to walk comfortably.
And so, the two traveled along it in single file.
After walking only a short distance from the fields, they arrived at a small cottage surrounded by a bamboo fence.
Beneath the evening sky, its simple thatched roof and bamboo walls gave it a quiet, rustic charm.
Shu pushed open the waist-high bamboo gate.
Hongyu followed her inside.
A soft light illuminated the interior, warm and pale yellow without being harsh or dim.
Perhaps it was maintained by some form of Arts.
The cottage was simply furnished.
Directly ahead stood a cooking stove.
To the left was a cupboard beside a large water jar.
Turning right led to the bedroom.
Inside were only a raised sleeping platform, a table, a wardrobe against the wall, and windows at the front and back.
“You can leave the frames behind the door.”
Shu turned around and pointed toward the space behind the entrance.
“Alright.”
Hongyu nodded and set the frames down.
“I’m going to wash up first.”
After an exhausting day of work, Hongyu announced his intentions and hurried away to clean the mud from his body.
Shu, who had barely gotten dirty herself, simply smiled.
‘It’s really the first time I’ve ever seen Sir looking so helpless…’
She recalled all the little mishaps Hongyu had experienced while planting rice seedlings that morning.
Covering her mouth, she let out another quiet giggle.
There was something strangely satisfying about discovering a side of Hongyu that nobody else had ever seen.
“Ah, that’s right!”
Shu suddenly remembered something.
“Sir’s borrowed clothes still need to be washed before we return them to Uncle Wang…”
With that thought, she headed in the direction Hongyu had gone.
‘It’s only been a few minutes.’
‘He should still be washing up, right?’
The steam drifting from the bathroom answered her question.
Warm vapor curled through the narrow gap between the bamboo door and the ceiling.
Clearly, Hongyu was still inside.
‘Where did Sir put his clothes…?’
Shu couldn’t see the discarded garments anywhere outside the door.
After hesitating for a moment, she decided to knock and ask.
Knock, knock, knock.
Her fingers tapped lightly against the door.
Then…
Creak.
‘Eh?!’
‘Did Sir just… This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
open the door?!’
Shu’s mind went blank.
Standing before her was Hongyu, who had somehow finished washing up in only a few minutes.
He was wearing a pair of loose shorts, with a towel draped over his head as he dried his hair.
His upper body was still uncovered.
A few droplets of water trickled down his face and onto his shoulders.
‘Eh?’
‘How did he finish washing so quickly?’
‘Sir’s eyes are really beautiful…’
‘That gray-blue color…’
‘And he’s surprisingly well-built.
You’d never guess from how loose his clothes usually are…’
‘No!
Stop!’
‘What am I looking at?!’
Shu blinked and hurriedly turned her gaze away, feeling terribly embarrassed.
But before she did, she noticed something rather suspicious.
The towel Hongyu was holding looked awfully familiar.
“S-Sir…”
The moment Shu recognized it, her face turned bright red.
“T-That…
that’s…”
Hongyu paused.
Following the direction of her finger, he looked down at the towel in his hands.
Then he reassured her.
“Don’t worry.
This one’s mine.”
After all, even in his current weakened condition, creating a duplicate of an ordinary towel was hardly beyond Hongyu’s abilities.
‘Eh?’
Shu froze.
Then she noticed her own bath towel hanging exactly where Hongyu was pointing.
She let out a sigh of relief.
Although, for some inexplicable reason, she also felt a tiny hint of disappointment.
‘Wait…’
‘No!’
‘Why would I be disappointed?!’
“Ahem.
Ahem.”
Shu coughed lightly to conceal the redness in her cheeks.
“Sir, could you give me those clothes you borrowed?
I’ll wash them and return them to Uncle Wang.”
“Those clothes?”
Hongyu glanced toward the linen garments that were already hanging outside.
“I’ve already washed them.”
“Eh?”
Shu blinked.
‘That quickly?’
She was thoroughly confused.
“Ah, right.
There’s something else.”
Hongyu walked into the other room and returned with a small stool.
He set it down and motioned for Shu to sit.
“?”
Shu tilted her head in confusion.
Nevertheless, she obediently sat down and watched Hongyu leave again.
A short while later, he returned carrying a basin of comfortably warm water.
He placed it beside Shu’s feet.
“Eh?!”
Shu suddenly realized what he was planning.
Before she could react, Hongyu gently helped her remove her shoes.
“S-Sir?!”
Shu’s face instantly turned scarlet.
She was so embarrassed that she wanted to flee, but Hongyu had already begun preparing to wash the mud from her feet.
‘What is Sir doing?!’
She braced one hand against the stool and turned her head away, completely flustered.
Her other hand rose to cover her mouth.
“What’s there to be embarrassed about?”
Hongyu chuckled helplessly.
“It’s not like I haven’t washed your feet before.”
“You’ve spent the entire day running around with me and teaching me how to plant rice.
You must be exhausted.”
“N-No, I’m not tired…”
Shu could swear that she’d never felt so flustered in her entire life.
Seeing that she had finally stopped protesting, Hongyu gently helped her place her feet into the warm water.
Shu remained terribly self-conscious, her toes curling nervously as she tried to calm herself.
Hongyu, however, seemed entirely unconcerned.
He simply cleaned the mud from her feet with the same care and attention he gave to everything involving his family.
Once he had finished, he dried them thoroughly with a clean cloth.
Watching his earnest expression, Shu felt her heartbeat quicken.
A complicated feeling she couldn’t quite explain began to grow within her.
She had never really understood the nature of her feelings toward Hongyu.
In the past, she’d assumed that her nervousness around him was simply an extension of the admiration she had felt for him since childhood.
Yet now, she was beginning to wonder whether her feelings were more complicated than she’d ever realized.
‘What…
exactly is this feeling?’
While Shu was lost in thought, Hongyu had already finished.
He gently set her feet beside her cloth shoes.
Shu was still sitting there in a daze, her cheeks so red that she looked as though steam might start rising from her head at any moment.
After realizing that Hongyu had completed the entire task, she finally managed to speak.
“Are…
you finished?”
“Mm.
Feeling a little better?”
Hongyu dried his damp hands.
Shu fell silent for a moment.
Then she slowly stood up and spoke in a slightly embarrassed voice.
“Um…
I’ve just remembered something…”
“There’s only one bed in this cottage…”
Hongyu paused.
Then he gestured reassuringly.
“That’s alright.
I can sleep outside…”
But before he could finish his sentence, Shu reached out and took his hand.
“Then…
how about we sleep together tonight?”
Shu’s cheeks were slightly flushed as she looked at Hongyu with hopeful eyes.
Hongyu nodded calmly.
It made little difference to him.
…
…
…
Late that night, the two lay in the same bed.
Out of habit, Hongyu instinctively reached for something to hold while sleeping.
However, he suddenly remembered that Shu was lying beside him and restrained himself.
‘Haaah…’
‘It’s a little difficult to fall asleep without something to hold…’
But Hongyu wasn’t the only one making little movements beneath the blankets.
Shu quietly extended her hand across the space separating them.
Hongyu kept his eyes closed.
Then he felt something gently hook around one of his fingers.
He didn’t need to think about whose hand it was.
It was Shu’s.
Perhaps because Hongyu showed no signs of resistance, or perhaps because she assumed he had already fallen asleep, Shu gradually became a little bolder.
What had begun as a tentative touch of his finger turned into her fingers intertwining with his.
Hongyu didn’t pay it much attention.
He simply assumed Shu was being affected by Sui’s consciousness and, much like Dusk, was feeling frightened.
He made no attempt to pull away and allowed her to hold his hand.
Shu’s hand felt pleasantly cool, with a few slightly rough patches from years of diligent work.
There was something strangely reassuring about it.
Outside the window, frogs croaked softly.
The insects continued their gentle chorus.