“What’s up? Do I have flowers on my face?” Zhuang Yubai put down his chopsticks and reached up to wipe his face.
After not seeing each other for a few days, the way this scholar was looking at him was quite puzzling. Although he hadn’t explained his background, it wasn’t his fault for not being honest since the original owner’s memories were almost gone. But what’s with that probing look?
“This dish is really good,” Meng Zhizhang said, picking up another bite. “It’s soft, smooth, and fragrant. I’ve never tasted anything like it.”
Meng Zhizhang wasn’t particularly picky about food and rarely praised a dish. Mainly because, apart from the basic necessities, all the household money was spent on his studies, and satisfying his appetite was never a priority. But today, he was quite interested in the golden dish in front of him, even picking up a third bite. Meng Zhizhang was always self-restrained, and by the time he realized it, he had already taken a fifth bite. This was very unusual.
“This is gluten. There’s plenty more at home. If you like it, I can make some more tomorrow,” Zhuang Yubai said, quite pleased with the compliment.
“Gluten?” Meng Zhizhang’s eyes lit up. “I ran into Brother Yun on my way back, and he couldn’t stop praising the gluten. He said Mr. Yun also liked it a lot and asked me to thank you.”
“Mr. Yun? The one from the mountain?” Zhuang Yubai didn’t expect Meng Zhizhang to know that wealthy man. Then again, it made sense. Even the peddlers knew Scholar Meng, so it was reasonable for him to know the wealthy man living nearby.
Meng Zhizhang looked up at the person in front of him. “Yes, Mr. Yun lives in the mountain.” He added, “And Mr. Yun rarely praises anything. Your gluten is indeed excellent. It’s not a problem to make ten times the profit in a month.”
“You have that much confidence in me?” Although it was a rhetorical question, Zhuang Yubai couldn’t help but smile, revealing a row of pearly white teeth, as radiant as shattered jade.
Perhaps not used to such a gentle smile, Meng Zhizhang quickly looked away. “You… really don’t remember who you are? Not even your name?”
…
The smile slowly faded as he swallowed the food in his mouth, then he replied casually, “It’s okay. You don’t have to pity me!”
The sunlight on the dining table cooled down, freezing the lively atmosphere among the bowls and plates, leaving only the sound of gentle chewing.
One lie requires countless others to cover it up. Zhuang Yubai wasn’t good at lying, and he was very worried that the other would suddenly show “concern” about his background again. He decided to take the initiative and asked, “Are you busy after the meal? I might need your help with something small.”
“Nothing today.”
Meng Zhizhang wasn’t sure why he asked that question earlier, perhaps eager to confirm whether the other really had amnesia. But if someone had been sacrificed by their entire clan, his smile wouldn’t be so clean and pure.
Surviving a near-death experience is a blessing from the heavens; waking up with amnesia is the creator’s compassion. For the person involved, some things can only be forgotten to gather the courage to live on. Everything is the best arrangement. Meng Zhizhang didn’t dwell on it too much.
After the meal, Zhuang Yubai took Meng Zhizhang to see his “production line.”
He grabbed a handful of light orange shrimp chips, “rustling,” the sound indicating they needed more drying. They had to be thoroughly dried before they were ready. Another night, and a half-hour of sun tomorrow should do it.
When Meng Zhizhang was brought to the open space in the north of the courtyard, his eyes showed some surprise. He had only been away for a few days, and there was now a neatly arranged vegetable garden.
“Here, we’ll plant two rows of cabbage, over there some celery, and in that area, some turnips.”
Zhuang Yubai showed the landowner his planned vegetable garden, his eyes shining as if the garden was already overflowing with green vegetables.
The person being shown around tried to keep up. “Is that a pile of firewood?”
“It’s a compost pile. This land has been barren for some years, and the soil layer is insufficient. If we want to grow vegetables, we need to fertilize it well.”
“You know how to manage fields?”
Meng Zhizhang’s gaze subtly swept over the other person, as the evening glow gathered in the sky.
“Not really,” Zhuang Yubai slightly reined in his earlier excitement and quickly added, “I have some residual memories in this area.”
Growing up in the countryside, Meng Zhizhang naturally knew about composting. Usually, compost materials are gathered and piled up, left to ferment and decompose over several months. He had never seen such a tall, finely constructed compost pile in the wind.
Hearing that the compost pile needed to be maintained at this height and turned every four days, Meng Zhizhang’s determined eyebrows subtly twitched.
When he learned that the compost would be ready for use in the fields in 18 days, Meng Zhizhang couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure it’s 18 days, not 180 days?”
Zhuang Yubai patted his chest confidently. “18 days, absolutely. I’m a professional at this. Brother Meng, just trust me.”
“Alright.”
Meng Zhizhang was not one to easily trust others, but for some reason, he was willing to believe the person in front of him, even if it contradicted his previous knowledge.
From gluten to the vegetable garden to composting, the person in front of him was like a flickering flame, gradually illuminating this long-silent home.
A slightly worn hoe was handed to Meng Zhizhang. Turning the soil. Before fertilizing the vegetable garden, it needed a deep turn to enhance looseness, aeration, and improve moisture conditions.
The iron hoe sank into the ground, bringing up slightly yellowish soil, occasionally mixed with stones.
Meng Zhizhang took off his outer garment, leaving only short sleeves and long pants, with a cloth tied around his waist, making his legs look even longer and his shoulders broader.
The hoe moved rhythmically in the air and on the ground. As he bent over to turn the soil, his waist tightened and swelled under the slightly thin clothes.
Standing by as a “supervisor,” Zhuang Yubai couldn’t help but marvel. This physique would be a top male model in modern times. Truly born at the wrong time. If Meng Zhizhang followed him back, he could make a name for himself just with his looks.
Look at those long, sturdy legs! Look at that broad, slightly concave chest! Look at… uh, the damp spot on his chest…
The “top male model” suddenly stopped, straightened up, and waved at Zhuang Yubai, saying something.
“What?” Zhuang Yubai vaguely heard the word “amber.”
“Could you get me a cup of water?” Meng Zhizhang pulled a cloth from his waist and wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck.
“A cup of water?” Zhuang Yubai repeated, but his feet seemed rooted in place, his eyes glued to the cloth wiping away the sweat, following it closely.
“Amber?”
“…Alright.” The other called again, and Zhuang Yubai snapped out of it, quickly retracting his gaze and jogging back to the house.
“Thank you.” Meng Zhizhang placed the hoe beside him and took the teacup.
As the cup was handed over, Zhuang Yubai seemed to brush against the calloused fingers, hot and slightly rough. The electric tingle made him quickly withdraw his hand, secretly rubbing the back of his clothes.
The sky was filled with the soft pink of the sunset, which also colored Zhuang Yubai’s cheeks.
Turning the soil was hard work, and although the scholar in front of him was sturdy, it still took some effort. At this moment, his neck was slightly raised, drinking from the teacup one sip at a time. His Adam’s apple moved, his chest heaved…
Zhuang Yubai had never watched a man drink water so closely before, and it carried an indescribable sense of power and pressure.
A drop of water, whether sweat or tea, was sliding down the bulging veins of his neck, rolling to the hollow of his collarbone, and slipping further down the slightly open collar…
Zhuang Yubai watched that drop of water… roll down, wanting to reach up and wipe it away.
He held back, and the hand he was about to raise fell back down.
A man wiping water off another man, that would be too strange.
But… he had seen men feeding each other water. In school, he accidentally saw two male classmates hiding by the willow tree, feeding each other water mouth to mouth. Sure enough, soon after, the gossip about them being together spread like wildfire.
Yes, that kind of “together.”
At first, Zhuang Yubai didn’t understand what “together” meant. Then the school heartthrob came to him, forcibly telling him the gossip and pinning him against the cold, hard cement wall of the school building, striking a cool wall-slam pose, asking if they could also be “together.”
…Hey! Don’t mess around! I’m straight!
A steel-straight man, a socialist youth with five lectures and four beauties, with all sorts of strong buffs stacked, surely he could suppress this crooked wind and evil spirits?!
With positive energy, evil spirits retreat! Sometimes Zhuang Yubai really wanted to brew a pot of strong herbal medicine and have them each drink a bowl.
Zhuang Yubai looked up, and the drop of water was long gone, leaving only a shallow, curved water trail. If he forcibly wiped the water now, how was it different from that heartthrob pinning someone against the rough, hard cement wall, grabbing their shoulders, and asking if they could be “together”?
Zhuang Yubai had a sense of public morality and wouldn’t do anything unethical!
With a righteous heart, Zhuang Yubai’s legs suddenly felt weak, and he took a step back.
It wasn’t that he intentionally kept a distance from Meng Zhizhang, but… being a bit closer made him inexplicably feel stifled, a bit out of breath.
He couldn’t say why, just that his cheeks were hot, and his breathing was labored. This wasn’t the highlands, so where was this altitude sickness coming from?
It must be that he hadn’t fully adapted to the oxygen levels here after just crossing over. Or maybe this scholar had some kind of aura that even thinned the air around him. Indeed, people shouldn’t be too aloof.
The early summer night came quickly, filling the thatched hut, leaving only a flickering oil lamp on the desk, gently licking Zhuang Yubai’s restless heart.
After washing up, Zhuang Yubai climbed into Meng Zhizhang’s bed as usual. As soon as the back of his head touched the pillow, he sat up with a start.
“Rustle, rustle, rustle—rustle, rustle, rustle” The sturdy scholar, after being away for a few days and turning the soil for half a day, was now washing up outside.
The sound of water in the courtyard was constant. The stars in the sky winked mischievously, while Zhuang Yubai sat curled up at the corner of the bed, a bit at a loss.
Based on the length and volume of the water’s tail sound, he could clearly distinguish which water splashed on the body, which water fell to the ground, and of course, some water quickly flowed down the upright body, wrapping and outlining the man’s perfect muscle curves…
Zhuang Yubai quickly shook his head, trying to delete the strange fragments from his mind.
Today was different from the past. Tonight he was no longer alone. After tonight, this bed would no longer belong to him alone.
Author’s Note:
Next chapter, sharing a bed [smirk]