Gu Chengyan stared at the youth, stunned, his eyes blinking twice before he slowly turned around to face the wall once more. Even while lying on his side, he could feel his heart thumping like a drum within his chest.
…This child was simply too well-built.
His chest was solid and broad, undulating like mountain ranges, his waist and abdomen featured distinct lines like intersecting ravines, and his long limbs were as straight and sturdy as pines or cypresses.
Gu Chengyan felt that in that one single glance, he had seen all the magnificent mountains and rivers in the world; it was truly a spectacular sight.
It seemed that the Eternal Heaven favored those called “wolves” with particular partiality. This physique… was truly giving a bit too much.
He sighed inwardly, pulling the quilt up to his shoulders. “Are you in the habit of sleeping without clothes? If you’re cold, there’s a blanket in the wooden chest. Go get it and cover yourself; don’t come over here and grab mine.”
The youth did not reply, aggressively flipping the quilt over and climbing onto the kang. Before Gu Chengyan could even protest, he had been maneuvered and pulled into the youth’s arms. The young man’s body temperature was on the higher side; he was like a furnace, instantly burning away any lingering sleepiness.
Tsking in annoyance, Gu Chengyan poked the youth with his elbow. “What are you doing, you brat? Sleep on your own; don’t be so clingy!”
It wasn’t that he was being prudish or felt there was anything wrong with two men sleeping together. When he was young, all the junior disciples on Qing-shuang Mountain had slept with him at one time or another. Nor was he bothered by the youth being naked—who hadn’t had a moment of being bare-bottomed?
Gu Chengyan was simply not used to being held like this while he slept!
He struggled with his hands and feet, trying every technique from “inch-force” to the Five Animal Frolics and Tai Chi, but lacking internal strength, he was weak and limp. He couldn’t shake the youth off, only succeeding in breaking a sweat himself.
The youth even flashed a brilliant, sunny smile, assuming they were playing a game.
After tossing and turning for a while, Gu Chengyan’s vision began to blur; he truly lacked the energy to continue. He felt a mix of irritation and resignation as he sprawled over the youth, panting heavily, thinking that he really was a tiger fallen on hard times being bullied by a dog.
After all,
Gu Chengyan glanced at the youth: Only a puppy would hold onto a meaty bone so tightly and refuse to let go.
He curled his lip and simply gave up: it was too late, he truly couldn’t win, and besides… the youth’s embrace was genuinely warm.
I’ll just pretend I was too sleepy to know what was happening…
Gu Chengyan adapted quickly, closed his eyes, and burrowed in, finding a comfortable position.
The youth waited for a while and discovered Gu Chengyan had fallen asleep while sprawling over him. The shallow, gentle breathing against his chest tickled slightly, but he could endure it. However, he watched Gu Chengyan’s sleeping face in contemplation:
So, he likes being on top?
This was his first time encountering such a thing; his beautiful partner was truly special!
In the wolf pack, when huddling together for warmth in the winter, the Wolf King would always lie on the Wolf Queen’s back, or rest on a subject’s shoulder. He had never seen a Wolf Queen need to lie on the Wolf King’s back.
How overbearing, but he liked it so much. Truly worthy of being my wife!
Furthermore, the youth scratched his head and smiled: I knew it—my wife wouldn’t truly be angry with me. See? A little coaxing was all it took for me to come back and sleep in the nest.
The next day, Gu Chengyan opened his eyes to find the youth’s face flushed slightly red. The youth licked his lips, his eyes darting back and forth, and he murmured in a low voice: “Wuwu.”
Gu Chengyan noticed his suspicious expression and realized what was happening after a moment’s thought. He gave a soft laugh and reached out to tug at the youth’s cheek. “What’s the matter? Held it in too long, haven’t you? Told you last night you shouldn’t have insisted on squeezing in with me.”
After saying this, Gu Chengyan nimbly pushed himself up from the youth’s body, flipped off the kang, and headed to the chest to find his clothes.
“There’s no chamber pot or bucket in here; find a way to go outside. I’ve left hot water for washing on the stove for you.”
The youth sat up slowly, showing no signs of being in a rush, his gaze never leaving him—
Having eaten roasted meat last night and sweated together in bed, Gu Chengyan had stripped off his inner robe and was choosing a subtle purple garment to change into. The pale morning sun of winter filtered through the central window, dancing in fine light-points on his thinly-cut shoulders and narrow, slender waist…
The youth licked his lips again, his Adam’s apple rolling with difficulty. Seeing that Gu Chengyan had finished dressing in three layers and was turning to pick up the bear-skin coat, the youth blinked rapidly, leaped off the kang, and ran outside.
Gu Chengyan was startled, watching the door swing back and forth, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Whoa, in such a rush?”
What he didn’t expect, however, was that the youth would not return for a long time. Gu Chengyan finished breakfast and fed the livestock, yet there was still no sign of him.
So, that expression wasn’t about needing the bathroom?
Gu Chengyan stroked his chin: Communication between us is truly difficult. Did he just leave directly? The wolf pack came and went without a trace, and that birch forest was huge; Gu Chengyan had entered it many times but had never found a wolf den. With the deep snow and unpredictable winter weather in the mountains, he didn’t want to risk aimlessly wandering into a forest he wasn’t familiar with; if he got lost, it could be life-threatening.
He circled back to the grain storehouse, opened the door, and saw there was still plenty of food and dried grass; there was no need to hunt. However, since he had been burning wood for the roasted meat these past few days, he was low on firewood. Calculating that winter would last at least another month, he needed to prepare more.
Therefore, Gu Chengyan decided to dedicate the day to chopping wood and drying “grass-coal.” Grass-coal was essentially dried cow and horse manure; Rongdi herdsmen loved using it as fuel, as it burned longer than ordinary wood.
Gu Chengyan took two long sticks and brought his baskets to the wall. This work might be considered dirty, but for him, it was just right—no need for complicated schemes, no need to fight or calculate against different factions, just a simple and fulfilling busyness.
He worked from sunrise to sunset, and his food, drink, and clothing were all provided by his own two hands, truly living as carefreely as the song “Jirang Ge” sang. Along the sunny courtyard wall, he spread out the contents of the baskets into round cakes to ensure even drying. He was just about to reach for the axe to chop wood when he saw the youth who had appeared from goodness knows where carrying a small deer on his back.
Gu Chengyan: “???”
The youth set down the deer, a hint of shyness on his face. He crouched down in the snow and used his finger to draw: first, two stick figures stacked on top of each other, then a small deer, two stags, and finally the sun, a trap, and a herd of deer by a pond.
It took Gu Chengyan a long time to piece together what the youth was trying to say: the youth had originally planned to go hunting at dawn, but because he had been pinned down by Gu Chengyan, he had woken up late and couldn’t set his traps, which was why he couldn’t catch the big stag. After much effort, he had only managed to chase down this small one.
“You want to… eat venison?” I tried to understand.
The youth frowned and shook his head, pointing at the small deer, gesturing a bit, and drawing on a new patch of ground: two sheep, five fat, round little… rats? Oh no, marmots, five rabbits, and a snake. After finishing the drawing, the youth stared at me with burning intensity, then placed his hand on his abdomen to rub it, before pointing at my stomach.
Gu Chengyan: “…”
Heaven, the youth doesn’t think I ate all of those things, does he?!
This misunderstanding was far from small. No wonder the big white wolf had delivered so many prey items that day. So… in the eyes of these wolves, was I such a bottomless pit?
Gu Chengyan was between laughter and tears. He dropped the axe, reached up to rub his brow, and then signaled to the youth, leading him to the grain storehouse. Gu Chengyan opened the door and pointed at the smoked lamb, the salted meat, and the fried meat he had prepared earlier.
“The meat is all here. Where did I eat it all?”
Looking at the lamb meat, which had dried but not rotted, and the rabbit meat that was frozen together and emitted a pleasant aroma, the youth’s eyes grew brighter and brighter: How amazing! I never knew meat could be preserved this way.
The wolf pack usually ate a lot of meat every meal. In winter, when prey became scarce, they would stuff themselves until they were full because any leftovers would spoil. While others like “Black Back” could eat rotting meat, he couldn’t; every time he did, he felt ill. Thus, he had always tried to find as much fresh food as possible.
So it can be done this way.
My beautiful wife is amazing!
Gu Chengyan patted him on the shoulder. “So, you really don’t need to. You can take the small deer back to eat with the pack.”
The youth thought for a moment, pointing first at the grain storehouse, then at Gu Chengyan’s stomach.
“You’re asking how long all this will last? Probably another four or five days.”
The youth was lost in thought.
Gu Chengyan looked at him. “You don’t intend to keep delivering, do you?”
The youth nodded, solemn and earnest: Feeding my wife is the Wolf King’s duty.
I was puzzled by this. “For goodness’ sake, why send me prey? If it’s because of that one time in the cave—”
I curled the corner of my mouth. “Didn’t you save me later? We’re already even.”
The youth looked at the smile in my eyes but secretly pouted: …Playing dumb. My wife is so bad. He actually wants me to say it out loud! He had never seen any Wolf King who had to shout his requirements when courting…
The youth flushed red, lowering his head to kick at the snow. Seeing that he wouldn’t answer, I recalled how his eyes had shone when I fed him the roasted lamb: Could it be… he’s a glutton and wants to mooch a hot meal? And the blushing is just embarrassment?
I put myself in his shoes: if I were fourteen or fifteen and saw that the food at a relative’s house was delicious, I would also be too shy to say it.
Fine, I glanced at him, deciding that since this kid had… indeed helped me quite a bit:
“Fine, you can come, but—” I rolled my eyes, throwing a condition at him: “Every time you come, you must learn to speak for an hour or two.”
The youth shook his head instinctively, pointing at the drawings on the ground—Talking is too much trouble. It’s not like I can use it for much.
“Whenever you draw like this, I have to guess… it’s so troublesome,” I pointed at myself. “If you could talk like me, how much more convenient it would be.”
The youth’s gaze drifted upward, settling on my slightly parted, thin lips. My lips were light in color, but their perfect redness was even more captivating.
“…Mm.” After much hesitation, he grit his teeth and nodded.
“Good,” I was satisfied, leading him inside to sit. “Let’s start with a name today? You must first know my name.”
I dipped my finger in water and wrote my name on the stove, then pointed at the characters one by one as I read them to him.
“Here, try reading it?”
The youth hesitated for a long time, but clearly shouted out: “Wuwu!”
“It’s ‘Gu’! Not ‘Wu’. It’s pronounced with the ‘Gu’ sound… oh, never mind, just repeat after me properly.”
The youth tilted his head, his eyes full of confusion. Seeing this, I thought that perhaps the kid wasn’t familiar with Han names, having never studied the Jiyun or the Shuowen.
“How about this? Why don’t I give you a name?” I reached out and took the youth’s hand, guiding him to write a Rongdi character:
“Sai-He-Chinna, how does that sound?”
I explained with a soft laugh: “I can’t just call you ‘Chinna’, can I? Otherwise, how would you be different from them… I mean, Ak-Chinna, Yuka-Chinna?” Ak meant white, Yuka meant small; if everyone were called Chinna, wouldn’t they all just be wolves?
“The person who taught me the Rongdi language long ago told me the word ‘Sai-He’ carries meanings like sharp, keen, beautiful, and powerful. I feel it suits you perfectly.”
As the youth listened, those beautiful blue eyes grew brighter and brighter with every word. He nodded vigorously and patted his chest: “I! Sai-He-Chinna!”
I was amused: Silly brat. He learned the compliments immediately after all that teaching.
With a name, the youth happily practiced writing it over and over, constantly murmuring the name “Sai-He-Chinna” to himself. Seeing his clear pronunciation, I couldn’t help but want to teach him to pronounce my name clearly as well. “Like this, put your hand here, feel the resonance”
I grabbed Sai-He-Chinna’s hand and placed it on my throat, just as I had taught the blind and deaf children back on Qing-shuang Mountain to speak: “Gu, Cheng, Yan. Do you feel it?”
Sai-He-Chinna lowered his head; his gripped fingers trembled for some reason, and then his blue eyes fluttered rapidly. I was dissatisfied with his distraction, so I simply wrapped my arms around his. “Be serious! Come on, ‘Gu’, you should at least learn how to say my surname.”
At that moment, the door behind them was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
—It was the little grassland wolf. The little guy shook the snow off its body, looked up, saw them in that position, and after its bright black eyes rolled around once, it turned back to bite the door handle:
Clap. The door closed.
I: “…”
My Adam’s apple bobbed; only then did I finally realize: this action of mine, pulling the youth to touch my neck it was, in some ways… a bit over the line…