Ye Cunshan took the charm off and held it up in front of his eyes, shaking it lightly. “Isn’t it pretty good-looking?”
His expression was far too serious, so Yun Cheng honestly couldn’t tell whether he was coaxing him or if he genuinely thought so.
So he simply asked, “When you wear that outside, doesn’t anyone laugh at you?”
“No.”
When he was away from home, surrounded by crowds and unfamiliar faces, he was always afraid that during the rush of work it might get rubbed off or lost. So he normally kept the safety charm tucked in the inner pocket of his clothes, only taking it out at night when everything was settled to glance at it once or twice.
He had worn it on the way back to the village, but the village was never lively enough for anyone to notice.
Second Uncle Ye only cared about how much money he had earned. Wangzu and Qingyang only wanted to cause trouble.
Only after he returned home did he finally get seen by Yun Cheng.
But Yun Cheng knew none of this. He was already thinking to himself that he ought to embroider a better-looking one for him next time, this one truly was too embarrassing.
The bed at home was still just a wooden frame, not a heated kang. There wasn’t even a small table on it, so the two of them sat sideways on the bed.
Seeing that Ye Cunshan came back empty-handed and earlier than expected, Yun Cheng guessed the trip must not have gone smoothly. He comforted softly, “As long as you came back safe.”
Then he noticed the dark shadows under Ye Cunshan’s eyes, the bloodshot streaks crowding his gaze. For a moment he forgot their age difference and slipped into the mindset of a 25 years old man who had a 19 year old little husband.
Feeling the roughness that had grown on Ye Cunshan’s hands after being gone only a few days, he couldn’t help the ache in his chest. “What were you doing in the prefectural city?”
Before Ye Cunshan could answer, Yun Cheng continued, “Did you come back without eating? We brought some flatbread when we came over. I’ll go find Cousin sister-in-law and get some for you.”
He loosened his grip and was about to stand up, when Ye Cunshan caught his wrist and pulled him down, straight into his lap.
Yun Cheng instinctively planted both hands on Ye Cunshan’s shoulders. Their faces were so close they were practically breathing the same air. In Yun Cheng’s slightly widened apricot eyes, two tiny versions of Ye Cunshan were reflected.
The wooden bed was solid and heavy; even when Yun Cheng rolled around on it, not a sound could be heard. Add another person, and there was only the occasional soft creak.
But with two people settling into a single spot, there was still a brief, unmistakable drop beneath them.
Leaning back against the headboard, Ye Cunshan kept Yun Cheng tucked in his arms, letting him lie against his chest. “I ate before coming back. I’m not hungry. Let’s just talk for a bit.”
Yun Cheng’s nature was always one step back for every step someone took toward him. His mouth was straightforward, but when it came to Ye Cunshan’s actions, his resistance crumbled instantly.
Still, he kept up a fierce front. “If you want to talk, then talk. Why are you hugging me?”
Ye Cunshan replied calmly, “And what do you want me to do?”
Yun Cheng: …
He was always proper and restrained. Even when he was intimate, he never made Yun Cheng feel uncomfortable or overstepped.
Emotion colored Yun Cheng’s face instantly, flushing him red like a freshly cooked shrimp. And yet he felt completely at ease with Ye Cunshan.
“I want you to tell me a story. What did you do in the prefectural city? Is the city big? Do they have good food there?”
As for food, Ye Cunshan really didn’t know. He wasn’t someone who cared about eating.
But the city was big. “I can cover all of Weixian in a single day. In the prefectural city, I can only manage one district.”
From the day he left home, he had been running nonstop. Now, holding his warm little spouse in his arms, fatigue finally rolled over him layer by layer. He closed his eyes and began speaking slowly.
“This time I earned sixty-seven taels. Spent some on the road, so I brought back fifty-six taels and a few dozen copper coins.”
Yun Cheng’s eyes widened. “That much?”
Based on the initial funds Ye Cunshan had taken, he’d made nearly three times the amount. But with such a small capital, it wasn’t even enough for any big trade.
In the beginning, Yun Cheng had thought that as long as he didn’t lose money and could keep a bit of profit, that would already be quite good. Twenty taels taken out and thirty taels brought back, that alone would have been worth celebrating.
But Ye Cunshan sighed. “It could’ve been more.”
His tone held unmistakable regret. He didn’t keep Yun Cheng guessing and soon told him everything from start to finish.
Because he already had experience as a traveling trader, he had figured out reliable methods to earn money. With family waiting at home, he hadn’t planned to take any risks this time.
Until the day he was selling his plum,bamboo, orchid,chrysanthemum hairpins outside the prefectural academy and overheard some scholars saying that paper prices had recently risen. In that moment he suddenly remembered a money-making idea he had once thought of but never used.
That very day he switched his stall from selling hairpins to collecting waste paper.
One stack of discarded paper could be exchanged for a wooden hairpin.
Turning waste paper into new sheets, that was where the profit lay. There was no need to keep carving characters onto the hairpins. The remaining plain hairpins could also be used for trade.
One and a half stacks of waste paper earned someone a pair of wooden hairpins.
To scholars, waste paper was like chicken ribs, wasteful to throw away, annoying to keep.
Wooden hairpins were cheap, but they were still the favorite of poor scholars. By doing the trade, they could save nearly a hundred copper coins.
But these scholars were prideful. Someone needed to take the lead.
Since the decision was made on the spot, Ye Cunshan didn’t ask anyone to help create hype. He simply said that the carved hairpins were limited. Those who came earlier and exchanged waste paper had gotten the plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum designs; those who came later would have to settle for plain ones.
Scholars loved these refined little gimmicks. If everyone else had plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum designs, how could he be the only one without?
Soon enough people were even gathering half stacks of paper and asking Ye Cunshan to carve characters for them.
Once his hairpins were cleared out, he returned to the docks that day and rented a small warehouse. He shredded the paper and soaked it, adding an extra ink-washing step beyond what Yun Cheng taught him.
He had tested the ink-washing at home and knew it worked. For better paper quality, he didn’t mind the extra labor.
The next morning he had only dried the sheets for half a day. They weren’t fully dry, but he took a stack to another marketplace to “sell cheap paper,” claiming that the paper had gotten wet and the young masters at home didn’t like using it, so he’d rescued it to sell for wine money.
Paper was precious. Even at a discount, someone would buy. The moment he opened the stall, the pile sold out.
With that money, he continued collecting waste paper, bought three books from a bookstore, and boarded a boat back to Weixian.
On the boat he shredded paper, soaked it, washed the ink, soaked it again. When he returned, he borrowed a classmate’s courtyard to press and dry the sheets.
“The paper wasn’t even fully dry yet. I only dried it until it looked ready, then baked two sheets that were still damp and took them to the academy.”
He admitted this was partly for personal reasons. Teacher Du always looked after the poor students. And after studying together for years, it felt only right to prioritize familiar people instead of the merchants on the docks.
There was a large batch of paper. Even if his classmates wanted it, they couldn’t consume that much.
They also worried that if they didn’t buy it while it was cheap, they’d regret it every time they remembered it in the future.
When Teacher Du heard about it, he paid for the entire batch, telling Ye Cunshan to send them over once the sheets were fully dry. From now on, whenever students needed cheap paper, they could buy it from the academy.
Then Ye Cunshan asked Yun Cheng, “What do you think of this?”
Yun Cheng had no opinion.
He felt like Ye Cunshan was digging a hole for him, answer wrong and they’d end up arguing.
But this considerate, kind-hearted way of thinking was precisely the part of Ye Cunshan he loved most.
Yun Cheng looped his arms around his neck and nuzzled lightly. “You’re the head of the household. Of course I’ll listen to you.”
The head of the household had a talent for ruining the mood. He rubbed Yun Cheng’s neatly tied bun until it was crooked, his voice low with laughter and tinged with the mischievousness of a young man. “While I was gone, did you even wash your hair?”
Yun Cheng shot up from his lap like lightning, threw back a “You’re so annoying!” and bolted out the door.
Behind him came Ye Cunshan’s unrestrained laughter.
Yun Cheng turned back once, cheeks burning with embarrassment, but for some reason, he also started laughing.
Something about this was… definitely not normal.
To say he found him annoying was one thing, yet Yun Cheng still couldn’t stop worrying about him.
He went to find Liu Yun and got the pickled vegetable and egg stuffed flatbreads she had made that morning. He warmed them up by propping them against the side of the iron wok, then carried them back to give to Ye Cunshan so he could eat before taking a restorative nap.
But by the time Yun Cheng returned, Ye Cunshan had already fallen asleep and was even breathing out the faintest, soft snore.
He must have been exhausted down to the bone.
Yun Cheng didn’t wake him. He tiptoed back out, but only after walking several steps did he suddenly realize something.
Why was Ye Cunshan sleeping in his room?
The flatbreads were hot, but with Ye Cunshan asleep and unable to eat them, the three remaining people simply split them among themselves.
Ye Yan was concerned about whether the business trip had gone smoothly. Yun Cheng gave a carefully selective account.
There was always a thin layer between brothers. If he said too much and something went wrong later, resentment could fester. So he didn’t mention how much money had been earned.
If it needed to be said, it should be said by Ye Cunshan himself.
Fortunately, Ye Yan wasn’t curious about the amount. “I wonder if he bought books this time in the prefectural city.”
That part he could answer. “He said he bought five.”
Ye Yan smiled. “When he wakes up, I’ll borrow them to take a look.”
Ye Cunshan slept deeply the entire afternoon until evening, when Ye Wangzu came to switch shifts watching the kiln. Only then did he finally begin to stir awake.
Yun Cheng saw him rubbing his eyes with a rare, dazed expression and teased, “You slept all the way until it got dark. Are you even going to sleep tonight?”
Ye Cunshan remembered that he was supposed to meet with Qingyang later to cause trouble and answered honestly that he wouldn’t.
Yun Cheng choked. “If you’re not sleeping, what are you planning to do?”
Ye Cunshan couldn’t tell Yun Cheng the truth, that he was going to help raise chaos in town, and he still had no idea that the whole matter had originally been sparked by Yun Cheng himself.
So he simply said that he would be discussing the paper-making workshop with Wangzu that evening. “Now that I’ve tried the process, we’ll definitely need to build a room for it in the village. Doing it in the mountains won’t work.”
The mountains were prone to accidents and fires, and traveling back and forth was inconvenient. Later, after evaluating the quality of the paper, they would also need to decide the primary selling route.
Yun Cheng believed him without doubt.
These days he had eaten a constant rotation of animal organs.
The pig liver Ye Cunshan had bought earlier had long been finished. Second Uncle Ye, during a trip to the county, bought more pork offal and had Liu Yun prepare it different ways.
So even with the sky not completely dark yet, Yun Cheng could already faintly make out the path, no longer walking like a “blind man.”
Up ahead, Ye Yan and Liu Yun were walking quickly. Behind them, the two younger ones stuck close together, steps soft and sticky.
Ye Cunshan held Yun Cheng’s hand as they walked at an unhurried pace. He deliberately gave Yun Cheng’s hand a little squeeze. “Are you sure you don’t want me to carry you?”
Yun Cheng’s heart wavered, but embarrassment pricked him. “Cousin isn’t carrying Cousin-sister…”
Ye Cunshan wasn’t afraid of provoking a beating. “That’s because Cousin can’t carry her.”
Up ahead, Ye Yan coughed loudly, twice, and dragged Liu Yun forward at a faster pace.
From a distance he even muttered, “No wonder he never agreed to a marriage proposal before. With this level of clinginess, if he’d married two years earlier, how would he still have studied anything?”
But Liu Yun didn’t share his opinion. She felt that clinginess depended entirely on the person.
Since it wasn’t appropriate for a man to contradict her, Ye Yan simply nodded very seriously to show agreement.
Only after a long moment did he awkwardly explain to her, “…I truly haven’t exercised much lately.”
Behind them, Yun Cheng eventually couldn’t withstand temptation and climbed onto Ye Cunshan’s back after all.
He asked quietly, “Are we still sleeping at Cousin’s house tonight?”
Ye Cunshan said they needed to fix the kang beds. “You don’t have one in your room, and the one in my room is blocked. We’ll have to take care of both.”
Yun Cheng didn’t reply, because in his heart he felt they didn’t need two kangs at all.
But saying that out loud would be far too lacking in propriety, so he only murmured a soft “oh.”
Thinking he was simply uncomfortable sleeping in someone else’s home, Ye Cunshan comforted, “It’s just a place to sleep. We’ll move back in a few days.”
He was also temporarily living at Ye Yan’s house tonight and would be sharing a room with Yun Cheng.
Dinner wasn’t anything elaborate. They killed a fish and cooked a pot of white fish soup. The large bones were scooped out; the small ones were simmered until soft and nearly dissolved. The result was fresh and sweet, and they had even made fish noodles, soft and tender in the broth.
Yun Cheng loved soup. He held his bowl with both hands and drank two small bowls in a row.
During the meal, the three men chatted. Yun Cheng didn’t join in much; he simply played with little Chan jie from time to time, and the whole meal passed pleasantly.
After washing up, when they returned to the room, Yun Cheng was still flustered about having to share a bed with someone, so he tried to distract himself by searching for something to talk about. But before he could think of anything, Ye Cunshan reached under the bedding on the kang and pulled out a piece of clothing.
Yun Cheng didn’t pay attention at first. Out of habit he shook it out to fold it neatly.
But once he saw the size, clearly made for a tall, broad-shouldered man, he turned his head stiffly toward Yun Cheng.
Yun Cheng’s little face instantly turned ghost-white.
It was Ye Cunshan’s inner garment, the one Yun Cheng had taken to use for pretending to be a ghost messenger.
Later he had gone overboard, gotten caught by Madam Zhao, and had been confined at home for two days. When he was finally let out, he immediately had to help with papermaking. With so many people around, he couldn’t take it out again.
And until this very moment, when Ye Cunshan pulled it out, Yun Cheng had completely forgotten about its existence.
He stammered, in a voice so tiny it could barely be heard, “Th-that’s your… your clothes…”
As for what he had used the clothes for, that didn’t need to be said.
Since it was his own clothing, Ye Cunshan recognized it as soon as he looked again.
His first intention had been to tease Yun Cheng a little, this little one had never said he missed him even once, but secretly cherished his things so much.
But when he saw Yun Cheng’s expression, and remembering how straightforward Yun Cheng normally was, Ye Cunshan reconsidered and asked suddenly, “Did you sleep at night while holding my clothes?”
Yun Cheng’s mind went blank.
Ye Cunshan raised a brow. “Or did you sleep wearing my clothes?”
✦ ✧ ✦
[Translator]
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ChaptersChapter 1 · I Shall Go With YouChapter 2 · You Are ResponsibleChapter 3 · Just make A DoChapter 4 · You Have To Hold MeChapter 5 · Live A Good LifeChapter 6 · Meet The ParentsChapter 7 · Lucky for My husbandChapter 8 · ThreatenChapter 9 · Turning Waste paper into NewChapter 10 · New Paper!Chapter 11 · He will look good in thisChapter 12 · Too HonestChapter 13 · Make Him HappyChapter 14 · WorshipChapter 15 · Feeling Sorry for moneyChapter 16 · I’m so reluctant to leave you.Chapter 17 · My feelings for him are no longer pure.Chapter 18 · Thinking about helping him in some wayChapter 19 · Buy one for my husbandChapter 20 · Cause troubleChapter 21 · Aftermath of the incidentChapter 22 · He led him home obediently.Chapter 23 · Why are you hugging me?Chapter 24 Part 1 · Sweet TalkingChapter 24 Part 2 · Sweet TalkingChapter 25 · You are my drean ManChapter 26 · I don’t fall for flirtingChapter 27 Part 1 · Teaching You How to Like MeChapter 27 Part 2 · Teaching You How to Like MeChapter 28 Part 1 · Picking up kid from schoolChapter 28 Part 2 · Picking up kid from schoolChapter 29 Part 1 · I Have a FriendChapter 29 Part 2 · I Have a FriendChapter 30 Part 1 · Pampering My HusbandChapter 30 Part 2 · Pampering My HusbandChapter 31 Part 1 · Don’t compare yourself with othersChapter 31 Part 2 · Don’t compare yourself with othersChapter 32 Part 1 · Come here and kiss me yourselfChapter 32 Part 2 · Come here and kiss me yourselfChapter 33 Part 1 · Let me explainChapter 33 Part 2 · Let me explainChapter 34 Part 1 · Little SecretChapter 34 Part 2 · Little SecretChapter 35 Part 1 · Going to the New Year MarketChapter 35 Part 2 · Going to the New Year MarketChapter 36 Part 1 · Please coax his little husbandChapter 36 Part 2 · Please coax his little husbandChapter 37 Part 1 · I want you to pamper meChapter 37 Part 2 · I want you to pamper meChapter 38 Part 1 · He wants to marry into the family!Chapter 38 Part 2 · He wants to marry into the family!Chapter 39 Part 1 · This is a separate priceChapter 39 Part 2 · This is a separate priceChapter 40 Part 1 · Husband, children, and a warm bedChapter 40 Part 2 · Husband, children, and a warm bedChapter 41 Part 1 · Biting SpringChapter 41 Part 2 · Biting SpringChapter 42 Part 1 · Isn’t managing you the important thing?Chapter 42 Part 2 · Isn’t managing you the important thing?Chapter 43 · Shameless!Chapter 44 Part 1 · Head of the HouseholdChapter 44 Part 2 · Head of the HouseholdChapter 45 · DatingChapter 45 Part 2 · DatingChapter 46 · You Were the One Who Got HookedChapter 47 · I Like Being Looked AfterChapter 48 · A Weighty AffectionChapter 49 · Go On, Say It AgainChapter 50 · There’s plenty of time in the futureChapter 51 · Karma and RetributionChapter 52 · Playing the “Villain”Chapter 53 · I’ll Be Very Gentle!Chapter 54 · Rural RomanceChapter 55 · Don’t CryChapter 56 · Unable to Afford TuitionChapter 57 · Coax MeChapter 58 · Do You Want Me to Keep You Company?Chapter 59 · You’re Not Good EnoughChapter 60 · WoofChapter 61 Part 1 · Are the Words “I Love You” Too Hot for Your Mouth?Chapter 61 Part 2 · Are the Words “I Love You” Too Hot for Your Mouth?Chapter 62 · My skin gets itchy if I don’t take care of it for a day.Chapter 63 · ClingyChapter 64 · Night TalkChapter 65 · Top Scholar TransmigrationChapter 66 · Imperial examinationsChapter 67 · Exams Over!Chapter 68 · You’re making fun of me as soon as you get back?Chapter 69 · Shameless!Chapter 70 · Truly unbelievableChapter 71 · One taelChapter 72 · Did you draw one for my brother?Chapter 73 · Bad LuckChapter 74 · Look like youChapter 75 · You’re so clingyChapter 76 · Careful your elder brother doesn’t beat you upChapter 77 · If you’re going to hit me, then just hit meChapter 78 · Cheng GegeChapter 79 · Thank you, DidiChapter 80 · Poor scholars from humble backgrounds usually have strong prideChapter 81 · Twenty two?Chapter 82 · Have you started preparing a new book yet?Chapter 83 · We’re PoorChapter 84 · I Still can’t believeChapter 85 Part 1 · But What happened in the end?Chapter 85 Part 2 · But What happened in the End?Chapter 86 · I’m a little kidChapter 87 · The person in this painting is my younger brotherChapter 88 · Yun Xiaocheng Even Has This SkillChapter 89 Part 1 · Preparations Before DepartureChapter 89 Part 2 · Preparations Before DepartureChapter 90 Part 1 · On the Road, a Transitional ChapterChapter 90 Part 2 · On the Road, a Transitional ChapterChapter 91 Part 1 · NarrativeChapter 91 Part 2 · NarrativeChapter 92 · Narrative, transitional chapterChapter 93 · Make you happyChapter 94 Part 1 · Burial and AdmonitionChapter 94 Part 2 · Burial and AdmonitionChapter 95 · Song Jin said she was very good to Cheng HuilanChapter 96 · She has a good older brother.Chapter 97 · Simplicity is the bestChapter 98 · HomecomingChapter 99 Part 1 · Going homeChapter 99 Part 2 · Going HomeChapter 100 Part 1 · AugustChapter 100 Part 2 · AugustChapter 101 Part 1 · How come you’re pregnant but still have such a slim waist?Chapter 101 Part 2 · How come you’re pregnant but still have such a slim waist?Chapter 102 · This is the love you have for me.Chapter 103 Part 1 · SeptemberChapter 103 Part 2 · SeptemberChapter 103 Part 3 · SeptemberChapter 104 Part 1 · Ye Xiaoshan, you’re so shamelessChapter 104 Part 2 · Ye Xiaoshan, you’re so shamelessChapter 105 · Ye Xiaoshan, what are you doing?Chapter 106 Part 1 · Daily lifeChapter 106 Part 2 · Daily lifeChapter 107 · The novel has many plotsChapter 108 Part 1 · Daily life + novel plotChapter 108 Part 2 · Daily life + novel plotChapter 109 · Monthly Exams and Daily RoutineChapter 110 · Mainly exams