That night he used the hand cream on Ye Cunshan, wrapping his hands with fine gauze to create a hand mask, hoping to soften the roughness of his palms.
Ye Cunshan was displeased. “I’m a grown man, what do I need this for?”
Yun Cheng spoke righteously. “Your hands are too rough. It feels uncomfortable when you touch me.”
Ye Cunshan’s expression immediately darkened. “So you dislike me?”
“Nonsense. Obviously I’m distressed for you.”
One gentle stroke along the grain of his temper and Ye Cunshan was content. He went to sleep with the fine gauze wrapped around his hands as if it were a treasure.
Carving dozens of wooden hairpins every day sounded easy when said aloud but anyone who saw the cracks on his hands would know how brutal the work really was.
Later, with all the papermaking work, constantly soaking in water, the wounds that scabbed over soon developed new layers of calluses.
Layer upon layer and each one made Yun Cheng’s heart ache.
The next day, the two of them moved back to the house on the mountain.
Just as Ye Wangzu predicted, over in Dagugu Village, after an entire night of torturous reflection, Li Daodao spent his mind eliminating every suspect whose fate he had read over the years. One by one he ruled them out and finally, gritting his teeth, settled his suspicion firmly on Ye Cunshan.
The very first thing he said was, “I didn’t mean to judge you so harshly. Chen Jinhua promised me that besides the usual fee, she would give me five taels of silver. Only then did I read your fate that way.”
Because of her pregnancy, Chen Jinhua immediately became emotional and unstable. Her father and mother in law, along with Ye Da, were all unable to scold her. They held in their anger and had no choice but to wait on her carefully by her bedside.
Their married daughter, Li Tao, rushed home as soon as she heard, crying as she insisted her mother would never do such a thing and wanted to confront Li Bansian directly.
Only when the doctor arrived did the house fall into temporary quiet.
When Yun Cheng heard of this, he realized all his efforts from earlier days had not been in vain. While feeding the chickens, he even sprinkled two extra handfuls of feed, hiding merit and fame without a word.
Since Ye Cunshan had gone with the boats to the prefectural city during those days, once news was sent back to Dagugu Village, Li Daodao was forced to confess a second truth.
And everything he confessed… all pointed to Jinghe Village. After all, that was where the painting on the notice came from.
Dagugu villagers refused to accept it. If so many people had been told false fates, then how many of them actually had true readings at all?
Li Daodao could no longer continue as a fortune teller.
He had offended a whole crowd of people and now, even living in Dagugu Village, he would face ostracization.
That afternoon, Ye Da came to deliver the tree trunk to Ye Cunshan. The wood had been cut from the western forest.
Those trees were old. Every time a child was born, the family would plant a few saplings there. When a child grew up and married, some trees would be cut down to make beams for their new home.
Everyone hoped for prosperity through many children and thus the forest grew larger with each generation.
Ye Da had wanted to seek reconciliation with his son, so he specifically chose a fine piece of toon wood yesterday and cut it.
When he delivered it today, he felt somewhat lucky, thankfully he had gone to see Ye Cunshan before Li Daodao’s confession came out; otherwise he wouldn’t know how to explain their intentions.
But Ye Cunshan had no plan to reunite the family.
If he had the means, he even wanted to bring Cun Yin out from that household.
He told Ye Da bluntly, “Dividing the household doesn’t mean we’ll never talk again. It just means we live separately. Let’s keep it that way.”
There was absolutely no reason to return Yun Cheng to the old home to serve people again, only for the matriarch to see him being slow at chores and beat him once more.
No need for that.
Ye Da originally only wanted assurance that his son wasn’t cutting ties with the family completely, that in the future he would still fulfill filial duty if needed. Everything else could be flexible.
But having gotten the answer he wanted, he instead felt an emptiness settle in his heart.
A father and son by blood but Ye Cunshan understood him too well. He didn’t soften just because Ye Da looked a little weathered by age.
That day, the village was lively.
Even Aunt Liu, who always made a game out of mocking the two of them, clicked her tongue twice at Chen Jinhua. “Even if you want to divide the family, how could you give such a vicious reading? Harmful to relatives, unlucky for brothers, are you trying to drive someone to death?”
In a clan village, everyone was kin. Siblings of the same generation were all cousins.
Not just this village with all its people surnamed Ye, even the surrounding villages had many relatives through marriages over generations.
If not for the fact that Li Daodao kept his readings quiet, if that fate reading spread even slightly, Ye Cunshan’s life in the village would’ve been worse than even those lazy men without the Ye surname.
The only ones unaffected were Ye Wangzu and Liu Yun.
Liu Yun had participated in papermaking several times. She already understood the key steps well. Today, while boiling tree bark, she took every chance to teach Ye Wangzu how to lift and dry the paper properly.
The pulp they used came from all the discarded draft sheets accumulated in the house, soaked after being shredded thoroughly.
Liu Yun sighed that Yan ge had really suffered in the past. Now that the house finally had enough paper, she realized just how much was needed for a child to study normally.
But Yun Cheng had long seen through everything.
Those “scrap papers” were shredded by Ye Yan himself, so finely that nothing remained legible, then soaked in water before being used for teaching, all to ensure no one saw what he had written.
That could only mean one thing: Ye Yan still hadn’t given up on writing his novel. Who knew how far he had progressed by now?
While Ye Cunshan was processing the toon wood, Yun Cheng sat beside him knitting a woolen garment. He asked whether Ye Yan would still take the exam for xiucai.
“Why doesn’t he go to the academy?” he asked.
So Ye Cunshan explained the academy situation.
Weixian had only one academy, opened by an old xiucai. Once Master Du returned to his hometown, he was invited to teach there and also established a study hall that specifically supported poor students.
The academy itself had several tiers.
Some children were just starting their enlightenment studies. Some studied for the children’s exam.
The largest group were those preparing for the xiucai exam, ages ranging widely.
“In Weixian, few take the juren exam. Those who pass xiucai and still want to advance further go to the prefectural academy to study.”
Their region was poor, the disparity small. The oldest students were in their forties and in some areas, even sixty year olds still attended classes to sit for the exams.
Because of poverty, once they finished a full set of textbooks, many students would choose to suspend their studies, memorizing at home and only going to consult their teacher when they had saved enough questions.
In such circumstances, the yearly tuition was low.
Ye Yan had studied for over ten years. His foundation was solid. After spending two years in the academy, he had to withdraw for the sake of the family’s finances.
Ye Cunshan, on the other hand, had started late and still needed a teacher’s guidance, so he continued to study normally.
Yun Cheng supported him wholeheartedly. His expectations weren’t extravagant, becoming a xiucai was more than enough.
That afternoon, the two boiled water to wash their hair and bathe, sitting by the stove to dry their hair afterward.
That evening, Ye Cunshan took the night watch and Yun Cheng had to sleep in his own room again. His mood soared.
To prevent him from getting burned, after arranging the heated brick bed, Ye Cunshan placed the original wooden board on top, raising the surface slightly.
When Yun Cheng lay down, the comfort was vastly superior to sleeping at Second Uncle Ye’s house, warm, balanced, neither hot nor cold.
Sitting on the bed, he pulled out the brand new quilted cotton jacket he had hidden at the bottom of his chest. Now that they had money, he finally dared to wear it.
Then he took out the inner shirt he still hadn’t returned to Ye Cunshan. Holding it up and measuring the position carefully, at the left side of the chest, he began stitching three small characters with pale colored thread, made specially for Ye Cunshan.
It all depended on how Ye Cunshan chose to interpret it.
Was it the “Little delicate crybaby” taking revenge or was it “Yun curling on the tip of his heart” adding a touch of playful affection to their married life?
The next morning, Ye Cunshan was finally relieved from night duty. After breakfast, he washed up briefly, fully intending to catch up on some much needed sleep but the moment he looked toward the bedside and saw the inner garment casually lumped there, his mild obsession kicked in. He picked it up, gave it a shake and paused.
It was the same garment but now, across the chest, a few small characters had been embroidered.
Ye Cunshan couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“So vengeful, aren’t you?”
A man who normally hated wearing a top while sleeping, even when he had the entire bed to himself, slipped that garment on before lying down.
Meanwhile, the vindictive little Yun Cheng was also busy thinking up new crafts. He remembered he still owed Ye Cunshan a new protective charm, so he went to ask Liu Yun whether she had any nicer fabric scraps.
The colorful and patterned pieces in her house had all been bought to make clothes for Sister Chan. The child was small and didn’t require much cloth, so every New Year the family splurged once, red padded jackets trimmed with rabbit fur, making her look festive and adorable.
Yun Cheng only managed to obtain a tiny square of red cloth.
After studying it for a while, he decided to embroider a scented sachet for Ye Cunshan.
The sachet was round and plump, stitched with a large “Fortune” character on the front. On the back, he added his own secret embellishments, auspicious clouds and a lucky koi, the same motif used on the hairpins he had made.
A small gift in return for a small gift, something modest yet heavy with intention.
Ye Cunshan only slept through the morning. After lunch with Yun Cheng, he went down the mountain to meet Uncle Ye Gen and mark the land for the house construction. In the afternoon, he came home and resumed working on the wooden bathing tub.
He wanted everything taken care of before he returned to the academy.
Seeing that Ye Cunshan had no intention of visiting his stepmother, Yun Cheng worried that in the future the man might be criticized during the imperial examinations for lacking “filial virtue.” So he went into the house, took five eggs, placed them neatly in a bamboo basket and covered them with a layer of cloth, pretending they were bringing over something substantial.
He then pulled Ye Cunshan along to make a brief visit.
The man had been running around when they left and he had been constantly busy since they returned, even pulling all nighters. Day after day, without a moment of rest, the sight made Yun Cheng’s heart ache. So he merely intended to show face, act polite for a bit, then slip away with Ye Cunshan to hide in Cunshan’s younger brother Cun Yin’s room and be lazy for a while.
Chen Jinhua’s expression didn’t need mentioning, everyone could guess how terrible it was. As for the stepsister Li Tao, she muttered a few snide comments, only to be forcibly silenced and made to apologize stiffly under Liu Cuiying’s glare.
Cun Yin now slept in Ye Cunshan’s old room, with everything still arranged exactly the same.
Ye Hu had brought him new rabbit fur and his winter coat was finally near completion; he was sitting at home sewing when they arrived.
“Grandmother wouldn’t let me take care of her,” Cun Yin confessed quietly. “She said she never treated her stepson like her own anyway, so she had her daughter come home to wait on her instead.”
He didn’t dare mention that Liu Cuiying had also dug out old gossip, specifically, how Chen Jinhua had kept talking about matching him with the butcher Liu’s bachelor son. The atmosphere at home had been tense; Cun Yin, who relied on reading faces to survive, stayed obediently in the house. Even though he desperately wanted to go find Yun Cheng to learn weaving and knitting, he hadn’t dared step outside.
The three chatted for a while. Once the timing felt appropriate, Ye Cunshan and Yun Cheng excused themselves.
Regardless of what happened inside that home, the fact remained that Ye Cunshan had brought a “generous” gift, spent a full hour paying respects to his malicious stepmother and left without quarrel.
Anyone watching would inevitably comment, “What a dutiful and kind young man.”
Since they were already down the mountain, they went by Second Uncle Ye’s house to check on the next round of papermaking. This session was aimed at helping Ye Wangzuo fully familiarize himself with the process, so the pace was slower. Anything imperfect was immediately redone.
In the biting cold, his hands were red and raw yet he didn’t even flinch. Over and over, he plunged his hands into the freezing water, repeating the motions of scooping and pressing the pulp.
Yun Cheng admitted inwardly that he could never manage such labor in two lifetimes.
When they returned home, he refused to let Ye Cunshan continue working on the tub. He sent him straight back to their room to rest.
“You really don’t know the meaning of exhaustion.”
Ye Cunshan felt warm inside and repeated one of Yun Cheng’s own teasing lines. “We’re not some rich household. Where would there be time to rest?”
To Yun Cheng, it was obvious, the man was under pressure and forcing himself to push on.
At nineteen, he was still young. Yun Cheng had to insist on making him stop. He pushed him toward the bed.
“Since you won’t take care of yourself, I’ll just have to supervise you.”
Ye Cunshan cooperatively removed his outer coat, didn’t let Yun Cheng help with his shoes and socks, handled that himself and lay down.
Truthfully, he still couldn’t sleep. His nerves had been stretched tight for too long and too many tasks remained unfinished. With his mind constantly racing, how could he dare sleep?
Yun Cheng fetched a small stool and told him to lie sideways with his head leaning outward.
Then he gently loosened Ye Cunshan’s braid and began massaging his scalp with slow, soothing strokes.
“Sleep. When you wake up, I have a gift for you.”
His voice was low, coaxing.
Yun Cheng knew a little massage technique, he had used it on his parents before. Although he was rusty now, even that was enough to give Ye Cunshan, who had never once experienced a head massage, a novel sense of warmth.
At first it tickled, his scalp tingling and uneasy but slowly he felt himself relax. His responses to Yun Cheng’s casual conversation grew slower and slower, until finally the softest hint of snoring replaced them.
Ye Cunshan never snored when he slept normally. Yun Cheng used this as the measure of his exhaustion.
Afraid to wake him, he didn’t stop. Whenever his fingers grew tired, he lightly combed through the man’s hair from scalp to ends. When his strength returned, he resumed pressing and rubbing.
Ye Cunshan slept deeply. Yun Cheng stayed beside him until night had fallen before finally withdrawing his hands. Then he headed to the kitchen to make porridge.
His housekeeping skills were genuinely terrible. It had taken him days just to learn how to keep the fire going. He feared hot oil when stir frying, couldn’t manage rice to water ratios and struggled with controlling heat, so the only reliable dish he could make was plain porridge.
He couldn’t make pancakes either, so he washed a few eggs and tossed them in to boil whole. There were still pickles at home, enough to get by. Yun Cheng couldn’t stir fry but he could reheat dishes, since that required no oil and no seasonings.
Even adding salt was a challenge to him.
Feeling lazy today, he didn’t even heat the pickles properly. He simply placed the dish on top of the stove lid and covered it with a bowl, letting the steam warm it.
Now that he could manage the fire, a new problem appeared, his unfamiliarity with the fire poker meant he kept accidentally poking the flames out.
Once the food was ready, he stayed by the stove’s mouth, guarding it carefully.
When Ye Cunshan woke, dinner had just finished. Yun Cheng stood there awkwardly, twisting the hem of his apron with both hands.
“It’s just porridge… and an egg…”
To Ye Cunshan, that alone was more than enough.
“You learned this in the last few days?”
He casually tied his hair back as he asked.
After washing up, Yun Cheng sat down as well, using a warm towel to wipe his face. Once he was done, no one would have guessed how flustered he had been earlier while preparing such a humble and rough dinner. His appearance was as calm as ever.
Yun Cheng knew very well that without him, Ye Cunshan would never have been this tired. The thought tugged at him and he didn’t want to make anyone worry on his behalf ever again. So he simply said, “I can keep learning.”
Learning how to cook wasn’t just good for the household, it was good for him personally. Ye Cunshan didn’t oppose the idea at all and instead asked, “So, when you were learning these past few days, which part did you find the hardest?”
There were obviously two problems. First, trying to tend the fire and stir fry at the same time, he never had enough hands. Second, oil splatters were terrifying, no matter how little oil they used because of poverty. Even a single sizzling drop felt like impending doom.
Ye Cunshan continued asking, “Then what kind of cooking do you like the most?”
Yun Cheng answered without hesitation, “Boiling. Boil everything.”
That single word made Ye Cunshan laugh so suddenly that he almost choked on his porridge. “Alright,” he chuckled, “I’ll teach you how to make stew tomorrow.”
Stews were simple and perfect for winter, little risk and high success rate.
He added, “I ordered a stove in Weixian. It comes with a clay pot and a small iron kettle.”
It was a convenient little set. With few people, it could be used for cooking. With more people, it was perfect for boiling water or warming the room. By December, every household in the village would be using one.
Since this was a newly established home for the two of them, everything had to be bought fresh. The stove should arrive within the next couple of days.
Anything functional was good enough. Yun Cheng wasn’t picky at all.
But he huffed, “Stop talking about future plans. Let your brain rest for once. How can you have endless things to worry about day after day?”
Ye Cunshan had been living with a constantly ticking mind ever since he began studying. Hearing Yun Cheng say this felt oddly novel, unexpected, gentle and strangely grounding.
It warmed him in the same slow, steady way the peace charm had warmed him the first time he received it. A small ember lit inside him, glowing softly, comfortably.
After dinner, once everything was tidied up, Ye Cunshan walked Yun Cheng back to his room. Yun Cheng’s eyesight could now discern the general shape of the path but he still held onto Ye Cunshan the way he always had, both hands wrapped firmly around the man’s wrists. Even within the short distance of their own home, that gesture filled him with security.
Afraid of causing trouble, Yun Cheng didn’t let him linger. He gently pushed him toward the door. “Go back to your room and sleep.”
“I’ll give you your gift tomorrow.”
But Ye Cunshan, claiming that he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he didn’t receive something tonight, ended up taking a small sachet from Yun Cheng anyway.
He didn’t even look twice at the large “Fortune” stitched on the front; instead, his eyes were immediately drawn to the tiny characters embroidered beneath the drifting clouds on the back.
Meanwhile, Yun Cheng was still urging him away. “If you don’t leave now, you really will make me mess up.”
✦ ✧ ✦
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(≧▽≦)ﾉ☕ coffee!
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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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