The next afternoon, Bai Yunchi drove Su Yi’an and Yang Jiayang out to the outskirts of the city. Nuomi came along as well. The little fellow was so excited that the smile on its face never faded the entire way.
Once they arrived at their destination, Nuomi couldn’t wait a second longer. It jumped out of the car, wagged its tail and plunged straight into the mountains.
Su Yi’an tried to stop it but failed. Worried that Nuomi might run into danger, he turned around anxiously and said, “Teacher Bai, Nuomi ran into the mountains!”
“It’s fine. It comes to this mountain often. Nothing will happen to it.”
Bai Yunchi looked completely calm, without the slightest hint of worry.
“Come on. I’ll take you to meet the owner of this mountain.”
Su Yi’an looked back in the direction Nuomi had gone. The vegetation in the mountains was thick and lush. Even when he stood on tiptoe, all he could see was a small section of a tail tip flickering faintly in and out of sight.
“Let’s go. If the owner himself isn’t worried, what are you worrying about?” Yang Jiayang said as he grabbed Su Yi’an by the arm and pulled him along.
This place was familiar to Su Yi’an. The farmhouse Bai Yunchi had taken him to last time was nearby.
“Teacher Bai, is the friend you mentioned the one who runs that farmhouse?”
“That’s him.”
“Brother Bai is here! The boss is at the back of the mountain right now. I’ll go call him for you,” an employee greeted them warmly when he saw Bai Yunchi.
“No need to trouble yourself. We’ll go over ourselves,” Bai Yunchi replied.
They followed behind Bai Yunchi on foot toward a row of low houses. Before they even got close, they heard a buzzing sound ahead that made their scalps tingle.
A bee flew past them. Yang Jiayang let out a startled cry.
It was also Su Yi’an’s first time seeing so many bees. He froze in place, not daring to move forward.
Bai Yunchi told the two of them to wait where they were and went in alone to look for someone.
“Damn it, you dare sting your grandpa? Are you asking for death?”
In the area swarming with bees, Yan Yi was wearing a protective beekeeping suit and cleaning the frames. Because he had been in too much of a hurry and hadn’t sealed it properly, a bee managed to get inside.
He clutched his backside and cursed nonstop. When he looked up and saw Bai Yunchi, it was as if he’d seen his savior. He hurriedly waved at him. “Perfect timing! Get over here and help me!”
Bai Yunchi stood where he was and didn’t move. Looking at his friend surrounded by bees, he said unhurriedly, “If the old man finds out I helped you, he’ll punish you even harder next time.”
“As long as you don’t snitch, Grandpa won’t know.”
The spot where he’d been stung hurt and itched terribly. Yan Yi couldn’t help scratching his butt, which was immediately followed by a string of colorful curses.
“There are two more over there. You’d better figure out how to keep their mouths shut first,” Bai Yunchi said, glancing sideways.
Yan Yi followed his friend’s line of sight and saw two young men. He raised an eyebrow teasingly. “What, haven’t seen you in a few days and you’ve gone bent?”
Bai Yunchi’s expression didn’t change at all. He loosened the collar of his shirt and said calmly, “Even if I really were bent, I wouldn’t be like you, going after minors.”
Yan Yi felt utterly exhausted. “How many times do I have to explain this to you? He’s not a minor. He just has a baby face and looks young, that’s all and the two of us are completely consensual. There’s absolutely no forced-love nonsense.”
As he spoke, he shot Bai Yunchi a glance and complained, “And you call yourself my brother. You wouldn’t even help me say a few good words in front of Grandpa. Now my credit card’s been suspended and I’ve been punished by being sent to this godforsaken place to collect honey. Do you have any idea how much I’ve suffered? This is only the first day and I’ve already got three huge welts on my butt from being stung.”
“You know the old man’s temper better than anyone,” Bai Yunchi said. “He’s still in the middle of his anger right now. No one can talk him out of it.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two young men fanning themselves to cool down. He said to his friend, “Come back first. It wouldn’t be good to keep the guests waiting too long.”
“Yeah, I really need to head back. If I stay any longer, I’m going to lose my life here,” Yan Yi said, clutching his backside. “You take them inside to sit for a bit first. I’ll put some medicine on and come right over.”
Five minutes later, Yan Yi appeared in the living room, carrying a strong smell of ointment with him.
Su Yi’an and Yang Jiayang stood up and greeted him. “Brother Yan.”
Yan Yi nodded. “Why are you all standing there? Sit down, all of you. I won’t sit, my butt hurts.”
Bai Yunchi had already introduced this wealthy young master to the two of them. Su Yi’an had originally thought the other party would be difficult to get along with but to his surprise, he turned out to be quite easygoing.
“Little Su and Little Yang, right? I’ve already heard about your purpose for coming from Yunchi. There’s plenty on Jujube Mountain. Besides jujubes, there are lots of mountain products too, hazelnuts, pine nuts, hazel mushrooms, black fungus, hawthorn and Nanguo pears. Every year we can’t finish eating them all and end up with plenty left over. If you’re interested, we can try selling them together.”
Yang Jiayang looked thrilled when he heard this. He leaned closer to Su Yi’an and whispered, “With so many mountain products, you could open a whole online shop just selling these.”
Su Yi’an was thinking the same thing. He and Jiayang already had experience running an online store, so compared to complete beginners, they could avoid quite a few detours.
The two of them quickly reached an agreement and shared their idea with Yan Yi. Yan Yi readily agreed to cooperate. After all, letting all these mountain goods go uneaten was a waste anyway. Putting them online to sell could also bring in some pocket money.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you into the mountains for a look.”
This mountain had been bought by Old Master Yan back when he was young. One large mountain connected to two smaller ones, covering a vast area.
The old man hadn’t bought the mountain to make money. He simply wanted a quiet place to retreat to in his later years, somewhere he could stay for a few days from time to time.
Because of that, all the mountain produce grew naturally. No pesticides had ever been sprayed, so it posed no threat to health. On top of that, its nutritional value was extremely high.
“This area here is the jujube forest. You can start harvesting gradually by the end of next month. That mountain over there has more pine trees. Around mid-September, the pine nuts will be ripe.”
As they walked, Yan Yi continued introducing things to them. “Hazel mushrooms have already started being picked. They’re all piled up in the warehouse.”
He turned his head toward the three of them and said, “Stay for dinner tonight. I’ll have Xiao Xu make a small chicken stew with mushrooms later. I haven’t had it in a long time and I’ve really been craving it.”
Su Yi’an felt that they weren’t very familiar with each other yet and it didn’t seem appropriate to trouble someone like this. He was just about to find an excuse to decline when he heard Bai Yunchi agree from the side, “Alright.”
Yan Yi called the kitchen, finalized the menu and then continued introducing the mountain products to them. “The skew-handle red hawthorn ripens in October. Nanguo pears can only be harvested once September comes. The timing is just right. By the time all the preparations are done, it’ll be about harvest season.”
Hearing this, Yang Jiayang said, “It’s the end of July now. We only have one month. I’m familiar with operating an online shop but the store An’an and I are currently running has nothing to do with food. If we want to find customers in a short time, we’ll need to do a lot of promotion.”
Yan Yi said, “No need to worry about funding. I still have a farmhouse. Even though it doesn’t earn much, it’s more than enough to promote the online shop.” As he spoke, he looked at Bai Yunchi. “If that’s still not enough, don’t we still have Teacher Bai here? Those treasures of his, selling just one or two would be more than enough.”
Under a tree nearby, there was a small patch of wild ground cherries. Bai Yunchi casually picked a few and handed them to the young man beside him.
“When Yunbo asks about it later, you explain it to her.”
Yan Yi immediately changed his tune. “Forget it then. If that girl finds out I sold the gift she gave you to get money, she’ll definitely run to the old man and complain again.”
“Good that you know,” Bai Yunchi replied.
He glanced sideways and saw that the young man was holding them but not eating. “Don’t like sour ground cherries?”
Su Yi’an shook his head. “I like them.”
Ground cherries were also known as golden berries. It was the first time he’d heard someone call them by that name and he couldn’t help but take another look at the man.
Su Yi’an and Yang Jiayang stayed behind eating the ground cherries. A few meters ahead of them, Bai Yunchi and Yan Yi started talking about other things.
“A few days ago, Aunt Xu called me and beat around the bush asking whether you have a girlfriend.”
Su Yi’an popped another ground cherry into his mouth and pricked up his ears to eavesdrop.
Teacher Bai is so outstanding and he doesn’t even have a girlfriend?
“No wonder I suspect you’ve gone bent. We’ve been friends for so many years and I’ve never seen you date a girlfriend.”
Su Yi’an paused. Beside him, Yang Jiayang nudged his arm and leaned over, whispering, “Teacher Bai isn’t still a virgin, is he?”
Su Yi’an didn’t know but not having a girlfriend didn’t mean not having a sex life. Teacher Bai was already thirty. It was perfectly normal for him to have needs in that area.
He tossed aside the fruit husk, letting his thoughts run wild.
The group walked around the foot of the mountain for more than half an hour. When they started heading back along the same path, Su Yi’an suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the low bushes beside him.
He looked flustered and was just about to quicken his pace when a white figure burst out of the shrubs, barking as it ran over to his side.
“So it was you. You scared me to death.”
Su Yi’an relaxed his guard. He smiled as he ran his hand over Nuomi’s tousled head but the moment his gaze landed on the dog’s back, densely covered in burrs, he froze.
He turned and called out to Bai Yunchi, “Teacher Bai, Nuomi brought back a whole body full of burrs.”
Yan Yi also turned his head to take a look.
“Well I’ll be damned. Where did it go wild like that? It’s not even August yet, the burrs aren’t mature. It’s not easy to get this many stuck all over you.”
“Nuomi.”
Bai Yunchi called the dog over, darkened his expression and gave it a brief scolding. After that, the group headed down the mountain.
At this time of year, the burr spines were still soft and relatively easy to remove. After coming down the mountain, Su Yi’an and Yang Jiayang squatted under the willow tree in the courtyard. In less than ten minutes, they managed to rescue the little fellow completely.
Dinner was a truly authentic farmhouse meal: chicken stewed with mushrooms, cucumber and egg stir-fried with black fungus, sautéed three vegetables, lightly stir-fried white lotus root and a big pot of fresh fish soup. Just the rich, savory aroma alone was enough to stir up the appetite.
Su Yi’an drank two bowls of fish soup and ate quite a bit of the dishes as well. By the time the meal ended, his stomach was completely round from being stuffed. When he tilted his head and saw Yang Jiayang secretly loosening his waistband, the two of them burst out laughing.
After dinner, the four of them sat in the courtyard playing with Nuomi. When the sun finally dipped behind the mountains, Yan Yi stood up and clapped his hands. “You’ve rested enough. Time to help me work. The old man is waiting for the honey to send to his old friends. If we don’t finish collecting it today, he’ll come charging over tomorrow.”
As he spoke, he took out his phone. “I’ll call a car to send Little Su and Little Yang home. You stay behind and be my free labor.”
“We’ll help too. Jiayang and I haven’t seen what real honeycombs look like yet,” Su Yi’an said.
Yang Jiayang nodded, staring at the beehives not far away, rubbing his hands together eagerly, ready to give it a try.
Seeing this, Yan Yi laughed. “Just don’t cry later when you get stung by the bees.”
Su Yi’an replied seriously, “I won’t.”
Even if he did get stung, he would cry in secret. Crying in front of others would be far too embarrassing.
So, under Yan Yi’s guidance, the three of them put on protective beekeeping suits.
“Little Su, wait.”
Just as Su Yi’an was about to enter the breeding area, Bai Yunchi called out to him from behind.
He stopped and turned around. “What is it, Teacher Bai?”
Bai Yunchi didn’t speak. He walked up to him, lowered his gaze and helped him straighten out the back of his protective suit, which hadn’t been properly fastened. Only then did he say, “All set. Go on.”
Su Yi’an froze for a moment, then said a little flustered, “Oh, okay. Thank you, Teacher Bai.”
It seemed as though the warmth of the man’s fingertips still lingered at his waist. Su Yi’an couldn’t help paying attention to it. Through the protective suit, he touched the spot lightly and for no apparent reason, the tips of his ears began to burn.
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
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← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · New neighborsChapter 2 · Let’s just wash it.Chapter 3 · Pretty little girlChapter 4 · It’s impossible for us.Chapter 5 · Not as handsome as Teacher BaiChapter 6 · Happy cooperationChapter 7 · Making breakfastChapter 8 · LostChapter 9 · He’s hopelessly in love.Chapter 10 · Three CloudChapter 11 · Am I Old?Chapter 12 · Victory celebration banquetChapter 13 · Power outrageChapter 14 · Online dating meetupChapter 15 · Am I really that bad?Chapter 16 · Boyfriend?Chapter 17 · ConcertChapter 18 · Use Privileges.Chapter 19 · A night AloneChapter 20 · Do You Like me?Chapter 21 · The End