Mo Ran’s large and well-defined hand had already reached over to gently knead him through the quilt. Maybe it was because the pressure was just right and it felt good, but Shi Mei didn’t protest. His breaths evened out under the attentive kneading, and he fell asleep.
Mo Ran stayed until Shi Mei was sound asleep before getting ready to leave. Before he’d stood, his hand was caught.
Mo Ran’s eyes, black with a tinge of purple, widened. “Shi Mei?”
“It hurts… Don’t leave…” The beauty’s eyes were still closed, and he seemed to be talking in his sleep.
Mo Ran stood locked in place. Shi Mei had never asked anyone for anything; he was always the one helping others without any expectation of receiving the same. Only while asleep would he plead with Mo Ran to stay in such a soft voice.
So Mo Ran sat back down, gazing fondly at the face that he yearned for day and night, while continuing to massage his stomach. Outside the lattice window, peach blossom petals drifted lazily by as the sky darkened.
By the time Mo Ran remembered that he had told his little shidi he’d be back for dinner, it was already midnight.
“Oh no!” Mo Ran jumped to his feet, smacking his head over and over, “Oh no, oh no, oh no!”
By then, Shi Mei was deeply asleep. Mo Ran dashed outside and was about to sprint to the cave when a blue light flashed in the sky and the Xuanji Elder descended from above with a child in his arms, a child who held a little clay jar.
“Xuanji Elder!”
Xuanji shot Mo Ran a reproachful glance. “What happened? Didn’t you say you were going to go pick him up? If I hadn’t been concerned and gone to check on him after all, Yu…ahem, my disciple would’ve had to wait in that cave till dawn.”
“This disciple was wrong.” Mo Ran lowered his head, but nonetheless lifted his eyes to look at Chu Wanning. “Shidi…”
Xuanji put Chu Wanning down. Chu Wanning, still holding that clay jar, looked calmly at Mo Ran. “Have you eaten yet?”
Mo Ran hadn’t expected that to be the first thing he said, and he could only reply dumbly: “N-not yet…”
So Chu Wanning walked over and offered him the jar. “Have some,” he said mildly. “It’s still warm.”
Mo Ran stood there motionlessly for a while. By the time he came back around, he had already pulled the little guy into a hug, along with his clay jar. “Okay, I will.”
This silly kid had been worried that the soup might go cold, and he had taken off his outer robe to wrap it around the jar. His small body felt a bit chilly in Mo Ran’s arms.
Mo Ran pressed their foreheads together, nuzzling him softly, and for the first time in two lives, he spoke these words and meant them: “Sorry. It was my fault.”
They bid Xuanji good night and went inside the pavilion.
Chu Wanning’s outer robe was now too wrinkled to wear, and Mo Ran worried that his shidi might need the warmth, so he went to the inner room to find him a blanket. Chu Wanning yawned and climbed onto a wooden bench holding the clay jar, and he was about to take out two bowls for the soup when his gaze landed on the meatbuns that Shi Mei hadn’t finished. He blinked, silent.
Hopping off the bench, Chu Wanning walked over to the bedroom and looked expressionlessly at that beautiful person lying on the bed inside. He neither grew angry nor said a word, but icy tendrils seeped out of his bones, and he felt his heart, so warm only a moment ago, freeze into a solid block of ice.
When Mo Ran returned to the kitchen, Chu Wanning was sitting at the table next to the window as before, with one foot on the bench and the other dangling off, an arm propped casually on the windowsill. When he heard Mo Ran’s movement, he turned his head a little and sent a glance at Mo Ran.
“Here, I found a firefox fur blanket. Bundle up, it’s cold at night.”
Chu Wanning didn’t reply.
Mo Ran walked over and handed him the blanket, but Chu Wanning didn’t take it. He only shook his head and slowly closed his eyes, as if resting.
“What’s wrong? You don’t like it?”
Still no reply.
“I’ll go see if there’s a different one, then,” Mo Ran said with a smile as he ruffled Chu Wanning’s hair. But when he turned to go look for another blanket, he realized that the clay jar was no longer on the table. He stared in confusion. “Where’d my soup go?”
“Who said it was yours?” Chu Wanning finally spoke, his voice wintry. “It’s mine.”
The corner of Mo Ran’s lips twitched. He figured that the kid was throwing a tantrum. “Okey dokey. Yours, then. Where did your soup go?”
“I threw it away,” Chu Wanning said flatly.
“Th-threw…?”
Chu Wanning went back to ignoring him. He hopped lightly off the bench and opened the door to leave.
“Hey—Shidi? Shidi, where are you going?” Mo Ran forgot all about the blanket—the killer was still at large, it wasn’t safe out there—and hastily chased after him.
He spied the small clay jar under the peach blossom tree; it hadn’t been thrown out after all. Mo Ran let out a breath. This was his own fault to start with. His little shidi had probably been trying to hold in his resentment earlier, but then been unable to hold it in any longer and let it out despite himself. And he had every right to do so.
So Mo Ran walked over and sat down next to Chu Wanning, who had seated himself under the peach blossom tree. Ignoring Mo Ran, Chu Wanning grabbed the little clay jar, opened the lid, took out a ladle bigger than his face, and tried to reach in. But the ladle wouldn’t fit, and he threw it aside in a fit of anger. The ladle struck the ground with a crack and broke into pieces, and the boy sat there holding the jar in a daze.
“Just drink right out of it,” Mo Ran suggested, his head turned sideways and cheek propped up. “It’s just the two of us here anyway. No need to be embarrassed.”
Chu Wanning did not deign to respond.
“No? I’m gonna drink it if you don’t. It’s the first time my shidi has made soup for me—I’m not gonna let it go to waste,” Mo Ran teased as he reached for the jar with a grin.
To his surprise, Chu Wanning slapped his hand away. “Get lost.”
Dumbstruck, Mo Ran blinked. This exchange left him with a bit of deja vu. Then he scooted back over with a grin on his thick face. “Shidi, I was wrong. Please don’t be mad anymore. I was gonna go pick you up hours ago, but your Mingjing-shixiong suddenly fell ill so I was delayed. I didn’t mean to leave you waiting.”
Chu Wanning kept his head down and said nothing.