Capítulo 136: Chapter 136: Shizun, Relax
>>noncon mention
Mo Ran was minding his own business reaping rice when he suddenly felt a hand from behind pulling his belt down. Quite the shocking feeling, really.
Turning around to see that it was Chu Wanning, who was about to fall over,
was even more shocking.
Mo Ran hurriedly threw the sickle aside to support him, but it was such a bad fall that Chu Wanning was practically already halfway on the ground, and a hand in support wouldn't help any, so he had no choice but to hold him up with both arms. That person dressed in floating white robes and smelling faintly of the fragrance of haitang blossoms landed solidly against his chest, and Mo Ran reflexively closed his arms around him in an embrace, the ears of rice previously occupying his arms scattering all over the ground.
"Shizun, what are you doing here?" He asked, not yet recovered from the shock. "You scared me." Chu Wanning: "..." "The paddy field is slippery to walk in, be careful." The person in his arms didn't look up or say anything, feeling so awkward that he couldn't even form any words. But the village maiden continued warbling mercilessly, "I tug at~ loverboy's belt~ hey~ just when are you coming~" As if struck by lightning, Chu Wanning abruptly let go of Mo Ran's belt and stood back up on his own feet. He took a breath before suddenly shoving Mo Ran away, and although his expression might pass for calm, his eyes were frightfully bright, like rolling waves catching the sunlight, obviously flustered but still forcefully faking composure.
"..." Mo Ran suddenly noticed that his earlobes were red.
It was a pretty color, a light pinkness in the skin like tender peaches at the tips of branches. He suddenly thought of the way those earlobes had tasted in his mouth as he sucked on them in the previous lifetime, the way Chu Wanning had trembled slightly every time he had done that, the way that, despite the utmost unwillingness, his steel-boned body had gone soft and pliant in his arms.
Mo Ran swallowed, his gaze unconsciously growing deep and dark…
But Chu Wanning was absolutely livid—though it was uncertain whom at— snarling between gritted teeth, "What are you staring for! What is there to look at!!" Jolting back to reality, Mo Ran's blood ran cold.
Beast!
Just what despicable things had he done to Shizun out of his own selfish desire in the past? Shizun was so proud, how could he possibly accept being taken like that? Not only that, but such a dispassionate person as him probably didn't even feel any desire whatsoever to start with, so how dare he even think about these deplorable things again!
Mo Ran shook his head over and over again like a rattle drum.
Chu Wanning snapped, "What are you shaking your head for! Having fun?!" "..." Mo Ran immediately stopped shaking his head, but secretly snuck a glance.
Chu Wanning was clearly embarrassed, but trying to cover it up with this mask called anger as he was wont to do. Now that he was looking closely, it really wasn't difficult to tell from his eyes.
He was probably just embarrassed that he had tripped over in front of his own disciple, and due to a ribbiting frog at that.
How cute.
Mo Ran couldn't help chuckling at the thought.
But the chuckling only made Chu Wanning even angrier, his brows slanting in fury as he flew into a rage. "What are you laughing at?! So what if I don't know how to do farming things, what's so funny about that!!" "Nothing, nothing funny, nope." Mo Ran coaxed as he tucked his smile away and straightened his face into a serious expression, though he couldn't hide the smile in his eyes, bright and shining with amusement.
After a few moments of holding in his laughter, and just as it seemed like this matter was about to be dismissed, the frog that had hopped over to the ridge between the paddy fields puffed out its cheeks and croaked out two more selfrighteous ribbits, as if in a show of force.
Mo Ran fumbled his self-control, tried to turn his face away and cough into his fist to cover it up.
But he fumbled that too, and let out a "pfft" of laughter.
"......" Chu Wanning was really going to lose it, dragging his muddied robes behind him as he made for the ridge in a rage, but then he heard Mo Ran call out for him.
There was hardly any distance between the two of them; normally, Mo Ran would've just reached out and grabbed him—but he didn't, because he could still feel Chu Wanning's warmth against his chest, could still smell the scent of haitang from Chu Wanning's robes.
His heart felt all mushy like it was about to melt.
But he didn't dare allow his heart to melt. This person in front of him was so good, he wanted to treasure him, to cherish him, to revere him as he would a god. He didn't want to hurt him any more with his own vulgarity.
So he only called out to him, "Shizun." "What, not done laughing yet?" Chu Wanning glared at him out of the corners of his eyes.
Mo Ran's dimples were filled not with mocking, but gentleness. "Do you want to try learning? I'll teach you, it's actually quite simple, and Shizun is so smart,
you'll definitely pick it right up." As Mo Ran personally taught him how to reap the rice, Chu Wanning couldn't help wondering just how things managed to turn out this way—he had come over with the intention of learning by covert observation, so how had he ended up in an official apprenticeship instead?
What a mess.
But Mo Ran was taking it so seriously and attentively, and didn't even laugh at his clumsy attempts.
His brows were inky-black, and his features were sharper and more defined than when he was younger. These looks would usually seem handsome yet arrogant, but his gaze was gentle and patient, as if hiding a great many things that weighed on him, or perhaps hiding nothing at all, only conveying the depth of tenderness, the weight of the years.
"Just like this, it's all in the wrist, get it?" "...Mn." Chu Wanning tried doing it the way he instructed, but still didn't quite get it right. He was used to working with stiff blocks of wood and whatnot in his work,
but these soft ears of grain were somehow harder to deal with.
Mo Ran watched from the side for a while, then reached out with a toned,
muscular arm, and adjusted his grip on the sickle.
Skin contacted skin for only an instant; Mo Ran didn't dare touch him more than that, nor did Chu Wanning dare allow him to touch himself more than that.
One was clearly a torrential stream that had nowhere to pour, and the other clearly a pond that was all but dried up. They were clearly a perfect match—if only he would go into him, he would no longer churn restlessly with no outlet,
and he could be filled and watered, parched cracks all mended.
But they just wouldn't, each hiding from the other.
He instructed from behind him, "Put your finger a little lower, careful not to cut yourself." "I know." Came the stiff response.
"Relax a little, don't be so tense." "..." "Relax." But the more Mo Ran said that, the more Chu Wanning's back tensed and his grip stiffened.
Relax relax relax, it's not like he didn't want to! Easy for him to say! But Mo Ran was hovering right next to him as he spoke, his breath practically caressing the back of his ear, hot and heavy, carrying this man's unique scent of wildness —how was he supposed to relax like this?!
For some unknown reason, his brain chose this exact moment to remember that shameful dream.
They had been in more or less the same position in that dream, with Mo Ran's lips by his ear, touching yet not, ghosting along his earlobe.
He had said between panting breaths, "Relax a little...don't clench around me so tight…" Chu Wanning's entire face turned red.
He tried his best to get away from these weird thoughts, but a second wave rolled in right on the heels of the first, and he struggled free of these thoughts only to recall that "Size Ranking of the Cultivation World's Young Heroes" booklet instead…
"..." Chu Wanning was afraid that there might be smoke rising from his head.
But Mo Ran was none the wiser. "Why are you so tense? Re——" "I am quite relaxed!" Chu Wanning whipped his head around, eyes a little watery yet also filled with flames of anger as he glared at him, so close that it was practically like a sword piercing directly through Mo Ran's heart.
Both their hearts were clearly drumming fast in their chests, but however loud the drumming, the other still could not hear, not unless he were to step closer, not unless he were to press his chest against his back, not unless he were to grab his hand, bite his ear, suck on his earlobe, murmur to him between heavy breaths, "Relax, don't be so nervous." Only in this way would they understand each other.
But Mo Ran would never, and neither would Chu Wanning.
So Mo Ran awkwardly drew his hand back and straightened back up sheepishly, saying, "...Then, does Shizun want to try again like this?" "Mn." Mo Ran flashed him another smile before picking up his own sickle and getting back to work not far away. Two slices later, he seemed to suddenly remember something, turning to say over his shoulder, "Shizun." "What?" Chu Wanning's expression was sullen.
Mo Ran pointed at his shoes. "You should take off your boots." "I will not." "You might slip wearing them," Mo Ran said earnestly. "Those boots have smooth soles, I won't always be there to catch you every time you slip." "..." Chu Wanning mulled it over gloomily, then walked over to the ridge and took off his shoes and socks, tossing them next to a haystack before walking barefooted back into the paddy field to slog away at the rice.
High noon, and Chu Wanning had finally become more or less proficient with the sickle, his motions growing more fluent. The rice that he and Mo Ran reaped piled into quite a mighty little golden-colored mountain.
After harvesting another batch of crops in one go, Chu Wanning finally felt a little tired, straightening up to take a deep breath and wipe his sweat with the corner of a sleeve. A light breeze swept past golden waves of grain, bringing with it a refreshing autumn chill. He sneezed, and Mo Ran turned around immediately in concern.
"Is it cold?"
"I'm fine." Chu Wanning shook his head. "Some dust got in my nose just now."
Mo Ran smiled and was just about to say something when the clear voice of a village maiden rang out from beneath the mulberry tree in the distance, hands cupped around her mouth as she shouted "Lunchtime——it's lunchtime——!" "It's the lady who was singing earlier," Chu Wanning commented without even turning to look.
Mo Ran turned to the side and lifted a hand to his brow to squint into the distance. "It really is her. Shizun can tell by voice?" "Mn, all that warbling just to announce mealtime, who else could it be." Chu Wanning brought the last basket of rice over to the pile as he spoke, then headed off toward the mulberry tree, not even bothering with shoes since his feet were already dirty anyway. Mo Ran shook his head with a smile, picking up his abandoned boots before running to catch up.
Food was cooked in large pots for the entire village, and four or five women of the village carried out three wooden barrels and opening them to reveal a barrelful of steaming rice, another of braised pork with cabbage, and the last one filled with tofu and vegetable soup.
Honestly speaking, life for the common folk in the lower cultivation realm wasn't exactly the greatest, and meat was considered a luxury to most people.
But Sisheng Peak's cultivators were here, and what kind of host would the village chief be if he fed them nothing but vegetables? And so there was a hearty portion of cured marbled meat in the pork and cabbage dish.
The moment the lids came off, all the big burly villagers, smelling the meat,
had to swallow their drool.
"It's not much, xianjun please make do." The village chief's wife was a stocky woman, fifty-something years old with a loud voice and a wide, unreserved grin.
"We cured the meat and picked the vegetables ourselves, hope ya don't mind." Mo Ran waved his hand in a hurry. "Of course not." He scooped two full bowls of rice and handed them to Shizun before getting a third bowl himself.
Peeking into the barrel, Chu Wanning saw that the braised pork with cabbage was covered in a whole layer of chili peppers. He was rather apprehensive at the sight, but the auntie waved him over with such enthusiasm before scooping a big ladle-full of hot, spicy broth and putting many pieces of bright red meat in his bowl.
"..." It would've been a delicious treat to the people of Shu who loved spicy foods. But to Chu Wanning, this bowl just might be the end of him.
But it wasn't like he could decline the hospitality of the villagers, either. Chu Wanning was frozen in uncertainly when a hand reached over and offered him another bowl.
The bowl was filled with tofu and vegetable soup. It was kind of plain, but Chu Wanning liked it.
"Here, swap with me," said Mo Ran.
"...It's fine, eat your own." Chu Wanning did not take the proffered bowl.
The auntie was puzzled for a while by this exchange before she put two and two together and smacked her head, hollering, "Aiyah, can this xianjun not eat spicy food?" Seeing the guilt on her face, Chu Wanning replied, "No, I can eat it a little." Then he picked up some of the broth-soaked rice with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.
"..."
A few moments passed in silence, Chu Wanning's face growing redder by the second as everyone watched, and then even the tightly-pursed line of lips began to quiver, until—— "...Cough cough cough cough!!!!" An earthshaking coughing fit.
Who was it that said the only unbearable things in this world were love,
destitution, and sneezes.
They clearly forgot about chili peppers.
Chu Wanning had woefully overestimated himself and sorely underestimated the chili peppers, choking so bad on the spice that his entire face was beet-red and he couldn't speak at all. The onlooking villagers were all aghast, while the kids, being kids, giggled from behind the adults, only to earn themselves swats on the head.
Mo Ran hurriedly put down the bowl and chopsticks he was holding and scooped another bowl of soup for him. The soup seemed to help somewhat, but his tongue felt like it was on fire from the hot soup on top of all that spice. His face was flushed and his eyes were watery when he looked up at Mo Ran,
saying in a hoarse voice, "More." More.
Chu Wanning clearly meant more soup, but Mo Ran felt his whole body burning up at the sight of those teary eyes, that face the color of haitang flowers in early spring, and his mind drifted off course of its own volition.
For a brief moment, his mind conjured up an image from the past life, of that man lying beneath himself, panting from need and the effect of the aphrodisiac both, eyes open but glazed over and unfocused, body trembling ever so slightly, voice hoarse as those moist lips parted in soft moans, "Please...more…"
Author's Notes:
Mini Theatre: "Examples of some things these people can't stand most"
Chu Wanning: Eating spicy food
Mo Ran: Watching Chu Wanning eat spicy food
Shi Mei: Participating in a triathlon with his muscles on display
Xue Meng: Forced to be gay
Mei Hanxue: The authorities closing down the brothel
Ye Wangxi: Marrying Song Qiutong Nangong Si: His dog dying
Meatbun: Working overtime
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