Chapter 147

Chapter 147

Shen Qichi worked fast and soon finished cutting the rest of the wheat. He stacked all the wheat into sheaves, covered them with coarse cloth, and weighed down the corners with stones. Then he went to the vegetable plot, pulled out the trampled vegetables and the radishes stripped of their leaves by Su Ying, tossed them into the vegetable basket, and called to Su Ying, who was waiting nearby, and they headed home.

They'd left early, so they got home just past mid-morning. Shen Qichi carried the vegetable basket to the kitchen, picked out the wild grasses and flowers, selected a few that looked nice, and grabbed a celadon jade-glazed pear-shaped vase to arrange them in. The vase's glaze was as clear as green jade, with crackles like ice patterns, making it a real top-notch piece. If a connoisseur had been there, they'd have called it a waste to use such a vase for wild mountain flowers.

But Su Ying didn't get it. He just watched, a little confused, as Shen Qichi arranged the flowers, carefully tweaking their positions, adding fresh water to the vase, and then carrying it to the study desk.

The study was simply furnished but had the most stuff in the whole courtyard. A bamboo curtain separated it from the main hall. To the east lay a mat with a low-legged table, with brush, ink, paper, and scrolls—everything you'd need. To the right stood a tongwood painting cylinder with at least a dozen scrolls and parchment rolls, while a curio shelf against the north wall was packed with a dazzling array of books.

The tiny study was stuffed to the brim. Su Ying stood by the bamboo curtain, watching Shen Qichi kneel at the table to organize the scrolls. He cleared a spot on the left and set the jade-glazed vase there.

The autumn flowers from the fields were mostly wild chrysanthemums, purple asters, and dandelions. Dandelions blow away easily in the wind, so the vase now held mostly colorful wild chrysanthemums, cosmos, and asters. Sitting on the desk by the window, half-bathed in sunlight from the latticed window, they gave off a unique vitality.

"Not gonna eat?" he asked.

"These flowers are for looking at, not for eating."

"If you can't eat 'em, why not toss 'em?"

"They're nice to look at, so I'll keep 'em," Shen Qichi said. He poured a spoonful of water into the inkstone, slowly ground the ink stick, and when the ink got thick, he picked up a brush and dipped it, pulling out a sheet of paper with his free hand. The ink flowed across the paper, and Su Ying couldn't read it, but he found the sight of Shen Qichi writing, slender wrist suspended, head bowed, somehow beautiful. So he walked over, went around the desk, and sat down next to Shen Qichi.

He didn't sit as properly as Shen Qichi did. His legs were crossed, elbows on the table, palm propping up his face, with strands of hair hanging over the desk. He looked down at the paper under Shen Qichi's brush.

Shen Qichi handled this letter with obvious care, pausing often to think before writing more. When he was done, he carefully dried the ink, tucked it into a letter pouch, tied the ribbon tight, and inscribed a few characters on the pouch. Only then did he put down the brush and explain to Su Ying, "These are the Four Treasures of the Study: brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Besides talking, people also write letters to share their thoughts and feelings. In life, studying, learning principles, and passing imperial exams all depend on these four things."

Su Ying wasn't interested.

Seeing his expression, Shen Qichi picked up the brush and wrote a few characters on a blank sheet.

"See, these are our names."

Su Ying sat up a little. Shen Qichi pointed to two characters, saying slowly, "Su Ying." Then he pointed to three characters in a row, "Shen Qichi."

Su Ying murmured, "Shen Qichi."

Shen Qichi smiled. "Want to try writing them?"

Su Ying looked at him.

"Come." Shen Qichi placed the wolf-hair brush into Su Ying's hand, stood up, and knelt behind him on his right. He reached out to correct Su Ying's grip, covering his hand, and guided him stroke by stroke:

Su Ying.

Su Ying was clumsy. Even with Shen Qichi's guidance, the ink marks on the paper were crooked, nothing like the elegant, refined characters Shen Qichi had written. Frustrated, he pressed harder, but the brush bore down too heavily, leaving a thick ink blot on the paper, making the characters even worse.

"Relax," Shen Qichi chuckled softly. "Follow my lead."

A faint, fragrant breath brushed past Su Ying's ear, stirring a tingling sensation. Su Ying turned his head, and Shen Qichi's fair face was inches away. The sluggish heart in his chest began to misbehave again, losing its rhythm, pounding restlessly.

"Focus," Shen Qichi said, staring at their overlapping hands, not looking at him.

Su Ying turned back, watching the ink spread across the paper, but he couldn't concentrate. He completely relaxed his right hand, letting Shen Qichi guide him over and over until the characters "Su Ying" filled the entire sheet, becoming neat and smooth.

"Do you remember your name now?"

Su Ying turned his head, fixed his gaze on Shen Qichi, then after a moment, leaned in to nuzzle his neck before slowly nodding. "I remember."

Shen Qichi patted his head, praising his quick wit. Then he released his right hand, signaling that he was done.

Su Ying was puzzled. "Aren't you writing your name?"

Shen Qichi paused slightly. "Haste makes waste. Today, we'll just learn yours."

"Oh."

Shen Qichi picked up the paper covered with Su Ying's name, rolled it up, and placed it in the painting cylinder. Then he asked, "How does this place compare to Deer Cliff?"

Su Ying answered without hesitation, "I don't like it."

Shen Qichi paused. "What don't you like?"

"I don't like this human form. I don't like you talking to others. I don't like not being able to be with you always."

His definition of "being together" was far too strict—he insisted on clinging to Shen Qichi constantly to call it companionship. Shen Qichi laughed and asked, "Is there anything you do like?"

Su Ying thought for a moment. "The bedding last night, the egg this morning, and just now when I was writing."

Shen Qichi nodded, glanced at the sundial in the courtyard—it was nearly noon—and said, "You haven't practiced cultivation today. I'll go cook. The sunlight is strongest here, so practice here for a while."

Su Ying was a bit reluctant.

His cultivation was already deep; missing a day or two made no difference. Besides, his practice merely involved transforming into his serpent form to breathe in the essence of heaven and earth, circulating spiritual energy through his body—no intricate methods were needed. Even while moving in human form, he could still breathe and circulate energy, though with far less effect.

Before experiencing the mating tide, he had cultivated constantly, feeding on dew and spiritual fruits, occasionally leaving his barrier to hunt for meat. After the tide, he realized how dull and tedious those days of nonstop cultivation had been. Moreover, the aura from Shen Qichi, though not as beneficial as the sun, moon, and mountain essence for boosting his cultivation, was like a spring breeze that made him blissful.

Shen Qichi was uncompromising on this matter. Though his expression wasn't harsh, his tone left no room for argument. "Cultivate for at least two hours every day, at midnight and noon—not a moment less."

Su Ying had no choice but to agree and stayed in the study to practice.

When he cultivated, he was focused. By the time Shen Qichi returned to the study after lunch, the black serpent was still coiled in the same spot, seemingly asleep. Only by shifting angles could one see the faint, subtle glow around its body.

Shen Qichi didn't want to disturb him. He casually picked up a scroll from the curio shelf and was about to leave when a clear, childish voice came from outside the courtyard.

"Master! Master!"

A young child with hair in tufts ran in from the yard, familiar with the path, heading straight for the study's latticed window.

Shen Qichi quickly took off his shoes, hurried onto the mat, and knelt beside Su Ying. Seeing he couldn't block the view in time, he swiftly lifted the hem of his robe and covered the black serpent just as the child leaned on the windowsill, staring at Shen Qichi with bright, lively eyes.

"Master Shen, my teacher sent me to ask—since you're back home, when will you return to the village school to teach?"

The black serpent stirred under the robe. Shen Qichi pressed it down through the fabric. He was about to say he could return that afternoon, but then Su Ying's earlier words flashed through his mind. So he said to the child, "Go back and tell Teacher Xiao that I still have important matters at home. Ask for two more days' grace."

The child let out an "oh," then his eyes darted to the wildflower bouquet on the desk. Shen Qichi pulled out two or three stems, took a piece of malt candy from his pocket, and handed them both to the child.

"Thank you, Master," the child said crisply.

"One more thing," Shen Qichi added. "From now on, I'll have a teaching assistant for my classics lessons. No tuition fee required. Please ask Teacher Xiao to set up an extra seat beside me."

"A teaching assistant?" The child, about to leave, turned back and leaned on the windowsill again. "Where is he from?"

"A distant relative from home," Shen Qichi said simply.

The child nodded. "Don't worry, Master Shen. I'll pass it on word for word." Shen Qichi thanked him, and the child happily departed.

Once he was far away, Shen Qichi released his hand. The black serpent slowly poked its head out from under the robe, then slithered up onto Shen Qichi's lap.

Shen Qichi apologized. "Sorry, I disturbed you."

The black snake flicked its tongue, like it was saying, "It's fine."

Shen Qichi glanced at the sundial; it was barely past noon, so he said, "You keep at your cultivation. I'm gonna head somewhere else."

But the black snake looked dead set on staying in his lap.

Shen Qichi, somehow getting the message, silently shifted to a cross-legged position after a brief pause. The black snake coiled up to his waist and abdomen, but he pressed its head back down between his legs. "Cultivate."

The black snake, finally behaving, stopped messing with him and found a comfortable spot between his legs to continue cultivating. Shen Qichi watched it for a moment, then picked up a scroll and began to read.

Su Ying had planned to stop cultivating when the time was up, but before he knew it, the whole afternoon had slipped by. When he emerged from the mystical state of spiritual energy circulation, the sun was already slanting westward. He looked up to see Shen Qichi absorbed in reading a bamboo scroll, the evening sunlight casting a soft glow on his calm, focused face. His long eyelashes cast fine shadows in the twilight, and the tiny hairs on his face seemed gilded with a soft light.

Su Ying shifted into human form, resting his head on Shen Qichi's lap, and asked, "Why didn't you call me?"

Feeling the weight on his leg, Shen Qichi snapped out of it, glanced at the sky outside, set the scroll down on the desk, and smiled faintly as he looked down. "Guess I lost track of time too."

Su Ying stared at that smile, then suddenly pounced, pressing Shen Qichi against the wall behind him. He braced his arms on either side, boxing Shen Qichi in against the wall, and leaned in close. Caught off guard, Shen Qichi's eyes went wide with surprise as Su Ying's vividly striking face loomed larger before him.

"What are you—!" He pushed his hands against Su Ying's chest, but Su Ying caught them with one hand, encircling both wrists firmly in his grip and pinning them to his own chest. Then, cool lips landed on Shen Qichi's face. He let out a muffled groan as those lips fumbled clumsily across his skin.

Su Ying himself didn't know what he was doing. He just felt an inexplicable urge to be close to Shen Qichi, to transform back into his true form and coil tightly around him, to wrap him up airtight like in the cave, to pin him firmly to himself, to…

What was he thinking?

He kept brushing his lips over the soft flesh of Shen Qichi's cheek, over the thin skin of his neck, behind his flushed ears, over his trembling eyelashes, and the pink mole at the corner of his eye, but he never found what he sought, and a wave of frustration rose within him. Suddenly, he brushed against a soft, warm spot, and a tingling sensation shot from the point of contact through his entire body. He jolted, feeling the person beneath him tremble too.

He pulled back slightly, gazing at Shen Qichi's flushed face, his closed eyes, his ragged breath—like a flower in full bloom. Carefully, he leaned in, pressing his lips to Shen Qichi's, tentatively nibbling and sucking.

Shen Qichi trembled, his fingers that had been weakly pressing against Su Ying's chest suddenly tightening, crumpling the fabric of his robe into a mess. He furrowed his brows in discomfort, his lips parting unconsciously. Su Ying abruptly licked the soft flesh between his lips, paused, then, as if by instinct, pried open his mouth and thrust his tongue inside, crashing recklessly through the warm cavity.

It went on for a long time, until Shen Qichi could barely breathe, before Su Ying finally pulled back.

After a moment, Shen Qichi opened his eyes, still unfocused. Seeing the moisture glistening on his lips, Su Ying leaned in again to lick it away, then finally released his wrists and pulled him into an embrace, resting his chin on his shoulder.

"I'm kinda starting to like this human form."