Chapter 51

Chapter 51

"So when are we going to consummate the marriage?"

When he heard Xie Licheng say that, Gu Zhangyuan quickly pulled his hand back.

He knew it. Xie Licheng being so generous all of a sudden definitely meant he had some other scheme in mind.

Gu Zhangyuan leaned into Xie Licheng's chest and said quietly, "Can we hold off on consummating for a while?"

"What's wrong?"

"I... I'm afraid that once we consummate, I'll get pregnant. Right now, the Gu family has a lot of things I need to handle, and the town and villages need me to keep an eye on them every day. If I got pregnant now, my body would be all achy and uncomfortable in all kinds of ways, and I wouldn't have the energy to deal with everything."

At that point, Gu Zhangyuan paused for a moment. He looked up at Xie Licheng, and only after making sure Xie Licheng didn't seem mad did he keep going, slow and easy. "I was thinking... maybe once more people move here and I find the right people to help me run things, then we can think about having a kid."

Xie Licheng understood his worries, but to him, they were no big deal. Gu Zhangyuan was just scared of getting pregnant after they slept together. Xie Licheng remembered that when he was gathering supplies in his past life, he'd picked up some condoms from a big supermarket.

"Actually, even if we do it, as long as you don't want to get pregnant, we've got ways to stop it."

Gu Zhangyuan's eyes went wide. "You want me to drink some birth control soup?"

Before he could even start getting mad, Xie Licheng said, "It's not about making you drink that stuff—drinking too much of it is bad for your body."

Gu Zhangyuan had been about to blow up, because if Xie Licheng wanted him to drink birth control soup just so they could sleep together, then he'd really have been blind to pick this man. Luckily, Xie Licheng didn't seem to mean that, so he decided to hear him out first.

"I've got something that can keep you from getting pregnant and won't hurt you at all."

"Really? Something that good exists?"

"Mm, come on. Let's head back to the farm and I'll show you."

Gu Zhangyuan was actually pretty curious, so he got up and packed up their clothes with Xie Licheng.

Xie Licheng had teleported straight here, but on the way back, since he had to bring Gu Zhangyuan with him, they had to take the carriage.

They went back to the farm first, and Xie Licheng found Gu Zhangyuan a more comfortable, practical outfit.

Xie Licheng handed the clothes to Gu Zhangyuan and also grabbed two long cloth strips.

Gu Zhangyuan looked at the strips and asked, "What are these for?"

Xie Licheng: "To tie around your pant legs, so you don't have to worry about bugs crawling up inside."

Xie Licheng's defense stat was ridiculously high, so he didn't need to bother with all that when going up the mountain.

But Gu Zhangyuan was different—he was timid, scared of this and that.

Now that the weather was warming up, there'd be more poisonous bugs and snakes up on the mountain.

If a bug crawled into his clothes, Gu Zhangyuan would probably never dare to go up the mountain to play again.

Hearing that bugs could crawl up his pant legs, Gu Zhangyuan said fearfully, "Then... maybe I just shouldn't go up the mountain?"

He was scared of bugs, scared of snakes, and even more scared of wolves, tigers, and stuff like that.

He was also kind of clumsy, stumbling even on flat ground, and he figured he really wasn't cut out for the mountain.

Xie Licheng: "Don't be scared. If you wrap your calves the way I told you, no bugs will get on you. And if you get too tired to walk, I can carry you on my back."

Gu Zhangyuan was really light to him anyway, so carrying him wouldn't be a problem—he could just treat it like weighted training.

Hearing Xie Licheng say that, and since he did want to wander around and have some fun, Gu Zhangyuan decided to change and go up the mountain with him.

Gu Zhangyuan changed into the clothes Xie Licheng had laid out, then sat down and let Xie Licheng wrap his legs.

The long cloth strips had to be wrapped from the ankle all the way up to the calf, completely covering the pants inside, leaving no gaps—so bugs couldn't get in.

Xie Licheng knelt down on one knee to wrap his legs. Gu Zhangyuan watched him with his head bowed, completely lacking his usual cold, arrogant look, and for some reason his courage suddenly grew.

He put his other foot up on Xie Licheng's broad shoulder. He was only wearing a thin summer sock.

Xie Licheng didn't get mad either—he just glanced at the foot, then kept slowly wrapping his leg.

Xie Licheng looked so tame right now that it reminded Gu Zhangyuan of how he used to be.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "The way you look right now makes me want to mess with you."

Xie Licheng lifted his dark, deep eyes and said, a little amused, "Are you sure it's you messing with me, and not me messing with you?"

Gu Zhangyuan also knew that his current gentleness and obedience were all just an act. In reality, deep down, Xie Licheng was wild, cruel, and arrogant.

If he said he wanted to mess with Xie Licheng, the end result would definitely be him getting messed with instead.

Gu Zhangyuan muttered, a little annoyed, "Then... can't you just let me mess with you a little? I'm your husband, after all."

Xie Licheng let out a soft sigh, then asked very gently, "How do you want to mess with me?"

"Just... you kneel down, or let me ride you like a horse."

Xie Licheng found his unique way of bullying funny.

He said, "You know what it means to let a man ride you like a horse?"

What a little idiot.

Gu Zhangyuan, still totally innocent, looked confused. "What does that mean?"

Xie Licheng: "It doesn't mean anything. You'll get it later."

With that, he stood up and pulled Gu Zhangyuan outside.

He grabbed a big backpack basket for himself and gave Gu Zhangyuan a small bamboo basket.

Gu Zhangyuan held up his small bamboo basket next to Xie Licheng's big backpack basket.

"I feel like you're looking down on me."

Xie Licheng said, "It's not that I'm looking down on you—today I'm taking you up the mountain just to have fun."

Hearing that, Gu Zhangyuan perked up a little.

He walked ahead of Xie Licheng, like he wanted to lead the way. Seeing that, Xie Licheng smiled and followed, and the two chatted as they walked.

Xie Licheng: "In the future, more and more people are gonna come here. I can't guarantee everyone who shows up will be a good person, so when you go out on normal days, make sure to bring someone with you."

Gu Zhangyuan turned his head to look at him and said, "I know, I'm not dumb."

He used to go out and about a lot too. Because of his noble status and good looks, he drew a lot of attention.

There were also many people coveting the wealth of the Gu family, each one trying to scheme against him, wanting to ruin his reputation to climb the social ladder by latching onto the Gu family. He had seen all kinds of sordid things, so naturally he was hardly some naive, sheltered young master.

"You picked up some self-defense moves from Master Wu back in the day, and I'll be teaching you regularly whenever I've got the time. Also, you should remind the others not to let their guard down around strangers, so they don't end up getting played for fools."

Gu Changyuan nodded after hearing this. "Sometimes I think you're pretty harsh and ruthless, but other times... you come across as really gentle and kind."

Xie Licheng smiled. "When I killed people, were you scared of me?"

Gu Changyuan shook his head, stopping to look at Xie Licheng. "You killed people to protect me—how could I ever be scared of you? If it weren't for you, I've got no idea where I'd be right now."

Xie Licheng reached out his hand, and Gu Changyuan placed his own in his palm. He heard Xie Licheng say to him unhurriedly, "Don't be scared of me. Even if we fall out of love someday, I, Xie Licheng, will never hurt you."

Gu Changyuan's cheeks flushed a little at that. If anyone else had said that, he wouldn't have bought it, but coming from Xie Licheng, he would.

Gu Changyuan: "Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden? Are you not into me anymore?"

Xie Licheng: "No. I've handed you that much power—you really think I don't like you?"

Xie Licheng wasn't the type to make promises; he always figured people were fickle by nature, and nobody could ever predict what the future would bring. But to put Gu Changyuan at ease, he'd ended up making him promise after promise.

Gu Changyuan stopped walking again, playing dumb as he asked, "What great authority do I have?"

Xie Licheng pulled him close and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I've put you in charge of selling the houses and shops in Peach Blossom Town, which means you can decide who gets to live in the town. Isn't that a pretty big deal?"

Xie Licheng had said that he'd be handling all the property and real estate deals from now on—that kind of power was practically sky-high.

Gu Changyuan knew that full well, but he deliberately played dumb and made Xie Licheng spell it out for him.

Now that he'd gotten Xie Licheng to say it out loud, Gu Changyuan placed a hand on Xie Licheng's shoulder and asked, "Aren't you worried that one day this pocket world of yours might end up with the Gu surname?"

Xie Licheng seized the moment to scoop him up, carrying him forward as he said, "By then, I'll already be an old man. Whoever from the Gu family ends up running this place will definitely be our kid."

As long as it was his kid, it didn't really matter whether they carried the Gu or Xie surname.

Gu Changyuan was lifted into his arms, suddenly towering way up high. He reached out to grab leaves from the trees by the roadside, then started rambling with all sorts of wild ideas.

"Then... what if it's not our child? What if, say, it's my sister's kid instead? Would that bum you out?"

"Why would that bother me? If my kid can't hack it and run this place, then it's no loss if someone more capable takes over."

If his kid was useless, then getting pushed around was on them.

Besides, there's no way he'd ever father some useless brat like that.

"By the way, what about that thing you mentioned before—the one that'd let us sleep together without worrying about getting pregnant?"

Xie Licheng's steps faltered for a moment, then he kept walking on slowly.

"I'll show you tonight when we get back."

When Gu Changyuan was by his side, his attention was always getting pulled away by him, so it was easy for him to let things slip his mind.

Because Xie Licheng had carried Gu Changyuan up the mountain, Gu Changyuan hadn't had to use much energy the whole way up, and they'd made it up the mountain pretty fast.

When they finally got to the top, Gu Changyuan found it was actually a lot of fun up there.

The mountain was dead quiet—aside from the two of them talking, there was only the chirping of insects and birds around them.

You could hear wild animals in the distance too, but most of the time, they stayed quiet so they could sneak up on their prey.

Gu Changyuan spotted quite a few wild vegetables and wild fruits around, so he had Xie Licheng set him down.

He walked on ahead, picking little flowers here and grabbing wild fruit there. Xie Licheng stayed right behind him, making sure he didn't run into any trouble.

A little later, Xie Licheng spotted a snake and pulled out his crossbow bolts as he walked over to Gu Changyuan.

"Come on, kill that snake."

Only then did Gu Changyuan notice a little patterned snake draped over a branch not far off.

He locked eyes with the little snake for a second, then whipped around and buried his face in Xie Licheng's chest.

"I don't want to—it... looks so scary."

"Don't be afraid. It's just like a stick of spicy jerky. You're different—you have two hands and two legs. Dealing with it will be simple and easy for you."

Gu Changyuan got goosebumps just thinking about the snake's appearance. Seeing that Xie Licheng insisted he kill it, he wrapped his arms around Xie Licheng's neck and acted coquettishly.

He said, "Husband, I'm scared. Can I not kill the snake? I can kill wild chickens, wild ducks, or even wild boars."

Seeing that he was genuinely afraid of snakes, Xie Licheng had no choice but to shoot it himself with the crossbow. He held his soft, fragrant wife in his arms and comforted him for a long while before he was finally soothed.

"You didn't seem this afraid of snakes when you had me catch them before."

Gu Changyuan muttered quietly while picking wildflowers, "I was very scared back then too—I just had to force myself to hold it together."

Now that he was facing his own husband, who already knew exactly what he was like, there was no need to pretend to be strong anymore.

It really wasn't that Gu Changyuan was deliberately using this as an excuse to act spoiled—snakes were genuinely strange and utterly spine-chilling creatures.

Compared to killing a snake, he would much rather face a big wild boar.

After that, they didn't encounter any wild boars or large beasts, only a cute gray rabbit.

This time, Gu Changyuan didn't feel afraid. With Xie Licheng's help, he killed the rabbit.

While Xie Licheng went to retrieve the rabbit, Gu Changyuan caught a hedgehog in the grass.

He had initially wanted to take the hedgehog home to keep, but then he looked at its head and found it ugly. Suddenly, he lost the desire to keep it.

He tossed the hedgehog back into the grass and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his fingers.

Xie Licheng, who had been watching him the whole time, couldn't help but let out a helpless little smile.

Afterward, they went to a small stream in the mountains to catch fish. The water there was shallow and crystal clear.

Gu Changyuan wanted to go into the water to wash his feet and even wanted to catch small fish himself, but he was afraid there might be leeches in the water.

While he was hesitating, Xie Licheng took off his upper garment and spread it over a stone in the middle of the stream.

Xie Licheng patted the stone and said to Gu Changyuan, "Come, sit here."

Gu Changyuan carefully stepped on the stones and was received by Xie Licheng onto that rock.

Xie Licheng helped him sit down properly and then bent over to remove his shoes.

Seeing this, Gu Changyuan quickly said, "I'm afraid there might be bugs in there that will bite me."

Xie Licheng: "No, I'm right here with you. I won't let them bite you."

Seeing Xie Licheng standing in the water without any trouble, Gu Zhangyuan figured that just soaking his feet should be fine too.

With that thought, he nodded, signaling Xie Licheng that he could help him take off his shoes.

It wasn't really that Gu Zhangyuan enjoyed bossing Xie Licheng around; it was mainly because of the environment he had grown up in.

Even though it was now a time of chaos, he hadn't truly experienced much of it before being brought into Xie Licheng's pocket world.

Because of that, he was used to having people wait on him, and bossing people around came naturally to him.

Of course, it also happened that Xie Licheng enjoyed taking care of him. Xie Licheng believed that if he didn't spoil his own partner, someone else might steal them away.

Xie Licheng helped him take off his shoes and unwrapped the cloth wrapped around his legs.

Gu Zhangyuan cautiously dipped a foot in to test the water temperature and gave a small gasp at how cold it was.

"Ah, why is it so cold?"

The weather was quite warm now, and after walking with Xie Licheng all the way, he was actually sweating. He'd figured he could cool off in the stream, but hadn't expected it to be this cold.

The cold didn't bother Xie Licheng; he thought the water temperature was just right.

But seeing how Gu Zhangyuan shied away from the cold, he scooped Gu Zhangyuan up off the rock and sat down in Gu Zhangyuan's spot with him in his arms.

Gu Zhangyuan sat in his lap looking totally confused. Just as he was about to turn and ask what Xie Licheng was up to, he heard the man behind him murmur, "How about this—stand on my feet and give it a try. It shouldn't feel as cold that way."

As he spoke, Xie Licheng lifted his foot out of the stream and let Gu Zhangyuan rest one foot on top of his. Then, together, they slowly tested the water bit by bit.

Whether it was Xie Licheng's warm feet or Gu Zhangyuan getting used to it, gradually the water no longer felt cold to him.

Gu Zhangyuan broke into a smile and kicked at the water, sending splashes everywhere.

Xie Licheng reached out to block the splashes, saying, "Be careful—don't get your clothes wet."