73. Welcome back

afflinghaze

Lin Yijun’s chest felt tight and wrong as he quietly watched Zhou Sheng sit down and talk with Wen Zhihao with an open and friendly expression. Despite the grey robes and the altered features, Lin Yijun still recognised Zhou Sheng’s mannerisms.

He wanted to be down there too...No, he wanted Wen Zhihao gone so that he could talk with Zhou Sheng.

But he remembered Zhou Sheng’s harsh face that night. How he had lost standing in Zhou Sheng’s eyes when he failed to understand what was happening.

Lin Yijun’s hands clenched, as his heart thumped erratically in his chest. He just needed to go down there. He just needed to say—

—Say what?

What would be right? What would be enough?

He couldn’t get the thoughts out of his head. He was wracked with indecision. And there was no one Lin Yijun could talk to about this, no one to help him sort it all out.

The faction that Liu Yijun technically belonged to, the faction that his parents were in, was headed by Elder Wang.

Elder Wang and the others maintained a disdainful attitude towards the actions of Liu Zhongmin and the others. They, as cultivators, were not obliged to help the mortals.

The mortals should help themselves, or else they’d become lazy. We’re not their servants!

And so none of them had volunteered to aid Liu Zhongmin in a task that had no reward and took away their cultivation time.

While Lin Yijun hadn’t echoed their condescending words, he also didn’t join the efforts. Because...he hadn’t known how. Because he hadn’t known if he wanted to…

Zhou Sheng was different from the mortals that Wen Zhihao bought back.

Years ago, when he bought Zhou Sheng back, his parents and Elder Wang hadn’t been like this. They had seen Zhou Sheng’s cultivation potential, and the Sect Leader Elder accepted Zhou Sheng into the sect as a disciple.

But of the mortals Wen Zhihao bought back—Lin Yijun had examined them from afar—none of them had the same potential as Zhou Sheng did.

They weren’t the same as Zhou Sheng. They won’t be as good as Zhou Sheng.

But they and Zhou Sheng both liked Wen Zhihao.

Lin Yijun's heart felt sour watching Zhou Sheng relaxing in Wen Zhihao’s presence.

Wen Zhihao already has so many friends! Why is he friends with Zhou Sheng too?

Zhou Sheng is my friend—

—No, Zhou Sheng isn’t anymore…

Zhou Sheng, the person Lin Yijun liked the most, was smiling at Wen Zhihao instead…

What did Wen Zhihao have that Lin Yijun didn’t? Lin Yijun was stronger, Lin Yijun was richer, more handsome and had a golden family background.

“I’ll return and see you again soon,” Zhou Sheng was saying.

“You know where to find me. Ah, now that Sun Fuyu is no longer helping you out, let me give you some more calming stones for the mortals…”

Zhou Sheng patted a child on the head and stroked a demonic beast before leaving.

In a knee-jerk reaction, Lin Yijun followed Zhou Sheng as he walked out of the sect and into the surrounding forests. There, Zhou Sheng’s aura disappeared without a trace.

Lin Yijun slumped. After stretching out his qi and finding nothing again and again, he could only head back to the Sect by himself.

After Lin Yijun left, Wen Zhihao soon forgot him in favour of more important matters.

As the non-cultivators gathered back in the kittens’ enclosure, Wen Zhihao had everyone recite the words they should have learnt earlier. Thank you, past life knowledge of optimal information retention…

Somehow, the rest of the afternoon flowed away and it was time for dinner. Wen Zhihao led everyone back to the kitchens. While the others ate, he asked Aunty Liu Jing for another food box because he had given one away to Zhou Sheng.

“Next time, tell him to come here so I can tailor a box for him!” Aunty Liu Jing said.

“I’ll tell him, but he seems a little shy,” Wen Zhihao said.

Liu Jing knew who Zhou Sheng was—he was the allegedly-rogue cultivator who Xiao Fuyu had been helping to retrieve the poor people who had been enslaved. Shy was not what she would describe Zhou Sheng as, but she already knew that Xiao Wen’s brain circuits were a bit different from everyone else.

“At least you should tell me what he likes,” Liu Jing finally said.

Wen Zhihao nodded. “Yes, Aunty. I remembered he liked dumplings...”

After dinner, Wen Zhihao took the children back with him to the rooms and ran the baths for them. Now that they’ve become more familiar with their surroundings, they were able to play in the water and talk amongst themselves in their little voices.

“Cute little baobei cats!”

“No, I think the big ones are better!”

“Cute big baobei cats!”

“I think Uncle is the best...”

“What about Grandma? Grandma is so nice...”

“SPLASH!” Bubbly little laughter.

“Splash you back!”

Needless to say, the bathrooms were very wet and messy after that. Wen Zhihao ended up ‘showering’ himself and had to change his clothes too.

Wen Zhihao finished drying the hair of the last child just as Sun Fuyu returned. He couldn’t help but pinch the cheek of the child, Ah-Yi. “Your Little Uncle Sun is back,” he said, putting aside the towel.

“Little Uncle!” Ah-Yi jumped up from the bed and ran over and opened the door first.

Sun Fuyu stepped in. His hair was a little messy, and his face drooped tiredly. However, his eyes brightened when they met Wen Zhihao’s.

“Wen-ge.”

Wen Zhihao navigated past the toys and miscellany scattered on the ground. “Welcome back, Xiao Yu,” he greeted, leaning forward to accept Sun Fuyu’s light kiss.

Ah-Yi grabbed the bottom of Sun Fuyu’s robes and looked up. “Welcome back, Little Uncle!”

Sun Fuyu looked down and patted little Yi’s head. “En, I’m back.”

Wen Zhihao looped an arm around Sun Fuyu’s waist. “Little Uncle is tired. If you want, you can give him a hug to help him power up again!”

“Okay!” Ah-Yi hugged Sun Fuyu’s leg.

Sun Fuyu’s lips curled up. The things Wen-ge says! he thought fondly. Ah-Yi wasn’t a cultivator, he couldn’t actually help Sun Fuyu regain qi!

“Now you kids, clean up the toys and get into bed, okay?” Wen Zhihao said. “When I come back, you better be pretending to sleep!”

Ruan Lanxi giggled. “Yes, Uncle!”

The moment he and Sun Fuyu left the room, the children burst into noisy action.

He and Sun Fuyu exchanged a little about their day, and then while Sun Fuyu washed up, Wen Zhihao headed back to his old room to tuck all the children in and pat their heads until they all fell asleep.

And then he went to Sun Fuyu’s bed and hugged his own Xiao Yu.

“...You smell different,” Wen Zhihao realised. He tugged Sun Fuyu closer and sniffed his just-dried hair. “Like mangoes.”

In the darkness, it was difficult to see the hint of redness on Sun Fuyu’s cheeks. “En,” he agreed shyly, as Wen-ge stroked his hair. The tingling sensation sent a shiver down his spine. He tilted his head up and kissed Wen-ge on the lips. “Wen-ge likes it?”

Wen Zhihao’s heart swelled with warmth. “It’s sweet, like you.” He pulled Sun Fuyu closer to him.

A nice place to live, a nice job to work at, lively children, and someone to say ‘welcome back’ to...Wen Zhihao found that he was very content with this kind of life.

Sun Fuyu took the initiative to place a hand over Wen Zhihao’s waist and to tangle their legs together.

“I’m glad I met Xiao Yu,” Wen Zhihao murmured quietly.

“En,” Sun Fuyu agreed. He remained still, tightly aware of Wen-ge’s heartbeat, and how his hand was touching Wen-ge waist…

As always, Wen-ge fell asleep first. Sun Fuyu nudged his head closer to Wen-ge, happy that changing his hair wash worked.

More fanart! Xiao Yu and his Wen-ge by We Need Holy Water

Ohhh, another OG work I’ve been reading on Chrysanthemum Garden is Living Selfishly While Working Towards A Peaceful Life. The villain is so horrible, it’s great. And also the little brother is the CUTEST, I just want to rub his hair and mess it all up