CH extra 6

The Autumn breeze was rising, the crab’s feet were itching, and it was another golden Autumn. 

Lin Rufei unsealed the yellow wine he had brewed in the past few years and planned to have a sip while enjoying the moon.

He was lowering his head to pat off the mud on the wine jug when he saw Gu Xuandu walking in slowly with a bamboo basket dripping with water.

“What is it?” Lin Rufei looked up and asked.

“Crabs.” Gu Xuandu replied with a smile. With a stretch of his hand, he placed the bamboo basket on the stone table in front of him and then took the wine jar from Lin Rufei’s hand.

Lin Rufei came over curiously. He opened the bamboo basket and saw the fresh crabs inside. He had a weak body and naturally had to eat less of this cold food, so he had only tasted one or half of them in the past and really couldn’t taste anything special from it. Now that he had seen it again, he once again grew some interest in tasting it. 

“Where did you catch them?” Lin Rufei poked the crab’s back with his hand and stared as they waved their pincers in the bamboo basket with an aggressive look. He then chuckled and asked, “So energetic?” 

There weren’t any big lakes near Kunlun, and even if there were crabs, they were only small river crabs. The crabs in the bamboo basket were so big that they were definitely not caught nearby.

“Took a trip to the mountainside.” Gu Xuandu didn’t even elaborate and just looked at Lin Rufei with a smile, “Let’s eat crabs tonight?”

“Alright.” Lin Rufei smiled and nodded, “It’s perfect with this yellow wine.”

Today’s weather was good. The sky was clear and the moon was hanging high in the sky at night. The osmanthus flowers in the courtyard were also in bloom, staining the breeze with a faint fragrance.

Once the green crabs were on the steamer, they soon turned into an attractive red. The yellow wine was also warm and good. It had a delicate flavor as it entered the mouth and it didn’t feel spicy at all. 

Lin Rufei sat in the courtyard and drank a cup, and soon, a sweet red surfaced on his pale cheeks. 

The sound of light footsteps came from behind him and then his shoulders sank; Gu Xuandu had brought a cloak over and carefully placed it over him.

“It’s windy late at night.” Gu Xuandu sat down beside Lin Rufei and said with a smile.

Lin Rufei nodded.

Gu Xuandu picked up a crab and began to break it apart. Lin Rufei rarely ate this kind of stuff so he didn’t really know how to eat it and simply watched with great interest from the sidelines. Gu Xuandu’s fingers were slender and long and when he peeled the crabs, it was quite pleasing to the eye. The crab meat and the crab shell were easily divided into two parts at his fingertips, and the most eye-catching part was the golden crab roe inside.

Gu Xuandu plucked up the crab roe, dipped it in the crab vinegar, and naturally fed it into Lin Rufei’s mouth. Lin Rufei’s mouth opened as he took the crab roe into his mouth. Instantly his eyes lit up as he praised: “Delicious!”

Gu Xuandu lowered his eyes: “Previously, I did not know that Xiao Jiu likes to eat this.”

Lin Rufei propped his hand on his chin, squinting his eyes with insatiable satisfaction: “It’s too troublesome.”

The memories of the Heavenly Ruler were all about running around for the sake of the people of the world. Even during good times and festivals, there was little time to spare, so he rarely touched troublesome food such as crabs. Nowadays though, he felt that the taste was very good, especially the crab roe. It was fresh and soft and once it was dipped in some special vinegar, it was even more delicious.

Gu Xuandu continued peeling as Lin Rufei sat on the side staring at him intently. He originally wanted to do it himself, but Gu Xuandu smiled and pressed his hand back, saying that things like peeling were troublesome. Xiao Jiu should just drink wine first and just wait to be fed.

Lin Rufei could only give up. Lifting up the wine glass, he drank two mouthfuls of warm yellow wine accompanied by some side dishes prepared by Fu Hua and then proceeded to bite half of the baked puff pastry. He was indeed very satisfied.

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The yellow wine tasted good and with Gu Xuandu’s crab meat as a companion, unknowingly, he drank half of the jug. Not only were Lin Rufei’s cheeks red, but even his eyes surfaced with some light vapor. There was a vague sense of drunkenness in his expression. 

Gu Xuandu looked on from the side with a smile on his lips. He didn’t say a single word and was only concerned with feeding him food. 

With three or four crabs down, Lin Rufei felt a little full so he stopped eating crabs and lowered his head to drink more wine.

The moonlight was like a waterfall as the wind rolled the fine osmanthus flowers onto his hair and shoulder. He held the rim of the wine glass cup and vaguely chanted Gu Xuandu’s name.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Xuandu turned his head and looked at him with a smile.

“Don’t want to eat anymore, I’m full.” Lin Rufei chanted in a low voice, “You also stop peeling, come and drink with me.”

Gu Xuandu nodded, “Okay.”

The two men clinked their glasses and drank again. Lin Rufei was a little hot, so he casually untied the cloak draped over his shoulders. However, Gu Xuandu stopped him and said, “Xiao Jiu is weak, be careful of catching a cold.”

When Lin Rufei heard this, he narrowed his eyes at him. His gaze carried a hint of provocativeness as his fingers reached up to Gu Xuandu’s lips. He wiped away the wet wine and then placed it into his own mouth, seriously licking it clean: “So what if I am weak. If I am weak does that mean that you have to treat me like a baby that you don’t even dare to touch?”

Gu Xuandu’s eyes turned dark and he was silent.

“Gu Xuandu.” Lin Rufei came forward and grabbed his collar, pulling him close to his face. Their noses were touching as breaths mingled with burning wine puffing out, “I’m not made of clay, I’m not going to break from such things.”

“Won’t break from such things?” Gu Xuandu repeated each word one at a time, as if chewing on these words, and there seemed to be a manic storm brewing in his eyes.

Lin Rufei, however, was oblivious and was still provoking until he was met with a blur in front of his eyes. His vision turned and he then realized that he was directly princess carried off by Gu Xuandu.

“What are you doing?” Lin Rufei asked blankly.

Gu Xuandu smiled and said softly: “Xiao Jiu shouldn’t talk big.”

Lin Rufei, “Hmm?”

Gu Xuandu said, “Since Xiao Jiu said that he won’t break from such things, then I will test it out.”

Lin Rufei’s eyes opened slightly. It seemed that he did not expect Gu Xuandu to do as he said without giving him any opportunity to react. However, Gu Xuandu’s expression actually made him worried and slightly fearful. Although he was confidently provoking him a while ago, he was now slightly timid. He couldn’t help but reach out and pull on Gu Xuandu’s sleeve, softly calling out “Xuandu,” as if begging for mercy.

But he didn’t know that if he hadn’t said anything, then everything would have been fine. But this begging for mercy was like a spark that fell into the woodpile and completely ignited someone who had been repressed for a long time.

“Today is a good day.” Gu Xuandu muttered, “The moonlight is perfect.” After saying that, he took a big step forward and crossed into the room.

The courtyard was once again quiet. Only the breeze, the moon, and the remnants of crab and wine remained. 

That night, Lin Rufei felt really regretful. He didn’t remember how many times he begged for mercy and that he was going to break, but the person who had been repressed for so long, never cared about such stuff. 

The next day when he woke up, the sun was already high. Lin Rufei opened his eyes, only to feel as if his body had fallen apart while the culprit was sitting on the edge of the bed. Blinking at him, he raised the bamboo basket in his hand, smiling like a flower: “Xiao Jiu, do you want to eat crabs again tonight? It’s just caught so it’s very fresh.” 

Lin Rufei buried half of his face into the bedding and his hoarse voice was as thin as a mosquito: “No more, I don’t want to eat crabs ever again……”

If he still ate them tonight, he was afraid that he would have to die in bed.