CH 84.2

Translated by Yuki

Edited by Xiao Wu 

The rabbits they reared at home had been cooked using various methods – rabbit salad, boiled, deep fried just to name a few. Today, Lu Qingjiu decided he would try to make chilli rabbit. The cooking instruction for chilli rabbit was quite similar to chilli chicken – only difference was that rabbit meat had a lot less bones and it was easier to keep the meat tender. Furthermore, since rabbit meat had lower fat content, once you prepped the skin – the skin would be chewy while the meat would be tender, each having its own merits.

Most probably due to having been provoked by Yin Xun, Bai Yuehu emitted a murderous aura when killing the rabbits. Even Lu Qingjiu was a little frightened witnessing this sight, no need to mention the poor helpless Yin Xun. Yin Xun asked Lu Qingjiu in a small voice if Bai Yuehu was the type of person who would stab someone in their backs?

Thinking, Lu Qingjiu replied, “He shouldn’t be… I think?

Yin Xun: “…” Why do you sound so unconfident? 

While Bai Yuehu was dealing with the rabbits, Lu Qingjiu took the opportunity to get some milk to make double-skin milk pudding. The ingredients for double-skin milk pudding included egg whites that needed to be mixed well before heating and then refrigerating it. The first time Lu Qingjiu was making this, he wasn’t able to control the heat well leading it to be slightly overcooked. However, once you covered it with some red bean paste, it wasn’t too bad.

As lunch was going to be extra spicy chilli rabbit, Lu Qingjiu prepared the double-skin milk pudding as dessert to soothe the spiciness.

After they had wined and dined to their heart’s content, the three of them hung out in the porch. Lu Qingjiu mentioned that since the weather was so nice, taking a walk would be very comfortable. Yin Xun added that since they had plans yesterday to pick loquats, how about they do just that? Lu Qingjiu simply agreed. They assumed Bai Yuehu had fallen asleep, but who knew once Yin Xun said that, Bai Yuehu said, “I’ll come too.”

“Then let’s all go,” Lu Qingjiu suggested, “we can even bring the foxkit, Xiaohua and Xiaohei…let’s make it an outing.”

After taking a 20 minute rest under the warm sunlight, they made their way up the hill to pick some loquats.

The temperature of early summer was not too hot, but one could stop wearing thick winterwear and start wearing thin t-shirts instead. The fox kit and two piglets were running around like fools – Lu Qingjiu had to call them out to rein them in, for fear they would run too far away.

After walking up the mountain road, they finally found the wild loquat trees Yin Xun had been talking about. They saw a tree that was full of ripe and yellow loquats. The fruits were so plentiful that they heavily weighed down the branches, to the point that Lu Qingjiu could tiptoe and reach them.

He reached out and picked a loquat, peeling it to have a taste, then nodded, “They’re sweet.” Even though there wasn’t much flesh on the fruits, their taste was out of the world. 

Yin Xun boasted, “See, the loquats produced by this tree are really tasty.”

Lu Qingjiu replied, “Let’s pick more, at any rate if we don’t pick them, no one else will.”

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From this perspective, in terms of wealth, Yin Xun was truly a little “richer” than Bai Yuehu, at least he hadn’t fallen to the point of having to search through bins for food. 

Of course, this was just Lu Qingjiu’s thinking at this time. In the future, he would bring this up with Yin Xun.

Yin Xun fell silent for 3 seconds after hearing Lu Qingjiu’s thoughts, before reluctantly saying, “But Shuifu village doesn’t even have any trash bins that I can search through.”

Lu Qingjiu: “…”

Sorry,  he had forgotten such a vital prerequisite. 

Filling up a whole bag with loquats, the whole group happily made their way down the mountain. Before getting to the foot of the mountain, following Yin Xun’s lead they were also able to fill up a bag of half-ripe peaches. Even though these weren’t fully ripe, Lu Qingjiu actually preferred this crunchy texture, as an avid fan of the crunchy peach party.

The loquats were pitted and peeled, before being added together with ajiao in a pot to be simmered. He watched the mixture slowly thicken until it finally solidified into a dark coloured semi-liquid mixture. Autumn was the best time to consume this kind of loquat extract as it could help clear phlegm to maintain one’s health.

For dinner, Lu Qingjiu wanted to make something simple and decided to make cold noodles which were popular in the north east. Unlike normal noodles, the noodles used in this dish were a lot like vermicelli, but with more elasticity. The broth for this dish included spicy white cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber and a lot more ingredients, and thus looked an attractive red colour which called out to everyone. There were also green vegetables as garnish. Even if one hadn’t tried it, just looking at it would make others so satisfied they could reincarnate.

Lu Qingjiu also cooked a few soft-boiled eggs, which he split in half and placed on top of the noodles. The noodles were sweet and sour, which was really appetising. Lu Qingjiu prepared a total of three bowls. Yin Xun and Bai Yuehu’s bowls were the biggest kind, whereas he made a more normal-sized bowl for himself. 

Yin Xun could just about finish the noodles, whereas Bai Yuehu could even drink up the broth. After finishing their meal, Lu Qingjiu suddenly had the thought that they should plant some peanuts. Normally, peanuts had to be planted in April. It was now almost mid-May and thus planting them now may be slightly late in the farming cycle. However, since they had Bai Yuehu in their household, there was no need to worry so much, even if they were a month or two late, it should still be possible to plant and harvest some in time.

“Yes, let’s plant some.”

Yin Xun liked nuts like peanuts and supported Lu Qingjiu’s suggestion. “Don’t peanuts have a high production rate, let’s plant a few more and then we can fry them and coat them with sugar…” saying this, he started salivating.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s go to the city tomorrow, to buy some peanut seedlings. “ 

“Then, I’ll take my leave, take care of yourselves too.” Seeing as it wasn’t early anymore Yin Xun got up and started walking away. After his words, he glanced at Bai Yuehu before supporting his full stomach as he walked away. Bai Yuehu stared at his back as he left with narrowed eyes, looking a little unhappy.

Seeing his expression, Lu Qingjiu joked, “Hey you wouldn’t actually be thinking of eating Yin Xun right?”

“Hmph, I can’t be bothered to eat him.”

“That would be ideal…Oh yes, I forgot to ask earlier, after my grandmother passed away, the house stood empty for some time. Were you staying in town during that time?” 

Bai Yuehu nodded.

“Um… then where did you sleep at night?”

“At night, I will come home to rest.”

Lu Qingjiu thought back to when he first arrived in Shuifu village and met Bai Yuehu enroute, without knowing where he was headed so late at night. However, if not for Bai Yuehu, the night he arrived, he would likely have been eaten by that giant lizard and wouldn’t still be around now. 

After chatting for a while, Lu Qingjiu went to perform his ablutions before heading to his room to sleep. Who knew that once he was sitting in bed clothed in pajamas after his shower, planning to play a while on his phone, there was a knock on his door. Lu Qingjiu called out, “Yuehu?”

Bai Yuehu pushed open the door, hugging the nine fluffy tails while silently looking at Lu Qingjiu.

Lu Qingjiu was actually planning to seriously meet Bai Yuehu’s gaze, but after staring at each other for around ten seconds, his eyes unconsciously started moving towards the nine tails as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Bai Yuehu asked, “We are dating right?” 

Lu Qingjiu nodded.

Bai Yuehu continued, “When humans are dating, shouldn’t they sleep together?”

“…sleeping together is fine with me.“ As he said this, Lu Qingjiu’s eyes were still firmly fixed on the bundle of tails.

“Fine, then I want to sleep together with you.” 

Lu Qingjiu was unable to refuse, watching as Bai Yuehu came over with the tails. He bundled himself in the white fluffy tails. These tails did not feel at all like the remains of a meal – not only were they warm, but they were also soft and silky, as if you were lying within a pile of soft clouds. Lu Qingjiu was unable to stop himself from revealing a happy smile.

Bai Yuehu glanced at the fuzzily conscious Lu Qingjiu and asked“Do you really like those tails?”

Hearing Bai Yuehu’s question and knowing his propensity for drinking vinegar, Lu Qingjiu immediately sobered up, carefully answering, “It’s not that I like it especially… much, just a normal amount of liking, very normal.”

“Do you want more fluffy things?” 

Lu Qingjiu carefully responded to Bai Yuehu’s question, “Like what?”

Bai Yuehu didn’t say a word, reaching out to ruffle through his black long hair, revealing a pair of fluffy ears. He lifted his chin, proudly bestowing upon Lu Qingjiu a most exquisite present saying, “Touch it.”

Lu Qingjiu let out a moan and reached out to touch the two soft fluffy looking ears. The texture of the ears were so real, being soft and warm and fluffy. Lu Qingjiu who was touching them was completely engrossed, as if having an out of body experience.

Bai Yuehu quietly laid down beside Lu Qingjiu. As Lu Qingjiu was still touching his ears, the two’s bodies were very close to one another, but there was no awkwardness. In winter, they were already used to this sort of interaction. In fact them sleeping together this time had a slight feeling of reunion after being apart for some time. 

Lu Qingjiu who was totally surrounded by fluffiness, until he almost couldn’t breathe, finally fell asleep with a happy smile on his face. Bai Yuehu reached out to pull him into an embrace, bringing the two closer to each other, having skin to skin contact. Staring at his lover’s peaceful sleeping expression, Bai Yuehu finally couldn’t resist, gently lowering his head and left the barest hint of a kiss on the corner of his lover’s lips.

Since the temperature was a little warmer, logically speaking, being surrounded by all these fluffy tails, Lu Qingjiu shouldn’t have had a good night’s sleep. However in reality he slept soundly till the next day and woke up feeling totally refreshed.

Only when he opened his eyes and saw Bai Yuehu who was lying beside him, Lu Qingjiu was stunned a little before realising that they had slept together last night. He observed Bai Yuehu for a while, and noticed that Bai Yuehu’s eyelashes were actually slightly shivering. Although his eyes were still closed, it was clear that he had already awoken.

Lu Qingjiu thought of something with a faint humour in his heart. He sat up then lowered his head to drop a gentle kiss on Bai Yuehu’s faintly shivering eyelashes greeting him, “Good morning to you.” 

Bai Yuehu blearily opened his eyes, but his pupils were clear as he watched Lu Qingjiu and greeted him, “Good morning.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “What would you like to eat today?”

“Could I have a special dish?”

“Special dish?” Lu Qingjiu assumed that Bai Yuehu had grown tired of eating chinese-style dishes and so asked blankly, “What would you like to eat? If not, give me two days and I’ll prepare some pizza or steak for you to try?” 

Bai Yuehu shook his head, dismissing Lu Qingjiu’s response, “It’s not like that.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

Bai Yuehu reached out to pinch Lu Qingjiu’s lower jaw, and said with a low and hoarse tone, “The type of dish has to have Lu Qingjiu’s name on it.”

Lu Qingjiu was momentarily shocked, then one corner of his mouth hooked up, “You want to try it?” 

Bai Yuehu stared intensely at Lu Qingjiu’s smiling face, elegant neck and clavicle which was slightly revealed by the gaping pajamas collar, and replied, “En.”

He had already wanted to try this for a long time.