CH 86

Chapter 86 Winter Snow

They stayed in the Southroad Buddhist Temple for three, four days. When they were about to return, they encountered the first heavy snow of the year and had to stay for a few more days.

Qu Chenzhou shrank his hands and hid in the room, refusing to come out.

Liu Zhongming knew that his body had suffered a lot from being frozen when he was young, especially the time when he was disfigured. Since he had almost froze to death, he didn’t want to force him.

Fortunately, Bai Shilei was still there, no matter what, he dressed Qu Chenzhou like a ball and dragged him out.

Liu Zhongming followed behind.

Qu Chenzhou completely lost his usual calmness and composure, standing in a daze in the half-foot-deep snow, wrapped in layers of winter clothes.

Eyes were wet, staring with grievances like a lost beast, he wondered if the tip of his nose under the cover was also red.

Liu Zhongming leaned against the tree beside him and turned a snowball over and over in his hand. He suddenly wondered with interest, if he buried him in the snow now, would the little fox cry immediately.

“Bai…Little General Bai.”

Qu Chenzhou looked down at his feet that disappeared under the snow, feeling a little uncomfortable, not because of the past, but because he didn’t know what to do when he came out.

“Call me Brother Lei.”

“…”

Qu Chenzhou glanced at Liu Zhongming, and only asked softly, “Are you looking for something?”

Bai Shilei first made a snowball in his hand, then took a glance at his small body that looked like it would be blown down by the wind. He resolutely gave up the plan to have a snowball fight, threw the snowball on the ground, and asked him, “Can you build a snowman?”

Qu Chenzhou shook his head.

When he was in Jinxi Academy, Liu Zhongming also proposed to have a snowball fight. How could he dare to touch the nobles back then? He could only stand against the wall and be beaten into a snowman by the Bai brothers.

As soon as Liu Zhongming pulled him out of the snow, he fled back without touching the ground, and would not come out no matter how many people called him.

In the second year, there was no snow, and after that, when he returned to the palace, he never had the chance to play with the others in the snow.

Although the emperor asked the painter to draw him admiring the snow under the plum tree, when he looked at the painting, he felt that the person standing under the plum tree was nothing but a lifeless withered skeleton.

“Come on, I’ll teach you.” Bai Shilei pulled him to squat down, and taught him to push the snowball bigger: “Okay, roll it first, why isn’t the snow sticking? Look at me.”

Qu Chenzhou carefully watched Bai Shilei rub his hands together, stroked the snowball a few times, and then rolled the snow, making it bigger.

He also tried to reach out his hand from his sleeve, and was pulled by Bai Shilei to press down against the snowball.

“See if you can melt this layer of snow first, then it will get bigger. Let’s build a snowman as tall as you, okay!”

The coolness of the bones came from his fingertips. Qu Chenzhou looked at his own palms covered with a thin layer of snow.

The last time he stood in the snow, the snowflakes passed through his palm. He didn’t know the pain or the cold. There was darkness everywhere. He was a dead soul curled up under the corpse hanging on the flagpole, his heart at a loss.

But now, the snowflakes melted with his body temperature. He stood in the bright sunlight, someone was making noise beside him, and…

He turned his face slightly, and when he met Liu Zhongming’s eyes, a snowflake fell on his eyelashes. With the breath from the covering blowing upwards, his one eye turned wet.

It’s good to be alive.

Who cares about the nightmare of the past, the injustice of the world!

He suddenly picked up the fist-sized snowball and smashed it against Bai Shilei’s chest with a bang.

Bai Shilei was so startled that he jumped back, until he heard Liu Zhongming’s uncontrollable laughter, then his eyes widened: “A snowball fight? Let’s play!”

The scattered snow was like a snow-white cloak, rushing towards Qu Chenzhou.

But before he could pounce on him, a foot calmly stretched out from the side, tripping him into the snow.

“Second brother, what are you doing!” Bai Shilei’s eyebrows and cheeks were covered with fine snow, and he turned over and shouted dissatisfied: “It’s just a snowball fight, I’m not trying to bully Little Chenzhou!”

“He belongs to me, I have the final say to bullying him or not.” Liu Zhongming poked at his cousin with his foot: “Go to the courtyard and ask for snow shovels. If you want to pile them up, make a big one, and bring out two glass beads.”

Bai Shilei looked at his gaze and his intent, then he looked at Qu Chenzhou again; he suddenly realized something, then jumped up and ran back: “Wait for me!”

The snow engulfed Bai Shilei’s footsteps, and the silence in the mountains was so quiet that only the sound of snowfall remained.

Qu Chenzhou grabbed a ball of snow, and it became firmer and firmer in his hands. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone crouching beside him, and then he looked back.

“Why don’t you talk?” Liu Zhongming looked at him manipulate the snowball: “I thought that you were enlightened by the abbot, so you would open up.”

“What does the Shizi want me to open up about?” Qu Chenzhou asked him back.

“Anything will do,” Liu Zhongming slowly stroked the snowball with his fingertips, and poked two holes hard: “Top or bottom, either one is fine, I won’t pick.”

Qu Chenzhou bit his lip. After a long while, he said bitterly: “Shizi is really different now, Shizi has learned a lot of shameless words.”

“Okay, you even understand that, it seems that we have gotten into a draw,” Liu Zhongming laughed, responding without changing: “It’s all due to you.”

Qu Chenzhou turned around and turned his back to him.

Liu Zhongming squatted in front of him again.

“Shizi sent Little General Bai away, what did you want to say?” Qu Chenzhou finally couldn’t help asking.

“What did you think about just now?” Liu Zhongming grabbed the snow, helped him fill the hole, and asked softly, “Is it the past?”

Qu Chenzhou stopped his hand, the snow was white, and his eyes hurt after looking at it for a long time. He could only look up to Liu Zhongming.

“Shizi…” He hesitated for a long time before slowly answering: “On the third day after my death, the capital began to snow intermittently, it was almost this heavy.”

Liu Zhongming’s heart felt like it was seized. He lowered his head speechless but quickly reacted: “You…weren’t you dead, how did you know it was snowing?!”

“I’ve scared Shizi,” Qu Chenzhou smiled slightly: “To be honest, I don’t know either. After I died and my soul left my body, I could still hear and see. I waited for fourteen days and was put down before I came back to life in this body.”

Liu Zhongming was horrified and surprised: “You were… put down?”

Qu Chenzhou was stunned for a while, knowing that he had accidentally let his words slip. He forced a smile: “It’s the past.”

But even if he didn’t say it, how could Liu Zhongming not think of it.

When he first saw Qu Chenzhou in the firewood room, Steward Lin once said that “he was hung overnight and just put down”. If they were “put down” after death, could it be that…the corpse was hung to the public…

How heavy was his crime that even the corpse could not be spared.

Qu Chenzhou lowered his head and waited quietly, waiting for someone to continue to ask questions, but there was only silence and the snow drifting down. He only felt that a hand was on top of his head.

“Don’t think too much about the past.”

A wet pearl rolled in his eyes, and he endured it again. He didn’t know what to say for a while, so it wouldn’t be too awkward.

“Shizi…Is Shizi cold?”

“Not cold…” Liu Zhongming blew in his hand, and saw that Qu Chenzhou’s forehead was covered in fine sweat. He wiped it with his hand, and the cold made the person hide for a while.

He rubbed the sweat from his fingertips, and suddenly inserted it through the gap of his hood, and changed his words: “Cold, help me.”

His fingertips touched a thin thread. He didn’t have to pull it to know, it was the jade pendant. The bell was stuffed with cotton, and the body was so warm that it made him jealous.

Qu Chenzhou was caught off guard and let out a small shriek, and shrank his neck and fell backwards. The two of them rolled down together, covered in snow.

The slope was not steep. Liu Zhongming rolled around casually while hugging the person, then stretched out his feet to support the ground, and was about to pull the person up when he saw a hand with a flash hitting his side rib from the corner of his eye.

He was startled and smiled again. His right hand was still stuck between his warm neck, and his left hand lightly moved and avoided the attack with two or four strokes. Qu Chenzhou’s right hand was folded in front of his chest and fixed there.

“The strength is too small, the speed not enough.”

Before waiting for the other party to move, his left elbow sank a little on his shoulder, and Qu Chenzhou’s left hand sank down again before he could lift it from the snow.

“Little fox,” Liu Zhongming pulled out his hand and patted off the snow on the snow cap, “I didn’t know that you were so aggressive.”

“I don’t dare to be aggressive,” Qu Chenzhou struggled for a while, then smiled helplessly: ” It’s just such a great opportunity, I haven’t been able to touch Shizi, and I didn’t want to ashame Shizi’s careful teaching.”

“What’s the hurry, how long have you started.”

Seeing his depressed face, Liu Zhongming regretted not showing mercy and raised his head. Seeing that the surroundings were quiet, he leaned over and grabbed his waist, rolled to the side, let his back fall into the snow, and scooped up Qu Chenzhou to sit on him.

“I’ll teach you,” he dragged Qu Chenzhou’s hand to his neck and chuckled, “I’ll teach you how to sneak attack in this pose.”

Although the positions of the two were reversed, Qu Chenzhou’s arm was not as long as Liu Zhongming’s and the distance between them was much closer.

Qu Chenzhou was concentrating on guarding against the attack from his side, but he wasn’t aware that his wrist was suddenly buckled, and a burst of numbness rushed to his shoulders.

“The key is restraint. Naturally you have to break free first,” Liu Zhongming exhaled hot air on his eyelashes, causing formation of small crystals: “If it wasn’t me just now, as long as I snapped your neck, I would have your life in an instant. Even if I took a bite on the waist, I will not lose.”

Qu Chenzhou lightly flickered his eyebrows: “Thank you, Shizi, for the lesson.”

They were so close together that they could even feel each other’s heartbeats thumping under their clothes.

Liu Zhongming felt a little sweetness under his breath. He didn’t let go of his hand, and the pair of glazed eyes didn’t move away from him, but just swirled around his eyes, as if he was trying to do something to his birthmark.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered how Qu Chenzhou was lying quietly beside him at night. The quilt was wrapped in a small ball, so that no one could touch it. When it was touched, he frowned and kept shrinking back.

He couldn’t help teasing him, watching the man keep retreating until his back was against the wall, then he smiled sullenly and stretched out his arms to bring him back.

In fact, there were still many things he wanted to ask. For example, if the song was not learned from him, where did it come from. For example, if Qu Chenzhou had never been here, why would he say “it’s you” to the abbot.

For example, he even suddenly thought of a thought that he had never had before. In his dream, was it this person or Qu Chenzhou?

Did Qu Chenzhou, who had a pair of God-given eyes, play any role in the previous turmoil?

But in his arms, the little fox pressed his forehead against his chest, gradually sniffing out his scent. The pair of hands that usually didn’t allow touch stretched out softly, was placed on his waist, sleeping sweetly. As if unknowingly, he completely relied on him.

Liu Zhongming could only sigh and rub his chin against his smooth and soft hair.

There were enough disturbances outside the door. After closing the door, let him be lazy for a while, and listen to the abbot’s advice, just think of the grudges and hatreds in the dream as mediocre harassment.

“What?” His other hand moved to Qu Chenzhou’s lower jaw, and scratched lightly: “Do you want to use a beauty trick to get away?”

“Sorry to disappoint Shizi, beauty trick won’t work, but do you want the ugly trick?”

Every time Qu Chenzhou took a breath, his eyelashes contained a layer of moisture, and after a while, they were dyed white, making his eyes look bright and radiant.

Liu Zhongming watched intently, the snow under him came in with a coolness, but he was as unwilling to move as a rock. He raised his eyebrows at him: “Come, let’s take a look.”

Qu Chenzhou just asked casually. Thinking about his inexperience and how he couldn’t even bear him licking his finger, if he really went overboard, it is most likely that he would be thrown into the snow but he didn’t think that Liu Zhongming would agree.

“Shizi…” He was embarrassed.

“Come on.” Liu Zhongming clasped his waist tightly, preventing him from escaping.

Qu Chenzhou suddenly closed his eyes, pulled off the lace covering his face, and leaned down slowly. His thin lips were slightly open, and the tip of his pale pink tongue was a little moist and watery, and it disappeared in the jade-like shell teeth.

For a moment, Liu Zhongming wanted to push the person down on his knees and flee, but he was stiff and unwilling to move. He could only lick his dry lips in a hurry. He turned his face to the side, afraid again. He was also scared to miss out and turned back. He watched carefully, waiting for the softness that he had never felt to fall.

The breath approached, but it passed over the tip of his nose, and licked the birthmark next to the corner of his eye.

The blood of Liu Zhongming’s whole body rushed to the top of his head, and his body’s instant reaction added to the shame of being played with. He turned over and pressed the person into the snow: “Impudent!”

Qu Chenzhou had already covered his head with his hands. He had a lord attitude, but his fist that was bluffing could not fall.

“You…” His face was so hot as if it was burning on fire, and he wished he could grit his teeth: “I warned you…you can only…you can only touch…”

His wet eyes opened, cutting off his incoherent warning.

“Where can I only touch?”

Liu Zhongming’s eyes were glued and pulled back in. He followed the other party’s line of sight all the way down, until he saw the place where he was pressing Qu Chenzhou, and then he jumped up as if he was scalded.

“It turned out not to be there,” Qu Chenzhou then stood up and smiled innocently: “Did I misunderstand Shizi’s mind?”

“Qu… Qu Chenzhou!”

Liu Zhongming’s hands were shaking in his sleeves, Qu Chenzhou was a lot more shameless than him. No matter how much he learned, he was still helpless to the other.

“Shizi ordered me.”

“You can’t guess my mind?” Liu Zhongming sneered, grabbed Qu Chenzhou’s shoulders, and pushed him back against the tree.

As soon as it hit, the pine tree covered with heavy snow trembled, shaking off like a daffodil.

After putting the cover back on his head, he lowered his head and instructed: “Little fox, remember, you can touch here.”

Qu Chenzhou’s lower jaw was gently lifted.

The two of their lips separated and they kissed each other.

The author has something to say: Why wear a face covering? Because it’s the first kiss of Shizi and he is a shy duck