Chapter 48 Bai E, in his adolescence, has been somewhat absent-minded lately. ...
Bai E has been a bit absent-minded lately.
When faced with his favorite game, he no longer concentrates fully. Instead, he shows a complicated, wistful expression, as if the sight of you holding a sword reminds him of something, but he can't quite put his finger on it.
In addition, he seemed to have some uncontrollable...unspeakable impulses about some latent, hidden stirrings of adolescence.
When Bai Er looks at you, he always notices your eyes first.
He really likes you so much: the curve of your eyes at the corners, your irises blurred by the sunlight, the fine lines around your eyes when you smile... He secretly hates that his eyesight is too good, because he can always capture these little details and imprint them firmly in his heart.
However, at his age, he also has... well, some complicated thoughts beyond pure affection.
So when Bai Er realized it, he found himself starting to notice things other than your eyes.
For example, when you smile, you purse your lips slightly, and your small, rosy lower lip is enveloped for a moment by your moist mouth before being exposed to the air again.
Bai E's ears burned. He remembered those few awkward, tentative kisses from before.
—Or it wasn't even a kiss, because you just touched your lips together, maybe gave each other a light bite, but there was no deeper interaction at all—you've spent so many years in the village, and even if there were sex education classes, no one taught you this!
He turned around, as if to conceal something:
"Partner, Xi Lian... I'm going back now...!"
You and Xi Lian looked at each other in bewilderment.
Life in the Ai Li Mi Xie family was leisurely and affluent, especially during the autumn harvest season when the fish and shrimp were fresh and the wheat grains were plump. The biggest worry was simply deciding what flavor of maltose to buy at the market that day. It was rare to see him like this.
But you are no longer children. The innocent adolescence that was once marked in textbooks with colored pens seems to have arrived late, along with the fallen leaves piling up at the door each year.
You thoughtfully think that perhaps your childhood sweetheart is also entering his "adolescence"?
"Boys are so hard to understand."
You lay on Xi Lian's bed, propping your face up and sighing.
Xi Lian chuckled, sat on the edge of the bed, bent her index finger, and rubbed it against your cheek. She seemed to find the feel of it pleasant, and her eyes narrowed with laughter.
"Sigh, that's just how it is. There's nothing we can do about it. After all, even if a beautiful girl is very considerate, she can't always guess what our great hero is thinking."
She thought for a moment, "There's a festival going on in the village recently, and everyone will be gathered together. Bai E will probably be there too. Since I'm too shy to ask now, how about I ask at the festival? ... If the atmosphere is lively, my words will be conveyed more clearly to the other person, right?"
You buried your face in the pillow, like a little quail hiding in its wing feathers, and muttered, "...I wasn't worried about him at all."
Xi Lian blinked knowingly, "You're not worried about him...? Okay, okay, I understand."
You understood her good-natured teasing, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and annoyed.
"Xiao Lian...!"
Xi Lian looked completely innocent. "Oh dear, I didn't say anything—ah!"
Pillows and down feathers fluttered as you rolled around in a ball.
Xi Lian, panting, tried to dodge your retaliatory pinch on her cheek, but she was no match for the strength of the melee main DPS. Soon, the evil little raccoon succeeded, and two bright red finger marks appeared on her fair face.
Her pink hair was disheveled, but her eyes sparkled and indulged:
"I'm just telling the truth."
"Still talking!" You grabbed her wrist, feigning a fierce look, and bared your teeth. "Watch out, I... I'll tickle you!"
"Really? I don't believe it—haha, it tickles, don't, don't scratch my neck...hahahaha, Trailblazer...!"
The laughter and chatter of the girls kept emanating from the small room.
Just then, a villager's shout came from the doorway:
"Xi Lian—Pioneer—come out and get your presents!"
Although you have grown tall and are no longer at an age where you need to be cared for, the villagers of Ailimishe still treat you like little children.
On important holidays, villagers will spontaneously come to give you gifts.
It wasn't anything valuable, just fruits and vegetables, biscuits and bread, a few packets of homemade sweets and pastries, and handmade trinkets. At first, you tried to refuse, but they were so enthusiastic that as soon as you withdrew your hand, the village auntie dramatically wiped away tears, sighing that her child had grown up and no longer liked the bread she made…
you:……
So, amidst Xi Lian's barely suppressed giggles, you could only blush and accept the pile of heartfelt "gifts."
This time was no different; you and Xilian were almost overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the older folks.
You said, "...Thank you so much, Uncle and Aunt...I don't know how to repay you all..."
The delivery man waved his hand. He was a tall, imposing man, and he made a series of strange, gurgling noises, which were roughly a sigh and meant, "It's my duty to say thank you."
"If you talk about rewards again, I'm going to get angry!"
*
Meanwhile, at the Bai'er family.
Odatta knocked on her son's bedroom door.
"Bai'er? Bai'er!" She raised her voice slightly, "...Have you prepared your festival attire? Are you going with the pioneers Xilian and the others this time?"
A series of clanging and banging noises came from inside the house, along with Bai E's panicked cries:
"Uh, okay! Okay! Mom! I'll go with them..."
Odatta asked suspiciously, "What have you been up to lately? You've been hiding in your room and I haven't seen you anywhere."
Bai'er's voice was muffled, "...It's nothing..."
The father, Hiloni Moss, who was peeling fruit nearby, paused, realizing something through a man's intuition.
His voice carried a hint of mischief, "Odatta, let him have some peace and quiet. The festival is still a while away, we can talk about it later... I remember the dress you had ordered from the tailor was almost finished, wasn't it? Do you want to go take a look?"
Odatta's attention was quickly diverted. "Oh, is that so? Then I'll go to the tailor shop first. Little White, remember to eat the dinner I left on the table!"
"...Yes. I meant, okay, Mom!"
...
Should I say it? How should I bring it up?
...Bai E was just having a dream.
He felt ashamed and couldn't put it into words... but in his dream, you were so passionate that he couldn't resist... He always felt that treating you like this was a kind of blasphemy? He didn't know how to describe it, but he always felt unworthy, and even though he couldn't control this reaction, subconsciously he still felt that it was something he shouldn't have done.
He can no longer feign composure in front of you. At least... not now.
Bai E buried his face in the sheets, his cheeks flushed. The wind chimes by the door tinkled, like ripples spreading across the lake of his heart.
At first, he wondered if he had too much energy.
So he took on most of the harvest responsibility, spending the whole morning harvesting while thinking of you. But when he returned home covered in sweat and lay down to take a nap, he dreamed of you again.
Later he wondered if it was because you met too many times?
So he tried to distance himself from you for a while, but found he couldn't. You just thought, "Why isn't Xiaobai being so clingy lately?" But he despairingly discovered that he could only manage to "not be too clingy," and couldn't possibly "distance himself."
Often, before you've even realized it, he can't contain himself and comes looking for you again, looking aggrieved.
Bai E... how could you, as a man, do such a thing...!
He opened the door and saw his father sitting in the living room, staring at him intently.
"You've finally decided to come out?" Hilonimos raised an eyebrow and smiled.
Bai E felt his father's gentle gaze fall on him. Feeling a little embarrassed, he responded softly.
Faced with his son's troubles, Hilonimos, who had been through similar experiences, didn't say much.
"If you have time, before the wheat is all harvested, take her to lie down in the wheat field. With the wind blowing, the sound of wheat swaying in the breeze, and the sky above... that's what you call comfortable."
He just said...
...
There are often festivals in the Erimit, some to give back to the gifts of Oronis, some to prepare for farming or to celebrate the harvest... This festival can also be considered a small event to praise [the years].
Xi Lian and I stayed up very late yesterday. We excitedly tried on our new clothes for the festival and whispered to each other for a long time until the moon was high in the sky. Then we felt thirsty, our eyelids were heavy, and we lay down in a slump.
As soon as you open your eyes, you'll find Xi Lian lying on your right shoulder, her head nestled in the crook of your neck, sleeping quietly and peacefully, her body curled up towards you, a gesture of complete trust.
You looked down and saw that your blankets had been kicked away somewhere, but luckily the temperature in the village wasn't low, so you didn't catch a cold.
"Hmm..." Feeling your subtle movement, Xi Lian mumbled a few words and opened her eyes, "Is it already noon...?"
You try to scare her by turning your lips down as much as possible, saying, "I woke up a long time ago, but I couldn't stay up this late because Xiao Lian didn't wake up."
Xi Lian's eyes widened immediately, and she sat up abruptly. "...Liar...! You weren't even awake when I got up to water the flowers this morning...!"
What? She actually woke up in the middle of the night to water the flowers.
You got stuck.
But you, being clever, quickly spotted the flaw:
"So Xiaolian deliberately slept in my arms today!"
Xi Lian also got stuck.
"That's because—" Two blushes appeared on the face of the usually composed pink-haired girl, but she still stammered and couldn't explain clearly.
"...I just wanted to get closer to you!" she said finally, feeling deflated.
You think smugly, "Oh dear, what am I going to do about Xiao Lian liking me so much?"
Unable to stand your smug expression, Xi Lian reached out her claws and retaliated by tickling your armpits.
"Stop laughing! Am I that funny...?! You who tease a girl's shyness like this, take this!!!"
"Ouch, ouch, Priest Xilian, spare my life...!"
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Author's Note: There will be intimate scenes in the next chapter (or possibly the chapter after that). If you find that unacceptable, you can skip to the next chapter.
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