Chapter 14 She can't handle two people alone...
Xue Lanyi retreated repeatedly, but the red gold tassels on her earrings caught on Wei Zhang's fox fur coat.
She frantically tried to untangle the tassels, but the more she tried, the tighter they became, eventually forming a knot that wouldn't hold.
She had no choice but to be face-to-face with Wei Zhang.
Smelling the cool pine scent emanating from him and listening to his heartbeat so close to hers, she felt a tightness in her chest. She pressed one hand against the knot on his chest and suddenly yanked the tassel.
The tassel didn't break, but the ear piercing was pulled, and a drop of blood seeped out.
The pain made Xue Lanyi's nose sting.
She finally decided to let go, but why is she still so entangled in this mess?
It's all Wei Zhang's fault for suddenly getting so close.
Helpless, she angrily punched him in the chest.
Wei Zhang looked down, puzzled, and saw her pouting, her cheeks flushed, as if she were in a hurry for something.
He pressed down on her flustered hand, his long, well-defined fingers curling up to envelop her and the tassel in her hand.
Xue Lanyi looked up in surprise, and Wei Zhang suddenly yanked hard, tearing a hole in the fox fur coat, freeing Xue Lanyi.
The earrings swayed perfectly on her earlobes, the fox fur tucked into the tassels brushing against Xue Lanyi's sensitive skin behind her ears.
It's itchy.
Xue Lanyi simply took off her earrings and handed them to Wei Zhang.
This item was sent by Wei Zhang this morning during the concubine-taking ceremony; it did not originally belong to her.
She didn't want his things anymore.
"Here you go," she said in a muffled voice.
Without even looking at it, Wei Zhang grabbed the earring and threw it into the stove fire.
The two-foot-high flames instantly engulfed the blood-stained earring.
"If you don't like it, just throw it away."
Why throw a tantrum over a pair of earrings?
Wei Zhang shook his head and casually took off his tattered fox fur coat. "Let's have a meal."
"I'm not hungry." Xue Lanyi's voice was even more muffled, and she curtsied briefly: "Longevity noodles cannot be shared, Your Highness, please eat more."
Having said that, he turned to leave.
"It's fine to go together."
Wei Zhang did not believe in ghosts and gods. He picked up a large bowl of noodles from the stove and gave Xue Lanyi a wink, signaling her to set up the table.
The noodles had just come out of the pot; the broth was still boiling and bubbling, and the bowl was very hot.
Xue Lanyi had burned her hand earlier, which is why she had left it to dry by the stove for so long.
Seeing that he was holding the bowl with one hand, the soup was sloshing around, she didn't care about anything else for a moment and quickly set up the small wooden table next to the stove.
Wei Zhang put down the soup bowl, rubbed his burning fingers, and said, "Bring me a bowl."
Xue Lanyi, still half asleep, handed over another small bowl.
Wei Zhang lifted his robe and sat down, then picked up a bowl of noodles for her.
Is that enough?
"enough."
He was listless and sparing with his words.
Wei Zhang glanced at her thin face, then put another piece of noodles into her small bowl. "Eat."
The small bowls were piled up into a small mountain.
Xue Lanyi then realized she was hungry.
She had barely eaten since entering the Duke's mansion yesterday, so she gently lifted her skirt and sat down.
The small tables in the kitchen were for the servants, unlike the spacious golden nanmu wood tables used by their masters.
The tabletop is extremely narrow and only has one stool.
Xue Lanyi could only sit next to him, shoulder to shoulder, legs together.
She bent down and blew on the steam in the bowl, and thick white mist drifted out from both sides.
Unexpectedly, the place was too crowded, and a large amount of hot air was blown towards Wei Zhang.
His usually handsome and solemn face was enveloped in the misty fog.
He frowned, wiped the water droplets from his brow with a handkerchief, and continued to eat his noodles slowly and deliberately.
Xue Lanyi blew another breath in a muffled voice.
A thicker mist enveloped Wei Zhang, and he glanced at her.
Xue Lanyi turned her gaze away.
Once he looked away, she gathered up all the pent-up frustration in her heart and puffed out her cheeks...
"If you keep blowing on the noodles, they'll get cold." Wei Zhang said calmly, picking at the noodles. "Do you know what it means when longevity noodles get cold?"
The longevity noodles have gone cold, and so has the lifespan of the person who made them long.
He had already divided the longevity noodles in half; if they got cold again, it would be truly unlucky.
Xue Lanyi hadn't yet gone so far as to curse him to death; her bulging cheeks deflated.
He lowered his eyelashes and obediently began to eat his noodles.
Neither of them spoke or looked at each other, and they sat side by side to eat.
But as they ate, their movements inexplicably became synchronized.
As he picked up noodles, she picked up noodles too; as he chewed, she chewed too.
A silent, unspoken understanding.
Outside the window, firecrackers crackled, and daytime fireworks blared brilliantly—fireworks bestowed by the Emperor himself.
At this moment, the Duke's mansion was filled with guests, who were toasting and celebrating Wei Zhang's birthday.
No one knew that their Lord Wei was hiding in Sanping's small kitchen, eating vegetarian noodles.
A ray of sunshine shone through the window and landed on the small wooden table, warmly illuminating the two of them.
The white cat, who was afraid of the cold, jumped onto the table and stretched in the sunlight.
The egg noodles were fragrant and very delicious.
For once, Wei Zhang didn't have to think about anything; when he ate, he simply ate a whole bowl of rice.
Wait until the last noodle is rolled up by chopsticks.
A pale pink pointed tip peeked out from the bottom of the bowl. As the noodles were swallowed, a small peach carved from dough suddenly caught Wei Zhang's eye.
The peach was slightly larger than a copper coin, its entire body dyed peony pink, and it stood chubby and blankly staring at him from the bottom of the bowl.
"Happy birthday." A gentle female voice came from beside me.
Wei Zhang paused slightly with his chopsticks and turned his head to the side.
Xue Lanyi didn't look at him and continued picking at the noodles in her bowl.
She didn't really want to celebrate his birthday, but she had promised to make him longevity peaches, and she always kept her word.
Unlike some people who make solemn vows, I won't forget things as easily as they say they will.
However, there wasn't enough time to make the longevity peaches, so she simply made a dough sculpture as a perfunctory gesture, and that was all.
"May the Crown Prince enjoy good health and live a long life."
There were no flowery greetings, only a simple eight-character blessing.
When she spoke, her rosy cheeks puffed out, just like the peaches in the bowl.
However, she now has a pair of dimples.
Wei Zhang pressed down on the longevity peach with his chopsticks, and the plump peach was dented into a small dimple.
He swallowed hard, then picked up a peach, intending to take a bite.
“It’s unleavened dough, it’s hard to digest.” Xue Lanyi finally looked up at him. “It’s only for looking at, not for eating.”
Wei Zhang examined the intricate carving on one end of the chopsticks, which even featured delicate peach leaf patterns.
After a long while, it was put back into the bowl.
Yes, things that are too beautiful are often illusions, only meant to be admired from afar; once touched, they lose their true nature.
His long eyelashes trembled slightly, and the emotion in his eyes turned cold.
He took out a palm-sized brocade box from his sleeve and pushed it in front of Xue Lanyi.
"A return gift." Just two simple words.
Xue Lanyi was quite surprised, paused for a moment, and then opened the brocade box.
A pair of dangling earrings sat on a red velvet cloth. The gold earrings were intricately carved with openwork, and pearls hung below, emitting a pinkish-white light.
“South Pearl?” Xue Lanyi recognized it at a glance.
She remembered that year when the flowers were in bloom, she and the boy had a fight, arguing until their faces turned red.
General Wei was so angry that he paced around and stomped his feet.
That night, the young general, having nowhere to vent his anger, rode his horse out of Shengjing and remained missing for fifteen days.
Half a month later, he reappeared under the same peach tree, and casually handed her a pair of carved South Sea pearl earrings.
"Are you calm now?" Xue Lanyi asked him, tilting her head as she put her hands behind her back.
"Who's angry? I was just passing through the South China Sea and spent a few days playing by the sea." The boy's voice was muffled, and there were still several marks on his hands from the carving knife.
Xue Lanyi couldn't help but chuckle. As she took the earrings and put them on, she said, "That love letter and pearl earrings were given to me by Young Master Li to pass on to Miss Yin. They weren't for me."
"I...I didn't say anything."
The boy's face was tense, but he quickly took the other earring, and his smile brightened. "I'll help you put it on, and you teach me."
"And could you please forgive me just this once, for the sake of these earrings? Just this once!"
...
The boy said he wouldn't make her angry or sad.
But lately, Wei Zhang has been making her angry and sad.
Life is long, and there will always be bumps along the way.
Should she be more lenient this time, for the sake of the earrings?
Xue Lanyi tried to touch the South Sea pearl in the brocade box; the smooth, lustrous texture was exactly the same as in her dream.
She placed the earrings in Wei Zhang's palm and said in a muffled voice, "Help me put them on."
Only after she's satisfied with what he said will she consider whether or not to forgive him this once.
Wei Zhang looked up and saw her pouting, her clear, watery eyes looking quite aggrieved.
She has become too arrogant and spoiled today.
Wei Zhang frowned, his fingertips fiddling with the openwork of the earring.
"I can wear it, but once I wear it, I can't take it off. Is that possible?"
Xue Lanyi didn't have any other earrings, so she nodded silently.
Wei Zhang's brows finally relaxed, and he spread his knees apart, patting his thighs.
Xue Lanyi squatted between his knees, lay sideways on his legs, and exposed her right ear.
Wei Zhang hooked her earlobe and inserted the earring into her ear hole.
"Hiss." Xue Lanyi gasped. "That's not how it is."
In his memory, the boy didn't understand anything when he first wore earrings, and despite being careful, he still poked her and hurt her.
Xue Lanyi took a breath and said shyly in a low voice, "Rub your ears."
Sometimes ear piercings are not very noticeable, and you need to rub them with your fingers to make them easier to put on.
Wei Zhang had no choice but to comply with her. He lifted her earlobe with his index finger and gently massaged the soft flesh in circles with the pad of his thumb.
He moved slowly, the calluses on his fingers gently scraping against Xue Lanyi's soft cartilage, and soon her earlobes felt hot.
The warmth slowly spread from the base of my ears into my bloodstream, and then throughout my entire body.
Some erotic images inexplicably popped into Xue Lanyi's mind, and something was surging within her body.
In fact, the night before she left the courtyard house, she felt unwell, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong.
At this moment, in the room where only she and he were, the discomfort suppressed in her heart began to fester.
Xue Lanyi shrank back and quickly changed the subject: "Are these the same pair of South Sea pearl earrings from before?"
"Right?" Wei Zhang said casually.
I guess so.
His elder brother must have been out of his mind to run away from the Central Plains to the South China Sea overnight.
A landlubber, for some reason, insisted on going out to sea with the fishermen to learn to dive.
Fearing that he would die at sea and no one would claim his body, Wei Zhang had no choice but to follow him.
Later, they all learned to dive, were bitten by sharks, and each received a pair of South Sea pearls.
That night, Wei Xuan was engrossed in making earrings while sitting in the corridor.
Wei Zhang also tried to do it, but he didn't understand. "Brother, if you want to keep an eye on Zhaoyang and prevent her from contacting others, I have an easier way."
He pointed to the half-finished South Sea pearl earrings, "We can make it openwork, and then..."
"Ah Zhang, you can't." Wei Xuan interrupted him solemnly, looking up at the bright moonlight. "A lover should be like the bright moon hanging in the sky. You'll understand when you have someone you love..."
Wei Zhang still doesn't understand: if the goal can be achieved, why go to the long way around?
Wei Zhang played with the openwork carving of the South Sea pearl earring, then gently placed it behind Xue Lanyi's ear. "All done."
Xue Lanyi didn't get up, her cheek pressed against his thigh, "Does Your Highness still remember what you said when you gave me the earrings?"
Wei Zhang had no interest in listening to any of this and raised his wrist.
Xue Lanyi quickly pressed his hand down.
His palm rested on her soft cheek, and she said gently, "You said you would never make me sad or upset, and that you would love me more than anyone else."
How did things change?
"I want to forgive you just this once, please don't hurt me anymore, okay?" Perhaps due to her physical discomfort, her emotions rarely surfaced, and her voice trembled slightly.
Intermittent breaths sprayed onto Wei Zhang's palm, warm and gentle.
Like the damp air in the bathtub that night, making it hard to breathe.
Wei Zhang disliked this feeling, stood up, and wanted to go outside to get some fresh air.
Xue Lanyi, having lost her support, slumped to the ground. As the dark figure flashed past her, she grabbed his hem, "Wei Zhang, I can't hold on much longer!"
She couldn't possibly love him unconditionally based solely on a single memory.
She couldn't possibly tell herself that he still loved her amidst his daily coldness.
She couldn't uphold the vows of two people on her own.
If he continues to remain unresponsive, she may also be overwhelmed by the weight of his vow.
A note from the author:
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