Chapter 55 Good Things Are Near (Part 5) A low hum.
Xie Yicheng groaned as she was bumped into, losing her footing and taking a half-step back before finally regaining her balance.
Upon hearing this, he was taken aback at first, then thought of what she had done to him in bed a month ago, and couldn't help but laugh at her frank and bold words.
"After a month apart, this is all you've been thinking about?"
"You know it's been a month since we last met. You were able to go see Manager Sun to rent a room, so why can't you come see me first?"
"I want to wait until things are settled."
The soft, warm body in his arms was hard for Xie Yicheng to let go of, but the courtyard gate was wide open and the noise of people in the alley was getting closer. Xie Yicheng held her waist, separated her first, and walked over to close the courtyard gate.
It's rush hour now, and the alley is full of people returning home. Everyone's watching, and if they bump into each other, it won't do Ye Mu any good for his reputation.
She doesn't care, but he has to care for her.
Just as I reached the door, Zijing came out of the courtyard diagonally opposite, holding a few freshly picked scallions covered in wet mud.
She looked up and met Xie Yicheng's gaze from inside the door, and immediately exclaimed in surprise, "Eh!"
"Master Wen Kong?"
Zijing blinked, then suddenly realized and laughed, "I just heard Mr. Zheng say in the courtyard that our new neighbor moved in across the hall. So it was you, Master!"
Ye Mu had mentioned Wen Kong's return to secular life to his family long ago. Zi Jing wasn't particularly moved, feeling that there were so many interesting things in the world, why bother with the solitary life of a monk and nun? She even thought he had "come to terms with it."
However, Liu felt deeply sorry for him and pressed him for the reason. Ye Mu could only give a vague answer: "Buddha wouldn't let him be the Buddha anymore. He enlightened him in a dream." Liu's deep glance at that time still makes Ye Mu feel a little guilty to this day.
"Why did Master rent this place?" Zijing asked bluntly, glancing inside. "This place isn't very nice. Last time our girl came here to chase after Tuantuan, she took one look and said, 'This old, run-down place is only fit for a fool...'"
"Ah Jing." Ye Mu peeked out from behind Xie Yicheng in time, interrupting her.
"You're here too, Miss?" Zijing noticed her then, her gaze falling on the oil paper package in the girl's hand. She walked over with a smile, "You just got back from work, Miss?"
Ye Mu nodded lightly, but inwardly he was annoyed that he had forgotten to close the door in his haste.
In the heat of the moment, she only had eyes for him and couldn't possibly notice something as trivial as closing the door.
“Dinner is ready too. There’s fish tonight, and I’ll sprinkle some scallions that Mr. Zheng grew himself. It’ll smell delicious,” Zijing said naturally as she took the oil paper package from her hand. “You’re back just in time, Miss. We can start eating now.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Mu knew he could no longer stay.
She hesitated for a moment and took two steps. “Now that Master has returned to secular life, he no longer needs to observe the rule of not eating after noon, right? Why don’t we go to our courtyard and have some together? Ah Jing’s fish is so fresh.”
Xie Yicheng shook her head, her expression indifferent. "Do as you please. I'm not used to not having dinner."
That idiot.
Ye Mu scoffed inwardly. Who really wanted him to eat? She just wanted to talk to him a little more.
Zijing walked a few steps ahead, and after hearing Ye Mu's words, she turned around and grinned, "That's great! With Master living here, I'll be able to enjoy my cooking from now on."
She walked briskly and stepped out of the courtyard first.
Ye Mu deliberately slowed his pace, and as he passed Xie Yicheng, their sleeves brushed lightly in the dim light.
She paused slightly, then quietly raised her hand, her fingertips tentatively scratching the back of his hand that hung at his side.
She intended to part ways immediately, but in an instant, Xie Yicheng's hand, which had been hanging limply, suddenly flipped over, and his warm, dry palm precisely pressed against her fingertips. Then, his slender fingers hooked inward, gently weaving into the gap between her fingers, loosely holding her hand that was trying to pull away.
Ye Mu's breath hitched slightly, and he looked up in surprise.
His expression remained calm, his gaze fixed on the alley ahead, watching Zijing disappear into the distance. Only the hand she touched, gently scratching the softest part of her palm.
A tingling, numb sensation shot from his palm straight to his heart, causing half of Ye Mu's body to tremble inexplicably.
Before she could react, he had already released her hand.
Where did this monk learn his moves? They're so captivating.
"Girl, is the duck meat in this oil paper package for Tuantuan?" Zijing called out from her courtyard. "Would you like me to save a few pieces for you?"
Ye Mu looked longingly at Xie Yicheng, then moved towards her own courtyard, saying to Zijing, "Give it all to Tuantuan, I'll just have fish for dinner."
She wished she could break one step into ten, but even though she walked slowly, she soon arrived at her own courtyard.
Xie Yicheng smiled.
Just as she was about to step into the courtyard, his voice sounded from behind her, calm and composed. "Ye Mu."
She stopped and turned back.
As dusk deepened, he stood by the threshold, his figure half-hidden under the eaves. He had already returned to secular life and no longer wore a monk's robe. Instead, he wore a simple, light gray robe, the material of which made his figure appear even more slender and upright.
His tone was indifferent. "I haven't had time to buy bedding yet. Do you have any extras to borrow temporarily?"
Ye Mu nodded, his heart already filled with joy as Zijing set out the bowls and chopsticks. "We just bought a few new beds for the New Year."
She replied just as naturally, "I'll bring it to you after I finish dinner."
"good."
The two exchanged questions and answers openly and honestly, as if it were just a normal mutual assistance between neighbors. But Ye Mu secretly laughed. His excuse was too clumsy. Who would ask a neighbor to borrow a blanket?
However, their tone was too ordinary and their expressions were too calm, so passersby did not notice anything unusual.
At the dinner table, when Liu heard Zijing mention that Master Wenkong had moved across the street, she paused slightly while holding the soup spoon. She glanced at Ye Mu, but ultimately asked nothing and said nothing, only silently picking up a piece of food with her chopsticks.
With something on his mind, Ye Mu quickly ate a few bites and put down his bowl to get up.
Zijing exclaimed "Hey!" and pointed to the almost untouched steamed sea bass in the center of the table. "You're done eating, miss? This is your favorite. Today, this one is drizzled with sesame oil. It smells so good."
"I'm not too hungry, you should eat more." Ye Mu mumbled in response, turning towards the inner room, and added, "Leave some fish for Tuantuan too, and remove all the bones."
“In the girl’s heart now, it’s probably only Tuantuan,” Zijing joked with a smile. “She’s thinking about everything good that’s available.”
Liu glanced at Zijing indifferently, then suddenly changed the subject, "Zijing, what do you think of Instructor Zheng next door?"
“Mr. Zheng?” Zijing was focused on picking out fish bones when she heard this. She looked up, thought for a moment, and said, “He’s a very amiable person. He always recommends his students to me to order book bags.”
She paused, her lips curving slightly downwards, "It's just that his students are really quite poor. They haggle with me for ages over a few copper coins to make a coarse cloth book bag. They have so many demands: this one needs an extra hidden pocket, that one needs an extra drawstring, it's so time-consuming and laborious."
Zijing used to be a head maid in the mansion, handling all sorts of respectable matters. It wasn't that she looked down on these few copper coins, but she just wasn't used to such trivial and petty squabbles.
But now, in order to supplement the family income and lighten Ye Mu's burden, she has patiently sewed about twenty cloth bags. Thinking about it, Mr. Zheng does indeed have quite a few students.
Seeing that she didn't understand, Liu made her point even clearer, "Then why do you think Instructor Zheng specifically introduced all the students to you?"
Zijing paused with her chopsticks, blinked, and suddenly realized, "Madam is reminding me that he wants to take some kickbacks, isn't she? Look at my blockhead!"
She nodded repeatedly with an "I knew it" expression on her face. "Tomorrow I'll pack some snacks and give him some interest."
Liu remained silent, only gently stirring the rice grains in her bowl. After a long while, she let out a barely audible sigh.
What a dense person.
Her gaze then turned to the half-closed door of the inner room.
On the window paper, Ye Mu's slender figure was reflected as she moved back and forth. You could vaguely hear her humming a tuneless little melody, the tune filled with a joyful excitement that seemed ready to take flight.
Liu's brows furrowed.
The oil lamp in the small room was dim.
Ye Mu opened the box against the wall.
Several brand-new cotton quilts were folded neatly and thickly, but the covers were either bright red with gold peonies embroidered on them, or emerald green satin with bright purple koi fish coiled around them. The patterns were lively and intense, dazzling the eyes.
Her fingers traced the smooth satin surface, and she hesitated for a moment.
This overwhelming worldly joy is completely at odds with his serene and tranquil demeanor.
It's all the Bauhinia's fault.
When we were buying fabric before the New Year, the girl excitedly carried the pieces home, saying, "The New Year should be festive and bright red. Embroidering peonies and carp on them will bring good luck."
She thought that as long as the blanket wasn't exposed and it kept her warm, that would be fine, so she let her be.
Ye Mu stood quietly in front of the box for a moment, the dim light casting her long shadow on the wall.
She turned and walked straight to the old elmwood cabinet in her room.
At the bottom of the cabinet, she found a plain blue quilt. The quilt cover was made of soft cotton, and the edges were embroidered with very elegant intertwined branches in the same color silk thread. This was the quilt she used to sleep under.
She couldn't help but gently bury her face in the neatly folded blankets and take a deep breath.
Although it has been washed and dried, the strong scent of sunshine has long since faded, replaced by a subtle and sweet fragrance, faint yet elusive, the clean and lingering scent of gardenia.
It was the scent of the perfume she had used for many years. Ye Mu had loved using that gardenia-scented cream to moisturize her hands and body before bed since she was a child. She had stopped using it for a while due to financial difficulties, but after receiving her monthly allowance, Zijing bought it for her.
The fragrance gently seeped into the quilt; it was her unique scent.
Ye Mu hugged the quilt and stood quietly in the room for a while. Her heartbeat was particularly clear in the silence, thumping and pounding, making her chest burn and even her ears feel hot.
She could almost imagine the scent permeating his pillow and seeping into his breath... She was going to blatantly seduce him, letting her fragrance fill every long night of his life.
Ye Mu took out another ordinary mattress, carefully wrapped the plain blue quilt inside, and hugged it tightly.
As he passed through the courtyard, he didn't dare to look up at Liu Shi, and only hurriedly said, "Mother, I'm going to bring a quilt to Master."
"Mm." Liu's voice came from under the lamp, devoid of emotion. "Come back soon."
"knew!"
Ye Mu slipped out of the courtyard gate.
The wooden door to the small courtyard across the street was ajar, leaving a warm yellow crack. Just as she reached out to push it open, the door was pulled open from the inside, and a hand quickly and firmly grasped her wrist, gently pulling her down into a dim, warm shadow.
The door behind me clicked shut.
Ye Mu steadied herself, looked up at him, and, rarely seeing him so unsteady, teased, "The door closed so quickly, Xie Yicheng, what are you doing that you're afraid someone will see?"
Xie Yicheng chuckled softly, took the blanket from her hands, and asked, "What are you going to do with it?"
Ye Mu felt a burning sensation in his ears as he looked at him, glancing at him and recalling the embarrassing words he had uttered when they first met in the courtyard.
In all honesty, she lived in constant fear for the past month; she never entertained even the slightest romantic thought.
Strangely enough, the moment she saw him and rushed into his arms, she would lose her train of thought and her words would come out as whatever came to mind.
She followed Xie Yicheng into the house.
The small courtyard consisted of only two rooms, including the kitchen. The main room was furnished in a very simple manner, with an arrangement somewhat resembling his meditation room in his previous life. It was so quiet and secluded that it was almost cold. A bed, a table, a cabinet, and a stool were all that was there.
He cleaned up and removed the excess items.
On the desk, an oil lamp burned quietly, illuminating several old scriptures, a nearly burnt-out incense stick, and a few simple-looking ceramic medicine jars.
Ye Mu walked over, lifted a jar and looked inside; most of the ointment had already been used up.
Her heart sank, and she turned to look at Xie Yicheng, who was laying out a mattress by the bed.
He was bent over, and his movements were somewhat slow, with the fabric of his clothes tugging at him.
"Did you go back to..." Ye Mu paused, swallowing the words "Xie family," and softened her voice, "...and get beaten up?"
"Hmm." He didn't turn around, his hands continuing their work, speaking casually, "Not heavy."
How could it not be heavy?
Ye Mu recalled how he had instinctively taken a half-step back when she threw herself into his arms at the courtyard gate. With his build and composure, he should have caught her steadily.
She walked over, squatted down beside him, and looked up at him: "Xie Yicheng."
His hand, which was spreading the quilt, paused slightly.
"Where are you hurt?" she asked softly, but with a hint of stubbornness. "Let me see."
“You’re really disrespectful now,” he chuckled, downplaying the seriousness of the matter, “calling me Xie Yicheng, Xie Yicheng, you’ve completely disowned your master.”
Ye Mu didn't reply, but simply reached out and her fingertips hooked onto the sash of his gray-blue robe.
Xie Yicheng paused slightly, then smiled and moved aside from the couch. "So soon? I'm not ready yet."
"Who wants to do anything to you!" Ye Mu's cheeks flushed red, but her hands didn't stop moving. "I just want to check the injury."
Xie Yicheng refused and grabbed her wrist. Ye Mu used her other hand to pull on the tie. He grabbed her to dodge, and in the struggle, she pressed on some wound on his body, and a very soft groan escaped from his throat.
For someone as resilient to pain as him to be able to utter a sound, he must be in tremendous pain.
Ye Mu deftly untied Xie Yicheng's outer robe and gently parted the placket of his inner garment to the sides.
Layers of plain white gauze were wrapped around his shoulders and down to his chest and ribs. In the dim light, they were glaringly visible. In some places, faint brown medicine stains and even a trace of very faint blood were faintly visible.
A heavy silence fell over the room.
The wick of the oil lamp crackled softly.
Ye Mu's fingertips hovered above the gauze, trembling slightly, unable to bear touching it any longer.
After a long while, she finally raised her eyes and looked at him, her voice hoarse, "You were beaten half to death back then, weren't you, Xie Yicheng?"
"It's just a superficial wound, it looks scary." Xie Yicheng lowered his eyes and looked at her pale face, afraid that he had frightened her. He reached out to pull up his clothes, but she grabbed his wrist.
Her hands were cold.
"Don't move." Ye Mu took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress the lump in his throat. "Where's the gauze? I'll change it for you."
"No need. The medicine has already been applied."
"Then why is it still bleeding?" Ye Mu gripped his hand tightly. "Xie Yicheng, if you don't have it here, I'll go get it from my room."
Their gazes met in the dim light.
The smoke from the incense sticks rose straight up, then suddenly dispersed at a certain moment. Finally, he nodded his chin toward the cabinet as if in resignation.
Ye Mu released him and took out a medicine pot and a clean cotton cloth.
She knelt beside the couch and asked him to turn around, saying, "It might hurt."
I don't know if I was reminding him or telling myself to keep my hand steady.
"Hmm," he responded softly.
Ye Mu carefully unwrapped the gauze layer by layer.
The deeper the layer, the darker the color of the medicine seeping out, mixed with a faint smell of blood. When the last piece of gauze was removed, even though he had expected it, Ye Mu still gasped.
From his left shoulder blade to below his right rib, there was a large, hideous bruise. The skin and flesh were swollen, and the edges were horrifyingly bluish-black. Although several wounds in the middle had scabbed over, one could still imagine the terrible state of his skin and flesh when it was torn open.
This was no ordinary family discipline; it was clearly a brutal beating with sticks.
Her fingertips hovered above the wound, trembling, afraid to touch it. The composure she had just maintained had crumbled. "...This isn't serious?"
He's about to be beaten to death.
"The bones aren't broken." Xie Yicheng tried to lighten her tone. "It's nothing serious, I'll be fine in a few days. They really don't dare to cause a death."
How many days will it take to recover?
"Who hit you? Your mother?"
"I think so. My younger brother, my mother, the clan chief, and several uncles from collateral branches who are still alive... There were too many people to remember clearly. They even wanted to send me back to become a monk."
Ye Mu wiped her eyes hastily. So it turned out that there really were mothers in this world who didn't love their own children. She had witnessed Zhou Shi's meanness and heard her scolding her third sister, but Zhou Shi would still arrange a marriage for her daughter and seek a not-too-bad outcome.
Ye Mu bit her lip, unscrewed the medicine bottle, and stopped talking.
She scooped out some dark brown ointment with her fingertips and carefully applied it to the wound, using very light pressure, but it still made his muscles instinctively tense up.
"It must hurt a lot," she whispered, her fingertips circling as she slowly rubbed the ointment into the bruises.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his breathing became heavier, but he remained silent, only his hands, clasped on his knees, were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"...It doesn't hurt," Xie Yicheng replied, her voice muffled.
"Liar," she cursed, but softened her movements even more, her breath brushing against the edge of his wounds, warm and damp.
It is more unbearable and more soul-crushing than direct pain.
"Why?" Ye Mu asked, "Going back just to get this beating?"
"I got some things back." He closed his eyes, beads of sweat rolling down his face.
What is worth doing this for?
She picked up the clean gauze again and began to carefully wrap it around his chest, the two of them very close.
“Household registration, travel permit, and some private property that should rightfully belong to me.”
Xie Yicheng raised his eyes and looked at her. "Ye Mu, I am no longer the fourth son of the Xie family, nor am I the monk Wen Kong. But from now on, I am Xie Yicheng, a person who can stand in the world by my own name."
He knelt in the ancestral hall, his relatives rebuking him and beating him with sticks. Yet, he stood tall, repeatedly stating his demands, asking for these few items. They cursed him for being rebellious, calling him a jinx, trying to use pain to subdue him and force him back to his predetermined, peaceful fate.
I want him to go back to being Wen Kong.
He refused, saying that if they didn't give it to him, he would take the ordination certificate and the thank-you note from the Crown Prince's residence to the government office to reason with them. Perhaps it was this last sentence that made them, in their rage and fear, throw him out the back door like trash.
"Where have you been these past few days?"
Xie Yicheng remained silent for a moment.
That day, he was abandoned in a secluded back alley, barely alive, his eyes blurred with blood.
His first thought was that he would crawl to see her, at least he couldn't die silently in a place she didn't know about.
He promised to go find her once he had sorted things out, and he couldn't go back on his word.
But eventually, he was exhausted, and before his consciousness faded, he only remembered the rough gravel road grinding against his palms.
He woke up again in a secluded guest room in the Yongchang Marquis's mansion. It turned out that he had fainted not far from the back gate of the mansion and was discovered by a night patrolling servant.
The servant had once attended his master's sermons and recognized his face. In his shock, he immediately reported to the steward that very night.
The Yongchang Marquis's mansion had always respected this young but highly accomplished Master Wen Kong, so they quietly settled him in, hired a doctor, and told the outside world that he was a master invited by the mansion to meditate.
"I recuperated at the Yongchang Marquis's residence for a few days," he said briefly. "The injury was too gruesome, and I was afraid it would frighten you. I also thought I should first tidy up this place before coming to see you."
As Ye Mu listened, the pain in her heart slowly melted away, turning into a tender, bittersweet feeling.
She released her grip on the gauze and gently smoothed out the wrinkles in his chest bandage with tender movements.
“Xie Yicheng,” she cupped his face in her hands, looking him in the eye, “Xie Yicheng.”
"What's wrong?" he asked in a low voice.
"I just wanted to call out to you."
He didn't want to be a monk anymore, he didn't want to be a monk anymore, it was too painful.
Xie Yicheng chuckled, "Aren't you going to put my clothes on first?"
"Both of your areas are completely covered with gauze, so I can't do anything to you."
"But I'm cold."
"Then I'll hug you."
Ye Mu's love was unreserved.
However, there is a time limit.
She quickly straightened up, using this as leverage, "I've already hugged you, can't you kiss me?"
Xie Yicheng was helpless against her self-righteous unreasonable behavior. "How can we kiss?"
He had only ever been a monk, so he certainly lacked experience in this area.
Ye Mu stood between his knees, as if instructing a master, "How did I kiss you that day? You demonstrate."
"I don't know either."
"You're lying. I was drunk that night, and I was so confused that I can't remember many details, but you were sober."
She bent down, getting closer, her breath brushing against his slightly cool lips, her voice low and soft, "You do everything so well, you should be able to do this well too."
“Not necessarily,” Xie Yicheng raised his eyes, his gaze dark and unfathomable. “I’m not knowledgeable about this matter.”
"We'll have to try to find out." Ye Mu's fingertips hovered near his lips, seemingly close yet distant. "Tell me, I kissed him right here that day..."
Her fingertip lightly touched the corner of his lips. "Still here?"
Then she moved to the cupid's bow, "Still here?"
Xie Yicheng suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, which was still playfully gesturing in the air. The force was not light and carried an almost punitive meaning as he pulled her sharply towards him.
Ye Mu gasped and fell into his arms unexpectedly. Before she could see the emotion in his eyes, she felt a shadow fall over her.
He lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.
It wasn't that fleeting, superficial touch on the mountaintop that night.
Xie Yicheng lightly bit her lower lip, causing her to gasp slightly.
"Did I bite you like this the same day?" Ye Mu retorted.
Taking advantage of the moment she opened her mouth to speak, Xie Yicheng effortlessly slipped his tongue in.
Ye Mu's mind went blank for a moment, as if a thousand fireworks were exploding at the same time.
His kisses were clumsy, even somewhat awkward and fierce, but it was precisely this lack of technique that was captivating.
She rarely saw his recklessness.
Before long, Ye Mu felt dizzy and disoriented. He responded in kind, but he couldn't ignore the strange desire surging within him.
She shoved his uninjured shoulder, a low, muffled moan escaping her lips.
Xie Yicheng stepped back slightly, giving her room to breathe.
His own breathing became somewhat disordered, his forehead pressed against hers, and his eyes held lingering emotions.
However, Ye Mu did not do as Xie Yicheng expected. Her eyelashes were wet and lifted up. She grabbed his stiff hand placed at her side and guided it to slowly move up and cover her full and soft breasts.
She leaned close to his ear, her breath hot and seductive, "Xie Yicheng, you've touched women before..."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Thank you for reading and adding to your favorites! The next chapter will also feature [Sunglasses]. No matter how much the censors torture me, I'm going to write about Xiangxiang!!! Women need to write these kinds of things to have the energy to work!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com