Reunion after a long separation
Since coming to Xizhou, Su Musong seemed to have become the boy who was easily moved to tears. Looking at the child in front of him, he was overwhelmed with emotions.
"May I have your name?"
"My name is Xiao Buyi, Yi means memories."
The past was too painful to recall. Even though he had hatred in his heart, Xiao Luochen was a gentle person at heart. He chose to bear everything alone and did not want the next generation to be tainted with a trace of hatred, so he named the child Buyi.
"Why are you crying?"
"I was so happy to see you that I cried."
Crying in front of a child is a shameful thing no matter how you look at it. Su Musong wiped his tears and tried his best to calm himself down.
"Are you the crybaby friend my dad mentioned?"
"Does your father often mention me?"
Hearing that Xiao Luochen was thinking about him, Su Musong accepted the title of crybaby without any argument.
"Not often, actually. I don't like Daddy mentioning him. He always gets sad when he mentions him. I wonder if this crybaby used to like bullying Daddy."
Su Musong was speechless for a moment. He never thought that one day he would become the reason for Xiao Luochen's sadness.
"Are you really that crybaby? If you are, I can't take you to see Daddy, so as not to make him sad."
"Your father and I haven't seen each other for a long time. He's sad when he thinks of me because he misses his friends but can't see them. He'll be very happy if you take me to see him."
Su Musong found a seemingly only reasonable explanation for himself.
Xiao Buyi thought for a moment and continued to lead Su Musong forward. Not long after they walked, a child about seven or eight years old came out from the bushes beside them.
"Brother Yi! Xiaodouzi and Xiaozhuzi are fighting, go over and take a look!"
"Why are they fighting again?"
Xiao Buyi looked disappointed and was about to follow the child, but then he remembered that he was still leading the way.
"Go straight along this road, and when you reach the pond, turn right. Daddy should be there now."
After saying this, he and the child who came to look for him went into the bushes and disappeared.
Su Musong followed Xiao Buyi's instructions and walked for about half a cup of tea before finally seeing the pond. It was backed by a small hill to the north, and farmland on the other three sides. There were small paths on each side, and from a distance, they seemed to be connected to residential areas.
Walking along the right path to the end, I found several vegetable plots. Across them ran a clear stream, about ten feet wide, crossed by a bamboo bridge. Beyond the bridge stood a sweet-scented osmanthus tree, its branches and leaves lush and thick enough to be embraced. Beneath the tree sat a man, his back against the trunk, his head tilted back and eyes closed. Beside him lay a hoe and a bamboo hat, as if he were taking a rest after a day of farm work.
Su Musong walked lightly towards the man under the tree. At this moment and place, it seemed as if everything was silent. Su Musong could only hear the sound of his own heartbeat, which was getting more and more rapid.
"You, you, don't let others see your childish temper. If it gets out, no one will find a match for you in two years."
"Anyway, you're the only one who saw it. If anyone else knows, it'll be you who spread it. If no one acts as a matchmaker, they'll all blame you. If I can't get married, then you can forget about getting married either. We'll just be widowers together when we get old."
…
"Wherever you go, I'll go. I promised to stay with you forever. A gentleman's word is as good as gold."
"Fool, if I die, will you still guard my grave?"
"Pah, pah, pah, you are young and in the prime of your life, how can you say such unlucky words?"
"Everyone will die eventually. Who can live for a thousand years? If that day ever comes, you will be sad for a while, then forget me and live your life well. If you die, I will do the same."
…
"I don't want to be separated from you."
"It's okay, it's only a few months, maybe even less. When Sixth Brother returns to Luzhou, if you're still in Shenghuang, I'll come find you, okay?"
…
Memories of the past suddenly flooded back like a tide, enveloping Su Musong completely, leaving him with nowhere to hide. For the past ten years, Su Musong had always restrained himself, not daring to think too much, but now he completely gave up the control of the valve of memory and let it rush out wantonly.
In just twenty steps, Su Musong's mind flashed through all the time he and Xiao Luochen had spent together.
He wore straw sandals, his trouser legs rolled up to his knees, his slightly bent calves stained with mud. His collar was slightly open, revealing a hint of white skin. His slender neck was covered with a thin layer of sweat. His protruding Adam's apple moved slightly from swallowing unconsciously, and his tilted head made his angular jawline appear even sharper. Although the man in front of him, dressed like a farmer, looked different from the elegant young man in Chinese clothes in his memory, Su Musong recognized him the moment he saw him. This was his Xiao Luochen.
Su Musong gently sat down beside Xiao Luochen, with no intention of waking him up. He just stared blankly at Xiao Luochen who was sleeping, letting his tears flow freely on his face.
A gentle breeze blew by, bringing a shower of osmanthus flowers, whose petals landed on the corners of Xiao Luochen's eyes and the tip of his nose. Su Musong carefully picked up the petals and saw beads of sweat on Xiao Luochen's forehead, so he took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off him.
Although Su Musong's movements were gentle enough, Xiao Luochen still woke up. He looked at Su Musong, who was close to him with tears streaming down his face, with sleepy eyes. For a moment, he thought he was in a dream. He habitually reached out to wipe Su Musong's tears and said to himself with a smile:
"Alas, I dreamt of you crying six out of ten times. Could it be that you were a spirit cultivating in some water palace in your previous life?"
Su Musong held Xiao Luochen's hand. His fingers were still as slender and well-proportioned as before, but calluses had formed on his palms. Su Musong put his face against his, feeling the slight pain of the calluses rubbing against his cheeks. In his heart, he felt heartache for Xiao Luochen's hardship over the past ten years. He kissed Xiao Luochen's palm deeply, leaving two tears in his eyes.
"Luo Chen, please don't ever leave me again, okay?"
Xiao Luochen was a bit surprised. In the past, his dreams of Su Musong were mostly about their school days in Yongcheng. But he had never seen anything as real as this one. He looked at the man before him. It was indeed Su Musong, but he was no longer the young boy he remembered. Instead, he was a well-defined young man. For a moment, he was a bit dazed, not knowing whether he was dreaming or awake.
But Su Musong did not give him time to sort out his thoughts. He directly used his actions to tell Xiao Luochen that he really appeared in front of him, not just an illusion in his dream.
The moment Su Musong's lips touched Xiao Luochen's, he was stunned. In his dreams, Su Musong had never been so domineering and proactive. Their breaths entangled, coming and going, chasing each other, abandoning all distractions, wishing only to swallow the other into his stomach.
“Hmm…”
Su Musong gently stroked his bitten tongue with his fingers and looked at Xiao Luochen aggrievedly.
Xiao Luochen's face flushed red
"I...I can't breathe."
Xiao Luochen felt that if he didn't resort to this desperate measure, he would be suffocated to death.
Looking at Xiao Luochen like this, Su Musong suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart. He concluded that he was the only one who had seen Xiao Luochen like this.
"Luo Chen, do you still think you are dreaming?"
This question made Xiao Luochen completely sober. Of course, this wasn't a dream. No dream could feel so real, and no dream could make him feel so suffocated.
Xiao Luochen looked at Su Musong carefully, and finally tears rolled down his face unconsciously. Although he had previously learned from Mu Feng that Su Musong had not let him go, when Su Musong really stood in front of him, the feeling of being moved was completely different.
Su Musong kissed Xiao Luochen's tear marks, rolled up a tear with the tip of his tongue, and murmured, "Sweet."
Following the traces of his tears, Su Musong left his own mark along the way, just like a wolf king on the grassland marking out his territory.
Although Xiao Luochen was inexperienced, he knew exactly what Su Musong was trying to do. There was nothing wrong with their mutual affection, but it was a bit absurd in broad daylight, in a field where no one knew when someone might pass by. So he decisively pushed Su Musong's head away with his hand, and used his knee to push Su Musong away from him. He stood up and straightened his clothes.
"Daddy, what are you doing?"
Xiao Buyi walked out from behind the tree with a look of shock on his face, and no one knew when he came.
Xiao Luochen felt extremely embarrassed and didn't know how to explain for a moment. Su Musong gritted his teeth and forced out an ugly smile. Although he had become more and more thick-skinned over the years, he still didn't know how to deal with such a thing.
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