Chapter 64: Days on the Mountain
The next morning, Qingyan suddenly remembered he had forgotten to bring Ah Miao back to the kang, so he hurriedly got off the kang to check. He found the little cat sleeping soundly, cuddled in Erxi’s embrace with its front legs.
Early in the morning, it started snowing heavily. The snowflakes fell in large pieces. Qingyan opened a crack in the door and caught a handful in his palm. Just as he discerned a hexagonal shape, it melted into a small puddle of water.
Someone reached out behind him, catching more snowflakes for a while before withdrawing their hand to show Qingyan. He looked down and this time saw the shape of the snowflakes clearly, marveling at their beauty.
But soon, these few flakes also melted into water, and the hand was withdrawn.
The person behind him spoke, “The noodles are cooked, let’s eat.”
Qingyan closed the door and turned around, embracing the other’s neck, acting coy, “I want to be carried.”
Qiu Henian lowered his head to look at him, a smile playing at his lips. He bent down and lifted Qingyan horizontally, carrying him back to the kang.
The two of them had their meal on the kang table, and it was warm where they sat. Ah Miao ate cat food on the side, and Erxi finished his own meal, eagerly waiting under the kang for Qingyan to occasionally toss him a noodle.
After they finished eating, each drank a cup of tea to cleanse their palates, rested for a while, and then set off to play with the plow.
Their cotton-padded jackets, shoes, and socks were all warmed on the heated kang, making them very comfortable to wear.
Ah Miao was too small to go out and play yet. Before Erxi went out, he circled Ah Miao several times, reluctant to leave.
About a hundred to two hundred meters from the cabin, they found a suitable snow slope. The slope wasn’t too steep but long enough. The surroundings were relatively open with few trees.
Qiu Henian tried it himself a couple of times first, making Qingyan anxious as he rubbed his hands together.
Finally, it was Qingyan’s turn. He sat on the plow, and Qiu Henian helped secure it for him, asking if he was ready. Qingyan nodded vigorously. With a gentle push from the man behind him, he slid down.
Before his eyes stretched a vast snowy expanse, with tall trees in the distance. The icy wind blew on his face, making his nose tip ache a bit from the cold. Snowflakes occasionally landed on his eyelashes. As the speed increased, Qingyan felt a bit scared yet thrilled, unable to resist shouting and laughing.
The two took turns sledding with the plow. Erxi also slid a few times, his dog ears flapping like little flags in the wind, trembling slightly.
This repeated climbing and descending was quite tiring. Feeling hungry, the two headed back.
The way back wasn’t far. Qingyan sat on the plow with Erxi in his arms, while Qiu Henian pulled them with a hemp rope.
Back home, Qiu Henian braised rice, Qingyan stir-fried vegetables, and threw a piece of meat bone into the pot to stew for Erxi and Ah Miao’s extra meal.
After finishing the meal, they took a short nap and then got up again.
Qingyan brought the kang table over, took out the homemade playing cards he had made from the luggage, each one cut from scrap paper he used for calligraphy practice, then pasted together with paste. Only the surface was good paper, and he drew the card faces stroke by stroke.
The two sat on opposite sides of the table. Qingyan explained the card face names to Qiu Henian and the rules of playing the game.
Qiu Henian held the cards he grabbed, smiling, “I’m just learning, please go easy on me, Young Master Qingyan.”
Qingyan waved his hand domineeringly, “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you!”
There must be consequences for losing, otherwise it’s not fun.
Qingyan thought for a moment. Using stickers was too wasteful, so they’d just drink water. Whoever lost would drink a glass of water, and Qiu Henian agreed.
As a result, once the game started, except for the first two rounds where Qiu Henian wasn’t quite clear on the rules and drank two glasses of water, Qingyan basically didn’t win again. He drank so much water he felt like throwing up, his stomach gurgling.
Qingyan was embarrassed to death. Qiu Henian gave him a way out, saying they should stop playing and take a break, but Qingyan was already too angry. He slapped the table and said if he couldn’t drink the water, he would take off his clothes, one piece per loss.
Seeing him insist, Qiu Henian had to agree.
They continued playing, and Qingyan’s clothes came off one by one.
Midway through the game, Qiu Henian glanced at him, got up and covered the bed with that sheet, and returned slowly to sit at the table and continue playing cards.
Qingyan was still grinding his teeth, determined to win a few rounds back.
He did win two or three rounds, but when he was happy, he realized something was wrong.
Qiu Henian moved the kang table away, put the outer robe he had taken off on the kang mat, and took out the wrist guard from under the pillow to put it on.
Qingyan pushed his chest with his hand, blushing, “It’s still early in the day, I can’t… can’t.”
Qiu Henian didn’t persuade him, just lowered his head to kiss his lips. After kissing for a while, Qingyan’s resisting hand softened and moved to the man’s thick neck, hugging it.
After a while, Qingyan had another problem.
He cried out, “I can’t, I drank too much water, my stomach keeps rumbling.”
Qiu Henian’s voice was hoarse, “It’s okay, I won’t mind.”
After a while, Qingyan cried again, “My knees hurt, the kang is too hard.”
“Phew,” Qiu Henian struggled to maintain his composure, gasping for breath, and when he changed his position, his stomach rumbled a few times, especially loud.
This time Qiu Henian couldn’t pretend not to hear it anymore. He couldn’t help laughing, and the atmosphere changed instantly.
Qingyan was unwilling and wanted to get off the kang, but was held back around the waist by a big hand from behind. As soon as he sat down, Qingyan tilted his chin up, revealing his slender and fair neck. His face was flushed, unable to help but cry out.
After that, no one cared whether there was the sound of gurgling water anymore, they didn’t care anymore.
Until it was dark, that patch of reddish pregnancy on Qingyan’s lower abdomen never faded.
…
Dinner was made by Qiu Henian, but Qingyan had no appetite. So, he cooked some millet porridge and finely sliced pork strips, stir-frying them together with shredded pickles. Normally, Qingyan didn’t like these sour pickles, but soaking them in water to remove some of the acidity and then stir-frying them with pork made him quite fond of them. It was appetizing when he had no appetite.
Qingyan ate his meal in bed, being fed one mouthful at a time.
After finishing, they rinsed their mouths and washed up on the kang.
After cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks, Qiu Henian washed his hands, returned to the kang, and sat next to Qingyan, taking out a book to read to him.
After reading for a while, Qiu Henian put down the book. Qingyan looked up at him, wondering why he suddenly stopped. Qiu Henian gazed at him for a moment, his eyes deep and dark. After a while, he got off the kang and hung the curtain again.
Qingyan instantly regretted his laziness in not getting dressed and staying in bed.
When Qiu Henian returned, Qingyan lost all his temper. He grumbled and was pulled out from under the blanket, letting himself be manipulated softly.
After a while, Qingyan struggled hard, shouting, “The sheet is dirty!”
Someone got off the ground, put on their shoes, and then there was the sound of dragging something.
A little later, Qingyan started crying, crying until late at night.
…
The next day, Qingyan lay alone in bed. Qiu Henian fed him and made sure he was fine before leaving to hunt.
The front door was locked, and Erxi guarded the house. The food was kept warm in the pot, and the stove was covered with coal slag. Safety and warmth were assured, so Qingyan had a good sleep.
When he woke up, it was already afternoon. Qingyan felt sore all over when he lifted his arm, even the flesh on his body was sore from being gnawed.
For dinner, Qingyan made something simple, and Qiu Henian came back empty-handed before dark.
Qingyan looked at him disdainfully and said, “See, this is the consequence of being distracted.”
Qiu Henian smiled and pinched his cheek.
Qingyan protected his collar tightly and warned, “No more.”
After a while, his face turned red again.
He voluntarily sat on the man’s thigh and whispered in his ear, “Later, help me check. I felt weird there all day today.”
“What’s wrong?” Qiu Henian wrapped his arm around his waist, asking softly.
Qingyan’s voice grew even softer, murmuring in his ear, and then summed it up in one sentence, “It’s all your fault.”
Qiu Henian’s gaze softened. He kissed his forehead and let him lean against his neck, gently pressing his thigh against him, saying, “It’ll be fine in a few days.”
“On these days, I won’t touch you.”
…
In the following days, Qiu Henian went hunting every day, while Qingyan continued to collect mulberry and schisandra near the house. He collected quite a lot in a day.
On the last day on the mountain, they went to the lake together to cut ice and fish with nets. Later, they checked the traps set for rabbits and picked up five or six rabbits on their way back.
Before descending the mountain, they packed everything up and processed the game. After dinner, they took Ah Miao with them, and Erxi followed behind as they set off.
They spent a long time on the mountain this time, but the game they hunted was about the same as last year, with a few more rabbits this time.
However, neither of them minded much. In the past, hunting supplemented their household income and provided meat for the New Year. This year, with good fortunes at home, their savings were considerable, so they didn’t value hunting as much and treated it more like a pleasure trip.
…
After returning to the village, they distributed meat to each household as usual.
San Yao and Qiuniang’s family received one deer and two fish. Aunt Li’s family received two rabbits and two fish. Qiu Henian gave half a deer and two fish to Hunter Liu; he only accepted the fish and refused the deer meat. This time, the couple helped him clean the stove, and he felt a bit embarrassed.
Lastly, at Shen Min’s place, Qingyan brought him two rabbits and two fish. With only him in the family now, these were enough for many meals.
Shen Min didn’t expect to receive these. When he sent Qingyan off, he tried hard to hide the reddening around his eyes.
…
For this Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner, the three families ate together at Qingyan’s house. They set a large table, and Aunt Li and San Yao’s family of three all came.
They sat together for the New Year’s Eve, playing cards, chatting, and drinking tea with Qingyan, Aunt Li, and Qiuniang.
San Yao and his son set off firecrackers in the courtyard, and Qiu Henian was there too.
Qiuniang handed Qingyan a piece of candied fruit, saying, “This is delicious, Sister-in-law, try it.”
Qingyan took a bite but suddenly retched, quickly putting on his shoes and running to the outside room to vomit into the kitchen sink.
Then, he vomited out the dumplings he had just eaten. Aunt Li hurriedly supported him and patted his back.
Qiuniang turned pale with worry and went out to call Qiu Henian from outside.
Qiu Henian entered the house, took Qingyan from Aunt Li, and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.
By now, Qingyan had finished vomiting and felt much better.
Qiu Henian busied himself with rinsing Qingyan’s mouth and wiping his face.
Beside them, Aunt Li looked thoughtfully at Qingyan.
Qiuniang suddenly realized and couldn’t contain her excitement, exclaiming, “Heavens, Sister-in-law, could you be expecting a child?!”
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
Holding Qingyan tightly, his heart ached; for his pure and persistent Qingyan!
