Work Text:
Caiyi was full of life as always: a bustle of people going about their daily activities without any worries. The Lan hadn't informed anyone about the Waterborne Abyss – or it was the city rulers who hadn't yet spoken about it with the population; frankly, Jiang Cheng wasn’t interested. He walked with his shoulders straight and his lips pursed. He wasn’t angry, just impatient.
He was also annoyed by the sound of Wei Wuxian’s light footsteps beside him. That was until a much worse noise made him frown.
He and Wei Wuxian had commented on how Caiyi’s speech was so delicate that it made altercations appear as polite, good-natured exchange of opinions. However, the screams that suddenly rose from behind them, startling several disciples from other clans and all the Lan boys, were vulgar, too blindly furious to maintain any semblance of decorum.
The one shouting was a robust man who gave the impression of being accustomed to hard work, a servant or a laborer of some kind; his face was distorted in a grimace of anger that also reflected fear and anguish, one hand violently tightened between his hair and the other gesturing at a crying girl. She, in turn shocked, hadn’t even thought of assuming a more dignified position: sitting on the ground, she sported messy clothes, and one leg exposed to the knee.
Between the two was a large block of ice, mostly intact, but cracked in places; behind the man, an empty cart. His screams were almost disjointed in their frenzy. However, it was still clear what had happened: the man was transporting that ice on behalf of someone rich enough to afford it, an important merchant or some noble family; unfortunately, he had collided with the girl, due to his or her carelessness, and the precious cargo had fallen into the dust. Most of the ice was salvageable, but it would have been outrageous for a servant to deliver it chipped.
His anger was completely understandable: even the gentlest and most understanding man would have been furious at such a loss; no one would have saved that servant from her flogging.
“I’m sorry! I… I’m so sorry!” the girl continued to sob.
“If your apology did any good, we wouldn’t both be in trouble!” replied the desperate man.
Now that they had understood the situation, some of the young men looked remorseful others like Jin Zixuan shrugged their shoulders with indifference, while Lan Wangji’s inexpressiveness was deeply thoughtful. However, it remained obvious that they couldn’t do anything.
They had gone to Caiyi because a few weeks after the discovery of the Waterborne Abyss, while waiting to find a more drastic and definitive solution, the Lans had taken on the task of daily cleaning the waters of as many evil spirits as possible, also sending guest disciples to allow them to gain field experience. That day it was the group he and Wei Wuxian were part of. His brother had to create havoc by proposing a competition to see who could chase away the most spirits; obviously, Lan Wangji had glared at him with a look that would have made less brazen people tremble; obviously, the other boys had accepted the challenge with enthusiasm and, Jiang Cheng thought this with silent resentment, obviously Wei Wuxian had defeated them all, including a pissed off Jin Zixuan.
He wouldn’t have been Wei Wuxian if he hadn’t excelled, right?
And it wouldn’t have been Wei Wuxian if, while they turned their backs on the accident, he hadn’t quickly intervened. Jiang Cheng looked at him with exasperation. Wei Wuxian calmly but firmly placed himself between the man and the girl. “The young lady certainly didn’t come upon you on purpose, don’t you think?” he commented as he offered her a hand to help her up. The girl was shaking so much that she struggled to grab it.
The man was also exasperated. “This doesn’t change the fact that my master is waiting for this ice! It's an important lunch to celebrate his daughter's engagement! Do you think he'll care why his guests can't eat their Shaved ice?!"
Instead of answering, Wei Wuxian crouched on his heels to study the chipped block of ice closely. He touched it, assessing its consistency and the extent of damage; then, he stood up and gave the man a broad smile. “I can find a solution!” he assured him firmly. “Are you okay with me using this ice?”
The man had gone back to running a hand through his already-standing hair. “If you can really do something, then please do it,” he replied. From his tone, it was clear that he didn’t expect anything substantial.
The girl’s eyes were wide and pleading. “Are you serious?” she asked Wei Wuxian with a trembling voice. Wei Wuxian smiled as he replied, “I am” with fullhearted confidence. Then he winked at her as if they were sharing a mischief. “Eventually I will need a taster: would this lovely miss be kind enough to take on such an important role?”
The girl giggled without realizing it; when she squeaked and slapped her hands over her mouth, appalled at her own inappropriate reaction, Wei Wuxian laughed much harder. The girl hesitated, clearly still very confused and agitated, but his relaxed attitude finally brought a small smile from her.
“Well!” Wei Wuxian rolled up the sleeves of his robe to his elbows. “I need the collaboration of all of you,” he said, turning to the various merchants who had their stalls around there. He put his hands on his hips. “Can I count on your generous contribution?”
They exchanged nervous glances, evidently far from eager to give anything away and yet in awe of a young Gongzi. Wei Wuxian burst out laughing. “I’m joking,” he laughed, “of course I’ll pay for everything.”
Visibly relaxed, the men promptly obeyed when he began to reel off the list of what he needed: milk, sugar and the most disparate fruit; therefore, a ceramic bowl, a whisk and a small metal bowl. “I’ll pay you for the trouble, but you have to leave your stall for me to use,” he said to the man who was displaying his vegetables right next to where the ice had fallen; now serious, he moved with efficiency. "Quick, we have no time to waste: we have to do everything before the ice starts to melt."
At that point, it seemed the servant was allowing himself to hope. And the girl, previously reduced to a lump of terror, straightened her back again as she listened to Wei Wuxian’s instructions. “Here, mix with the whisk,”. He had handed her the metal bowl into which he had just poured milk and sugar. "Perfect, just like that"
She was beaming. Soon other people joined them as well without Wei Wuxian having to ask; they began working together on whatever he had in mind. The previous shyness presented now completely forgotten. The man who had supplied a large quantity of fresh milk stood beside the boy as if they were old friends. Wei Wuxian looked at him with interest. “Nice muscles,” he complimented. Then, as Jiang Cheng groaned at his shamelessness, he added, “Use them to crush ice,” he said, handing him a large wooden hammer.
The man pumped his biceps needlessly as he took the task very seriously. The women seemed to appreciate it judging by their giggles.
"Unfortunately, my tasks are not worthy of impressing all these beautiful flowers.” Wei Wuxian, the idiot, sighed dramatically as he took the crumbled ice and transferred it to the large ceramic bowl where he had previously placed water and salt.
“If whatever you are doing really works, I swear I will name my son after you,” the servant promised him; that he was more hopeful was evident from the fact that he allowed himself to joke.
“It’s a promise!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, pointing his finger at him.
Many laughed, attracting even more onlookers; by now a real crowd had formed around the stall.
Even among the disciples, who had been watching in various stages of amazement and uncertainty, some were getting impatient, as if they wanted to join but didn’t have the courage. Jiang Cheng didn’t even know what to think anymore; at least until Jin Zixuan questioned him with contempt.
“It’s a shame,” the boy blurted out. "Is it normal for you of the Jiang clan to mingle with the common people like this? Why is he so comfortable acting like a servant?”
It was obvious that, in his criticism of the entire Clan, he had contemptuously alluded to Wei Wuxian’s origins. Jiang Cheng was torn between the impulse to defend him and that of defending his clan; in the end, what remained was resentment towards Wei Wuxian: why did he always have to make everything more complicated? Why couldn’t he act normally like everyone else? And it frustrated Jiang Cheng even more that Wei Wuxian was simply helping people.
“What’s shameful about helping someone who needs help?”
Lan Wangji’s voice, cold and clear, sounded like a warning. Jin Zixuan wasn’t the only one who was taken aback. Since Wei Wuxian had never been anything more than a nuisance to him, no one would ever expect Lan Wangji to defend the boy.
Meanwhile, as an awkward silence fell between them, with Jin Zixuan turning purple without daring to reply, Wei Wuxian had finished chopping the fruit and told the girl to pour the milk and sugar, now mixed, into the ceramic bowl.
The crowd marveled as one when, immediately, the contents of the bowl hardened.
"Now it will be enough to add the pieces of fruit" Wei Wuxian explained. He solemnly charged the children who were peeking between their parents' legs. He picked up the smallest girl who had sulked because she was too short to reach the stall; after having sat her on the edge, Wei Wuxian handed her some pieces of apple. “So, throw it in,” he told her, smiling. “Very, very good! Hey, why didn’t you come earlier? With your skill everything would have been much simpler, I bet we would have finished long ago.” She trilled in delight.
Once each piece of fruit was inside the bowl, Wei Wuxian personally took care of mixing everything one last time.
The result looked like a sort of… colored ice, thanks to the fruit, and with a supposed sweet taste given the sugar. As promised Wei Wuxian let the girl taste it; he dipped a spoon into the substance and handed it to her. She put it in her mouth without hesitation as if she had forgotten that it wasn’t appropriate to be spoon-fed by a boy.
If all this had happened to Yunmeng, with the rumors going around, his mother would have been furious and would never have let Wei Wuxian get away with it.
Caiyi’s girl opened her eyes wide. "It’s delicious!" she moaned happily.
The servant stepped forward impatiently. When he too had tasted and confirmed that the contents of the bowl were really good, tears came to his eyes. “Thank you,” he said in a broken voice. He couldn’t say anything else, but Wei Wuxian just smiled at him too. “Go, hurry and give it to your master before it melts,” he urged.
The man didn’t have it repeated; he ran away clutching the bowl to his chest. A chorus of protests arose among the crowd from all those who wanted to taste the mysterious frozen fruit.
The girl, now completely recovered from the shock of the accident, placed herself boldly between the crowd and Wei Wuxian. "Stop it, it was never about you!" she exclaimed, stamping her foot on the ground.
He peeked out from behind her head. “Yes, as she says,” he confirmed. "But I can leave you the recipe for when you manage to get some more ice, perhaps by organizing a collection. You could also make it a typical dish of the city that you can create together and share the profits equally.”
The traders were very interested in the proposal. When they gruffly asked him how much he wanted for the recipe, Wei Wuxian dismissed their words with a carefree wave of his hand. "Nothing! I learned it by observing a Yiling merchant, it's not my property."
The sturdy man who had shattered the ice roared in enthusiasm as he lifted the boy like he was a child, drawing an exclamation of surprise from him. “Hey, I appreciate displays of venal glee, but could you get me off before I lose what little manly dignity I have left?” Wei Wuxian protested while Jiang Cheng closed his eyes, feeling ashamed in his place. Despite his words, it was clear that he wasn’t embarrassed.
Furthermore, the boy accepted with the satisfaction of a vulgar housewife the merchants’ proposal to exchange the recipe for all the freshly used ingredients. "Excellent" he commented, "also because, frankly, I didn’t have the money with me to pay you."
Jiang Cheng couldn’t believe the nerve… while Wei Wuxian laughed with the man who had just ruffled his hair and called him a little rascal, he stole a glance at Lan Wangji. Probably thinking not to be seen, maybe not caring, Lan Qiren’s irreproachable pupil was looking at Wei Wuxian with… affection? Yes, that couldn’t be called anything other than an affectionate look. Instead of being the first to disapprove of his behavior, Lan Wangji was clearly approving Wei Wuxian in a mixture of affection, indulgence, and admiration.
Jiang Cheng was annoyed; piqued as he did every time his father good-naturedly forgave Wei Wuxian’s foolishness – because he was so, oh, so smart and brilliant and easy to love.
When Wei Wuxian finally returned to them, carefree, cheerful and satisfied, Jiang Cheng shrugged off the arm he put around his shoulders with just a little more harshness than normal.
Wei Wuxian, of course, didn’t mind. Instead, he went to turn to Lan Wangji. "Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan, I was good, right?” he asked him.
“Yes, you were.”
That Wei Wuxian was the first to be taken aback was clear from the sincere way in which he widened his eyes. Then he had to act like an idiot, trying to put his hand on Lan Wangji’s forehead, as if he didn’t know that the Lans didn’t let anyone touch their ribbons. Well, knowing his indolence for rules and traditions, perhaps he didn’t know. “Do you have a fever?” he asked worriedly.
Lan Wangji prevented Wei Wuxian from touching him, but not as vehemently as one might have expected. He simply stopped him by grabbing his wrist. It seemed to Jiang Cheng that, afterwards, he had lingered a few seconds too long before letting go of his hand.
“Wei-xiong, I would like to taste your frozen fruit!”
“Sure!” When Wei Wuxian responded to Nie Huaisang’s request by placing his arm around his shoulders, Jiang Cheng saw Lan Wangji look away. But the young Lan couldn’t ignore him when Wei Wuxian addressed him personally: “It depends on whether the Lans are willing to have ice brought to Clouds Recesses,” he said. “Lan Zhan, what do you think? I bet you too are curious to taste my cooking.”
Lan Wangji’s silence was very eloquent.
(However, a few days later, Clouds Recesses delivered a considerable amount of ice. Wei Wuxian made so much fuss that Lan Qiren threatened to ban him from Lan’s territories forever. The boy’s response was to serve him some frozen fruit for dinner. The man threw a plate at him; Wei Wuxian laughed and dodged it. In the end, even though indulging in gluttony was forbidden, Lan Qiren gave in plaintive requests from all the disciples. Jiang Cheng thought that only Wei Wuxian could start a revolt in the name of food. The one where they ate the frozen fruit was the liveliest dinner they had been to in Clouds Recesses. Carefully expressionless, Lan Wangji also ate every last morsel.)