Chapter Text
~ L E T M E B L O W Y O U ~
Jiang Cheng woke up in stages, feeling well rested and comfortable. He didn’t know why but the pillow he was currently resting on was fairly squishy yet hard. Groggily, he squeezed the pillow he was on.
“So soft…”
The pillow moved a little and he frowned. Why was his pillow moving? Jiang Cheng slowly opened his eyes, taking in the surroundings. It was still bright outside, probably around two to three in the afternoon. He remembered spending the night making more fans and only went to bed at around ten am. He remembered having a short conversation with Huan-ge and then… nothing.
Jiang Cheng laid with his cheeks on his pillow, zoning out for a moment as he continued to squeeze part of his pillow. It was then he realized that his pillow was moving up and down softly, like a breathing mountain. Jiang Cheng raised his head to look at his pillow, only to see hints of white and blue. He raised his head and saw a familiar face, relaxed and silent.
Jiang Cheng blinked. He lifted his hand to map out the outline of Huan-ge’s face, his finger an inch away from the skin, trailing the air. From the eyebrows, to the eyes, to the bridge of his nose and then his lips. Jiang Cheng stared groggily.
And then he woke up.
SMACK!
In a flurry, both men sat up on the bed, one clinging onto the bedsheets towards his body, the other rubbing the painful heat on his cheek from the slap he had received.
“How dare you!”
“What?” Xichen shook his head to clear the sleep away. “What happened?”
“How dare you!!” Jiang Cheng yelled out as he tried crawling away from the man, “How dare you lay in the same bed as me!” Not that he was complaining much. Such a handsome man with such good pecs. If he wasn’t married, Jiang Cheng would have jumped the man early on.
Xichen frowned as he rubbed his cheek, “You fell asleep. You wouldn’t let me go.”
“Still?! I am a married man, groundskeeper!” Jiang Cheng scoffed, “I may be yelling and insulting the man, calling him names and berating what a useless husband he is but I am still married to him. There is no room for any cuckolding or whatsoever happening here between us.”
Xichen was utterly confused when he woke up. He was dreaming of something that had left him all fuzzy and warm when he was rudely awakened by the slap across his face, so he had woken up pissed. But after hearing what Jiang Wanyin had said, he felt that warm fuzzy feeling come back.
“After what he’s done to you?” Xichen asked.
“No matter what he has done to me, that is between me and him. However, I still have some respect for the man as he is my husband, and you are not.” Jiang Cheng glared. “Why are you here anyways?”
Xichen smiled, “I apologize. You fell asleep and wouldn’t let me go. I figured I could use a short nap as well. Didn’t mean to fall asleep with you on the same bed. I apologize once more.” Xichen sat properly on the bed as he faced the scared kitten, “Besides, you told me to come here and assist you with the fans yesterday, remember?”
Jiang Cheng’s defensive stance immediately changed to excitement as he glanced at the fans nearby. That was right, he had made it to sell it in the market today. He had asked Huan-ge to assist him that afternoon but…
Jiang Cheng eyed Huan-ge once more and cleared his throat. “I did… But… seeing as what had just happened… I think it’s best if we stay apart from each other from now onwards.”
Xichen tilted his head, “What just happened? You mean… us on the bed?”
Jiang Cheng cleared his throat and straightened up, “I, Jiang Che—anyin…”
Xichen frowned.
“I keep getting confused with my courtesy name and my nominal name. I usually call myself Jiang Cheng,” Jiang Cheng explained.
Xichen nodded as he pondered to himself.
“Anyways, I, Jiang Wanyin, am a very loyal person. And I am loyal to my husband, even though he hates my guts. It is not proper for me to be close to anyone else, other than my husband,” Jiang Cheng said, “It is unwise for the both of us to spend any more time together from this day forth. So, Groundskeeper Lan Huan, please leave.”
Xichen didn’t know why but he felt unbearably uncomfortable when he listened to what Jiang Wanyin had said. His heart pounded in his chest as he replayed the words in his mind.
‘I am loyal to my husband, even though he hates my guts…’
‘It is not proper for me to be close to anyone else, other than my husband…’
‘Groundskeeper Lan Huan, please leave…’
Xichen gripped the sheets beneath him, bowing towards Jiang Cheng, “Fine, I apologize.” He said before getting up from the bed.
As Xichen walked over to the door, he paused for a while before turning back to look at the boy, “I am still tasked to take care of you. I’ll respect your decision, but I’ll be around to help you in any way. Just call for me, I will be there.” Xichen bowed and left the place, closing the door behind him.
Jiang Cheng twisted the bedsheet between his fingers. He didn’t dare to look at the man, lest he changed his mind and called him back on a whim.
“Would have been perfect if my husband was him.” Jiang Cheng mumbled to himself. He punched the bed a few times before shaking himself., “Forget it. I don’t need no man! I am a strong independent woman! Uh… man!” He rolled his eyes at the glib.
Jumping out of the bed, he counted the handheld fans he had made the night before and pondered exactly how he was to bring the items down when he heard a knock at the door. Thinking it was Lan Huan, he ran to the door and flung it open.
“Yes??” He asked, only to find the area empty except for a small wooden wheel wagon parked right in front of the door. Confused, Jiang Cheng went round the wagon to look at it. He looked around the area, trying to find whoever it was that had left the wagon behind but he couldn’t see anyone. He took another glance at the wagon and figured that there was enough space for his handheld fans to be loaded on to, and easy to navigate across terrains to reach the marketplace.
“Thank you, whoever you are!” He yelled out before smiling at the wheel wagon. “This should be enough.”
Jiang Cheng kept grinning to himself as he went back and forth into the house to grab the fans and load them into the wagon, not noticing the pair of eyes looking at him from afar.
“Come one, come all! Have a look, have a look, See what I have! You’ll never find this anywhere else, you’ll never find these any time soon. All of these items were made by me, and no one else but me and only me! Come, come, come and see!” Jiang Cheng yelled out at the makeshift stall he had set up at the side of Caiyi Town.
The people around were surprised to see the Bride of Zewu-jun out in the open, selling items that they’ve never seen before. Curious, they came closer to him to look at what he was selling.
“Come one, come all, have a look at what I have!” Jiang Cheng lifted one of the fans and turned it around and around in his hand as he explained what he had to the audience, “This thing in my hand, you can never find it anywhere else and it only costs you 1 silver coin. What is this item, you ask? Well, don’t need to look any further! I will explain it to you.”
He started scanning the crowd and then pointed at one of the older villagers, “You! Come here!”
The old man shook his head in fear, for he had heard of what the Bride of Zewu-jun was capable of doing.
“Aiyah, don’t be scared! Come here!” Jiang Cheng reached out to grab the man’s hand and pulled him close, “Why are you so scared? Come here! I won’t bite you!”
“Please don’t bite me! I’ll give you all my money!” The man shook in fear.
Jiang Cheng glared at him, “I just told you I won’t bite you! What’s wrong with you? I’m trying to explain what I’m selling to you.”
“What is that anyways?” One of the villagers asked, “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Jiang Cheng grinned, “This, my good man, is a handheld fan. It’s a fan that you can carry so easily! The power of the wind, right here, in your hands.”
“Handheld fan? Are you kidding me?!” The guy scoffed, “You think I’m so stupid? That doesn’t look anything like a fan.”
“Ya, it could be a scam.” One lady rolled her eyes, “Look who it is and you’ll know.”
Jiang Cheng raised a brow at her, “And what’s that supposed to mean? Do you even know me?”
“Who doesn’t know the vicious Bride of Zewu-jun.” The lady retorted loudly, “Forced our leader to marry him, did so many questionable things. Eh, he even went into a brothel the other day in broad daylight! What a sleaze!” She told the others.
“Really? A brothel??” One responded.
“He dares to do that to our Zewu-jun?” Another replied, “He has no respect for our Zewu-jun at all! ”
“People, people!” Jiang Cheng yelled out, “That was all a misunderstanding!”
“Misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding would that be?!”
“I mistook the place for something else, alright.”
“Mistaken the place? Who is stupid enough to mistake a brothel?!” Someone yelled out.
Jiang Cheng sighed, “Me, alright?! I’m the stupid idiot who misunderstood the situation and place. I was not there for any hanky-panky stuff, I was not trying to disrespect your Zewu-jun, my husband. I was there because… because…” He trailed off in embarrassment. If only they knew…
“Because? Because of what?!”
“Because I was hungry, okay?!” Jiang Cheng yelled. “I’m stupid, I thought it was an inn, I was hungry. The owner mentioned a feast and I thought it was a place for a feast! Happy now?!”
Unbeknownst to the lot of them, hidden underneath a shaded area, was Lan Xichen monitoring the situation. He didn’t think that Jiang Wanyin would actually admit his mistake of going to a brothel but here he was, yelling out loud about how stupid he was to mistake a brothel for a food inn. He huffed a small smile at the thought.
“How could someone like Zewu-jun be married to someone stupid like him?! He’s not worthy enough for our leader!” One yelled out, “Such disrespect to such a venerable person.”
Xichen frowned.
“That’s why,” One responded. “Our Zewu-jun deserves better than this person. Look, he’s selling things we’ve never seen in our lives before, and that too for 1 silver coin?? He’s a scammer too!”
“What would Zewu-jun say if he were to know that his spouse is scamming people on the streets.” The same woman scoffed, “We should report him to the Lan clan.”
“You’re right. We should tie him up, throw away all the items, burn them so he can’t use them anymore.” One guy said.
“Eh, eh!” Jiang Cheng threw his arms out to cover the wagon, “Don’t you dare touch my things! I made these by hand, one by one, painstakingly over and over again for hours without sleep, so don’t you dare touch them.”
“You’re selling things that don't make sense, something we’ve never seen before in our entire life!” The woman yelled, “I bet you Zewu-jun knows nothing of this. If he were to know, he would definitely kick you out of the Lan clan!”
“If Zewu-jun were to know what exactly?” Lan Xichen said as he strolled towards Jiang Cheng with his arms behind his back, a serene smile on his face, “What is going on here?”
“Ze… Ze…” The woman stammered.
Lan Xichen raised a hand at the woman, stopping her from spilling his identity and ruining the whole act. “Enough,” He turned to Jiang Wanyin and smiled, “Hello.”
“What are you doing here?” Jiang Cheng asked with a slight pout. Truth be told, he was slightly scared at the thought of the mob about to beat him up and burn his stuff. He was only one horticulturist armed with multiple handheld fans, and these were farmers and hard labor workers. He’d definitely crumble by one punch.
“Why? You don’t want me here?” Lan Xichen asked.
“No, it’s not that…” Jiang Cheng had regretted telling Lan Huan to leave. Not that he was going to admit to the man, never. That’ll be his secret.
“If I wasn't here, I wouldn’t have seen the trouble you have caused.” Lan Xichen teased.
Jiang Cheng sputtered, “I didn’t cause anything! I was just here to sell my fans and these people came up to me and started insulting me, about how I’m not worthy of their Zewu-jun. I was just trying to show them how the fans work! Instead, they wanted to tie me up and throw my things away.” Jiang Cheng was not pouting, he definitely wasn’t.
“Fine, that’s enough. You don’t have to say anything,” Lan Xichen smiled softly, “I heard everything. Don’t worry, understand?”
Jiang Cheng nodded.
Lan Xichen turned to the mob in front of the wagon and gave them a tepid smile. “Fellow villagers, is there a problem?” He fixated his gaze at the woman who had made a fuss.
“You see, Zewu—”
Lan Xichen cleared his throat as he stared at the woman, his smile never leaving his face.
“Uh, Master Lan, You see,” The woman then turned her gaze towards Jiang Cheng haughtily, “This man is trying to scam all of us. He’s selling things that we’ve never seen before in our lives and he’s asking for 1 Silver coin for it. All of us know of him, Master Lan, we’ve heard of his reputation and it’s not a good one!”
“That’s right, that’s right,” Most villagers chimed in.
“Excuse me, none of you even know me personally and yet you all speak of me as if you know me so intimately well,” Jiang Cheng replied, waving his finger at the woman, “Besides, I was about to show you how this handheld fan works. All I got was a witchhunt instead!”
“See! He’s doing it in front of you! He’s lying!” The woman pointed out, “He’s saying that this… this weird thing he’s selling is a fan, a hand held fan or whatever it is. We all know what a fan looks like, don’t we all?” The crowd around her agreed, “And here he is, blatantly lying and scamming us all that it’s a fan.”
The crowd erupted in agreement. Jiang Cheng was about to panic himself into oblivion as he took in slow deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Lan Xichen saw this and became concerned for the boy. He raised a hand to the crowd and they immediately settled down.
Lan Xichen looked down at the items in the wagon, pretending that he’s never seen one before. He tilted his head and picked one of it up before turning to the boy beside him.
“Can you explain what this is? And how is it used?” Xichen asked in a clear tone.
Jiang Cheng’s confusion cleared up as he understood that Huan-ge was trying to help him out and he played along.
“Sure sir! Let me blow you!” Jiang Cheng faltered, “I mean, let me show you!”
Xichen stifled a laugh at the glib but maintained his dignity as he tried to stay professional.
“This, my good sir,” Jiang Cheng flirted a little as he took the fan from Huan-ge, which tickled Lan Xichen slightly, “is a handheld fan. Now, I know most of you have only seen paper fans, which you have to wave it back and forth for it to blow cool wind on to your face. Aren’t you tired from all that waving? Doesn’t your hand hurt after so long?”
The crowd murmured amongst themselves.
“What if,” Jiang Cheng jazz handed, “you don’t have to wave it at all? What if you just hold it in your hand and the wind blows without any movement from you? You just hold it in your hand, and the wind comes to you. All you have to do is direct just a tiny teensy bit of energy at the base here,” Jiang Cheng pointed, “And then…”
Jiang Cheng aimed the fan at the Lan Huan and immediately, a soft breeze floated towards him. Lan Xichen closed his eyes and smiled as the cool wind blew against his soft heated cheeks.
The crowd’s jaw dropped in awe as they watched in slow motion, their esteemed leader’s beautiful self being illuminated under the sun, his soft hair gently floating around him, such elegance, such beauty coming from their distinguished leader.
Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but stare in wonder as the man in front of him started glowing under the sun. It was like something out of a romcom drama, something being set in slow motion. Huan-ge’s hair doing its job well done by seductively flying around him, the glint of the afternoon sun behind him slightly blinding Jiang Cheng. The only thing missing from this all is background music, going du-dudu-du, du-dudu-du to fit this scene perfectly.
“This is perfect,” Lan Xichen said as he directed his gaze towards Jiang Cheng.
“Yes, you are.” Jiang Cheng replied.
Lan Xichen tilted his head, confused but at the same time, flattered. “I am?”
Jiang Cheng jolted, horrified at what he had said, “The wind, I mean. Perfect.”
Xichen smirked as he reached out to take the fan away from Jiang Cheng. “It is indeed,”
Lan Xichen then directed a tiny bit more energy towards the base of the fan, but seeing as how the esteemed leader was truly an esteemed leader, the energy he directed was entirely different from what Jiang Cheng had done.
The wind he got was strong. Xichen was at first taken aback by the force of the wind but then he paused for a moment before directing the wind towards the crowd. Once the cool air hit them, they gasped, for the distance between them and the fan was a few feet away, yet the wind they received from the fan was like the breeze they got from their surroundings.
“A tiny bit of energy coming from said gentleman here caused a soft breeze, yet a tiny bit of energy from a cultivator like me could cause an even much stronger breeze.” Xichen nodded to himself as he eyed the fan in his hand, “I like this. Very innovative. I’ll buy it. How much?”
The crowd started whispering to each other. Why was their leader buying the fan from his spouse? Shouldn’t he be getting it for free?
“1 Silver each.” Jiang Cheng said with a grin. He raised his hand with his palms open, beckoning the man for his money.
“1 silver? For such a wonderful innovation?” Xichen faked surprise, “My heavens, this is very cheap. I’ll buy five of them!”
Lan Xichen then handed out 5 silver teals to a shocked Jiang Cheng and picked up five fans for himself. “I can give these to my brother and Uncle, and also to my best friend and his brother.”
“Thank you, My Lord!” Jiang Cheng bowed with his palms crossed in front of him, “Thank You!” Jiang Cheng straightened up and beamed brightly at the man, “You are most definitely a distinguished gentleman yourself!”
He then turned to the crowd, “Are you going to buy it? If you don’t want to buy it, then don’t! I have only forty-five of these fans left and when it’s sold out, it is gone!”
Jiang Cheng faked covering the wagon with his cloth as he eyed the crowd.
“Wait! I’ll buy it!”
“Me too!”
“I’ll buy two!”
“Five for me!”
Jiang Cheng was left clamoring to gather all the silver teals he was handed to while Lan Xichen helped to distribute the fans out for him. Some of the crowd started using the fan out of curiosity and was delighted to feel the promised breeze cooling them down.
“It works!”
“It does! I’ll give this to my son. He can use it when he studies.”
“Study? I’ll use it when I farm!”
The crowd laughed and discussed with each other as they played around with the fan. Jiang Cheng counted the silver teals he had in his hand with glee, as Xichen looked on with a smile on his face.
“I’m rich. I’m rich!” Jiang Cheng giggled.
Xichen’s smile faltered as he gazed down upon the silver teals and then back at the boy. To own only a few silver teals to consider himself rich, Xichen wondered just how much he did not know of the boy.
“I can buy as many snacks as I want now. Maybe I should buy myself some new clothes too,” Jiang Cheng pondered, “And although I kept bashing the man, maybe I can buy him a trinket?”
Buy him a trinket? Who?
Jiang Cheng turned to Lan Huan, “Does he like trinkets?”
Lan Xichen was confused. Was he buying a gift for some other man? “Who?”
“My husband, duh.” Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes, “Does he like trinkets?”
The warmth that washed over him engulfed his entire body the moment he figured that Jiang Wanyin was asking about his husband, about him, and whether he likes trinkets. Jiang Wanyin was thinking of buying him a gift. How sweet.
“Whatever you think of, whatever it is that you buy, he will like it.” Xichen smiled.
Jiang Cheng made a face, “Can’t say that. He hates me. So technically, anything I buy for him, he will hate it too.”
Xichen took in a deep breath, wanting to deny it but he knew it was undeniable. The boy knew that Zewu-jun avoided him because of the rumors, but he didn’t know that Zewu-jun was Lan Xichen himself, and the days they had spent together, even though it was short, was a welcomed event. He liked the boy.
“He’s changing, for you. He knows about your past,” Lan Xichen explained sincerely, “He wants to know more about you. He’s willing to try, to be better… for you.”
Jiang Cheng eyed Lan Huan with distrust, “He told you that?”
Xichen paused before nodding, “Yes.”
“And you trust him?”
Xichen nodded once more, “Yes, sincerely”
Jiang Cheng took a moment to think to himself, pondering whether he should trust the man. After being met with hostility everywhere, Jiang Cheng was reluctant to do anything else that will bring in more harm than good, but it has been days since he’s met with any hostility from any of them (besides Crazy Sword Loving Psycho), especially Lan Huan.
Lan Huan was nice. He was nice to look at, nice to be around with, nice to have a proper conversation with and that says a lot about Jiang Cheng, seeing as he’s never liked having people around him. He’d rather be talking to plants and trees. But Lan Huan was different.
If only…
“Well,” Jiang Cheng hummed, “I’m not sure what to get for him. What if I buy something and he hates it, and then it will make him hate me even more.”
“He won’t,” Xichen said resolutely, “In fact, he’s thinking of redoing the whole marriage once more.”
Jiang Cheng’s head spun so fast, it creaked, “What?!? Redoing the whole marriage? What’s that supposed to mean?!” Jiang Cheng gasped, “Is he divorcing me?! Already?!”
Xichen panicked, “No, no! I mean, he wants to marry you again. Do the whole ceremony again. With you. Properly, this time.”
The silence that followed was awkward. The cool wind blew leaves, trash and debris around them as they both stared at each other in silence. Nosy old women would walk by and point at them, gossip about how young people are shameless nowadays and just walked away.
“Do the ceremony again.” Jiang Cheng repeated, “He wants to marry me. Again.”
“Yes. Well…”
Truth be told Xichen had no idea what prompted him to say that. He had thought about redoing the whole ceremony, in a more proper, more formal procedure but that was a random thought he had in mind days before. He has no idea why he suddenly blurted that thought out now but deep inside, his own subconscious thought knew why.
“Well?”
“He felt that he was a little rude to you during the ceremony,” Xichen explained.
“A little…”
“A lot. He was very rude to you. He felt conflicted because of that,” Xichen added on, “Anyways, he wishes to go through the ceremony once more with you. Properly, this time.”
“And why is he still sending messages through you?” Jiang Cheng raised a brow, “Didn’t I say it yesterday, I want him to say it to me in front of my buttoned nose.”
“He will explain everything to you after the ceremony.” Xichen said with a nod, “For now, please take my word as his.”
“And what if I refuse to have the ceremony,” Jiang Cheng teased with his arms folded in front of him. “What if I decided that no, I don’t want to stay married to him. What if I decided that I want to leave?”
Xichen’s smile was taunting. “Where will you go?”
“I don’t know,” Jiang Cheng shrugged, “I mean, there’s no dearth of men around here, plenty of them to go about. I could just go to anyone and stay with them, get married to them instead.”
“Oh?” Xichen’s taunting smile turned slightly sinister as he called Jiang Cheng’s bluff, “I think there’s something you need to know about your spouse, dear esteemed guest. Something that not many know of.”
“Can’t be that bad of a secret now, is it? I mean, he’s a Lan. He’s like the most reverent person in the area.” Jiang Cheng scoffed.
Xichen smirked, “Your spouse may be a Lan, esteemed guest, but not all Lans are… pure. They have their own darkness too.”
Xichen leaned forward slightly to whisper into Jiang Cheng’s ears, catching him by surprise, “Your spouse can be very, very protective. He will protect his loved ones, his family from any harm.”
Feeling slightly mischievous, Xichen grinned, “He can also be quite childish at times. He can be very, very…,” Xichen lightly bit the shell of Jiang Cheng’s ear, “... jealous. So if you don’t want to be on his bad side, don’t you dare leave the place or even think of marrying anyone else.”
Jiang Cheng’s eyes bulged out while pushing the man away, “What’s wrong with you?!” He squeaked as he rubbed the bitten ear, “I told you to leave me alone, it is not right! My husband will murder you!”
“He won’t,” Xichen said smugly.
“Wow, such confidence.” Jiang Cheng deadpanned, “I don’t care, you need to show respect to my husband. It is unwise for you to stay with me—”
“Your husband said it’s fine. I am the only one he trusts to take care of you.” Xichen waved his hand.
“You?! He trusts you?! Does he know what you’ve done? What we have done?!” Jiang Cheng squeaked.
“What have we done?” Xichen asked innocently.
“We’ve… you… I… We’ve slept in the same bed!” Jiang Cheng hissed.
“And?” Xichen smirked before walking away, “It’s just sleeping. We could have done more.”
“You! You shameless groundskeeper! How dare you!”” Jiang Cheng stomped angrily towards the man, wanting to give him a piece of his mind.
What he didn’t expect was Lan Huan to stop in his tracks and turn towards him, causing him to bounce into his hard chest and fall backwards. Lan Xichen quickly reached out to grab hold of the boy’s waist and pulled him back towards him, saving him from falling back and injuring himself. Their eyes locked and immediately something else inside them settled as well, causing the two of them to stay suspended in time as they gaze upon each other’s beauty.
The cool wind blew more trash and debris around them, with more people pointing and shaking their heads at the pair being so shameless in broad daylight. Who would have thought that Zewu-jun would be so open to show his care towards his bride.
Jiang Cheng noticed the gold speckles in Lan Huan’s eyes and thought that it looked beautiful. The man exudes ethereal grace and elegance that Jiang Cheng’s only heard of in books and novels. Jiang Cheng admits that the man was handsome even for a groundskeeper. If only…
Jiang Cheng snapped out of his reverie and started pummeling the man’s chest, which was a mistake as it was a very hard chest that Jiang Cheng would love to pummel his lips on.
“Let me go!” He complained.
“Are you hungry?” Lan Xichen asked.
“How dare you!” Jiang Cheng gasped. “I am not that shameless!”
Xichen couldn’t help but chortle, “I meant for food. Literal food.”
Jiang Cheng stopped pounding on the beautiful hard chest and stared at the man. “Food? Like, for real, food?”
“Like, for real, food.” Xichen imitated the way the boy spoke. “Would you like to have dinner with me?”
Jiang Cheng took a moment to think of the pros and cons of having dinner with the man. Cons would be that the townspeople are quite the gossip mongers. They’d talk about him, gossip about how shameless he was, and how he was seen having dinner with a man that was not his husband, and that was bad. The rumors would be so bad that it would summon the Crazy Sword Guy out of nowhere and Jiang Cheng was tired of that guy.
Pro would be… having dinner with a handsome man. Something Jiang Cheng didn’t experience even before his death. Dating was hard and yet here he was, a married man, being asked to go to dinner with a handsome groundskeeper. And besides… he was hungry.
“Okay. But you pay.”
“You just made money and I have to pay for dinner?” Lan Xichen chuckled.
“That is my money,” Jiang Cheng harrumphed, “I painstakingly made all those fans and sold it. It was labor money, for my hard labor.”
“I did help you,” Xichen poked the boy's arm, “I helped clear the confusion for you.”
Jiang Cheng gave the man the stink eye as he continued poking Jiang Cheng’s arms with a pout.
“Fine, fine. I’ll pay for dinner. But next time you pay for dinner.” Jiang Cheng said.
“Next time? We’ll have dinner again?” Xichen asked with a smile.
Jiang Cheng faltered. He shouldn't.
“Uh… no. Probably not then. It’s unwise for us to be seen together. Tonight’s dinner is an exception,” Jiang Cheng mumbled. “To thank you for your help, that’s all. You don’t have to worry about me anymore after this. I have enough money to survive on for the next few weeks.”
Xichen tilted his head curiously, “You really don’t want to be around me?”
“No…”
“Why?”
“It’s unwise.”
“And why is that?” Xichen asked, “Do you like me?”
Jiang Cheng shook his head, “No, never. Why would I? I’m married.” Which was a lie, he does like the man, but still.
“Being married doesn’t stop you from liking anyone else,” Xichen taunted, “Your husband dumped you the moment you got married, brushed you aside like you were nothing. It’s your right to find happiness for yourself, find someone else to make you happy. Don’t you think so?”
“Stop.” Jiang Cheng glared at Xichen, “Don’t you dare.”
Xichen took in a slow, deep breath, “I’m just saying—”
“He is my husband. He is the one for me. I am loyal to him no matter what.” Which is stupid, he knows but still… “Whatever it is that has happened between me and him, stays between us. An outsider like you shouldn’t poke his nose in business where it doesn’t belong.”
“Master Jiang Wanyin—”
“My happiness was never important. I was never the one people think of when they make any decisions,” Jiang Cheng said, “But being married into the Lan clan was one of the best decisions for me. To leave that place and come here, even though so many things have happened, it’s still good for me. I’m actually kind of grateful for this marriage.”
“My husband is willing to give me a chance, and because of that, I am willing to give him a chance too. He is willing to explain to me, he is willing to have a conversation with me, then I am willing to give everything to him.” Jiang Cheng turned to Lan Huan and sighed, “Even if I do have feelings for others, it’s not proper for me. I am willing to give my husband a chance to be happy together, and hopefully, he has the same thoughts as I do.”
Lan Xichen felt conflicted. So many feelings and thoughts going through his mind, conflicting between what was right and what was wrong. This boy was willing to stay within the marriage, not caring about his own feelings or happiness, feeling grateful for him, even after everything that has happened. The boy admitted to having feelings for him but wanted to stay loyal to his husband. At once, Xichen knew what he had to do.
“He does,” Xichen whispered, “He has the same thoughts as you do. He wants to give this relationship a chance.”
“Then I suggest we stay apart.” Jiang Cheng’s tone was resolute but his heart was crumbling. He had spent days with this man and he had fun. But for the sake of his future, he shouldn’t be greedy and indulge himself in more freedom.
Xichen nodded, feeling a little upset at the thought but he had a plan. “About dinner though?”
Jiang Cheng smiled politely at him, “Dinner is still on me. Only for today. Tomorrow will be a different story.”
“Alright,” Xichen smiled back, “Different story tomorrow. For now, let’s have dinner.”
The two of them walked side by side to a proper tavern this time, with each of their minds full of thoughts and plans for their future.
~ L E T M E B L O W Y O U ~