Wild Roses

Shen Rui'an was startled by Su Tingbai's sudden movement and reflexively wrapped his arms around Su Tingbai's neck. "Couldn't you have said something first? You scared me!"

Sitting on Su Tingbai's sturdy arm, he failed to notice how intimate their position was. All he could think about was the wild roses Su Tingbai had mentioned. He had never seen them before—were they like regular roses?

The lake was not far away. Su Tingbai exercised regularly, so carrying Shen Rui'an was effortless. They arrived in no time, and what met their eyes was a wall of pale pink and white flowers, one stretch after another, a truly spectacular sight.

Shen Rui'an was stunned by the beauty. "Are these really not planted? How can there be so many?"

In the distance lay the emerald-green lake, while nearby bloomed a sea of pink and white flowers. Even the wind carried their fragrance.

"So beautiful." It was as though Shen Rui'an had been cleansed by nature itself. The gloom in his heart seemed to disperse before the roses, his brows relaxing as the corners of his lips lifted.

Su Tingbai looked at Shen Rui'an, and the corners of his own mouth quietly rose as well. It really was beautiful.

After watching in silence for a while, Shen Rui'an finally realized that Su Tingbai had been carrying him for quite some time. He could not help feeling a little embarrassed. "Su Tingbai, put me down."

His arms must be getting numb, right? Shen Rui'an was too embarrassed to say it aloud, but his awkward expression gave him away, and Su Tingbai could more or less guess what he was thinking.

"Mm." He set Shen Rui'an down. "Want to take some pictures? I brought a camera. You can play around with it."

He took a camera from his backpack. "I'll adjust it for you."

As he spoke, he took a picture of Shen Rui'an, who was admiring the scenery.

In the image, an exceptionally beautiful and striking young man smiled as he gazed at the flowers. The lake's reflection cast a soft glow over him, making him seem like an elf who had wandered in by mistake.

Su Tingbai quickly took several more pictures, then snapped a few shots of the lake and the roses.

After watching the wild roses for a while, Shen Rui'an heard Su Tingbai and took the camera. Seeing the flower photos Su Tingbai had taken, he praised him a few times. "Not bad, Su Tingbai."

"Mm, hold onto it and have fun. I'll pick some flowers to bring back. We can put them in the room later."

Shen Rui'an did not object. Once Su Tingbai had picked the flowers, he happily accepted them, completely forgetting how Su Tingbai had frightened him earlier. Along the way, he played with the camera, photographing everything that intrigued him, and from time to time leaned close to the roses to smell their fragrance.

When he saw Su Tingbai crouching down to pick mushrooms, he mischievously took several pictures of him too. He found it amusing.

Su Tingbai was so big that, crouching on the ground, he looked like an oversized mushroom.

Su Tingbai had long expected Shen Rui'an would not know how to pick wild vegetables, so he let him do as he pleased. After all, the main purpose of bringing him here was to help him relax.

After playing for a while, Shen Rui'an grew tired of it again. He trailed closely behind Su Tingbai, crouching whenever Su Tingbai crouched, full of questions.

"What's this?"

"Pine Mushroom. It's delicious."

"What about this?"

"Broad-leaf wild greens. We can take them back and stir-fry them with eggs later. Or I can make you wontons."

"And this?"

"Indian Aster. It clears heat and reduces internal fire. You ate spicy food earlier, and you had barbecue yesterday, so I'll make you a plate of stir-fried Indian Aster for lunch to cool you down."

"Hmph, no way. Su Tingbai, there's a four-leaf clover here! Oh, no, it only has three leaves."

"This is called Wood Sorrel. The leaves taste sour, though the flowers are quite pretty. Its roots are Crystal Radish, and those taste pretty good too." Su Tingbai knew these things like the back of his hand.

"Really? Dig one up and let me see." Shen Rui'an's curiosity was piqued, and he stared intently at the Wood Sorrel with its tiny pink flowers.

With a helpless sigh, Su Tingbai used a small shovel to dig up several plants for Shen Rui'an to see. Sure enough, the roots looked like tiny crystal radishes.

"Can you really eat them?"

"You can. They're sweet and sour. Try one." Su Tingbai took out a bottle of water, poured some over the Crystal Radish to rinse it clean, and held it to Shen Rui'an's lips.

Suspiciously tilting his head, Shen Rui'an took a bite. It was crisp, sweet and sour, though sweeter than sour.

"It's alright." He was not particularly interested. He pushed the bitten Crystal Radish back and looked elsewhere.

Su Tingbai shook his head and casually tossed the remaining half into his mouth. Mm, it really was quite sweet.

Shen Rui'an did not notice Su Tingbai eating what he had left over. Instead, he discovered another new species. "Su Tingbai, look, what's this?"

"I'm coming." Su Tingbai stood up, took one long stride, and reached Shen Rui'an's side, introducing the plant to him.

Having found something interesting to do, Shen Rui'an no longer clamored about going back. It was nearly noon by the time the two reluctantly returned.

On the way back, Su Tingbai's backpack was stuffed with wild vegetables, and he carried several bundles in his hands as well. Lunch would apparently be Oil-Braised Prawns with wild greens—practically a feast of land and sea.

"Alright, let's head back." Su Tingbai naturally held out one hand. Shen Rui'an took it and carefully avoided a small puddle.

"Are we eating the wild vegetables we picked for lunch today?" Shen Rui'an, standing beside him as a supervisor, felt that he had contributed too. Thinking that they had picked these wild vegetables together, a surge of pride rose within him.

He just did not know what they would taste like.

Su Tingbai gave a quiet hum and lowered his head to make sure Shen Rui'an was watching where he walked.

After breathing in the fresh air of nature, Shen Rui'an felt entirely different from when he had lain in a hospital bed, looking out the window at the scenery. This feeling was one of joy and freedom, as though some shackle around him had come undone.

Unlike on the way there, Shen Rui'an was no longer so nervous on the return trip. Su Tingbai hung the backpack full of wild vegetables from the front of the electric scooter, swung a leg over it, and lifted his chin. "Get on."

Holding Su Tingbai's shoulder, Shen Rui'an climbed on somewhat awkwardly. Once he was seated, he said, "Let's go!"

Remembering something, he grabbed Su Tingbai's clothes. "Don't drive too fast!"

"Got it!" Su Tingbai started the scooter. This time, he drove exceptionally steadily, without the slightest bump. Along the way, they ran into an elderly man herding cattle back home, as well as some villagers returning from the mountain with firewood. They all seemed to know Su Tingbai and greeted him as they passed.

As they were nearing the resort, they saw an older woman riding a tricycle with two children seated in the back, presumably her grandson and granddaughter. A large bundle of vines Shen Rui'an did not recognize was piled in the vehicle. Shen Rui'an curiously looked at the two children, whose skin was somewhat dark and whose cheeks were rosy.

The children's bright black eyes looked curiously at Shen Rui'an too, wonder filling their gaze. This big brother... was so pretty!

The two children grew shy under Shen Rui'an's gaze. They picked up a wildflower they had gathered in the mountains, and when Su Tingbai's scooter drew alongside the tricycle, they bashfully said, "Big brother, this is for you."

One of Shen Rui'an's hands still held the roses Su Tingbai had picked for him. Seeing the unremarkable bunch of little purple flowers, he froze.

When the children saw that he had not accepted them, they thought he disliked them and timidly began to pull them back.

Just as they were about to withdraw their hands, Shen Rui'an's slender hand accepted the small bouquet of purple flowers. Smiling sweetly, he said, "Thank you."

The sudden turn left the two children scratching their heads and grinning foolishly. "You're welcome..."

"Goodbye, Boss Su!"

"Goodbye, Uncle Su!"

The older woman sped up, and the tricycle raced away. Su Tingbai called back a goodbye, then turned onto another road. Before long, they had returned to the resort.