Wild Roses

Shen Rui'an was startled by Su Tingbai's sudden movement and reflexively wrapped his arms around Su Tingbai's neck. "Could you at least give me a warning? You scared me!"

Sitting on Su Tingbai's sturdy arm, he did not notice how intimate their posture was. All he could think about was the Wild Roses Su Tingbai had mentioned. He had never seen them before. Were they like roses?

The lake was not far away. Su Tingbai usually worked out, so carrying Shen Rui'an was effortless for him. They arrived before long, and a wall of pink and white flowers greeted them, one stretch after another, a spectacular sight.

Shen Rui'an was amazed. "This really wasn't planted by people? How could there be so many?"

In the distance lay the emerald-green lake, while nearby, pink and white flowers bloomed in abundance. Even the breeze 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 be scattered by the Wild Roses before him, his brows relaxing and the corners of his lips lifting.

Su Tingbai looked at Shen Rui'an, and his own lips quietly curved upward. He truly was beautiful.

They watched in silence for a while before Shen Rui'an realized Su Tingbai had been holding him for quite some time. Embarrassed, he said, "Su Tingbai, put me down."

His arms must be going numb, right? Shen Rui'an was too embarrassed to say it aloud, but the awkwardness on his face gave him away, and Su Tingbai could guess what he meant.

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

He took a camera out of his backpack. "I'll adjust the settings 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 looked at the flowers. The lake's reflection bathed him in a gentle glow, as though he were an elf who had wandered in by mistake.

Su Tingbai quickly took several more pictures, then snapped a few of the lake and the Wild Roses as well.

After Shen Rui'an had admired the Wild Roses for a while, he heard Su Tingbai and accepted the camera. Looking at the flowers Su Tingbai had photographed, he praised him a few times. "Not bad, Su Tingbai."

"Mm. Hold onto it and have fun. I'll pick a few flowers for you to take back. We can put them in the room later."

Shen Rui'an did not object. Once Su Tingbai had picked the flowers, he happily took them, completely forgetting how Su Tingbai had frightened him earlier. He played with the camera along the way, taking pictures of everything that caught his interest, and occasionally leaned close to the Wild Roses to smell their fragrance.

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

Such a big man crouching on the ground made Su Tingbai look like an oversized mushroom.

Su Tingbai had long expected that Shen Rui'an would not pick wild vegetables, so he let him be. After all, his main purpose was to bring Shen Rui'an out to relax.

After playing for a while, Shen Rui'an grew tired of it and trailed closely behind Su Tingbai. Whenever Su Tingbai squatted down, he squatted as well, full of questions.

"What's this?"

"Pine Mushroom. It's delicious."

"What about this?"

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

"And this?"

"Indian Aster. It clears heat and reduces internal fire. You had spicy food just now, grilled meat yesterday too, so I'll stir-fry a plate for lunch to cool you down."

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

"This is Wood Sorrel. The leaves taste sour, but the flowers are quite pretty. Its roots are Crystal Radish, and they 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 eagerly at the Wood Sorrel with its little pink flowers.

Helplessly, Su Tingbai used a small shovel to dig up several plants for Shen Rui'an to see. Sure enough, their 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 wash it clean, and held it to Shen Rui'an's lips.

Suspicious, Shen Rui'an tilted his head and took a bite. It was crisp, sweet, and sour, though the sweetness was stronger.

"It's all right." He was not very interested. He pushed the bitten Crystal Radish back and looked elsewhere.

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

Shen Rui'an did not notice that Su Tingbai had eaten his leftovers. He had discovered another new species. "Su Tingbai, look, what's this?"

"Coming." Su Tingbai stood up and took one long stride to Shen Rui'an's side, then explained what kind of grass it was.

Having found something fun to do, Shen Rui'an no longer clamored to go back. It was nearly noon by the time the two reluctantly headed home.

On the way back, Su Tingbai's backpack was packed full of wild vegetables, with several bundles in his hands as well. Lunch would apparently be Oil-Braised Prawns with wild vegetables—a proper feast of "mountain and sea delicacies."

"All right, let's go back." Su Tingbai naturally extended one hand, and Shen Rui'an took it, carefully stepping around a small puddle.

"Are we eating the wild vegetables we just picked for lunch?" Shen Rui'an, acting as the supervisor beside him, felt that he had contributed too. Thinking that the vegetables had been painstakingly picked by both of them, a surge of pride rose in his chest.

He just did not know what they would taste like.

Su Tingbai gave a soft 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 watched the scenery outside his hospital window from his bed. He felt immensely cheerful and free, as though some shackle around him had been released.

On the way back, unlike before, Shen Rui'an was no longer so nervous. Su Tingbai hung the backpack full of wild vegetables from the front of the electric bike, swung one leg over it, and lifted his chin. "Get on."

Shen Rui'an gripped Su Tingbai's shoulder and climbed onto the bike somewhat awkwardly. Once seated, he said, "Let's go!"

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

"Got it!" Su Tingbai started the electric bike. This time, he drove extremely steadily, without the slightest bump. Along the way, they passed an old man returning with his cattle, as well as villagers coming down from the mountain with firewood. They all seemed to know Su Tingbai and greeted him as they passed.

As they neared the villa, 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 red.

The children, with bright black-and-white eyes, looked curiously at Shen Rui'an as well. Awe appeared in their eyes. This big brother... was so pretty!

Embarrassed under Shen Rui'an's gaze, the two children grabbed a bunch of wildflowers picked from the mountains. When Su Tingbai's electric bike drew alongside the tricycle, they shyly said, "Big brother, these are for you."

Shen Rui'an still held the Wild Roses Su Tingbai had picked for him in one hand. Seeing the unassuming little bouquet of purple flowers, he froze for a moment.

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

Just as they were about to withdraw their hands, Shen Rui'an's slender fingers accepted the little purple bouquet. He smiled sweetly. "Thank you."

The sudden turn of events made the two children scratch their heads and grin foolishly. "You're welcome..."

"Goodbye, Boss Su!"

"Goodbye, Uncle Su!"

The older woman sped up, and the tricycle raced away. Su Tingbai called goodbye in return, turned onto another road, and before long, they were back at the villa.