After taking a bath, Pei Yubai returned to Qiguan Yuan's bedroom.
The bedroom light was off, the window was open, and moonlight seeped in through the cracks, falling thinly on the edge of the bed.
Qiguan Yuan side, his silver hair spread out on the pillow, covering half of it.
He hadn't changed his light green robe; the belt was loose, and the front was open, revealing a small patch of skin on his chest.
Pei Yubai stood by the bed for a moment, took off Qiguan Yuan's outer clothes to make him more comfortable, and then lay down next to Qiguan Yuan himself.
After the two lay down, there was only half a fist's width between them.
Qiguan Yuan's breathing was light, carrying the lingering smell of alcohol mixed with the cool fragrance emanating from his body.
Pei Yubai reached out and pulled his open collar tighter.
Qiguan Yuan turned over, facing Pei Yubai, his face pressed against his shoulder, his breath brushing against his collarbone.
Pei Yubai pulled the blanket up to cover both of their shoulders, put one arm around Qiguan Yuan's waist, and closed his eyes.
The nights in the mountains and forests didn't feel like summer at all; they were rather cool.
Pei Yubai was woken up by an itch the next morning.
Something soft and furry brushed against the tip of his nose.
A very familiar feel.
He frowned, but didn't open his eyes; the itching sensation was still there, constantly tickling the tip of his nose.
He opened his eyes. Qiguan Yuan was nestled in his arms, her silver hair spread across his chest, her face turned to the side, pressing against his arm.
His ears twitched unconsciously in his sleep, rubbing against Pei Yubai's nose again and again.
Pei Yubai did not move.
He lay there for a moment, his heart beating faster than before. Qiguan Yuan's ear twitched again on the tip of his nose, the downy hairs on the ear tip brushing against his lips, tickling him intensely.
He tilted his head slightly to avoid the ear and looked down at Qiguan Yuan's face.
I was startled by Yuanyuan's Yuanyuan as soon as I woke up, and her cuteness almost melted my heart.
Pei Yubai stared at him for a long time.
Qiguan Yuan's ears twitched, then twitched again.
His eyelashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes.
Her eyes were watery, and her light-colored pupils appeared paler than usual in the morning light.
He looked at Pei Yubai for a moment, then his ears drooped down, hanging listlessly on either side of his hair.
He frowned, buried his face in Pei Yubai's neck, and mumbled, " Pei Yubai," his voice hoarse and sleepy.
Pei Yubai's fingers touched his ear, his fingertips tracing the auricle, the downy hairs gently brushing against his fingertips. "I'll go make you some hangover soup, it'll make you feel better."
Pei Yubai kept his voice very low, afraid of disturbing Qiguan Yuan.
Qiguan Yuan didn't answer. He lifted his face from Pei Yubai's neck, drowsily leaned in, and lightly touched Pei Yubai's chin with his lips.
Then he turned over, his back to Pei Yubai, and pulled the blanket up to cover his head, leaving only his ears exposed, the tips of which were still twitching slightly.
Pei Yubai sat up and got out of bed.
He changed his clothes and glanced down at his chest.
The ink was still there, but the strokes were lighter than last night, and the edges were somewhat blurred, as if they had been melted by Qiguan Yuan's body heat.
He picked up his phone from the bedside table, took a picture, put the phone down, stood by the bed for a moment, then went to the well in the backyard, drew a bucket of water, and reluctantly wiped the ink stains off his chest with a damp cloth.
I'll find an opportunity to have Yuanyuan write another one for me sometime, and then I'll find a tattoo artist to tattoo it on me, so it won't smudge.
When he returned to the bedroom, Qiguan Yuan was still asleep, wrapped up in the blanket. Pei Yubai glanced at him and went out.
Almost everyone was still asleep, and the courtyard was very quiet.
Besides Ji Shiyu.
Ji Shiyu squatted on the blue brick ground, holding his phone and looking at something; the light from the screen shone on his face.
He heard footsteps, looked up, and greeted Pei Yubai: " Yubai, good morning."
Pei Yubai walked over to him. "What is Teacher Ji doing?"
Ji Shiyu handed his phone to Pei Yubai to look at.
The screen displays a picture of mugwort, with serrated edges on its leaves and a green stem.
Ji Shiyu said, " Teacher Qiguan, there are a lot of mosquitoes in the mountains here. A-Wan is prone to attracting insects. I was bitten last night, so she must have been bitten quite badly too."
"I looked it up online, and it says mugwort can repel mosquitoes, so I thought I'd see if I had any in the yard."
Pei Yubai took the phone, looked at the picture, and then at the flower bed in the yard. "When Yuanyuan wakes up, I'll ask him for you."
Ji Shiyu nodded.
" Yubai, what are you doing up so early?" Ji Shiyu asked.
Pei Yubai handed the phone back to him. " Yuanyuan got drunk last night and felt unwell this morning. I'll go make him some hangover soup."
Ji Shiyu looked him up and down, remained silent for a few seconds, and then asked, "Do you know how to make hangover soup?"
Pei Yubai glanced at him. "No."
Ji Shiyu stood up. "I'll go with you. You should also learn some cooking skills."
" Teacher Qiguan doesn't seem like someone who can cook. There always needs to be someone in the family who can cook. After you get married, hiring a nanny in the Capital is fine, but if you go back to Cloud-Hidden Town for some alone time, you can't exactly bring a nanny along, can you?"
Pei Yubai Pei Yubai about it carefully, and it was indeed the case. Although he couldn't cook, Yuanyuan couldn't cook either, so he had to learn to cook.
Ji Shiyu and Pei Yubai entered the kitchen together, just as Meng Xu, who was getting up to use the restroom, saw them.
He called his staff to ask if any of the cameramen were awake, and asked one of them to go over and start the live stream to film what the two guys were doing so early in the morning, promising to give them a raise.
Then I went to find the toilet.
Everything about Qiguan Yuan is great, except the toilets are too far away.
To everyone's surprise, the toilets here at Qiguan Yuan were not modern-day dry toilets, but rather very normal toilets.
This relieved the others who had been worried. In fact, Qiguan Yuan doesn't eat much and doesn't need to use the toilet much; he practices fasting.
When Jixian learned that someone was coming, he went to Qiguan Yuan's storeroom, took a bottle, sold it, and used it to install this toilet for him.
The kitchen was small; the stove was made of brick, the pots were made of iron, and the cupboards were made of wood with simple patterns carved on the doors.
Ji Shiyu took a piece of ginger from the cabinet, placed it on the cutting board, and tapped it with the back of a knife. The ginger cracked open, and juice seeped out.
He then grabbed a handful of goji berries and a small handful of red dates and put them in the bowl.
He taught Pei Yubai to slice the ginger thinly, remove the pits from the red dates, and wash the goji berries.
Pei Yubai's knife skills weren't very good when he was slicing ginger; the ginger slices were of varying thicknesses.
Ji Shiyu glanced at it, said nothing, lit the fire, poured a bowl of water into the pot, added ginger slices, red dates, and goji berries, and then covered the pot with the lid.
After the water boiled, he took out a small bottle of rice wine from the cupboard, poured in two spoonfuls, added a spoonful of brown sugar, stirred it with the spoon, and then turned the heat down.
When a photographer ran over carrying his equipment, the hangover soup in the kitchen had been simmering for a while.
He set up the machine at the kitchen doorway, pointed the lens at the stove, and turned on the equipment.
As soon as the live stream started, viewers flooded in, and soon some noticed that the scene in Pei Yubai's live stream was different.
There were no guests chatting or doing tasks in the scene; there was only a pot and Pei Yubai's profile.
He stood in front of the stove, holding a spoon and stirring the soup in the pot. Ji Shiyu stood beside him, holding a bowl of goji berries and adding them to the pot.
[What is Pei Yubai doing? Cooking? How surreal.]
[Looks like a hangover cure]
[Is Pei Yubai learning to make hangover soup?]
[The young master learns to make hangover soup for love; it's truly magical.]
Pei Yubai turned off the fire and poured the soup into a bowl. The soup was light brown, with a few red dates and slices of ginger floating on it.
He picked it up and walked out of the kitchen.
Ji Shiyu followed behind him and cleaned up the things on the stove.
The other guests woke up one after another. When Shen Yuzhou came out of the room, he had dark circles under his eyes and a red, swollen bump on his neck.
Cheng Yanqiu followed behind him, and her calves were also bitten in several places.
Lin Yanru arm, Su He'an had a raised bump on the back of her hand.
Almost everyone is tormented by mosquitoes.
Ji Shiyu borrowed some floral water from the staff and handed it to Cheng Yanqiu and Jiang Wantang, who looked particularly ill.
Several people gathered in the courtyard, each applying floral water to their bodies. The smell of medicine mingled with the morning mist and the scent of plants, spreading throughout the courtyard.
Qiguan Yuan came out of the bedroom, having changed his clothes. He was wearing a plain white robe with a thin, bluish-gray outer garment over it.
His complexion was better than last night; his ears had retracted, and his silver hair was casually draped down to his waist.
He walked into the main room and sat down at the table. Pei Yubai brought him a bowl of hangover soup.
Qiguan Yuan glanced down at the soup bowl, picked it up and took a sip, then put it down and took another sip.
He didn't say anything, finished the whole bowl, and put the empty bowl on the table.
Ji Shiyu brought out a pot of porridge from the kitchen and placed it in the middle of the table.
The porridge was made of white rice and had been simmering for a long time; the rice grains had already split open.
There was also a plate of stir-fried vegetables and a few boiled eggs on the side.
Pei Yubai sat down next to Qiguan Yuan and served him a bowl of porridge.
Qiguan Yuan took it, drank a sip, and put it down.
He ate very little, just half a bowl of porridge.
Pei Yubai sat down next to him, took the remaining porridge from his bowl, and drank it himself.
Ji Shiyu served the remaining porridge to the others, and they all finished eating around the table.
Pei Yubai asked Qiguan Yuan, " Yuanyuan, do you have any mugwort here?"
Qiguan Yuan asked, "What's wrong?"
Qiguan Yuan couldn't possibly be bitten by a mosquito, and didn't react for a moment.
Pei Yubai said, "Everyone got bitten by mosquitoes last night. If you have any mugwort, get some to repel them."
Qiguan Yuan said, "I'll take you to pick them later."
After finishing his meal, Pei Yubai collected the bowls and placed them in the sink by the kitchen door.
Shen Yuzhou stood up and followed behind him to help.
Qiguan Yuan sat at the table for a moment, looking at the people in the courtyard covered in mosquito bites. "Those who have been bitten, come with me."
The guests and staff members who had been bitten by mosquitoes off-camera immediately followed.
Qiguan Yuan led them through the main house, across the corridor, and to a door in the backyard.
The door was made of wood, unpainted, and had brass iron rings.
Qiguan Yuan pushed open the door, revealing a large storeroom with high beams and windows high up, letting in light that fell on everything in the room.
The warehouse was filled with shelves, on which were placed all sorts of things.
Calligraphy and paintings, scrolls, ancient books, porcelain, bronzes, wood carvings, and bottles and jars of all sizes are neatly arranged.
Several wooden crates were placed on a shelf in the corner, their lids not fully closed, revealing the edges of the calligraphy and paintings stacked inside.
A large vat leaned against the wall, its mouth sealed with a red cloth.
Shen Yuzhou stood at the doorway, his gaze sweeping over the shelves before settling on a scroll on the middle shelf.
Born into a scholarly family, he opened his mouth in shock, closed it, then opened it again. "That... that's a unique copy?"
"The seal on that scroll looks like... like..."
People who don't understand these things won't understand them, but others can recognize gold and silver jewelry!
This warehouse is filled with gold and silver jewelry that looks incredibly expensive.
Even the cameramen following them were trembling with fear, afraid to move their lenses for fear of capturing something.
Qiguan Yuan ignored them and walked to the innermost row of shelves.
He reached out and took down more than twenty small porcelain jars from the shelf. The jars were not large, slightly larger than an egg, and the mouths of the jars were plugged with wooden stoppers and sealed with a layer of wax.
He handed the earthenware jar to Shen Yuzhou: "Give it to them."
Shen Yuzhou took the pottery jar, looked down at it, and saw that there were no labels or words on the jar.
He uncorked a jar, revealing a pale green paste inside with a bitter, herbal coolness.
"What is this?" he asked.
Qiguan Yuan had already turned and walked towards the door. "Ointment. It relieves itching and swelling; it'll help with the insect bites from the mountains."
Shen Yuzhou put the cork back in and distributed the pottery jars to the others.
Cheng Yanqiu took it, peeled it open, smelled it, and applied a little with her finger to the bitten area. The coolness seeped into her skin, and the itching quickly subsided.
Seeing that it was effective, everyone who had been bitten by mosquitoes quickly applied the ointment.
Qiguan Yuan walked out of the backyard, stood in the yard, and looked up at the sky.
The sky was a bit brighter than in the morning; the clouds were thinner, and sunlight was filtering through the gaps and falling on the ground.
The mountain fog has dissipated, and the treetops in the distance and the mountain ridges further away can be seen.
"I'll take you to find some mugwort and some bamboo leaves later to wrap zongzi. The sun will be quite strong today, so go to the backyard and find some straw hats to wear."
The crowd agreed and dispersed.
The photographers carried their equipment and set it up again, and the live broadcast shifted from the warehouse to the courtyard.
Qiguan Yuan stood at the courtyard gate wearing a bamboo hat, carrying nothing in his hands.
The others came out one after another wearing straw hats. Pei Yubai walked at the very back, the straps of his hat not tied tightly, hanging down on both sides of his chin.
Qiguan Yuan glanced at him, raised his hand to tighten the ribbon, tied a knot under his chin, and said nothing more.
He turned and left.
Artemisia grows on the hillside, its broad leaves swaying in the wind.
Qiguan Yuan walked ahead, not very fast, stopping at places with mugwort to point out to the people behind him. "This is mugwort, be careful to pick the tender leaves."
Pei Yubai followed Qiguan Yuan, also picking fruit. He picked slowly, keeping a close eye on Qiguan Yuan beside him.
The leaves of the bamboo are broad and thick with smooth edges. Qiguan Yuan walked over, bent down, and broke off a bamboo leaf from the base.
He bent the leaf into an arc in his hand, folded a few, and handed them to the bamboo basket behind him. Then he said to the others, "These are the leaves for wrapping zongzi."
Back at the house, everyone divided the tasks and worked together.
Shen Yuzhou and Cheng Yanqiu sat under the eaves, rubbing mugwort sticks. They crushed dried mugwort leaves, rolled them into thin strips, and then rolled them up in cotton paper.
Lin Yanru, Su He'an, and Pei Yubai sat around the stone table in the courtyard wrapping zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). They folded bamboo leaves in their hands, rolled them into a funnel shape, scooped glutinous rice from a bowl, filled it up, pressed it down, folded the leaves back to cover the opening, and tied it tightly with cotton thread.
Ji Shiyu Jiang Wantang tended the fire beside them.
Qiguan Yuan was not involved in these matters.
He sat by the window in the main room, with several small white jade jars and a pile of medicinal herbs on the square table in front of him.
He crushed the mugwort leaves, mixed them with several other herbs, and pounded them in a stone mortar.
After pounding, pour it into a small white jade jar, flatten it with a small wooden spoon, seal it with wax, and place it on the table.
Jiang Wantang peeked out from the kitchen doorway, saw what he was doing, walked over and stood by the table for a while. " Teacher Qiguan, are you making ointment?"
Qiguan Yuan didn't look up. "One can per person probably won't be enough."
He didn't stop talking; he poured another herb into the mortar and began pounding it again.
Jiang Wantang watched for a while, then went back to the kitchen to start a fire.
The viewers in the live chat really liked this atmosphere.
[Can Yuanyuan even prepare her own medicine?]
[Does his ointment really work? I really want one too! This ointment looks so pretty!]
[Um... I wanted to ask if anyone recognized anything in Yuanyuan's storeroom. I feel like my brain is malfunctioning right now, and I'm not sure if I've made a mistake.]