The bullet comments had gone completely wild. White text raced across the screen so fast it was almost impossible to make out what each comment said.
[Aaaaaaaaah]
[My heart can't take it, Yuanyuan! You heart-stealing arsonist!]
[Mom, he called Pei Yubai his host! His host! I've never realized that word could sound so sexy!]
[Forget blocking the gate, block me!!! Block me!!!]
[Pei Yubai, move aside, I want to marry him]
[Get a grip, person above, Pei Yubai isn't moving aside]
[Qiguan Yuan, look at me, look at me, look at me]
[I declare this the best entrance of the year]
[Who recorded that, who recorded that, I'm begging you, did anyone record that]
Pei Yubai withdrew his hand from the rim of the bowl.
He turned to face Qiguan Yuan. Less than half a step separated them.
Qiguan Yuan was a little shorter than him and raised his eyes slightly to look at him.
"Qiguan Yuan," Pei Yubai called.
Qiguan Yuan answered with a "Mm?" His voice rose at the end, as though waiting for him to continue.
Pei Yubai opened his mouth, then closed it again.
His ears had already begun to redden, the color spreading upward from his earlobes, as though someone had dipped an extremely fine brush in cinnabar and painted them stroke by stroke.
He looked into Qiguan Yuan's eyes. The light of the setting sun shone in those pale eyes, bright as two glass marbles tinted by the sunset.
Qiguan Yuan tilted his head, and his silver hair slipped off his shoulder.
He set the earthenware bowl in his hand back on the table. Its base struck the tabletop with a dull thud.
He did not withdraw his hand, leaving it on the rim of the bowl, his fingers tapping lightly, one after another, unhurried.
"Your ears are red again. Are you hot, Pei Yubai?" Qiguan Yuan asked, a hint of laughter in his voice.
Pei Yubai raised a hand and touched his ear. His fingertips brushed the outer edge. It was burning hot.
He lowered his hand, neither explaining nor denying it.
He looked at Qiguan Yuan. A breeze blew in from the terraced fields, carrying moisture and the scent of earth, lifting a few strands of Qiguan Yuan's silver hair and blowing them against his cheeks.
Qiguan Yuan did not brush his hair aside, simply letting it cling there.
"Qiguan Yuan," Pei Yubai called again.
This time, his voice was a little steadier than before, but it was still noticeably lower than his usual speaking voice, as though something were lodged in his throat and he had to force the sound out.
Qiguan Yuan looked at him, the curve of his lips deepening slightly.
"Mm," he answered again.
[He said his name, he said his name]
[Why do I feel like the air is bubbling with pink bubbles]
[You're not alone, person above]
[I'm blushing even through the screen]
[Qiguan Yuan, you're baiting him, aren't you, aren't you]
[He absolutely is]
[Pei Yubai, stay strong]
[He can't, he's already gone red]
Qiguan Yuan pushed the earthenware bowl in front of Pei Yubai. "What's this gate-blocking wine about?" he asked.
Pei Yubai lowered his head to look at the wine in the bowl. The milky-white liquid swayed slightly, reflecting the daylight, a few grains of rice floating on its surface.
"Gate-blocking wine," he said. "It's a Miao village custom. Guests have to drink before they can enter."
"Oh," Qiguan Yuan said, his voice falling at the end. "Then do I count as a guest now?"
Pei Yubai looked at him. Only after a while did he say, "You do."
Qiguan Yuan nodded, reached out, and picked up the bowl of wine again.
His fingers were long, curled around the rim of the earthenware bowl, his nails neatly trimmed.
He raised the bowl to his lips, lowered his head, and took a sip. The wine wet his lips, leaving a tiny milky-white trace on his lower lip. He licked it away.
Pei Yubai saw that movement. His ears turned another shade redder.
Qiguan Yuan set the bowl back on the table and looked up at Pei Yubai. "I've had a drink now. May I ask my host if I can go in?"
Pei Yubai did not answer.
He picked up the bowl Qiguan Yuan had drunk from and finished the remaining wine in one gulp.
The bottom of the bowl faced the sky as the last drop fell into his mouth, sweet, mingled with the fragrance of rice and a faint trace of something else.
He could not say what that taste was.
Qiguan Yuan watched him finish the wine and narrowed his eyes slightly.
The bullet comments no longer knew what to say. Question marks and exclamation marks filled the screen, with the occasional complete sentence mixed in.
[??????]
[He drank it, he drank it, he drank it, he drank from the bowl Qiguan Yuan drank from]
[Pei Yubai, what are you doing!!!!]
[Isn't this an indirect kiss, isn't this an indirect kiss]
[Qiguan Yuan: all according to plan]
[Confirmed: a fox who reels people in]
Qiguan Yuan came around the long table and walked up to Pei Yubai.
The distance between them shrank further, close enough for Pei Yubai to see the curve of Qiguan Yuan's eyelashes. They were very long, curling slightly upward, their tips seeming to glimmer faintly gold. "I heard you talking about gate-blocking wine."
He turned his head to glance at the twelve earthenware bowls on the long table. "How exactly does this gate-blocking wine block people?"
Pei Yubai followed his gaze toward the bowls. Twelve earthenware bowls stood in a neat row, the wine swaying gently inside them, reflecting the daylight.
He thought about how to explain it.
"You drink your way through, one stage at a time. Each stage has its own rules," he said. "Some require you to pay respects to heaven and earth first, some require singing, and some require dancing. You can only enter after you've finished."
After hearing this, Qiguan Yuan nodded. He found it very interesting.
So he walked to the other side of the long table and examined the bowls one by one, starting with the first. At the sixth bowl, he stopped, picked it up, and sniffed it.
"It smells lovely," he said. Then he put the bowl back, turned around, and looked at Pei Yubai.
"Shall I start now, then?"
Pei Yubai looked at him standing behind the long table. Sunlight fell over him, gilding his outline in pale gold.
His expression was earnest, like a guest who truly wanted to pass the gate-blocking wine challenge.
Pei Yubai nodded. "All right..."
Qiguan Yuan picked up the first bowl of wine. He did not rush to drink, first raising the bowl above his head toward the sky and pausing. Then he lowered it toward the ground and paused again.
"I've paid my respects to heaven and earth," he said. Then he looked at the village elder, who had been watching him in silence. "Was that right?"
The village elder nodded, smiling.
After that, Qiguan Yuan drank all the wine with great interest.
Then he tilted his head slightly and looked at Pei Yubai. "I don't know the way. As my host, won't you show me?"
Pei Yubai immediately walked over to Qiguan Yuan's side and led him into the village.
Qiguan Yuan surveyed the village. He had not expected Pei Yubai to be at the Village Above the Clouds.
He had thought he would have to finish dealing with things before he had time to look for Pei Yubai. He had not expected Pei Yubai to be at the Village Above the Clouds too.
When he arrived at the Village Above the Clouds and spotted Pei Yubai's back from afar, he also remembered why the names Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang had sounded familiar to him.
It turned out they were filming that livestream thing with Pei Yubai.
But Qiguan Yuan had never paid much attention to such things. Even when something felt familiar, he could not be bothered to think about it, so he had only just made the connection.