Toon Chapter 31

Extra Chapter 1

1.

Deep winter.

It had snowed continuously for three days, and Pingshui Village was completely covered in white, a vast expanse of white as far as the eye could see.

Zhou Lingchun wore knee-high rubber boots and tightened his cotton-padded jacket. In his pocket, he carried the medicine for his grandmother’s headache, which he had picked up from the doctor.

White mist puffed from the man’s straight nose, quickly dissipating into the cold air.

Thinking that the firewood at home was almost gone and the snow would likely continue for a few more days, Zhou Lingchun took a detour just before reaching home, planning to gather some firewood in the back mountains.

His boots crunched softly on the snow, leaving a trail of footprints on the mountain path. The man bent down to pick up exposed black branches when he suddenly heard a groan.

Zhou Lingchun stopped and looked around, twitching his ears. He quickly located the source of the sound—it was down the slope.

A person was lying there, the snow beneath their head stained red with blood.

Zhou Lingchun’s heart lurched. He slid down the slope and saw that the person was still alive, though their breathing was faint.

The cheek he touched was ice-cold, like an icicle. Without time to think, Zhou Lingchun took off his cotton jacket, wrapped the person in it, and lifted them up. The person had short hair and was male, yet they felt so light in his arms. Zhou Lingchun glanced at their face again and realized they were extremely beautiful, like a figure from a painting on the wall, even possessing a somewhat feminine appearance.

He urgently called into the person’s ear, “Can you hear me?”

The person only kept their eyes closed, a faint, almost inaudible sound of pain escaping their lips.

Although the blood on their head had clotted, if Zhou Lingchun hadn’t found them, this person would surely have frozen to death soon.

Zhou Lingchun, shivering while holding the near-dead person, returned home.

His grandmother was warming herself by the brazier at the door. Hearing the commotion, she asked, “Why did you take so long? Was the road blocked by snow?”

“I found someone lying in the snow. I don’t know if they’ll make it.”

The man paused slightly upon entering the house. He only hesitated for a second, wondering if this person might die in his bed, before placing the person he was holding onto his own bed. He stripped off his wet outer clothes, remaining only in his shirt, and piled two thick quilts on the injured person. He then moved the brazier closer to the bed.

His grandmother walked over shakily and touched the person on the bed. They were freezing cold. “Are they from the village?”

Zhou Lingchun said, “I don’t think so.” He had never seen such a… beautiful man in the village.

He went to the kitchen for hot water. He used three hot water bottles to warm the person’s feet and hands, and a steaming towel to wipe the dirt from their face, rubbing the exposed skin until it was warm.

The person’s body slowly regained warmth. By evening, color had returned to their face, and his grandmother managed to force some hot water down their throat.

Seeing that the person was better, Zhou Lingchun remembered the head wound and wondered if there were any other injuries. He took off the person’s clothes. There were no external wounds, but there were many bruises on the body. The physique was unlike that of an ordinary man; there was no sign of working muscles. It was more… like a woman’s. The clothes he had removed were also made of fine material, suggesting this was likely a pampered young master.

To be thrown into the deserted mountains with a broken head during a heavy snowstorm meant someone was definitely trying to kill him.

Zhou Lingchun didn’t dwell on it. He casually pulled down the person’s pants and found that their lower body was strangely formed—neither fully male nor female.

Later, he found a handkerchief in the discarded clothes, embroidered with the characters “Liansheng.”

2.

Spring returned, bringing warmth.

Willow catkins drifted across the land.

In the morning, Liansheng sat on a small stool by the well, sleeves rolled high on his arms, diligently scrubbing Zhou Lingchun’s and his own clothes in a basin. His grandmother’s clothes didn’t need washing; she always washed her own.

Zhou Lingchun had taught him to wash his own clothes first, and then his, which were dirtier from work, could be washed afterward.

Liansheng casually kneaded his own clothes a few times and tossed them into a small basin. Then, he grabbed a handful of laundry powder and sprinkled it on the man’s clothes, scrubbing them on the washboard with his two soft, white hands.

Every movement produced a grating, scrubbing sound.

Liansheng gritted his teeth, secretly exerting himself.

He was determined to get them clean today. Yesterday, Zhou Lingchun had complained that he was useless because they weren’t clean enough.

Liansheng sniffled, recalling the man’s slightly disgusted expression yesterday, and felt a pang of sadness.

When Zhou Lingchun returned, Liansheng was still washing clothes, clutching the man’s dirty hem, sprinkling another handful of laundry powder, and picking at the fabric with his fingers.

Seeing Zhou Lingchun return, he offered a somewhat embarrassed, timid smile, his large eyes curving. Zhou Lingchun frowned. He had intended to say that he didn’t need to use so much laundry powder, but seeing the glistening sweat on Liansheng’s forehead and his reddened, scrubbing fingers, he only said that he would rinse them when Liansheng was done, and told him to go rest inside.

Inside the house, Liansheng secretly wiped away two streams of tears with his red hands.

He knew Brother Lingchun must be thinking he was useless again. He couldn’t cook well, he couldn’t wash clothes properly, and when he first arrived, he didn’t even know how to pump water from the well…

Zhou Lingchun was so capable, strong, and hardworking, managing everything inside and outside the house perfectly. He was also a good person; he had saved his life and carried him to see the doctor in winter without a single complaint. Liansheng admired Zhou Lingchun from the bottom of his heart.

When he first woke up, he couldn’t walk far, so he entrusted the man to help him find his family. But the man returned saying he couldn’t find anyone. Now, he had nowhere else to go and had to stay here. Brother Lingchun had taken him in, but… Brother Lingchun said the family didn’t keep idle people. What should he do?

Liansheng wiped his tears and walked out. He saw Zhou Lingchun hanging the clothes, so he decided to go to the kitchen to light a fire and boil water for bathing that evening.

When Zhou Lingchun entered the kitchen, Liansheng had already lit the fire in the stove. Flames roared beneath the pot, and acrid white smoke drifted toward Liansheng’s face. Liansheng was choking and coughing, tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes.

Zhou Lingchun quickly reached out and pushed some of the burning wood back, then sternly told Liansheng, whose face was smeared black and white like a calico cat, “If you don’t know how to start a fire, don’t do it.”

Liansheng stopped coughing. His tearful, large eyes stared plaintively at the man’s stern face. His dirty cheeks were flushed red from coughing, and his lips were stubbornly pressed together.

Zhou Lingchun’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. He felt uneasy, cleared his throat with a cough, and said gently, “You don’t need to light the fire anymore.”

The tears Liansheng had managed to stop suddenly fell like broken strings of pearls, large drops splashing onto the ground. He said, “I can learn…”

“Please don’t chase me away…”

Those tears were like meteorites falling from the sky. Zhou Lingchun was thrown into disarray. He patted Liansheng’s shoulder, found it useless, and awkwardly wiped away the tears. His fingertips felt as if they had been scalded by boiling water. He explained, “No one said they’re chasing you away.”

3.

Zhou Lingchun returned from the town market and brought Liansheng a few cups of milk to drink. Liansheng happily clung to Zhou Lingchun’s arm, refusing to let go.

Liansheng was not suited for the rough chores at home. Seeing that he could read and write, Zhou Lingchun spoke to the village school principal, lying that Liansheng was his new wife from the city who was highly literate. He asked the principal to arrange a position for Liansheng as a fourth-grade Chinese teacher.

The village children were mischievous—climbing roofs, fishing in the water, pulling wires, stealing fruit. They were beaten by their parents every few days, yet remained undeterred. In school, they still disrupted class and rarely did their homework.

Liansheng had grown his hair out a bit and, pretending to be a woman, tied it into a small braid, the short ends brushing his pale neck. He walked back and forth in the classroom aisle, reading the textbook softly, holding the ruler Zhou Lingchun had made for him.

He truly looked like a strict teacher!

But after a few days, the children figured out Liansheng’s temper. This pretty teacher wasn’t strict at all. The classroom descended into chaos—talking, fighting, and no one listened to Liansheng’s lecture.

Liansheng had lived in Pingshui Village for a while now. Influenced by his surroundings, though his personality wasn’t as spoiled as it would be later, he understood the meaning of “strive” and became a bit more decisive. Angered, he immediately singled out the naughtiest boy, grabbed his ear, made him stand by the blackboard, and struck the boy’s palm five times in front of the other children.

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!

The classroom instantly fell silent.

When school ended, Liansheng was carrying his bag home. Walking along the field path, he was suddenly hit on the head by a small stone, nearly blacking out. He heard the boy’s voice fading away as he ran: “Who told you to hit me? I’m going to tell my dad to talk to the principal and get you fired!”

Liansheng crouched by the roadside to recover for a long time. Finally, as darkness fell, he returned home, clutching the bump on his head.

He usually returned before sunset. Arriving home in the dark, looking on the verge of tears, Zhou Lingchun sensed something was wrong and asked why he was so late.

Liansheng was still too young to keep things bottled up. As soon as the man asked, he couldn’t hold back. He sat on the small stool without even putting down his bag, wiping tears and saying his head hurt.

When asked why his head hurt, he pursed his lips and refused to speak.

Zhou Lingchun went over, parted his hair, and saw a large bump on his forehead! Pressed further, Liansheng tearfully confessed everything.

“Wang Xiaolong’s dad and the principal are brothers. Will they really make me leave?” Liansheng nervously crumpled a piece of paper, afraid Zhou Lingchun would blame him for being useless.

“Then don’t go,” Zhou Lingchun said in a low voice.

Liansheng lifted his teary eyes and sniffled softly: “Don’t be angry. I will try hard to keep the job.”

“I’m not angry,” Zhou Lingchun felt severely blocked by that statement, and his heart ached fiercely. Unsure how to explain his feelings, he stiffly said, “If you don’t want that job, then don’t go.”

Liansheng didn’t know what Zhou Lingchun did, but a few days later, Wang Xiaolong’s parents brought Wang Xiaolong to personally apologize to Liansheng.

After one semester, the school failed and closed down, leaving Liansheng without a reason to stay in Zhou Lingchun’s home again.

5.

Summer night, filled with the sound of cicadas.

Liansheng suddenly cried out while bathing inside, followed by a dull thud as something hit the floor. Zhou Lingchun, who was cooling off outside, rushed the door open without thinking. He saw Liansheng naked, fallen on the ground, and a coiled snake on the floor on the other side of the room.

Liansheng seemed terrified. When Zhou Lingchun helped him up, his body was completely limp. He clung to the man’s clothes, refusing to let go, his smooth body constantly shrinking into Zhou Lingchun’s embrace. The damp water droplets on him soaked Zhou Lingchun’s chest.

Zhou Lingchun wasn’t nervous about the snake, but Liansheng leaning against him naked made him so flustered he didn’t know where to look or put his hands. He wrapped his arm around Liansheng’s smooth shoulder, whispering, “Don’t be afraid.” In a daze, he caught sight of Liansheng’s snow-white chest, adorned with pink nipples. It was like a flash of white lightning across a dark, rainy sky.

The sweet scent of Liansheng filled his nostrils. Zhou Lingchun held his breath, his heart pounding. He then realized he had become aroused from the friction.

He scolded Liansheng to stop moving, then awkwardly wrapped Liansheng in a sheet and placed him on the bed. He went out, grabbed a shovel, and removed the coiled snake.

Outside, he splashed cold water harshly on his face.

He didn’t know what was wrong with him.

Meanwhile, Liansheng, whose body had been seen, was also flushed with shame. The summer night was too quiet, and Liansheng could hear his own heartbeat, almost believing he was sick.

Later that night, he made up his mind. He stealthily opened the door to Zhou Lingchun’s room and slipped into the man’s quilt, pitifully saying he was scared and couldn’t sleep. He promised to only take up a small space and begged Zhou Lingchun not to chase him away, just to let him sleep with him for a little while.

This was something no man could refuse.

6.

“Lingchun, you’re not young anymore, you’re twenty-three. Why haven’t you married a wife yet? Auntie can introduce you to someone.” Auntie Sun genuinely liked Zhou Lingchun’s efficient way of working.

“Thank you, Auntie, but no need,” Zhou Lingchun politely refused. “I’m just a man, I wouldn’t know how to cherish a woman. A girl would suffer with me.”

“How could that be? Any girl would be blessed to be with you.” Auntie Sun persisted. “You’ve been alone since childhood, taking care of the family and working the fields. Find a girl to accompany you, help you, and share your worries. She can tidy the house during the day and warm your bed at night. Wouldn’t that make things easier for you?”

Listening to her, Liansheng’s image inexplicably popped into Zhou Lingchun’s mind. But Liansheng was completely unsuitable—his hands were so delicate they’d chafe just washing clothes, he’d burn the rice trying to light the stove, and he’d cry if spoken to loudly. As for the night, it was more often Zhou Lingchun warming Liansheng’s bed.

“Lingchun, when is that girl you picked up going home? If you don’t fancy her, let her go back. Don’t block your own path to finding a wife,” Auntie Sun added.

Zhou Lingchun didn’t know what to say. He had gone to the city and found out about a wealthy man named Lian who had recently passed away, shortly before he found Liansheng. With the rich man’s death, the Lian family had fallen apart.

He returned home, looked at Liansheng’s hopeful face, and couldn’t bring himself to say the hurtful truth, so he temporarily concealed it.

He had intended to tell Liansheng what he had found out once he was better, but the longer he waited, the harder it became to speak.

Regarding Auntie Sun’s words, Zhou Lingchun simply shook his head and said everything was fine.

7.

That night, Liansheng skillfully slipped into Zhou Lingchun’s quilt again.

This time, the man didn’t move, keeping his eyes closed, seemingly undisturbed. But Liansheng heard the man’s heavier breathing and knew he was pretending to sleep.

Liansheng lay on Zhou Lingchun’s chest and whispered, “Brother Lingchun, are you asleep?”

“…”

Liansheng continued talking to himself: “Grandma said she was going to make me shoes today, but when she touched my feet, she said, ‘How can a girl have such big feet?’ Brother Lingchun, if Grandma finds out I’m not a girl, will she stop letting me stay here…”

Zhou Lingchun still kept his eyes closed.

Liansheng sighed, took Zhou Lingchun’s hand, and placed it on his own chest. After a full half-minute, he said, “I’ll be your wife, Brother Lingchun. We already sleep in the same bed. If other girls find out, they won’t marry you.”

Feeling the smooth, tender skin in his palm, Zhou Lingchun subtly inhaled deeply. He was a young man full of vigor, and having a delicate beauty crawl into his bed every night made every night a torment.

He forcefully resisted the urge to grab Liansheng’s breasts hard. Instead, he pulled his hand away, opened his eyes, and stared at Liansheng’s bright, wide-awake eyes in the moonlight. He said, “If you’re not sleeping, go back to your own room.”

Liansheng refused to give up. He nibbled gently on the man’s ear, his warm breath scattering on the man’s neck. “Do you really want to marry another wife? What will happen to me then? Where will I sleep?”

Zhou Lingchun’s body was rigid, and his breathing grew heavy.

Liansheng seemed to make up his mind, pulling the man’s hand down toward his lower body, touching his wet spot. “Brother Lingchun… I really like you. You work so hard during the day, I feel so bad. Let me help you relieve some heat…”

“Brother Lingchun…” Liansheng called softly, “I can use both places.”

“Ouch!” Liansheng suddenly felt the world spin as the man fiercely pressed him onto the bed. He looked at the man’s handsome face in fear, thinking he was about to be thrown out. Instead, his lips felt a sharp pain—the man was devouring his mouth.

8.

Daylight broke.

Liansheng lay limply on the man’s bed, wilted like an over-nourished flower, his slender fingers dangling softly over the edge.

He bore many marks from the man, his mouth was swollen from being kissed, and his lower body was ravaged and filled with semen. He was currently sleeping soundly with his eyes closed, though his brows were furrowed, suggesting discomfort.

Zhou Lingchun brought water in and used a towel to wipe Liansheng’s body. When the damp, warm towel touched him, Liansheng whimpered, opening his eyes slightly and hiding in Zhou Lingchun’s arms. “No, it hurts when you wipe…”

“I’ll be gentle…” After a night of passion, Zhou Lingchun was tender. He slowly wiped Liansheng’s body, gazing at Liansheng’s delicate face, and couldn’t help but kiss him.

Liansheng, small and trapped in the man’s embrace, complained softly, “You were too rough last night. My bottom hurts.”

“Mmm…” Zhou Lingchun kissed Liansheng’s fingers. They were long, slender, and delicate, seeming soft enough to squeeze water from. He felt he could never kiss them enough. He held Liansheng’s finger in his mouth and bit it twice, only letting go when Liansheng cried out in pain. After a moment, he added, “I’ll be gentler next time.”

“I thought you didn’t like me, but you’re just a wolf in sheep’s clothing!” Liansheng frowned slightly, muttering softly, resting his chin on the man’s shoulder. “Then it’s settled. I’ll stay here with you from now on. I can cook and wash clothes for you too…”

Their fingers intertwined.

9.

But once Liansheng truly became Zhou Lingchun’s wife, the man never let him do any chores again, wishing only for him to sit on the bed all day and not walk on the ground.

He was held in Zhou Lingchun’s palm, cherished in his mouth, living a life of utter ease. Nurtured by the fertilizer called love, he was a vibrant flower, growing more luxuriantly than ever.

The green crops in the mountains changed season after season. Stones on the path were kicked away and kicked back again. The sun rose and set.

They were like lovebirds in the sky, inseparable, occasionally pecking at each other, but always roosting in the same nest at night, warming each other.

Five thousand characters. I’m long and thick enough, right! (Confident) (Pulls down pants)