IHOEAYSTTTIW Chapter 96

Chapter 96: Ice and Snow Melt, Vitality Flourishes

Chapter 96 Ice and Snow Melt, Vitality Flourishes

The Chinese cabbage was chopped into tiny pieces, a paperweight held down the cotton cloth to filter the water, and in the white porcelain bowl on the table, translucent pork fat jelly jiggled.

Yun Qi, carrying a lotus leaf-wrapped ball of meat filling, scurried to Lin Yan’s side, eager to show off his accomplishment: “Big Brother, I got the three parts fat, seven parts lean you wanted.”

The meat filling was chopped very finely, and the fat and lean were mixed evenly. Lin Yan moved the chopped cabbage pieces over, and when he saw the child waiting in the corner for a reward, he conjured a coin from his sleeve.

Lin Yan spun the copper coin between his fingers and tossed it to Yun Qi: “You did a good job, this is your reward.”

Yun Qi had seen all sorts of good things during his ten-plus years in the palace, but this copper coin was a reward from Lin Yan, making it extraordinarily meaningful.

Yun Qi carefully held the copper coin and, imitating the obsequious lackeys, gave a “flattering” smile: “Thank you, Young Master, for the reward.”

Lin Yan was seeing this side of Yun Qi for the first time, but… what was the point of being listless every day? Who wouldn’t like an energetic little puppy?

Lin Yan instinctively went to ruffle Yun Qi’s hair, but seeing the flour on his hands, he barely managed to restrain himself. Instead, he pinched Yun Qi’s cheek.

Yun Qi didn’t want to miss any opportunity to be close to Lin Yan, so he rubbed affectionately against Lin Yan’s hand. Lin Yan’s hand was already covered in flour, and now, the flour had been successfully transferred, spread very evenly.

Lin Yan tried hard to suppress the upward turn of his lips, but ultimately failed. He awkwardly cleared his throat, trying to suppress the laughter in his voice, and shifted the topic elsewhere: “This copper coin took me a lot of effort to find, it has a ‘lucky’ character pattern engraved on it. It needs to be boiled three times in ginger tea before it can be wrapped in the dumplings.”

“Wrapped in dumplings?”

“That’s right.” Lin Yan paused in his actions, a small arc rising at the corner of his lips, his eyes softening as well. “Grandma used to say that eating dumplings with copper coins inside on New Year’s Eve means that all your wishes will come true in the new year.”

The kettle in the corner made a sharp popping sound. Yun Qi took the kettle down and, under Lin Yan’s direction, scalded the copper coin three times, wiped it dry with a silk cloth, and secretly planned how to ensure that Big Brother would eat the dumpling with the copper coin inside.

Make a mark when wrapping the dumpling, and put it in Big Brother’s bowl when serving…

Easy peasy, simple as can be, seamless.

Lin Yan picked up a silver knife and neatly cut the dough into small, chess piece-sized portions. Holding a dough portion in his left hand, he nimbly rotated his right wrist, and the rolling pin rolled out a thin skin like a round moon.

Yun Qi imitated Lin Yan’s movements, picked up a rolling pin, and as soon as he picked up a dough portion, his straight robe was already speckled with white flour. He rolled his sleeves haphazardly up to his elbows and, imitating Lin Yan, held the dough portion and clumsily rotated, rolling the dough into a crooked, misshapen maple leaf.

Yun Qi looked at the unevenly thick and thin piece of dough in his hand, then looked at the dough skin in Lin Yan’s hand, feeling a little discouraged.

“Your thumb needs to press down on the edge like this…”

His wrist was suddenly grabbed. Big Brother’s palm, with its thin calluses, pressed against the back of his hand, the warm breath intoxicating.

Yun Qi didn’t hear a word of what Lin Yan said. He only felt the temperature of his face rising rapidly, and also…

Big Brother smelled so good, Big Brother’s hand was so soft, his tone was so gentle…

“You try it.”

Lin Yan released Yun Qi’s hand and gave him an encouraging look.

Yun Qi learned nothing and could only try to replicate what he had vaguely remembered.

Although it was unevenly thick, at least it was round.

Yun Qi pinched the piece of dough with distaste, muttered that it was really ugly, and intended to destroy the evidence.

“It’s very good.” Lin Yan grabbed the piece of dough, filled it, sealed it, pinched a decorative edge, and a ingot-shaped dumpling appeared.

Yun Qi was greatly encouraged and volunteered to take over the task of rolling the dough skins.

The strangely shaped dumpling skins were reborn in Lin Yan’s hands. The ingot-shaped dumplings had bellies as round as a full moon, and the willow-leaf dumplings had waists as slender as silkworms, lined up in neat formations on the bamboo mat sprinkled with dry flour.

The dumplings that Lin Yan made were all exquisite and beautiful, making Yun Qi’s heart itch with envy. He glanced at the copper coin on the silk cloth, feeling even more eager to try.

Lin Yan handed the chopsticks to Yun Qi and casually rolled out a piece of dough: “You wrap this one.”

Yun Qi imitated Lin Yan’s movements, adding filling, wrapping it up, folding a decorative edge…

After wrapping only two dumplings, beads of sweat appeared on Yun Qi’s nose. The dough skin that Big Brother rolled out was excellent, but the dumpling he wrapped…

The green of the vegetable filling peeked out from the folds, the dough skin wrapped a bulging ball of meat, and half of the copper coin hidden in the filling was exposed, looking like a grinning pomegranate.

“Not bad, not bad, they look very happy.” Lin Yan pinched off a piece of dough, his fingers flying as he processed it, stuffing all the dumpling filling into the skin, and then, when Yun Qi wasn’t paying attention, he switched the position of the coin.

The boiling water in the pot bubbled like crab eyes, and the dumplings entered the water like white geese, immediately quieting the water in the pot.

Add a bowl of water each time the water boils. By the third time, the dumplings had all floated to the surface.

Lin Yan held a slotted spoon and gently pushed them, then turned the dumplings over when they weren’t paying attention. The ingot-shaped dumplings bumped into the spoon, jumped into the plate, and the translucent skins reflected the candlelight, allowing one to see the emerald-colored vegetable patterns inside.

Lin Yan picked up a bulging dumpling, blew on it, and as his pearly teeth broke through the thin skin, the scalding hot broth gushed out—the melted pork fat jelly mixed with the sweetness of the Chinese cabbage, and the minced meat wrapped around his tongue even carried the aroma of the pine wood cutting board.

Lin Yan picked up another one, inwardly giving himself a thumbs up.

As expected of me, the taste is really good.

Yun Qi rummaged through the plate, picked out the dumpling he thought had the coin in it, and offered it to Lin Yan: “Big Brother, this dumpling is the first one I wrapped, try it.”

Lin Yan glanced at the dumpling in Yun Qi’s bowl that actually had the coin in it, and with Yun Qi’s expectant gaze, picked up that oddly shaped dumpling.

Yun Qi didn’t see the copper coin even after Lin Yan ate the entire dumpling. He tilted his head in confusion, and when Lin Yan looked up at him, he lowered his head to stir the dumplings in his bowl.

The chopsticks hit something hard, making a soft “clink” sound. Yun Qi held the dumpling up and carefully bit open the dough skin—the copper coin that should have been in the bowl was now lying on his tongue, coated in honey-colored broth.

“Big Brother…” Yun Qi’s ear tips burned, and the blush climbed back onto his face.

Lin Yan chuckled softly and used his chopsticks to pick up the copper coin: “Xiao Qi got the coin, so…

Firecrackers exploded outside the window with a deafening roar. The second half of Lin Yan’s sentence was drowned out by the noise, only the shape of his lips was vaguely discernible.

So, what is Xiao Qi’s New Year’s wish?

A wish?

If Lin Yan had asked this question before the system appeared, then Yun Qi would definitely say that he wanted to be with Lin Yan forever, but now… everything was so good, he didn’t seem to want anything else.

Yun Qi looked at Lin Yan and shook his head blankly.

“Is that so…” Lin Yan rubbed his chin, leaned closer to Yun Qi’s ear, and said softly, “His Highness carried this servant into the house in a sedan carried by eight men, with ten miles of red bridal decorations, bowing to heaven and earth, drinking from the same cup, and tying our hair together as husband and wife, but His Highness has never performed the marital act with this servant. Does His Highness find this servant repulsive…”

The warm breath fell on his ear, and Yun Qi felt his face burning terribly, his heart itching.

When love runs deep, everything comes naturally.

The forest swallow who longs for freedom is also willing to rest and linger for his beloved Yun Qi.

As for… Little Stars are good babies, and we definitely won’t write anything that the platform doesn’t allow, so let’s learn how to cook bird’s nest.

Cooking bird’s nest is an art.

Peel and pit the red dates to serve as a tender and delicious appetizer. First, soak the bird’s nest in warm water, massaging it appropriately to accelerate expansion. When pouring in the milk, spiral it along the wall of the bowl to form an amber vortex that devours the snowy field. If it dries up and sticks to the bottom, drip in some condensed dew until the bird’s nest absorbs the crimson of heaven and earth, then drizzle it with dendrobium juice and scatter fragments of gold leaf. The scarlet bird’s nest pulls out lingering golden threads, and the warm, gelatinous substance envelops the stamens, seeping out with gilding.

The weather warming up seemed to happen overnight. The lanterns under the eaves had not yet been taken down, but most of the ice and snow on the streets had already melted.

Sunlight shone through the bed curtains, and Lin Yan turned over impatiently. Aches slowly crept over him, and consciousness gradually returned.

“What time is it?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Lin Yan realized that his throat was terribly hoarse, his voice barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz, and the tone was like being scrubbed with sandpaper.

Lin Yan didn’t expect anyone to hear such a soft voice.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the door opened.

Yun Qi came in from the courtyard, took off his outer robe that was tinged with cold, and carefully sat on the edge of the bed: “Big Brother, you’ve been asleep for a long time. It’s already the third quarter of Si time.”

The third quarter of Si time was almost ten o’clock.

With these busy days, Lin Yan had completely said goodbye to sleeping in.

The last time he had slept until ten o’clock like this was when he was still in the Capital City.

“That’s quite long…” Lin Yan struggled to sit up, but as soon as he moved, he realized that his whole body ached terribly.

The memories of last night’s absurdity gradually resurfaced, and Lin Yan covered his face with a wry smile, remembering the overused metaphor: his whole body felt like it had been run over by a big truck, lying on the bed like a rag doll…

And the culprit behind all of this…

Lin Yan leaned lazily back onto the bed, accepting Yun Qi’s care with peace of mind. When Yun Qi looked over, he even reached out and tapped Yun Qi’s forehead: “I slept for so long and still can’t recover, and my back aches so much. I wonder who’s to blame.”

Yun Qi was like a little wife being teased, his face flushed instantly. He fiddled with the teacup in his hand, coughing lightly to try and cover it up: “This… this can’t be blamed on me… The bird’s nest was too delicious, I couldn’t help it…”

Lin Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, pulled his clothes down a little, revealing his shoulders that still had some red marks, and said in a seductive voice: “Is that so? Would you like another bowl for breakfast?”

This was a very obvious death trap, but the bait smelled so good. The big Yun fish wagged its tail and resolutely bit it.

“Can I?”

Lin Yan’s face changed instantly. He pulled his clothes back up and glared coldly at the big fish that had already taken the bait: “What do you think…”

The big Yun fish was aggrieved, but the big Yun fish didn’t say anything.

Yun Qi tucked the blanket back over Lin Yan and asked softly, “What would Big Brother like for lunch? I’ll go prepare it?”

“Anything is fine, anything will do as long as it’s edible.”

Lin Yan had a talent for cooking, but his requirements for food were very low.

Yun Qi walked out excitedly, but was stopped by Lin Yan before he could leave the door.

Lin Yan scratched his hands awkwardly, but still swallowed the words he had just said: “Let Ginkgo go outside to buy it. Your cooking skills… cough, don’t work too hard.”

Lin Yan’s requirements for food were low, but what Yun Qi made was really…

He really couldn’t understand. Yun Qi could understand those Four Books and Five Classics that he couldn’t understand, and could understand them after reading them once, grasp their meaning after reading them twice, and recite them fluently after reading them three times. How could his IQ plummet as soon as he entered the kitchen, switching back and forth between being a culinary disaster and a kitchen killer?

But Yun Qi refused to admit defeat, and ran to the kitchen every other day, blowing up the kitchen repeatedly. Lin Yan would say a few words of advice, and he would become aggrieved.

This time was the same. As soon as he heard Lin Yan say that he wanted Ginkgo to go out and buy ready-made food, Yun Qi refused to leave, his expression as resentful as if Lin Yan had done something unforgivable: “I’ve been studying hard, please give me a chance to show off.”

Lin Yan chose the latter between culinary disaster and making Yun Qi continue to feel wronged.

His back ached right now, and if he ate something black, green, or blue, he might kick the bucket in the next second.

“Big Brother doesn’t trust me like this, it’s really heartbreaking.” Yun Qi stood up with a pout, got up reluctantly, “The food outside is delicious, Big Brother likes it, I’ll go buy it.”

“You don’t need to go.” Yun Qi was so aggrieved that Lin Yan couldn’t help but soften his heart. He grabbed Yun Qi and pointed outside: “Let Ginkgo and the other one go for this kind of trivial matter, give them two more coins. The two children haven’t been to the market much, they’re so pitiful, they can be excited for a long time just by buying anything.”

“Big Brother is really nice to them.” Yun Qi said with a smile, but the words he spoke were sour, “But I guess the two of them won’t be able to go. This morning, their families came looking for them, kneeling and kowtowing, crying in a ball. I remember Big Brother said he would return them to their families, so I took the liberty of returning their contracts of indenture to them.”

Yun Qi shook Lin Yan’s hand, his voice a little timid: “Big Brother won’t be angry with me, right.”

Lin Yan patted Yun Qi soothingly, belatedly realizing that something was wrong.

Why did it feel so tea-like?

But those words were indeed what he had said, and it was beyond reproach for Xiao Qi to do so. He was still worrying about how to arrange for these two children before. Now that they were reunited with their families, it was naturally the best thing.

Yun Qi looked over timidly, and immediately withdrew his gaze when he met Lin Yan’s eyes.

Careful, apprehensive, the guess of tea-like behavior was 100% an illusion.

Lin Yan successfully convinced himself, and the voice with which he comforted Yun Qi softened by two points: “Xiao Qi is so sensible, how could I be angry with Xiao Qi?”

“Then…”

Yun Qi’s fingertips touched, but he didn’t continue to speak.

Look how scared the child was.

Lin Yan felt even more guilty in his heart, and nodded encouragingly: “Speak, what is it?”

Yun Qi cautiously moved closer to Lin Yan’s ear, his voice very low: “I want to make bird’s nest…”

……

……

Very good, he fell for it. All that weak, timid, and walking-on-thin-ice behavior was fake. He was clearly a little beast that would open a dyeing workshop if given a bit of color, and shine brightly if given a bit of sunshine.

Lin Yan pushed Yun Qi away and pointed at the door.

“Get out!”

“Big Brother, you said you wouldn’t be angry.” Yun Qi put on a smiling face, which looked a bit cheap.

“Yes, but I changed my mind.” Lin Yan grabbed a pillow at random and threw it at Yun Qi.

The pillow didn’t fly far, and Lin Yan let out an “ouch” and fell back onto the bed first.

He exercised too much and strained his back.

“Big Brother.” Yun Qi’s smile disappeared instantly. He threw the pillow to the foot of the bed, helped the “hemiplegic” Lin Yan back onto the bed, and then hurried out: “This won’t do, I’ll go get the medicine.”

Applying medicine meant lifting clothes, which meant skin-to-skin contact, which meant…

Lin Yan wrapped himself in the blanket and looked at Yun Qi warily: “You wouldn’t want to take the opportunity…”

Yun Qi shook his head like a rattle drum, swearing all nine oaths: “How could that be? Does Big Brother think I’m that kind of person?”

Lin Yan looked Yun Qi up and down and reluctantly believed these words.

Fingers dipped in cold ointment, slowly spreading it evenly on the skin.

As the pain lessened, Lin Yan’s playfulness gradually arose, and he flirted and seduced in a way that was courting death. When he was discovered, he pretended to be innocent, as if nothing had happened. In less than two minutes, he became restless again and repeated his old tricks.

An hour later, Lin Yan understood two things.

First, don’t court death, and even more so, don’t push your luck and continue to court death.

Second, Yun Qi was wrong in what he said just now.

The “like” should be removed—he was that kind of person!

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