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Chapter 57: 决定 (Decide)
Shen Yu Bei went back to town after lunch. Obviously, the young couple had something to say to each other so he wouldn’t stay there any longer. He went back to the inn to pack his things.
“Do you have to go?” Zhong Ziqi asked him for the last time, sitting on the bed in his bedroom.
“Give me a month, will you?”
Zhao Zheng’an whispered as he held him in his arms. He didn’t want to leave him for too long since he would miss him too. He wasn’t at ease either.
Zhong Ziqi listened to his words and leaned into his arms without saying a word. A month ah, think about it, it felt like a long time.
“If that’s the case, then just go! Save myself from you complaining about me later.”
If he wanted to do it, then let him do it, otherwise there would always be regrets later. It would be only a month, it’s not like he would not come back.
“How can I complain about you? I like you more than that.”
Zhao Zheng’an cried out, ‘I was wronged!’ .If Zhong Ziqi had insisted on not letting him go.Then he wouldn’t have had to screw with him, either.
There was more than one way to make money, and he didn’t want to argue with him.
“You’re just a fancy talker. Get up! I’ll pack your clothes.”
Zhong Ziqi glared at him and pushed him away.As the day was getting colder, some of the clothes that were too thin couldn’t be worn, there just weren’t many clothes that were too thick at home.
“No need to bring so many thick ones, it’s warmer in the south than we are here. I can buy more when it’s cold.”
“That’s right, you should bring more silver.”
Zhong Ziqi began to rummage through the cupboard again to find the silver. There were several silver ingots of ten taels at home, and he wanted to bring the silver all to him.
Zhao Zheng’an stopped him and took one from the many taels of silver and put it in his parcel.
“Only take one? It’s too little. You need it to bribe some favors. You also usually have to stock up on food, clothing and good supplies, you need money for all of it.”
Zhao Zheng’an shook his head impatiently, “One is enough. I have food and clothes provided there. This one is my capital. If I had the fortune to make money, I could earn many times over this amount. If not, this tael of silver will be a lesson.”
Zhong Ziqi didn’t want to listen to his sets of devious rules and forcefully slipped in another one: “Take another one! It’s up to you whether you use it or not. Take it just in case.”
“….Okay! I’ll take it.” Zhao Zheng’an couldn’t argue his way with him and nodded in agreement.
After packing all of Zhao Zheng’an’s things into one big package, Zhong Ziqi sat unhappily on the bed again and sulked.
Zhao Zheng’an kissed him on the side of his face, “Don’t be unhappy! When I’m gone, let Zhao Ning come over to keep you company in the night, you two are good friends anyway.”
“En.”
“Don’t go out at night! Just close the door when you get home. Don’t open the door at night for anyone who knocks.”
“Got it! I’m not stupid.”
“It’s a good thing Da Hei and Xiao Hei have grown up. Anyone who dares sneak in,let the dogs bite him to death!”
“……”
Zhong Ziqi pouted his mouth and said in his heart,if you are so worried about me, then don’t go ah!
Zhao Zheng’an smiling mischievously, and said ” Wife, cook me another delicious meal! I won’t be able to eat your cooking if I leave, I’ll get a craving over it.”
Zhong Ziqi nodded and laughed as he stood up, “Okay, I’ll make it for you right now.”
“My wife is so nice.”
Zhao Zheng’an praised him loudly and followed him to the kitchen. With things to keep him busy, he didn’t think about the east and the west.
[想东想西 he didn’t think deeply about it/ didn’t not pondered about it]
Zhong Ziqi went into the kitchen,after looking around, he finally went to Zhao Bao Gen’s house to catch a small rooster, then boiled water to remove the hair and opened the belly. He made a pot of savory chicken meat. After that, a few other dishes of different types of meat and vegetables were also prepared.
In the evening, Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Zheng’an had a rare drink. Zhao Zheng’an knew how much he could drink, but out of some dark secret, he said it was good for his health to drink more.
Zhong Ziqi drank and kept chattering to Zhao Zheng’an: “When you get there, take care of yourself! don’t be too tired! Pay more attention to rest. Your body is just recovering, you can’t afford to work hard, also don’t hold on to that small amount of money, spend what you have to spend and make good connections. Be careful of people giving you small shoes…hic..”
[Hic here= hiccup sound]
Zhong Ziqi hiccuped and shook his heavy head.
Zhao Zheng’an didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh as he propped up his shoulders and asked in a low voice in his ear, “What does ‘wearing small shoes’ mean?”
Zhong Ziqi collapsed on his shoulder and murmured, “You don’t even know about wearing small shoes? It’s when someone trips you up behind your back and sets you up, so you can’t… hic… prevent it.”
Zhao Zheng’an suddenly realized, so this was what wearing small shoes meant! Zhao Zheng’an thought to himself as he got this lesson. It was quite a strange and odd word, he didn’t know how he came up with it.
“And when you get there, no…hic….. ‘Say three in the morning but four in the evening’, ‘spend one’s time drinking and in pleasure’, you also can’t look for ‘little three’ {xiao san} behind my back.”
[朝三暮四 zhāo sān mù sì : lit. say three in the morning but four in the evening (idiom); to change sth that is already settled upon / indecisive ]
[花天酒地 huā tiān jiǔ dì: to spend one’s time in drinking and pleasure (idiom); to indulge in sensual pleasures / life of debauchery]
Zhong Ziqi said as he looked up with a serious face but his face blushed with red and his watery eyes made Zhao Zheng’an’s heart itching to see him like this.
“What is looking for ‘little three’?”
“It means…it means…hic…you can’t find another ger, or else I’ll cut your below off!”
Zhong Ziqi said and gestured downwards, but since they were too close and he was so drunk, he didn’t get the distance right and touched ‘it’ directly.
It was okay for him to touch it, but he was even didn’t aware that he had grabbed it.
Zhao Zheng’an felt that he could not bear it anymore. He was a decent and healthy man, he was not a saint to be teased like that by his beloved ger therefore he could not bear it and there was no need for him to bear it any longer. Anyway, that was his intention tonight.
Zhao Zheng’an picked up the drunken and silly Zhong Ziqi by the waist.
Zhong Ziqi hung up in the air as he instinctively wrapped his arms around Zhao Zheng’an’s neck, opening his watery eyes like an innocent deer: “What are you …you doing? Quickly put me down! I…can walk by myself!”
“Good boy! Let’s go rest.” Zhao Zheng’an said coaxingly in his ear.
“Oh, but … but the table hasn’t been cleared yet!” Zhong Ziqi said with a tilted head and a red face.
“I’ll go clean it up later.”
“Oh, but…. but Da Hei and Xiao Hei haven’t been fed yet!”
Zhao Zheng’an put him on the bed and proceeded to undress, his mouth absentmindedly answer him, “I’ll go feed them later.”
“Oh, but… but the chickens haven’t been driven into the nest yet!”
“I’ll do it later.”
“Oh …but ..but.”
Before Zhong Ziqi could finish his sentence, he was stripped naked and pushed onto the bed by Zhao Zheng’an.
Zhao Zheng’an used his own lips to plug the other’s chattering mouth, his tongue naughtily reaching into his mouth to plunder the juices in his mouth, still so sweet and delicious that he couldn’t stop.
“Mmm … Mmm ….”
Zhong Ziqi who struggled for breath, used his hands and his legs simultaneously, only then did Zhao Zheng’an let go of his little mouth. He looked at Zhong Ziqi, whose face was becoming more and more flushed and whose eyes were misty, also a silver line was hanging from the corner of Zhong Ziqi’s mouth.
The colour of Zhao Zheng’an’s eyes deepened by this as the desire in his eyes could not be concealed! He reached out and slowly rubbed his fingers against the snow-white and smooth skin in front of him a few times. He felt the enchanting sensation of the touch before impatiently lowering his head to kiss his favourite collarbone and a certain two little red pearls of flesh.
“En..oh…so unbearable…”
Zhong Ziqi only felt a fire inside his body, wanting to burst out but it stayed restrained, neither up nor down, making him so upset.
“Wu …” Zhong Ziqi couldn’t help but sob spasmodically.
Zhao Zheng’an was startled and looked up to ask him, “What’s wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable?”
“Hu….down there….” Zhong Ziqi deliriously raised his leg and rubbed it against Zhao Zheng’an.
Zhao Zheng’an felt the little thing that was sticking up under him keep rubbing against his thigh then suddenly a certain string called sanity in his head immediately snapped.
Zhao Zheng’an said with a wicked smile on his lips, “I’ll make you comfortable right away!” And then, he pounced on him again.
……
The moon had risen outside at some point. It was so ‘dazzling and sacred’ among the sky full of stars.
“Ooh …woof woof.”
Da Hei and Xiao Hei looked at the closed door in front of him and barked pitifully twice, keeping his ears open to listen to the commotion inside. Obviously the master was still there. Why didn’t he feed both of them? They could smell the meat.
Lying in the doorway,Da Hei and Xiao Hei were hungry and seeking comfort in their dreams. Both were woken up by a high-pitched sound every time they were about to fall asleep. After realizing that it was not the owner who had come to bring the food,both had to go back to sleep, only to be woken up again by a low growl and hang its head in disappointment again.
And so the cycle went on for who knows how long before the house finally fell silent.
Shortly afterwards, the door was opened. To their surprise, Da Hei and Xiao Hei found that their master had finally come out. They couldn’t help but go up and bark twice to get something to eat, they were starving to death.
“Shhh…. don’t make any noise! I’ll get you guys something good to eat.”
Zhao Zheng’an said in a low voice, at this time he only put on a layer of inner clothes and came out . His face glowing with health and satisfaction like a stray dog that had been starving for days and had been fed a meal of delicious meat. It was still filling.
Zhao Zheng’an went into the hall to tidy up everything on the table, from which he picked out some meat and rice, and gave it to the two big dogs.
He then went into the kitchen to boil a pot of hot water, scrubbed himself briefly before bringing the water into the bedroom.
As soon as he entered, he could smell the smell of lust in the room, his clothes were scattered on the floor, and Zhong Ziqi was lying motionless on the bed, the quilt covering his naked body, leaving his collarbone exposed with spots of marks.
Zhao Zheng’an wring a wet hand towel and lifted the quilt. Zhong Ziqi sleepily shivered and subconsciously muttered :”No More …So tired…”
Zhao Zheng’an’s face softened as he kissed the corner of his mouth: “Okay, no more.”
He wondered if Zhong Ziqi had heard what he had said, therefore he went back to sleep peacefully.
Zhao Zheng’an cleaned up his body.
He nodded in satisfaction while looking at the hickeys all over his body. To be honest, if it hadn’t been Zhong Ziqi’s first time, he wouldn’t have let it go so quickly, he had only done it twice.
He couldn’t get enough of Zhong Ziqi’s body as he felt an urge to continue. He hated to be unable to indulge in it, to stay inside and not to come out. But reason told him not to hurt him since he was leaving tomorrow and could not take care of him.
[欲罢不能 ( 欲罷不能 ): yù bà bù néng
want to stop but can’t (idiom) / to be unable to stop oneself]
After cleaning up his body, Zhao Zheng’an hurriedly tucked the guilt tightly around him, as the night’s air was cold and he didn’t want him to be exposed to the wind!
He threw the water before he went into the kitchen and cleaned up the dishes. Finally he tidied up the house before going to bed.
The next day, when Zhong Ziqi woke up,the sky outside was already bright. The sun was shining straight into the house.
Zhong Ziqi moved his body and tried to get up.
“Ah!!!”
He let out a soft cry, only to feel that his body was sore and weak. That certain place that was difficult to talk about still hurt hotly.It was then that he suddenly remembered what he and Zhao Zheng’an had done yesterday.
Zhong Ziqi’s face changed rapidly. Finally it was as red as a boiled prawn. He hadn’t expected to have done it with him when he was so drunk and confused. Originally,he thought it would hurt but from last night’s memory all he could remember was how good it felt. Although, it was really uncomfortable afterwards.
In fact, even if Zhao Zheng’an hadn’t gotten him drunk last night, he wouldn’t have resisted.He couldn’t have cared less about anything when he thought of the drawing near separation. What is it, if it was hurt a little?
“You’re awake?”
At this moment, Zhao Ning came in from outside, his face a little red but full of teasing.