The words that were meant to follow were replaced by the meeting of their lips and teeth.
As the boat generated ripples in the middle of the lake, Su Tang was dazed in Qian Zhuâs embrace. The sight of the shore became blurry, and not even the ethereal sound of the pipa could be heard by Su Tang anymore. The only thing Su Tang remembered was the cool wind of the night coupled with the fragrance of the flowers, which was imprinted on his heart.
The fragrance seemed reminiscent of the flowers back at Yu Qing Palace.
Su Tang suddenly missed that placeâno, rather, he missed the times heâd spent there with Qian Zhu. Theyâd hold hands and lie down amongst the flowers scattered on the floor, and what started as just basking in intimacy soon turned into embracing and kissingâŚ
The thought couldnât help but make Su Tangâs face turn crimson. The two of them really were always shameless, regardless or if they were in the celestial world or the human realm. It was as if they couldnât get enough of each other.
The stars in the night sky shone brilliantly; when the moon rose at sunset, theyâd hang in the sky, day after day, year after year. Even when the seas dried up, and even when all living things ceased to exist, the moon and stars would continue to shine, their relationship like something that would never change.
Spring came and autumn left; summer passed and winter arrived. The rain hit the skeletons of those flowers in front of the courtyard, and water accumulated. Then the flowers fell, followed by the leaves. The land was covered in a layer of snow, and it wasnât long before the firecrackers on New Yearâs Eve exploded. Red confetti adorned that layer of snow while winter plum blossoms filled the air with their crisp blooming fragrance. The once raging winds turned gentle and the thickly piled snow started to melt. The sun was shining, flower buds began to spring up like daisies on the trees, and the swallows returnedâit was summer again, the start of all seasons. \n
In a blink of an eye, ten years had passed. Nothing much seemed to have changed, yet some change could still be felt. Su Tang took a bite out of an apple and felt that it tasted sweet, so he passed it to Qian Zhu for him to have a taste as well. He cast his sight to the side, only to see a crane holding an edict in its beak, which it then dropped at the feet of the couple. It didnât take much for Su Tang to deduce what the contents of the edict were; it had to be from the Heavenly Emperor, who wanted to hold a flat peach feast1. He mustâve invited all the immortals to come back to drink together.
âDo you want to go back?â Su Tang asked.
âEn.â Qian Zhu nodded and let the white crane fly away. Upon hearing his response, Su Tang got up from Qian Zhuâs body and looked back at the house. âWe have to move house again ah.â
âYou canât bear to?â Qian Zhu asked softly, getting up and hugging Su Tang from behind.
âA little, but itâs alright.â Su Tang sighed before continuing, âThere are too many good foods to eat here. Once we go back, I wonât be able to eat them anymore.â
Qian Zhu found his answer charmingly straightforward and pinched Su Tangâs little face, âYou greedy little kitten. Wherever you go, you think of eating. Iâve fed you for over ten years, so why havenât you grown any meat yet?â
âI focus on my height!â Su Tang turned back. After using his hand to measure, he said, âI was only this tall last time, and you were this tall too. Now youâre only a little taller than me.â
âA little taller?â Qian Zhu found this hilarious.
âEn⌠Besides, youâre not that much taller.â Though Su Tangâs heart was a little guilty, he didnât want to admit that his current stature was truly too short, thus he decided to pull Qian Zhu down to his height. Heâd never admit it, but whenever Qian Zhu stood in front of him, heâd feel envious of Qian Zhuâs height.
Ten years had passed, and Su Tang naturally wasnât a little dumpling anymore and had already grown into a handsome youth. However, his chubby little face hadnât changed at all, nor had his shy yet spoiled temper. Sometimes, when Qian Zhu made him feel anxious, heâd still shrink back into a round, glutinous rice ball.
âYouâre still as delicate as before.â Qian Zhu said to him directly.
âWuâŚâ Su Tang took Qian Zhuâs hands away, his big eyes staring at him. It was reminiscent of when he was angry before. Qian Zhu stared for a while and realised that it looked a little different this time.\nâHow come youâre not pouting?â Qian Zhu questioned.
âHow is that your business?â Although Su Tang was full of momentum, it was obvious his intensity was only feigned. He retreated a few steps back, his mouth covered.
This overreaction wasnât unwarranted; the previous time he and Qian Zhu had fooled around, heâd pouted and refused to talk to the other. Heâd wanted to have a cold war, but in the end, Qian Zhu had rushed forward and sealed his little mouth with his lips.
Then⌠their cold war had become a wild warâno, from then on, Su Tang didnât dare do it again.
Against this rogue that was raised for ten years, how on earth could the silly and sweet Su Tang stand a chance?
The pair stood there for a while, chatting and joking with each other before they began their slow return back to the house. They then packed up their belongings and left.
Su Tang had snuck out with Qian Zhu. This time, when he returned home, he didnât dare show his face, lest he be forced to return to the peach forest where heâd then be washed and placed onto a plate after a few days. Thus, he turned into a little peach and huddled in Qian Zhuâs embrace where no one could see him.
However, he could still see other people.
Su Tang curiously glanced around. He noticed that the immortal realm hadnât changed much despite the ten years. Especially Yu Qing Palaceânot even one extra stalk of grass had grown. It was just that no one stayed there and it was colder than before.
When he spoke about Yu Qing Palace, he couldnât not talk about Qian Zhu, who had a face as cold as an iceberg when he was outside. People would shiver once they saw him, but he was so good-looking and youthful that no one could look away.
As a result, everyone was left enchanted, doomed to only secretly admire his allure from afar.
âWah, your ability to deter people is stronger than ten years ago.â Su Tang laughed until his stomach ached as he rolled around in Qian Zhuâs arms.
\nSo with these thoughts in mind, Su Tang went to drink a small glass. He didnât feel anything from a single cup, so he drank another, then his third, then his fourthâŚÂ
    ââ
At the flat peach feast, melodious music played as youthful girls glided to and fro in a graceful dance. Everyone was drinking and having a good time, the atmosphere nothing short of exuberant.
âAi, whereâs that mystical wine scent coming from?â An immortal addicted to drinking wine put down his jade bottle and sniffed the air twice. His drunken demeanour was amusing to most who watched.
The Heavenly Emperor noticed his babbling and laughingly asked, âWhere is it coming from? How come I donât smell it?â
âBring me up to smell it, smell it.â The immortal got to his shaky feet and mumbled to himself before unceremoniously falling to the ground. He hobbled around the venue, sniffing, but shook his head in dismissal and said it âwasnât rightâ.
Everyone grew curious and stopped what they were doing to look at him. He shuffled around for a while, before stopping with his arms flailing about and saying, âI found it!â
The audience nearly made sounds of fear as that immortal stood before Qian Zhu. That immortal was probably one who spent more time in the human realm than in the immortal world, hence his behaviour around Qian Zhu. Furthermore, he was drunk and unable to clearly see who he was standing in front of.
Qian Zhu was fiddling with a jade bottle, his thoughts unclear. When the immortal asked him, he was taken aback, but he hadnât smelled any special wines so he shook his head and said he didnât know.
âSo you were over here.â That person shook his head. âItâs like wine made from peach blossoms and like wine made from spirit peach blossoms. Iâve had a countless number of wines and my sense of smell has never betrayed me.â
Qian Zhu noticed his intoxication and passed his words off as drunken nonsense. He wanted to send him off with a few niceties but was swiftly interrupted by a little hiccup. The fruit plate on the table shifted and a little flat peachâs head popped up.
The little flat peach looked at Qian Zhu and foolishly asked, âDo you want to eat me?â
After he said that, he rubbed his tummy and let out a burp.