Unexpectedly, the bucket was quite heavy. This body of his had no strength; he had managed to lift one bucket with great effort, but before it even cleared the threshold, his hands began to sink uncontrollably.
Seeing that the water was about to spill, the waiter panicked and was just about to reach out to help when the bucket was hoisted up by someone else.
The waiter looked up and saw that it was the hero from the room, reeking of alcohol, who had come over.
Yun Huizhou had just taken off his outer robe and undershirt and was in the middle of unfastening his pants when he noticed that the sickly kid couldn’t even lift a bucket of water.
He was wobbling so much the water was nearly sloshing out.
What he was holding was a bucket of scalding hot water. If the water splashed onto his hands, the boy would surely howl in pain.
If he let go in that moment, spilling a bucket of water would be a minor issue, but scalding himself and the waiter would be a real problem.
Thus, with a quick flash of movement, he moved over to help Lian Li steady the bucket.
At this moment, Yun Huizhou was bare-chested, and his waistband had already been loosened quite a bit; his pants were now hanging loosely and precariously off his hips.
His abdominal muscles and V-line were thus openly and boldly displayed.
Because he exercised frequently due to his martial arts training, his skin was smooth and lustrous.
Just looking at it, one could tell the texture would certainly be extraordinary.
Lian Li: “…”
Oho! Even through the pants, you can tell his ‘assets’ are quite impressive.
His glutes are firm, too.
If they were even a little flatter, those loose pants probably wouldn’t stay on at all.
After Yun Huizhou carried the bucket of water into the room, he pulled Lian Li to the side and let the waiter carry the other buckets behind the screen.
While the waiter was busy, Lian Li glanced at Yun Huizhou, who was standing there casually.
He thought to himself, Fine, fine, I know you have a great body, but there’s no need to show it off like this.
He curled his lip, reached out to pinch Yun Huizhou’s waistband, and under Yun Huizhou’s puzzled gaze, hesitated for a moment before pulling his pants up a bit higher.
If he weren’t afraid of being beaten to death by Yun Huizhou, he would have absolutely let this man “walk the bird” right then and there.
Yun Huizhou naturally didn’t know what he was thinking; he just looked down at his pants that had been pulled up, doing and saying nothing.
As the two interacted, they naturally didn’t see the waiter, who was moving water, widen his eyes for a split second after seeing Lian Li’s actions. The waiter immediately lowered his head and continued moving the water.
Once the waiter left, Yun Huizhou went behind the screen to prepare for his bath.
Lian Li, meanwhile, lit a few lamps and placed them by the table, taking out the paper left over from his previous book-copying to write something.
Outside the room, as the waiter headed downstairs, his eyebrows were still arched high and his eyes wide, a strange and lewd smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Thinking of the short, thin one among the two, with his radiant and alluring looks and those intimate gestures, the waiter felt as though he had discovered a secret.
In a corner of the inn’s lobby, a person whose face could not be clearly seen watched the waiter’s reaction. Recalling the faint shadows he had seen from his own angle, his eyes narrowed slightly.
After Yun Huizhou finished washing, he leaned in close to Lian Li to sniff him, then asked, “I’ll ask the waiter for more hot water. Do you want to take a bath too?”
Lian Li took the opportunity to sniff himself and found that he did indeed smell of alcohol.
Thinking that he hadn’t even drunk any wine yet smelled of it, it was likely because he had been too close to Yun Huizhou and caught the scent.
It was only because the smell of alcohol on Yun Huizhou was so strong that he hadn’t noticed he had been tainted by it earlier.
He raised his hand and gave Yun Huizhou’s abdomen a light poke, then said, “Go call the waiter.”
Yun Huizhou gave a somewhat roguish smile, casually grabbed a clean outer robe to drape over himself, and then left the room to call the waiter.
Lian Li took Yun Huizhou’s discarded clothes off the screen and set them aside, planning to spend a little money to find someone to wash them later.
Downstairs, when the waiter heard Yun Huizhou coming out for more hot water while Lian Li remained inside, he thought about the interval since he had last delivered hot water.
Wasn’t that exactly the amount of time it took for someone who was… quite “capable” in that department to finish a round?
The person in the corner felt even more certain, and then hurriedly departed.
After Yun Huizhou carried the water in for Lian Li and poured it into the tub, he stepped outside the screen.
Seeing paper and brush laid out on the table, Yun Huizhou, who had originally intended to go to bed, walked over to the table.
He took a look, and his interest was immediately piqued.
This sickly kid was writing a storybook.
Calling it a storybook wasn’t quite accurate; he was writing about the matches of the Martial Arts Assembly.
From an insider’s perspective, what Lian Li wrote didn’t even qualify as a superficial understanding; one could tell at a glance it was written by someone who knew nothing of martial arts.
And yet, it made one unable to stop reading. Just looking at the written descriptions brought images to mind.
Furthermore, the writing style wasn’t like those scholars who always used elegant but incomprehensible vocabulary to embellish their work and show off their erudition.
This style of writing was just like how people spoke normally; although it was a bit exaggerated, it was simple, easy to understand, and read smoothly.
However, if those “refined” literati saw it, they would likely point at his nose and curse him, but those who weren’t “refined” would only exclaim that it was well-written and easy to follow.
Over the next few days, invitations for Yun Huizhou to attend banquets were constant. Yun Huizhou didn’t accept many, only picking a few where the hosts had some connection to his Senior Uncles.
Lian Li, on the other hand, stayed at the inn the whole time. To increase his speed, he whittled a charcoal stick to write with.
When Yun Huizhou returned, he would occasionally bring him food.
It wasn’t leftovers from the banquets, but roast chicken specifically bought from a restaurant.
Lian Li couldn’t finish a whole roast chicken by himself, so more than half of it ended up in Yun Huizhou’s stomach.
While they ate roast chicken together, Yun Huizhou would vent to him about the events at the banquets.
“Today, some dumbass asked all snidely why you didn’t go, using that other dumbass’s provocation from last time to make snide remarks at me.”
Yes, under Lian Li’s guidance, Yun Huizhou had also learned the word “dumbass.”
“So how did you respond?” Lian Li asked him.
Yun Huizhou: “I told him, ‘None of your damn business, you soft-fisted, hard-mouthed piece of work.’ Then he wanted to start something, so I just kicked him out.”
Lian Li: “Beautifully done.”
Yun Huizhou: “I originally wanted to call him a dumbass, but I was afraid he wouldn’t understand.”
Lian Li: “The word ‘dumbass’ should be pretty easy to understand.”
Yun Huizhou: “I was just afraid he was a real dumbass, so he wouldn’t get it. Tsk, aside from the fighting, the Martial Arts Assembly is really boring. It’s not as fun as catching thieves and wiping out bandits in those small villages and towns.”
Lian Li listened to Yun Huizhou’s rant.
However, after the ranting was over, there was another banquet to attend the next day.
Lian Li finally finished what he wanted to write. Clutching his manuscript, he went to the bookstore where he had previously copied books.
Honglin Bookstore.
When Manager Hu saw him arrive, he asked with a smile, “Master Lian, are you here to take on more copying work?”
Lian Li shook his head, handed his manuscript to the manager, and said, “I’m here to submit a manuscript. I saw people writing storybooks to sell for money here before, so I tried writing some myself. Have a look.”
