Chapter 72: Sensible
The next day, Mi Yang asked for leave from Mi Hong and went specially to see the little horse.
Bai Luochuan took him to a flat field. A temporary wooden fence had been set up, and Wule was let loose to run for a while. The little black horse, at three years old, was at a lively and active age. It ran a few laps around the field, then strolled over to find them. Bai Luochuan stroked it and said, “I’ll try. I’ll take you with me after I’ve learned.”
Mi Yang moved aside a little and nodded. “Ride slowly. Be careful.”
With the help of an adult beside him, Bai Luochuan tried to get on Wule’s back. Under guidance, he rode a lap in a proper manner. Then, the horse trainer let go and let him do it himself.
Old Bai was sometimes extremely doting on this only grandson of his, wishing he could hold him in the palm of his hand and give him whatever he wanted. But at other times, he was particularly strict, like with the training when he was a child. Mi Yang couldn’t do it, but Bai Luochuan had to, and he had to do it until Old Bai was satisfied. It was the same now. Including the horse trainer, no one relaxed their demands just because he was still a young man. In fact, they were even stricter than with ordinary people.
Mi Yang stood by the fence and watched Bai Luochuan ride the horse. The young master Bai’s posture was agile, and the little black horse under him also had beautiful muscles. As it ran, it whizzed by with the wind, its mane, which had not yet fully grown, swaying, looking extremely beautiful.
Mi Yang watched for a while and suddenly thought that Bai Luochuan had never disappointed the people around him.
He did everything very well.
When Bai Luochuan ran over, he looked straight ahead, but even just from his side profile, you could see the young man’s handsomeness. His eyes were deep, and his nose was straight. This person had the sharpness of a sharp sword, forging ahead, unstoppable.
Mi Yang looked at his side profile and, for some reason, thought of Luo Jiangjing.
Luo Jiangjing was a beautiful woman. Even when she was angry, it was a pleasing sight. Just a slight curl of her lips would make one’s heart tremble, and you would always want to lower your head and not dare to look at her for too long. When he had seen Bai Luochuan just now, he had only felt that he was very similar to Luo Jiangjing, also with a beautiful face, just with a bit more of a youthful air. At this age, he had an androgynous beauty. He was similar when he smiled, and even more so when he was angry.
But no matter how similar, you would never mistake him for a girl.
Luo Jiangjing was like a dark river flowing under a snow-capped peak, with a cold temperature and an unknown turbulence. And Bai Luochuan was like a fire, young and unrestrained, with an innocent greed. The pride of never having suffered a setback had allowed him to spread his claws. He was the favored son of heaven, resting in his own territory.
Bai Luochuan rode the little horse over, his forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat, his eyes filled with a happy smile. He gently pulled on the reins and sat on the horse, looking at him. “How did I ride just now?”
Mi Yang looked up at him and suddenly felt that something was different between them.
Bai Luochuan looked at him and called out to him again, “Mi Yang?”
Mi Yang smiled. “Very good.”
Bai Luochuan became happy again. He nimbly dismounted from the little black horse and wanted Mi Yang to go up and try. Mi Yang hesitated for a moment, then still shook his head and refused.
Bai Luochuan looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
Mi Yang: “I’ll take it slow. I’ll feed it for a few days first.”
Bai Luochuan tried to persuade him a few times, but Mi Yang still refused with a smile. He shrugged and said, “Alright then. You watch from here. I’ll ride for you to see. Look, Wule is very gentle. It won’t throw anyone off.”
He rode the little black horse around Mi Yang a couple of times and was already able to control it very flexibly. As he rode, he said to Mi Yang, “Wule’s father once saved a person when he was in the pastoral area.”
Mi Yang said, “What happened?”
Bai Luochuan said, “One time during a pasture migration, it snowed heavily on the way. A herdsman was riding it at the front and encountered a wild wolf. It broke the wolf’s spine with one kick. Although both the man and the horse escaped, they were separated from the main group for a while. It was dark and snowing heavily, and they almost couldn’t find their way back to the pastoral area. That herdsman was experienced. He lay on the horse’s back, hugged its neck, and let it run on its own. The old horse knew the way. By the time the sky was just starting to brighten the next day, they had returned to the pastoral area.”
The little black horse snorted. Bai Luochuan reached out to soothe it and said, “This is all what Grandpa told me. He said if you get lost while riding, don’t try to force control of the horse. Just listen to it, and it will definitely bring you safely back to where you’re staying.”
After he finished speaking, he swung himself down, bumped Mi Yang’s shoulder, and smiled. “So, what do you think? Isn’t it an awesome little treasure?”
Mi Yang chuckled and nodded.
The two of them played with the little horse for a day. When they got back, their clothes were covered in hay and dust. Bai Luochuan started taking off his clothes the moment he entered the room, unable to stand it. “How can it be so smelly…”
Mi Yang hadn’t brought a change of clothes, so he could only take a set of Bai Luochuan’s to make do for now. Hearing him, he also chuckled and said, “That’s not what you were saying this afternoon. You even said Wule was a little treasure.”
Bai Luochuan urged him to go shower. Mi Yang went in with the clothes. He had just taken off his own and had barely started rinsing when he heard the door creak open. Bai Luochuan walked in, shirtless and barefoot. “The one downstairs hasn’t been used in a long time, and the bathtub is filthy. I’ll just squeeze in with you.”
Mi Yang’s body stiffened for a moment. “Just wait a minute. Five minutes. I’ll be done rinsing in no time.”
But Bai Luochuan was already inside. He stood there, still looking at Mi Yang, his eyes drifting downwards.
Mi Yang, flustered and angry, grabbed a towel to cover himself. “What are you looking at!”
Bai Luochuan clicked his tongue, held up his fingers to compare the size, and said, “It hasn’t grown much. Mine’s still bigger.” Boys of this age had already started to develop. Many of them would compare sizes while urinating in the restroom during breaks, a completely masculine instinct for showing off. Bai Luochuan was no exception, especially since he was one of the better-developed ones. As he came over to squeeze into the shower with Mi Yang, he even reached out to touch him. Mi Yang’s ears immediately turned red, and he pushed him out. “Are you leaving or not? If you don’t, I’m getting out…”
The young master Bai said, “Fine, fine, I’ll go, alright? You’re not a girl, why are you always so shy? Don’t come out, you’ll catch a cold again.” He walked out with a disgruntled look on his face. After waiting at the door for a short while, he saw Mi Yang come out, dressed, his hair still dripping wet. He didn’t even look at him as he said, “Alright, you can go.”
Bai Luochuan said, “Are you done washing?”
Mi Yang ignored him, put a towel on his head, and walked out with his head down.
Bai Luochuan found it inexplicable. He went in and took a refreshing shower himself. The hot water on his skin felt so good he wanted to hum a song.
Old Bai rarely had visitors. In the evening, he specially kept Mi Yang for dinner and then said enthusiastically, “Yangyang, Luochuan said you’ve been learning to restore books recently? That’s good. Grandpa also has some books here, all left over from the family. I’ll find them for you later. You can take them back and see if you can repair them.”
Since the old man had said so, Mi Yang stayed. But it was only after he went to have a look that he understood what Old Bai meant by “some.”
It wasn’t just some; it was a whole study.
The study in the old residence was well-preserved, with a mortise and tenon structure, without a single iron nail.
Old Bai pushed open the carved wooden door of the study and took the two children in for a look. The study was very tall and spacious, and many of the old objects were still there. On the rows of tall bookshelves, you could still see the remnants of old seals. They had been torn off in a hurry, and many of the books still had white, incomplete paper on them.
The old Mr. Bai said, “This was built over a hundred years ago. I haven’t taken care of it since I took over. It’s a waste to just leave these things here. Yangyang, you can see how many you can save, and just save as many as you can.”
Mi Yang looked at the room full of books and couldn’t move his feet.
He had originally wanted to say that he had to go home that night, but now the words turned into a “okay” at his lips. Even when Bai Luochuan asked him to stay, he also replied with a “okay.”
Mi Yang didn’t take too many. He first looked through them and picked two that were in slightly better condition to take back.
Bai Luochuan intercepted him on the way. He said to him, “You’re definitely going to be secretly restoring books at night. Leave them with me. I have the key to the study. You can come and get it from me tomorrow morning.”
Mi Yang’s eyes fell on the key in his hand, and he nodded. “Alright then.”
At night, Bai Luochuan slept with Mi Yang. As he placed the pillows side by side, he was still complaining in a low voice, “Grandpa doesn’t even hire a few more people to clean. This place is too big. The guest rooms get dusty in just two days. You just washed up, and you’re going to sleep over there? No way.”
Mi Yang lay there in his pajamas, touched the pillow. The pajama sleeves were a little long, covering half of his fingers, making Mi Yang look a whole size smaller.
Bai Luochuan was quite pleased when he saw this. He then held his chin and made him look at himself, saying proudly, “And you didn’t bring your pillow. You definitely won’t be able to sleep well by yourself. I’ll sleep with you.”
Mi Yang lowered his eyes and said “oh,” thinking to himself, Thank you so much.
Bai Luochuan had been running around all day and had gotten plenty of exercise. He fell asleep in a short while.
He had a dream.
He dreamed that he had caught some small animal. The other was soft and small but was struggling disobediently, always wanting to run away.
So, he bit its neck, grinding his teeth threateningly, wanting to hear the usual sound of begging for mercy. It was always like this. Just a bite or a tickle, and the other would beg for mercy, saying all sorts of nice things to him. Bai Luochuan waited for a while. The little thing under him whimpered a couple of times but didn’t cry out in pain. It trembled softly under him and whispered, “No more, it hurts…”
The voice in the dream was so sweet it was as if it were soaked in honey, making his heart ache.
Bai Luochuan’s heart suddenly started to beat faster for no reason. His Adam’s apple rolled, and he loosened his teeth a little but was still reluctant to let go of the tender flesh in his mouth, asking him vaguely what he wanted.
Whatever he wanted, he was willing to give. The feeling of wanting to give him everything was indescribable. He just wanted to coax him.
The little thing under him was lying there, murmuring that it hurt, and also said that it wanted to be comfortable.
Bai Luochuan’s Adam’s apple rolled. He was reluctant to let go of his mouth but also wanted to see what the little thing looked like now. He asked in a hoarse voice, “How do you want to be comfortable?”
He didn’t understand.
But the little thing under him did.
…
When Bai Luochuan woke up, his heart was still beating violently. He took a long while to calm down before he sat up. He didn’t need to lift the quilt to know what had happened.
There was a knock on the door, and Mi Yang called out, “Bai Luochuan, get up for breakfast. Grandpa is already waiting for you downstairs!”
Bai Luochuan answered, but when he saw the door being pushed open a little, he immediately covered himself with the quilt. “Don’t come in yet!”
Mi Yang was startled by him and stood outside the door. “What’s wrong?”
Bai Luochuan’s face was burning, and he said vaguely, “I have something… anyway, you can come in in a bit!”
