Chapter 132: Shizun and Shi Mei

>>dub/non-con flashback

In the evening, as the birds were returning to roost, so too did the disciples of Sisheng Peak make haste to Mengpo Hall after finishing their tasks for the day.

Only Mo Ran stood still by the practice dummies, as if waiting for someone.

His relationship with Xue Meng had been much improved in recent years;

there was much less animosity between them now, especially after Mo Ran had given him that top grade spiritual stone to be inset into his Longcheng blade. So Xue Meng turned to look toward him as he asked, "Aren't you coming to dinner?" "Not yet." Standing in the dusky light of the setting sun, Shi Mei was devastatingly beautiful, the afterglow making his skin look even fairer. Brushing back a strand of loose hair, he asked, "Is A-Ran waiting for Shizun?" "Mhm." Mo Ran had already seen him at morning practice earlier, and when he had worked together with Xue Meng to repair the Heavenly Rift that year, he had noticed that Shi Mei was just about to outgrow Xue Meng back then too.

But still, in this moment, with the sun setting in the west, the sight of him standing in front of Xue Meng still felt strange to Mo Ran. Of course he didn't think that Shi Mei was bad-looking, it was just that…

He couldn't really put his finger on it. Mo Ran didn't know what kind of feeling it was, exactly; maybe he was just too used to the way Shi Mei's delicate figure had always been covered up behind Xue Meng before, so he'd never expected this kind of role reversal.

Mo Ran smiled at Shi Mei and said, "Since I missed the banquet yesterday, I wanted to invite Shizun for a meal down the mountain as an apology, so I won't be going to Mengpo Hall today. You guys are welcome to come too if you want."   Xue Meng and Shi Mei weren't used to eating together with Chu Wanning, so they looked at each other then left. Mo Ran had nothing else to do, so he crouched down on a large rock and plucked a foxtail grass to play with while waiting for Chu Wanning to come down the mountain.

The setting sun was already a dark crimson and the crescent moon was beginning to peek out from behind purple-red clouds when a person finally appeared on the bamboo footpath from the southern peak, walking slowly. That person had changed into a set of light robes in white, and was carrying a cloth bundle in hand. He paused for a beat upon seeing Mo Ran, and unease flashed briefly across his features.

"I was just about to go look for you for something…what are you doing here?" "Waiting for Shizun to have dinner together." Mo Ran jumped off the rock as he replied, still holding the foxtail grass and beaming brightly. "There's a new restaurant at Wuchang Town, and I heard they have a famous chef from the upper cultivation realm who makes really good pastries, so I wanted to invite Shizun to go try the place."

Chu Wanning looked him up and down mildly. "Not bad, got money to throw around now I see." Mo Ran grinned and said nothing.

Chu Wanning hmph'd and tossed the cloth bundle at him. Catching it, Mo Ran asked, "What's this?" "Your clothes," Chu Wanning replied as he walked past. Hurriedly catching up to walk side by side with him, Mo Ran said with a smile, "This robe's made of a pretty good fabric, light but warm. If Shizun likes it, I can have it altered down to be smaller and…" "I don't wear secondhand clothes."   Mo Ran faltered before the embarrassment hit him. "That's not what I meant.

I just...I saw Shizun wearing it this morning, so I thought Shizun liked it…that was thoughtless of me, I'll send someone to the store to have a new robe tailored." Chu Wanning asked, "Do you even know what size I wear?" Mo Ran thought to himself, how could he possibly not know Chu Wanning's size?

He could approximate the size of Chu Wanning's waist just by circling his arms, and he knew that if Chu Wanning stood on tiptoes, his chin would be at the height of his own shoulders. In the past, Chu Wanning couldn't help but bite him in the throes of passion sometimes, leaving two rows of teeth marks by his collarbone that wouldn't fade for days.

Of course he knew the length of Chu Wanning's legs as well, legs that were so powerful as they wrestled, but so helpless when wrapped around his waist,

slim calf muscles quivering slightly, smoothly rounded toes tightly curled…

And how could he possibly not know the exact width of Chu Wanning's shoulders, the full, plump curvature of his buttocks.

Chu Wanning, for his part, was pure as untainted snow and had no idea what he had just asked, thinking only that he had stumped his good disciple Mo Weiyu with this brilliant query of his.

Chu Wanning said with a sweep of his sleeves, "And how are you going to tailor anything without knowing the size?" "..." Mo Ran had nothing to say for himself.

It's not like he could say that he did know, that his mind had kept drifting off to the way Chu Wanning's figure had looked yesterday while he was making tangyuan earlier, strong and toned and well proportioned even in the steamy air of the Miaoyin Springs, looking just as amazing as he remembered.

And that his mind had wandered to Chu Wanning's thin, lightly-colored lips,

had thought about the way those lips had looked, stretched painfully around his own girth in the past as he'd been forced to swallow him, the spasming of his throat as he'd gagged.

Mo Ran had closed his eyes, the jut of his throat bobbing as he'd mentally condemned himself a beast.

Respect him, cherish him, don't have any more improper thoughts toward him.

Respect him…respect him…

Two deep breaths later, he'd managed to suppress the burning arousal, but the tangyuan had ended up a bit too big, Shizun would probably find them sticky when eating, so he'd thrown them out and remade them, three dainty little ones this time. Mo Ran held them between his fingers contemplatively for a while, thought about those thin lips of Chu Wanning's parting slightly to take the sweet,

sticky tangyuan into the soft warmth of his mouth…

And the curl of that tongue was like a searing flame, igniting all of Mo Ran's passions and desires, just about taking his life.

He even knew the exact size a sweet should be in order to fit into Chu Wanning's mouth, but Chu Wanning had actually asked him——asked if he knew what size clothing he wore.

The question lapped kittenishly at the inside of his chest.

Not daring to think any further, Mo Ran lowered his head and said, "Of course I'd ask Shizun for his size beforehand." Finding it a little odd, Chu Wanning shot him a glance. "Did you catch a cold?" "Nope." "Then why is your voice so hoarse?" "…Inflammation.[5]" After a moment of blank staring, something seemed to occur to Chu Wanning, because he suddenly turned his face away, lips pressed into a thin line and gloom congregating between his brows, but the back of his ears were flushed pink.

The faint pinkness persisted all the way until they got to Wuchang Town and sat down in a room with a view inside the newly opened Zhongqiu Restaurant before finally fading away.

This was the first time Mo Ran had earnestly invited Chu Wanning out for a meal; although he'd done it before, those times had always been out of either necessity or exasperation, so the frame of mind was completely different.

The waiter steeped a pot of Lushan Mist and delivered some melon seeds and nuts before very respectfully taking out two menus written on bamboo scrolls to hand to the pair of cultivators from Sisheng Peak. Mo Ran flashed the waiter a smile as he took the scroll and said, "Thanks." Chu Wanning lifted his eyes slightly to glance at Mo Ran.

This person never used to have a habit of saying thanks before.

"Shizun can feel free to order whatever he likes, but I recommend their sweet and sour mandarin fish with pine nuts, which I heard is both tasty and wellpresented." Chu Wanning nodded. "Then we'll get that. You pick the rest." Mo Ran grinned. "I'll order according to Shizun's tastes then." Chu Wanning said mildly, "You know what kind of food I like?" "…Mhm, I do." He'd always known, he'd just never bothered to remember before.

But from now on, he intended to never forget.

He was still looking at the bamboo scroll when the sound of footsteps came from the stairs, along with the tinkling of the bead curtain. Then he heard the waiter's voice saying, "Ah, right this way sir, the sirs you're looking for are in this room…yes yes yes, they haven't ordered wine yet."   The curtain of blue silk and agate beads was gently lifted by a smooth, fairskinned hand.

A extraordinarily beautiful man with soft, inky black hair and a smile in his eyes that could chase the clouds from the sky appeared at the doorway carrying a pot of wine. Mo Ran turned around and was visibly caught off guard before saying, "Shi Mei? What are you doing here?" "I ran into the Sect Leader at Mengpo Hall. He heard that the two of you were eating out here and was concerned that this restaurant wouldn't have aged wine since they've just opened, and so sent me to deliver a pot of pear blossom white to go with your meal." Shi Mei swung the wine pot dangling from his hand as he spoke; the cutely stocky pot was made of red clay and held in twined bamboo rattan, and the wine could be heard swishing inside with the movement,

its sweet fragrance just about noticeable even through the sealing clay.

Shi Mei said with a smile, "Good thing I made it in time; it would've been a wasted trip if you'd already ordered drinks." Chu Wanning asked, "What about you? Have you eaten yet?" "I'll eat when I get back, Mengpo Hall will be open for a while yet, I have time." "You're already here, so just stay." Chu Wanning was a courteous person.

"Have a seat and eat with us." "Uh…I shouldn't put A-Ran to the expense." Mo Ran smiled and said, "What expense, it's just a matter of adding a chair." He had the waiter bring out another set of bowls and chopsticks as he spoke.

This Zhongqiu Restaurant really was quite fancy—even the chopsticks used in the private rooms had threads of gold and silver inlaid into the tips, glittering and sparkling in the candle light.

Shi Mei took a seat and poured wine in luminous cups[6] for each of them,

the rich aroma of the pear blossom white immediately permeating the air. It was a familiar scent; in the past life, Mo Ran had drunk it when Shi Mei had died, and again, all night on the rooftop, when Chu Wanning had died.

But they were both still alive now, and the calamity had already passed.

Mo Ran suddenly felt like all those things in the past, be it the possession or the affection, none of it really mattered anymore. What did matter was that the two best people in his life were still alive, and he could treat them to good food and good wine with the money he'd earned. This was enough.

These drinks shared were worth more than all the lands he'd owned in the past.

"Excuse me waiter, can we get an order each of mandarin fish with pine nuts,

stewed crab meatball, pork trotter aspic, cherry ham, three delicacies soup, and steamed pork in bamboo leaf, all mild, and then poached fish in hot chili oil, mapo tofu, beef tripe in chili sauce, and kung pao chicken, as spicy as you make them. For dimsum we'll have shrimp dumplings, steamed spareribs and taro with soy sauce, golden tripe with scallop, and chicken feet in soy sauce.[7] And for dessert…" Mo Ran glanced at Chu Wanning and closed the menu. "We'll have one of each." Without even looking up, Chu Wanning said, "We can't finish all that." Mo Ran insisted, "We'll just take the rest back." "It'll get cold." "…We can have Mengpo Hall heat it up." Chu Wanning didn't feel like wasting any more breath on him—Mo Ran was acting like one of those merchants that struck gold and got rich overnight, way too extravagant—so he opened his own menu, looked it over, and said, "Just one order of kidney bean rolls, one order of leaf-wrapped sticky rice cake, and three bowls of tangyuan with sweet red bean paste filling, thank you." The dishes were quickly brought out one after the other. Shi Mei liked spicy food, Chu Wanning couldn't take even a hint of spice, so Mo Ran arranged the dishes separately, with half the table being light and refreshing, the other half bright red and scrumptious, the colors complementing one another in a surprisingly appealing way.

"Here comes the last one, our signature dish, mandarin fish with pine nuts ——" With the waiter's announcement, a plate of vibrantly colored and delicioussmelling mandarin fish in a thick stew was carried over by a pair of attendants.

The fish looked like it weighed at least five catties, fried to a golden crisp and plated in an enormous, sky-blue porcelain dish. The fish was cut into flower-like slices of even thickness, with a thick, richly red sweet and sour sauce poured on top, and topped with a sprinkling of emerald peas, pieces of Yunnan ham, and translucent shrimp. Just the sight of the dish could make one's eyes twinkle and mouth water.

Chu Wanning liked sweet things, especially sweet and sour things. Although his expression remained neutral as ever when the fish was brought out, even he couldn't keep the twinkle from his eyes.

Mo Ran caught the twinkle.

The waiter glanced at the table, and seeing that there was some space in front of Shi Mei, went to rearrange the plates so as to make room for the fish there.

But a pair of hands faster than his beat him to rearranging the table.

Standing up, Mo Ran moved a couple of the meat dishes that Chu Wanning wasn't eating much from to his own side of the table, then put a few of the tasty and spicy dishes in front of Shi Mei, leaving an empty space in front of Chu Wanning. Mo Ran grinned at the waiter and said, "Go ahead and put the fish there." "Alrighty then!" The waiter was all smiles, more than happy to have customers that would help make room on the table themselves, and immediately took the plate from the attendants to set down in the open spot before leaving with a bow.

The rearrangement had been done so naturally that anybody looking would only think that Mo Ran was just helping the waiter out, but Shi Mei had noticed the hidden bias. Somewhat surprised by the gesture, lights flickered across Shi Mei's eyes for a long moment before he lowered them, looking a little upset.

Shi Mei felt that Mo Ran, having returned after being away for five years, not only looked completely different, but even the special attention that he once gave him seemed to have faded away a great deal.

He liked mandarin fish with pine nuts too, so why did Mo Ran put it so far away from him? Did he not know? Or…

Or did he no longer feel the way he used to.

Shi Mei well knew his own worth. His looks and his temper were both better than Chu Wanning's; in fact, very few people in the entire cultivation world were even in his league in terms of looks.

But right now, he suddenly felt a little uncertain.

He knew that, despite Mo Ran's fickle and flirtatious behavior in his youth,

acting as if he cared only about pretty looks, in truth it was all an act, and that, to Mo Ran, the most precious thing was in fact the genuine sentiments beneath.

If someone were to give him a tael of copper, he would repay them with one thousand gold.

Now that the bitterness born of past misunderstandings between him and Shizun had been dispelled, Chu Wanning's kindness to Mo Ran was not something he could compare to. The thought brought a sudden chill to Shi Mei's heart, and he snapped his head up to look at the other two's faces under the candle light.

One was drinking wine with his head lowered and his expression mild,

phoenix eyes molten as water, lashes soft as mist.

And the other was smiling as he watched the former, cheek propped up in one hand and eyes reflecting the candle light. The reflection of that light held the snow of early spring layered upon an open balcony, pear blossoms blooming under clear moonlight. And the fluttering of those eyelashes was as ripples spreading across the mirror surface of a lake, sweeping across glittering stars untold with feelings that were probably unknown to even the owner of the eyes himself.

In his moment of distraction, Shi Mei accidentally touched his chopsticks with his elbow, sending them clattering to the floor. He snapped out of it and bent down to pick them up with a muttered apology.

But then paused when he'd leaned over.

The chopsticks had landed right next to Mo Ran's boots, faintly reflective as they laid there quietly, waiting to be picked up.

He could've just asked the waiter for another pair, but Shi Mei never liked bothering others; or perhaps, faced with such a downfall, even the most mildtempered and laid back person would feel a little bit unresigned, a little bit at a loss. Or maybe it was nothing so complicated—after all, a person's actions really were just a matter of a passing thought sometimes.

In this moment, the opportunity just so happened to present itself, and Shi Mei really did want to know just how much Mo Ran still even cared for him now...and so, after a few moments of hesitation, he made up his mind and lowered his head, reaching out with a fair, slender hand to go pick up the chopsticks by Mo Ran's feet.

The chopsticks had fallen too close, and it was completely natural and unavoidable that the back of Shi Mei's hand would brush against Mo Ran's lower leg as he retrieved them.

Author's Notes:

"When I'm Rich"

Mo Ran: Look at the main novel.

Chu Wan Ning: Impossible, I spend a lot on buying various materials for machines and mechanisms, I cannot possibly have much money.

Ye Wangxi: It is merely an external possession. As long as one has enough to use, it is adequate. Donate the rest.

Mei Hanxue: Buy accessories, woo chicks.

Nangong Si: Do you think that being wealthy makes you happy? None of you understand the pain of a rich person like me at all.

Xue Meng: When I'm rich, the first person I want to destroy is this dumb fool above. I am very willing to experience your pain, come, give me your vaults.

[5] 上火 (TCM)

[6] 夜光杯 luminous cups are fancy cups made of phosphorescent jade

[7] Collage of the meal