ALL NOVEL 88. Education of another kind
Lin Yijun stiffened, barely stopping himself from turning and glaring. This was the third time he had sensed Wen Zhihao’s and Sun Fuyu’s qi today, and who knew how many times before that this week.
He didn’t know why, but ever since the two of them obviously dual cultivated—he could detect the slight difference in their auras—he found himself constantly seeing the two of them around!
Sometimes they were flying on the cheap mortal cart; sometimes they were strolling through the Sect hand-in-hand; once, they were flying on the same sword, hugging mid-air.
Regardless, every time he saw or sensed them, a feeling of sourness would grow at the back of his throat. They weren’t even the only couple in the Sect, but for some reason, their actions felt particularly jarring.
At last, he couldn’t stand it any longer, and sent a message to Zhou Sheng: Good evening, Zhou Sheng, I hope all is going well. The Sect has been boorish without you around lately. I found a magical treasure that I think would suit you well, when will you come by the Sect?
Every night, Sun Fuyu had a particularly restful sleep. Holding hands with Wen-ge became one of his new favourite pastimes.
On the day before Sun Fuyu was due to receive his sword back, he and Wen Zhihao were flying over the town to pick up their charges from the mortal school.
Wen Zhihao’s eyes were drawn to the new additions decorating the town: paper lanterns! “Xiao Yu, it appears that the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is approaching,” he said, a sense of excitement in his voice.
Sun Fuyu nodded. “En.” He deftly took control of the flying cart while Wen Zhihao stretched his neck to look at all the plain and lovingly decorated paper lanterns.
The corner of Wen Zhihao’s lips curled up. Heheheheh…
When they and their charges arrived at the kitchens for lunch, Wen Zhihao patted Sun Fuyu in a silent communication to look after the children. He then casually approached Aunty Liu Jing.
“Does Aunty Liu celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival?”
Aunty Liu Jing’s deadpan expression didn’t change. “I do.”
“Does Aunty Liu know how to make mooncakes?”
“Yes.”
Wen Zhihao smiled winningly. “Does Aunty Liu think it’s a good activity for everyone to make together? After all, the festival is coming up. This afternoon, for example.”
Aunty Liu restrained herself from rubbing her forehead. “Xiao Wen, mooncakes are not made from nothing. Some ingredients take time to prepare, like the salted egg yokes.”
“We can use a talisman that speeds up the salting process,” Wen Zhihao answered. He recalled seeing such a talisman in the super-advance part of one of his talisman manuals. Those talismans could only speed up a very small area and spent a lot of qi, but the key point was that someone else had already created the formula for writing them.
And eggs took up a small space. For this cause, Wen Zhihao would willingly study how to make those time-speeding talismans. He was already starting to daydream about mooncakes, the salted egg yolk contrasting with the sweet filling and the slightly crisp outer crust….
“And there are snow-skin mooncakes too that don’t require cooking,” Wen Zhihao added.
“Snowskin mooncakes?” It was clearly another one of Xiao Wen’s outlandish ideas. “Tell Aunty how one creates a skin out of snow.”
Wen Zhihao sweated. “It’s a….pre-cooked glutinous flour of some kind. Pale and uncoloured, it looks like snow.”
“Hmmmmm.”
Wen Zhihao clasped his hands together. “Please? I can help buy and fetch any ingredients too! We can have salted duck egg filling, black sesame filling, lotus seed filling. For the snowskin mooncakes, there is matcha—I mean green tea—filling, custard, red bean, durian…”
“Alright, this afternoon after your naps,” Aunty Liu quickly agreed before Wen Zhihao would list even more potential fillings.
“Thank you, Aunty Liu!”
Wen Zhihao walked with a lightness in his steps back to the tables where everyone else was seated to deliver the wonderful news: They’ll be making mooncakes together!
Both the big one (Sun Fuyu) and the little ones (the teenagers and children) looked forward to it: many of them had never had a mooncake before, which all the more confirmed to Wen Zhihao that this activity would be enriching and a good child memory to have.
That day’s afternoon nap was shorter than usual: even Wen Zhihao awoke earlier. The children were to stay with Wen Zhihao at the kitchens. Sun Fuyu would be the one to take Aunty Liu shopping.
“—Wen-ge, keep the sword,” Sun Fuyu said.
“No, you’re the one leaving the Sect, you keep the sword. Who would attack me in the middle of the Golden Sun Sect?” Wen Zhihao replied.
“But…”
Wen Zhihao gave Sun Fuyu some silver coins he had left and patted his hand. “I still have those defensive talismans I wrote for you, don’t worry.”
And so Sun Fuyu finally agreed to leave Wen Zhihao behind at the kitchens to study how to make the time-speeding talismans. Meanwhile, Sun Fuyu took Aunty Liu to go buy the ingredients they needed.
Aunty Liu stayed carefully near the centre of the flying cart, studying the studious Xiao Fuyu controlling the flight.
“Wen Zhihao has been good to you, hasn’t he?” she finally asked.
“En!” Sun Fuyu nodded.
“Forgive me for my directness, but does the Sect teach you about sex?”
A brilliant red blush grew on Sun Fuyu’s cheeks. “Aunty!” he squeaked. “Yes, there are classes on sex in the outer sect. Um, even between...all couples... I—I’m not yet...with Wen-ge...” Each word became quieter as his head tilted down, chin almost touching his chest.
Aunty Liu decided to spare Xiao Fuyu the embarrassment and give him and Xiao Wen a written booklet later, just to make sure. Instead, she moved onto the next topic: “Is there anything in particular you want at your wedding? If I ask Xiao Wen, I already know what he would say.”
Sun Fuyu’s snapped up. “W-wedding?” he stammered.
Aunty Liu’s lips pursed. “Did Xiao Wen not tell you?” she asked, unimpressed.
“...He did mention it,” Sun Fuyu said vaguely.
“Aiya, that boy,” Aunty Liu shook her head. “As you two are Dao Companions, Xiao Wen agreed to marry you. He has also given me money for it. Decorations, food, and your wedding attire…” There were a dozen more things, but Liu Jing held back, in case it scared off Xiao Fuyu.
A glow grew in Sun Fuyu’s chest as he thought about Wen-ge thinking about him. “Hm, listen to Aunty Liu and to Wen-ge,” he said softly.
Aunty Liu resisted the urge to pinch the boy’s cheek. “Alright, then Mum—I mean Aunty—will prepare the best wedding for you!”
Sun Fuyu beamed.
Don’t ask me about exact timings, I don’t try my best to keep track of the weeks passing 🙈 but I wanted mooncakes!! Mooncakes!!!! 🥮🥮🥮
AND LOOK SEE! Nothing bad has happened to Wen Zhihao yet!
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