translator: baumkuchen  editor: ellabells

After entering the hottest days of summer, the weather was getting hotter day by day .  

The grape trellis in Lu Qingjiu and the rest’s home were covered in bunches of dark purple, almost black grapes . How they looked as they hung down from the vines, full to the point that they looked on the verge of collapse, was especially pleasing . Lu Qingjiu had originally been a little worried that a lot of birds might be attracted over when the grapes ripened, but now, he found that he’d been worrying needlessly . His home had no mosquitoes or any loathsome birds coming by to steal food . Every grape grew to its ripening completely intact .

Lu Qingjiu plucked a portion of the ripe grapes to be used to make wine and froze another portion in the freezer . Frozen grapes were excellent for relieving the summer heat . When the grapes were frozen and eaten,  it was much better than eating purchased popsicles .

Yin Xun didn’t really like the hot summer sun . Fortunately, a major half of their courtyard was covered in vines so the sun could only leave unnoticeable dapples of sunlight on the ground through the vines .

The little fox’s body was covered in fur, but it was also smart . When it got hot, it would press itself up against Xiao Hua’s belly . The first time Lu Qingjiu noticed this, he saw Xiao Hei lay on his side, baring his pink belly, and then the little fox placed its chin on his belly .

Unexpectedly, upon coming to this place, the little fox got along well with the animals in his home . Upon seeing this, Lu Qingjiu wanted to laugh . He asked, “Aren’t you guys hot?”

Xiao Hei said, “My belly is quite cool . ” She seemed to like the fluffy fox quite a bit . At least, her att.i.tude since the little fox came had remained very friendly .

Hearing this, Lu Qingjiu walked over and touched Xiao Hei’s belly . Sure enough, it was cold and incredibly refres.h.i.+ng, and on top of that, it was soft to the touch, like he was touching a bag filled with ice water . It was no wonder the little fox like it this much .

Lu Qingjiu wasn’t very afraid of the heat . His body was naturally on the cooler side so winters were harder on him instead . Yin Xun was the opposite . If he could, he would simply love to curl up in an air-conditioned room for 24 hours a day . But staying for too long in an air-conditioned room would also become uncomfortable, so he just toughened his skin and sat in the courtyard, in his arms was Xiao Hua’s little sister, Xiao Hei, letting Xiao Hei’s belly help him relieve the summer heat .  

Because of these actions, Xiao Hua was very dissatisfied with Yin Xun . According to him, his younger sister was still a young, unmarried little dangkang . Yin Xun, this motherf*cker, was spending every day rubbing an unmarried little dangkang’s belly . How could he not take responsibility for her?

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Of course, because Yin Xun didn’t know their true ident.i.ties, he didn’t dare complain in front of him . He only sat off to the side, huffing with rage as he shot Yin Xun dark looks .

Yin Xun, for his part, completely ignored Xiao Hua’s unhappiness, hugging Xiao Hei to himself, utterly unwilling to let go . In the end, big brother Xiao Hua had no other choice but to humiliatingly offer up his own cool belly as a replacement for his little sister Xiao Hei’s belly .

Yin Xun, the disaster that he was, completely missed Xiao Hua’s meaning . Seeing him arch into his embrace, he suddenly “understood” in a flash, “Oh, I was wondering why you were unhappy, so it’s because you wanted me to hug you . Since it’s like that, why didn’t you say earlier, there was no need to feel jealous . ” 

Xiao Hua, “????”

Lu Qingjiu, off to the side, quietly snuck a laugh .

In the end, the enmity between Xiao Hei and Yin Xun was solved just like that . The most miserable part was that Yin Xun was still utterly unaware of all of this, even shamelessly believing that Xiao Hua had been fierce towards him because he was jealous of Xiao Hei’s treatment .

“Ai, it’s so difficult being popular,” Yin Xun said to Lu Qingjiu .  

Inwardly, Lu Qingjiu thought, you just take advantage of when he’s small to bully him, when he grows up into a big piggy, with just a swipe of his tusks you’ll be done for .

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“Jiu-er, why aren’t you eating?” Yin Xun asked .  

Dinner was pork rib winter melon soup, shredded salad with dressing and stewed chicken feet with taro . He even stir-fried up some water spinach . These few dishes all tasted very good, especially the chicken feet . They were stewed to until they were well-cooked and tender to the point where they didn’t even need to chew . The moment their teeth touched the meat, it would fall off . The taro was also soft and sticky, fragrant and sweet . They both were dishes that were easy to digest . But Lu Qingjiu didn’t even touch any of the dishes, only drinking a bowl of porridge and casually eating some salted vegetables before putting his chopsticks down .

“En, I’m not very hungry,” Lu Qingjiu said, “You just keep eating, no need to worry about me . ”

“You should eat a little more,” Yin Xun said, “You didn’t eat much of anything for lunch either . ”

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“I can’t eat any more,” Lu Qingjiu said, “I’ll drink a little more soup . ” Even though he said he was going to drink soup, he just went through the motions for them to see, putting down the bowl in his hands after drinking just a few mouthfuls .  

Bai Yuehu’s movements of picking vegetables paused for a moment . He gave Lu Qingjiu a look, but said nothing . Seeing this, Lu Qingjiu let out a sigh of relief . He really didn’t want to eat any more, but was worried about Yin Xun and Bai Yuehu would nag .

Yin Xun was still a little worried about Lu Qingjiu . After finis.h.i.+ng his meal, he took a short trip out, and when he came back, there was a mason jar in his hands . He said happily, “Jiu-er, I went and asked my neighbour for a bit of her pickled hawthorns . You should infuse them in water to drink . ”

“Alright . ” Hawthorns whetted the appet.i.te and strengthened the spleen . Lu Qingjiu also really liked them . In the future, if he had the chance, he would plant a few himself .

“You should eat well,” Yin Xun taught, “If you can’t eat what you’ve made, just eat something else . If nothing else, you shouldn’t go hungry . ” 

Lu Qingjiu smiled and nodded, listening to Yin Xun prattle on . Being cared about by someone felt really good, especially after living alone for the past few years .

After Yin Xun left, Bai Yuehu got Lu Qingjiu to shut the fox kit in the house, saying that he wanted to bring him somewhere .

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“Where are we going?” Lu Qingjiu asked .

“To find some food,” Bai Yuehu said, “Don’t you have no appet.i.te . ” 

“What food?” Bai Yuehu’s ident.i.ty was special . Hearing him say this, Lu Qingjiu was a little curious, “Where are we going to look for it?”

“Do you like that kind of fish we ate last time?” Bai Yuehu asked .

“That kind of fish?” Lu Qingjiu said, “Are you talking about the wenyao?”

Bai Yuehu let out an “en” .  

“I like it,” Lu Qingjiu nodded . The wenyao was indeed the best tasting fish he’d ever tasted . It was a legendary creature in The Cla.s.sic of Mountains and Seas after all, it would naturally taste much better than any fish he could find in his daily life .

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“Then let’s go catch fish,” Bai Yuehu suddenly said .

“Catch fish?” Lu Qingjiu replied, “Where would we go? There aren’t any rivers nearby here?” There was only a small stream by the village . Although the water quality of the stream wasn’t bad, because it was too shallow, it only held tiny fish fry . Even if you caught them to eat, they wouldn’t even be enough to fill the gaps between your teeth .

“Come with me . ” Bai Yuehu stood up .  

At this time, the blazing hot sun had already set, leaving only a scarlet sunset in the horizon . The glow of the sunset dyed the sky a brilliant red, making the sky look as if it was ablaze with gorgeous, attention-stealing flames .

Bai Yuehu led Lu Qingjiu up the mountain .

Even though the sun had set, the sky was still bright . He could vaguely see the outline of the moon hanging in the sky . The mountain path was a little narrow . Lu Qingjiu, afraid he’d lose his footing, could only lower his head and carefully watch the path below his feet . But Bai Yuehu, who was walking in front of him, suddenly turned around and held his hand out .

Lu Qingjiu, seeing his hand, was stunned .  

Bai Yuehu beckoned to Lu Qingjiu, telling him to take his hand .

Lu Qingjiu thought it over, then wordlessly extended his own hand so the two of them were holding hands .

Bai Yuehu’s hand was very cold, making holding it feel very comfortable . Probably because their gazes were too calm, they didn’t feel like there was anything weird with this .

Bai Yuehu walked in front and Lu Qingjiu followed from behind .  

As the surrounding woods grew denser and denser, the scenery became even more unfamiliar and some things that weren’t supposed to be in a forest began to appear . Lu Qingjiu even saw a stone tablet by the side of the path . The stone tablet was very tall . On it, the words Shuifu village were written in red . This was supposed to be the signpost for Shuifu village, but the aura of the stone tablet made Lu Qingjiu feel as if he’d entered a completely unfamiliar place .

The sky hadn’t changed much, still the gorgeous colour of blazing flames . It was just that when Lu Qingjiu looked up to examine it closer, he found that there seemed to be something additional moving through the clouds above his head . Just as he wanted to stop and watch, Bai Yuehu pulled his hand, continuing to walk forward .

“The view from the peak is even better,” Bai Yuehu said, “Hurry up . ”

Lu Qingjiu couldn’t help but curl his eyes in a smile .  

The path was rugged, but as he walked, he didn’t tire . Because Bai Yuehu was holding his hand, what should have been terrifyingly unfamiliar surroundings became rea.s.suring . Lu Qingjiu continued forwards . Soon, the view before him opened up . The trees slowly became spa.r.s.e and a wide platform appeared before Lu Qingjiu’s eyes . This seemed to be a platform cut out from the side of the mountain . The floor was made up of a type of green stone, emitting a dim glow . Lu Qingjiu said, “This place is…”

“This is Shuifu village,” Bai Yuehu replied .

He walked off to a side and casually pulled up some gra.s.s from a patch by the side of the path . He handed it to Lu Qingjiu, “Come, we’re going fis.h.i.+ng . ”

Lu Qingjiu asked, “Fis.h.i.+ng, with this?” He accepted the gra.s.s from Bai Yuehu’s hands . This gra.s.s looked a little weird . It was topped with a cl.u.s.ter of fiery red stamen . The stem was originally stiff, but forcefully running one’s hand down its length, it would become incredibly soft, like a rope .  

“En,” Bai Yuehu said, “Over here . ” As he said this, he walked forward up to the edge of the platform then gestured for them to stop . He turned to look at Lu Qingjiu, “Are you afraid of heights?”

“Me…? I’m not afraid of heights . ” Lu Qingjiu replied .

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“Then come a little closer . ” Bai Yuehu beckoned him over .

Only then did Lu Qingjiu walk up to Bai Yuehu’s side . Looking downwards, only then did he understand why Bai Yuehu had asked if he was scared of heights . Below the platform was an unfathomably deep sea of clouds . The rays of the setting sun dyed the sea of clouds scarlet, and within the sea of clouds, he could occasionally see some winged organisms swimming, sometimes leaping out . Lu Qingjiu had very good eyesight . With just a look, he saw what the winged organisms were . They were the wenyao fish Bai Yuehu had brought back last time .