Chapter 081: Brother Tie, Let Me Grow Up
“En.” Qin Mian was also curious about what kind of strange flower the pink ball would bloom. He said with interest, “Let me show you around the space first. There are many things I brought from another world.”
The space was too big. They only strolled around the nearby places. They planned to bring the horses sometime so they could go to the distant places.
Back in the quadrangle house, Lei Tie listened to Qin Mian’s introduction that this was a manual sewing machine, and that was beer, instant noodles, sportswear, sports shoes… There was always a contented smile in his eyes. Although it was not easy to detect, that kind of joy was reflected in his whole body’s aura.
Qin Mian did not notice that the smile on his face had yet disappeared.
“Look, this is the authentic hot pot soup base.” He took out a packet from a carton and offered it as a treasure. “We’ll use this to cook hot pot at noon.”
“Alright.”
In the end, both men came out of the space with each carrying two fully loaded baskets. Qin Mian’s two baskets were filled with fresh vegetables and delicious snacks. There was no season in the space. These few kinds of vegetables were not available in this season.
Lei Tie’s two baskets were filled with fruits, bright red peaches, pink apples, and two clusters of purple grapes, all of which were plump with attractive radiance.
Lei Tie moved out two wooden blocks and washed the fruits and vegetables on the side of the well.
Qin Mian sat on another wooden block, holding a large bunch of washed grapes in his left hand and picking grapes one by one in his right hand. He looked behind him; there was no one else nearby.
“I think we’d better put a fence in front of the house so that no one will pass by and see something they shouldn’t see.”
“Wooden fence or trees?” Lei Tie asked.
“Plant shrubs, roses, brambles, juniper, and such.” Qin Mian said that these plants were clusters of relatively short and small trees, which could not only isolate others from being too close to them but also would not restrict their field of view in the yard.
“Alright.” Lei Tie carefully washed the mud off the pakchoi.
Qin Mian picked grape and sent it to his mouth.
Lei Tie opened his mouth, chomped his fingers, and only rolled the grape away after indistinctly lapped at them.
Qin Mian looked at his warm and moist fingers and the grapes he wanted to eat. He hesitated for a moment and continued to pick a grape to eat.
“One more.” Lei Tie lowered his head and washed the vegetables carefully, looking as if the words were not uttered by him.
Qin Mian laughed in spite of himself but still picked a grape to feed him. He ate one and then fed him one…
When the two men finished eating a large bunch of grapes, Lei Tie also finished washing the vegetables.
Lei Tie brought the vegetables to the kitchen and Qin Mian followed after washing his hands. Lei Tie made a fire for cooking. He took a kitchen knife to deal with the ingredients. He cut the chicken into pieces; separated the outer leaves of the fresh cabbage1
from the foliage and cut the outer leaves into strips, which were delicious when cooked; diced the potatoes; split the coriander in half…After lunch, Qin Mian thought of his beloved horse. Seeing the sun was just nice, he found two small buckets to fill with water and took a small basket loaded with four apples.
“What are you doing?” Lei Tie asked when he saw it.
“Feed the horse and brush it.”
Lei Tie nodded and poured water into the water vat. He held the bamboo basket in his left hand and walked out with two empty wooden buckets in the right hand, “Use the water in the pond.”
Qin Mian followed with the brush that was used to brush his boots.
Passing by the pond, Lei Tie filled two buckets of water and Qin Mian carried the bamboo basket.
The two horses were grazing in the stable.
They led the horses to bask in the sun. Qin Mian took an apple and fed it to his brown horse. The brown horse sniffed the apple, opened its mouth, and ate it. He smiled as he stroked its neck and said to Lei Tie, “Look, I knew it would like.”
Lei Tie also picked up an apple to feed his black horse. The black horse glanced at him before eating the apple.
After feeding the apples, Qin Mian rolled up his sleeves to brush the brown horse.
The brown horse squinted happily and its head rubbed against Qin Mian’s arm affectionately, which made him even fonder of it.
Meanwhile, on Lei Tie’s side, Lei Tie methodically brushed the black horse but the black horse remained motionless and did not look at him, seemingly indifferent to it all. When Lei Tie finished brushing its left side, it turned around consciously and proactively but still did not look at Lei Tie. The temperament of the man and the horse was surprisingly similar.
Qin Mian watched with joy.
Lei Tie suddenly turned his head back, “When you’re more skillful in horse riding, I’ll teach you archery on horseback.”
“Good!” Qin Mian was extremely happy, “Hey after I learned it, I can hunt on horseback.”
After brushing the horse, Lei Tie brought some fodder to let the two horses graze in the sun. After the hair had dried, they led the horses back to the stable.
Uncle Fu stood at a distance, awaiting orders. It had been a while since they came to the farm residence. Uncle Fu, Aunt Fu, and Xile were all diligent. At present, Xile and Uncle Fu had cut a lot of firewood. Aunt Fu had washed the dishes and clothes very cleanly and taken good care of the flower beds. Qin Mian and Lei Tie were quite satisfied with them.
Lei Tie instructed Uncle Fu and Xile to dig some shrubs in the mountain. At home, he took out the chessboard and played chess with Qin Mian under the willow trees by the pond.
When Uncle Fu and Xile came back, Qin Mian appointed a place for them to plant the shrubs and told them to plant a flower between every three or two shrubs.
In the middle of the fence, they made a half-person height wooden fence gate. When the sun was about to set, Qin Mian and Lei Tie went out for a trip and brought back two grapevines, which were planted against the wall in the courtyard. When it was summer, they could pick the grapes to eat.
The daytime of the birthday passed in such leisure.
Lying in bed at night, Qin Mian became more nervous than ever before. Since Lei Tie “confessed” to him during the New Year, Lei Tie’s composure when facing him was getting worse and worse. Today could be said to be an important turning point for him and Lei Tie. Would Lei Tie be able to restraint from attacking
him? To be honest, he often wanted to be close to Lei Tie but now he was only 16 years old. While his body was not fully developed, his desire was much weaker than that of Lei Tie.When Lei Tie went in after locking the doors and windows, he saw his wife lying on the bed with a nervous expression on his face while being wrapped tightly in the quilt. Upon hearing the sound of footsteps, he raised his head alertly and gave him a hollow laugh.
Lei Tie’s steps halted. He slowly took off his clothes, leaving only the underclothes, gently picked up the quilt to drill in, and embraced the person into his arms.
Qin Mian stiffened.
“What are you afraid of?” Lei Tie’s voice sounded very confused.
Hm? Did he think too much? Did he flatter himself2? Qin Mian’s lips twitched. His mood was quite complicated. He could not tell whether he was happy or disappointed. However, he wound down and said, “Nothing, hehe.”
“En.” Lei Tie turned over on him, kissed his lips, took a bite, kissed his cheek, and then kissed his earlobe.
This posture is wrong! Qin Mian trembled, “What…are you doing?”
“Kissing you.” Lei Tie answered simply. He restrained Qin Mian’s arms with his two hands and pressed Qin Mian’s legs with his legs, restraining him in a completely suppressed posture.
Qin Mian’s whole body tensed up. After taking the initiative to kiss, he looked at the man with a straight face, “Brother Tie, can you let me grow up?”
Lei Tie’s movement paused, “Alright.”
Qin Mian took a long sigh of relief but was still kissed by Lei Tie all over his body.
Although there was no penetration interaction, the next morning, he still went to sleep until midday and only woke up when hungry. He shouted, “LEI TIE––”
Lei Tie quickly appeared, “Wife, are you hungry?”
Qin Mian glanced at him without expression and quickly put on his clothes.
Lei Tie’s eyes swept across a shallow hickey on his neck, “I asked Aunt Fu to cook the egg and shredded meat noodles.”
“Wait a while.” Qin Mian put on his shoes and rushed out.
Lei Tie followed him out, “Wife, anxious to go to the latrine?”
Qin Mian stumbled. Go to your head!
“Run!”
Lei Tie raised his eyebrows and watched him run away.
White Spot howled and followed closely.
Qin Mian ran half a circle along the wall. When he came back, his legs were weak, his waist was bent, his hands were on his knees, and his mouth was opened, gasping for breath.
Lei Tie helped him up.
“Not yet.” He pushed the man away and went to the clothes-drying pole. He used the pole as a horizontal bar, holding it in both hands, pulling up his legs, and swaying about while hanging up.
Lei Tie stood by and looked on.
Qin Mian smiled smugly at him, “This can lengthen the arms, and maybe later my arms will be longer than yours.”
Lei Tie faintly shook his head.
After Qin Mian dangled earnestly for a while, he hung his armpits on the clothes-drying pole, raised his legs, and tried to hook the clothes-drying pole with his feet. He was unsuccessful after trying for a long time, and it looked rather funny.
Lei Tie strode over, dragged the person down, and patted his waist, “Nonsense.”
Qin Mian knew that he was overdoing it and did not insist, “Sigh, that’s enough. Starting tomorrow, I’ll resume morning exercise. I’m going to wash.”
He stretched both arms, swung his arms, kicked out his legs, and walked unhurriedly to the bathroom. A new mirror and washstand had been added to the bathroom, very practical.
Lei Tie went to the kitchen to serve him noodles.
Xile ran over in a hurry and called out at the gate, “Eldest young master and little young master, the fifth gongzi and miss are here.” Although they, the servants, had no relation with the people in the old house, their masters and the people in the old house were, after all, direct relatives. All the people in the old house were lucky enough to get “high, great, and above3” appellation. The “fifth gongzi” and “miss” referred to Lei Xiangzhi and Lei Chuntao.
Qin Mian spit out his mouthwash and came out of the bathroom, “Got it.”
When Lei Xiangzhi and Lei Chuntao came over, Qin Mian was eating noodles at the stone table and Lei Tie was sitting on the low wooden block beside him, repairing a plow.
“Come and sit down.” Qin Mian motioned to Lei Chuntao and Lei Xiangzhi.
Lei Chuntao did not sit, “Eldest sister-in-law, the flowers in your garden are so beautiful. I want to go and have a look to draw some embroidery patterns.”
“Oh, then you go. White Spot is there, don’t mess with it. It’s quite restless recently.” Qin Mian reminded.
“I know.” Lei Chuntao looked back with a smile and gradually walked away.
While eating noodles, Qin Mian asked, “What’s the matter, fifth brother?”
Lei Xiangzhi smiled shyly, “Eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law, I’ve got a presumptuous request.”
Qin Mian said, “Let’s talk about it first.”
Note:
Footnotes
- Chinese cabbage
- 自作多情 [zì zuò duō qíng] to imagine that one’s love is reciprocated; to shower affection on an uninterested party
- 高大上 [gāo dà shàng] (slang) high-end, elegant, and classy