Chapter 28

Lunch was fresh razor clams and chicken. Uncle Liu hauled out a big jug of wine and poured for Wen Ran and Gu Yunchi. "Homemade stuff, barely any kick. Try it."

That meal lasted about an hour. Wen Ran got tricked into drinking several cups, and by the end his head was so heavy he could barely lift it. He mumbled, "Why do I feel kinda dizzy...?"

"Go outside, get some air, you'll be fine. Sun's not strong today, not hot. Go for a walk later." Uncle Liu said.

Called it a walk, but Wen Ran and Gu Yunchi still brought Gloves and woven bags. Destination: the Cornfield on the Mountainside. Wen Ran couldn't walk a straight line anymore—body swaying out of control—until his left foot caught his right foot and he crashed into Gu Yunchi.

He was immediately grabbed by the shoulders and shoved off. Gu Yunchi ordered, impatient: "Stand up straight."

Wen Ran scrambled to stand properly. On his own end he thought he was standing ramrod straight, but actually his left shoulder was higher than his right. Plus the old T-shirt he wore today was a bit big, collar drooping, hair a mess, and that flushed post-booze face showed a slightly dazed look—honestly looking like someone not all there.

Gu Yunchi glanced at him, pulled on a Glove, then held his hand out to Wen Ran: "Hold on."

"..." Wen Ran took a moment to process, then went for Gu Yunchi's gloved left hand.

Stumbling along, being led up the Mountainside, Wen Ran looked down at their hands joined through the Gloves and, not quite sober, sighed: "You really are a seriously self-disciplined Alpha."

Gu Yunchi didn't turn around: "Something's wrong with your head."

Wen Ran thought about it, said: "For me, maybe having something wrong with my head makes life a little easier."

If you're very smart and very sensitive, it should hurt way more than it does now.

They reached the tree beside the Cornfield. Gu Yunchi let go. Wen Ran sat down on the grass, still dizzy, so he lay back, watching the drifting leaves and the blue sky, feeling a brain-numbing pleasantness that washed away a lot of the gloom and low mood that had been clinging to him since last night. He asked Gu Yunchi: "You gonna pick corn now?"

Gu Yunchi took off his Gloves and sat down, tilted his head, looked down at him: "Why should I do it alone."

"Then let me sleep a bit first. When I wake up I'll pick with you." Before closing his eyes, Wen Ran added, "Should I turn the Neck Ring down a notch? You probably haven't recovered yet."

"I'm perfectly fine."

"But you seem kind of low-energy. What if you don't have the strength to haul the corn later?"

Said like the only thing left in life was hauling corn. Gu Yunchi turned his head, too lazy to talk.

Wen Ran tentatively felt along the side of the Neck Ring and turned it down one notch—no scolding. But he'd forgotten to flip the one-way switch, so he caught Gu Yunchi's Pheromone. He sniffed, couldn't help wanting to say it smelled amazing, but was scared of getting hit with another sexual harassment charge, so he shut up, closed his eyes, and dropped off fast.

Woken by birds. Wen Ran opened his eyes, turned his head—Gu Yunchi was lying right beside him, asleep too.

Wen Ran stared blankly at his profile for a while, then slowly sat up. No clue how long he'd slept. No Mobile Phone, no watch. These past two days they'd been living the old way—work at sunrise, rest at sunset—almost completely cut off from the world.

The wind carried a faint Alpha Pheromone. Wen Ran turned sideways, looked at Gu Yunchi's sleeping face. He could get why Gu Yunchi had chosen to bring him here—high compatibility, could use Pheromone to help when he had episodes, and unlike those expensive friends of his, even if Wen Ran vanished nobody would care, wouldn't cause any ripples.

Used to being treated as a tool, Wen Ran didn't mind at all—even felt an indescribable kind of happiness. This place was good. Completely detached from his life of the past ten-plus years. No coercion, no scheming, no pressure.

His gaze drifted slowly across Gu Yunchi's face, paused on his lips, stared blankly for several seconds. In the mountain breeze and the scent of Pheromone, Wen Ran's mind went blank and he lowered his head.

His lips were almost touching the bridge of Gu Yunchi's nose. Wen Ran looked at those eyelashes up close, then yanked himself back at the last second, stopping hard.

He was stunned himself. Straightened up, blinked blankly, held his breath and scooted a few inches sideways, looked at Gu Yunchi, then turned to look somewhere else.

A few minutes later, when he turned back, he was shocked to find Gu Yunchi was actually awake—those deep black eyes looking up at him.

The Alpha Pheromone in the air seemed thicker. Wen Ran couldn't think anymore, didn't dare guess whether his earlier move had been spotted, and stammered: "Wh-when did you wake up? Just now?"

Gu Yunchi didn't answer. Sat up, brushed the grass off himself, glanced at Wen Ran: "What are you feeling guilty about."

"I-I'm a little nervous." Wen Ran rambled. "My heart's beating fast. Why—is it the Pheromone?"

Drank too much, Neck Ring not on the highest setting, Gu Yunchi also not wearing his Wristband—so he'd been steered by the Pheromone into doing this, into reacting like this. Wen Ran half-got it. Having lived as a Beta for so long, he was finally seeing what the AO Compatibility Index could really do, and it hit him hard, left him a little shaken and unable to accept it.

Gu Yunchi looked at him for a moment. Didn't call it sexual harassment. Just said: "Obviously."

Being stared at made him more nervous. Wen Ran avoided his eyes, no idea what was coming out of his mouth: "If it's the Pheromone, you should be the same. Is your heart beating fast right now?"

No response. Wen Ran carefully glanced at Gu Yunchi, only to find the other staring right back at him, expression calm. Wen Ran looked away fast, and after two seconds heard Gu Yunchi say: "Palpitations."

Wen Ran made a confused "ah?" sound, but Gu Yunchi stood up, grabbed his Gloves and woven bag, and headed into the Cornfield.

Lost, Wen Ran grabbed his bag and followed. Before he could get close, Gu Yunchi—pulling on his Gloves—looked up and warned: "Don't follow me."

Wen Ran froze where he stood, then sulkily walked toward the other end. Looked back after two steps, but Gu Yunchi had already started picking corn, ignoring him.

The whole afternoon Gu Yunchi didn't open his mouth again. Wen Ran tried to talk to him and got nothing. Several bags of corn were already stacked at the edge of the field. Uncle Liu came on the Three-Wheeled Cart to haul them and told the two of them to head back first.

Dying of thirst, Wen Ran almost ran home, grabbed the kettle off the table, poured a cup and gulped it down. Still not enough—poured another, drank half before stopping. Gu Yunchi came in a step later, walked to the table, took the remaining half cup from Wen Ran's hand, and drank it all in one go.

Wen Ran felt a pang of pity for him right then. Lived so many refined years, and now forced to be so unrefined.

"Pretty hot, right?" After Gu Yunchi finished another cup, Wen Ran made small talk.

Gu Yunchi just glanced at him, set the cup down, pulled two tissues to wipe sweat, then walked out of the living room into the Courtyard to help Aunt Liu shuck corn. Wen Ran stood by the table, a bit baffled, no idea what he'd done wrong this time.

But he couldn't just keep standing there. Wen Ran wiped his sweat and walked outside too. Uncle Liu's fishing net was half-mended and left there. Wen Ran sat on the little stool, bent his head, and started mending it.

Qiuqiu was playing in the Courtyard. After a while she ran inside and came back out with something. Wen Ran felt a flash in front of him, looked up, and saw she was holding a film camera.

"Take photo." Qiuqiu stood in front of him, holding the camera steady.

Wen Ran straightened up and sat properly, let her take one. Qiuqiu ran over to Aunt Liu and Gu Yunchi and took their picture too. Wen Ran couldn't help glancing toward Gu Yunchi, saw Qiuqiu tugging his sleeve, saying something quietly, and Gu Yunchi stood up and walked over. Wen Ran looked up at him, confused.

"Take one together." Qiuqiu said.

Now he got it. Wen Ran stood up too, shoulder to shoulder with Gu Yunchi. Qiuqiu stepped back a few paces, looked at them, and said a little shyly: "Hold hands."

Wen Ran froze, turned to look at Gu Yunchi. No reaction. He hesitated, then reached his hand out. Considering Gu Yunchi was a seriously self-disciplined Alpha, Wen Ran only took his index finger, then turned to the camera, a bit stiff.

Click—Qiuqiu pressed the shutter and beamed at them.

Right after the photo, Gu Yunchi coolly pulled his finger back, went back to the corn pile, sat down, and kept shucking.

A little ache inside. Wen Ran could clearly feel he was being disliked by Gu Yunchi—but it also seemed different from the original kind of dislike. Anyway, he couldn't thick-facedly ignore Gu Yunchi's dislike like he used to. He wanted to know why.

But Gu Yunchi ignored him. From waking up at the field in the afternoon, through dinner, through the shower—ignored him.

Even Aunt Liu quietly asked Wen Ran if he'd had a fight with Xiao Gu, and urged them to talk it out. Wen Ran smiled awkwardly, wanting to tell her the word "communicate" didn't seem to exist in Gu Yunchi's dictionary.

That night, Wen Ran struggled to rub medicine on his own lower back, then lay in bed alone for a long time—so long the whole Village had almost gone quiet—before Gu Yunchi came back to the room, pressed the light switch by the door, and in the dark walked to the bed and lay down.

Silent for a minute, Wen Ran asked: "What's wrong with you?"

He turned his head, stared at Gu Yunchi's profile, said: "Is it because I turned the Neck Ring down? Are you mad? I've already put it back to the highest."

Only breathing answered him. Wen Ran was frustrated: "Give me a reason. So I won't do it next time."

Still nothing. Wen Ran was stubborn. He pushed Gu Yunchi's arm and called: "Gu Yunchi."

The breathing hitched.

Wen Ran caved, scared, pulled his hand back. He heard Gu Yunchi suck in a breath and click his tongue, finally opening his mouth—the first words since the afternoon: "How are you this loud."

"...Then can you tell me why you're mad?"

He didn't want to bother Gu Yunchi. He just wanted to know why, so he could avoid making him unhappy in the future. If Gu Yunchi's answer right now was that he didn't want to see him, Wen Ran would really go sleep in the Courtyard with Xiaohei.

"Not mad." Gu Yunchi's voice carried zero emotion. He got out of bed and walked out. "You sleep first."

Wen Ran didn't buy it. Climbed out of bed, slipped on his sandals, and followed. The Courtyard was lit up white by moonlight. Uncle Liu's thunderous snoring leaked through the bedroom window. Xiaohei lay by the corn pile, lifted his head to look at them, eyes wet and bright.

"Then why'd you suddenly snap at me this afternoon?" Wen Ran said. "And ignored me the whole time."

Gu Yunchi stopped, turned around in the moonlight. Hair half-wet, a few strands of bangs messily falling across his forehead. Wen Ran couldn't read his expression, only heard him say: "How long are you going to keep playing dumb."

Playing dumb—meaning a reason both of them knew about. He immediately thought of last night's conversation, thought today might be the day the Gu Family would, by custom, go do the Ritual for Gu Yunchi's Parents. Gu Yunchi really was in a bad mood because of all that. Wen Ran understood how annoying his nonstop pressing was—he should have been keeping his tail between his legs, careful and cautious.

"I'm sorry. I get it now." Wen Ran was full of regret, and painfully thought—Wen Rui, you dead man, why couldn't you have done more good things with your own little brother when you were kids, why did you have to hurt Gu Yunchi, who'd already lost his parents.

"What do you get."

Wen Ran wilted, walked to his side, guilty: "Is it because of what you said last night? I'm sorry."

He raised his hand, originally meaning to give Gu Yunchi's arm a comforting pat, but was afraid he'd dislike it, so he patted his back instead. Too unfamiliar though—those two pats felt more like touching. Wen Ran looked up at him: "If that's it, you can be mad at me. I'm sorry."

Gu Yunchi watched him, expressionless, eyes lowered. Wen Ran licked his lips, dry from too much apologizing: "Let's go back to sleep. I promise I won't bother you—"

Before the last syllable was out, his wrist tightened, Wen Ran lost his balance, and was pulled into the nearby Bathroom.