When Yue Qi and Shen Jiu were little, they cried and begged pedestrians to help them find thier parents. They wove stories of being brothers, trying to get money for a ride out of town. They looked similar the same way all children look similar— wide eyes, round faces, roughly the same height. While Yue Qi’s skin tanned in the sun and Shen Jiu only got freckles, while Yue Qi had warm black hair like rich stained wood and Shen Jiu hair so dark it shone nearly blue, while Yue Qi had a wide, straight nose and Shen Jiu a thin, crooked nose, they were believed. What reason had children to lie about such a relationship?
As they got older, their appearances diverging further, people no longer took them at their word. Polar opposites, too different to be siblings. One broad, the other willowy, one tall, the other short, one with lychee eyes, the other with phoenix. Once they grew scrawny and started to look older than their years, they needed a new story.
“Spare a few coins, my fiancé and I are making a pilgrimage to the Spring of Eternal Vows!”
Yue Qi didn’t know how to feel when Xiao Jiu suggested it. He always planned to marry Xiao Jiu, but he wanted to do it right. A proper courtship, red robes, a ceremony. He doesn’t want it to be a lie.
“Silly Qi-ge! Obviously you’re going to marry me properly, but we need money to run away first! How can I marry into your household if you don’t even have one!”
“Why are you marrying into my household? Xiao Jiu is smarter with money.”
“That’s why I’m going to be the wife!! If Qi-ge was in charge of the household he would spend all our money on useless trinkets and sweets!”
He doesn’t say who those trinkets and sweets will be for.
“… Besides… when we’re powerful cultivators with enough money to buy a house, I don’t want to work anymore. I have the cultivation talent, so once I make us enough money it’s Qi-ge’s turn to take care of Xiao Jiu, okay?”
They got shooed away from the back of the brothel tonight, so Yue Qi shuffles closer to Shen Jiu in the bushes, sharing his warmth.
Shen Jiu shifts around to lie on top of Yue Qi, the blanket just covering both of them.
“How big would you want our house to be?”
“Mmmmnnnnn….. Big— at least 3 rooms. Maybe 4. It needs to have room for a garden too!”
“What would we grow in the garden?”
“Fruit! And it will be super sweet and fresh— especially hawthorn so we can make our own tanghulu!”
“No? I don’t want an animal stinking up the place.”
“Does Xiao Jiu want kids?”
“Ew, no! I’m not gonna have your baby!”
“Qi-ge could have Xiao Jiu’s baby.”
“That’s gross too! If Qi-ge wants kids then we could take care of one of the jiejie’s babies that can’t stay with them.”
“A daughter of course. But we need enough money to spoil her so well she never marries out.”
Yue Qi nods into Xiao Jiu’s head. “Qi-ge will work hard to give Xiao Jiu his dream.”
Shen Jiu tucks his head under Qi-ge’s.
“….. even if we don’t become cultivators or have enough money for a proper marriage, it’s okay… as long as Qi-ge doesn’t leave.”
“Never. The only way Qi-ge would leave Xiao Jiu is if he were dead.”
