I've been following you for a while and found your advice super insightful. I was wondering if you have any advice for intimate/shy/emotionally intense hand-holding? How to make it sound natural/immersive?
Thank you for your time.
How To Write Hand-Holding Scenes
Hey there,
Thank you for reaching out. I love chatting about how to breathe life into those delicate hand-holding moments. I’ve been noodling over this concept for a while, and here’s what I’ve learned through my own experiments with writing YA fantasy.
Capture the Sensation
Instead of just saying they held hands, let the touch speak for itself. Try describing the slight tremor in a finger, the mingling of warmth and a cool breeze, or how a hesitant touch sends ripples through the character’s inner world. Small details, like the texture of their skin or the subtle pressure of a grasp, can make all the difference.
Infuse It with Symbolism
To me, every touch is loaded with meaning. It might represent a secret promise, a silent rebellion, or even an ancient rite woven into the fabric of your world. Consider framing hand-holding as more than a physical act. think of it as a quiet bond that mirrors the deeper connection between your characters.
Embrace the Vulnerability
Sometimes the beauty lies in the uncertainty. A tentative grip can reveal as much about a character’s hopes and insecurities as any grand declaration of passion. When you write about this quiet hesitance, remember that vulnerability can be its own kind of strength. A powerful window into what your characters are truly feeling.
Set the Scene
The backdrop can amplify that moment of intimacy. Even if it’s a moonlit forest or the soft glow of an enchanted hall, use your setting to reflect the mood. Let the surroundings echo the internal shifts of your characters, turning the environment into an almost sentient part of the moment.
Play with Rhythm and Pacing
Don’t be afraid to mix short, sharp sentences with languid, thoughtful ones. This varied rhythm can mimic the heartbeat of the moment. sometimes quick and electrifying, other times slow and contemplative. Experiment until you find a flow that makes your readers feel each touch as if they’re experiencing it first-hand.
I hope these ideas fire up your creativity. Keep experimenting with your unique voice.
We’ve all got our comfort words—those trusty adjectives, verbs, or phrases we lean on like a crutch. But when certain words show up too often, they lose their impact, leaving your writing feeling repetitive or uninspired.
1. “Very” and Its Cousins
Why It’s Overused: It’s easy to tack on “very” for emphasis, but it’s vague and doesn’t pull its weight.
Instead of: “She was very tired.”
Try: “She was exhausted.” / “She dragged her feet like lead weights.”
💡 Tip: Use precise, vivid descriptions rather than vague intensifiers.
2. “Looked” and “Saw”
Why It’s Overused: It’s functional but flat, and it often tells instead of shows.
Instead of: “He looked at her in disbelief.”
Try: “His eyebrows shot up, his lips parting as if words had failed him.”
💡 Tip: Focus on body language or sensory details instead of relying on generic verbs.
3. “Suddenly”
Why It’s Overused: It’s often used to create surprise, but it tells readers how to feel instead of letting the scene deliver the shock.
Instead of: “Suddenly, the door slammed shut.”
Try: “The door slammed shut, the sound ricocheting through the empty room.”
💡 Tip: Let the action or pacing create urgency without needing to announce it.
4. “Said” (When Overdone or Misused)
Why It’s Overused: While “said” is often invisible and functional, using it in every dialogue tag can feel robotic.
Instead of: “I can’t believe it,” she said. “Me neither,” he said.
Try: Replace with an action:
“I can’t believe it.” She ran a hand through her hair, pacing.
“Me neither.” He leaned against the counter, arms crossed.
💡 Tip: Don’t ditch “said” entirely; just mix it up with context clues or action beats.
5. “Felt”
Why It’s Overused: It’s a shortcut that tells instead of showing emotions.
Instead of: “She felt nervous.”
Try: “Her palms slicked with sweat, and she couldn’t stop her leg from bouncing.”
💡 Tip: Let readers infer emotions through sensory details or behavior.
6. “Really” and “Actually”
Why It’s Overused: They add little to your sentences and can dilute the impact of stronger words.
Instead of: “I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Try: “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
💡 Tip: If a sentence works without these words, cut them.
7. “Walked” or “Ran”
Why It’s Overused: These are go-to movement words, but they can feel bland when used repeatedly.
Instead of: “He walked into the room.”
Try: “He strolled in like he owned the place.” / “He shuffled in, avoiding everyone’s eyes.”
💡 Tip: Use verbs that convey mood, speed, or attitude.
8. “Just”
Why It’s Overused: It sneaks into sentences unnecessarily, weakening your prose.
Instead of: “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”
Try: “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
💡 Tip: Delete “just” unless it adds essential nuance.
9. “Thought”
Why It’s Overused: It tells readers what a character is thinking instead of showing it through internal dialogue or action.
Instead of: “She thought he might be lying.”
Try: “His story didn’t add up. The timelines didn’t match, and he wouldn’t meet her eyes.”
💡 Tip: Immerse readers in the character’s perspective without announcing their thoughts.
10. “Nice” and Other Vague Adjectives
Why It’s Overused: It’s generic and doesn’t give readers a clear picture.
Instead of: “He was a nice guy.”
Try: “He always remembered her coffee order and held the door open, even when his arms were full.”
💡 Tip: Show qualities through actions instead of relying on vague descriptors.
Final Tips for Avoiding Overused Words:
1. Use a thesaurus wisely: Swap overused words for synonyms, but stay true to your character’s voice and the scene’s tone.
2. Read your work aloud: You’ll catch repetitive patterns and clunky phrases more easily.
3. Edit in layers: Focus on eliminating overused words during your second or third pass, not your first draft.
A quick and easy guide to the “evil creature” classification as it is presented in MDZS & CQL, as explained by Wei WuXian and Lan QiRen in canon. Disclaimer: I don’t read a lot of wuxia/xianxia and if the genre covers this I wouldn’t know. I’m 100% basing this off MDZS and only MDZS lol.
To Note: All four individual characters carry negative connotations by default. 《妖魔鬼怪》as a whole refers to the creatures to be exterminated by the cultivators. There are more positive terms for more positive creatures (example: 仙 (xiān) meaning “fairy”) but those won’t be covered in this post. Also artefact spirits such as sword spirits will also not be covered as they seem to form their own category in the context of this story.
妖 (yāo) - Formed from living non-humans (plants and animals)
The XuanWu likely falls under this category, along with the giant evil snakes that show up a lot in the anime.
Non-MDZS examples could include things like fox spirits, bamboo spirits etc.
Things like mermaids, dryads and goblins (living but was never human) can be categorised here if seen as generally malicious
“妖” is commonly translated as “spirit” or “demon” (in a sense of being similar to Japanese yōkai) in English, but there’s not an exact translation
魔 (mó) - Formed from living humans
The “corpse puppets” from CQL would fall in this category, since the humans aren’t technically dead when they become “corpse puppets”. I don’t think there were any actual examples in the original MDZS itself though???
Non-MDZS examples could include things like the futakuchi-onna from Japanese folklore (two-mouthed woman), (evil) witches that dabble in “bad” magic etc.
“魔” itself CAN mean “demonic” and/or “evil” on its own (not always), so I’m assuming that in MDZS at least, “demons” are seen as human-based
“魔” is commonly translated as “demon” or “devil” in English, but can refer to a malicious magical being as it also as it also can mean “magic” depending on its use
鬼 (guǐ) - Formed from dead humans
Fierce corpses, water ghouls, and wandering ghosts such as Wei WuXian’s giggling ghost ladies and A-Qing’s spirit fall into this category
Specifically anything that becomes non-human from a human after they actually die
Non-MDZS examples could include things like jiangshi (Chinese zombie-vampire hopping ghost), hanged ghosts, pocong (Indonesian burial shroud ghost), basically anything ghost-like or zombie-like etc.
“鬼” is the easiest to translate to English, almost perfectly translating to “ghost”
怪 (guài) - Formed from dead non-humans (plants and animals)
No given examples in MDZS/CQL
Non-MDZS examples could include things like a haunted dead tree stump (suggested by Wei WuXian in canon), the inugami from Japanese folklore (vengeful spirit of a dead dog)
100% would not look human in its true form (disregarding shapeshifting abilities)
Probably usually violent and feral
“怪” is commonly translated as “monster”, and when used in a phrase would describe something “weird” at best, and “monstrous” at worst. E.g 妖怪 (yāo guài) - “Monstrous Spirit”, 魔怪 (mó guài) - “Monster Demon”
(the only point I’d comment on here isn’t a main one, just something I want to elaborate on: translation of 仙 as “fairy.” I know it’s a common translation, and I know that JL’s dog’s name got tl’ed as that, but 仙 I would say is more like “celestial (being),” or “immortal,” bc 修仙 (xiuxian) is the goal of cultivation, to “cultivate to immortality,” and for example “Chief Cultivator” in MDZS/CQL is 仙督. I know 仙女，仙子 gets translated to “fairy” as a semi-canonized English translation, but again I think that’s a misunderstanding of what they are, or like it’s a translation that dates back to the times when ppl - usually old white men - were less cautious about translating and tended to editorialize translations more to fit their aesthetics/biases/etc. For me I’d say those are more “celestial maiden,” “celestial being” - I think in usage/folklore, 仙女 were the daughters of the Jade Emperor, or other maidens etc, but they live in the heavens; but 仙女 can be translated to “goddess,” too, like in the sense of a local deity - e.g. the Dancing Goddess in MDZS/CQL.
another point I want to bring up is 妖精 (yaojing), which seemingly has more… neutral tones to it? in comparison that is. It’s still negative, generally, but I don’t think it’s the same kind of evil as a 妖怪 (yaoguai), for example, and there are some yaojing who are not evil - which I think tends to be a common trope, like the 狐狸精 (hulijing, fox spirit), who is maybe taught that humans will revile them etc, but goes “against” the trope of working against humans etc.
An example of a 怪 that isn’t from MDZS would be the 年兽, the Nian monster/beast. I think it’s interesting that you have the Xuanwu as a 妖, bc if I weren’t trying to fit it according to the differentiation here, I’d probably call it a 怪物 and not a 妖怪, which I feel like implies a greater sense of sentience, vs a 怪物 which has more a beast-like level of sentience. I wonder what canon calls it specifically, if anything… I’d have to go track it down
Anyway, I think this is a good primer, but the problem I’ve been struggling with is when you start trying to apply it, I’m not really sure.. how it plays out? Especially when you start remixing the terms. so it’s very complex and I’m still trying to figure it out myself too
Hi! I would like to clarify that this post was specifically about just bare-bones of the 妖魔鬼怪 “concept”, and while I did know about the expanded meaning of 仙, it simply wasn’t the point of the post and I was specifically using the dog Fairy’s name (both the Chinese and translated versions) as an example because it was something easy to understand for MDZS/CQL fans. That being said, thanks for expanding on it because I was honestly debating on adding it in but didn’t want the post to get too long as I wanted to just make this an “easy ref” thing. Also I entirely forgot about the dancing goddess. Thanks for remembering her lol.
With 妖精 (yāo jīng), it definitely is more on the neutral side. If we were to put it into simplistic MDZS context, it would imply a non-human living creature that is more of a mischievous trickster than actually harmful. In my family, this is why we refer to most “harmless” Japanese yōkai as 妖精 instead of 妖怪 even though 妖怪 (yāo guài / yōkai) are written the same. This is by no means a general Chinese-Japanese translation though, this is just how it is in my family, but even then the terms are really used very interchangeably.
Oh the Nian is a good example of a 怪, thanks! I do actually agree with you on calling the XuanWu a 怪物 in general, but in canon it’s stated that the thing is alive. I took the category definitions from the novel in Chinese, and in the same scene Wei WuXian says a living tree of 100 years can become a 妖, while a dead tree stump can become a 怪, so I’m assuming that MDZS lore disregards level of sentience in classifying these creatures. The XuanWu was distinctively alive, and was the easiest example to use as a result. This isn’t taking into account the fact that it’s also a false-divine creature, hence also the use of the word “likely” when I categorised it. Canon doesn’t give us much of its actual origin, just that it “appeared” and ate people, so we don’t have much to go on without speculation.
This post was simply meant to be something of a “beginner’s guide”, nothing too in-depth because, like you said, this stuff is complicated and branches out quite a bit. Canon itself has issues with classification, seeing as the concept itself isn’t really mentioned in practice, only in theory in a classroom.
With the start of 2025 we bring to you our second Rarepair Event! Calling all PregXian fans and rarepair enthusiasts. The much awaited PregXian Rarepair Fest is here! Show some love to your favourite Rarepairs!! Fill in our interest check to join the event and the discord server. We will see you there!!
Fill out form here!!
Special thank you to the artist xa_wein for letting us use this gorgeous art piece. You can find him here.
Important Note:
We gladly accept all bottom!WWX pairings. Including poly/cracksips, as well as rarepairings. Flaming and disputes will not be tolerated. You have been warned.
This Is What Happens When You Leave Two Crackshippers Starving and High on Copium
Summay:
Basically a brainstorming session between me and my friend that took a straight nosedive into complete lunacy that all began with a "Hey! Why don't we just give Wei Wuxian a high school reverse-harem AU? Wouldn't that be hilarious?!"
This was essentially the very first WWX-centric reverse-harem AU Heiyu (who you'll find on AO3) and I ever discussed. After checking the word count of that WHOLE freakin’ discussion, what led up to it and what conclusions were drawn, here are the results:
It had reached 6K+ words. We ended up crossing over with other danmei (TGCF, SVSSS and Word of Honor). The amount of pairings that would be produced if all the men in the harem decided to play human musical chairs would be 100+ pairings.
SO!!! Without further ado, I’m gonna go ahead and show anyone who's interested the whole discussion in its entirety, as well as the lore additions and you can all decide if you wanna pitch in, leave it be, or call Heiyu and I insane.
Here it is, the WWX-centric reverse-harem in Modern AU that nobody asked for!!! I hope you enjoy this!!!
Important Note: To anyone who's reading this thing, please bear in mind this is a DISCUSSION about a fic idea I had with a friend, Heiyu (also known as Jinyu). I just copy pasted our convo and you can see how that new verse expanded and was talked about. I briefly thought of writing an actual fic for this, but decided against it because it would just be so freakin' long!!! You'll understand what I mean in a minute.
Read at your own discretion, don't take it too seriously ('cause it's all crack anyways) and just have fun with the insane premise/pairings!!
((Discussion Start):
Sylvie-Laoshi: WWX is still learning the ‘quirks’ of each Calamity. 😆
Jinjin: He is new, he deserves some slack. 😌
Sylvie-Laoshi: My thoughts exactly. 🤣 Give him a break. He’s the equivalent of the new kid who transferred when the term was already half done. 🤭
Jinjin: Poor thing, it is good that the class president equivalent of the ghost realm is so inclined to help him! 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: Yes! 🤣🤣🤣……. If HC’s the class president, would that make HX the vice-president or the secretary? 🤔
Jinjin: Good question 🤔 HX is the secretary. Yin Yu is the vice president who actually does all the work 😜
Sylvie-Laoshi: Perfect. Absolutely perfect. 🤣🤣🤣 We all know Qi Rong will be the troublemaker/problem kid/head bully? And Bai Wuxiang? Maybe the boogie man? Like the school kid that mysteriously died in the bathroom? (I plan on having HC & HX stating that BWX is just a legend. No need to introduce him. 😑)
Jinjin: BWX can be the homeroom teacher? That is never seen?
Sylvie-Laoshi: I like where you’re going with this. 🤣
Jinjin: And yes It is better if wwx stays away from BWX lest he gain an obsession for WWX too 😐
Sylvie-Laoshi: Uh huh. I can’t even IMAGINE how that would go. 🤢 What about Wen Qing and Wen Ning? The school nurse and the quiet kid in class? 🤔
Jinjin: If they are in high school then Wen Qing can be the member of the student council who is responsible for the maintenance of the infirmary (?) like an apprentice to the doctor or nurse there. Wen Ning is definitely the shy, bullied child in class
Sylvie-Laoshi: Not anymore he’s not! If the new kid, Wei Ying has anything to say about it! 🤣🤣🤣
Jinjin: Oh definitely!! WWX gained his bad boy reputation in this new school when he beat up the bullies and saved Wen Ning. What is the pairing here? Huaxian?
Sylvie-Laoshi: Why stop at HuaXian? 👀
Jinjin: Oh 👀…. How many in this harem?
Sylvie-Laoshi: It can be as many as you want! Provided that the ship doesn’t have fucking QR or JW in them. 🤢 Hua Cheng. He Xuan. Pei Ming. Xie Lian. Even Yin Yu (but secretly, because he’s too shy to acknowledge his own feelings)…..
Jinjin: Oho 👀…I see. Also, please keep wwx away from those two disasters 🤢
Sylvie-Laoshi: We can even have characters from MDZS and SVSSS, if you want. I also wouldn’t mind adding other danmei if you’re up for it…. 👀
Jinjin: Like Wen Kexing…?
Sylvie-Laoshi: You knew where my mind was going!! 🤣🤣🤣 Would Wen Kexing be HC’s rival? 🤔 like originally WKX WANTED to be class president, but HC won by one vote?
Jinjin:That would be delicious!! I think at least from MDZS we can snag lwj, NMJ (?) Oh wait. we can make the Lan Bros actual twins who are in love with wwx 😆
Sylvie-Laoshi: YES!!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 If LWJ is in this AU, he’s gonna be competing with SO MANY strong opponents…. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Jinjin: Wait wait!! Factions within the student council!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: YES! Who’s on whose side/group/clique?! 🤔
Jinjin: Well all the above mentioned are already in the harem so....... I guess that work can be left to the NPCs?
Sylvie-Laoshi: No arguments here. The rest of the background characters can take care of the school. I’m just here for the drama! ☺️
Jinjin: Me too 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: We didn’t even mention the SVSSS characters!
Jinjin: Wait, who is nominated from svsss for the harem 👀
Sylvie-Laoshi: The Shen twins (Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan), identical twins, but people COULD tell them apart once you start talking to them. Shen Yuan is a lovable goof who’s waaaaaay into critiquing romance novels, while Shen Jiu’s the school Ice Queen who’s a bit of a fashionista. (But nobody says that to his face).
Jinjin: Oh… I....... I can't convey my excitement right now 😵💫😖😍 Two pair twins!!!! These two definitely!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: Also, LBH (without a doubt) the perfect straight A student AND Liu Qingge, the celebrity jock, whose a bit of a dum dum, because he fails to realize that there are girls (and guys) openly flirting with him, but he just thinks they’re being too nice.
Jinjin: I was going to add these two!! 😍 They needed to be there! Oh but we didn't decide what the characters of Tgcf harem members and MDZS harem members are. The shy nice baby -Wen Ning's friend- Xie Lian (?) HC and HX and YY are done.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Yes. Absolutely. 💯 AGREED! I never thought of these two being friends, but that’s PERFECT! Alright! I already mentioned HC, HX, PM, SQX, YY and XL.
As for the MDZS characters… LXC, LWJ, NMJ and maybe Meng Yao? He’s not gonna be a bad guy in this one. Soooo….. 🤷♀️
Jinjin: WN and XL would just ✨vibe✨ And yup, I don't have anything against Meng Yao until he turns into JGY
Sylvie-Laoshi: Pei Ming would be the most obvious about his liking for WWX. He’ll just openly flirt with him in front of THE WHOLE CLASS (he should be the school’s playboy) maybe do some cheesy wall-slams, buy WWX lunch, just doing the most, but WWX is sometimes denser than LQG at times.
Jinjin: 💯 Agreed!!!!! Also let's make wwx from a higher middle class family. Not the poor uke troupe please.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Yup! Everyone here either came from New Money (HC, HX maybe PM and Shen Twins too) or Old Money (XL, WN, SQX, the Lans and so on).
Jinjin: Agreed! Definitely!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: I always imagined WWX’s parents to be highly successful in (whatever) careers they have. So, DEFINITELY not from a poor background. But the whole cast is still ready to use their money to spoil WWX. 🤣🤣🤣
Jinjin: They are! 😂 And WWX in his head is like " guys I can buy my own lunch, you know that right? RIGHT?!!"
Sylvie-Laoshi: The whole freakin’ harem that WWX doesn’t know he has: “Of course we know! But we just reaaaaaallly feel like buying something for you today, okay?”
Jinjin: Think about so many people just floundering about school trying to catch a glimpse of wwx 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: This would spread to the rest of the student body like wildfire. Now WWX has the school newspaper trying to catch pictures of him/interview him. Asking him what’s his secret for catching so many fine specimens in the span of a few weeks. 🤣🤣🤣
Jinjin: Wwx in his interview, "I am so glad that I made so many friends so soon too! AND they are so caring!!" The student body reading this,"the ice queen? The disciplinarian? The president? The vice president? The demon lord? Where is the nice and kind aura here!!!!"
Also! Also! We can divide the harem members in different classes! The mdzs in one, Tgcf in one and svsss in one! The other two classes are so jealous that wwx was assigned the mdzs class 😂. HC even tried to meddle with class allotment for wwx 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: Ohhhhh! What if HC (since I’m a hardcore HuaXian shipper at heart) was the first one to fall for WWX? Poor WWX got lost on his way to school and ended up on the other side of the town he just moved to, HC sees a kid wearing the same school uniform as him and sees that the kid is going in the WRONG direction, so chooses to help him out. They talk on the way and he starts developing a crush during their long trek to the school. 😍
Jinjin: Done! This is what happened! Also cut the poor boy some slack! He is new to town! 🥺
Sylvie-Laoshi: Soooooo truuuuue!
Wen Qing (the bff who’s watching this shit show): Wei Ying! You’re supposed to be smart! We’re in the 21st century. There’s NOTHING heteronormative about this!!!! Use your head for ONCE IN YOUR LIFE!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭
Jinjin: Wen Qing is tired ok!! She had to listen to no less than three people asking her if they were sick because their heart was beating faster than usual and it hurts sometimes!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: It was probably SJ, LWJ and XL. All three of them can be so oblivious to their own feelings sometimes. 🤣🤣🤣
Jinjin: Exactly my thought!! 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: She then gets a visit from LQG asking for the SAME EXACT thing. Wen Qing is about ready to explode. 😆 If Wen Qing finds out about Wen Ning’s crush on WWX, would she root for him, help him out or just goes ‘it’s your funeral, hun.’? 🤔🤔🤔
Jinjin: She wants to quit!! When she sees Wen Ning entering the infirmary she feels dread creeping up her spine and when Wen Ning asks the same thing "Not you too A-Ning!!!!"
Poor Wen Ning was just here because he has actual heart problems. 😭 Why did jiejie shout? Wen Qing felt so guilty, she forgot for a second that her didi was actually sick 😞
Sylvie-Laoshi: Oh my gooooooood!!! What a great punchline!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Jinjin: WQ roots for him definitely but this is without a doubt her first reaction~~
Sylvie-Laoshi: Undoubtedly. 🤭 What’s the story on how the rest of the harem fell for WWX? We already got HC covered. 🤔
Jinjin: XL definitely fell for WWX when he defended Wen Ning from the bullies, same for innocent WN. Lwj fell in love because wwx was breathing. LXC fell in love gradually when both of them enrolled for the wind instrument class. Which had devolved into duet sessions by the two of them…
Sylvie-Laoshi: I LOVE THIS! And it’s something that only the two of them (LXC & WWX) can share here! ❤️❤️❤️ What about WKX? 😏
I’m thinking that since WWX is well-read, they could have.. like a library meet-cute. WKX was practicing a recital for literature club, WWX walks by him and accidentally knocks over a bunch of books at the top shelf, causing an avalanche that would’ve fallen DIRECTLY on WWX’s head, WKX pushes him out of the way on time, and you get an accidental wall-slam moment with soul-gazing for a few seconds. Both of them are still processing what just happened.
Jinjin: WKX being the student head of the Library! Their sweet moments are all about books and that corner in the Library where the sunbeams hit just right in the evening giving it the warm, cosy feeling. (romantic too! Wwx just doesn't get this part🤭)
Sylvie-Laoshi: We’re gonna be stretching out the “he doesn’t know they’re in love with him” trope soooooooo much in this one. 🤣😭🤣😭🤣
Jinjin: So true 😂 but it's so fun!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: Hmmm. What about the Shen Twins (specifically Shen Jiu) how would WWX manage to capture SJ’s icy-cold heart? 🤔🤔🤔
Jinjin: Let's take up the Fashionista troupe up 🤭 For a week straight wwx dresses so atrociously that SJ just goes up to him and " take my number, we are going to yours this evening you need some FASHION ADVICE for god's sake!!" (Wwx has nice clothes but not the sense of how to wear them and SJ is exasperated"
Sylvie-Laoshi: Oh my god. Yessss. And everyone in the harem interprets it as the Ice Queen finally making his move and decided to take their flirting up a notch. 🤣🤣🤣
And maybe Shen Yuan tags along for the SJ & WWX fashion show (since his poor twin doesn’t have any friends and he wants to encourage some kind of bond between his older brother and the new kid). He sees WWX’s book collection and just starts ranting over this book or that, WWX watches wide-eyed (for a guy who drops constant F-bombs, he gives some good critique!) and encourages Shen Yuan to keep going, following his advice on what to/and what NOT to read, while SJ’s brow’s twitching in irritation. Digging through WWX’s walk-in-closet for the best outfit combos.
Jinjin: SY and WWX are out there in the corner huddling over a book they read exchanging critique while SJ is in the walk-in closet obsessing over clothes. Once in a while he makes wwx stand in the centre of the room to see if the combo fits wwx's physique or not.
Sylvie-Laoshi: First day with the three of them together and they've already got a nice and comfortable (almost domestic you might say!) dynamic down. 😂 😂 😂.
Jinjin: The next day, everyone is blown away when wwx comes to school the next day.
Sylvie-Laoshi: They all just can’t look away…. Some of them even secretly took photos on their phones as WWX walked by (HC, PM and LWJ definitely did at least). 🤭
Jinjin: 😂 😂😂 But the Lan Twins are not happy! The Shens are too close!! This is war!! ⚔️
Sylvie-Laoshi: It's the Lan Twins vs the Shen Twins! Gather up everyone! They're about to have a showdown! (SJ already voted that it should be a fashion competition first and then a musical one second). 🤣 🤣 🤣
Jinjin: LXC will have you know that Lans aren't old money for nothing!! They have an impeccable fashion sense!! LWJ in the corner already giving up on the fashion show and preparing for the music competition. He will win that one for sure!! (lwj is actually the head of the disciplinary committee, btw)
Sylvie-Laoshi: That's soooooo in character for both of them! Oh my gooooooood! 🤣 🤣 Also, I can't imagine a more perfect role for LWJ other than being in the disciplinary committee. 😂
Jinjin: I couldn't think of anything else. The Library was occupied already after all and so were the music lessons.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Truuuuuuueeee. We got so many young talents in this school... If it's not the most prestigious school in all of China, I'm eating my keyboard.....🤣
Jinjin: Oh it definitely is! 😂…What of NMJ, though?
Sylvie-Laoshi: Oooooooh! Could he be head of the wrestling club (who's already won a few gold medals)?! And XL a part of the fencing club? Or dancing. I could see him go either way, really. I don't know what roles they can have in the school committee, though. 🤔
Jinjin: Let's do it like this, XL has actually been a member of three clubs but was removed from two because of something or the other. Dance then fencing and now he is in the eco-club dedicated to the preservation of the environment in and around the school and city. NMJ, XL and the rest can be club representatives for their respective clubs. I can definitely see NMJ being the school wrestling champion. He is one of those sports people who are already making a career in their fields
Sylvie-Laoshi: I love how you snuck in the 'thrice-ascended' god reference! 🤣
Jinjin: Can't forget the thrice ascended reference now can we 😌
Sylvie-Laoshi: NMJ’s already successful before he even left highschool! What an impressive young man, indeed! (Why does a part of me think that WWX would be a bit of a fanboy for this NMJ? Like kid!WWX was REALLY into fighting sports, wrestling was one of his favourites and now he gets to meet one on his way to becoming a national champion...?)🤩
Jinjin: Oh like a Yuri on ice idolization!! Just that wwx in not a wrestler.
Sylvie-Laoshi: I love how your mind works! 🥰. Ooooorrrrrr WWX just really likes fighting and asks NMJ on how to fight opponents bigger than him. This then evolves into them having semi-sparring sessions.... 🤭
Jinjin: Oh my~ 🤭 things can get quite hot in this scenario
Sylvie-Laoshi: Indeeeeed~ 😏
Jinjin: NMJ was not ready for the sudden heart disease he seems to have caught maybe he should go consult Wen Qing 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: This is gonna be a running gag. I just know it..... 🤣
Jinjin: Definitely 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: Ooooohhh! Here's an idea for an arc!
Jinjin: Oh…?
Sylvie-Laoshi: Poor WWX doesn't know which club to join!! He JUST transferred! And you're only allowed to be in one, but all his 'friends' are scattered in so many different clubs!
Jinjin: 😂 oh woe is he. He has so many 'friends' who should he join 😔
Sylvie-Laoshi: This can then evolve into lots of spats/arguments between the 'friends' where all of them try to sway WWX into joining THEIR club. *Gasp* LBH should be representative of the cooking club!!!
Jinjin: How could we forget!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: Sorry. We COMPLETELY forgot about him. (So many characters, man.....😅 🤣)
Jinjin: Well no one is a contender in the lunch department now 😂 But the popularity of this man and his legendary dishes knows no bounds 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: Definitely. He is the unchallenged/unbeaten winner chef in this story. 😂
Jinjin: Well the lunch arc goes to LBH. He is the final winner. The music one will definitely go to the Lan twins.
Sylvie-Laoshi: The gardening/eco-club to XL.
Jinjin: We sidelined poor YY too.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Oooof. Yes. Poor YY! He would be the vice-president of his class, right? Since HC's president.
Jinjin: They were the student council president and vice president weren't they? That is why there was rivalry between HC and WKX.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Yeah! We mentioned that a while back (best to keep our facts checked. So many different roles here!) 🤣
Jinjin: I think YY would fall in love if wwx picked the papers that slipped from his hands because there were too many. All with the angle effect in the background 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: That can be on WWX's first day at school! And then a cleaning closet scene would be their second encounter! 🤩 As in: WWX accidently made a mess during his 'try-out day' in the cooking club. Feeling flustered, he rushes to a cleaning closet and there he finds the cute, quiet kid that he ran into before, who's always following HC around like his personal secretary (even though that's supposed to be HX's job), Yin Yu. Currently napping next to the cleaning supplies.
Jinjin: Oh please yes!!!! 😍 I can just see wwx thinking. Oh poor thing and then going to the supply closet and bringing over a blanket for YY. MEET-CUTE!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: YESSSSS! And YY was actually AWAKE, but pretended like he was still sleeping (he's a light-sleeper, because he didn't want a teacher to catch him napping in the closet. It would set a bad example as the vice-president) 🤭
Jinjin: And here starts the story of the shy vice president who didn't declare his love openly because he was scared of the president 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: Class president Hua Cheng would work him to death if he did. 🤣 🤣 🤣
Jinjin: He would 🤣
Sylvie-Laoshi: What of Pei Ming? How would their meet-cute go? 🤔
Jinjin: I can't say? He is a playboy after all. But it can go like this, PM flirting with Wwx and not expecting the comeback from wwx and then floundering through the conversation flustered JZX style. Wwx was a certified flirt in canon.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Like the smug player who didn't think he could be outmatched! 🤣
Jinjin: Exactly!! 🤣
Sylvie-Laoshi: Truuuuueee! And this would be the ONE time where he's 100% sure that a guy was flirting with him, since it's common knowledge that PM likes both guys and girls. 🤣 🤣
Jinjin: But wwx from then onwards thinks that PM is in a competition of out flirting each other
Sylvie-Laoshi: And doesn't ACTUALLY think that PM might be interested in him because OF COURSE he doesn't! 🤣 🤦♀️
Jinjin: Well PM this is Karma 😂 When the entire harem has confessed and has been accepted (way off into the future) PM still has friend status. The harem literally pitied him and told WWX that PM actually loved him. Please put him out of his misery.
Sylvie-Laoshi: The fact that PM (of ALL people) would be the last one to join..... That's comedy gold right there. 😂 😂 😂
Jinjin: It is 😂😂😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: Hmmm. Now all that's left are LBH, LQG and Meng Yao. How would their meet-cutes go? 🤔
Jinjin: I don't know 😔
Sylvie-Laoshi: Hmmm. Well LBH would be the representative of the cooking club. Meng Yao could be in charge of the school newspaper (since gossip and rumours are his bread & butter in canon) OR head of the drama club, since he's such an excellent actor. As for LQG, tennis or football champ (I'm thinking of a sport that's most suitable for his physique)....
Jinjin: LQG fits tennis very well 🤔
Sylvie-Laoshi: WE FORGOT HE XUAN AND SHI QINGXUAN!!! 🤯
Jinjin: Yikes!!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: Ironic that it's both of them together....🤣
Jinjin: SQX definitely has the friends to lovers trope. They have such playful personalities they just go with the flow into friendship and then evolve into some more as they spend time together
Sylvie-Laoshi: He and WWX honestly wouldn't have it any other way....😂
Jinjin: They wouldn't 😌. He Xuan can have his time to shine in the club arc where he is the secretary and has to introduce WWX to every club so that he can make a decision thus spending a lot of time with him. They are all serious conversation and HX falls hard when he sees wwx smile be hyperactive but calm down and get down to actual business when it comes to important matters
Sylvie-Laoshi: Yes! HX would definitely love the non-hesitant, serious decision-making side of WWX, who also doesn't take himself tooooo seriously.
Jinjin: Wwx would be the kind of balance that Hx really appreciates.
Sylvie-Laoshi: You know what?! Let's have SQX be the head of the drama club (he seems like the hyperactive theatre kid type) and Meng Yao could be in charge of the school newspaper, while ALSO keeping the nasty rumours about WWX at bay (once MY falls for WWX that is 🤭 )
Jinjin: Oh we totally forgot the easiest way to MY's heart!! Wwx argues that his mother shouldn't be made fun of for being a single mother if it was the father that left him and that she is a dedicated mother who brought up her son all alone!
Sylvie-Laoshi: And from there WWX (unknowingly) got MY *locked* on him! 🤩 😂
Jinjin: He did 🤭
Sylvie-Laoshi: Now for LQG….
Jinjin: Oh…?
Sylvie-Laoshi: I'm thinking that during his exploration of the school, WWX decided to take ONE tennis lesson just to see if he's up for it (he knows how to play, but his skills are average). On that same day, LQG was supposed to have a fierce training session with a champion from a rival school at the same time as WWX's tennis lesson, but the rival delayed (and nobody told LQG)....So! LQG goes to the tennis court, on his A-game, thinking that the raven head on the other side was his opponent, served......and knocked WWX to the ground, giving him a concussion because he hit the ball too hard (WWX didn't see it coming). LQG had to carry him to the nurse's office. 🤣 🤣 It's soooooo dumb. But also soooooo LQG..... 😂
Jinjin: This would be so precious 😂 LQG would feel so very guilty after this!
Sylvie-Laoshi: HE WOULD! The next few weeks, WWX keeps getting mysterious packages of spicy snacks in his school locker and doesn't know who keeps putting them in there! (LQG asked around and found out that WWX likes spicy food. This is his way of apologising). 🤣
Jinjin: He is a bit emotionally constipated and can't say sorry to his face thus begins the take of the secret snack provider. One day wwx gets to school early and hides behind another row of lockers just to see who was leaving him snacks. When he finds LQG he shouts "it's you!!". Maybe both of them like spicy snacks and that becomes their bonding point.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Yeaaaaah! New head-canon for LQG!!! 🤣 🤣 Now for LBH, I think I FINALLY have a meet-cute for him....
One day, WWX woke up REALLY late (maybe it was right after the concussion episode and his body-clock hasn't fully recovered yet). He runs to the kitchen to prepare his own lunch-box (usually his mom would help him with that, but she already went off to work, probably thinking that WWX's ALREADY at school and not over-sleeping). During recess, WWX goes to the school's rooftop for some peace and quiet since his head was still pounding (cliche as hell, I know). He sits down there and cracks open his lunchbox, about to start a meal, when he hears a new voice exclaiming: "HOW did a simple congee came out to be THAT shade of red?!" WWX snaps his head in the voice's direction and finds another kid, just huddling there in his corner, several books open infront of him (doing HOMEWORK during recess! WWX thinks disbelievingly), inspecting WWX cooking style (or lack thereof).
LBH nods to himself and asks: "You have anything after school?"
WWX: "No...?"
LBH: "Good. Meet me in the cooking club once you're done with your last class."
Jinjin: Cliche but nice!! 😆 Wwx was so bewildered with this person suddenly bossing him around and LBH was dying inside with each bite wwx takes of that red monstrosity.
Sylvie-Laoshi: LBH is probably thinking to himself that WWX has no taste buds. How else could he eat that and NOT gag?!
Jinjin: No gag huh 😏
I am so sorry 😂 It's just heavenly pillar and no gag what was I supposed to think 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: Oh my god. You evil genius you~ 🤣
Jinjin: What evil genius?! I felt second-hand embarrassment from my own comment!! It was so.......*facepalm*
Sylvie-Laoshi: Don't worry about it.... This is a judgement free zone!!!
Jinjin: Thank you!!! *sigh*
Sylvie-Laoshi: Aaaaaaannnnnddddddd thus starts the arc of LBH TRYING to teach WWX how to cook, but somehow WWX just CAN'T get it right. LBH gives up and resolves to just cook WWX lunch everyday JUST so he doesn't accidently give himself food-poisoning! 🤣
Jinjin: The perfect house husband manners!! Mama wei approves 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: Oh my god. Wei Ying's parents would have a riot once they find out the complete shit show that's their son's love-life!!! 🤣 🤣 😭
Jinjin: They would 😂🤣😭. Wei Changze is having a crisis!! There are 10 too many sons-in law here!! His baby is in danger!! While Cangse Sanren is having the time of her life! She is making a ranking of all her son's boyfriends 😂🤣
Sylvie-Laoshi: WCZ’s ONLY baby at that!!!!
Jinjin: WCZ is thinking of moving to a different city once again 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: No! He's thinking of moving to a whole different planet all together!!! Somewhere that DOES NOT have any other man chasing after his precious boy!!!!
Jinjin: 😂😂😂. There is a sense of doom hanging over WCZ. I am sure he faints at some point 😂.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Just once? I feel like he'll be fainting multiple times in this story~
Jinjin: No no this is the start of WCZ fainting side series 😂
I know we made the entire harem for wwx but how does it function in the modern world?
Sylvie-Laoshi: I have no cluuuuuuuuuueeeeeee 😭 😭 😭
Jinjin: Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: THEY'RE RICH PEOPLE! They don't go by the same rules that us peasants do!!!!
Jinjin: 😂 they don't!!! There really are too many 😂 I can't think of something feasible 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: What have we done....? Jinyu...? I think we took it waaaaaay too far this time!!! 😂 😭 😂 😭 😂 😭
Jinjin: Definitely not!! Everything is fair in love, war and fandom!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: I genuinely cannot think of a better slogan for dedicated shippers. You summed it up perfectly. 😍 How many are in the harem now? I lost count....😅
Jinjin: Okay, so there's:
LBH
SY
SJ
LQG
HC
HX
YY
XL
SQX
PM
LXC
WJ
MY
WN
NMJ
Anyone else?
Sylvie-Laoshi: WKX…
Jinjin: Oh yes!
Sylvie-Laoshi: You know what?! Why don't we add Shi Wudu, Xue Yang and Zhou Zishu in there for good measure? At this point, adding more isn't gonna make things any worse (it has already went FAR PAST the insane stage) 🤣 😭 🤣 😭
Jinjin: Let's go! We are already in too deep 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: We've already fully embraced the madness~
Jinjin: Their dating life isn't going to be that difficult but adult life with a harem is going to be challenging.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Maybe they can all mark their calendars? See which days they can have WWX to themselves...? 🤷♀️
Jinjin: Well two of them are going for international sports. They are going to be busy. Meng Yao is probably going to join the paparazzi; he is also not going to have much time. Lan twins are old money which comes with responsibility. Same for Shen twins. They will no doubt make time for wwx but work is not going to leave them be. WN is probably going to pursue a medical degree and we know the condition of medical students. He will be there but mostly tired. HC is new money and needs to keep up with his company and YY is of course with him. HX will have the same problem and he is alone so that's a greater problem. SQX is either going to be an actor or a model, both of which will take a lot of time. WKX (is he old or new money?) has a lot of open options but I think he will open a bookshop maybe with a dream of owning his own Library. LBH is definitely going to become a cook and his most time out of all of them.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Hmm. Both of WKX’s parents are doctors (since they were healers in canon) but WKX didn't wanna pursue the same career-path as his parents. So yeah. Let's go with the bookshop option. ❤️
Jinjin: Sweet XL is definitely going to be an activist with the UN or something. He is also old money.
Sylvie-Laoshi: That suits him so well! ☺️
Jinjin: All this to say they are all very busy and won't be with wwx at the same time except for maybe new years and Christmas and such festivals. They buy a big house contributing their own share from their first salaries and live in the same place (for wwx of course)
Though we can say this harem has side canon pairings too. Or fanon.
Sylvie-Laoshi: Yesss! Let the HuaLian, Beefleaf, Bingqui (he can have both twins if he wants), WenZhao ships thrive at the same time! (And maybe they can mix it up a bit too! HC & HX, XL & SQX, LWJ & LBH and so on and so on. I feel like we're gonna need to make several charts JUST to keep track of all the pairings.... 😂
Jinjin: I think so too 😂 They’re all gonna be a big happy gen z family 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: Also, I counted how many harem members (if you include SWD, XY and ZZ) then that would be 19 boyfriends/lovers/husbands for our dear WWX. I do NOT feel an ounce of pity whatsoever!!! 🤣 🤣 🤣
Jinjin: Neither do I 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: You know TWENTY men will be living under the same roof, RIGHT?! And we're not even including potential kids here!!!!
Jinjin: POTENTIAL KIDS?!! Let's go!! Make this a men can get pregnant verse!! (Not omegaverse).
Sylvie-Laoshi: WWX shouldn't be the only one to get pregnant! We got several bottoms here too! They can take up some of the load (PLEASE for the love of god DO NOT make WWX birth out NINETEEN kids -at the least-!!!!)
Jinjin: We shall not!!!! That it why it's not omegaverse 😂
But how many couples does a 20 people group make?? 😀
Sylvie-Laoshi: This is why I suggested charts. Because there's NO WAY we can keep track of even ONE character crossing over to other pairings! And we're not even including throuples here!!!
Jinjin: OMG throuples 😱 Wait wait let me see how many couples that makes at least 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: The longer we talk, the more insane we're getting.... 😭
Jinjin: So I may have done a mostly right calculation and there would be 171(?!) couples if everyone is involved with everyone except for the twins with each other….
Sylvie-Laoshi: I feel like this is the kind of crazy project that a whole STAFF of fanfic authors need to work on to make it functional (while also high on crack)..................................
Jinjin: 😂 you think we are high on crack 😂😂😂 I can't stop laughing 🤣
Sylvie-Laoshi: I can't stop either 🤣
Jinjin: Just think, 171 pairings!! 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: We were JUST talking about Well Matched (one of my published fics)! Then I was the one who decided that WWX should have a reverse-harem. 🤣 😭
Jinjin: Oh shit we were talking about well matched!!!!
Sylvie-Laoshi: You remember that WangXian fic that went viral, had like a 100+ tags and basically broke AO3?! I feel like THIS idea would be JUST like that, if not worse!!!!
Jinjin: 😂 it would break Ao3!! But this time it would be the relationships column that is going to have 100+ tags 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: I don't know if it will even ALLOW you to put 171 pairings....🤣
Jinjin: 😂 well then the entire first chapter would be FILLED with pairing 😈mwhahahahhaha
Sylvie-Laoshi: SO TRUUUUUUEEEE! It will be filled with JUST WWX-centric pairings in the beginning before slowly but surely crossing over with other characters till the sheer monstrosity shows itself in all its terrifying glory!!!!!
I think....this is our craziest tangent to date..... 😵💫
Jinjin: Is there any doubt?!! 🤣 People are going to run away before reaching the second chapter. Unless they are as you said "high on crack" 🤣
Sylvie-Laoshi: Nope! I don’t doubt it one bit! And I don't know if I should be proud or terrified!
Jinjin: Now, that I can't answer 😅 somewhere in between? I think it shows that we had been fandom deprived as this was our conversation on a Tuesday evening…The most tiresome day of the week.
Sylvie-Laoshi: I have to say, that is a very accurate assessment… Let's just shelve this......goliath of an idea (I genuinely don't know if we can EVER revisit an idea this insane, but two rarepair-starved shippers can dream....🥺 ).
Jinjin: They can dream alright. They already did. If there was a third person here either it would be someone as crazy or we would be getting blocked 😂
Sylvie-Laoshi: This was sooooooooooo fun. Definitely had my creative juices flowing like crazy. I had a blast!
Jinjin: Tell me about it!! It was so fun!! 😂 Made my week I think I will think of this idea and get through this week easily 🤣
Sylvie-Laoshi: Glad that you can have something new to cheer you up whenever you feel down!!! ❤️ I think it's best that we call it a night. It's probably past 1:00 AM there. And I'm feeling pretty tired myself. But this was THE BEST thought experiment we've had!! I'll keep you posted for any future projects!
Jinjin: Good Night! 💤 Take lots of rest!
Sylvie-Laoshi: You too! Goodnight~
((Discussion End))
Further Lore for the Other Harem Members:
1. Zhou Zishu (Word of Honor): Jinjin suggested that WKX and ZZS could be one of the few established couples before any of the reverse-harem drama happened. WenZhou were childhood sweethearts that officially started dating while in middle school. WKX was the one who introduced WWX to ZZS, after they both start catching feelings, they decide to ‘experiment’ by having an open-relationship (they are oddly one of the few ‘mature’ members of the harem). And thus starts the arc of the most ‘experienced’ couple in the harem taking turns wooing WWX. Sometimes double combo-ing by smoothly inviting WWX to after school hangouts. Since WenZhou lived their whole lives in that town and they’re just tryna show the ‘new kid’ around~
ZZS can be the head of a fencing and/or mixed martial arts club. Unfortunately, I don’t think there would be a club for alcohol brewing. Not in a SCHOOL!!!)
Also, ZZS can drink WWX under the table. I’m SURE of it!!! )
2. Mo Xuanyu (MDZS): Jinjin had the brilliant idea of making MXY an underclassman who joins a year after WWX and was bullied in his previous school for both being gay and having a teen single mother. It keeps to his canon-pathos, but thankfully he’ll find acceptance in the harem/this lunacy of a group.
3. Xue Yang (MDZS): It was suggested that XY could be a foster kid/orphan who got into the school via a scholarship. It makes him the odd one out who had to use his wits and genius and claw his way up to where he is now. He’s a loner, a guy who just likes to unsettle people with dark ‘jokes’ for shits and giggles AND is the head of chemistry club. Makes perfect sense, the most dangerous place in a school that one can imagine are near acids, fire, reactive metals and what not. And maybe he has a similar obsession with chemicals and explosions like Maomao from Apothecary Diaries. Could be a nice zainey reference to his canon insanity. The only other thing he would be obsessed with is WWX and maybe Meng Yao/JGY.
4. Nie Huaisang (MDZS): Another friend made a hilarious suggestion, where NHS is the one who shows up to meetings, but has no official job. Everyone wonders why he is there and when asked he says: “Da-ge is my ride.” (or something equally ridiculous). Everyone assumes since he’s the lazy little brother who has average grades and whines whenever he’s given any sort of task, that he’s just an unambitious wimp. But as it turns out he was behind several betting pools about who would date WWX first, what kind of dates they would be, who would start in-fighting within the harem first, who would WIN in a fight and so on. NMJ still wonders to this day how NHS made so much money (their parents refused to give him any more pocket-money as punishment for his shit grades). Also, imagine everyone's shocked expressions when they find out NHS sideled his way into the harem with hardly anyone noticing (he just couldn't standby and watch from the sidelines anymore. )
5. Shi Wudu (TGCF): Jinjin and I decided on a very (un)subtle canon reference by making SWD head of the swimming club. One of the most common clubs in schools + it TOTALLY won’t leave room for very wet and juicy descriptions. (Jinjin said it, not me ). For added tension in the harem, SWD was gunning for head of the fashion club, but Shen Jiu beat him to the punch and now SWD has a SJ-sized chip on his shoulder. Plus, SWD has been dubbed the school’s resident ‘bastard’ and ‘unapologetic villain’.
This is due to what he apparently ‘did’ to He Xuan’s sister. Soooooo, anyways SWD used to date HX’s sister (briefly) THEN rumor had it that they had this big dramatic breakup where the sister ended up heartbroken, all these allegations would start circulating in the school’s rumor mill. How SWD would often blow off HX’s sister, forgetting to pick her up for their dates, if she sends him a text, he’ll respond hours or even DAYS later, how he keeps forgetting what her favourite snacks and one time gave her a candy that she was apparently allergic to.
Essentially, the rumours say that he was a SHIT boyfriend and that resulted in all the girls and guys in the school saying that SWD is a “ No-go Zone”. Basically a “date at your own peril” kinda person. Aaaaannnnnndddd. Of course HX has a huge, deep seated hatred over the guy who ‘seemingly’ treated his sister like shit. BUT….As it turns out, they were ‘fake dating’. SWD was doing the sister a solid, so that she can go and date Yushi Huang and Ling Wen (who are in SWD’s friend group). HX’s sis wanted to hide the fact that she was into women because she was afraid her family wouldn’t accept it. Soooooo yeaaahhhhh …. .
That’s all I could come up with. SWD is still a bastard because he’s perfectly fine being portrayed as the ‘villain’ in the whole school and deliberately hams it up. (It makes it easier for him to get rid of all the stupid girls who keep leaving him love letters. They can FINALLY leave him alone!!!) AND we can have the HX x SWD ship later on without it being super problematic (*whispers* like in canon….). Also, we can make HX’s sister older than him by two years. SWD is older than everyone by one year and still has one final year to go before graduating high school.
The Pet Owners in this Verse:
1. HX can have pet fish (because of course).
2. The Lans can have bunnies. (Jinjin brilliantly thought of Mama Lan running a bunny café. The Lan Twins visit the place to keep the bunnies company during closing hours + it’s one of their favourite places to do their studies in).
3. Ling Wen can have an owl (scholar god reference and all that)
4. Yushi Huang can have an ox (maybe she and her family own a couple of farms + livestock.)
5. Maybe the Shen Twins can have guinea pigs. (Because Shen Yuan fell in love with them as a kid and the only way he could get his parents to agree is if BOTH twins want it, SY looks at Shen Jiu with the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could muster, SJ caved and said ‘sure’ *sigh*).
6. Some of the characters' spiritual weapons can be cats (Bichen, Shuoyue, Ruoye, E-Ming, Suibian, Chenqing and so on). And HC, XL, LWJ & LX can have cats from the same litter that was abandoned in front of the school just before WWX arrived. The last two of the litter (Chenqing and Suibian) attach themselves to WWX . XL’s and the twins’ parents wouldn't allow them to take in the cats so they take care of them at the back of the school as a “bonding experience” between them. Bichen, Shuoyue, E-Ming and Ruoye can latch onto WWX like their owners did).
End of fic idea dump.
Author's Notes:
And then we never discussed it again. LITERALLY Jinjin and I very very rarely ever even thought about this lunacy of a brainstorming session. So, thank you to my online friends (specifically Jaq and Stel) for reminding me about this (cursed) gem Jinjin and I carved out months and months ago.
If there is ANYONE who wants to take this idea and run with it through the wall, by all means go for it. Just please remember to give proper credits!!! If anyone wants to jump in and CO-WRITE this monstrosity with me (i.e. become a writing member/choose a chapter and/or pairing you wanna cover) by all means feel free to DM me here on Tumblr or on Twitter @SylvieSays22 or even on Discord at sylviesoothsayer and we can organise something because….. I sure as shit can’t write this whole thing ALONE!!! Lmaooooo.
Special thank you to Heiyu/Jinjin for helping me give birth to this abomination and EXTRA special thank you to Jaq for REMINDING me of NHS and for that hilarious NHS-lore. Lol.
Thank you for going through this madness!!!! Feel free to drop a like and lemme know your thoughts in the comments.
Premise: Modern and Blind Date AU. Both of them are regular people. WWX works at a big corporation owned by the Jiangs where he is the assistant manager of their marketing team (top-floor), while HC is the head of IT. His department is at one of the lowest floors (they rarely, if ever, run into each other). Currently, WWX has been going on a series of blind-dates (all were arranged by his precious jiejie) and HC bumps into him during one of those dates...
Wei Ying could feel the gazes of every diner, and even some waiters, seep through his skin, all the way down to the marrow of his bones.
Their eyes would occasionally flit to the empty chair across his table then back to him. Ignoring the curious and pity-filled expressions, Wei Ying wiped the sweaty palm of his hand with his dress trousers and held his phone close with the other, keeping his face neutral as he read over the unmarked text messages for the nth time.
Hey! Just made it to our table! u on ur way, yet? ;)
Sent at 9:05 PM
don’t say ur stuck in traffic! better hurry or I’ll order without you~
Sent at 9:30 PM
did something happen? I tried calling, but your phone’s off
Sent at 10:02 PM
Seriously? If you’re not coming could you at least have the guts to TELL me???
Sent at 10:48 PM
Wei Ying sat up straight once he finally saw his “date” back online.
He held his breath when his texts got marked and waited for a response.
Two, three, five… ten minutes passed…
Wei Ying stared at the one word under the guy’s profile pic: Offline .
Wow ... .The dick actually left me on read.
He was tempted to let out an angry laugh. Here he was, looking like some desperate fool who already paid a reservation for two, in one of Xianle’s most expensive restaurants, waiting for his date and the douchebag didn’t even have the energy to send one measly reply.
I already agreed to buying him a meal anyway! And all that trouble of finding the perfect suit…. He huffed
Deciding that his ego took enough of a beating, Wei Ying was about to get up and leave.
Maybe he could pass by a noodle shop? He was famished .
The chair across from him let out an obnoxious “skrrrrt!” sound as it was pulled out. The seat no longer empty.
Long, elegant digits wrapped around Wei Ying’s hand, pulling it closer to the stranger. Pressing his knuckles against warm, petal-soft lips.
Wei Ying felt his eyes widen, cheeks warm. Brain registering that he was getting his hand kissed by a stranger ...and that he just got saved from being humiliated by a good samaritan.
A devilishly handsome, one-eyed good samaritan, wearing a black suit with blood-red accents.
“Sorry about that, baobei. Did you wait long?” Mr. Stranger uttered, voice low, smooth like honey and somewhat familiar. Warm breath ghosting across the back of Wei Ying’s hand.
Wei Ying involuntarily shivered. Letting out a quiet gasp when he finally recognised his saviour.
He’d go that far for him? Weren’t they just co-workers…?
Oh, you sly bastard…
He bit back a smirk.
This’ll be fun.
Wei Ying pushed his lips into a pout. Petulantly taking his hand back and huffing:
“Too long! How are you gonna make it up to me, gege ?”
He relished in the other man’s shock at the familiar address. Unfortunately (or fortunately/depending on who you ask), it only lasted for a second before that flirtatious smirk came back.
Hua Cheng slowly reached across the table, apologetically patting Wei Ying’s hand and murmured:
“Whatever Ying’er wants. What would he like this gege to do?”
Wei Ying, rather coquettishly, tilted his head to the side. Lips twisting into a playful grin.
“ Well.. ”
Teaser End.
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Husband? OTHER Husband?! Wait… I’m the Husband Too?
HuaWeiLian Oneshot (Complete)
Summary:
It was a goddam struggle to peel back his eyelids.
The moment he was able to, Wei Ying cursed the day he was given eyes.
What the fuck was with all this white? It screams obsessive cleanliness!
So spotless, the pope could make snow angels on the sanitized ground and his ‘pure as the driven snow’ robes would come out cleaner.
Utterly stainless, a dedicated housewife could walk in here, broom and dustpan ready, only to shrug her shoulders and say: “Well, I’ve got nothing to do now. Time to kick back my feet!”
Incredibly clean to the point that if you asked a germaphobe to lick the floor, they’d shrug their shoulders and ask “Where would you like me to start?”
He was in hell OR this was Lan Qiren’s panic room.
Either way: Let. Him. Out!!!!
What’s that…? These two hotties are his caregivers…??
Nevermind then~
(Read the tags, people. Seriously, read the tags.)
Read to the end for author's notes:
It took a ridiculously long time for his eyes to crack open.
Honestly? It felt as if some bastard super-glued his lids shut. What a jerk!
When those stubborn skinfolds finally obeyed his commands, his poor, innocent retinas were hit with a world of white.
The room was so bright, it was as if there were tiny, microscopic drills tearing through his eyeballs! Is this some kind of White Room torture that he’s heard so much about?! If he was being tortured to confess to a crime, he was ready. Just get him out of this solar-powered chamber of agony!
The room in question looked awful . White walls, white curtains, white sheets. It looked as if the outdated concept of virginity threw up all over the room! There was also an odd smell slowly killing his nostrils. Bitter antiseptics, the sharp stinginess of rubbing alcohol, fruit scents so artificial they made fruits themselves cry. As if that wasn’t enough methodical torture for a lifetime, there was also the scent of cleaning chemicals polluting the air in his room.
Angry lights stabbed into his eyes and an icky hodgepodge of unbearable, unappealing smells wafted up his abused nose, repeatedly smacking his precious brain until he was tormented with a headache. Augh!
He was lying on a tiny, not-so comfy bed (the mattress was almost as thin as a sheet of paper!) tucked into a disgusting, clinically white duvet, the latter of which was an insult to all the duvets of the world with how ridiculously scratchy it was. Double augh!
The ‘duvet’ was so thick, he couldn’t even see the outline of his body or legs.
Wait.
Did he still have legs? Or feet? He couldn't even feel them. Did they take advantage of his unconscious form and commit the crime of unconsented amputation?! That better had been done by a professional at least!
Oh, wait! A toe wriggle! They were still there! Yay!
Next order of business: water . His throat was as dry as the Gobi Desert.
There was a water bottle on his nightstand. Double yay!
But it was just out of arms’ reach. Booooo!
He started half-shimmying, half-caterpillaring to the precious life essence, so close yet so far… like it was deliberately placed there to taunt him. Wait, was it poisoned? Then it would be a death essence, wouldn’t it? He couldn’t blame anyone for wanting to off him, though. Heaven only knows how many people he’s pissed off throughout the years. Maybe one of them finally wised up and decided to snuff out his existence.
Come on…. come ooooonnnn. Just a few inches more… He snickered at his word choice. Thought choice? Thought word choice? Whatever. He was too sober for this.
Wei Ying’s fingers were close to brushing against the blasted plastic when it was suddenly pushed into his open hand, a warm pair of arms were wrapping around his shoulders, followed by a firm grip tenderly guiding him to a proper sitting position on the bed.
“You shouldn’t push yourself so soon, Ying’er.” A beautiful voice waltzed into his ears like music, gently scolding him. All Wei Ying could do was gape like an idiot.
Long, deep brown hair held up by a red ribbon, contrasting nicely against the dark locks, their strands looking like sun-soaked wheat as they reflected off the room’s bright lights, honey-brown eyes that were as sweet as that lovely voice, velvety lips that looked as soft as peach blossom petals, long lashes that fluttered against a face that appeared as if it was carved for an idol to be worshipped….
Pretty… His dumb brain whispered in awe.
So this was heaven then… That explained the all-encompassing brightness. Suddenly Wei Ying was very happy with the hostage situation he found himself in. It wasn’t every day angels swept him off his feet!
Oh, what a beauty! I must’ve passed the pearly gates and met my guardian angel~ If this is what I get in the end, I'll gladly die again.
The angel’s ears turned red.
“That’s a new one. But I’m no angel, dear.”
Did he say that out loud?
“Yes.” His not-guardian angel huffed, holding back a laugh. What a pity. He truly did need a guardian angel. This guardian angel. On his honour!
“Oops?” He responded, sounding as apologetic as a child who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
“It’s alright.” Angel-ge waved off, a smile playing on those petal-pink lips. Their faces were so close, he could feel the other’s warm breath- “And for your information, Ying’er. You’re not dead.”
Ying’er….His name was Wei Ying (right?). Yet, Mr. Angel kept calling him ‘Ying’er’.
Did they know each other…?
“Oh, that’s good. The-not-being-dead-thing. Ying’er would’ve been very sad.” Wei Ying babbled, shooting the pretty man a dorky smile before wincing. His voice was scratchy and speaking hurt. Unfair! Was this his accumulated bad karma biting him in the ass? There was no other reason he would sound so terrible in front of beauty personified.
Realising that the water bottle was now resting on his lap, he started fiddling with the cap, his stupid fingers flailing around like worms squirming on fish hooks.
Another pair of pale hands with black nail polish – Huh. Didn’t know he had a second set of arms. Interesting color choice. – entered Wei Ying’s field of vision.
The hands took the water bottle from his joke of a grip, twisting the cap off before holding the bottle’s neck up to his lips.
He greedily drank the blessed liquid, its coolness soothing his parched throat.
As Wei Ying drank, Angel-ge let go – Nooo. Wait. Come back... – and started arranging a pillow pile to support his back, carefully fluffing them as he did so. Oh, you gorgeous blessing, you ~
When he had to stop gulping for a breather, the bottle was taken away. Wei Ying let out a pathetic whine.
“Are you competing with that gluttonous clownfish? You shouldn’t chug it all down or you’ll throw up, A-Ying.”
A smooth, baritone voice, that was not Mr. Angel's, vibrated against his eardrums and Wei Ying almost melted back into the bed. His ears felt like they had had the best orgasm of his life… wait… could ears even do that? Or did the new hottie unlock some higher stage of evolution in him?
Wei Ying craned his head upwards, squinting his eyes to inspect the newcomer, trying to make out what his fuzzy brain was trying to tell him.
The man was tall, with shoulders so broad he was tempted to wrap his arms around them like a clingy monkey that never wanted to let go –could he even accomplish such a feat? Welp, it wouldn't hurt to try.– Skin so pale you would think he was made from ivory, devilishly handsome features that would make even the most ravishing of incubi drown in vinegar, along with exotic, mismatched eyes. One as black as shadow, the other ruby-red, a perfectly formed blood-drop.
With the speed of a turtle fifty years past its youth, Wei Ying finally registered what Mr. Tall and Wickedly Handsome said.
“And why would I be competing with a clownfish, Mr. Morningstar?” He tilted his head to the side, like a lost kitten. He even blinked slowly, fluttering his lashes for good measure.
Devil-ge’s brow quirked upwards, amused.
“Why nickname me after Lucifer?”
“Because you’re tempting me to sin.” Wei Ying answered back, matter-of-factly. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, Angel-ge is a gorgeous and pure-hearted helper who needs to be kis-ahem!- protected at all costs and Devil-ge is a walking temptation that even married women will gladly toss away their wedding bands for just one night with him.
Angel-ge snorted, finally done with the pillows, while Devil-ge smirked, flashing an alluring pair of canines at Wei Ying.
“Can you please eat me now? Kinda rude of you to play with your food, don’t ya think?”
That earned him a snort.
“He seems alright to me, gege.”
“En,” Angel-ge replied, gaze fixed on Wei Ying with what looked like concern.
“How are you feeling, Ying’er?”
Wei Ying’s brow scrunched up in thought.
“Mmm. My eyes hurt a little….the lighting here is giving me a headache.”
“I’ll ask the staff to dim the lights for you.” He muttered, sounding displeased for some reason.
“Or maybe it would be better to let him rest some more?” Angel-ge pitched in, honey-brown eyes flitting from Devil-ge back to Wei Ying.
The man in question wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, but it looked like both beauties were about to leave and he really really didn’t wanna see them go yet.
“No! Nononono! “ Wei Ying stammered, wildly waving around his arms.
“It’s just a small headache! Ying’er can handle it!”
“Don’t be stubborn.” Devil-ge reproached, a hidden note of worry in his voice that Wei Ying’s scrambled brain couldn’t catch. “You’ve been through a lot today, A-Ying. You need rest.”
“But I feel fine! So fine in fact, I can probably fight a hundred battles with my intestines hanging out!”
Seeing that he was getting close to a temper tantrum, Angel-ge carefully laid his hand on top of Wei Ying’s, interlacing their fingers.
He froze. Questioning the odd familiarity before dismissing it.
How considerate! Who doesn’t like having their hand held? You’re so sweet~
“San Lang’s right. You’ve barely started recovering after the surgery.” Angel-ge chimed in.
Surgery? Ohhhhh!!! Now he gets it! Wei Ying was at a hospital.
These two must be his nurses! No wonder they were so concerned!
Well, damn. If this is the kind of staff they have, I should get sick more often. Or maybe I can break half the bones in my body next so I can stay here for a few extra months…
Although he can’t remember checking in. Just how hard did Wei Ying hit his head?
Aiya! Nevermind that.
Tantrum attack thwarted. Time to employ his second-best tactic: The Pout™.
Setting his sights on the more susceptible of the two, Wei Ying twisted his lips into a rather pitiful expression.
“Please…? Just for ten more minutes.” He pleaded. Angel-ge’s resolve crumpled in seconds.
Devil-ge breathed out a long, exasperated sigh. As if he’d seen Wei Ying pull this stunt millions of times.
"Fine.” He conceded.
“But you’re going back to sleep after this,” Angel-ge interjected.
Mission report: successful!
“Deal!” Wei Ying crowed, running a victory lap in his head.
He heard Devil-ge let out an amused huff. The taller of the two reached towards Wei Ying and took his other hand. Running his thumb across the knuckles, tracing meaningless patterns on the back of the sitting man’s hand in a rather intimate display of affection.
Oookaaayy..? They’re both awfully touchy-touchy. This seems a bit excessive. Maybe nurses shouldn’t be doing that?
Not that Wei Ying was complaining, mind you. He was reverse-complaining. Anti-complaining. Minus- Oh, you get the idea!
Then he noticed the wedding rings resting on their fingers.
The jewellery looked out of place in this mortal plane. To put it simply, they were divine. With the way the crystal circlets shined against the bright lights, it felt as though a celestial being had reached towards the night sky and plucked out a star, moulding it until it crystallised into translucent, fragile bands symbolising the couple’s matrimony. Each of their rings took on the form of two criss-crossing circles, forming an ‘X’ shape secured at the base of their fingers. Colourful flowers that appeared like spun glass rested on the overlapping points. One had what looked like a soft pink peach blossom and deep black spider lily pressed closely to each other in a near-embrace, while the other had the same coloured spider lily and a blazing red camellia flower, with they way the were positioned, the delicate blooms appeared as though they were waltzing around each other.
All the lazily spinning gears in Wei Ying’s head suddenly ground to a halt.
Angel-ge’s just being nice…
But the other one’s flirting. Right in front of his husband.
“You..! You pig !” He sputtered. Yanking his hand away from that-that fiend . “Your spouse is right there ! Have you no shame?! Do you think I’m that easy?! ”
“What? Wei Ying…? What…?” That devil looked at him as if he’d lost it. Yeah, right! Wei Ying clearly wasn’t the one that should get his head checked! Adulterous jackass!
“I’m sorry, Angel! I didn’t mean to be a homewrecker! No! Worse than that! A chateau-smasher!* Please, forgive me!” Wei Ying implored, voice getting higher with every word until he was practically wailing like a banshee. Already tearing up as he clutched the other man’s sleeve for dear life, praying to any god that was listening for the brunette to understand.
“.....”
“Gege. I don’t think the meds wore off, yet.”
“Yes. I gathered that much, San Lang.” Angel (does Wei Ying even still have the right to call him that now?!) rubbed a tired hand down his face. “I honestly thought he was just disoriented. He seemed like himself at first.” The poor, innocent soul who’d been wronged by Wei Ying’s ignorant self, mumbled under his breath.
Turning his attention back to the situation at hand, the brunette’s face visibly softened at Wei Ying’s pathetic expression.
“Ying’er.” He intoned patiently. “What makes you think you’re being a… ‘chateau-smasher’, as you put it?”
“I kept fighting back the urge to climb your husband like a tree, Angel-ge.” He stated nonchalantly. Might as well be frank, Angel deserved to know what kind of wretch he was caring for. “If he asked me a few minutes ago, I would’ve gladly ascended his throne.”
“Pfff-!” The fiend slapped a hand to his mouth, those outrageously biteable shoulders quaking. Wei Ying ignored him, more focused on the brunette’s reddening face – He already looks so angry! Accept it like a man, you fool! You did this!– and continued:
“He was also being way too familiar with me and I didn’t stop him.”
“Hang on, now. That’s not fair.” The lying cheat butted in. “Gege was acting familiar, too. Why are you only blaming me?”
Wei Ying shot him a glare so heated it would’ve melted the sun itself.
“Because you look like the kind of man fathers warn their daughters to stay away from! This probably isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this!” He ranted. The taller man started wheezing , struggling to hold in the floodgates of laughter against a relentless torrent of dumbassery. Refusing to acknowledge the other man’s antics were affecting him (he does NOT look adorable while holding in a laugh, DAMMIT!!!), Wei Ying continued. “Angel-ge is the sweetest, most thoughtful person you could ever meet! He can do no wrong! Wrong took one look at him as a newborn and decided it wanted nothing to do with that baby!”
The fiend actually paused mid-cough and took a moment to process.
“Well…I can’t really argue with the latter point.” The fickle rat shrugged, winking cheekily at the brunette, who started choking on air.
Was the bastard carrying on like everything was fine and dandy?! The nerve of him! He should be grovelling for the next decade! Till the skin of his hands and knees were scraped off!!!
Wei Ying glowered and moved his body to block the fiend’s view of his unfortunate, mistreated spouse.
“Alright, both of you! That’s enough. San Lang, you're confusing him even more.” Angel-ge chastised, but he sounded as if he were caught between laughter and tears, fanning himself in a futile attempt to make the blush stop spreading.
Wei Ying felt warm fingers grasp his chin, gently urging him to turn his face back to the brunette.
“Ying’er…I need you to look at me for a second. Okay?” Angel-ge practically crooned so close to his ear. Wei Ying would’ve dissolved into a puddle if he didn’t already feel so guilty.
He looked up at the other man, bottom lip wobbling, eyes glassy from unshed tears.
“ Good. Now, can you please look at your hand? The right one. Ring finger.”
Wei Ying did as instructed and saw-
“Oh.” He breathed out, staring in disbelief at the crystal circlet adorning his finger. Poking at the wedding band to check if it was real.
“Yes.” Angel nodded encouragingly. Breathing a sigh of relief. Finally.
“Oh no. No . I’m the cheater. I’m having an affair behind my husband’s back…..” The horrifying realisation hit Wei Ying like a truck. He was the absolute worst…
The brunette facepalmed.
Something must’ve broken inside the taller man’s head. The fiend doubled over, clutching his sides, cackling like a gods’ damned lunatic. He gave hyenas a run for their money and they were literally named for laughing!
“ Holy fuck …I should’ve recorded this…” He choked out, wiping away a teardrop.
“ Wei Ying… ” Angel-ge stressed, sounding like he was close to crying himself. He grabbed the drugged-up idiot’s hand and held up his own. Silently begging Wei Ying to see the similarities in both rings.
“ We’re the husbands! San Lang and I!”
“You..?” The moron pointed at the brunette.
“ Yes .”
Wei Ying then pointed at the other man who just started straightening up, still catching his breath.
“And you?”
“Guilty.” He clapped back with a smirk.
“.....???”
“I thought polygamous marriages were outlawed since the 1950s*?”
Both men looked gobsmacked. Devil-ge let out a low whistle, somewhat impressed. “You remember that , but you can’t even recall our vows. Must be one hell of a trip you’re on.”
“We managed to make… special concessions regarding that.” The brunette explained, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. The other man sniggered under his breath, looking very much like a cat who got the cream.
Or two whole bowls of cream, apparently.
“I don’t get it!” Wei Ying whined. He was just about ready to flop back down on the bed and give up. His mind was too hazy for this and they’re both talking in riddles!
“Let’s not get into something that complex. Simpler topics will do. How much do you remember?” The brunette prodded delicately.
Wei Ying’s face turned blank for a moment.
He then subsequently burst into tears. Loud, body-wracking sobs that left both his husbands gaping at the sudden mood shift.
“I don’t know! I don’t know! I really don’t know! I must be the worst husband in existence…” Wei Ying whimpered pathetically.
“Now why would you say such a thing..?” The brunette softly asked, cupping the weeping dolt’s face and wiping away the tears with the pads of his thumbs. Wei Ying felt a warm hand running up and down his arm in assurance. His other husband was perched on the hospital bed, trying to get him to calm down as well. Turning back to the brunette, he instinctively nuzzled against the heated palms, sniffling.
He’s winding down. Good.
Doctor Wen would murder them if he popped a stitch…
“I don’t remember you…. Don't even know what your names are. Is this permanent? Was it a brain surgery? Am I missing sections of my brain? Can I get them back, please? I wanna remember you both.”
His husbands had to either bite their bottom lip or the inside of their cheek to stop themselves from smiling at the river of nonsense flowing out of their blubbering dummy.
“You had an appendectomy , A-Ying. Your brain’s fine. Mostly. The anesthesia just hasn’t worn off yet.”
“Your appendix ruptured in the middle of the night, Ying’er. We rushed you to Rìchū* Hospital as fast as we could. Doctor Qing was the one who operated on you.”
“Oh,” Wei Ying replied with eloquence fit for the king of heaven, as if that made all the sense in the world.
It didn’t.
“Did that help jog your memory, Ying’er?”
“Nope! Still can’t remember!” The poor Angel looked like he was seconds away from facepalming again. Devil-ge reached over Wei Ying and massaged the brunette’s shoulder in sympathy, lips pursed tightly to prevent another guffaw from tumbling out.
“Alright. That’s fine. Why don’t we start with our names? Can you recall anything?”
A head shake.
“Do you need a hint?”
An immediate nod that was quickly followed by a snivel.
“You have a tendency to overuse the phrase ‘thank you’ whenever you get ridiculously affectionate with me.” ‘Which is often.’ was left unsaid.
“Xiexie*...Xie…” His hands itched from how hard he was gripping the scratchy duvet, nose scrunching up cutely.
Just for a moment, the brain-fog cleared and a grin, as radiant as the sun, overtook Wei Ying’s face.
“Lian’er!” He beamed so brightly that Xie Lian couldn’t help but smile back.
“En.”
“Lian’er! Lian’er!” He called out gleefully, elated beyond words to have that beloved nickname roll off his tongue again, clutching the other man’s sleeves in his delight.
“I’m here! I’m here!” Xie Lian chuckled, glad to see Wei Ying cheer up again.
Moonstone eyes took their time carefully exploring the face of this Ang– husband of his, re-etching each feature into his memory so that even if Wei Ying forgot again, he’ll still dream about his Lian’er whenever he’s aimlessly drifting in the ocean of his subconscious.
His gaze was eventually pulled to that bolt of red cutting through wheat-brown strands.
Wei Ying extended a hand, fingers unfurling, carefully wrapping them around the silk as he let out a soft gasp.
“Mama’s ribbon…” He mumbled, delicately rubbing his thumb against the treasured item.
“A-ah…You asked me to keep it safe.”
A distinct echo finally resounded in his hazy mind.
“That’s right..! I gave it to you right as I was being rolled into the operating room. You were so worried…”
Brow furrowed, silver orbs glazed over as he stared off in the distance. Wei Ying was so lost in his recollection, he didn’t even register those gentle hands that were cradling his face had now drifted down to his shoulders, clutching the fabric of his hospital gown in a white-knuckled grip, trembling.
Like Wei Ying was going to crumble into dust if he let go for even a second.
((It was hellish. Those minutes of pure terror felt as if they were stretched out into an eternity. One moment, Xie Lian was asleep in bed, cuddled close to his husbands, the next he was forcefully wrenched awake.
Wei Ying had rolled off the edge, the deafening thud when he hit the floor was akin to a bucket of ice-cold water being dumped on him, Ying’er’s face twisted in pain while he bawled in agony, as if a hot knife was repeatedly stabbing and twisting into his side and then those gods’ awful wretches were ripping out of his throat until he vomited all over the bedroom carpet.
They had to roll him on his side so he didn’t choke, even though they were afraid to touch him on the likelihood they made it worse. San Lang would soon shove a fabric into Wei Ying’s mouth so that he didn’t bite his own tongue off from how excruciating the pain was.
Neither of them could’ve believed that they missed all the signs.
Exam season was around the corner, Wei Ying had been busy organising revision sessions and grading mock tests for his students, frustrations and nervous breakdowns were sky-high. Wei Ying had been complaining of back pains and a lack of appetite as of late. Off-handedly mentioning there was an odd ache on the side of his stomach before shrugging and chalking it up to stress at work.
Whenever Xie Lian or San Lang expressed concern over his health, Wei Ying would just wave them off and say it was probably the students’ stress rubbing off on him.
How careless they had been…
Even after being injected with the numbing medicine, through the descending haze, Ying’er still tried to put them at ease.
“Aiyah..What’s with that face, Lian’er? You’re not a God, ya know! You couldn't have possibly known! Here. Can you hold onto this for me? Just until they sew me back up?”
“Oi, gege! Make sure he doesn’t beat himself up too much while I’m knocked out! That goes for you too! I’ll deal with you after I come back~ You know I can only take care of your needs one at a time. Heh…” ))
The brunette was brought back to the present when he felt another hand gently loosening his own grip from Wei Ying’s shoulders.
He met San Lang’s mismatched gaze as he leisurely entwined their fingers, planting a lingering kiss on the back of Xie Lian’s hand, sanguine eye flashing with understanding,
Bit by bit, Xie Lian’s tensed frame relaxed, the blooming heat from where San Lang’s lips connected to his skin a soothing balm to his soul. Xie Lian started rapidly blinking away the mist building up in his eyes.
With one final squeeze, San Lang turned his attention back on their dazed husband.
“A-Ying,” He called out, smoothly steering the other clear off memory lane. Once he was sure he had Wei Ying’s attention, he allowed a lazy smile to take over his lips and continued, “You don’t usually stop at ‘thank you’ when it comes to gege. If I recall, you arranged a whole poem to ‘properly express your unending gratitude’ for him.” He playfully taps his chin, acting as if he were in deep thought. Ying’er’s gaze was almost as focused as a cat’s, ready to pounce at any second. Xie Lian felt the trepidation building up in his spine, honey-brown orbs widening in realisation.
Oh no…
“Ah!” San Lang snapped his fingers, as if he were the one with the memory issue.
“I believe the poem goes something like: ‘Thank you for being breathed into existence’..” Wei Ying happily took the reins of that runaway bull.
“Thank you for constantly gracing us mortals
with your golden haloed presence.
Thou graciousness knows no bounds
And though we ask too much of you
You still allow us to worship your moun–”
“Okay! Okay! That’s enough! I don’t think he needs to recall that .” If Xie Lian was forced to listen to any more of that horrid ‘poem’, he might burst a vein from how much blood was rushing into his head! His former teachers would’ve died from sheer outrage before hearing it in its entirety!
“Whaaaaah..? But I worked so hard on it.” Wei Ying pouted, bottom lip jutted out.
“Yeah, gege. You’re just going to discard all of A-Ying’s efforts?” San Lang snickered.
Xie Lian buried his face in his hands.
Oh. What am I going to do with these two…?
“You pulled that exact face too! Back when we first met!”
Xie Lian peeked between his fingers.
“You remember that...?”
“En!” Wei Ying exclaimed, looking so pleased with himself as he puffed out his chest. Xie Lian was reminded of a proud peacock showing off its bright feathers and almost laughed at the comparison.
“You spilled coffee all over my suit!”
San Lang’s eyes brightened in interest. He never got to hear that story. Gege would often dodge the question and A-Ying would cheekily retort ‘I don’t kiss and tell!’ before sauntering off.
“Oh? Tell me more, A-Ying.”
Xie Lian winced. Heavens….please, no.
“I was running late to an interview and stopped at a cafe for a quick breakfast–”
“I wouldn't call a large cup of coffee with cream and a dozen teaspoons of sugar ‘breakfast’, Ying’er.”
“You remember my order!”
“Gege isn’t the one with holes in his memories, A-Ying.” Xie Lian lightly poked San Lang in the ribs for the tease. Someone has to jump in and defend their dearest idiot.
“Now, you’re just being a bully!”
“Consider it payback for the cheating accusations.”
“...Okay. That’s fair,” Wei Ying huffed before continuing “ Anyways, I had already ordered and was sitting at my table. The wait was a bit longer than I thought, but then this ray of sunshine walked in and whatever pre-interview jitters I had just seemed to melt away~”
That was awfully sweet. But Wei Ying either couldn’t remember or simply neglected to mention that Xie Lian was so busy taking other customers’ orders and running himself ragged that it took a long time for him to notice Wei Ying’s coffee sitting on the counter, ready to be served.
“Hmm..Can’t really remember how , maybe it was a rogue juice puddle or the floor had a bone to pick that day, but Lian’er slipped. I watched as the mug did an impressive quadruple somersault in slow-motion –without spilling a single drop, mind you!– before finally giving me a surprise caffeine shower-”
“Were you alright?” San Lang cut in, concerned.
“En! The coffee was lukewarm at best.”
And of that, Xie Lian was relieved of his own forgetfulness.
He never would’ve forgiven himself if he’d injured Wei Ying or, Heaven forbid, left him with a burn scar.
“Besides, the tea Madame would occasionally toss at me was much hotter than that. I could’ve handled it.” Their precious, moronic, dummy of a husband bulldozed ahead. Completely oblivious to both his spouses tensing at the mention of that woman.
“Even in this state, he still remembers that shriveled-up, useless clump of cells*…” San Lang muttered darkly under his breath, forever upset that he lost his chance to drag the spiteful cow to court for all she did to A-Ying before she dropped dead.
Xie Lian squeezed San Lang’s hand in solidarity, too polite to add his own insults for the late Jiang Matriarch.
“Lian’er was so apologetic about it! Flustered and blushing like a tomato, it was adorable! He even offered to buy me another coffee and pay for the dry cleaning. I really wanted to ask him to add me on his WeChat*, but figured it wasn’t the best time.” Wei Ying giggled, pulling both men out of their gloomy thoughts.
“I had the morning shift that day. Setting up the tables and mopping the floor completely fell on me.” Xie Lian sheepishly filled in the gaps for San Lang. “I was in such a rush to get things done before opening that I must’ve left a wet spot.”
“You were probably sleep-deprived. Don’t be so hard on yourself, gege. These kinds of accidents happen all the time.”
“He’s right! It’s the employer’s fault for demanding so much of you in the early morning!”
These two…ever so ready to defend him, even from his own self-deprecating thoughts.
Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
“The next time we -literally- bumped into each other, I was out for a morning jog. I think Lian’er was working as a delivery man at the time? He had a crate full of apples and was in a hurry..”
Xie Lian cringed at the memory.
His scooter had broken down halfway through the journey. He tried hoofing it the rest of the way lest he get his second warning for being late, but it ended in an impromptu collision with the silver-eyed beauty.
Needless to say, all the apples ended up squished and bruised on the sidewalk…before rolling right into traffic and puréed all over the street.
Wei Ying ended up buying another crate from the nearest market and offering it to the soon-to-be ex-delivery man. Just to help him out, no strings attached. Xie Lian had never wanted to tackle a stranger into a hug so badly than in that moment. And one that he already screwed over before!
(Ying’er also conveniently left out the fact that he didn’t make it past the initial interview that day, on account of his suit being riddled with coffee stains.)
“It was a company-issued scooter, yes? Did they not do any checkups? What were your former bosses thinking, gege?”
“En! How reckless of them! Likely pinned all the blame on Lian’er for their faulty equipment!”
The rose-tinted glasses on these two!!
“Missed my second chance to get Mr. Sunshine’s contact info.” Wei Ying pouted before continuing, “Now, the third time we ran into each other was in a car accident.”
At San Lang’s alarmed look, Wei Ying hurried to say:
“Nothing serious! Just a broken tail light!” He then paused, a look of befuddlement and distaste flashing across his face.
“I think Lian’er was learning how to drive? There was a stuck-up looking guy next to him shouting instructions. He sounded like a cat that got its tail stepped on.”
“Mu Qing.” Xie Lian filled in. San Lang snorted.
“Apt description. Obnoxious pretty boy.” He mumbled under his breath, Xie Lian poked his other husband in the ribs in silent reprimand.
“He was probably distracting you while your eyes were on the road, gege.”
“Yes! That’s what it looked like to me too.” Wei Ying nodded sagely.
Well, if Xie Lian ever committed vehicular man-slaughter in the future, he’d know who to call and defend him.
Who needs a good lawyer when you have two overprotective husbands that can vehemently deny reality for you?
“Sweet Lian’er would later take me to a mechanic to fix up my car, free of charge!”
How silly. Xie Lian would’ve done it regardless of whether he could afford it or not. It was common decency.
That being said, he thanked his lucky stars that Feng Xin took on such a thankless profession and that he had a ‘friend’s discount’. If he had to pay with his meager salary, Xie Lian would likely still be in debt to this day.
“And I finally got his phone number after all that. Completely worth the hassle!” Wei Ying boasted. San Lang gave him a belated congratulatory high-five, Xie Lian buried his burning face in his hands, silently praying to just dissolve into mist already, please and thank you.
“I asked Lian’er to move in with me soon after.” Wei Ying blathered on, smiling dopily at the memory. It had taken several minutes for Xie Lian to stop sputtering before finally giving Wei Ying a proper answer.
San Lang raised an inquisitive brow.
“I think you missed a couple of steps there, A-Ying. That seems awfully forward, even for you.”
“Really? I thought it was fine. Xuanxuan and I were struggling with rent and getting a new roommate seemed like the perfect solution at the time. I also didn’t wanna see Lian’er get kicked out of the city*. Errr..Devil-ge? What’s wrong?”
Curious, Xie Lian unburied his face from the refuge of his hands and glanced at San Lang, blinking owlishly.
Their other husband was sulking. Xie Lian was reminded of a fox’s ears lowered in petulance. He half expected the other to start pawing at the ground in agitation.
“You remember that glutton’s name, but you can’t even remember what you used to call me...?” San Lang groused, turning his head away from Ying’er and glaring at the wall.
Wei Ying’s eyes got so comically wide they looked like they were about to pop out of his head. He started flailing, arms flapping about like a panicking butterfly.
“Of course I remember!! Ahh...uhh... sweetheart? Darling? Lao Gong*...?”
It was like watching a swaying drunkard throw darts at the board. Not caring how completely off the mark he was, if Wei Ying just kept at it blindly he might finally hit the bull’s eye.
The more guesses he got wrong, the more visibly upset San Lang got. Xie Lian could practically see the black cloud churning above his husband’s head.
“Da-ge...?” Wei Ying finished off the hurried, jumbled-up list, voice petering out at the end.
San Lang let out a long, melodramatic sigh and started fiddling with his wedding ring. His inky locks curtained around his face, theatrically covering his features until he resembled a brooding king.
Xie Lian didn’t know if he should start laughing, provide the two with some reassurance or tell his ridiculous husbands to knock it off.
Instead, he gently cleared his throat to catch Ying’er’s attention. Once those silver orbs were on him, Xie Lian softly tapped at the red camellia design on Wei Ying’s own wedding ring.
While looking at the crystal flower, something wriggled in the back of Wei Ying’s mind, like an upturned turtle desperately thrashing its limbs, trying to find some momentum to get back on its feet.
((“Hellooooo~ I know you’re loaded and all, but can I offer a penny for your thoughts?”
That earned him a huff-laugh in response.
“Why choose the camellia flower for me? Do you know what it means, A-Ying?”
“Endless passion, deep desires, great resilience…those seem fitting, no?”
“In Rìběn*, it also symbolises noble death. Don’t you think that’s too high of a praise for someone like me?”
“Well… those who died honorably did so for a cause they believed in, right? Wouldn’t that just mean that you're a devoted fighter? Huahua…our most passionate, stubborn and devoted husband. Haha…))
“Huahua..Hua-ge..” Wei Ying mumbled under his breath, squinting and sucking his bottom lip between his teeth, waiting for something to just click already!
Moonstone eyes snapped wide in remembrance.
“Gege!!” Wei Ying exclaimed, reaching out for the other man’s hand, clasping it between his own.
“Hn. Took you long enough.” Hua Cheng scoffed, “I wonder if you even remember my real name. Or are you just guessing again?”
“Don’t be like that, gege~ ” Wei Ying whined, rubbing the trapped hand against his cheek like a needy kitten.
Hua Cheng still refused to look at him, Wei Ying wailed, about to tear up again. Xie Lian was honest-to-gods contemplating if he should intervene, stay where he is or just leave and come back when they’re both done with their little ‘lover’s quarrel’.
“ Hua Cheng!!! Your name is Hua Cheng! But I only call you that whenever I’m mad!” Wei Ying lumbered ahead, desperate for his other husband to just look him in the eye already! “Or whenever I’m holding onto Lian’er for dear life while you drill me into the mattress-”
Xie Lian went into a sudden coughing fit, ears blazing, while San Lang finally cracked, unable to keep the childish act up any longer.
As soon as he saw that smile breakout over Hua Cheng’s face, Wei Ying snapped at the bait and asked:
“Am I forgiven now, gege?”
Hua Cheng tilted his head to the side, lips pursed and features twisted in mock consideration.
“Hmm...Tell me what you remember of our first meeting and I might forgive you.”
“We met at a casino!” Wei Ying blurted, as eager to get back into Hua Cheng’s ‘good graces’ as a fox chasing after a rabbit.
Upon Hua Cheng’s approving nod, Wei Ying continued:
“Xuanxuan-” Once he saw that small scowl, Wei Ying was quick to course correct, “I-I mean my roommate called. Said he needed help warding off some guy who kept shaking him down for money. I thought it was our stingy landlord or a loan shark. He gave me some vague directions and I found myself in a shady underground gambling den.” Wei Ying paused, brow crinkling.
“It wasn’t ‘shady’.” Hua Cheng muttered, pride slightly wounded.
“Sure~ And the mob ties are just a figment of my imagination.” Wei Ying shot back sarcastically. Before Hua Cheng had a chance to retort, A-Ying continued:
“Never took that grouch for a high roller. He just didn’t seem the type.” He commented offhandedly.
Hua Cheng snorted and rolled his eyes heavenward.
“Don’t let his deadpan expressions and monosyllabic conversation skills fool you. He’s a fucking trainwreck with a whirlpool of problems. I’m surprised he didn’t drag you down with him.”
“San Lang.” Xie Lian scolded, although it was half-hearted at best.
“Gege, be nice!” Wei Ying grumbled, making a feeble attempt to defend his ex-roommate/current friend.
“Anyways...” He dramatically puffed out his cheeks as he sighed, “Xua- my roommate instructed me to park the car nearby and leave it unlocked. I was supposed to distract the moneylender while he sneaks off to safety.”
“Hmm. And remind me again, how did you go about ‘distracting’ me?”
“I decided to flirt with you using shitty pick-up lines.” Wei Ying shrugged without an ounce of shame. “To be fair, I just thought you were a really well-dressed goon sent out to harass my friend. Didn’t think you were the boss himself.”
That got Hua Cheng to chuckle under his breath. Xie Lian shook his head, not surprised in the least.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall while that whole disaster went down…
Suddenly, Wei Ying perked up, a grin splitting his face. Both his husbands could almost see the light bulb going off above his head.
“Gege! I actually remember some of the flirty lines I threw at you that night!”
“This’ll be good.” Hua Cheng whispered in Xie Lian’s ear, who shot him a questioning look. San Lang only gave him a smirk in reply before turning back to Wei Ying, mismatched eyes gleaming expectantly.
“Go on.” He goaded.
“Do you believe in luck? ‘Cause I think I’ve just hit the jackpot tonight!”
Ah, that doesn’t sound so bad. Xie Lian mentally let out a relieved sigh.
“Hn. That’s a bit PG for your tastes, A-Ying. You can do better.”
Xie Lian could feel a sweatdrop forming, apprehension colouring his features.
Wei Ying’s face scrunched up into a scowl before lifting up his chin at the challenge. He started firing off:
“Dang, handsome! Are you a slot machine? Because I’d love to pull your lever~”
“Weak. Got any more?”
“Hey, gorgeous. Mind if I spin your roulette wheel?”
“Depends. Do your hands know any other ‘wheel’ aside from your own?”
“Apart from being sexy, how are you at blowing dice?”
“Hmm. Normally it’s either you or gege who do the blowing, but I can be generous from time to time.” Hua Cheng commented nonchalantly, Xie Lian started letting out the equivalent of dying animal noises, eyes bugging out of his skull.
Someone please give him a cold glass of water, this chaste flower is about to pass out.
“Why you gotta be so tough on me, gege?! Can’t you just let me win?!” Wei Ying whinged, close to tearing up in frustration at this point.
“What kind of self-respecting dealer would I be if I ‘let’ others win? Besides, I thought A-Ying likes it when I’m tough on him.” Hua Cheng practically purred.
This arrogant red-eyed bastard...
“Not all the time! Gege should learn to be more gentle!”
“Stop...!” Xie Lian croaked out, ready to fold into himself. He really couldn’t take any more of this.
These two will be the death of him, he swears on his mother’s grave.
“En? What’s wrong, Lian’er?”
“Perhaps he wants some attention? It’s been a minute since you’ve flirted with him.” Hua Cheng proposed with a shit-eating grin.
“San Lang!!”
“Would Lian’er like to hear some specialised pick-up lines too?”
“Th-there’s really no need-!”
“Gege’s a dance teacher. Can you come up with any good lines for him, A-Ying?”
“Excuse me, sir. Do you believe in love at first dance or should I twirl by again?”
Well, that was terribly corny. But thankfully innocent, all things considered.
“I wasn’t religious before, but dancing with you may have just turned me into a believer.”
That did fit with tonight’s angel/devil theme, didn’t it?
Xie Lian was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Can we take this dance off the floor and back to your place?”
Aaaannndd there it was.
“What a dazzling waltz! Any chance we could do the devil’s tango in the backroo-?”
“Alright! I think that’s enough for tonight!” Xie Lian would’ve very much loved to facepalm again, but he feared that his hands might catch fire judging by how heated his cheeks were. San Lang was too busy cackling at his expense, but someone needed to remind Wei Ying that he was still recovering.
“I think it’s past time for you to go to sleep, Wei Ying.”
“Awww! But I’m not tired!” His argument was instantly refuted after letting out a yawn which he couldn’t suppress.
“Yes, you are. We agreed to ten minutes and it’s been half an hour. You need rest.”
Wei Ying opened his mouth, ready to protest some more when he felt warm lips, soft as silk, press against his temple in a languid kiss.
“If you listen to gege, I promise that I’ll be nicer to you when you wake up.” Hua Cheng tenderly murmured against the crown of Wei Ying’s head, an undercurrent of fondness within his coaxing tone.
Wei Ying froze, mouth gaping like a fish, opening and closing, yet failing to get a word out.
Xie Lian went for the finishing blow.
“Please, Ying’er..? Won’t you do it for me?” He stared imploringly at Wei Ying all doe-eyed, voice dripping like sweet nectar. Their dear moron wasn’t the only crafty one here.
The poor imbecile never stood a chance.
“Oh..! Fine! I was feeling a bit sleepy anyway.” He huffed, just a tad bit crabby. Hua Cheng and Xie Lian traded victorious smiles.
They both gingerly guided Wei Ying to lie back down properly. Xie Lian pulled out a chair and scooted it close to the hospital bed before gingerly laying his head against Wei Ying’s chest. Knowing that the added weight will bring his husband some comfort while trying to sleep in a strange place. Hua Cheng carefully slid a hand beneath Wei Ying’s head, almost cradling it as he massaged the sensitive scalp and nape, taking extra care not to let the unbrushed locks tangle around his fingers.
For his part, Wei Ying had practically turned into putty under their tender ministrations. Mind already sinking back to unconsciousness, barely aware of what he was mumbling:
“I must be the luckiest bastard in the world…” Wei Ying sighed, “...thank you for choosing me to be your husband…”
Other way around, idiot.
Epilogue:
Wei Ying was thoroughly convinced that he was a mass murderer in a past life.
He genuinely can’t think of any other reason as to why he was given such cruel and unjust punishment.
It had only been a couple of days since his surgery, Wei Ying was expected to get discharged soon and go back to the comforting nest that was his home any day now~
Qing-jie had already given him an hour-long lecture over what he should and (mostly) shouldn’t do for a smooth recovery process.
Take a two week leave from work, at the least. Do not go back to work until you feel less fatigued and your pain levels have gone down a bit.
Do not consume alcohol or processed foods. No red meat or anything that contains high levels of fat and/or sugar.
Do not do anything physically strenuous or put strain on the body for the next six weeks.
On and on she went, but Wei Ying could sum it up to this:
He was expected to flop around his bed like a useless fish with no cakes or any of his emergency snacks, none of jiejie’s decadent pork lotus soup, none of his favourite spicy dishes, no wine to numb the pain and, the most egregious of them all, no sex.
For the next month and a half.
The horror.
How can the Heavens bless him with two drop dead gorgeous husbands and expect Wei Ying to not commit to his marital duties?! What kind of sick joke is that?!!
Xie Lian was close to tears at this point. But for a completely different reason.
“Wei Ying…” He begged, “Can you please just come out from under there already?”
The denial was instant.
“No.”
“But you need to eat!”
“I’m not having any more of that sludge!” The protest would’ve held a lot more weight if it wasn’t muffled and had come out of a tightly wrapped blanket roll.
There was not even a lock of hair sticking out of that man-sized burrito. To Xie Lian, his brat-of-a-husband resembled an angry slug.
“It’s congee and it’s good for your health.”
“Congee or broth? Broth or congee? What’s the difference?! They’re all bland! Either put some chili oil in it or give it to a pack of rabbits!”
“....”
Why did San Lang have to leave him at a time like this?!
Xie Lian had no other choice, but to pull out his trump card.
“If you come out from under there, I can mix it with some pork floss.*”
A moonstone eye peeked through the darkness.
“Really…?”
“Yes.” Xie Lian breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally, some progress.
The rest of Wei Ying’s head poked out of the cocoon. Rat-nest-looking hair going in all directions.
“Good. Now, sit up properly while I reheat this.”
When Hua Cheng eventually reentered the picture, it was to a satisfied Wei Ying scarfing down the last remnants of his congee and an exasperated Xie Lian sitting by his bed, peeling an apple, watching their wayward patient out of the corner of his eye.
Both Hua Cheng and Xie Lian did everything they could to make Wei Ying as comfortable as possible while he was stuck in that soulless room. The ward was periodically sprinced with some lemon and pine air freshener to combat the god awful hospital smell. An air humidifier sat next to Wei Ying at his bedside to keep his sinuses clear while he slept. They ran back and forth to their home multiple times to get Wei Ying’s favourite blankets and pillows, most of which were either crocheted by Xie Lian or Jiang Yanli. There was very little space left on the window sill on account of all the flower bouquets perched on the ledge, along with a pile of fruit baskets and knicknacks sitting at the foot of the hospital bed, all thanks to a bunch of friends, co-workers and groups of students stopping by, offering their well-wishes and recovery gifts to their dearest dummy.
Wei Ying was incredibly touched by the level of thoughtfulness and care that he was bombarded with these last couple of days that he may or may not have sobbed a few times.
That didn’t stop him from throwing his weight around whenever Doctor Qing’s restrictions got too suffocating, though.
(He’ll make it up to his husbands once he’s done healing, Wei Ying swears. All ten fingers crossed!)
“Gege!” Wei Ying eagerly called out as the taller man entered, “Did you get the- what the hell is in that bag?”
Xie Lian’s thoughts exactly. Hua Cheng was carrying a duffel bag that wasn’t even zipped all the way. There were a bunch of odd lumps that appeared to be squirming around through the fabric.
Just as when San Lang opened his mouth, ready to reply, one of the lumps shot out through the opening.
A scraggly-looking shadow bolted across the room before dive-bombing right into Wei Ying’s lap. Enthusiastically kneading the shocked man’s chest, careful not to accidentally hurt one of its favourite owner’s with its claws.
“E-Ming?!” Wei Ying exclaimed, jaw dropped.
“Murr.” Their smug, one-eyed cat chirped. Affectionately rubbing its face against Wei Ying’s chin.
Hua Cheng went over and settled the bag on Wei Ying’s bed. A white-haired fur ball popped out.
“Ruoye!”
The cat purred as it glided its way towards the sitting man, joining E-Ming in the biscuit-making session.
Another black-haired feline leapt out of its prison. This time sauntering right into an aghast Xie Lian’s lap. Wei Ying let out a dramatic gasp.
“Betrayal! Is this how you repay me for raising you, Chenqing?! You won’t even check on your sick papa?!”
Chenqing only gave its wailing owner a passing glance, emerald eyes glinting mischievously as it lay its head down on Lian’er’s knee, ready to take a nap.
There was a ginger tail poking out of the mostly empty duffel bag, rapidly wriggling around in the air, the tail’s owner clearly refusing to come out.
The poor thing never could handle unfamiliar places. Yet it still didn’t want to be left behind.
“Suibian! I can see you! We all can see you! Come here, you little coward!”
That got him a guttural yowl in protest.
“What ungrateful children I’ve raised!” Wei Ying squawked, petting Ruoye and E-Ming to sooth his indignation.
“San Lang…” Xie Lian started, trying to keep his tone patient, “Just how did you convince the hospital staff to allow our cats in…?”
Hua Cheng let out a small laugh, although it sounded forced to Xie Lian’s ears. The taller man was lightly tapping at the bag, gently urging the fussy tabby to leave its refuge.
“I may or may not have promised them that I’ll donate to the hospital. Should be enough to open a new wing.” He sheepishly admitted.
“Probably used his mob ties to intimidate everyone into silence.” Wei Ying sniggered. Hua Cheng merely sighed. He didn’t have enough energy to refute the notion and instead settled for flicking the dumbass on the forehead.
“Hey! I’m still recovering here! Lian’er, scold him for me!”
Xie Lian didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. Both seemed appropriate in this case.
He decided to just admit defeat and give Chenqing the head-scritches that it was silently demanding.
The storm has passed. Their family was reunited, safe and healthy.
That’s all any of them could really ask for.
End.
Important Author's Notes for Asterisks:
1. The first ban of polygamous marriages in China was introduced in around 1950. This law would be updated in later years. As for how Hua Cheng managed it… I dunno *shrug*. Just imagine he used his mob influence or money laundering schemes which he TOTALLY doesn’t do in this verse!!
2. The ‘chateau smasher’ line was borrowed from Dustin Poynter, also known as ‘Red Flag Guy’ on YouTube.
3. Rìchū: Pinyin for ‘sunrise’.
4. Xiexie translates to ‘thank you’.
5. The ‘clump of cells’ line was borrowed from true-crime podcaster and all-around cinnamon roll, Stephanie Soo.
6. WeChat is essentially the WhatsApp of China, only it has more mini programs that allows users to shop online, access in app tools, as well as to send money and pay through it.
7. Judging from what I’ve heard from other people online, Chinese citizens moving into different Chinese cities is the equivalent to the tedious visa process of moving to a different country. Unless they find suitable work that can allow them to stay in that city for a long period of time, then they’ll have to move back to their hometowns. Although, it’s been said that this issue has started improving amongst young adults.
8. Lao Gong: Pinyin for ‘husband’.
9. Rìběn: Pinyin for ‘Japan’.
10. The ‘pork floss’ line was inspired by a similar scene in the C-Drama ‘Rational Life’ where MC gets appendicitis. The love interest takes care of her and decides to spoil her by adding pork floss in her congee.
If there's any information provided here that was inaccurate and/or outdated, please let me know and I will make the necessary edits.
As for the medical inaccuracies here, please don't focus on it too much. Any attention on drama over reality is intentional, I tried not to make it TOO out of the realm of possibility, but obviously I'm no medical expert and since this is crack, it's not meant to be taken seriously.
I've most likely leaned more towards XieXian than HuaXian, buuuuuuttttt I think that's fair considering the amount of HuaXian fics I wrote. Also, XL deserves more love. Lol.
If ya liked the work, please leave a like/comment. That'll be very much appreciated!!
Got tagged by @guangshi-091305 . Might as well join *shrug*
Last song: "Even If There's No Miracle" by Seo In-guk. It was the end song of the K-drama 'Death's Game'. Check it out if you can handle an inhumane amount of angst.
Fav colours: Green and silver. Reminds me of forest scenes in the night time.
Last book: Do light novels count? Eh. I'm counting it! The Husky and His White Cat Shizun/2ha and Under the Oak Tree.
Last movie: Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. Am a huge Tolkien nerd and proud~
Last TV show: When the Phone Rings. Wtf was that last episode...?
Sweet/savory/spicy: I often flip-flop between savoury and sweet, so 50/50 on those two. It really depends on where my cravings take me. For spicy, only sometimes (can handle chili and jalapeños just fine).
Relationship status: Am single. Thank fucking god....
Last thing I googled: "What am I allowed to eat after an appendectomy". Needed to do some research for a fic. lol.
Looking forward to: checking out Link Click thanks to a pestering friend who I shall not name~, the new Bleach TYBW core, reading Ballad of Sword and Wine (Danmei/BL) + Clear and Muddy Loss of Love (Baihe/GL)
Current obsession: K-dramas, C-dramas, anime, period pieces, rarepairings/cross-over ships, canon ships (so long as the couple has crazy-good chemistry, I'm fine with whatever)
I'm just gonna tag @theshenanijiang, 'cause I don't know anyone else who uses Tumblr...
The Wens have been settling quite nicely in Ghost City...can't say the same for Wei Wuxian and A-Yuan. Fed up with the two youngsters holing themselves up in their room, Uncle Four gives the kick that Wei Ying needed to go out and explore Ghost City with his little radish in tow. Unfortunately they walked right into the....unique stalls.
Ghost City's cuisine deserves it's own warning.
WARNING: Ghost City's...interesting food options up ahead...
Read to the end for more notes:
As ducks take to water, the Wens managed to fit right into their temporary settlement.
Most of them left the inn they were staying at, scattering all over Ghost City. Finding the odd job or two. Most decided to be washers, servers, crafters or seamstresses. Taking most of the kids -they ones they collected while on the run- with them as their apprentices. Leaving A-Yuan with his Baba. Some of the Wens split off from the smaller groups, deciding to open up small businesses, such as an embroidery shop or put up stands to sell common everyday items, like paper umbrellas, fans, jade pendants and so on.
Only a few stayed to help Uncle Four with his new winery business. Which, after the impromptu sampling Wei Wuxian offered at the Gambler’s Den, turned out to be a success. So much so that they had to close up shop a few hours after opening because they ran out of drinks and snacks.
For his part, Wei Ying moved into one of the rooms on the winery’s upper-floor. Spending his days mucking around with A-Yuan and his nights experimenting with human-sized arrays, interconnecting them, creating a long chain spiralling around the spare room’s floor, forming it into confusing patterns that would have the most-skilled cultivator scratching their heads, before clicking his tongue in irritation and scraping it. Wei Ying would then proceed to re-draw them, repeating this odd ritual until the first crack of dawn.
Wen Qing and Wen Ning would often peek into the room, watching the young man tirelessly working under the dimming lanterns, eyes squinting from the low light, feeling their knees twinge in sympathy while the new Calamity knelt on the floor for hours on-end, labouring away on Heavens’ know what.
Neither sibling had the heart to tell Wei Ying to stop. Knowing damn-well that whatever he was doing was for their family’s sake.
After one too many nights of no sleep or regular meals, Uncle Four finally put his foot down.
“Why don’t you and Yaun’er go for a stroll, hmm?” Uncle Four suggested, noticing that the younger man was getting antsy. He also knows that Wei Ying would most likely leave the room only for A-Yuan’s sake.
Poor lad likely met another dead end. Being holed up in a small room with nothing but your thoughts circling around your head… That’ll drive him mad one of these days. The elder man thought grimly.
Wei Ying winced at the suggestion. A-Yuan refuses to go anywhere without his father there in his line of sight. Whenever Wei Ying would leave the upper-floor space, wanting to help Uncle Four and the others with the growing business, the child would pace around the hall, constantly asking Granny or Qing-jie where his Baba was every five minutes. The first time his son saw the crowd of rowdy ghosts on opening-day, the boy scrambled up to his room and refused to come out until they all left.
Wei Ying gloomily pointed all these instances out to Uncle Four, the elder’s frown only deepened.
“Would you rather he stay here forever, clutching at his father’s robes? Only interacting with the same five people for eternity?” He retorts.
“He’s gotten a bit better. Yuan’er doesn’t even flinch at loud noises anymore.” Uncle continued.
“He had a nasty relapse last week, Uncle.” Wei Ying stated sombrely, eyes glazed over in remembrance. .
As soon as Hua Cheng crossed over the winery’s threshold, he felt malicious intent. The next second, his hand reflexively caught something flying too close to his face.
Holding up the wriggling creature, Hua Cheng inspected the tiny horror, brow arched curiously. It was a carrot ….. Which somehow sprouted root-like legs and was growing the beginnings of a face. The thing had claws and a gaping mouth with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Clearly intending to make a meal out of him, of all people.
Hua Cheng showed little reaction to the strange sight, other than a minute blink.
With a nonplussed expression, Hua Cheng took in the winery’s awkward atmosphere.
There were two elderly people and a child crowding around a table, keeping a bunch of fresh vegetables huddled at the table’s centre (the greens appeared to be suffering from the same affliction as the carrot). Almost all the furniture and crockery within the hall were smashed to bits or flipped over, aside from the one pot boiling on a brazier in the middle of the dinning hall. A young woman who appeared to be midlunge and a man (a Fierce Corpse?) holding her back by firmly wrapping his arms around her waist, while the woman’s victim was crouching above a cupboard and holding onto the top for dear-life.
If Hua Cheng ventured a guess, he’d say one of Lord Wuxian’s experiments got a little out of hand and the lady decided he should pay the price, while the poor soul holding her back was trying to keep the peace.
And the idiot decided to find safety in a high place, like a spooked cat. He thought, lips twitching in humour.
The idiot in question tried to act nonchalant over the bizarreness of the situation.
“Chengzhu! What brings you here…?”
“Noise complaints.” Hua Cheng deadpanned. Wei Ying let out a nervous laugh while jumping off the cabinet. Feet scurrying away from the fuming lady as soon as his toes touched the floor.
The woman angrily breaks out of the other man’s grip and goes to help the others with the ‘produce’.
Hua Cheng waves around the ‘carrot’ that was still in his hand. A clear sign for Wei Ying to start talking.
“Uncle Four and I were talking about expanding food options around here. It can’t just be wine, ya know?” He sheepishly explained, awkwardly rubbing his neck.
“And so , the genius decided to revisit one of his failed experiments.” The woman -whom Hua Cheng believes to be Wen Qing- drawls. Shaking off the live-tomato that was biting into her finger. She let out a low hiss as its teeth dug deep into her flesh, her blood trickling onto the table.
“Who the hell would want to eat these things anyway?!” Wen Qing snaps.
“Oh, I could easily see this turn into a rare delicacy within my city.” Hua Cheng quips as he tosses the carrot into the boiling pot with a small ‘plop’. Nearly everyone winced as the little horror shrieked in pain, drowning in the scalding water. Wei Ying and Hua Cheng were the only ones who didn’t appear phased.
“No! No! Qing-jie is onto something.” Wei Ying rebuked, as if there wasn’t a pitiful creature in the middle of its death throes, forcing everyone else to cover their ears.
Wen Qing shot him a glare, finally freeing her poor finger from the tomato’s clutches. She walked over to the boiling pot, about to throw it in when Wei Ying snatched it from her.
Showing off the creature to Hua Cheng as if he were making a sales pitch, Wei Ying continued:
“You just need to cut off the limbs, scrape off the face and ta-da! Back to being like any other vegetable.” He grinned.
Hua Cheng shook his head, brow slightly furrowed.
“Your winery is going to sound like a torture room if you do that. Those things are awfully loud.” Hua Cheng advised, eye flitting back to the squirming tomato in disinterest.
Wei Ying lightly stroked his chin with his free hand, thinking over Chengzhu’s words.
“Hmm. You’re right. It would ruin everyone’s appetite.” He mumbled.
Tossing the tomato over his shoulder and into the pot, Wei Ying turned to the elderly man.
“Hey, Uncle! How sturdy are your kitchen walls? Do you think they can handle a dozen silencing arrays?”
“A dozen?!” The elder squawked. “Uhh.. well..”
While the adults were talking, the child shyly walked up to Wei Ying.
(He wanted to do it earlier, but A-Yuan had to wait until Baba got rid of that little monster.)
Little fists clutched at the hem of Wei Ying’s sleeve. The boy curiously peeked at the newcomer behind his Baba’s legs. The man turned his head back, gently combing his fingers through his son’s hair in quiet reassurance.
“Little radish…? Why don’t you introduce yourself to our guest?”
A-Yuan didn’t reply to that. Choosing instead to duck his head behind Wei Ying. The elder let out a quiet sigh. Apologetically looking back at Hua Cheng.
“Please forgive him. He’s really shy around strangers.” Wei Ying murmured, too engrossed with his skittish son to notice the older man’s strange reaction.
Hua Cheng looked at the little boy’s bandaged face, eye unfocused, his features marked with a peculiar expression.
It only lasted for a moment. In a blink, Hua Cheng snapped back to attention. He crouched down till he was eye-level with the child. Softening his expression into -what he hoped was- a more approachable look.
“Nice to meet you little lord. Or should I call you Little Wei? I didn’t catch your name.”
Hua Cheng noticed the little guy’s eye widening at being called a ‘Wei’ before the boy gave him a tentative smile.
“....you can call me A-Yuan o-or Yuan’er.” He finishes with a clumsy bow. Hua Cheng felt his lips quirk upwards at the endearing sight and was about to introduce himself when he felt E-Ming’s eye snap open. The sword started pulling itself out of the sheath, wanting a closer look at the boy and his father.
The scimitar was always too curious for its own good.
A-Yuan’s eye went wide, promptly bursting into tears. Shaking non-stop, wildly clutching at Wei Ying’s robes, screeching at the scimitar.
“ Go away! Don’t come closer! ”.
Hua Cheng promptly smacks the sword in its eye. Backing away from the panicking child, while Lord Wuxian tried to calm down his distressed son.
“Make it go away, Baba! Make it stop!” A-Yuan hiccuped, hiding his face in his father’s neck. Wei Ying shushes him, gently patting the child’s back, urging him to calm down.
Hua Cheng had a white-knuckle grip on the hilt. He could feel E-Ming shaking in its sheath, tearing up when it felt like it did something wrong.
“I’m really sorry! He only acts like that around anything sharp.” Wei Ying hurriedly said, rocking the still-crying child back-and-forth.
“You needn’t apologise. I should’ve disciplined my spiritual weapon properly.” Hua Cheng stated, throwing a glare at the tearful scimitar.
(Needless to say, as soon as Chengzhu left, Wen Qing gave him a good thrashing over ‘endangering everyone with another one of his brainless experiments’, but Wei Ying would rather not remember that if he can help it.)
Uncle Four sighs at the memory and decides to leave the young man with some parting advice. “Right now, Yuan’er seems to firmly believe that he should be sheltered, not understanding that he’s trapping himself. The child’s crouching in the back of a dark cave, too scared to come out of the only place that he knows. If A-Yuan continues to live like that, what will become of him in five, ten, twenty years? Try and help him toe the line where there’s some sun. The results might surprise you.”
“....”
A few hours later, Uncle Four hears the heavy creaking of a man’s footsteps followed by the nervous pitter-patter of a child’s feet leave through the building’s back door. The old man lets out a relieved sigh.
Attaboy. He thought.
A breath of fresh air will do both of them some good.
Wei Ying walks around the -oddly enough less crowded- streets of Ghost City while holding A-Yuan at his hip. They initially began their stroll walking side-by-side, but the poor lad couldn’t keep up with his Baba’s long strides, so Wei Ying opted to carry him. The little one was now keeping his face tucked against the elder’s collarbone. Without looking down, Wei Ying could sense his son curiously peeking around the few stands that were still open as he trekked his way to Ghost Market
Wei Ying catches A-Yuan eyeing a stand where a ghost with a camel’s long neck and face was stirring a huge pot of stew.
“Feelin’ hungry…?” Wei Ying murmured against his son’s cheek, tickling the skin with his breath, which inturn made the lad let out a small giggle.
He got a nod, so the young Calamity makes his way to the stand, when he sees the camel-ghost rear its head back, hack up a huge glob of phlegm and spit it right into the pot.
The father-son duo watched in horror as the camel-ghost stirred the pot a few more times before dipping a ladle into the snot-mixed stew, sampling it. Its ears twitching in approval as it let out a satisfied ‘hmm’.
“Ewwww…” A-Yuan whimpered. Wei Wuxian silently agrees, just as disgusted.
The camel-ghost’s ears twitched.
“Who said that, huh?! Why don’t you try to make one then?!” It yelled, twisting its long neck, looking around for the perpetrator.
Not wanting to make eye-contact, both Wei Wuxian and A-Yuan snapped their heads away from the camel’s direction and quickly stepped back into the street, melting into the small crowd before they got caught.
They make their way to another stand, where they find a lizard-demon chopping up its own tail into clean slices before giving them to customers, its stub rapidly growing back into a tail, then repeating the morbid process all over again for the next patron. A ghost selling noodles with the broth that he was bathing in. A spider-demon making ‘dragon’s beard candy’ with its own webs, using the sticky strands to catch flies and other insects before giving it to ghost-kids.
Finally, Wei Wuxian finds a ‘normal’ looking tanghulu stand, nearly sprinting his way there with a green-faced A-Yuan.
“Please tell me you sell human treats here.” The lady looked human, if you disregard the yellow irises with slitted pupils and green scales surrounding her eyes, which crinkled in offence at his comment.
“Of course we sell human food here. Whaddya take us for?!” She scoffed. Wei Ying was about to exhale in relief when he took a closer look at what was displayed.
Sure. There were some normal tanghulu, like candied hawthorne, strawberries and whatnot, but there were also candied body parts. Severed fingers stabbed through the stick, glistening with hardened sugar, reddish-purple tongues along with specifically shaped pieces of shrivelled flesh that Wei Ying was 100% certain were not sausages.
He and A-Yuan had a brief staring contest with an eyeball-tanghulu before looking back at the proud seller, puffing her chest.
“I just remembered that my son hasn’t had lunch yet. I shouldn’t spoil his appetite with sweets. Thank you for letting us have a look, madame.” He deadpanned, expression blank.
“Huh?!” The snake-lady snapped, but Wei Ying had already turned his heel, ready to hightail out of the food section.
“You okay?” He whispered under his breath. Cursing himself a thousand-fold. Wei Wuxian was going to give Uncle Four a tongue-lashing when he comes back. Pleasant stroll, my foot!
A-Yuan wrinkled his nose, face pale.
“Don’ think I’ll be eating for a while….” The poor lad mumbled.
Wei Ying hid a grimace. Silently vowing that he will never come back to these stalls with A-Yuan in tow again. Seeing that his son needed a distraction, Wei Ying stops at a line of stalls where some ghosts were selling toys. Cradling the little lad who was now hiding his face in his Baba’s neck.
Wei Wuxian spied one stall owner selling what looked to be rattle-drums.
He was about to go and ask for the price when a foreboding thought struck him.
What if the toys also had some type of hidden horror….?
Was the leather made out of human-skin? Were the rattles carved from a serial-killer’s bones? Did it make some kind of high-pitched shriek with every shake? or…. or…
Deciding that it would be safer to make a strategic retreat back to the winery, Wei Wuxian made to turn away.
“Ah! Gongzi! Wait!”
“Huh?” Turning back, Wei Ying saw the stall owner walk up to him and all but shoved a rattle-drum into his free hand.
“Enjoy!” The other ghost exclaimed, patting Wei Ying on the shoulder before scurrying off. Staring at the empty spot where the stall owner just was, he blinked owlishly.
What just happened..?
Noticing that A-Yuan had lifted his face to peek around again, Wei Ying quietly offered him the toy which he gladly took.
Shaking his head at the weirdness, Wei Ying made to leave the lane once again… and was accosted by another ghost giving freebies.
This bizarre song and dance continued until Wei Ying had an armful of cargo, including a clay whistle, a kite in the shape of a phoenix, a bamboo dragonfly, a couple of stuffed animals, a paper windmill, a few puzzle boxes, a jar of marbles, a bow and some arrows fit for a child, a diabolo and a wide-eyed A-Yuan gaping in disbelief at all the new toys.
Couldn’t they have at least offered to carry some of this stuff for me?!
Wei Ying couldn’t even see! The new toys had piled all the way up to his face, practically blocking his vision.
From the corner of his eye, Wei Ying could make out a woman with a feline-like face and a cat’s tail carrying a hand-carved box - another stall owner- eagerly approaching him. Clearly intending to give him the beautifully ornate box meant for accessories.
Wei Ying reeled back. She must be joking! He already has too much junk as is!
The mountain of toys wobbled before eventually collapsing. Wei Ying felt some of the toys spilling out of his arms-
And straight into another's.
“Need some help?” Hua Cheng muttered while sharing the load, practically shoulder-to-shoulder with Wei Ying, standing a little too close for comfort.
“This was your doing, wasn’t it?!” Wei Ying hissed directly into Hua Cheng’s ear, hoping A-Yuan wouldn’t hear.
Hua Cheng merely gave him an ‘innocent’ smile and shrug, which to Wei Ying, was an admission of guilt.
The younger male was about to snap at the Crimson Bastard, when he felt his son pull at the collar of his robe.
“...thank you..” The boy mumbled in Hua Cheng's general direction, clutching at one of the stuffed toys before tucking his head back into his father’s neck. Hua Cheng offered the lad a sincere smile this time (one of the few that Wei Ying has seen so far) before beckoning the new Calamity to follow him.
“Where are we going?” Wei Ying asked, a tad cautious.
“A place where you can have a proper meal.” Hua Cheng flippantly said.
Wei Ying felt his left eye twitch. It took every single ounce of self-restraint not to cuss out Crimson Rain right in front of his very very young son.
So you were watching us this whole time?!
Chapter End.
Author's Notes:
Yeaaaah. A-Yuan has some unresolved trauma with swords and knives. You can already guess why.
*Tulipa hybrida: Better known as pink tulips. These flowers symbolize forgiveness, care, and affection. If the apology stemmed from unintentional actions, then pink tulips can help convey one's genuine concern for the recipient's feelings. I think this was the perfect flower to showcase HC's roundabout apology to A-Yuan. To him, 'sorry' wasn't gonna cut it and we all know how HC can't resist making grand gestures. Notice how HC took extra care to give A-Yuan a bow and some arrows, not a toy sword? Already on his way to becoming a good step-dad~
Note 1: Dragon's Beard Candy is a Chinese confectionary that's the equivalent to cotton-candy. Albeit with a lower sugar content and a shorter shelf-life.
Note 2: A diabolo is basically the Chinese version of a yo-yo.
And yes. The 'living vegetables' were a reference to Mo Dao Zushi Q! Hope you guys enjoyed the little A-Yuan and HC interactions. We'll have more of them later on ;)
Thanks for reading! Don't be afraid to let me know your thoughts on this chapter!
We're finally getting hints on the important plot beats of this fic. I'll do my best to not have the wait for the next chapter be as long as the last one. Till then, enjoy the omakes!
Omake:
WWX: *sneaking glances at HC while they're walking through Ghost Market, clearly wanting to ask something*
HC: What is it?
WWX: *blurts out* So, I know that there’s another Calamity who loves eating human-flesh. Do all Ghost Kings share the same tastes?
HC: *gives WWX a thousand-yard stare* Wow. I’m actually offended this time.
WWX: S-sorry! Didn’t mean to call you a canni-
HC: How could you possibly compare me to that vomit-wearing, goblin-faced, pest?
After the final note faded into the wind, Wei Ying took a moment to collect himself, wiping away the fresh tears clinging to his eyelashes.
Great. Now he was crying for a different reason….
The silence was broken by a soft clink-clinking sound resonating throughout the forest. Enrapturing and pleasant to the ear.
A familiar, yet undeniably deeper, voice called out:
“A lovely song. May this one know its name?”
“ A lovely song. May this one know its name? ”
“It is without a title-” Wei Ying wanted to say more as he turned towards the vexing man, but his tongue twisted into a knot before he could utter another word.
I’ll consider showing you my true face the next time we meet.
Weren’t they joking?
He was serious?
The youthful skin Crimson Rain wore didn’t hold a candle to how he looked now. Bedecked head-to-toe in blood red robes with numerous ebony belts tied around a slender waist. The elder wore different kinds of jewellery; gauntlets, rings, earrings, a necklace decorated with chimes. All this finery, a pure silver and with their own intricate designs. The necklace in particular, had delicate overlapping chains with crystals the size of a child’s finger, studded at irregular intervals with little silver butterflies fluttering within them. Somehow, when put together with the whole ensemble, it came off as ethereal instead of ostentatious. The handsome face, always with its signature smirk, was both mature and wild. One eye hiding behind a leather eyepatch, while the other currently staring at him, a deep red iris with a slit pupil, surrounded by black sclera. Its focused gaze pierced through Wei Wuxian’s being. Long black tresses, free from their original ponytail, with the exception of one lock braided with a red ribbon and a rare coral bead hanging at the tip. The hair perfectly framing those devilish features.
There was a single fang peeking out from those smirking lips and yet, Wei Ying didn’t feel intimidated in the slightest.
What a beautiful man. What a powerful presence. He thought, distantly.
“-a proper name?”
“Huh?!” Wei Ying snapped back into attention.
Gods, did he actually zone out?!
He got a baritone chuckle in return. Wei Ying fought the blush trying to crawl its way up his neck.
“I said …” The elder repeated, barely holding back the urge to tease “…it clearly took so much effort to compose this type of song. Why not give it a proper name?”
His manner reminded Wei Ying of a cat watching a toy dangling in front of it with minor interest. Contemplating if he should take a swipe at it or not.
Wei Ying’s eyes instantly darted to the right, attracted to a particular tree branch.
It had nothing to do with the elder ghost standing just a few feet away from him.
Wei Wuxian does not get nervous , dammit!
“I am not the original composer. So, it wouldn’t be right for me to name it.” He mentally patted himself on the back for keeping his voice even.
Crimson Rain merely hummed in reply. A clear tinge of disappointment within it.
“What about your own compositions, then?”
Wonderful . Now, he was back to teasing. Wei Ying really wasn’t in the mood for that right now.
He made direct eye-contact and shot back:
“If I didn’t know any better, Chengzhu, I’d say you want me to play a couple of songs for you. Are you going to ask me to compose something, as well?”
That didn’t deter him in the slightest. Instead, his smirk widened.
“A very tempting offer. How could this one refuse? Name your price.”
Bastard.
“Chengzhu is oh-so-generous. I’ll gladly call the new song “Ghost Lord’s Glib Tongue.” Wei Ying retorted snappishly. The elder let out a playful scoff.
“Why ‘glib’? Have I not been sincere with you?”
“Crimson Rain is the sincerest man I’ve ever met. A true man amongst men.” He could fill an entire lake with how much sarcasm was dripping out of his voice.
There was a slight tremble in Hua Cheng’s lips as he held back the laughter that wanted to spill out.
Not wanting to be caught staring, Wei Ying directed his gaze elsewhere. Traces of slight annoyance found within his frown.
He heard the ground crunch, followed by that clink-clinking sound. The man’s next words sounded much closer than before.
“Careful, Lord Wuxian. With that face you’re making, I’d think that you dislike talking to me.”
Before Wei Ying could come up with another retort, he felt something soft and smooth brush against his tender cheek.
He instinctively flinched away; gaze trained intensely at what was in Chengzhu’s hand.
It was a handkerchief. Made of black silk and embroidered with red flowers in the corner.
….and smudged with a reddish-brown substance.
Fuck.
The tears. The blood .
His cheeks may have healed now, but the blood stains and tear-tracks streaking through were still there.
There was not a hint of mockery or pity in Chengzhu’s expression. Smirk gone and expression unreadable as he turned over his hand, still holding the piece of silk. Palm facing up in offering.
Quick as a whip, Wei Ying snatched the cloth and began furiously wiping away at the mess on his face. Too embarrassed to even say ‘thank you’.
He felt Crimson Rain take a few steps away from him. Giving Wei Wuxian back his personal space. Still cleaning, Wei Ying saw from the corner of his eye that Chengzhu had his hands folded behind his back, head respectfully turned away. A bit late to make such a gesture, but, whenever Wei Ying thought back on it, he couldn't help but feel appreciation.
“….why are you here?” Wei Ying asked, voice strangled. He didn’t care that it sounded rude. If the Ghost King witnessed his breakdown, then he’d already lost all manner of dignity.
Doesn’t a City Lord have a million tasks to do?
Was Crimson Rain just that bored?
Hua Cheng let out an amused huff, as if Wei Wuxian had just told him a joke!
“Am I not allowed to greet the newcomer who stumbled into my property?” He jibbed airily.
Wei Ying blinked owlishly at him. Feeling that his face was mostly clean now, he put the handkerchief away and fully faced the man once more.
“Your property…?”
Crimson Rain lifted one hand and made a waving motion, as if he were lazily swatting away a fly.
The night fog suddenly stilled and gradually lifted. A few steps away from him, Wei Wuxian could see a lake, previously concealed by the dense vapours. There were slumbering flowers decorating its shores, a cloud of silver butterflies dancing and fluttering atop the blue waters in mesmerising patterns, the crescent moon and bright stars now reflected in the crystal blue pools and from a distance…. a large red and black mansion. Imposing, as its towers reached towards the night sky, every inch of its architecture and décor a testament of sheer wealth. A befitting home to Ghost City’s lord.
One by one, the flowers surrounding the lake opened up their petals, emitting soft light on their own. Some red, some blue, pink, purple… Those delicate blooms gleaming, swaying in the nonexistent breeze, turning the whole forest into a festival of light meant only for a few. The night shadows receded and the forest was bathed in a kaleidoscope of glowing flora.
Embarrassment gave way to inquisitiveness; Wei Ying stooped down to one of the buds and reached out with the hand not clutching his dizi. His fingers cautiously prodding at the secreting fluid coming out of those velvety petals.
He felt the skin on those fingers go numb.
Poison? Paralysing agent? An antiseptic? He wondered, mind whirling.
Amazingly, as if it had a mind of its own, the flower head twisted away from Wei Wuxian’s touch.
Wen Qing would love to test these out. He himself felt the urge to experiment. To take and break it apart. To look at it from all angles, all possibilities until he was satisfied with the results.
Wei Ying could not recall reading about these exact plants in his studies or seeing their illustrations during his private researches on medicinal herbs.
Did Crimson Rain make these flowers himself?
“I call them Night Blossoms. You’ll only find them here, I’m afraid.” He heard Hua Cheng say somewhere above him.
Well, that answered his question.
He was probably entertaining himself with Wei Ying’s gawking. Not that he minded. Wei Ying was more focused on this new finding.
“Incredible….” He breathed out. It must have taken a great amount of time to cultivate these blooms.
He heard Chengzhu settle down next to him. Briefly looking at the elder, Wei Ying saw that he had his head turned towards the lake. Not even sparing the flowers a passing glance.
“They’re pretty.” Hua Cheng acknowledged. “But they lose their initial appeal after some time.”
He looked back at Wei Wuxian, eye twinkling.
“If you ask me, I find the recent addition much more fascinating.”
Wei Ying felt his tense body relax some as he looked back at him and couldn’t stop the slight quirk at the corners of his mouth.
Ridiculous man. Always feels the need to bring it back to flirting, huh?
He couldn’t stop the half-scoff half-laugh from such an answer. Dark mood now gone; Wei Ying merely shook his head at the other man’s absurdity. He continued inspecting the bud and asked:
“Do they have any medicinal properties or are they just there for aesthetics?”
“Do you take me for a vain person?”
Wei Ying pursed his lips, eyeing the elder’s decorous attire. Honestly, the man was practically dripping so much money that he could make the Jins look like a clan of paupers.
“…. don’t answer that.” Hua Cheng huffed, realising he wasn't helping his case.
Wei Ying let out a small chuckle. Curiosity satisfied for now, he paused in his inspection. Opting to put Chenqing aside and sit back to enjoy the view.
Both watched as the cloud of butterflies slowly broke apart. Some went to nest in the glowing flowers, some flew off back at the mansion across the lake, the rest continued lazily fluttering above the crystal pool.
Wei Ying felt his mind ease as he silently absorbed the serene atmosphere surrounding him.
Noticing that the man next to him was uncharacteristically quiet, Wei Ying peeked at him through his peripheral vision.
Chengzhu, like himself, was sitting in a lotus-position. One of his arms was folded on his crossed legs, the other propped atop it, allowing him to rest his chin on his hand. Face relaxed and eye closed. The fairy lights illuminating that handsome visage. Looking to all the world as if the scenery relaxed him to the point of sleep.
And why wouldn’t it? This was Crimson Rain’s home.
He was just a guest (an intruder) here.
Realising that he was invading the man’s peace, Wei Ying contemplated a smooth way to make his exit.
Hua Cheng cracked his eye open, immediately making eye-contact with the younger ghost. Caught staring, Wei Ying flustered and awkwardly gaped as the elder let out a snicker.
“It’s been a few days since our last conversation. How has Ghost City treated you?”
Wei Ying couldn’t help but snort.
“As if you don’t know.”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t play dumb!” Wei Ying exclaimed, incensed and charmed all at once. “I’ve been feeling the same set of eyes on me every time I step out of that inn. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that’s one of your men.”
“Which one? Care to describe them to me?” Chengzhu asked light-heartedly.
“A servant wearing the ugliest demon mask I’ve ever seen. If he wants to keep spying on me, tell him to change it. It’s too noticeable.”
“I’ll be sure to pass along your advice to Yin Yu.” Hua Cheng laughed.
Wei Ying sighed in fake exasperation.
“Although….” The elder continued “He only monitored you a few times, since you hardly ever set foot on the streets.” Hua Cheng lazily cast his gaze to the intimidating mansion from afar, expression bored.
“How odd.” He commented. “You made such a fuss back at the den that I took you for a social butterfly. Turns out, you’re more of a skittish kitten, refusing to come out of its box.”
It felt like he had been doused with a bucket of cold water. The temperature dropped as Wei Ying tensed. Expression thunderous, back bamboo-straight, fingers clutching Chenqing in a white-knuckle grip.
How dare he….?
“Ah. Now you resemble a mother bear ready to defend its cubs. My mistake.” Hua Cheng mocked, finding it laughable that his tiny provocation caused such a strong reaction. His body remained relaxed with hardly a change in his posture, not even looking at Wei Ying still.
“What I do in private, is none of your business.” Wei Ying gritted, infuriated at the audacity .
“I’m aware.”
“Then why -”
“Because someone has to point out that you’re still acting like a mortal.”
“What….?”
“Do you know why ghosts can’t let go of the urge to eat, drink and sleep? Even when they no longer need to?” Hua Cheng asked rhetorically. “Because they enjoy it, so it’s not worth letting go. You know what’s worth letting go? Regrets. Pain. Grudges. They’ve lived their whole lives trying to reach or do something, but most would reach their end before they can. Eventually, it all comes down to the same realisation: It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m dead anyway. I don’t have to think about it. Now, I can just move on and do whatever I want.”
“And what happens to the ghosts who don’t want to let go?” Wei Ying snapped back.
Hua Cheng’s eye narrowed. Lips pursed in displeasure.
“They fade.” He stated. “Those who can’t detach from the past or mull over ‘what could have’ just…disappear. No reincarnation. No afterlife. Simply pure oblivion.”
The sense of finality to that was enough to send shivers down Wei Ying’s spine. Goosebumps prickled all over his skin, Wei Ying wrinkled his robes while clutching his knees in a bruising grip.
He remained silent for a few moments, tried to swallow around the lump in his throat before bitterly admitting:
“Moving on…. if only it were that easy.” Wei Ying scoffed, as if he wasn’t trying to do that already. Fingers sought for grass blades, he started plucking them in irritation. Rapidly blinking away the fog building up in his vision.
“It’s not.” Hua Cheng agreed. “Mortals in your place would be stuck in the past and drive themselves to madness as they obsess over decisions long made. Assuming that they haven’t already.”
“Then why the lecture, oh wise Ghost King?”
Hua Cheng turned his head back to Wei Ying. There was an intense light in that ruby eye that it took everything in Wei Ying’s power not to turn his head away.
“Because you have something that most people don’t.”
“Which is?” He asked, feeling his mouth turn dry.
“Time.” The elder man’s lips turned upwards slightly. “Don’t be in such a rush to ‘get better’. You have an eternity to do that now. Stop looking back, because you’re not going that way. And….” He leaned forward, eerie light fading, expression softening as some of his original playful attitude returned. “ Do whatever you want . You won’t be judged here. Besides, this city is very good at making people forget about their troubles.”
Wei Ying blinked. Brushing the grass stains off his clothes, Hua Cheng stood up and got ready to leave.
“Whenever you’re ready, stop by the den. You certainly know how to liven up the place.” He stated, jestingly.
Wei Ying licked his dry lips and asked, voice low:
“And if I’m not ready…?”
“Then feel free to come here for some peace and quiet. No one will stop you.” He invited as he finished adjusting his attire. Hua Cheng turned his back to Wei Ying.
Not wanting it to end on a heavy note, the younger ghost offered his parting shot:
“Do you always invite people to your house after you insult them?”
Hua Cheng merely laughed as he looked over his shoulder. Catching one last glimpse of the youngest Calamity:
“Have a good night, Lord Wuxian.”
“…you too, Chengzhu.”
Invite or no invite, Wei Ying still felt like he overstayed his welcome, so he waited until that odd clink-clinking sound faded before he stood up to leave as well.
Only when he picked up Chenqing, he felt an added weight on one end of the instrument.
Wei Ying snapped his head down and noticed that there was something tied to the red string.
It was a jade token.
The one he painstakingly carved when he first entered the Mounds.
How…?
He tried to look around, but predictably, Crimson Rain was long gone. Even the butterflies had disappeared.
Once again, Wei Ying was left shaking his head in disbelief.
Smarmy bastard. Just had to get the last laugh.
His face felt oddly tight and sore. Wei Ying reached out a hand to check and found that he was smiling. Much more widely than he was used to these days.
This light feeling lasted his entire journey back to the inn.
When the building was in sight, Wei Ying steeled himself and took a deep breath as he set foot across the threshold, slowly going up the stairs, back to the rented room he and A-Yuan were sharing. With every step he ascended, Wei Ying felt that particular stone in his chest grow heavier and heavier. He made sure to only put his weight on the stairs that weren’t creaking, to keep himself light on his feet at all times and to have his ears on high alert.
Wei Ying would never forgive himself if he gave his sleeping son another scare because of his own carelessness.
And yet, when he reached the door, Wei Ying heard a series of continuous clanking sounds from the room. As if a bunch of crockery was being moved around.
He froze for a moment, before slowly opening the door. Not wanting to startle the other occupant.
“What are you doing up, baobei? Did Xian-ge wake you?”
Lo and behold. The child wasn’t sleeping anymore, but instead carefully arranging an assortment of food which, Wei Ying quickly noted, was compiled of his favourite spicy dishes.
No wine. Good. Qing-jie would murder me if she found out that A-Yuan was anywhere near that.
Said child nearly dropped one of the side dishes before quickly setting it down and tackling Wei Ying’s legs. Arms spasming around the limbs as he shook like a leaf in the wind.
“A-Yuan…?”
His only response was a tightening hold and the little head firmly pressing itself against his knees.
Wei Ying exhaled silently through his nose and gently settled a hand on top of the black tresses. He felt the legs of his robes slowly grow damp.
“Hey….. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave like that. Xian-ge was just taking a walk-”
His piss-poor excuse got cut off by a muffled voice:
“Baba was crying.”
“.....”
“Baba was crying ….. an-and A-Yuan couldn’t do anything. Baba always tries to make A-Yuan feel better, but can it be A-Yuan’s turn….?”
The boy carefully lifted his head to look up at his father. Through the tears, his one functioning eye was focused intently on the man’s reaction. Afraid that Wei Ying would say no.
Wei Ying felt a knot tightening in his throat. He forced himself to swallow.
“ Oh, A-Yuan….. ” He shakily cupped his son’s face, stroking one of his cheeks. Careful not to touch the bandages on the other side.
“Shhh!” Wei Ying quickly picked him up and held A-Yuan under his chin. A part of him still marvelling at the movement, at the sign of life . Even if unconventional.
“Baba just got an ouchie on the way here. It’ll get better soon.” He murmured soothingly. He felt his little one gradually untense and relax in his hold.
“Will Baba get better, too?”
“....I will.”
He thought of that fierce gaze and unprompted advice given with a sardonic smile.
Eventually. I just need time. A lot of time.
After a few moments, Wei Ying carefully pulled A-Yuan away from his chest and gave him his best smile. The type that would immediately have someone smile back in reflex.
A-Yuan returned it hesitantly. Wei Ying counted that as a victory.
“Now…” He playfully poked the boy’s nose. “Who helped you with the cooking at this late hour?”
“The innkeeper…. He reaaaaally wanted to help.”
Probably because he was terrified of saying ‘no’ to Black Flute’s son.
Wei Ying nodded with his most serious face, lips pursed and brows furrowed exaggeratedly, making A-Yuan let out a small giggle. He briefly looked at the late-dinner (early breakfast?) set out before them. It looked more like a feast, than anything.
“There’s a lot of it here… What do you say about inviting granny and Auntie Qing? It’ll be our own little party. ” He grinned.
“What about Uncle Ning?”
“ Oh, fiiiiine !” Wei Ying huffed. “Uncle Ning is invited, too. Even if he doesn’t know how to appreciate good food.”
He wagged a finger at his son.
“But you have to promise that you’ll go to bed the second you feel sleepy. Understand, little mister?”
“Promise!” A-Yuan crowed.
Chapter End.
Author's Notes:
Fun fact, Ipomoea quamoclit or cypress vine flower, aside from being a flower that symbolizes grief and unrequited love, it's also the perfect flower for gift-giving. Be it through platonic affection or for romantic occasions, such as wedding anniversaries. I chose this flower for these two chapters, because I think it perfectly represents WWX's past (Wangxian) and his potential future (Huaxian).
Omake:
WWX: *starts shedding tears. Thinking back on all the good times that he had with a certain guqin-player. HC stumbles upon WWX playing his whole Fray playlist*
HC: Hey, cutie. Need some company?
WWX: *sees HC in all his ravishing, demonic beauty and loses his capacity to think for a few seconds*
Hi! I read your posts offering tips on how to describe dark coastal and academia settings. They were super helpful! I was wondering if you had any writing tips for dark forests..? Hope it wasn't too big of an ask. Thanks for your time!
I truly love this so much! I apologize for the delay in my post. I tend to put things off sometimes, I'm a serial procrastinator and it took me a little while to gather my thoughts on what you might encounter in dark forests. But hopefully these are similar to what you wanted!
✩°𓏲⋆🌿. ⋆⸜List of Random Things For Your Dark Forests Settings | For Writers
✩°𓏲⋆🌿. ⋆⸜
The Overgrown Trail 🌿
Winding dirt path obscured by tangled roots and underbrush
Twisted, gnarled tree trunks reaching up to block the sky
Shafts of pale moonlight cutting through the thick canopy
The distant hoot of an owl and the chittering of unseen creatures
The earthy, damp scent of decaying leaves and moss
The Abandoned Cabin 🏚️
Dilapidated wooden structure, its paint peeling and windows boarded up
Cobwebs draped across the porch railing and doorframe
The creak of warped floorboards and the groan of the sagging roof
Rusted tools and broken furniture scattered among the weeds
The stale, musty odor of neglect and the faint tang of rot
The Moonlit Glade 🌕
A small clearing, the grass blanketed in a carpet of wildflowers
Gnarled, ancient trees ringing the open space like silent sentinels
Faint wisps of fog drifting across the still surface of a dark pond
The soft susurration of leaves in the gentle breeze
The faint glow of bioluminescent mushrooms dotting the forest floor
The Winding Stream 🌊
A burbling brook cutting through the undergrowth, its water crystal-clear
Thick, twisted roots breaking through the soil along the banks
Schools of darting minnows and the occasional flash of a trout
Clusters of delicate ferns and mosses clinging to the damp rocks
The soothing sound of rushing water over the pebbles
The Ritual Circle 🕯️
A ring of large, moss-covered stones in a small, secluded clearing
Remnants of burned candles and wilted flower petals scattered within
Carved wooden totems or animal skulls adorning the perimeter
Thin wisps of incense smoke curling up towards the treetops
The eerie silence, broken only by the distant cry of a raven
The Fog-Shrouded Ravine 🌫️
A deep chasm obscured by tendrils of swirling mist
Gnarled, skeletal trees clinging to the steep, rocky sides
The faint sound of running water echoing up from the unseen depths
Thick vines and twisted roots snaking across the uneven ground
The chill of the damp air, raising goosebumps on bare skin
The Witch's Cottage 🧙♀️
A crooked, thatched-roof hut nestled between the twisted trees
Dried herbs and animal bones hanging from the eaves
Smoke curling from the chimney, the scent of charred wood and herbs
A small garden of nightshade, mandrake, and other sinister plants
The eerie cackling of the resident witch, her shadow glimpsed through the windows
The Forgotten Graveyard 🪦
Crumbling, moss-covered headstones half-submerged in the undergrowth
Skeletal tree branches reaching down like grasping hands
Ravens perched atop the weathered grave markers, cawing ominously
Shreds of tattered funeral wreaths and faded flowers scattered about
An unearthly chill in the air, as if the spirits of the dead linger
The Enchanted Pool 🌙
A small, still body of water reflecting the night sky above
Luminescent flora blooming along the murky banks
Schools of glimmering, ethereal fish drifting through the depths
Mist swirling across the surface, obscuring the view of the bottom
The faint sound of otherworldly music drifting from unseen sources
The Cursed Clearing 🕳️
A barren, circular area devoid of vegetation, as if scorched by dark magic
Twisted, blackened tree trunks surrounding the perimeter like sentinels
Jagged shards of obsidian-like rock piercing up from the soil
The crunch of bone-dry leaves and twigs underfoot, shattering the silence
An oppressive aura of dread and unnatural stillness permeating the air
WARNING: there's past!wangxian, Hua Cheng only shows up at the end, blood, dismembered body parts, disfigurement and death of a child. So, if this isn't your cup of tea, it's okay. You can come back next week for soft Huaxian moments if you prefer. WWX is in a really bad place this chapter.
If Wei Ying had a mouth, he would have screamed himself hoarse by now.
He was without a voice or body. A pathetic, helpless, shapeless mass of energy wholly at their mercy.
He could feel burning sensations all over his current form, almost as if he was being stabbed by countless red-hot needles. All he could do was writhe in agony, his spirit trying to pitifully squeeze between their fingers and escape, as clawed hands, pressed and condensed his fragile being, molding it like clay.
It hurts… Was all his thoughts could formulate.
Just a little longer, my lord…. They would assure.
Please do not leave us…
Let us help you….let us help you….
They were forcefully stitching his frayed spirit back together and imbuing it with demonic qi, Wei Ying would eventually realize.
Enough….just stop…. please ….
He should have had his very soul scattered and lose its chance at reincarnation.
It was no less than what he deserved.
“WEI WUXIAN!”
A feminine voice was calling out to him.
“I KNOW YOU’RE STILL THERE!”
Whose calling…?
“PLEASE!”
Blurred images flowed back into his mind.
He was in a cave.
There was a young girl around his age.
A branding iron.
I know her…. I saved her….
“SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP!”
Who…?
Who could possibly ask for my help?
“WEI WUXIAN!”
Whose calling?! What was her name?!
Enough. He growled.
They didn’t listen and continued to crush him in their suffocating embrace.
“I SAID ENOUGH!” He roared.
The blood-pool they were hovering over suddenly boiled and glowed molten red. Bursting bubbles formed into countless sharp spikes that shot in every direction, hitting several wraiths in the process. The creatures let out loud, ear-piercing, shrieks akin to the damned. Their wails echoed all around the dank cave as they shrank and receded into the walls, out of their enraged master’s sight.
Gently, like a leaf separated from its branch and drifting down, his spirit descended onto the cave floor.
Feeling his senses slowly come back to him, Wei Wuxian cracked his eyes open, sat up on his knees and studied his hands.
They had now regained their human shape, but he could see right through them. His new form felt unstable, flickering in and out of existence. A candle light trying so desperately to keep burning on its little wick.
Looking around for the person who called out to him, his eyes were attracted to movement within the blood-pool.
There were bodies floating up from the water’s depths.
The smallest one looked to be about three or four years old.
If he were capable of breathing, his lungs would have felt crushed from the sheer dread that coursed through his veins.
….no.
No.
Nononononononono-
Mind blank, Wei Ying crawled to what remained of his family.
He climbed into the thick pool of blood and human waste. Nostrils stinging from the smell of rusted iron and filth. Robes weighing him down as he wadded past mutilated carcasses, floating limbs, and decapitated heads. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a hint of familiar grey hair matted with crusted blood and free from its typical bun. The bones of the skull poking out of rotting flesh.
Wei Wuxian vacantly stared at (what he assumed) was Granny’s head, before continuing.
Finally, he reached the littlest corpse, carefully shook its shoulder and called out:
“A-Yuan….? What are you doing?” He barely registered the manic trace in his voice, the shaking, the overwhelming need to vomit. Like an infection, hysteria settled into his mind. Growing in magnitude the longer he kept talking .
“Come on, this isn’t funny.”
“You’ll catch a cold like this.”
“A-Yuan….? Baobei…?”
“Open your eyes. Please… ”
Eye.
He could only see one eye.
The other half of his face-
Oh gods…
His son’s face-
“You want some help? Here. Xian-ge will take care of it!”
Quivering hands hovered over the boy, Wei Wuxian tenderly wrapped his arms around the little one’s waist and pulled him up. He didn’t even lift him that far before his son fazed through Wei Ying’s flickering form. The child fell back into the pool, landing on top of another corpse with a sickening splash!
“I’m sorry!” He yelped, horrified.
“Here! Come here! I’ll get you out this time!”
He tried for the second time.
And a third and a fourth.
It was no use.
He couldn’t touch him. He couldn’t feel him.
Wei Ying collapsed back into the pool. Unable to do anything else, he settled the-the corpse onto his lap. Hugging him- it tightly and pressing the head against his cheek, he shivered.
Cold.
He shouldn’t be so cold.
How is A-Yuan going to warm himself up in heaven?
The least he could do was give them a proper burial and he couldn’t even do that much.
Unable to do anything else, he howled. Utterly gutted and enraged. Animalistic screams he didn’t know he was capable of ripped out of his throat. The cave walls cracking and crumbling as demonic energy gathered and lashed out in response to his grief.
My fault…
I’ll never forgive them…
All my fault…
WHO WAS IT?!
All my fault…
Someone needs to PAY!
Wei Ying snapped his eyes open, only to be met with darkness where he could hardly make out the cracked ceiling above him. Wiping away the last remains of his nightmare with his long sleeve, the ghost carefully rolled his head to the side and checked over the little one tucked against him, fast asleep.
He slowly reached out and gently traced A-Yuan’s features with the tips of his fingers, touch feather-light. Basking in the sense of contact.
He was careful not to brush against the wound that was on one side of A-Yuan’s face.
The injury that ultimately snuffed out his life.
Beneath the candlelight, Wei Wuxian could fool himself by believing that the colour of his son’s cheeks were still a hale and healthy pink.
With the slight shuffles A-Yuan made in his sleep, Wei Wuxian could pretend that the boy’s chest was still rising and falling.
By ignoring the last two years, Wei Wuxian could delude himself into thinking that A-Yuan had grown a few inches, as if his little one isn’t currently frozen at the tender age of four.
A bittersweet expression would cross Granny’s face every time it was her turn to tuck A-Yuan into bed.
They’re supposed to grow like weeds at this point. She would sigh.
He could feel a fresh wave of tears building up. A traitorous sob managed to escape past his lips. Sensing movement, Wei Ying quickly clamped a hand over his mouth and laid still. Glassy eyes took in the little body twitching and curling up even tighter against the man before finally relaxing again.
If Wei Ying felt more like himself, he would’ve joked that his son was making his best turtle-impression.
Instead, he slowly reached out for the discarded stuffed bunny lying on the side. Wei Wuxian carefully switched positions with the toy, watching as A-Yuan instinctively curled his arms in a vice-like grip once the stuffing was within his reach. He waited for a few more moments to see if his son would wake, then tenderly kissed the little forehead.
The young ghost slipped out of the bed and quietly left the room.
Exiting the inn he was temporarily staying at, Wei Wuxian took a turn to the left and continued on his way.
Where was he going? He didn’t know.
He just knew it had to be far away from worried eyes.
Wei Wuxian took extra care to duck behind walls and into alleyways whenever he heard a ghost passing by. He could just imagine what they would think if they saw him in this state:
Isn’t that Black Flute? The guy seems a little out of it, don’t ya think?
That’s the new Calamity? Why does he look like shit?
Why are his eyes red? Was he crying ?! Did this wannabe Ghost King actually cry?!
He didn’t need those words to go back to the Wens. They had enough on their plate, thank you very much.
He didn’t stop until the hollers from Ghost Market quieted to a dull roar, till the smoothed-down path beneath his feet had turned uneven with rocks and tree roots, till the moon and stars decorating the sky were hidden behind leaves and foliage.
This seemed like a decent enough spot.
Good. His legs had already started shaking.
Wei Ying leaned against the nearest tree and slid down to the cold ground. Too tired to hold up his weight anymore.
Just a bit of rest and he’ll be right as rain soon. He told himself.
Sounds of crying echoed throughout the forest. Miserable sobs that spelled out one’s crushing defeat with every whimper. Wei Ying whipped his head in both directions, trying to locate the source.
It took him a few seconds to register that they were coming from him.
Wait, that’s not supposed to happen.
The shaking had expanded until he was trembling head-to-toe.
Stop it.
He slapped himself, squeezed his thighs, pinched his biceps, all to the point of bruising himself. Anything. Anything to get these dramatics to stop .
Mucus had pooled into his nose and dripped out of his nostrils; he couldn’t breathe.
In the past two years since he died, Wei Wuxian had made sure to thoroughly distract himself so that he wouldn’t turn out like this. How could he protect the Wens if he kept having these-these moments of madness?
Wei Ying was forced to inhale through his mouth, which somehow made it worse .
His face felt wet and hot, he couldn’t even make out his own hands. A wave of panic had settled into his mind.
Stop crying.
It accomplished nothing and would only leave him with a headache afterwards.
Just stop….!
It wouldn’t stop.
The sobs had taken on a hysterical note to them and morphed into wails that could only come from a wounded animal.
Wei Ying curled into himself, just waiting for this episode to pass on its own.
Oh, I see. It’s because they’re Wen dogs, and Wen dogs aren’t human. So, killing them doesn’t count – that’s what you all meant, right?
You’re very brave. Are you threatening me?
I swear on my name, they’ll never hurt you ever again. I’ll keep you all safe!
Where did all that arrogance come from?
You were just trying to do what was right. Unlike them .
What made him think that he could protect anyone?
They did this. Not you.
In my attempt to make things better, I somehow made it worse.
But they hurt them! They killed A-Yuan!
I promised to keep you all safe and I broke it in the cruelest way possible.
Are you just going to let them walk freely?! No punishment for the needless deaths on their part?!
“But I’m the one who started it!” He choked out.
Wei Ying clawed at his face. Pulling at the tender meat of his cheeks until he drew blood.
I don’t even know why they’re all still following me. How could they trust me after proving what a colossal failure I am?
His mind wanted to shift the blame both on himself and those hypocrites who put him and the Wens in this situation.
Who is ultimately responsible? The Yiling Lazou or the sects? The answers shifted back and forth like a meandering game of cuju. Exhausting and inconclusive.
You need to let it go. His mind would eventually say, once he’d tired himself out.
But he didn’t know how.
I don’t know what to do.
Someone, please tell me what I need to do!
Soft tugs from the top of Wei Ying’s head pierced through the fog of self-doubt.
It seemed that he’d been stuck in his own mind for so long that he caused his little companions to worry.
“I’m alright.” He whispered softly to the fireflies currently flittering above him, lights fluctuating with concern. His elbows tickled as more of them floated out of his sleeves, disturbed from their slumber the moment they felt their master’s distress.
“ I’m alright. ” He insisted and showed them his hand “See? The shaking stopped.”
Wei Ying gently tugged the strands of his hair out of the worried creatures’ grasp. They continued buzzing around his head, some nestling themselves against his wounded cheeks, trying to get rid of the blood.
“It’ll heal soon.” He assured, while gently waving them off. Wei Ying stood up, wobbling slightly as he did so, and slowly pulled out a familiar black flute.
He stared at Chenqing for a few moments. Despite all the hardships he and the flute went through, it had somehow still maintained its original form. Still retained the same black shade as all the other corrupted bamboos back at the Mounds. The instrument’s body remained unchanged, not a single scratch or blemish in sight.
The only difference was that the jade token he’d meticulously crafted was long gone. All that was left was a frayed red string pitifully swaying against the night breeze.
Deciding to distract himself, Wei Ying took a steadying breath, placed the flute onto his lips and played.
It was a song that he memorised by heart, though for the life of him, he could not recall where he heard it from or if it even had a name. Wei Ying can only say that this song brought him comfort, accompanied by a bittersweetness that just wouldn’t stop nibbling at the back of his mind.
It reminded him of cool, still waters, of breathtaking views only seen through mountainsides, of fresh winds that cleanse the lungs with a single breath, of the sense of safety at the sight of soft blue skies, of roiling clouds that add a touch of tranquillity once spotted, of the steady sounds of guqin strings humming and lulling its listeners to a dreamless sleep…
Wei Ying felt his little companions gradually stop buzzing and nest back into his sleeves. He allowed his shoulders to relax some as he carried the song to its end.
After the final note faded into the wind, Wei Ying took a moment to collect himself, wiping away the fresh tears clinging to his eyelashes.
Great. Now he was crying for a different reason….
The silence was broken by a soft clink-clinking sound resonating throughout the forest. Enrapturing and pleasant to the ear.
A familiar, yet undeniably deeper, voice called out:
“A lovely song. May this one know its name?”
Note 1: Cuju or Ts'u-chü (蹴鞠): the ancient Chinese ball game that's similar to football. WWX is basically saying there's nonstop back-and-forth blame-shifting going on in his head that's akin to a ball game that never ends.
Note 2: Ipomoea quamoclit or cypress vine flower, was a popular option to decorate one's grave with in the Victorian times. So, it could easily symbolize grief and sorrow. But in Chinese culture, the flower also means restricted and unrequited love, (which I think is perfect considering how the Wangxian ship went in this verse) among other meanings.
Hope ya liked the new chapter. If you did, please be sure to drop a like/comment!
Hello! I was wondering if you knew anything about Chinese Sleepwear! I've been trying for hours to find what would be considered traditional sleepwear and have had little clear success. I will take anything you've got on this, any kinds from any dynasty, I NEED MATERIAL. xD On a side note!: Articles on Hanfu keep popping up as well when I search 'traditional Chinese Sleepwear', were Hanfu also used as sleepwear?
Hi, sorry to tell you but there is no such thing as "traditional Chinese sleepwear". Before the 20th century, Chinese people went to sleep in their undergarments or whatever was comfortable and clean----quite a universal practice. For night-time, garments worn by Ming and Qing women included:
抹胸 moxiong or 主腰 zhuyao, a sort of unstiffened corset-like undergarment buttoned at the front or tied at the back
A plain undershirt, which could be closed by a 交领 jialong crossover collar or 对襟 duijin center front button closure, depending on the era. These wouldn't be too long, usually hip length
A plain pair of underpants; I talked about the construction of Ming and Qing women's pants in this post
If the weather is cold, an optional 肚兜 dudou, a sleeveless apron-like undergarment, underneath the undershirt. This is more of a Qing Dynasty thing though
If the woman binds her feet, then also binding cloth and a pair of slippers
I think the only item here specific to sleeping is the slippers for bound feet. Women with bound feet only wore slippers for sleeping and would put on regular shoes if going out.
In the Republican era (1912-49), more specific styles of sleepwear emerged, often heavily influenced by popular Western styles of sleepwear. Prior to the 1930s, there were pyjama sets that resembled fashionable aoku (robe and pants) in silhouette, but were made of softer, more comfortable materials. From the 1930s on, Western sleepwear like bathrobes, slip dresses and pyjama sets were more popular. These were usually made of pink or peachy colored fabrics with a satin texture, and frequently featured lace trims. An interesting sleepwear phenomenon was night- or dressing gowns with shoulder pads from the 1940s, which you could catch a glimpse of in the 1947 movie Long Live the Missus.
Source
Ca. 1925 lounge- or sleepwear.
Source
1930s pyjama sets.
Source
1930s sleepwear in dress form.
I'm kind of confused regarding your last question...? You talk about hanfu as if it were a single item of clothing, whereas it's just a modern term for historical Chinese clothing (well the two aren’t exactly identical, a lot of modern hanfu isn’t 100% historically accurate but you get the gist). Does it make sense to ask "was historical Chinese clothing also used as sleepwear"? Probably not because historical Chinese clothing included the category of sleepwear. The reason why your browser gives you hanfu articles for "traditional Chinese sleepwear" is likely because "hanfu" and "traditional Chinese" are related search terms, not because hanfu is a single garment that is also sleepwear. Also, the related searches on Google are, in my experience, never accurate or useful when it comes to Chinese fashion history, so I wouldn't advise being reliant on that function. Hope this helps!
