Edited by Relendria
Liang Meng Yao was trying to catch his hair in a ponytail. It was bothersome to be so long and uncontrolled.
Hong Jia Yi saw that he was having trouble and so he personally tied it for him. It was done well and Liang Meng Yao turned to him and smiled.
"Thank you," he said nicely.
Hong Jia Yi nodded, blushing. It had been a long time since he had been treated with respect and he really wasn't used it.
Liang Meng Yao packed the bag with jam and they took the little change they had before beginning their journey to the town.
Liang Meng Yao and Hong Jia Yi got up early and started out early because it took half a day to walk to the town. It was a long walk and got boring fast.
"So, tell me about yourself," Liang Meng Yao said to pass the time as they walked.
"Well, my father and daddy died when I was 16 and I had difficulty marrying. Every time I was about to marry, something would go wrong and my fiancées ended up marrying someone else," Hong Jia Yi said.
Liang Meng Yao scratched his cheek nervously thinking that was a little sad.
"Oh, really? That's sad - though I think you're a great person to marry," Liang Meng Yao said encouragingly.
Hong Jia Yi looked at him.
"Did you want to marry Fa Enlai? You can't, though. His father doesn't want his son to be second wife, especially not to a poor person. He plans to marry Fa Enlai to the village chief's son," Hong Jia Yi told him.
Did it seem as though he liked Fa Enlai? He didn't. Fa Enlai was not his type. Why would he want to marry him? Sure, he was nice and friendly but that's all. Fa Enlai looked basically like a girl in his eyes.
"No," he chuckled, "He is not my type - too feminine," he said, quickening his pace.
Hong Jia Yi was puzzled. What did 'feminine' mean? Was it a type of farming? But why would he use something for farming to describe Fa Enlai?
Hong Jia Yi knew compared to Fa Enlai he is too ugly. One of his spouses even broke up with him because he liked Fa Enlai and couldn't stand the fact that Hong Jia Yi wasn't she-man enough for him.
"So, are you married?" Hong Jia Yi asked.
Liang Meng Yao looked at him in surprise. Were multiple spouses allowed here too?
"No. If I were already married, I wouldn't have married you. Where I'm from it's not allowed to have multiple wives," he explained.
This made Hong Jia Yi appreciate Liang Meng Yao's home's morals. It sounded like an interesting and nice place.
"Why aren't you married?" Hong Jia Yi asked.
"Well, in my country I'm too young to be married I haven't finished school after all"
Hong Jia Yi looked at him. He went to school? He must've have been very wealthy! Only nobles can attend school! Then he wondered just how old Liang Meng Yao was.
"How old are you?" Hong Jia Yi asked.
"I recently turned 19," he answered with a smile.
That means Hong Jia Yi was 2 years older than Liang Meng Yao since he will be 21 soon! This was bad since it's considered shameful for she-man to be older than his husband.
"Aiya!" he exclaimed without thinking.
Liang Meng Yao looked and noticed his conflicted expression.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"No, it's fine," Hong Jia Yi answered.
"Okay, good."
They continue on in silence for a while, then they took a stop to drink some water before continuing on. It was a good thing Liang Meng Yao didn't have poor physique or he would have been doomed! This journey was exhausting.
"How often do you come here?" Liang Meng Yao asked after the silence had stretched for some time.
"3 or 4 times a month to buy food," Hong Jia Yi answered.
"I see. We will probably come more often if things go as planned. We might have to buy a donkey and build a cart," he told Hong Jia Yi.
Hong Jia Yi said nothing. Even though he knew that buying something like that would be expensive, his faith in Liang Meng Yao was growing. After all, the 'jam' he made was very delicious - especially when he used it to glaze the rabbit. It made the meat sweet and tender. Served with the mashed potatoes and steamed veggies that Liang Meng Yao had cooked, it was the nicest meal Hong Jia Yi could remember. Because he hadn't tasted anything so delicious in his life he was sure the jam would definitely be popular.