After Yi Xuan left the sun quickly began to fall in the sky.
"Mochou, let's call it an early night."
Mochou had no problem going to sleep early. They didn't get much rest because after what happened the night before. He also felt drained since the incident in the afternoon with Fu Ling.
"Go inside to change while I check on the laundry." Yichen added when he saw Mochou's willingness to head to bed early.
Mochou once again nodded before going inside and heading for the wardrobe to change. Tired and eager to lay down Mochou quickly changed his clothes and slipped into bed.
When Yichen returned he found Mochou already half asleep on his side of the bed. Curiously next to him there was a strange lump under the covers.
"Mochou what's that? Is there another man laying in bed with you?" Yichen joked while smacking the lump.
"It's not a man. It's an extra quilt." Mochou mumbled.
"Are you feeling cold?" Yichen asked. The weather was fine to him, maybe even a little hot. He couldn't imagine needing an extra quilt unless Mochou was feeling unwell.
He reached out his hand and checked Mochou's forehead like he had done many times before.
"You don't feel feverish. Your complexion is a little pale but that's to be expected. Mochou, are you just cold or do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?" He asked.
"I feel fine and I'm not cold. The quilt is here forgot insurance." Mochou clarified when he noticed Yichen's confusion.
"Insurance? What do you mean?"
"It's to stop you from trying to take advantage of me tonight." Mochou casually said.
"Take... take advantage? Mochou I have no intention of doing anything tonight. Not unless you want to do something." Yichen said his eyebrow slightly raised as he waited for Mochou's response.
"Fourteen days. We won't be doing anything for the next fourteen days. Until then we can use this quilt to stop ourselves." Mochou explained. His words dashed the little hope and expectation Yichen had.
"Mochou, this is ridiculous. I promised I wouldn't do anything and I won't. Let's put the quilt back and go to bed like normal."
"You promise?"
"I promise. I know I wasn't careful last night like I said I would but I swear I will never force you to do anything you don't want." Yichen said a bit amused by Mochou's strange attempt to block his advances.
Yichen pulled the blanket away and placed it back in the wardrobe. Mochou watched Yichen as he moved. He didn't seem angry or annoyed at him for taking the quilt away.
The real reason Mochou put the quilt there wasn't because he didn't trust Yichen. He did it because he needed to remind himself not to be swayed by any attempts Yichen might try to convince him to be intimate.
When Yichen finished changing and slipped into bed Mochou hesitated to move closer.
"Mochou, I'm not an animal. I can control myself. Come closer." Yichen said as he reached over and gently pulled Mochou into his embrace.
"I know, but I think it would be better to sleep further apart tonight." Mochou said as he wiggled away from him again.
Yichen had come to terms with the fact he wouldn't be able to make love to Mochou until they got hold of the medications but he refused to give up on touching Mochou even at night. He reached over and pulled Mochou directly on top of him.
"Yichen?!"
"Mochou, I won't budge on this. You will sleep in my arms." Yichen commanded in a strong unyielding tone.
Mochou wasn't upset by Yichen's domineering attitude. In fact he found himself turned on by it. Feeling himself reacting Mochou quickly separated his lower half from Yichen and lay his head down in his chest in an attempt to hide his rosy cheeks.
Seeing his reaction Yichen started to regret his actions and quickly folded under the guilt.
"Mochou? Are you angry? Scared? Sad? I didn't mean to intimidate or scare you. I only wanted to..."
"I'm not upset or anything. It's the opposite. I'm happy you want to hold me. So don't worry. Let's go to sleep." Mochou said as he patted Yichen's firm chest.
"Are you sure? If you aren't upset why won't you look at me?" Yichen asked as he lightly caressed Mochou's cheek that was hidden from sight. Mochou always looked him in the eyes when he spoke. Now he was avoiding him.
"Mochou could still feel his cheeks burning the feeling growing stronger because of Yichen's touch. He wanted to keep hiding but Yichen's finger began pushing at his jaw urging him to look up. With no other choice Mochou turned to look up and with a fierce blush repeated himself.
"I'm not upset. I'm happy you are unwilling to go one night without me in your arms." Mochou said before turning away again and burying himself under the quilt.
"That doesn't look like the face of someone who is just happy." Yichen pointed out. His voice low and sultry. He recognized Mochou's expression. It was the same one he would have whenever they were intimate.
He tried getting Mochou to look at him again. However Mochou refused to give him the chance to look at his face and confirm the truth.
Unable to see his face, Yichen decided to aim lower. He moved his hand lower and lower until he held Mochou's hip in the palm of his large hand. He moved to press their lower halves closer together so he could feel what Mochou was trying to hide.
"Yichen, don't!" Mochou said as he fought against Yichen's hand that was slowly bringing their bodies closer together.
"Why not? Why can't we move closer?" Yichen playfully asked while continuing to push Mochou's hips closer towards him.
"Yichen, are you doing this to get back at me for banning THAT until the medicine is ready? If you are I think you're being really petty," Mochou complained while trying his hardest not to let Yichen feel his erect lower half.
"Do you not regret banning IT right now? If you do we could always do IT now. I'm always willing to do it." Yichen proposed.
"No. Even if I burst we aren't doing it without the medicine." Mochou said before changing strategy and crawling out of bed.
"Mochou? Wait where are you going?" Yichen asked while trying to pull him back into bed.
"I'm going to the bathroom." Mochou said before darting away to take care of his problem.
"Hahaha!" Yichen burst into laughter at how cute Mochou was being.
...
When Mochou returned he careful lay down in his usual place. His body had calmed down and his face was damp after splashing water on it.
Yichen didn't laugh or say anything. He simply opened his arms and patiently waited for Mochou to get comfortable. Once he was settled Yichen readjusted the quilt to cover their bodies.
"You aren't going to say anything?" Mochou asked. He had been waiting for Yichen to point out his wanton body. He even expected Yichen to tease him or use it to convince him they should succumb to another night of debauchery.
"There's nothing to say."
"Really?"
"Mochou, I'm just happy to know you desire me." Yichen answered.
Mochou looked up at him with a suspicious glare.
"What? Is it so hard to believe I'm fine with going to sleep despite you being turned on just now?"
"Yes."
"You think too little of me." Yichen said.
"You were begging me this morning."
"Mochou, don't worry. Go to sleep." Yichen said while rubbing his back.
Mochou wasn't convinced. However he didn't complain. He lay down to sleep. All the time never noticing that Yichen had a big triumphant smile on his face.
...
The next morning Jie Hong headed over with several men and carts full of stone and other materials needed to build the house.
"Jie Hong, I thought it would take a few days before you could start?"
Yichen was happy for their arrival. The sooner they could start the sooner the walls would be finished and Mochou could relax and feel safe in their home. He was grateful but also confused.
"We don't have all the materials here but we have enough to start. I'm confident we'll get the rest over the next few days so there won't be any delays in the construction. As for the new house that will need more time." Jie Hong explained.
"Thanks. We appreciate the help." Yichen said.
He was truly grateful. Mochou was also happy to know the wall would be repaired and heightened. However, he was also worried about feeding the five large burly men standing outside his front gate.
"Yichen, let's go to town. I need to buy some meat." Mochou added from the side.
"We can go, but I thought you weren't planning on buying any more meat for awhile." Yichen said a little confused by his request.
"I was, but now we have all these people to feed. We need to buy more ingredients. The easiest thing to make is meat buns and soup." Mochou said.
"You don't have to make them anything with meat. Simple wheat buns and a vegetable soup would be sufficient." Jie Hong said.
"It won't be a lot of meat. I only plan to add enough for flavour." Mochou explained.
"Even so it is very generous of you to offer." Jie Hong gratefully said.
Yichen didn't really care about the cost of buying them some meat for the workers. He agreed to leave because he was worried Mochou might feel uncomfortable being at home with several strangers moving around the yard.
"We'll be back before noon. If anything happens while we are gone you can talk to my father." Yichen said.
"Before you do you only want us to build the wall taller or thicken it as well?" Jie Hong asked.
"Thicker would be safer but also require more time and materials." Yichen mused.
"It's better to do it right the first time. The new house will have thick tall walls around the yard. We should build these so they match." Mochou suggested .
"You're right. Jie Hong take the time and build them thick, sturdy, and tall." Yichen said.
...
With things decided Mochou and Yichen left for town. The trip was uneventful aside from the usual stares and whispers. After buying some pork meat, bones, salt, and a few other ingredients they quickly returned.
"It's already so much taller? I didn't expect them to finish so much so fast." Mochou said when they returned.
The wall used to reach just below Mochou's hip. Now it was as high as his elbows. It wasn't enough to prevent anyone from hopping over it but it was impressive nonetheless.
"They've been working hard. I'm glad we hired Jie Hong and his men." Yichen said while admiring the work.
"It's reassuring considering they'll be building our house next." Mochou said as he opened their creaky gate and headed to the little hut.
"It's definitely something to look forward to. Yichen concurred.
"I'll start preparing the buns."
"While you do that I'll go check if they need anything. When I'm done I'll head over to help with the fire. I know you've gotten used to cooking with one good arm but don't overdo it and ask if you need my help." Yichen said.
"I won't overdo it." Mochou promised before going inside the hut to cook.
As planned Mochou didn't make the sweet bbq pork buns that used a lot of expensive sugar. Instead he made the bamboo shoot pork buns. He used the same recipe as usual but he didn't have any dough ready to use. With no other choice he decided to pan fry them. Pan frying them meant they didn't need any yeast or time to ferment. It was easier and also delicious in Mochou's opinion.
By the time he finished prepping the ingredients he was ready to start cooking. He opened the door wondering what was taking Yichen so long.
"What is he doing?"
Mochou looked over expecting to find him talking with Jie Hong but instead he was talking with a young woman.
"Who is that? Aren't men not allowed to talk with women who aren't their wife or family? Why is he talking to that woman?"
Without realizing it Mochou was glaring with his fists clenched and brow furrowed deep. Not wanting to watch anymore he turned back and slammed the hut door behind him.
Bang!
Yichen heard the loud bang. Worried something happened he ran over right away.
"Mochou?" He called out as he quickly opened the door. The moment he did he saw Mochou squatting next to the wood stove stuffing kindling inside.
"Mochou I said I'd do that." Yichen said. He bent down to take over and start the fire for Mochou.
"I can do it myself. You should go back outside and finish your conversation with that woman." Mochou said with a more derisive and sarcastic tone then he intended.
"You saw that?"
"Was I not supposed to?"
"Hahaha, bae don't be jealous." Yichen teased.
"Who's jealous? I'm just worried about what other people will think about you talking to some woman." Mochou retorted.
"That was Jie Hong's wife. She came to talk about payment for the wall. I gave her the money and she left." Yichen explained.
"Why is she in charge of that?" Mochou asked without thinking. He was never a sexist person but living in this new world he couldn't help but think it was weird.
"Jie Hong is busy locating more stone for our wall so she decided to help him."
"I see."
As Mochou started calming down he began to realize how crazy he was acting. Embarrassed by his behaviour he sat down at the table and went back to silently making his meat buns and soup.
"Hahaha, it's okay to be jealous. I'm not complaining." Yichen said as he started the fire for Mochou.
Mochou turned away from Yichen and ignore him. His shy attitude made Yichen laugh even louder.
...