078 – The Romantic Couple’s World1
Brought to you by TucTuc (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
Qin Mian led the two puppies to walk to the gate with Lei Tie. White Spot followed them quietly, glancing at Gray Sheet and Black Vest from time to time. It did not appear to be hostile or anything.
When Uncle Fu and Aunt Fu saw them, the couple rushed to meet them. Qin Mian, with his bow set on his shoulder, was wearing a convenient white hunting suit and a pair of boots made of animal hide, looking valiant and formidable. Lei Tie was also wearing a hunting suit, but in black, which set off his reserved grandeur even more strongly. The elegant demeanor of the two masters made Uncle Fu and Aunt Fu unable to move their gazes for a moment but they hastily dropped their eyes when Lei Tie indifferently swept a glance over them.
“Where’s Xile?” Qin Mian asked casually.Uncle Fu said, “Little young master, he went to herd the ox after breakfast.”
Qin Mian nodded, “Uncle Fu and Aunt Fu, these two dogs are Gray Sheet and Black Vest. You’ll be raising them.”
Aunt Fu looked at the two puppies with eyes full of affection. She took over the rope in his hand, “Yes, the little young master can rest assured.”
Lei Tie said, “Guard the gate, we’ll be back before dark.”
Uncle Fu and Aunt Fu said together, “Yes!”
A few villagers nearby saw Qin Mian and Lei Tie come out of the farm residence and leave side-by-side with envy in their eyes. What about two men live together? Their lives were more than a hundred times prosperous than others. Not only could they own such a large manor, but they could even employ servants. Others were envious of them.
In the farmland, the green wheat had grown to the height of a person’s calf. Stubborn weeds mingled in it, arrogantly holding their heads high. The farmers bent over and pulled out the weeds with their hands. A herding boy led an ox to walk on the ridge; and a black ox lowered its head to nibble at the grass, flicking its tail from time to time in, utterly in leisure.Qin Mian smiled at every villager he met as he drifting away with Lei Tie.
When White Spot arrived at the mountain, it behaved like a wolf running around excitedly. The soles of its feet seemed to be equipped with springs as it bounced from time to time and yet landed leisurely and soundlessly. It was proud and aloof, but also graceful. The prominent disdainful look in its gray eyes made people never mistaken it for a dog.
With White Spot here, Qin Mian was not worried that he would lose his way and could not get down the mountain. He walked ahead in high spirits, searching for prey with both eyes.
Lei Tie had always kept a distance of four to five steps behind him. His indifferent eyes occasionally looked to the left and right, guarding him against potential dangers.
“White Spot, go look for prey nearby.” Qin Mian said to White Spot. He learned archery with Lei Tie for a long time, but his archery skill could not be regarded as excellent. Out of ten arrows he shot on the moving target, only seven hit the target. Looking back at the time when he learned to shoot a moving target which was personally held by Lei Tie, Qin Mian felt warm in his heart. Although this man did not talk much, the man actually spoiled him to the bone.
Of course, in order to avoid accidental injury, his arrows were wrapped in cloth at that time. Although Lei Tie said that even if he did not cover the arrow, he would not let Qin Mian hurt him.
Thinking of this, Qin Mian could not help looking back at Lei Tie.
Lei Tie misunderstood the meaning of this look, “Wife, don’t worry, I’m always behind you.”
Qin Mian broke into laughter, turned around, and continued to search for prey.
In front of him, White Spot suddenly stopped, made a crouching movement, and turned its head to look at Qin Mian.
Qin Mian had known of its intelligence earlier. He reached into the quiver behind his back and pulled out an arrow. He quickened his steps and lightened the movement at the same time.
It’s a bamboo rat!
During the day, bamboo rats ate less food and slept more, but ate vigorously during the night. Isn’t it just sleeping soundly in the grass right now?
Qin Mian stopped ten steps away, aimed at the bamboo rat, and set the arrow. The string accidentally scraped the palm of his hand. He felt a little pain. He swung his arms and pulled the bowstring before letting go.
With a cry of fear, the bamboo rat jumped up and fell powerlessly to the ground.
“A-Tie2, I hit it!” Qin Mian turned his head happily as he said to Lei Tie.
A-Tie? Another new [addressing] name. Lei Tie withdrew his gaze on his wife’s waist and arms without a trace, “Wife is so awesome.”
Qin Mian felt that he was insincere. Alright, the bamboo rat stayed there motionless; it would strange if he could not hit it.
He went to pick up the bamboo rat and put it into Lei Tie’s basket.
Lei Tie stared at the corners of his smiling and rosy lips, stretched his arms to wind around his (QM) waist, bowed his head, and kissed those lips. Warm flesh deeply attached to each other.
Qin Mian put his hands on his (LT) shoulders and responded attentively. He wanted to seize the dominance but was greeted with a more fierce attack by Lei Tie. A big palm even twiddled his butt.
The essence of a hunting suit was to facilitate movement, so it stuck very closely to the body. The skin-tight cloth perfectly outlined Qin Mian’s figure, while the white cloth made his butt appeared sturdier. Lei Tie could not move his hand at all.
Qin Mian was also ignited by his actions. Soon, he could not breathe steadily and his tiptoed feet were a little feeble. His chest that was stuck close to Lei Tie’s clearly felt the man’s chest sharply undulating.
The man’s concentration had dropped significantly. Qin Mian was a little proud of himself but also a little flustered as he was not ready yet. Just as he was about to reach out his hand to push, the man had already let go of his lips. His eyes seemed to have been painted by ink as they were becoming darker and deeper, staring at him closely, just like a hunter who locked in his prey and would make a violent attack at any time.
Qin Mian’s heart was pounding and his blood was boiling. He realized more than ever that this man liked him and he was also fascinated by this man. He should push the man away but his arms could not help encircle the man’s waist. He lovingly dropped a soothing kiss on his lips and said with a sly smile in his voice, “You good?”
Lei Tie did not utter a word. His hot right palm moved up from his wife’s waist at an extremely slow speed. It seemed that a slight mistake would cause an explosion of desire. The big palm finally stopped on the youngster’s shoulder and the temperature also dropped. Then, Lei Tie nonchalantly let go of the person in his arms and took two steps back at the same time. The intense emotion on his face and the heat in his eyes quickly disappeared and recovered their dullness. It seemed as if nothing at all had happened just now.
Qin Mian found it so amusing. He turned around and left. You can pretend, then.
“Awoo––” At the front, White Spot let out a howl, as if in urging them.
Qin Mian gently scolded, “White Spot, quiet down. Don’t scare the prey away.”
Two men and a wolf went on until they entered deep into the mountain.
Lei Tie was no longer behind but walked side-by-side with Qin Mian.
“There are many beasts in the mountains. Be careful.” Lei Tie said. Without a careful look, he shot an arrow into the grass on the right side, hitting a pheasant weighing more than 3 Jin.
Qin Mian looked at him with admiration. When could he also perfect his skill to this degree?
Lei Tie enjoyed his wife’s gaze very much. He did not speak, but the corners of his lips were slightly curled up.
While pushing aside the obstructing bushes, Qin Mian went on. Upon seeing an idiot-looking roe deer, he was overjoyed. He pulled Lei Tie’s arm and motioned him to stop while he raised his bow and arrow.
With a “whoosh”, it was hit!
Unfortunately, it was only shot above the right front leg of the roe deer and did not hurt the vital part. The roe deer faltered for a while before it started to run.
Qin Mian was in a great hurry. “A-Tie––”
Without looking back, he stretched his hand at the back to grab Lei Tie, and this gesture of grabbing on empty made Lei Tie’s eyes flashed with a doting smile.
Before his wife’s words were completed, he raised his arms and the sharp arrow broke through the air and hit the roe deer’s abdomen.
The roe deer leaned sideways and fell on the ground, motionless.
Qin Mian picked up the roe deer and said to Lei Tie with a smile, “Roe deer meat is purely lean, with no fat on its whole body. It’s rich in nutrition, tender, and delicious. It’s known as the ‘King of Lean Meat’. How about having roe deer meat at noon?”
“It’s delicious to roast.” Lei Tie said.
Qin Mian said, “Then roast it is.”
His hunting mood flourished and he walked forward in big strides.
Suddenly, the smell of blood pervaded in the air. Lei Tie pulled his hand to stop and said, “Wait, there’s a big animal.”
At this time, the bush shook and a huge tiger’s head came out from it. The tiger with yellow fur and black stripes had a mouth full of blood. When it opened its mouth, it showed its sharp teeth and there was a terrifying growl let out from its throat, “Grrr––”
“Oh mother.” Qin Mian inadvertently met those tiger’s eyes and his legs gave away, retreating a few steps before falling on the ground.
The tiger raised its head, lowered its waist, and leaped forward.
Lei Tie did not have time to help Qin Mian up. Instead of retreating, he blocked in front of Qin Mian.
“LEI TIE!” Qin Mian turned pale with fright. He wanted to stand up, but he had no strength.
Lei Tie was as steady as a stone and quickly took out an arrow from his quiver. Seeing that the tiger was less than five meters away from him, he shot the arrow.
Like splitting bamboo3, the sharp arrow thrust into the tiger’s throat.
Lei Tie did not even look at it as he picked up Qin Mian and moved to the side in a flash.
The tiger’s huge body fell heavily on the ground. Due to its inertia, it glided forward for a zhang4 before stopping.
Qin Mian’s eyes widened as he took a breath. If it was not for Lei Tie to take him away in time, his body would have been half-paralyzed after being crushed by the tiger.
The tiger howled and struggled for a while before it was unable to move again.
“Wife, how are you?” Lei Tie looked down at the man in his arms as he asked anxiously.
Qin Mian felt that his performance just now was very humiliating. He said in a low voice, “My legs are still a little soft.”
Lei Tie continued to hold him and stroked his back up and down.
Qin Mian discovered that he was being held by Lei Tie with his butt held up like a baby, and the corner of his mouth twitched. He struggled to get down to the ground. “Let me go first.”
Lei Tie put him down, but his left arm was still around his back.
Qin Mian recovered after a while. He looked at the tiger which died without closing its eyes5. He took a few steps to look at it. He said, “No wonder when people are angry, they often use ‘glare with tiger eyes’. Such eyes are really frightening, right A-Tie? It also rushed at me so suddenly that I was shocked still.” He made an excuse for himself.
The corner of Lei Tie’s lips gently curved up, “En.”
“Awoo awoo—” White Spot called in the distance, which eased Qin Mian’s embarrassment and he hurried over.
Lei Tie followed closely.
Behind the bush lay a large boar weighing more than 300 Jin, with a bloody hole in its stomach, apparently gnawed by the tiger.
“Ha! We gain benefits when the tiger and the pig fight against each other.” Qin Mian said happily.
Lei Tie frowned as he said, “Must move them away as soon as possible, otherwise they’ll attract other beasts.” It was impossible to move a 300 Jin wild boar and a nearly 800 Jin tiger at once.
Qin Mian rolled his eyes. He squatted down, touched the tiger with his hand, and the tiger disappeared. Again, when he touched the boar, the boar disappeared.
Lei Tie looked at him in shock. He abruptly pulled the person into his arms and held him tightly, “Wife…”
Qin Mian encircled his strong waist and looked at his eyes seriously. “I’ll tell you what happened on our birthday. Trust me!”
“I trust you.” Lei Tie slowly released him, but his left hand still held his hand.
“No more hunting. We’ll go down and roast the meat to eat at the foot of the mountain. White Spot, let’s go.” Qin Mian instead pulled Lei Tie’s hand and walked back.
Note:
Footnotes
- 二人世界[èr rén shì jiè] means the world with only two people (usually refers to a romantic couple)
- 阿 (ā) prefix used before monosyllabic names, kinship terms, etc to indicate familiarity
- (idiom)without difficulty
- about 3.3 m
- die with everlasting regret
