Eternal Night - Chapter 95
"I don't know him!"
"Why would I pick something if I don't know you?"
Yongye answered him confidently, "Tonight we'll only eat fish, no wild vegetables! I won't pick them!"
So Yuepo had no choice but to take off her clothes and stand in the stream to catch fish.
Yongye gazed admiringly at his bare torso and said leisurely, "You're thin but muscular, and you've got a great physique. That's absolutely true!"
Yuepo, covered in sweat, finally caught a fish, and laughed upon hearing this. He carried the fish ashore, walked to Yongye's side, looked her up and down, then suddenly tossed the fish aside, bent down, picked up Yongye, and walked into the river: "If you dare to use your kung fu, you can forget about eating fish tonight!"
"You want to see my clothes soaked and my curves fully exposed?"
Yuepo's handsome face flushed crimson after she hit the nail on the head. He was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to throw it away or not, and stood awkwardly by the riverbank. After a long while, he looked up at the sky and said, "A good girl should close her eyes, scream, and bury her face in my arms!"
Yongye blinked and said, "I was never a good girl to begin with!"
Yuepo paused for a moment, then put her down, stroking her face with his hand. His eyes grew increasingly tender as he closed them and lowered his head, wanting to kiss her.
Yongye's heart was pounding. She stared at him with wide eyes, and just as Yuepo's lips were about to touch hers, she suddenly panicked and tilted her head back.
"Star Soul!" Moon Soul tightened its grip on her, calling out softly.
The atmosphere made Yongye feel as if summer had arrived early, and the temperature was rising rapidly. She turned her head away, somewhat unable to look him in the eye: "How did you know I'm a woman?" Yongye seemed to have just remembered this question.
Yuepo looked helpless: "I'm a medical student, and you can't even tell the difference between a man's and a woman's bones and meridians? Do you really think I'm a weak scholar?"
Yongye's face flushed slightly. Suddenly, he saw the fish on the grass struggling to jump into the water and shouted anxiously, "Quickly, tie up the fish!"
Yuepo sighed, took a few steps to catch the fish, glared at it a few times, and muttered, "I'll teach you to run away! I'm going to eat you tonight!"
"What did you say?"
Moon Soul revealed a bright smile, gritted her teeth and said, "I told it, I'll eat it tonight, and then it'll know if it dares to run away again!"
Yongye burst into laughter, leaped onto a rock in the stream, and tilted his head to look at him: "If I didn't remind you, would you have been able to catch one? It's almost noon, and you've only caught one the size of your palm. Watch me!"
She used her fishing skills from the valley, leaping through the stream, catching a fish and laughing as she tossed it to Yuepo. Sunlight cast soft shadows on her. A black butterfly fluttered past, and Yuepo was mesmerized. Her emotions surged like a bursting dam, and she longed for Yuepo to live this carefree life with her forever.
The valley was deep and secluded, isolated from worldly troubles. Could they really live here in seclusion for the rest of their lives? A trace of sadness flashed in Yuepo's eyes.
Yongye stopped when he saw that he had caught enough fish. Seeing Yuepo about to carry the fish into the kitchen with a twig, he quickly stopped him, saying, "I'll make you grilled fish!"
“Okay, I had it once before, and it was cold.” Yuepo said, handing her the fish skewers and then untied two large ones. “We’ll have grilled fish for lunch and fish soup for dinner. I’ll go find some vegetables to make soup tonight.”
Last time, she treated the purple-robed child to grilled fish, and also grilled one for Yuepo. The fish got cold, but Yuepo said that anything she grilled was delicious. He also said that they wouldn't be enemies.
Yongye looked down at the fish skewers in his hand, smiling as he lit a fire to grill the fish.
The night sky was exceptionally clear. Starlight, moonlight, and the kitchen light mingled together.
The air was filled with the fragrance of flowers, and the table smelled of fish. Yet Yongye did not touch his chopsticks.
"Why aren't you eating?" Yuepo asked, puzzled.
Yongye counted on his fingers: "The first day was a chicken, the second day was a rabbit, the third day was a bird, the fourth day was a deer, yesterday I ate a snake, today I ate fish... I've eaten meat for six days now, and I seem to have gained quite a bit of weight."
Yuepo picked up a piece of fish and threw it into her bowl: "You're not fat, you should grow a little more." For every finger she counted, his heart skipped a beat, afraid that she wouldn't want to eat anymore, or wouldn't want to stay in the valley any longer.
Yongye looked at the fish and sighed, "I think I've gained a lot of weight."
Yuepo was silent for a moment, struggled for a while, but still couldn't bear to talk about what was happening outside, couldn't bear to let her leave. Her actions outpaced her thoughts, and while she was thinking, she had already ladled a bowl of soup for her: "If you don't eat fish, drink some soup, you won't gain weight."
Yongye took the soup, its aroma filling the air. The milky white broth looked so inviting. Looking at Yuepo's expectant expression, she suddenly made up her mind: "It smells so good, I don't care anymore." With that, she gulped it down in one go, then buried her head in eating the fish, even picking up the wild vegetables from the soup.
Yuepo didn't touch her chopsticks, but watched her finish eating with satisfaction before praising, "Every time I see you eating so happily, I feel especially happy cooking for you."
Happiness? Yongye patted his stomach and slumped back in his chair, feeling sleepy after eating: "The happiest thing is feeling sleepy after eating every day. These past few days have been the happiest in all these years."
“Let’s go see the stars. I just made a flute. I’ll play it for you. You’ll feel happy even if you fall asleep while listening to it.”
The sight of Yuepo playing the flute reminded Yongye of Master Qingyi playing the awful flute in front of the Beauty's building.
Do you remember when you went to watch the three masters fight?
"I remember it. It was so exciting to watch. Even when I was punished by having to turn the soil in the field, I kept laughing."
"The master in blue played the flute for a long time in front of Mr. Beauty's building... It sounded awful..."
"You dare say my flute sounds bad?" Yuepo snapped out of her daze, but Yongye didn't answer; he was already fast asleep. During their time in the valley, she was always relaxed and fell asleep easily.
Yuepo gently stroked her face. Six days—she and he had stayed here for six days. She said these six days were the happiest. "Could it be a little longer?" Yuepo whispered to herself, gazing at the shimmering stream under the starry sky.
Looking at Yongye's sleeping face and her soft, petal-like lips, he lowered his head and gently brushed his lips across hers before moving to press his finger on her forehead.
Life in the valley was simple and peaceful. In the blink of an eye, the two had been at the bottom of the valley for ten days. On this day, Yongye went out and caught a roe deer. That evening, Yuepo cooked a pot of soup and roasted a roe deer leg.
"Are you really planning to eat all the wild game on this mountain?"
Yongye, munching on a venison leg and eating it with venison soup, rolled her eyes at him and said, "To tell you the truth, I'm terrified of being recognized as a woman. I don't even dare to eat meat in the Prince's mansion. Do you know how hard it is for me? In the past eight years, I've only had a chicken leg once, and that was when I mooched it from Li Yannian's courtyard. If I hadn't been thinking about having more energy to save you that night, I wouldn't have dared to eat it."
"It's like I owe you a huge favor! You ate chicken legs for me, aren't you afraid of being laughed at?" Yuepo's heart trembled, but she teased Yongye.
"I'm not afraid, I'm going to break my vegetarian diet now!"
"Aren't you afraid that it will grow...and become visible, and others will notice?" Yuepo's eyes glanced at her chest.
Yongye, without changing his expression, took another sip of soup: "You are no stranger."