SBS chapter 41

After dinner, it was still quite early, so the four of them wandered around the small town for a bit.

There weren’t any tall buildings here—most were two or three stories, painted gray and white. The streets were clean, with piles of unmelted snow on either side. Some roofs had little brass bells hanging under the eaves, and the windows displayed small red-orange lanterns shaped like tangerines.

On a winter night, even with so many tourists, the place had a quiet, understated atmosphere. Through black lattice windows, the interiors of warmly lit shops looked like glowing yellow sugar cubes.

It all still felt like a scene out of Snow Trace.

But before the movie made it famous, this town was actually known for pottery and distilleries. So there were many little shops along the street selling ceramic goods and various types of alcohol. Likely to attract tourists, many of the window displays featured colorful fruit wines in glass bottles that caught everyone’s eyes.

Li Rui and Ye Xi crouched in front of one, studying it for a long time.

“Should we get some?” Li Rui asked. “Looks like it’s not that strong.”

Ye Xi still remembered the chaos he caused the last time he got drunk—he shuddered at the thought.

He couldn’t help but glance up at Bai Yue.

But that glance gave Bai Yue the wrong idea. He bent down and asked, “Do you want some?”

Bai Yue clearly remembered Ye Xi’s previous drunken escapade too. He smiled and added, “I can buy it for you, but you can’t drink too much.”

With that, he waved to Ye Xi and Li Rui and walked into the shop.

Ten minutes later, he came out carrying a bag full of bottles.

Yuzu wine, white lychee wine, strawberry wine, plum wine… Even though he’d told Ye Xi not to drink too much, he still bought quite a lot. Actually, more than half had been picked out by Zheng Yang.

Thankfully, they were all in small bottles—hopefully not enough to get drunk on.

After buying the wine, Ye Xi and Li Rui went to a pottery shop, then visited a convenience store that was highly recommended online.

The store was mainly wooden, not unusual in this snowy town. It stood along the riverbank, featuring a gorgeous stained-glass window. Since it stayed lit 24 hours a day, it glowed softly at all times.

Outside the convenience store was a snow wall built by the shopkeeper, with little compartments housing ceramic figurines and tiny lights.

It was very cute.

Ye Xi bent down to look for a while and suddenly thought of the clay figure Bai Yue had given him.

He had taken it home, and it now sat on his bedside table.

At that moment, the convenience store door opened. A young woman in a blue apron poked her head out and said with a warm smile, “Want to come in and warm up? It’s a bit chilly out—I can make you some tea.”

The young woman was tall, with a long high ponytail. Her skin was very fair—so pale it carried a touch of coldness. Her fox-like eyes tilted upward, her lips were thin yet vividly red, giving her an air of cool, striking beauty.

At first glance of the shop owner, Bai Yue couldn’t help but raise his brows.

He glanced at Zheng Yang beside him, and sure enough—after just one look at the young woman, Zheng Yang became flustered. Just moments ago he’d been lazily leaning against the railing, teasing Ye Xi like a child while studying porcelain dolls. Now he immediately straightened up.

Bai Yue chuckled softly. As he thought, this shop owner was exactly Zheng Yang’s type—the cool, dominant older-sister figure.

Meanwhile, Li Rui had already slipped in with Ye Xi as if they were old friends.

“Great, great,” Li Rui greeted the shop owner cheerfully. “Jie Jie, we found your shop online. It said you sell homemade jam milk tea and osmanthus candies—stuff we can’t buy anywhere else.”

The shop owner smiled and stepped aside to let them in.

“Yes, but you can try it first before you buy,” she said with a smile, picking up a small tray. From the counter she placed some little candies, then poured a bit of milk tea into mini paper cups, handing them to Ye Xi and Li Rui. “If you don’t like it, that’s fine too—you don’t have to buy.”

Ye Xi put one of the osmanthus candies into his mouth, but inside he tasted the flavor of rose.

“Is it good?”

Bai Yue came up beside him and asked.

“Mhm.” Ye Xi nodded, too lazy to speak with candy in his mouth, and picked another tiny piece from the tray to give to Bai Yue.

He meant to hand it to him, but Bai Yue set his gloves on the nearby table and simply leaned down, biting the candy straight from Ye Xi’s fingers.

Ye Xi froze, his fingertips shrinking back involuntarily.

Bai Yue, however, remained calm. He caught the candy between his teeth, then with a light flick of his tongue, rolled it into his mouth.

He explained, “I just touched a cat outside—my hands are a bit dirty.”

“Oh, oh.” Ye Xi nodded quickly.

They had indeed run into a cat from another shop earlier, and Bai Yue had even bought some dried fish to feed it.

But Ye Xi still curled his fingers inward uneasily, feeling as though his fingertips were burning hot.

Li Rui and Zheng Yang hadn’t seen this scene at all. Zheng Yang was stammering as he spoke with the shop owner, who was introducing her flower teas to him.

“This one is good for those who like sweetness,” the shop owner said with a smile. “If you want to give it as a gift, you can get the tin version; if it’s for yourself, the paper bag is fine.”

All Zheng Yang could do was nod, his ears visibly reddening.

Li Rui watched with keen interest, his eyes gleaming as though he wanted to record a video.

In the end, they spent almost an hour in that little convenience shop.

Outside, a light rain had started falling, and with few customers around, the shop owner let them stay longer.

Ye Xi and Li Rui, unconcerned about whether they’d be able to sleep that night, each held a cup of milk tea and gazed out the window.

In a quiet little town like this, with rain and snow, everything shrouded in pale mist, the lights soft and warm—it felt as if they were hidden away in a lit-up wooden cabin, cut off from the rest of the world.

“This is what real life feels like,” Li Rui sighed sincerely. “I don’t ever want to go back to school. I just want to pick up my bag and wander everywhere.”

Ye Xi nodded gravely.

He felt the same—just thinking about school starting in a few days filled him with despair.

Zheng Yang, who already had guaranteed admission, couldn’t listen to this nonsense from an academic slacker. He looked suspiciously at Ye Xi. That didn’t make sense. They shared half their blood, after all.

Ye Xi’s biological mother wasn’t lacking in intelligence either.

How had she given birth to such a little fool?

Behind them, Bai Yue was at the counter paying. The things chosen by Ye Xi, Zheng Yang, and Li Rui were neatly packed into three bags.

As the oldest among the four, it was his duty to pay for everyone—including the annoying Zheng Yang.

But when he looked back at the three high schoolers lined up on the tall chairs by the window, Ye Xi swinging his legs while leaning on Li Rui to take photos, and Zheng Yang squeezing in despite clearly having no interest, Bai Yue let out another quiet laugh.

He thought, Fine. At least in this moment, he could forgive Zheng Yang for ruining his private trip with Ye Xi.

…

But Bai Yue’s thin layer of warmth lasted less than half an hour.

Half an hour later, they took the cable car back to the hotel on the mountain.

Zheng Yang stubbornly insisted on sharing a hot spring pool with him, shoving Ye Xi and Li Rui into the one next door.

Not even Li Rui’s tricks could pry him away this time.

Zheng Yang was unshakably firm, clinging to Bai Yue. “No, I don’t care. I’m not familiar with those two—I won’t feel comfortable in the same pool.”

Li Rui’s eyes widened. “What, do you think I’ll eat you? We’re classmates in the same grade, we’ve even greeted each other in the halls. Do I look like some kind of beast?”

Unbelievable.

This was the first time someone had disdained him like this. Even Sheng Yuhe wouldn’t dare reject him so outright.

He pulled a wounded face, cheeks puffing in frustration as he looked at Zheng Yang.

Zheng Yang wavered for a moment, but when his eyes landed on the pale, confused Ye Xi hugging his bathrobe at the side, his resolve instantly hardened again.

“I don’t care,” he muttered. “You two are not allowed in the same pool.”

Letting Bai Yue soak in a hot spring with Ye Xi was unthinkable. Ye Xi was already too pretty, like some Snow White—and in the warm spring water his face would flush pink.

How could Bai Yue possibly resist?

Without hesitation, Zheng Yang grabbed Bai Yue, threatening, “Come on, stop stalling.”

Bai Yue pinched the bridge of his nose helplessly. He understood exactly what Zheng Yang was thinking. If he didn’t cooperate, Zheng Yang would probably hang himself here.

He could only give Ye Xi a resigned smile.

Li Rui had no choice but to take Ye Xi into the other pool.

The two hot spring pools weren’t far apart, separated only by a drifting veil of mist. The dim garden lights made it impossible to see clearly.

Li Rui leaned against the stone, sighing in bliss as he took a sip of the hotel’s iced juice, feeling as if he were floating.

But he leaned in to whisper to Ye Xi, “Seriously, I can’t deal with Zheng Yang. He’s even harder to handle than my grandpa’s German Shepherd—always on full alert.”

He cast a suspicious glance toward the other pool.

If this went on, he’d start suspecting that Zheng Yang had really figured out Ye Xi’s feelings for Bai Yue…

Otherwise, it just didn’t make sense.

Ye Xi’s expression grew heavier.

He crept closer to Li Rui, speaking in a worried whisper. “Do you think Zheng Yang might actually like Bai-ge? Otherwise, why is he so obsessed with sticking to him? He’s been glued to him this whole trip.”

The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed, his brows knitting together.

No way.

His and Zheng Yang’s family mess was already dramatic enough. If they both liked the same man, how could life go on?

All at once, countless campus “childhood-friend” stories he’d read flashed through Ye Xi’s mind…

Like the one where the gentle boy secretly in love with his neighbor-gege never dared confess, until one fateful, forbidden rainy night when they both got drunk…

Or the one where two brothers-in-arms on the basketball court, able to entrust their lives to each other, drifted apart due to a misunderstanding, only to still be unable to resist each other’s pull.

“This is just inevitable,” Ye Xi said gravely. “Bai-ge is so good—of course Zheng Yang could fall in love with him.”

Li Rui nearly spit out his juice.

“Thanks a lot. Don’t tell ghost stories in the middle of the night,” he coughed, swallowing hard before patting Ye Xi. “Relax. Zheng Yang was blushing at that shop owner earlier. He’s just a straight boy in puberty.”

“…Oh.”

Ye Xi felt relieved, but immediately grew nosy again, propping himself on the rock to peer toward Zheng Yang’s side.

“Really? He likes that shop owner-Jie Jie we just saw?”

“Yeah. She’s beautiful and lively—that’s totally his type. He was so red he could bleed. She handed him candy and he didn’t even dare take it. And when we left, he dragged his feet, wishing he could stay longer.”

“Wow, I really couldn’t tell,” Ye Xi laughed. “But since we’re staying here for a few more days, why didn’t he ask for her contact info?”

“Even if he did, she wouldn’t give it. I asked earlier—she’s 28. Zheng Yang’s still a kid, not even grown yet. No chance.”

The more they talked, the more excited they got, their voices gradually rising.

Ye Xi even started spilling Zheng Yang’s childhood crushes—like how in middle school he’d insist on walking older girls home, only for them to see him as nothing but a little brother.

Bai Yue heard everything from his pool, watching Zheng Yang with a half-smile.

“Really? How come I never knew about that?”

Zheng Yang’s face turned crimson.

He slapped the water angrily and shouted toward them, “Ye Xi, you just wait!”

Silence fell immediately.

The two gossipers shut up.

But after a moment, Ye Xi’s voice stubbornly popped up again.

“It’s true, though. You even liked the cheerleading captain in your third year of middle school. You tried to show off waiting for her after practice, but she ended up dating the basketball team’s manager.”

Zheng Yang shot up from the hot spring, furious. “You just wait!”

Ye Xi wasn’t about to wait. He bolted from the pool, yanked on a bathrobe and tied it loosely around himself, then ran back inside.

By the time Bai Yue and Li Rui came in, the two of them were already wrestling again.

But after all these years, Zheng Yang’s fighting skills hadn’t improved one bit, and Ye Xi had him pinned on the floor.

Ye Xi tilted his chin at him proudly. “Do you yield?”

Before Zheng Yang could answer, he noticed that during the scuffle, Ye Xi’s bathrobe had come completely loose, slipping halfway off to reveal a stretch of snow-white shoulder and back. His hair was still damp, water droplets rolling down his spine and tracing a transparent trail.

Looking again at Bai Yue not far away, his gaze clearly froze for a moment.

Zheng Yang grew furious. Without caring about anything else, he scrambled up and immediately yanked Ye Xi’s robe closed.

“What kind of appearance is this,” he snapped, yanking the fragile sash tight, gritting his teeth, “shameless and indecent.”

Ye Xi looked at him in disbelief, feeling as if Zheng Yang had turned into a living chastity archway.