Time Traveling: the Only Beloved Husband

Standing by the roadside, just after finishing sharing a crystal peach blossom bun, they saw Li Dongsheng leading his wife, Mrs. Li, through the crowd towards them. Li Dongsheng stepped forward and looked at Shen Xiangyan and his husband with a knowing expression, “Hey, little brother Shen, bringing your brother-in-law to stroll around the lantern festival?”

Xia Rong, recognizing them as acquaintances, politely exchanged greetings with the Li couple before hiding behind her husband. Shen Xiangyan understood her shyness and calmly positioned himself to shield her from Li Dongsheng’s curious gaze.

“Dongsheng, are you not also bringing your sister-in-law to the lantern fair?” His tone was as gentle as ever, but the implication was clear: they were in the same boat, so no one should tease anyone.

Li Dongsheng cleared his throat without responding to the question. “Let’s go invite Yue Lou together. I’ve reserved a private room on the third floor there. I’ve inquired, and there will be fireworks shortly. The place is high, so we can have a clear view.”

Shen Xiangyan thought inviting Yue Lou was indeed a great place to watch the fireworks. Moreover, he had heard that their colorful glutinous rice balls were quite famous, which would be a treat for the little master. So, the four of them headed towards Yue Lou together.

When they arrived, they found it already packed with people. Fortunately, Li Dongsheng had the foresight to reserve a private room in advance. Guided by the waiter, the four entered the private room. This room had four large windows along the outer wall, opened wide to provide an excellent view from the high vantage point. The two heads of the household enjoyed their meal while also ordering a pot of Yue Lou’s specialty pomegranate wine. They chatted about business matters over wine and food.

Xia Rong naturally couldn’t understand their conversation, and he couldn’t engage in conversation with Mrs. Li either, considering he was a “shuang’er” – a man who was raised as a girl – and it wouldn’t be appropriate to get too close to a woman. Stirring the colorful tangyuan in his bowl with a spoon, even though they looked appealing, he couldn’t eat anymore after having eaten so much with his husband earlier.

Watching the fireworks outside, sometimes resembling heavenly maidens scattering flowers, sometimes like colorful butterflies dancing, Xia Rong found himself unexpectedly happy. In previous years, he could only sit in his little courtyard and watch fireworks. Who would have thought he’d have the chance to come out and watch them after getting married?

Seeing his husband staring blankly at the fireworks outside, Shen Xiangyan smiled and put his arm around his shoulder, feeding him a piece of tangyuan from the bowl. Seeing Xia Rong feeling slightly awkward due to the presence of outsiders, Shen Xiangyan didn’t push him further. He scooped up a piece himself and fed it to him with his own hand. Earlier, he had discussed the idea of opening a branch of their family’s incense shop with Li Dongsheng. Li’s family happened to have a suitable connection. He thought of using Li’s family’s business channels to transport spices for themselves, of course not for free. Every penny should be accounted for even between close relatives. It’s better to clarify such matters in advance to avoid damaging the relationship between the two families over such issues.

He glanced down at Xia Rong’s beautiful profile and the exposed fair neck, quickly planting a light kiss on his increasingly rosy cheek while Li Dongsheng and his wife were focused on the fireworks outside. When Xia Rong realized what he was doing, his big eyes widened with disapproval. His eyes were filled with disapproval, as if to say, “Do you realize where we are and that there are people around?” What if someone sees us like this?

Shen Xiangyan looked at Xia Rong’s blushing face due to embarrassment, and he didn’t find his glare particularly menacing. Instead, the blush on his cheeks made him lose his intimidating aura and even exuded a hint of charm that was not present on usual days.

But Xia Rong was indeed like a little cat, cautious and tentative when they first got married. Over time, he began to cautiously explore, testing his boundaries bit by bit. Shen Xiangyan had no doubt that in this process, if he showed even a hint of impatience, this little cat would retract its claws and stop probing. Fortunately, patience was something he had in abundance. Now that Xia Rong dared to glare at him, he felt as if his heart had been tickled by a little cat, tingling and itching.

Shen Xiangyan adjusted his body position to ensure that the Li couple couldn’t see them, then lightly kissed Xia Rong’s pale pink lips again. After all, even outside, he didn’t dare to be too excessive. But seeing him brave enough to show his anger without speaking, he felt even more inclined to tease him.

Seeing Xia Rong about to explode, Shen Xiangyan quickly pacified him, “Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. If you don’t watch the fireworks, they’ll be over soon.” With a smile, he pulled Xia Rong into his arms, deliberately speaking close to his ear, making his earlobes turn red before stopping. The fireworks outside descended like colorful fireflies, and he knew he would always pamper him, give him the best of everything, even if it meant dealing with his tantrums and even his anger. That’s the way it should be, so that he would never leave him.

—

Lately, Shen Xiangyan has been very busy. Xia Rong could only see him when he was asleep, and even then, he had slept through the past two nights when Shen Xiangyan came back. He felt like he was being held in his sleep, but he was too tired to open his eyes. The next day when he woke up, Shen Xiangyan was gone again. He confirmed from He Xin and He Miao that he had indeed come back, but he had left early again.

Xia Rong sat on the soft couch, eating pastries made by Mrs. Rong. Mrs. Rong had indeed put a lot of thought into these small treats; today’s batch came in various animal shapes, such as little rabbits, tigers, and pigs. Xia Rong looked at the plate of pastries, each one beautifully made, and felt a bit reluctant to eat them. After hesitating for a while, he finally picked up a rabbit-shaped one, mischievously biting off the rabbit’s ear in one go. As expected, it was soft, chewy, and had just the right amount of sweetness. Xia Rong happily squinted his eyes.

Hugging the plate of pastries, Xia Rong fiddled with the scattered agate chess pieces on the bed. These were brought to him by his husband, who, knowing Xia Rong had been too busy lately to spend time with him, found these for him to play with. Not only this, but there was also a box of storybooks under the bed, a Kongming lock, and a Nine Linked Rings puzzle on the table, all of which were recently brought by his husband.

He knew his husband had been very busy recently. First, the owner of the chess house next to Xiangzilai decided to quit, so his husband directly bought the shop, connecting it with their existing one, and after some renovations, it reopened. He had visited it once, and now Xiangzilai’s store was much more spacious, and business was even better. Next, his husband mentioned that there were many spices to be harvested in Fucui Mountain and the nearby hills. For several days in a row, his husband had taken people up the mountain to survey, coming back each time looking very tired, saying that if feasible, they would prepare to buy the mountainous land. There was also the matter of hiring new staff for the shop and opening new branches. Even their household had recently seen an increase in servants to attend Xia Rong. What was once an empty Shen residence was now bustling with people. Currently, just the servants attending to him included He Xin and He Miao, plus a managing mama and several young maids. Xia Rong had mentioned to his husband that he didn’t have much to do in a day and didn’t need so many people serving him, as it was too wasteful. But his husband wouldn’t listen, insisting that having more people to look after him put his mind at ease, so Xia Rong didn’t say any more.

Actually, according to Shen Xiangyan, servants in this place are quite inexpensive. A little maid from the official registry costs only five taels of silver. The clothes, jewelry, and other items Xia Rong changes and uses every now and then are much more expensive than the servants. But how could he tell Xia Rong all this? He earns money just to ensure Xia Rong has a good life. Besides, he can easily afford the cost of a few servants’ meals. With him being away from home so often lately, having more people around gives him peace of mind while he’s out.

When Shen Xiangyan returned from outside, he didn’t send word ahead but went straight back to Haitang Courtyard. Xia Rong was napping on the soft couch. The weather had become hot, and since he was indoors, Xia Rong, seeking coolness, wore only a moon-white gauze robe with embroidered willow leaves at the collar. He was lying on the soft couch, with agate chess pieces scattered about, his black hair spread across the pillow, and the small blanket that had been covering him kicked onto the floor. Shen Xiangyan frowned—how could Xia Rong still sleep like a child, always kicking off the blanket? Though the weather was hot, it wasn’t good to sleep without a cover. At night, with Shen Xiangyan watching over him, it was fine, but during the day when he wasn’t home, the little maids didn’t know any better, nor did He Xin and He Miao.

In fact, He Xin and He Miao were wrongly blamed. Xia Rong didn’t like them attending to him during his nap. Even if they wanted to stay, Xia Rong wouldn’t let them, telling them to go about their business if they had things to do, and if not, to do something they wanted. Helpless, He Xin and He Miao could only keep watch outside, listening for any sound from inside.

Shen Xiangyan felt quite uneasy seeing Xia Rong in that outfit. The gauze robe was light and cool but somewhat see-through, especially in such a light color. The closer he got, the clearer he could see. He pulled the blanket over Xia Rong, worried he might be uncomfortable sleeping on the soft couch, then carefully lifted him, making sure not to wake him, and gently laid him on the bed.

When Xia Rong woke up, he found himself lying on his husband’s firm chest. It turned out that Shen Xiangyan had been quite tired over the past few days. Seeing Xia Rong sleeping soundly, he changed clothes and joined him for a nap. When Xia Rong woke up, Shen Xiangyan was still asleep. Looking at his sleeping husband, Xia Rong couldn’t resist reaching out to trace his features. Whether it was his sword-like eyebrows, closed eyes, prominent nose, or slightly thin lips, he found them all beautiful. From the first day he married into the family, he knew his husband was handsome, but even after all this time, he found himself growing fonder of Shen Xiangyan’s looks.

Not wanting to wake him, Xia Rong gazed at him fondly. He hadn’t seen his husband for several days and was overjoyed to wake up next to him. He was still unaccustomed to the sudden absence of someone who used to spend so much time with him.

When Shen Xiangyan opened his eyes, he saw Xia Rong leaning on his arm, looking at him. He reached out to smooth Xia Rong’s hair and smiled, asking, “Rong’er, did you miss me?”

Hearing his husband ask so gently if he had missed him, Xia Rong’s eyes reddened at the thought of not seeing him for the past few days. “I did. Every time Rong’er wakes up, I can’t see you,” he said, his voice growing more aggrieved. Of course, he missed him—how could he not? Not wanting his husband to see him in such a pitiful state, he buried his head in the blanket and spoke in a muffled voice.