Chapter 37: Second Brother Sends Help

Chapter 37: Second Brother Lends a Hand

Wen Xi belatedly realized the problem—he'd spent all night crying and completely forgotten what the morning would bring.

His eyes were now sore and dry, and he had no idea how swollen they had become. How was he supposed to face anyone looking like this?

Wen Xi felt a bit worried. Since no one else in the family was up yet, he crept quietly into the kitchen. After boiling some hot water, he kept pressing a damp cloth over his eyes.

There was something oddly familiar about this. Then he remembered—he'd cried like this right after he first married into the family.

Same scene, but his heart was in a completely different place now.

After pressing the cloth to his eyes for a while, the soreness finally eased a little. He asked Yan Fengan to check: "How is it? Any better?"

It wasn't going to work that fast, of course. Yan Fengan gently ran his fingertips over Wen Xi's eyelids and reassured him, "Much better. Don't worry—Father and Mother won't ask."

The people in this household knew when to look the other way and keep their mouths shut, never bringing up anything embarrassing.

Sure enough, when everyone got up and saw Wen Xi's red-rimmed eyes, they just paused for a beat and said nothing.

Only Yan Erlang winked at Yan Fengan and, once they were alone, teased him under his breath: "Wouldn't have guessed it, Third Brother. Didn't think you had it in you."

Yan Fengan played dumb: "What does Second Brother mean by that?"

"Still acting all pure with your big brother?" Yan Fuqiu's eyes gleamed with mischief as he elbowed him. "Married or not, you can't rough him up like that. It's embarrassing for everyone else to see."

Yan Fengan's cheeks flushed. "It's not what you think, Second Brother. Don't let your mind go there..."

He'd meant to say "vulgar and filthy," but that felt too disrespectful toward his elder brother. After a moment, he settled on: "Your thoughts are too impure."

Yan Fuqiu laughed: "I think you've read too many books and gone soft in the head. Husband and wife getting it on is perfectly natural—what's impure about that?"

Yan Fengan's face got even redder. He wanted to go back to his room and ignore him, but Yan Fuqiu wouldn't let it go, trailing after him: "You scholars are always putting on airs—going on about 'not looking at what's improper' out loud, but behind closed doors, you're the lewdest bunch of all."

Seeing Yan Fengan look unconvinced, he continued, "All those garden rendezvous in the storybooks, poems tossed over walls, climbing over pink walls to sneak into boudoirs at midnight—which of those weren't done by scholars? I've never once read a storybook where the male lead was a carpenter or a butcher. Doesn't that just show scholars are the biggest perverts of all?"

Yan Fengan opened his mouth to argue but couldn't find the words.

Seeing he'd left him speechless, Yan Fuqiu slung an arm over his shoulder: "Alright, we're brothers—not strangers. No need to be embarrassed in front of me. I just wanted to remind you to hold back a little in your day-to-day. With such a big family living together, and your little husband being so shy... well, you get what I mean, right?"

Yan Fengan understood well enough, but he was also getting a raw deal. After stammering for a long while, he finally said, "Me and Xiao Xi... we haven't... it's really not what you think."

Seeing him hesitate like he was hiding something, Yan Fuqiu got even more confused. He thought for a moment, then asked carefully, "Was it just last night, or has it never happened at all?"

Yan Fengan found him insufferable and was about to storm off, but Yan Fuqiu grabbed his arm again. The normally composed young man flushed and snapped, "No, no, never, alright? Happy now?"

"Happy my ass!" Yan Fuqiu's eyes bulged like copper bells as he looked him up and down. His expression went from shock to disbelief, then slowly turned to worry. "Be straight with me—after that fall, did you hurt somewhere besides your head? You're still so young. If something's wrong, you need to see a doctor right away. Me, Dad, and Big Brother—we'll sell everything we own if we have to, just to get you fixed up."

Yan Fengan was mostly speechless, but a little touched too. He said helplessly, "There's nothing wrong with me, Second Brother. Just drop it."

This wasn't something Yan Fengan hadn't thought about before. Before, there'd been misunderstandings between him and Wen Xi that hadn't been cleared up, and both of them had a wall between them.

After clearing things up last night, the misunderstandings were gone—but Wen Xi had cried so hard that Yan Fengan couldn't bring himself to think about anything else.

He'd wait a little longer, give Wen Xi some time to process everything, and bring it up again once he was feeling better.

If it were anyone else, Yan Fuqiu wouldn't bother. But Yan Fengan was his little brother, and he couldn't just look the other way.

Before the wedding, Third Brother had hurt his head, and the family hadn't prepared anything for him. He was probably completely clueless about this kind of thing.

Dad and Big Brother were honest and rigid by nature—they'd never bring it up on their own. Truth be told, Yan Fuqiu was a bit embarrassed himself, but someone in the family had to step up and show the youngest brother the ropes.

Yan Fuqiu caught up with Yan Fengan and said quietly, "Go back to your room and wait for me. I'll go grab something for you."

Before Yan Fengan could ask what it was, Yan Fuqiu had already dashed off to his own room.

A moment later, he came back, tiptoeing sneakily to find Yan Fengan.

Before coming in, Yan Fuqiu glanced both ways, then hurried over to Yan Fengan. He pulled a palm-sized booklet from his chest, along with a jar of ointment he didn't explain, and shoved them into Yan Fengan's hands: "Take these, quick."

Seeing him acting like a thief, Yan Fengan frowned: "What is this?"

Yan Fuqiu said mysteriously, "You'll know when you look."

Yan Fengan immediately understood what it was. His hands trembled, and his face flushed red as he tried to hand it back: "I don't want it."

"You don't want it? I didn't want to give it to you in the first place! If we weren't blood brothers, I wouldn't part with my treasured collection. Don't dawdle, don't be dramatic—study it well, learn from it, and return it to me when you're done."

Yan Fuqiu came and went in a flash. Having delivered the items, he ran off like the wind.

Yan Fengan stared at the small booklet on the table for a while. He reached out to open it, then pulled his hand back.

Light streamed in through the window, brightening the room. He got up and closed the door to the side chamber, paced around the room twice, then sat back down on the stool. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened the little booklet that Yan Fuqiu had treasured.

After just two or three pages, Yan Fengan felt his mouth go dry and found it impossible to sit still. He got up to pace, then sat down to drink tea, over and over. After enduring an entire morning, he finally finished reading everything in the book.

Before this, Yan Fengan had always believed that men were naturally gifted in such matters—that instinct alone was enough.

After reading it, he suddenly realized that beyond instinct, there were many techniques involved.

Previously, he had only seen a few written descriptions. This was the first time he had encountered such a boldly illustrated manual. After being baptized by these images, Yan Fengan—this ascetic scholar—couldn't help but let some other thoughts creep into his mind.

Setting everything else aside, this illustrated book was indeed an excellent introductory resource. But such matters required two people. There was no use in him learning alone—how could he get Wen Xi to take a look at it without being too obvious?

He mulled it over for two days but couldn't come up with a good plan. It wasn't until he noticed Wen Xi fiddling with the money box on the bookshelf every day that an idea finally struck him.

Ever since he had started earning money himself, Wen Xi had developed a habit of counting his coins. One afternoon, while Yan Fengan was working in the woodworking shed with the other men of the family, an idle Wen Xi returned to the bedroom.

He was about to take the money box down from the bookshelf to count the copper coins inside when he suddenly noticed a book pressed beneath it.

The book was smaller than the others, and its yellowed cover bore no title. Finding it strange, Wen Xi set the money box aside and instinctively picked up the book to flip through it. One glance was all it took—he was so startled that he threw it to the ground.

Clutching his pounding heart, he looked at the book lying on the floor and found it increasingly offensive to the eyes. How could such a monstrous thing have appeared in his and Yan Fengan's room?

Wen Xi stared wide-eyed at the book, as if trying to bore a hole through it with his glare. After a moment, he slowly bent down, picked it up, and placed it back beneath the money box.

He was about to leave when the book tugged at his thoughts again. He hadn't looked carefully just now—maybe he had been mistaken, and the contents weren't actually what he thought they were?

Perhaps he should take it out and examine it properly, just to avoid any misunderstanding.

Wen Xi's heart was still torn, but his hands had already acted. He gently opened the small book, and the first thing that met his eyes was a few lines of small text on the blank title page:

"This book is for the private reference of married men and their husbands only. Do not circulate it. Young lads and unwed youths—look not upon what is improper."

Wen Xi could read these words and understood their meaning.

He was a married man—he could peruse this book openly and without fear.

Having reassured himself thus, Wen Xi opened the book with trembling hands.

The first page depicted two people dressed in wedding attire. Based on their physical features, they appeared to be a man and a gē'er (a male consort in this world's custom). In the illustration, the gē'er had a blazing red mole between his brows, and a loose, diaphanous red gauze draped carelessly over him, his skin peeking through the fabric, subtly hinting at his delicate collarbones.

The other man, also in wedding robes, had his broad hand slipping into the gē'er's robes, its destination hidden from view, causing the gē'er to bite his lip and tilt his head back.

Though somewhat intimate, it wasn't explicit. Just as Wen Xi was about to turn to the second page, a gust of cold wind blew through the doorway and rattled the bedroom door. Startled, his heart jumped into his throat, and he scrambled to the door and shut it.

Fearing someone might burst in and catch him at something so embarrassing, Wen Xi simply pressed his body against the door to keep it shut, ensuring no one could casually come in and disturb him.

Since he knew the two in the book were husband and wife, Wen Xi felt embarrassed but didn't find it vulgar. He bit his lip, just like the gē'er in the book, and turned to the second page.

On the second page, the gē'er, head thrown back, parted his soft, delicate lips as his husband held him close and kissed him deeply.

Thinking of how he and Yan Fengan had done the same, Wen Xi's cheeks flushed and his breathing grew slightly rapid.

He couldn't help but think, what else could they do after kissing?

With that question in mind, Wen Xi continued flipping through the pages.

There, the handsome gē'er who had just been kissing his husband now propped himself up on his hands, the sheer red robe slipping from his shoulders to reveal his fair, delicate chest, while his husband leaned over him, suckling at his...

In case the reader didn't get it, the artist had also drawn the other side glistening and full, plump and cherry-red.

Wen Xi's heart thumped like a drum. He had a feeling the next pages would be even more embarrassing. He knew he should put it down, but he was possessed by some strange curiosity to see more.

The following pages not only detailed what the two were doing but also had small notes written beside the illustrations. The pictures and text together opened the door to a whole new world for Wen Xi.

Wen Xi's cheeks stayed flushed all afternoon. To cool off, he even stood in the yard for a bit, letting the cold wind hit him, but it did little good.

Even after washing up and slipping into bed, the heat on his face hadn't subsided.

Usually, Yan Fengan, who slept on the outside, would blow out the candle before getting into bed. But tonight, for some reason, he got into bed without putting out the lamp, and as soon as he was under the covers, he pulled Wen Xi into his arms.

Wen Xi's eyes were glued to him, and he called out to him, lovestruck, "Husband..."

Yan Fengan lowered his gaze to Wen Xi's rosy lips. "Hmm? What is it?"

His eyes held more than their usual tenderness—there was something else in them, that made Wen Xi want to hide himself.

But where could he possibly hide? Wen Xi buried his face in Yan Fengan's chest, trying to hide, and asked in a muffled, embarrassed voice, "That book... did you put it there?"

This was their shared bedroom—no one in the household would enter without permission. Yesterday, there was no booklet under the money box, but today it had suddenly shown up. It couldn't have been anyone else but Yan Fengan.

Yan Fengan gave a low chuckle and asked back, "So you read it?"

"No." Wen Xi denied it, though without much confidence.

"If you haven't, then let's take it out now and look at it together, so you won't be clueless later."

"No, no, no... I get it, I get it..."

Yan Fengan's fingers played with his lips, as if to play with his soft tongue, but lingering at his lips without going in.

"Are you scared, Xiao Xi?"

Wen Xi wasn't afraid, just a little shy.

He didn't give Yan Fengan a direct answer. Instead, he stuck out his tongue and licked Yan Fengan's long, slender fingers until they were wet, then looked up at him with those moist, sparkling eyes, dazed and tender.

Seeing that look, Yan Fengan couldn't be bothered to play the gentleman anymore. He rolled over, switching their positions, and nuzzled Wen Xi's nose affectionately. "You can't cry again tonight."

After a pause, he added, "At least not as badly as you did the past few nights."