Dandy Escapes From Marriage - Chapter 26

Tonight, Shen Ke, who usually sleeps well, couldn’t fall asleep immediately. He lay on the bed, staring with bright eyes in the darkness, while the chirping of cicadas and the croaking of frogs outside were so clear.

 

He knew the reason for his insomnia, and reason told him that he should close his eyes now and not think about anything, so he could fall asleep quickly.

 

But his brain was unusually active, sometimes remembering how well-behaved and quiet Liu Shu became during dinner, and sometimes the almost-kiss that almost happened…

 

But it didn’t happen, and it left him somewhat confused. He couldn’t condemn, nor could he confirm if the other person really wanted to kiss him. What if it was just an accidental proximity?

 

He got up, took a candle, and went to the hall to drink some water. He found Liu Shu’s door was not closed.

 

He walked to the door, listened to the even breathing of the sleeping person inside, carefully closed the door, then turned and went back to his room.

 

Once there was no movement next door, the sleeping person suddenly opened his eyes, slowly pulled up the covers, and covered himself completely.

 

Hehe.

 

Liu Shu secretly smiled. He thought the other person would be angry at his sudden move, but fortunately his A Ke was a kind person!

 

But fortunately, he also stopped in time. Otherwise, he would really have embarrassed himself. He needed to plan carefully and take it slow.

 

The next morning, as soon as Liu Shu opened his eyes, he sat up and leaned against the window, staring at Shen Ke chopping wood without looking away. Look at that figure, tut tut tut, and then look at that face, tut tut tut.

 

No wonder he, Young Master Liu, has such high standards. Looking at the whole Jinling, there’s no one as stunning as him. Moreover, this stunning person reads, writes, chops wood, cooks, is there anyone more suitable to be his wife?

 

He needed to figure out a way to hook him.

 

“Awake?” Shen Ke turned his head.

 

“Yeah.” Even though there was a distance between them, Liu Shu subconsciously rubbed his eyes, confirmed there was no sleep in them, and then smiled at the other person, “Good morning, A Ke.”

 

“Morning.” After finishing chopping the wood needed for the next few days, Shen Ke went into the house to make breakfast. However, as soon as he lit the fire, Liu Shu walked in without even properly dressing, with one end of his clothes slung over his waist, exposing a fair shoulder and delicate collarbone.

 

The match almost set his hair on fire.

 

After lighting the firewood, he said without looking up, “Get dressed properly.”

 

“Oh…” Liu Shu pulled up his clothes, looked at his unaffected appearance, pursed his lips, and thought for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, walked to his side, in the other’s puzzled gaze, directly sat sideways on his leg, hooked his shoulder with his right hand, and lifted his chin with the other hand, “Master, play with me.”

 

Shen Ke lowered his eyes and said word by word, “You better explain where you learned all this from.”

 

Liu Shu: … Drunken Red Pavilion’s top courtesan, Ni Chang.

 

Does this move not work either?

 

Liu Shu fell into contemplation.

 

“Can you go down first? The fire is about to go out.” Shen Ke gritted his teeth.

 

“Oh, sorry!” Liu Shu hurriedly left, not daring to disturb him again while he was starting the fire.

 

Breakfast consisted of thick porridge and a couple of wrinkled boiled eggs, and they were both about to start their day’s work.

 

With the bamboo craftsman’s work temporarily finished, Liu Shu embarked on a new journey of hunting.

 

He carried his bow and arrow and went out with Shen Ke. When they reached the foot of the mountain ahead, Shen Ke instructed, “Be careful, if you can’t catch any prey, it’s okay. Don’t get hurt.”

 

Liu Shu was very touched, but then he heard him continue, “Medical fees are quite expensive.”

 

“…Yes, health is the most important!” Although Liu Shu agreed verbally, he was determined in his heart to catch something big to prove that he also had the ability to earn money to support the family, so that A Ke would look at him with respect.

 

Shen Ke glanced at the sky, “Well, I’m off. You should go earlier too, or it will be hotter later. This weather is really…”

 

“The summer heat, it’s sweet with you.” Liu Shu smirked and poked him in the chest.

 

“…………” Shen Ke turned around in silence and walked away without looking back.

 

Does this, does this move not work either?!

 

Liu Shu climbed the mountain in despair, criticizing the top courtesans in his mind, “You’re all so bad at seducing men!”

 

Even worse was his hunting result, after a whole day he still hadn’t spotted any prey, and he was gloomy during dinner.

 

“It’s okay, it’s normal. If prey were so easy to come by, everyone would just hunt and no one would do anything else. Let’s be patient, we’ll definitely get something.” Shen Ke comforted.

 

Liu Shu, like a wilted sunflower, drooped his head on the table and muttered, “Hmm,” unable to lift his spirits.

 

Shen Ke reached out and touched his head, then took out a bag of candied fruit from his bag and put it in front of him, “Eat this and don’t be sad anymore.”

 

Liu Shu’s eyes lit up and he sat up straight, “When did you buy this?”

 

“When I passed by the shop on my way back, I bought some.”

 

“Where did you get so much money?”

 

“I have a decent monthly salary, enough to afford these snacks.” Shen Ke lowered his eyes guiltily.

 

“Let’s eat together.”

 

Taking a piece of candied fruit, Liu Shu brought it to Shen Ke’s mouth. For some reason, both of them froze for a moment. Shen Ke then reached out to take it and said, “I’ll handle it myself, thank you.”

 

“Okay.” Liu Shu innocently smiled and ate a few pieces before restraining his cravings, planning to save the rest and eat a little every day.

 

They also cut the watermelon given by the craftsman and sat in the courtyard eating it, listening to the cicadas chirping. Shen Ke looked up at the moon and suddenly remembered that the Mid-Autumn Festival was next month.

 

This would be his first time missing his family’s Mid-Autumn Festival. After being away for so long, he found that his homesickness seemed to have faded a lot recently, and he didn’t feel as lonely anymore.

 

“Xiao Wu.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

Liu Shu looked up, with watermelon juice around his mouth, looking at him blankly. But before he could continue, Shen Ke smiled lightly and said, “It’s nothing.”

 

“Oh…” Liu Shu lowered his head and continued happily eating watermelon.

 

After squatting for three or four days, Liu Shu finally caught a wild rabbit. As luck would have it, he quickly pulled the bowstring, and in the blink of an eye, the arrow hit the rabbit’s leg.

 

Approaching the rabbit, he examined its leg and thought to himself that hunting was indeed different. Normally, he practiced his aim on stationary targets, but there was a certain margin of error when it came to hunting moving targets.

 

He aimed for the belly but hit the leg instead. Nonetheless, at least he hit it, which was some progress.

 

When Shen Ke returned home, Liu Shu immediately pointed to the cage and said, “Look, I caught a rabbit!”

 

“Really?” Shen Ke walked over joyfully and saw the rabbit lying limply inside the cage, its left leg wrapped in cloth with blood seeping out.

 

“I don’t know how to deal with it. It’s been bleeding, so I thought I’d bandage it, but it doesn’t seem to have much effect.” Liu Shu looked worried.

 

Shen Ke took the rabbit out of the cage, removed the cloth, examined the wound, then handed the rabbit back to Liu Shu and went inside to find herbs. After preparing the medicine, he applied it to the cloth and rewrapped the rabbit’s leg, saying, “It might not work, but let’s try.”

 

“Okay!”

 

The next day when Shen Ke returned home, he saw Liu Shu looking even more worried. He turned to the cage and indeed found two more rabbits, one of them very small.

 

“Ah Ke, the legs of these two…”

 

Liu Shu hesitated, looking at him, and Shen Ke immediately understood. He turned and walked into the house. “I’ll go get some more medicine.”

 

While applying the medicine, Liu Shu couldn’t help but say, “I didn’t see any prey for several days, but now they keep appearing one after another. Could it be that they… are a family?”

 

“It’s possible.” Shen Ke put the two rabbits back into the cage, watching them cuddle together. He met Liu Shu’s conflicted gaze and suddenly smiled. “I don’t know how to cook rabbit meat.”

 

Liu Shu understood his unspoken words and instantly felt relieved, showing a happy smile. “I’m not a big fan of rabbit meat either.”

 

“Oh, where did these rabbits come from?” Aunt Zhu’s voice came from the gate as she entered with a basket of corn. She walked over with a smile and said, “These are wild rabbits, right? Did you catch them?”

 

“Yes, Xiao Wu caught them.” Shen Ke said proudly.

 

“Xiao Wu is amazing!”

 

Liu Shu chuckled, and then she said, “Do you two big men know how to cook rabbit meat? If not, leave it to me. I’ll make spicy rabbit for you.”

 

“Don’t worry, I don’t like rabbit meat,” Liu Shu quickly declined.

 

Mrs. Zhu looked at Shen Ke again, and Shen Ke nodded, “Yeah, we both don’t like it.”

 

“So what are you going to do?”

 

“We’ll release them once they’ve healed, right?” Liu Shu sought Shen Ke’s opinion, and Shen Ke nodded in agreement.

 

Mrs. Zhu remained indifferent to their kindness, and even thought they were crazy. They spent so much effort catching them, treated their wounds, and now they were going to release them. It seemed absurd to her.

 

She chuckled and then turned to the main topic, “Brother Ke, you helped me write a letter last time. This corn was just picked today, specially brought for you. If it’s not enough, just let me know.”

 

“Thank you, and thanks for coming all the way here to deliver it,” Shen Ke didn’t refuse. Here, everyone helped each other, and reciprocating favors was just how things were done.

 

“Oh, this short trip is nothing. It’s not much anyway,” Mrs. Zhu smiled and waved her hand, then sighed with annoyance, “It’s all because of the wild boars that have been appearing lately, eating so much of our crops. It’s really annoying.”

 

“Wild boars?” Liu Shu asked curiously, “Have you seen them?”

 

“Their footprints are all over the fields, it must be wild boars. They’ve appeared before, but this time seems much larger, and they’ve been eating a lot. But enough about that, I need to go back and cook.” Mrs. Zhu finished her annoyed remarks and left.

 

Liu Shu rubbed his chin mischievously, “I don’t like rabbit meat, but wild boar meat seems pretty good.”

 

“Wild boars are too big, it’s a bit dangerous. Don’t go,” Shen Ke advised.

 

“Okay.”

 

Liu Shu agreed verbally, but the next day he went to hunt for wild boars. He thought it would take a few days, but his luck was good. As he was munching on boiled corn, there was suddenly movement ahead, and the corn stalks swayed.

 

In the evening, Shen Ke returned home early for once, only to find the house empty. Standing in the courtyard, he looked towards the nearby woods for a long time. Seeing that the sun had already set, the sky was gray, he was about to go out to search when someone shouted, “Quick, someone help, Xiao Wu brother caught a wild boar!”

 

Shen Ke immediately followed the direction of the voice and ran out. He could see a group of people dragging a large wild boar back, with over a dozen arrows stuck in it.

 

He caught up and asked Mrs. Zhu, who was leading the way, “Where’s Xiao Wu?”

 

“Behind,” Mrs. Zhu pointed backward.

 

As they spoke, the people behind also approached, and they saw Liu Shu with a swollen forehead and a bit of blood, being supported by Mrs. Zhu’s husband.

 

“Xiao Wu!”

 

Liu Shu turned to look at him, immediately smiled, “Ah Ke, I caught a wild boar!”

 

Shen Ke walked up in three or two steps, took Liu Shu from Mrs. Zhu’s husband, and supported his shoulder, his brow furrowed tightly, “Are you injured anywhere else?”

 

“Uh…” Liu Shu pointed to his knee, “I also fell here and hit a stone.”

 

No wonder he needed help to walk. Shen Ke squatted down in front of him, “Get on.”

 

Liu Shu didn’t stand on ceremony either, handing over the bow and arrow to others and immediately lying on his back. Unable to help boasting, he said, “It’s such a big boar, and I caught it all by myself!”

 

“How did you catch it?”

 

“The wild boar was too fierce. One arrow couldn’t kill it, so I shot many arrows, and then it went crazy and ran around… and hit a tree.”

 

“How did you get injured then?”

 

“I… I bumped into the boar.” Liu Shu said shamefully, burying his head in Shen Ke’s neck, “No laughing.”

 

“I’m not.”

 

“You said you’re not laughing, but your shoulders are shaking so much!”