Su WuLi sat on a small wooden bench by the kitchen door, looking out over the courtyard of his new home. Although there was green grass and the ground looked healthy, there were no flowers or anything, only weeds that needed to be pulled.
"I can get a few flowers." He said to himself. "Peonies, yes, peonies, what does Huan'er think?"
"Yifu wants to plant peonies for yimu?"
Certainly, the yard was full of weeds to be pulled up, the good thing was that Su WuLi had a son to take care of the strenuous job.
"This son of mine is indeed clever. 'Floating clouds remind me of her clothes, and peonies her face.'*" Su Jian didn't know if that poem would have been written by now, or if there even was or would be a Tang dynasty, but he recited that anyway. Then he looked at his son again. "Don't say anything to your mother, it will be a surprise."
Su Jian, or rather the new Su WuLi, was content with the new life he received. The memories in his mind blended his life and that of this idiot man he had transmigrated into, that lessened difficulty for him in the arduous task of adapting, but also left him with certain mental gaps in his memories.
However, he felt that the long hair did not suit his face, let alone the normally annoyed expression he always showed. If his grandfather were alive and could see him, he would surely take a pair of scissors and cut it off when Su Jian was asleep.
Back in his original world he died stupidly in a traffic accident, he was more than sure of that. However, when he opened his eyes after the crash, the first thing he saw was the morning light coming into that old house, and then a beautiful face resting beside him.
He had seen enough novels to understand a part of his situation, and he tried his best to act normal. And it wasn't too hard, Su Jian was thrilled with this new life! He had an adopted son, the adorable and obedient Li Huan, and a male wife.
Yes, a male wife. He was sure that, if it wasn't some cheap tragic gay novel, then it was an alternate reality where men could get pregnant. Su Jian had no problem, he had none with that. Having children seemed like a good idea to him.
Not only was he not straight, his husband was Li BaoGui and he was as beautiful as Li Yan. No, in fact, he was Li Yan in every respect. His face as fine and perfect as jade, and the gentle personality Su Jian once thought he possessed.
Compared to his previous life as Su Jian, this one was not bad. There was no internet, and he lacked many things that could be considered crucial, such as human rights. But he was no longer alone.
The only people he could miss were Qu Yuan, Li Yan and Che XuDan, just because she was funny to him sometimes. Su Jian was raised alone by his grandfather, who died when he reached college and left him just enough money to pay for his studies, so he had no family to miss.
Nor did he have a family to give him a funeral, or to mourn for him. But Qu Yuan could take the money that was left, surely get him a nice grave and use the rest to buy a PS5.
"Huan'er, don't stay out here too long. If you can't finish by the time sunset comes, you can continue tomorrow."
The boy nodded as he plucked the weeds and threw them to the side. Su WuLi smiled, that was his good son achieved effortlessly. In his original world the idea of adopting a child with his platonic love was just that, an impossible idea, but in this world, it was real.
Su WuLi walked into his matrimonial bedroom, and asked himself, did I end up in one of my fantasies? I was never much of a fan of the historical genre or WuXia.
He was sure that, if he were in a cultivation novel, he would be miserable, useless cannon fodder. So, he was thankful his Rong dynasty was separate from that sort of thing, it gave him a better chance of survival.
"Honey?" Su WuLi asked before entering the room, there was no answer. "You can't sleep that much, you must take your medicine on time."
Inside the room some noises were heard, Su WuLi could easily tell that Li BaoGui must be awake and quiet. Fearing that his love might be unwell, Su WuLi opened the door and entered without thinking.
His husband was sitting on the bed, looking around in bewilderment. Li BaoGui looked at him with that same confused expression, so Su WuLi left the medicine bowl on the table in the room, and walked over to the bed.
"Honey, is something wrong?" With all the confidence in the world, Su Jian took the other's face in his hands in a careful manner. "Are you feeling sick, should I call the doctor?"
Li BaoGui's face turned red, even his lips trembled from the shock of those words.
Su Jian didn't understand that reaction; when he treated Li BaoGui warmly when he arrived in that world, Li BaoGui was grateful and willing to receive pampering and kind words. After all, the original bastard Su WuLi was not very expressive, nor was he genuine.
"My love?" His husband's silence was beginning to worry him.
Personally, Su Jian detested his predecessor. The original Su WuLi was an insensitive peasant who only wanted Li BaoGui's money, which was why he had agreed to marry him. But now Su Jian had arrived, who loved his Li Yan-Li BaoGui madly.
After a silence filled with doubt, Li BaoGui finally said a couple of words.
"Su... Su Jian?"
Poor, stupid and recently deceased young Su's illusions were shattered.
"Li Yan?"
Li Yan, now called Li BaoGui, set the empty bowl aside. He and Su Jian had separated as quickly as they could, and sat silently almost seven chi apart in the cozy room.
The atmosphere was awkward, after all, 'honey' and 'my love' were not words Li Yan was ready to hear. He could feel his heart pounding, though it no longer ached like before.
He took the copper mirror that Su WuLi had left on the bed, and looked at the coppery reflection produced by the mirrors of antiquity. He was still the same as he was before he died, there was not a single change in his physique, except for his long hair that fell over his shoulders and down his back. Looking that way, he thought he should have let his hair grow when he was still alive, it suited him very well.
His eyes looked at Su WuLi in a discreet way and he couldn't help but think about the way he had treated him, he thought: [He hates me, but he doesn't hate my face?]
Li Yan really wanted to ask about it, but in the end, he could not overcome his fear for the answer and said:
"So, your name is now Su WuLi. A peasant who married Li BaoGui, and now lives with the Li family because of his inferior origin."
"Yes." Su WuLi affirmed.
"We are married and I... I can get pregnant and, if necessary, I must answer to female titles. Besides, we have Li Huan, an adopted son."
"And we live in one of the Li family's courtyards."
Li Yan's mind still couldn't forget the words 'honey' and 'my love', he kept repeating them over and over again to his own satisfaction. Although his expression was frozen in perpetual tranquility, his heart felt like it was about to burst.
"...Do you want a divorce?" Li Yan guessed that the two of them were going to separate again, and unknown grudges from their previous life would follow them into this one.
Su Jian immediately turned to look at him. Of course, he didn't want to divorce him, that was his childhood dream and he didn't want to lose it! how could Li Yan be so frivolous and heartless even after he died!
"Yufu, yimu..." Li Huan peeked through the door, his eyes were teary. "Are you two getting divorced?"
Su WuLi changed places in the blink of an eye, sitting down next to Li BaoGui and hugging him around the waist with one of his arms. With his free hand he motioned his son to come closer.
"Of course not, of course not, he's just kidding, the medicine made him a little silly. We'll never leave Huan'er."
"You mustn't worry about my words." Li BaoGui said. Although he had barely arrived in that world, Li Yan could feel that Su Jian cherished that child very much.
Li Huan ran to his parents and hugged both of them tightly, unable to notice the awkwardness that grew as high as the heavens. He was just a child and could not grasp some things yet, however, he was sure that he did not want to lose these parents that fate had gifted him.
"These parents of yours are not going to abandon you. You'd better go wash your hands, help me prepare food for your mother while he rests, okay?" Su Jian turned the tables quickly.
"Going!" Having lifted his spirits once again, the boy left the room to fetch water to wash the dirt from his hands.
His parents breathed and wiped away their smiles, until they heard the little footsteps return and stop in front of their room once again. Li BaoGui and Su WuLi returned to their fake smiles, so exaggerated and stiff that their cheeks hurt. Li Huan asked innocently:
"If yimu is well tomorrow, can you bake the cakes you promised?"
Seeing the light of hope in his new cheap son's eyes, Li Yan did not hesitate to answer with all his kindness.
"Of course."
That night, Su WuLi decided to sleep in another room despite how much he wanted to stay with Li BaoGui. He spent much of the night thinking of a solution, as he did not want to lose the opportunity of that second life.
In the end he ended up falling asleep, so when dawn came the next day, he had no plan.
He cooked a halfway 'decent' breakfast. To tell the truth, the food Su WuLi prepared was quite ordinary, it was obvious that he was not familiar with the ancient type of cooking.
"I'll cook later." Li Yan had a picky palate; such rustic food did not appeal to him at all. However, it was something Su Jian had prepared, naturally, he would eat it without complaint if he was alone.
Li Yan could no longer afford to allow any garbage on the table, he now had a son to take care of. Li Huan was sitting at the table next to him, obediently eating without saying a word. Li BaoGui commented:
"I'll give Huan'er a few coins before he goes to school, so he can buy himself something to eat."
Su Jian was aware that if he couldn't cook well in his original world, let alone make a decent breakfast in a place that didn't even have electric power. How could his ancestors survive without instant ramen?
Besides, he knew Li Yan was picky about food, and that made him feel ashamed; he had dared to offend the palate of his childhood love-enemy-husband. He had every intention of genuinely apologizing, and the words that came out of his mouth were:
"Not good enough for you, hmm?" In Su Jian's mind, those words must have sounded sweet.
"It's not." Li BaoGui answered truthfully, his face still calm. "Huan'er needs to eat healthy and balanced, so he can survive."
One only needed to study some history to know that, in those ancient times, death was very easy to find, especially when one was still young.
Su Jian didn't even reply, he knew Li Yan was frivolous and heartless by nature.
"Anyway, thank you for the food." On the other hand, Li Yan knew that his childhood love was not good with words.
"Whatever." Su WuLi turned his back to him to hide the blush on his face.
Li Huan was a very good boy, so he paid very little attention to what his parents were saying. Even if the two of them had been arguing to the point to get physical, their son wouldn't have noticed for quite a while.
• • • • • • • • • • •
1. Yifu.
Adoptive father.
2. Yimu.
Adoptive mother.
3. Floating clouds remind me of her clothes, and peonies her face.
Line from Li Bai's poem The Quiet, Peaceful Melody, in which he uses peony flowers to describe Consort Yang/Yang Guifei. Su Jian said so to refer to Li Yan being as beautiful as Consort Yang.