Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate

After buying all the stuff, Xia Yi was looking for a tea house or some similar places to rest, then he heard Gu Wen Zhu’s voice, “Yi.”

Xia Yi turned to look in shock, Gu Wen Zhu was smiling and standing in the shadow under a tree nearby. He had a few drops of sweat on his face due to his fast jogging pace.

“Why are you here?” Xia Yi was astonished.

“I came to pick you up.”

“Didn’t you say you were going to fetch me when it was dinner time and I was not back?”

“I feel like it was about time for dinner.” Gu Wen Zhu ignored the sun which was right above their heads and answered with confidence.

Hm? It has just been a while since they have finished lunch.

But seeing Gu Wen Zhu made Xia Yi delighted, he did not care whether it was noon or night and held Gu Wen Zhu’s hand merrily.

Gu Wen Zhu nervously looked around, his handsome face turned red instantly.

Xia Yi knew what was on his mind, he side-eyed him in a threatening manner, meaning that there would be consequences if he let go of his hand.

Gu Wen Zhu did not dare to let go, and he did not want to, but he could not raise his head if he did not let go. He thought for a while, then swiftly took off his outer to cover up their hands.

And so they held hands and walked around in the village.

The weather was becoming colder, Gu Wen Zhu had clothes underneath and did not seem awkward with his outer off.

They walked together from one end of the village to the other. Gu Wen Zhu bought from a store a few catties of cotton, he turned to explain to Xia Yi, “I am doing preparations, I will go to the city to buy some cloth. You should have a lined jacket.”

“179, this daughter-in-law is really, too virtuous, except for the fact that his bust is smaller. But that’s nothing, I don’t care.”

Seeing that it was already evening, Xia Yi planned to pick up the rings at the silversmith’s. He wanted it to be a surprise for Gu Wen Zhu, but now that he was here too, picking the rings up together might not be a bad idea.

The two went into the silversmith’s yard, “Mister, are our rings ready?” Xia Yi asked.

“Yes yes, I have completed the carvings as well.” The silversmith went into the inner house with his head nodding, then he took out two sparkling silver rings.

Xia Yi had him make a pair of plain rings, relatively simple. That was why they looked nice, the shapes were round and smooth.

He picked one up carefully and looked at its inside, “Hm? Why is it a 1? Didn’t I say a Y?” Xia Yi asked in confusion.

Seeing the blank face of the silversmith, he hurriedly gestured, “I want a Y.”

“This little fork was not easy to make, I could not carve it, that’s why I directly carved a 1.” The silversmith laughed earnestly, “To me, it looked very similar, only with one branch less, Ho ho ho.”

Xia Yi picked up the other one and looked, stunned, “How come it is 0 for this one?”

“I want a G, not a 0. The circle does not close, see, there is a hole, the 0 you carved is a closed circle.”

The silversmith observed without a clue for a second, “So they are different, I thought you wanted a circle, I didn’t notice that the circle was closed.”

WTF, two rings, one with a 1 carved on it, the other with a 0 carved on it.

Is this his fate in the gay world??? 1

Looking at Xia Yi’s deflated expression, the silversmith began to feel uneasy, “What happened? Are you not satisfied? What’s wrong with the rings that I have made?”

“Nothing, you are good. It’s fine, it’s beautiful.” Xia Yi did not feel right to continue complaining, he quickly complimented the rings in his hand and gave the man his pay to put an end to the matter.

Both of them walked out from the yard and came under an old willow tree at the entrance of the village, Xia Yi looked at Gu Wen Zhu with a smiley face under the golden setting sun, “I have made us two rings, one for each of us.”

After saying so, he pulled out the 0 and instructed, “Give me your hand.”

Gu Wen Zhu reached out as instructed.

Xia Yi put the ring on his ring finger.

Ah, it doesn’t work, the ring is stuck in the middle.

No no, the ring finger is too big, try the little finger.

It is stuck as well.

Is this a hand or a rake? What is going on?

Seeing Xia Yi biting his lips and frowning, finding ways to put the ring on his fingers, he could not help but chuckle slightly. He took the 0 gently, held Xia Yi’s hand and put the ring onto the delicate ring finger of his.

It fit.

Then he picked up the 1, aimed at the ring finger on his own left hand and pushed towards his finger.

Perfect!

Gu Wen Zhu raised his hand, looking at his 1 under the setting sun, then he looked at the 0 on Xia Yi’s finger, and smiled. He knew that Xia Yi loved to match everything with him. Matching clothes, matching belts, he even checked to see if their socks matched.

“Why didn’t you wear the same socks with me today?”

“They are the same, aren’t they all white?”

“Look at them, these are in crisp white, mine are in pure white, can they be the same? Our belts are different as well, yours is in sky blue, mine is in light blue…”

Gu Wen Zhu had to distinguish between the colors with all his efforts every day to put on his clothes and socks according to Xia Yi’s instructions. Those lookalike colors had been setting numerous traps for him. He felt as if his eyes were almost blind.

Xia Yi raised his hand too, he moved his hand to the side of Gu Wen Zhu’s to look at their rings. His skin was fairer, Gu Wen Zhu was tanned, their bigger and smaller hands with the same rings on looked harmonized with sunlight shining on them.

He narrowed his eyes, and eyed Gu Wen Zhu with his side vision. He was looking at the rings with all of his attention with a warm smile. His handsome face was layered with the sunset orange of the last light from the sun, making his features look more distinct.

Xia Yi’s heart started to race. He secretly cheered himself up, turned and faced Gu Wen Zhu, asked, “Zhu, do you know the meaning of the rings?”

“Hm?” Without knowing, Gu Wen Zhu raised his brows. 

Xia Yi abruptly kneeled with one knee, staring straightly in front of him, and said in a loud voice,

“Zhu, I want you to marry me.”

Gu Wen Zhu was startled when he saw Xia Yi suddenly kneeled in front of him. He was suspecting that his legs were going numb and wanted to help him up, then he heard his words.

At this very moment, he froze as if his acupuncture point had been attacked. He stood at the spot without moving.

Without hearing any responses, Xia Yi was about to look up, then he heard a noise and saw Gu Wen Zhu kneeled with both of his knees in front of him. He shouted loudly in excitement with his face flushed, “Yi, I want you to marry me.”

“Sorry Yi, I wanted to ask you to marry me after the new year. You said that you did not want to get married, so I was planning to let you have time to get used to things. I wanted to wait until spring when the flowers bloomed, with you liking me more, accepting me, then I would propose to you. I didn’t realize that I was too careless for not telling you that, you even, kneeled, as a ger.” Gu Wen Zhu looked like he wanted to dig a hole and go inside. “Yi, please marry me, I will be good to you, protecting you, for all my life. You are the luckiest thing that has happened to me, my biggest wish is to be by your side forever. I want nothing but you. I will do my best to make you live well.”

Gu Wen Zhu said a series of vows excitedly with his eyes glittering. He moved forward a few steps with his knees, not caring that people might see them, and held Xia Yi in his arms tightly.

“Sorry Yi, I am late asking you this, I deserve to be punished, sorry, Yi.” Gu Wen Zhu pushed Xia Yi’s head onto his own chest, mumbling.

“This scene seems different from what I had imagined, but it’s no big deal.” Xia Yi had been trapped in Gu Wen Zhu’s arms, he thought in his blurry mind hearing Gu Wen Zhu’s heavy heartbeats.

The sun was setting on the west, the two walked home shoulder to shoulder.

It was autumn, the sweetness of the fruits feathered around in the air. Xia Yi’s shoulder was touching Gu Wen Zhu’s unintentionally sometimes, he felt the sweetness in his heart as well.

He did not notice and was tripped by the stone at his feet. Gu Wen Zhu steadied him, then he crouched in front of Xia Yi, “Let me carry you.”

“You are not afraid of people seeing us?” Looking around, Xia Yi saw a few villagers with hoes on their shoulders from afar.

“We are going to get married, why should I be afraid?” Gu Wen Zhu said it as loud as thunder, the sound of his voice echoed far, turning the heads of those villagers. “You had travelled a good few miles, and you have been shopping for the whole evening, your legs must be sore.”

In view of Xia Yi being uncertain and looking around, he urged, “Quick.”

Xia Yi no longer forced himself to walk any further, he leaned and jumped onto Gu Wen Zhu’s wide back without any hesitation.

“I will talk to Mr. Wang when we are back and let him pick us a date two months from now. We will marry each other on that day.” Gu Wen Zhu said happily while walking with big steps and Xia Yi on his back. “Then two days later, I will bring you to the city, to buy some cloth and new blankets.”

“And we need some new furniture from the woodsmith.”

“But I want to make our own furniture.”

“Right, we also have to buy some makeup products for you.”

Xia Yi hurriedly stopped Gu Wen Zhu’s train of thoughts at this point, “Not this, Zhu. I don’t like this, I don’t like this very much.”

“Okay okay okay, we are not buying that, just as you wish.”