Chapter 184: Master, I've kept you waiting for a long time

He soon returned, with a bowl full of rice and a food box, and sat down next to Chu Wanning.

Chu Wanning, slightly surprised, hesitates: "Aren't you going to Shi Mei's table?"

Mo Ran was stunned: "Why should I go to that table?"

Chu Wanning's heart swelled with joy at his words, and he lowered his eyes and coughed: "I thought the food there was to your liking."

Mo Ran saw the tips of his ears flush and suddenly realised that Chu Wanning was not jealous.

Chu Wanning's whole ear is red this time.

He had been resting his knee against Mo Ran's, but he felt sensitive and tried to move away. Mo Ran was reluctant and, using the cover of the table, touched Chu Wanning's leg.

"You."

The sound caught the attention of a bystander: " Your Mightiness What's wrong?"

Chu Wanning, aware of his slip of the tongue, said calmly, "Nothing."

Mo Ran held back his laughter as he found Chu Wanning really funny.

He wasn't actually trying to get into anything ridiculously horny, after all, it was a matter of killing 500 enemies and damaging a thousand, he just didn't want Chu Wanning to be that far away from him.

So he tugs on Chu Wanning's leg and childishly wrenches him back, making him lean on himself.

Chu Wanning moves away again and he breaks back in.

In the end Chu Wanning couldn't take it anymore and kicked him under the table, but finally stopped running.

Mo Ran just laughed.

Chu Wanning said, "You're a sick man."

Dinner for two.

Mo Ran glanced at Chu Wanning's bowl and saw that there were only a few vegetables and a piece of tofu, and that the dumplings had already been eaten by the other children at the table who didn't know any better.

Mo Ran then handed him the little bamboo food box.

"What is it?"

Mo Ran whispered, "Small cage, six crab yolks, six shrimps, I made it especially for you boo, don't make a sound, eat it, I knew you'd never be able to grab anyone else when you're at the table."

""

It's too obvious that he's the only one at the table, and Chu Wanning feels a bit ashamed to move. But when he sees Mo Ran's dark eyes looking at him with seriousness and sincerity, with a few crumbs of flour on his cheeks, he can't say no.

Not to mention the phrase, made especially for you, which is really heartwarming to hear.

Chu Wanning didn't say anything, but after a while, he opened the box in silence, then put up the bamboo lid and ate the hot and fresh crab meat dumplings, the rich and hot soup bubbling out of the crackling crust, warming his heart.

"Is it good?" the man looked at him bashfully, hoping for a look of approval.

Chu Wanning bit into his chopsticks and said, "Not bad, you try one too."

"I'm not eating it, it's all for you." Mo Ran smiled, his dark eyes all light and hot, "Good if you like it, have another shrimp one and see"

The man's mind is free of distractions, and the powder on his cheeks against his dark eyes makes him look even more pitiful and lovely.

Chu Wanning is still a little confused by Mo Ran's choice, not understanding why he would turn to himself instead of Shi Mei, but at this moment, Mo Ran's gaze is so pure and determined that there is no room for anything else, enough to reassure anyone who is gazing at him like that.

After dinner, the village headman invited the audience to watch a play outside the ancestral hall. The stage was set up by the river, with cymbals ringing and the huqin playing. The audience cheered and applauded.

Chu Wanning was reluctant to watch such tricks, either because they were so poorly executed that he could see through them at a glance, which took away much of the fun and excitement, or because the crowds of people watching them were so lively that he could not enjoy them.

He wasn't interested and neither was Shi Mei, and they were both going to leave, Mo Ran not saying a word, walking beside them and taking one last look back at the stage.

Shi Mei said gently, "Come on, it's too late to go back, your Holiness will be worried."

"Hmm."

Without a word, Mo Ran kept his head down and followed. But after a few steps, he heard Chu Wanning ask, "Do you want to see?"

"The play is Wang Kai and Shi Chong fighting for wealth, which is quite interesting."

He didn't say he wanted to see it, or not, but Chu Wanning quietly listened to him finish the sentence and said, "Then go back and watch it before you leave."

Shi Mei was stunned: "Master, staying for dinner is already delaying the delivery of the appointed hour, if you stay to watch the play again"

Chu Wanning said, "Just watch this one and leave afterwards."

Shi Mei was gentle, smiled and said, "Yes, listen to your Master."

The three of them went back to the stage and pushed their way into the lively and boisterous crowd. Many of Linyi's fellow villagers had never been to Sichuan before and had never seen Sichuan opera before, so they were amazed by the fluttering water sleeves and the chaotic face changes.

"The King gave me that coral and jade tree, with its precious light"

On the stage, "Wang Kai" and "Shi Chong" were striving to climb up the ladder of wealth and glory, blushing and trying to overwhelm each other.

"Fifty miles of purple silk pave the way home, who can be the one"

"Good hahaha, one more verse."

The eyes of those watching the show were glowing and the children, with pastries in their mouths, had their hands free to clap along with the adults.

This is not the Upper Fairy World, where no one sits around and watches the play, where they sip jasmine tea in the cold, while attendants squeeze their backs and handmaidens slap their fans, and where the cold air onstage forces the actors to sing with such disinterest and indifference that a song like Farewell My Concubine sounds like a king bidding farewell to a cricket.

The crowd was rustic, old-fashioned and hot, all standing and applauding, shouting on their feet, crude and hilarious. Chu Wanning, standing in the midst of this tidal wave, was at a loss as to how to react. A bored man like him would probably rather sit in Upper Fairy World and listen to the king's clapping than watch Wang Kai fight Shi Chong in the crowd.

There was another person who shared his dislike of this intense emotion.

Shi Mei stood for a while, seemingly suffering from a headache caused by the sound of the oboe and cymbals, but remained in place until a big man next to her jumped up and slapped his hand because his blood was boiling at the part about "breaking the coral tree", and accidentally bumped into the tea that another man was drinking. The hot tea splashed all over Shi Mei in front of him.

"Ahhh sorry sorry sorry"

" Your Mightiness, I'm really sorry, look at my sloppy hands."

Shi Mei was busy saying, "It's okay, it's not a problem."

But his clothes were soiled and wet, and he sighed and said to Chu Wanning somewhat helplessly, "Master, why don't I go back first, change my clothes, and then go over the results of the commission with Your Holiness."

Chu Wanning said, "Okay, take care of yourself on the way."

Shi Mei smiled, said hello to Mo Ran, and left. Chu Wanning thought it was a good way to get away, so he might as well find someone else to bump into so that he wouldn't be overwhelmed by the crowd. He looked up at the stage and saw that the actor who was playing Wang Kai was so angry that he was blowing his gnarled whiskers and spitting out a huge flame from his fire bag onto the river.

"Boom."

The river is brimming and the sparkling water is dipped in orange-red.

"Wow good."

"Vomit again and again."

"" Chu Wanning was a bit confused, what's so great about this, let Xue Meng come over, you can burn a hundred times without a fire bag.

The tall man didn't even need to put his feet up, he just stood calmly where he was, so that no one could block his view. His handsome face was illuminated by the firelight, his dimples deep, his gaze soft but deep, as if his heart was shining in a way that no one could really see.

Aware of Chu Wanning's gaze, he turns back, but smiles even more brightly, his dark eyes seemingly a little moist, but also as if there is nothing there, just Chu Wanning's illusion.

"When I was a child, I used to go outside the theatre to listen to this play, but every time I couldn't finish the play before the caretaker kicked me out." Mo Ran's tone was casual and calm, "This is the first time I've listened to a whole play.

""

Chu Wanning looked into his eyes and finally said.

"Well, it's not bad."

Mo Ran's smile blossoms, the night seems to light up, the stage suddenly starts to sing, the curtain falls, and then rises again, the beautiful eyebrows are like smoke, the indigo feathers are chirping, the king's will is gone, my concubine has no time to live

"Oh, Bully." Mo Ran turned his head and smiled, "Let's go, we're done with the fight, we're satisfied, let's go back."

"Watch a little longer."

"Hmm."

"It's not exactly boring, so it wouldn't hurt to see a few more plays."

Mo Ran raised her eyebrows slightly, seemingly in surprise, and then smiled brightly, "Good."

Farewell to the Lady, Golden Mountain Temple, Judgement of the Double Nails, Sitting on the Floor to Kill the Sorrowful.

One play after another, no one left, and as the hour wore on, the crowd became more and more cheerful and energetic.

Some of the old men were chanting after Granny Yan on stage: "A kind word warms the heart in three winters, but a bad word hurts the heart in six months."

Chu Wanning was laughed at by the drunken villagers who pushed and shoved him on the shoulder, but there was no way back and he was in a difficult situation when a pair of warm hands put their hands on his shoulders.

He looked back and met the eyes of Mo Ran, a man who had somehow gotten up behind him, smiled and brought him over so that he was leaning against him and no longer distracted by the people around him.

Chu Wanning's ears burned slightly as she looked at Mo Ran for a moment, but finally turned her face away, not wanting to look at him again.

Only the heat behind him was so hot, the breath so burning, the firm chest against him, the large knuckled hands around his shoulders. As the skin and drums grew denser, the fire-breathing play came out again and people's eyes were drawn to it, whooping and hollering and crooning and clapping.

Chu Wanning also reluctantly tries to feign equanimity by clapping his hands together twice.

But before he could raise his hand, he was wrapped up in Mo Ran's arms from behind. Maybe it was because he thought no one would notice, or maybe it was because he was being pushed and shoved by the people around him, or maybe it was just because in the midst of such a great bustle, one wants to be closer and closer to the person one is close to, so close that one's bones and blood are fused together.

Anyway, Mo Ran lowered his eyes and wrapped his arms around him from behind, wrapping his strong arms around the man in his arms, before turning his face sideways and kissing Chu Wanning on the base of his ear at the moment when the stage fire lit up the night.

Suddenly the flames burst forth, lighting up the face of the playwright and burning into the hearts of the spectators.

"Thank you for staying with me." Mo Ran said in his ear, her voice low and slightly muffled, very soft, "I know, actually you didn't like it."

"Overthink it, I like it."

Mo Ran laughed softly and stopped talking, holding him tighter and resting his chin against the nape of his neck.

As the firelight flickered, Chu Wanning suddenly wanted to ask a question, so he spoke, "Mo Ran, why are you"

"Hahahaha, good."

His voice was faint, and in a moment it was swallowed up by the noise of the people.

Mo Ran asks, "What"

"It's nothing." Chu Wanning's face flushes slightly and is gently covered by thin anger. He doesn't want to ask the question a second time; one time has taken all his strength and at the moment he feels only too ashamed to speak again.

Mo Ran was quiet for a moment, he didn't actually hear Chu Wanning's question but suddenly said, "The person I like has always been you."

""

The heart beat suddenly and intensely.

"It's always been you, and I was too stupid to tell my own mind apart once upon a time."

The heart was beating like a drum, and the sound of the cymbals on stage seemed to be drowned out by the aftershock in his own chest.

"I'm sorry."

""

"I've kept you waiting for a long time."

The wind once had no colour and no trace, but now it was the scent of Mo Ran lingering on the tip of my nose.

Chu Wanning did not really want to hear too many explanations, all he wanted was a word of affirmation from his beloved. He could not think, he could not move, he was submerged in this fierce oil, and eventually lost all his senses.