The Second Young Master’s Obedient Husband : Chapter 42

Liang Yu wasn’t home, and Su Qingyu didn’t dare go out alone. With nothing to do, he decided to wash the dirty clothes. He poured water from the vat into a wooden basin, then went inside to gather the dirty clothes.

The mat that had gotten dirty last night, along with the changed clothes, were balled up in the laundry basket.

Su Qingyu took the items out one by one. When he reached the bottom, his hand paused.

It was Liang Yu’s underpants.

Close fitting, with heavy stains on them, carrying that particular fishy musk, mixed with the scent of a man’s body, blending into an indescribable wild smell that went straight to his nose. The man’s scent was strong enough to smell from far away. Su Qingyu held those underpants, his face burning red all at once.

How did this get mixed in here?

Did Liang Yu forget, or…

The lazy face popped into his mind. This thing was probably left on purpose. That man, what wouldn’t he do?

The more Su Qingyu thought about it, the more embarrassed he got. He wanted to throw it back into the basket and leave it, let him wash it himself when he came back. But when that man returned and saw all the clothes washed clean, with only his underpants still tossed there, what would he say?

He would probably say some more maddening nonsense.

Su Qingyu bit his lip, his heart thumping hard. He lowered his head to look at the underpants in his hand, that scent still going to his nose, thick and impossible to ignore.

He bit his lip, spread the pants out to look. Those stains had dried white, patch by patch, stuck on the crotch area. Remembering last night, remembering how Liang Yu had been then, Su Qingyu’s hands shook a little.

He closed his eyes, but still put the underpants into the water.

He was washing everything anyway, one more piece wouldn’t matter.

The water was cool, soaking through the coarse cloth, that scent seeming to fade a little, mixed with the crispness of mountain spring water, drifting into his nose and making his heart race.

Su Qingyu’s hands shook as he scrubbed. The smell was too strong; he had to scrub hard to wash it away. As he scrubbed, images popped into his mind, mortifying ones.

Su Qingyu’s face grew hotter and hotter, but his hands didn’t stop, scrubbing those pants inside and out several times.

When he was done he wrung them out, shook them open to look. Clean. He sniffed them again; only the smell of soap remained.

He changed the water and finished washing the whole basket of clothes, and the mat too. Su Qingyu strung up a rope and hung the clothes up one by one.

As he hung them, Su Qingyu looked at those underpants swaying on the rope, his face going red again.

That shameless man.

He definitely did it on purpose.

When he was done, the sun was already high. Su Qingyu wiped his hands and went back inside to tidy up. The bed was made, the table wiped clean, the floor swept. With nothing left to do, he sat in the courtyard soaking up the sun, patting the big dog’s head, thinking about what to cook for Liang Yu later.

The mountains were very quiet, only birdsong and the rustling of wind through leaves. Occasionally some animal would call from far away, then quickly fall silent.

Su Qingyu leaned against the wall in the sunlight, warm and drowsy.

The sun slowly sank, burning the western sky into a patch of orange red. The forest was dyed in color too, the layered greens all edged in gold.

Su Qingyu rested his chin on his hand, watching the courtyard gate, waiting for that figure to appear.

He waited a long time, but Liang Yu still hadn’t returned.

Su Qingyu’s heart slowly rose up in his chest, a panic growing. Hunting in the mountains, what if he ran into some fierce beast? Those big creatures were not to be trifled with. Though Liang Yu was capable, what if…

Just as he was thinking, footsteps suddenly came from beyond the courtyard gate.

Su Qingyu shot to his feet, looking up to see Liang Yu pushing open the gate and coming in, a roe deer over one shoulder, two pheasants in his hand, and a basket full of something on his back, packed full. It looked like a very good haul.

Seeing Su Qingyu sitting in the courtyard, Liang Yu’s steps paused.

“Awake?”

Su Qingyu nodded and stood up, walking toward Liang Yu.

Liang Yu set the roe deer by the courtyard wall, put down the pheasants and basket, straightened up, and his gaze fell on him.

“Waited long?”

Su Qingyu shook his head, then after a moment honestly nodded.

Liang Yu looked at him like this, a smile spreading in his eyes.

“Afraid something happened to me?”

Su Qingyu lowered his eyes, tugging at his clothes and saying nothing.

Liang Yu’s heart went completely soft. He lowered his head and kissed his face lightly, from between his brows to the tip of his nose, the last one landing on his lips. Those eyes that were usually sharp were now full of smiles, like coaxing a child, gentle and patient.

“It’s fine. Those things in the mountains can’t hurt me.”

Su Qingyu raised his eyes to look at him, his eyes full of his face.

Liang Yu laughed low, reached out and pinched Su Qingyu’s face.

After coaxing him, Liang Yu finally noticed the clothes hanging in the courtyard, the corner of his lips curving up.

“Washed everything?”

Su Qingyu made a soft sound, the tips of his ears red.

Liang Yu hugged him and kissed him. The two of them held each other for a while before parting.

Liang Yu went to the doghouse and untied the dog’s rope. The wolf dog, usually free and easy, had been tied up for half a day and was terribly wronged, circling Liang Yu and rubbing its head against him nonstop. Liang Yu patted its head, then looked at Su Qingyu.

“Hungry?”

Su Qingyu honestly nodded.

Liang Yu laughed, picked up the pheasants, and walked toward the kitchen.

“Wait, I’ll stew chicken tonight.”

Su Qingyu followed him into the kitchen like a little tail, then was pulled close and kissed by Liang Yu. After a while Liang Yu sent him out to play with the dog.

Su Qingyu was pushed out of the kitchen with swollen lips, his head a bit fuzzy, but this time he remembered clearly. That wolf dog was a hunting dog Liang Yu had raised from a pup. It didn’t bite people. Its name was Shan Feng.

Shan Feng had a steady, gentle nature. Su Qingyu had a lot of fun playing with Shan Feng, until Liang Yu called him into the house to eat, and he reluctantly parted from the dog.

After eating, Liang Yu went to dress the roe deer. Su Qingyu followed and stood nearby watching. Liang Yu’s movements were swift, skinning and gutting, pulling out the innards and tossing them into the dog bowl, carefully peeling off the hide and spreading it out to dry.

“Tomorrow I’ll salt the meat, air dry it, and it’ll last the whole summer. Once the hide is tanned, I’ll make you a vest.”

Su Qingyu watched those hands working through flesh and blood. It should have been bloody, yet it made him feel safe and sweet.

He watched for a while, then went back to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

After washing the dishes, Su Qingyu added firewood and carried water, heating bath water for Liang Yu.

Liang Yu came into the kitchen looking for him after finishing with the hide, raised his eyebrows at the water heating in the pot. “Why go to all this trouble? The weather isn’t cold, a cold water rinse is fine.”

Hearing this, Su Qingyu glared up at him in annoyance. Liang Yu gave an awkward laugh and compromised, going to the stream to carry water and fill the vat.

When the water was heated, Liang Yu went into the washroom to bathe.

Su Qingyu went to the courtyard to gather the dried clothes, folding them one by one and putting them in the room. When he finally picked up those underpants, his hand paused.

Dried, that scent had faded a lot, but still faintly lingered, barely there. Su Qingyu lowered his eyes, folded the clothes, and pressed them to the bottom of the pile, out of sight, out of mind.

Liang Yu dumped the bath water and came into the inner room, seeing his virtuous little one, his eyes darkening. He walked over and hugged him from behind, licking his jade white neck, his breathing growing heavier.

Su Qingyu shivered all over from the licking, feeling the familiar presence behind him, and said softly, “Liang Yu…”

Before he could finish, he was kissed. Su Qingyu was kissed until he fell back onto the bed, relaxing his body and closing his eyes, letting that man do as he pleased.

Moonlight came through the window, dimly showing the two entwined figures.

The forest was very quiet. Faint whimpering sounds came from the room, especially clear in the night. Shan Feng lay in his doghouse eating his meal, hearing the sounds from inside and twitching his ears without surprise. People weren’t like dogs, only going into heat in spring. He licked the fresh sweet blood from his muzzle, dug into his bowl, and ate with even more relish.