BYBOTE Chapter 5: Temptation

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The next day, the sky remained clear, and the temperature was slightly higher than when Luo Fei first arrived.

Luo Fei woke up early, intending to get up and move around to stretch his muscles. However, as soon as he took his first step, he felt a burning pain at the base of his backside. He had no choice but to pull his foot back and think of an excuse to stay in bed for the day.

Outside, Luo Yi called out, "Second Brother, come out for breakfast!"

Luo Fei almost blurted out, What time is it?!

Yesterday, he had woken up at the same time and wasn’t much later than everyone else, but today, something felt off.

Sure enough, when he forced himself to endure the pain and walked outside, he saw that breakfast was already set on the table—each person had a bowl of hutu porridge.

In the middle of the table, there was also a small dish of salted radish—this was the entirety of their breakfast.

Speaking of hutu porridge, many younger people might not know what it was. It was essentially cornmeal cooked with water into a thin, gruel-like consistency. Families with better conditions might add sugar, but in ancient times, sugar was a valuable commodity, and most rural households couldn’t afford it.

"Mother, aren't there any pancakes?" Luo Ru, despite being a girl, had a hearty appetite. Seeing that breakfast was just an extremely watery bowl of porridge with pickles, she immediately looked disappointed.

"We're out of white flour, and the rice is almost gone. We’ll have to make do with this," Li Yuehua said as she poured some of her own porridge into her daughter's bowl. "Here, have some more from mine."

"No, Mother, save it for Father and Big Brother," Luo Ru declined, despite her craving. She understood that her father and eldest brother did the most labor-intensive work in the family, and such a meal wouldn’t be enough to keep them full.

"You’re still growing; you need to eat," Luo Ji stopped his younger sister from giving away her food.

"Enough of this back-and-forth. Just eat your own portions before they get cold. But I can’t finish mine, so I'll give some to Sanbao," Luo Fei said, splitting half of his portion for his sister. He couldn't help but feel disheartened—just being able to eat hutu porridge was already a luxury. Life in this household was truly difficult.

In his previous life, even though he had been raised by a single mother, his grandmother was a well-known folk artist, and before he transmigrated, she had been running classes with a decent income. His mother was a strong career woman, and he had never lacked for anything. Compared to now… this was simply no comparison at all.

"Now that spring has arrived, times are tough for every family," Luo Tian said. "But to put it plainly, our harvest is just too little. So yesterday, your mother and I discussed it, and we've decided to cultivate more land this year. If we can grow more crops, things should improve."

"Starting today, your father, your eldest brother, and I will be working on the mountain," Li Yuehua said. "Erbao, you’ll have to take on more responsibility. I used to tend to the vegetable garden myself, but this year, you’ll need to handle it. We've already dug up all the corn roots. Today, you should till the land and plant some cabbage and corn seeds."

"Me? By myself?" Luo Fei almost spat out his porridge.

"You're not alone; Sanbao and Sibao will help you," Li Yuehua said earnestly. "You don't want to get married just yet, and your father and I won’t force you. But if you don’t find a partner to rely on, then you’ll have to rely on yourself. We used to be lenient because you were a ger, and you were weak as a child, so we never made you do much work. But given our family's current situation, you can’t avoid it anymore."

"Working is fine, but… can I start tomorrow instead?" Even one more day of rest would help. He felt like he still had cracks in his… well, today was absolutely not the day to go tilling the land.

"What are you planning to do today?" Luo Tian eyed his second son suspiciously, already wary of his past mischievous behavior.

"Nothing much, I just…" Luo Fei hesitated, struggling to come up with an excuse. He knew that saying he was visiting the Xi family was his best bet since his parents were eager for him to spend more time with Xi Yanqing. But getting there would be a long walk, and with the state he was in, he’d probably rub his poor backside raw before he even arrived.

"Father, I’ll be honest with you!" Luo Fei steeled himself. "I'm not feeling too well today, so I want to rest."

"Not feeling well?" Li Yuehua immediately became anxious. This second son of hers had been prone to illness since childhood. It was only after they changed his name, following a fortune teller’s advice, that he got better. Was he falling sick again?

"Do you need me to call a doctor?"

"No, no, no! That's not necessary!" They could barely afford porridge—how could they afford a doctor? Luo Fei quickly refused. "Mother, I just want to rest for a day. Also, I happen to need to go to the Xi household because I left a cloth pouch there when I brought over the seeds last time. I’ll go pick it up."

"You're just making things up!" Luo Tian started to scold him but was abruptly cut off when Li Yuehua pinched him under the table, stopping him mid-sentence.

"Alright then," Li Yuehua said. "But you have to promise me that you’ll plant the vegetables tomorrow. Understood?"

"Of course, Mother. I’ll definitely plant them," Luo Fei sighed in relief. Using Xi Yanqing’s name as an excuse worked like a charm. He finished his porridge, already planning his next move. Once his parents left, he’d just send Luo Yi to fetch the pouch from Xi Yanqing. Whether or not he actually went himself… well, that wasn’t important.

Not long after, Luo Tian, Li Yuehua, and Luo Ji left. With the tigers gone, Luo Fei was now the mountain king.

He called his younger brother over. "Sibao, haven’t you always wanted to hear Xi Yanqing talk about war stories? Well, here’s your chance! Go fetch our cloth pouch and ask him to tell you a story while you’re there. What do you think?"

"Second Brother, how can you do this?!" Luo Ru protested. "You told Father you’d go yourself! Now you’re sending Sibao instead—that's lying! Aren’t you afraid of Father’s wrath?"

"But I really, really don’t feel well." Luo Fei pointed at his waist. "My back hurts. I can't walk."

"But if Father finds out, both Sibao and I will get beaten too!" Luo Yi looked terrified. "Father said helping someone lie or do bad things makes you an accomplice! A… a co-conspirator!"

"What co-conspirator? That sounds way too serious," Luo Fei dismissed the concern.

"Father’s beatings are seriously painful!" Luo Yi countered.

"Come on, if we don’t say anything and you don’t say anything, who’s going to know?"

Bang!

The door suddenly swung open. The father who was supposed to be on the mountain had returned!

"Well, well, Erbao, looks like you’ve got some guts!" Luo Tian rolled up his sleeves.

"F-f-f-father?" Luo Yi stammered in fright. "Why… why are you back so soon?" He instinctively edged toward Luo Fei.

"You think I came back early? If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have caught you two little brats trying to deceive me!" Luo Tian seethed. "Erbao! Explain to me—what exactly did you mean by ‘no one will know’? You’ve got quite the nerve!"

He grabbed a fireplace poker and raised it.

"Second Brother, what are you waiting for?!" Luo Yi yelled. "Run!"

“Ah! Ah?! Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Sibao, you, you, you!! Stop right now! Aaaahhhhh!” Luo Fei was about to lose his mind. Damn it, without any warning, he was suddenly dragged toward the door at full speed. The shock temporarily numbed his already aching rear, but the intense friction was unbearable—it burned, it hurt, and the pain was excruciating!

“Stop what? Just run! If Dad catches up, we’re dead meat!” Luo Yi didn’t know where he found the courage, but he clutched Luo Fei’s arm and ran without looking back, heading straight for the Xi family’s house.

Luo Fei wanted him to stop, but his little brother, an expert at getting his older brother into trouble, seemed to have an electric motor attached to his legs, running like his life depended on it! And so, the soundtrack to their sprint consisted of Luo Fei’s “Ahhhhhhhhhh!” “Stop, stop, stop, stop!” "Sibao, if you don’t stop, I’ll fight you to the death!” “Aaaahhhhhhh! Damn it!”

They sprinted all the way to the Xi family’s front door before finally coming to a halt. Luo Fei gasped for breath, while Luo Yi turned around. That one glance back was enough to shock him—there were plenty of onlookers, but the one person they feared… wasn’t there.

“This isn’t right… Dad… cough cough…” Luo Yi pounded his chest, catching his breath. “Why isn’t Dad chasing us?”

Luo Fei was so frustrated he wanted to strangle Luo Yi on the spot!

Meanwhile, back at the Luo family home, Li Yuehua looked curiously in the direction where her two sons had disappeared. “Hey, their father, you really didn’t hit them? Why was Erbao screaming like a pig being slaughtered?”

Luo Tian also found it odd. “If I had hit them, do you think they’d still be able to run? Could it be that Erbao’s waist really hurts?”

“That can’t be it, right? He was running pretty fast,” Li Yuehua said, puzzled. Then she chuckled. “But this works out just fine. At least they ran straight to the Xi family’s house.”

“Erbao has been spoiled rotten. That Xi family boy is such a good young man, and yet he’s not willing,” Luo Tian sighed, shaking his head, thinking his second son must have been kicked in the head by a donkey.

“Maybe it’s still because of the Zhang family. Oh well, he’ll come around eventually,” Li Yuehua said, dusting off her sleeves as she walked toward the vegetable garden.

“Where are you going? Weren’t we going to plow the fields?” Luo Tian asked.

“Forget that. Since Erbao has gone to the Xi family, I’ll plant some bok choy first so we don’t delay our meals. You and Dabao can go plow the fields,” Li Yuehua said. Originally, her plan was to use farm work as a way to force Luo Fei to run off to the Xi family’s house. Since her second son had always been spoiled and disliked farm work, she thought she’d have to put in more effort to push him in that direction. Who knew he’d figure it out on his own?

Luo Tian thought about it and agreed, grabbing his hoe and heading up the mountain with his eldest son.

Back at the Xi family’s front door, Luo Yi, the ever-loyal younger brother, finally noticed that something was wrong. “Er Ge, are you okay? Your face looks terrible.”

Luo Fei waved a hand, his forehead drenched in sweat, too pained to even speak. Right now, he just wanted to die!

Luo Yi suddenly remembered that Luo Fei had been complaining about not feeling well at home earlier. Instantly worried, he started pounding on the door. “Xi Ge! Xi Ge, are you home?”

Xi Yanqing was home. He had just finished heating some water and was about to take a bath. Since it was dark outside and he wasn’t used to washing at night, he had locked the door. He didn’t expect someone to be calling for him just as he took off his shirt.

The voice didn’t sound like Luo Fei’s, so he didn’t go out immediately. But after a moment, he vaguely recognized Luo Fei’s voice in the commotion, so he quickly put his clothes back on and answered, “Coming!”

Luo Yi let out a sigh of relief. “Er Ge, where exactly does it hurt?”

Luo Fei shot his younger brother a death glare, gritting his teeth as he forced out, “Shut up. Let’s go home now!”

He would rather die than lose face in front of Xi Yanqing! He had assumed Xi Yanqing wasn’t home, which was why he had stopped at the door to catch his breath. Now that he knew the man was inside, he wanted to disappear immediately.

“Come on, Er Ge, you’re already in pain. Just rest inside for a bit before leaving,” Luo Yi insisted, holding onto him. “Besides, weren’t we here to take back the cloth pouch?”

“You came to get the cloth pouch?” Xi Yanqing came out quickly, but when he saw Luo Fei’s pale face, his brows furrowed deeply. “What happened?”

“Nothing!” Luo Fei clenched his teeth and straightened his back, forcing himself to say, “We just came to get the cloth pouch, the one I used to carry seeds.”

“Xi Ge, I think my Er Ge’s waist really hurts,” Luo Yi, the ever-professional brother-betrayer, spoke up again. “He’s just too stubborn to admit it. Can you let him rest inside for a bit?”

“I already said we’re going home!” Luo Fei didn’t want Xi Yanqing to notice anything unusual. He gritted his teeth and tried to take a step forward. But Luo Yi, ever the troublemaker, grabbed onto the doorframe and refused to let go.

“Er Ge, if we go home now, Dad will definitely beat us. Let’s just stay here for now. Later, Xi Ge can take us back and help talk to Dad. Maybe he’ll calm down,” Luo Yi reasoned.

“Luo Fei, were you beaten?” Xi Yanqing’s frown deepened. He wanted to help support Luo Fei, but he could see that the other man’s body was tense and instinctively resisting any touch, so he held back.

Luo Fei could barely move without feeling a sharp pain. He was beginning to suspect that his poor backside had more than one injury. Earlier, while running, he hadn’t had time to notice, but now that he was walking, something felt very wrong—like there was swelling, or maybe even an infection.

“No way…” Luo Fei muttered. Could it be infected?

“If you keep standing here looking all hesitant and pitiful, people are going to start gossiping,” Xi Yanqing said, glancing at the villagers nearby. In a place like this, rumors spread like wildfire. If Luo Fei kept standing at his doorstep like this, who knew what stories would come out of it?

“You’re the one looking hesitant and pitiful! Who’s pitiful?!” Luo Fei snapped back, glaring at Xi Yanqing. “I told you, it’s just back pain!”

“Oh, really?”

“Why would I lie?” Luo Fei clenched his fists and forced himself to move forward—except it hurt like hell. There was no way he could walk home, so he had no choice but to shamelessly rest at Xi Yanqing’s place for a bit. As for why he didn’t want to stay outside? The spring night was cold!

“Did he say why his waist hurts?” Xi Yanqing asked Luo Yi after observing for a while. Luo Fei’s walking posture didn’t look like someone with simple back pain.

“No, he just said it hurts.” Luo Yi was also confused.

Inside the house, Luo Fei immediately noticed the large wooden bathtub in the kitchen. It was filled with steaming hot water, looking incredibly inviting.

Xi Yanqing asked, “Want to wash up? I boiled a lot of water.”

That was outright temptation!

Luo Fei blurted out, “C-can I?”

Luo Yi, who was quietly observing, instantly widened his eyes: Er Ge, have you lost your mind?! You haven’t even married him yet, and you’re already planning to bathe at his house?! My god, what do I do now—stop you or pretend I didn’t see anything? Also, Xi Ge, this isn’t right! You know that, right?!

Luo Yi felt that Xi Yanqing was completely cutting off his second brother’s retreat. If he took this bath, wouldn’t that mean his second brother had no other choice in the future?!

But... isn’t this exactly what the family wanted? Especially their father and mother—they would be thrilled to hear this! Besides, as long as no outsiders found out, it wouldn’t be a problem! Most importantly, maybe if his father was happy, he wouldn’t beat him up!

Once Luo Yi figured this out, he suddenly felt relieved. “Aiyo, Xi-ge, Second Brother, my stomach suddenly hurts. I need to hurry home!”

Before he even finished speaking, Luo Yi had already bolted out the door. Luo Fei tried to grab him but failed.

Xi Yanqing saw that Luo Fei was still hesitating, so he took a clean towel and placed it on the table beside the bathtub. “I still have things to do in my vegetable garden. Take your time, but it’s best not to get your hair wet.”

Luo Fei instinctively asked, “Why?”

Xi Yanqing had just reached the door. Hearing this, he turned back and gave a faint smile. Instead of answering, he asked in return, “What do you think?”

__________________

Dabao-Lou Ji

Erbao-Lou Fei

Sanbao-Lou Ru

Sibao-Lou Yi

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