Time Traveling: the Only Beloved Husband

The next day, Shen Xiangyan was awakened by the sound of firecrackers. In his grogginess, he noticed that something was missing from his embrace. Habitually reaching out to the inner part of the bed, he found it empty. Shen Xiangyan was instantly wide awake. The spot where Xia Rong should have been sleeping was already empty. Sitting up, he closed his eyes for a moment to clear his head, then felt the spot beside him. The coolness of it indicated that Xia Rong had been up for quite a while.

Glancing at the sky, he realized he had woken up later than usual, probably because he had slept late the night before. But how could this young lad dare to leave him alone on the first day of the Lunar New Year? It was truly outrageous. Shen Xiangyan briskly got out of bed, dressed, and groomed himself, determined to give the little guy a good scolding when he found him.

He Miao, stationed at the door, saw the young master coming out and hurriedly bowed, reporting, “Young Master, the master asks you to wait for him in the main hall for a while. He wants to have breakfast together.” It turned out that early in the morning, when Xia Rong came out, he knew that Master Shen wouldn’t be able to find him and would get worried. So he specifically instructed He Miao to wait at the door to report.

Shen Xiangyan glanced at He Miao, confirming that Xia Rong had no other instructions for him. He responded with a grunt and headed towards the main hall without saying another word. He wanted to see what his little servant had in mind.

As He Miao breathed a sigh of relief behind him, heaven knew how uneasy he felt when the young master gave him that glance just now. The difference between their young master in front of the master and when the master wasn’t around was like night and day. When the master wasn’t present, although the young master appeared mild, there was an underlying aura that made them, the servants, not dare to act rashly. It was only when the master was around that this master showed his true amiable nature.

The deepest feeling they had was probably with the master and his brother, who served him closely by his side. Every time they were called over to speak alone, they had to be extremely careful. Therefore, these servants always did their utmost to take care of the master on a daily basis. Otherwise, they knew without a doubt that if anything happened to the master, they wouldn’t have a good time.

Shen Xiangyan had no idea about the intricate thoughts of these servants. He waited in the main hall for a while before seeing his little servant hurrying over. Behind him, He Xin was carrying a food tray, on which there was a bowl of nicely presented noodles and beside it were cooked red eggs.

Xia Rong hurried over, worried that the master had been waiting in the main hall for too long. He was out of breath when he arrived. Shen Xiangyan calmed him down, telling him not to rush. Glancing at what He Xin was carrying and recalling from memory, it wasn’t hard to guess that today was probably the original owner’s birthday, and Xia Rong had gone to prepare these things early in the morning.

“Master, happy birthday. When Father was here, on Rong’er’s birthday, he always made a bowl of longevity noodles and cooked red eggs for Rong’er.” Xia Rong handed the noodles to Shen Xiangyan, “Master, since you’re so good to Rong’er, Rong’er didn’t know what to give you, so I made this. Master, please try it.”

Seeing the little servant with wide eyes and a face that seemed to say “try it,” Shen Xiangyan didn’t hesitate. He took the chopsticks and began to eat. The noodles weren’t as good as Rong’er’s, but Xia Rong’s cooking skills were still commendable. Longevity noodles, as the name suggests, were long noodles. Shen Xiangyan had been an orphan since childhood and didn’t know his exact birthday. In his previous life, the day he was picked up by the orphanage director was considered his birthday. But even so, he had never celebrated a birthday before.

Life in the orphanage was far from good, and there was no extra money to celebrate birthdays for those children. He was also a loner; whenever someone came to adopt, he kept his distance. Having never experienced familial affection, even though he later had a few decent friends, the casual camaraderie among men meant that nobody cared whether he celebrated his birthday each year.

This was the first time someone had sincerely cared about him. Shen Xiangyan finished the bowl of longevity noodles directly. He had heard before that when eating longevity noodles, it was auspicious not to bite them. Naturally, he wouldn’t waste this gesture from his little servant. From today onwards, his birthday would be just another day. Isn’t a birthday only meaningful when someone cares?

“My little servant’s cooking skills are indeed impressive. Come on, tell me, what time did you get up?” Only heaven knew how worried he had been when he woke up early and didn’t see his little servant. Thankfully, once he regained his senses, he realized that nothing major would happen in his household and got He Miao’s message, so he didn’t rush to find someone immediately.

“Not too early. The noodles were prepared last night. This morning, I just needed to roll them out into one complete strand and cook them in broth.” He might be a bit slow; it took him several attempts to make the noodles into a single, continuous, and evenly thick strand. If he hadn’t woken up a bit earlier than planned, he wouldn’t have been able to finish making them before the master had breakfast. However, judging by the master’s expression, he decided it was best not to mention that. “Master, you should also eat the eggs. Eating them ensures smooth sailing and good health for the year.”

Seeing Xia Rong’s earnest expression, Shen Xiangyan smiled as he peeled the egg. After taking a bite, he offered the other half to Xia Rong’s lips. “You should also eat half, so you’ll be healthy and free of illnesses like me.” Xia Rong smiled and shared the egg with the master. From then on, their relationship became even closer, needless to say.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Cai handed a card to Shen Xiangyan. Shen Xiangyan took it and read it. The invitation was for Shen Xiangyan to gather at Meiyuan on the tenth day of the month. It turned out that the status of Fengyu Country’s merchants was not as low as in ancient China, but rather quite high. This gathering mentioned on the invitation was a tradition among the business families in Furong Town. On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, everyone agreed on a place to meet, marking it as an annual event for the prosperous merchant families. Every respectable family in Furong Town would receive such an invitation, and as one of this year’s rising stars, Shen Xiangyan naturally received one too. It was said that the plum blossoms in Meiyuan were particularly beautiful this year, so that’s where the gathering was set to take place.

Although in his past life Shen Xiangyan only ran a perfume shop, he had attended similar gatherings a few times. It was mainly to expand his social network. Although Shen Xiangyan didn’t particularly enjoy these events, he still had to attend them on the surface. Besides, being new to this place, he couldn’t avoid a bit of networking.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Shen Xiangyan took Xia Rong to visit the Li family to pay their respects. Coincidentally, the Li family also received an invitation. They had participated in similar gatherings when they were in Furong Town before, so they were experienced. Li Xiangming readily agreed and asked Shen Xiangyan and Li Dongsheng to accompany him. This way, they could look out for each other. After discussing business matters, the three men drank and chatted about various topics. By the time they returned home, Xia Rong was supporting a tipsy Shen Xiangyan onto the carriage.

Intoxicated, Shen Xiangyan held onto Xia Rong’s hand and wouldn’t let go, following him wherever he went. Even during bathing, he kept holding Xia Rong’s hand, which made Xia Rong blush furiously. Eventually, Xia Rong had to assist Shen Xiangyan in bathing. This was also the first time Xia Rong had seen the master’s naked body. Although they had always slept together, they usually wore undergarments to bed, and physical intimacy was limited to cuddling.

Seeing his man undress completely in front of him for the first time, Xia Rong didn’t know where to look, feeling too embarrassed to leave him alone. However, he couldn’t because Shen Xiangyan was clearly too drunk. The innocent and kind-hearted Xia Rong couldn’t bear to leave him unattended, so he stood there helplessly, assisting the master in bathing. He couldn’t tell whether Shen Xiangyan was genuinely drunk or just using it as an excuse to behave impishly. Even if he was sober, he seemed to have lost his senses.

After finally finishing the bath, Xia Rong served Shen Xiangyan a bowl of sobering soup before heaving a sigh of relief and letting He Xin and He Miao change the hot water while he went to bathe himself.

When Xia Rong returned from his bath, wearing only his undergarments with his hair half-dried, he saw Shen Xiangyan lying on the bed, already asleep, but still moving his hands around as if searching for something. Blushing, Xia Rong climbed onto the bed and lay down beside him. Shen Xiangyan, sensing something in his sleep, immediately embraced Xia Rong, rubbing his chin against his head and murmuring, “Go to sleep.” Satisfied, he fell back into a deep slumber.

Seeing Shen Xiangyan’s actions, Xia Rong couldn’t help but find it amusing. Gathering his courage, he kissed Shen Xiangyan’s lips before snuggling into his embrace and falling asleep.