Chapter 221 – The Foolish Prince Consort’s Farming Struggles – The Big Fool Who Picked a Flower (04)
Bai Tang had a tough time taking a bath. He finally understood how the male lead must have felt when coaxing him to bathe in the past—it was both sweet and helpless.
Actually, Gao Luo was pretty easy to coax, as long as he listened to what Bai Tang said.
By the time the two walked to the dining hall, Uncle Gao had already laid out the dishes on the table.
A flicker of surprise passed through Uncle Gao’s eyes. He hadn’t expected that, once cleaned up, the young man actually looked quite good. Although he was a bit thin, given time and nourishment, he could definitely meet the standards of a consort chosen by the emperor.
When it came to Bai Tang, at least in terms of appearance, Uncle Gao was satisfied. As for everything else—he’d wait and see.
“Eat,” Uncle Gao said, pointing to the stool next to him.
There was a clear difference in status between Uncle Gao and Gao Luo. When there were no outsiders in the house, Uncle Gao always kept a certain distance from Bai Li Luo during meals and daily life, to show his respect for the Seventh Prince.
The seat Uncle Gao pointed to was two spots away from the head of the table.
After Gao Luo sat back in his own seat, he pouted. He was very unhappy that the boy was sitting so far from him.
“Here, here.” Gao Luo pulled the boy to sit beside him.
Uncle Gao wanted to say that this was improper, but seeing how rare it was for Gao Luo to be so happy, he swallowed his words.
Gao Luo picked up some food and placed it in Bai Tang’s bowl, but the distance he had to stretch was still very unsatisfying to him.
“Hmm…”
“What is it? Are you feeling unwell?” Bai Tang asked anxiously when he saw Gao Luo suddenly stop.
“Too far,” Gao Luo said.
“What?”
Before Bai Tang could react, Gao Luo scooped him up and placed him on his lap, wrapping his arms around him.
“This is better. Now it’s not far at all. Time to eat.”
Gao Luo was as happy as a child, using his chopsticks to pick up food from the dishes.
“You eat,” he said, holding a cashew up to Bai Tang’s mouth.
There was still an outsider (Uncle Gao) present, so Bai Tang’s face turned slightly red, and he lowered his head in embarrassment.
But when he saw Uncle Gao eating as if no one else were around, Bai Tang felt he was overreacting.
He looked up—right in front of him was Gao Luo’s handsome face, just inches away. In those pure eyes, he could see his own reflection.
Bai Tang opened his mouth and bit down on the cashew that had been offered to him.
The nut was crispy and delicious, and he crunched it loudly between his teeth.
Seeing that the boy liked it, Gao Luo picked out the entire plate of cashews and placed them all into Bai Tang’s bowl.
Bai Tang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “That’s enough, that’s enough.” He couldn’t be the only one eating—after all, the food on the table was for everyone.
He picked up several pieces of meat and put them into Gao Luo’s bowl, then pushed a dish toward Uncle Gao. “Uncle Gao, you worked hard cooking. Please eat.”
The boy’s moist, bright eyes blinked earnestly, his thin face full of sincerity.
Because of Bai Tang’s actions, even Gao Luo stopped what he was doing and looked toward Uncle Gao.
“Good child. Let’s eat—everyone should eat,” Uncle Gao said, reaching his chopsticks toward the dish Bai Tang had pushed over.
By the end of the meal, all three of them had eaten happily.
After the meal, Bai Tang dragged Gao Luo around the courtyard in circles, under the noble pretense of aiding digestion.
While walking, Bai Tang asked the system in his mind, “Qiu’er, why did Ah Luo become mentally impaired?”
Qiu’er licked its ice cream and replied, “According to a system scan, there’s a clot of blood at the back of the male lead’s head. That’s what caused the cognitive impairment. In the original plot, the male lead was hit on the back of the head with a rock by local thugs when he stepped in to stop them. Thanks to the protagonist’s immortality trope and the glow of the main character halo, he eventually returned to normal.”
“If I use my healing ability to dissolve the blood clot at the back of Ah Luo’s head, wouldn’t he recover sooner?” The more Bai Tang thought about it, the more it made sense. Since the female lead hadn’t had a chance to interact with Ah Luo yet, if he cut off their direct connection now, the mission to break them apart would be as good as complete.
“No, you can’t,” Qiu’er stopped him.
“Why not?” Bai Tang was confused. Qiu’er was usually very enthusiastic about breaking up the main couple—why avoid a shortcut this time?
“I just discovered that the Heavenly Dao of this world has placed restrictions on us. We’re not allowed to actively change major plot points. Besides, in the original storyline, the male and female leads go into business together. During that time, Lin Xiaoshuang drew too much attention to herself, which led to an investigation. That investigation uncovered the fact that the male lead was hiding in a remote village and that he might be the missing Seventh Prince. That discovery triggered the next part of the plot. You could say the female lead was a catalyst for everything that followed. If you heal the male lead now—even though it’s the fastest solution—the change would be too drastic. The Heavenly Dao would notice. And to protect its favored female lead, it could cause some irreversible and serious consequences.”
Bai Tang was dismayed. Did this mean he’d have to watch Lin Xiaoshuang coming and going from the Gao household like she owned the place?
“But it’s not like we can’t do anything at all,” Qiu’er offered. “As long as we go slowly—gently guiding him and teaching him bit by bit—we can prevent the male lead from being fooled by the female lead like a little child. That would reduce the chances of him developing feelings for her.”
“I guess that’s the only way then.”
Gao Luo was walking with Bai Tang in the courtyard when he suddenly noticed that the boy seemed a little down.
He didn’t understand what was wrong, but he wished Bai Tang could be happy all the time. After all, Bai Tang looked best when he smiled.
So he ran over to a row of flower pots nearby, stretched out his mischievous little hands, and ruthlessly plucked all the flowers and plants clean. From the mess, he picked what he thought was the prettiest bouquet.
Bai Tang was still deep in conversation with the system, trying to figure out a plan, when a small bunch of yellow and white flowers suddenly appeared before him.
He looked up to see Gao Luo grinning foolishly, his face scratched by a few twigs and leaves.
“These are for you.”
The mentally impaired Gao Luo had the intelligence of a three- or four-year-old child—pure, naive, and easy to fool.
Looking into Gao Luo’s clear, innocent eyes, Bai Tang’s lips curved into a smile. He reached out and plucked a leaf from Gao Luo’s hair. “Ah Luo~”
Gao Luo giggled. He didn’t know why Bai Tang was smiling, but as long as Bai Tang was happy, then he was happy too.
Bai Tang set aside the chrysanthemums that had been ravaged by Gao Luo, then looked up at the courtyard and couldn’t help but cover his face.
The bare flowerpots and the ground littered with fallen leaves—those were all Gao Luo’s handiwork. And the so-called “trophy” was just that little bunch of yellow and white chrysanthemums?!
Thinking back to what Qiu’er and Xiao A had said, Bai Tang felt that the road ahead of him as a teacher was going to be long and difficult.
First of all, he had to teach Gao Luo what things could and couldn’t be done, what was dangerous and what wasn’t.
He sat Gao Luo down beside him and patiently explained. The flowers in the pots were meant to be looked at, not picked. Even if you like them, picking one or two is enough—there’s no need to take them all. That’s not cherishing flowers; that’s wasting them…
It was hard to tell whether Gao Luo was actually listening. Every time Bai Tang said something, he nodded. By the end of the lecture, he was nodding like a pecking chicken.
Bai Tang also took Gao Luo to apologize to Uncle Gao, since the flowerpots had been carefully tended by him.
Uncle Gao looked completely baffled, only hearing the boy say to Gao Luo, “Say something.”
Gao Luo looked up at Bai Tang with big, expectant eyes and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Not to me. To Uncle Gao,” Bai Tang said seriously.
But Gao Luo still looked only at Bai Tang. “I’m sorry…”
Uncle Gao: “???”
“It’s like this—just now, Ah Luo picked all the flowers in the courtyard…” After Bai Tang explained what had happened, Uncle Gao burst out laughing. “It’s fine. It’s no big deal. As long as Ah Luo’s happy.”
Hearing that, Gao Luo started grinning foolishly again.
Now Bai Tang finally understood why Ah Luo had developed so many bad habits—it was all because Uncle Gao had spoiled him.
Bai Tang had no way of dealing with these two indulgent men. He’d just have to come up with another solution.
“Host, I just detected that there are some herbs on the mountain that can dissolve blood clots,” Xiao A said. “But they grow in a remote area. Going up and down the mountain will take some time.”
Bai Tang glanced at the ever-clingy Gao Luo and replied to Xiao A, “Alright, we’ll go tonight.”
If he went during the day, Gao Luo would definitely want to follow, and the mountain was far too dangerous. Gao Luo had no sense of danger or common sense at all. It would be better to wait until night, once Gao Luo was asleep—then he could slip out, get the herbs quickly, and come right back.
That night, Gao Luo was unusually excited. He stripped off his outer garments, leaving only his underclothes, then darted into bed and waved Bai Tang over. “Come sleep already!”
Qiu’er & Xiao A: “……”
Xiao A: Where did this dumbass male lead come from?
Bai Tang barely had any of the blanket left covering him, yet he still muttered to himself.
“You gave me all the blanket—what about you?” the boy asked softly, his voice tender and sweet.
Gao Luo tilted his head in thought for a moment, then suddenly pulled him into an embrace, resting the boy’s head in the crook of his shoulder.
“This way I won’t be cold.”
And indeed, with the two of them pressed closely together, the blanket could cover them both. Neither of them would feel cold.
Bai Tang lifted his head, only to find Gao Luo staring at him wide-eyed, like a pair of copper bells.
“What is it?”
“Wife is so pretty… Tang Tang is so pretty… hehe…”
Bai Tang buried his face in Gao Luo’s chest. The clean, fresh scent of soap from his man filled his nose. As they lay in each other’s arms, their shared warmth caused the fragrance to slowly spread.
Wrapped in that familiar embrace, Bai Tang felt as if he were drunk—his face flushed red, and his mind was fuzzy.
Author’s Note:
Tang Tang has gone from being cared for… to being the one doing the caring. Quite the role reversal.
Bai Tang (suddenly excited): Does this mean I can top now?!
Gao Luo: I don’t really get it. Wife, do what you want.