A Splendid Year Through the Seasons

[The full novel costs just as much as a cup of Mixue Ice City. Coming soon: Tea Creek Village Tales [Farming]. Blurb below. Please add it to your collection!] Gu Liu is the beloved young man of Gujia Village, praised by everyone. He is hardworking and gentle, but his wicked stepmother, all for a little money, plans to marry him off as a concubine to a local thug from the neighboring village. After all his attempts to resist come to nothing, Gu Liu loses all hope. He takes a strip of white cloth into the mountains, intending to end his life, but a hunter saves him. The hunter is tall and burly, and the ferocious scars covering his body are enough to make Gu Liu shudder. To his surprise, after hearing his story, the hunter offers to pay a bride price and marry him! Gu Liu wipes away his tears and looks shyly at the tall hunter. He is so good to me. I must treat him well from now on! Yun Pei is a hunter who lives in the mountains. While hunting one day, he happens upon a young man who is trying to take his own life. Since he has already saved him, he might as well see it through. Looking at the young man's tear-reddened eyes, Yun Pei sighs softly. "Don't cry. How much is the bride price? I'll marry you." Yun Pei didn't expect much from this marriage. He simply felt he was old enough to start a family, and that anyone would do. He never expected his seemingly sweet and gentle little husband to be so good at cooking. Steamed buns made with fresh, fragrant shepherd's purse gathered from the fields in spring; a chilled, thirst-quenching drink of smoked plums and mulberries on a sweltering summer day; golden chestnut chicken soup made with wild chestnuts and an old hen in autumn; rice braised with rows of glossy cured meat hanging by the stove in winter... Through the comforts of everyday life and the changing seasons, the two of them walked hand in hand through a lifetime together. #Bonus Scene: His new husband is delicate and soft, and blushes whenever Yun Pei teases him. Yun Pei gradually finds this rather amusing. Since his husband is still young, he had been reluctant to hurt him. Who could have guessed that one day, after returning from a hunt, he would find his little husband sitting on the bed with his clothes half undone, looking at him with shy, yearning eyes and softly calling, "Husband!" Yun Pei: ... Yun Pei: How am I supposed to hold back now! A towering hunter seme * a sweet, gentle young man uke Also known as: Four Seasons of Splendor Reader's Guide: 1. Both leads are natives of their world. No golden finger, no imperial examinations, no business ventures. They simply take their time building a good life. 2. Lots of food and a slow-paced farming life, very, very ordinary. The writing is quiet and detailed, focused on family life, with few dramatic twists. The main draw is a warm, sweet little story. 3. There will be children later on. The novel is short, around 200,000 characters. 4. The dynasty is fictional, very fictional. Don't overthink it. Coming soon: Tea Creek Village Tales [Farming] Blurb: Su Qiao is a tea farmer from Tea Creek Village. He grew up relying on his grandfather, and has lived alone ever since his grandfather passed away. The villagers are always saying he's dim-witted, but Su Qiao doesn't think so. One day, on his way to pick tea, he comes across a man who has "fainted." Thinking that saving him is what matters, he carries the man home and nurses him for a while. When the man's injuries are almost healed, Su Qiao asks when he plans to leave. The man pauses, then looks at him aggrievedly. "You saw me naked when you saved me. Aren't you going to take responsibility for me?" Su Qiao: ... That seems right, but something about it also seems wrong. Su Qiao: All right, then. So he gets himself a husband. Gu Shangci made a name for himself at a young age, but all he wanted was to retire to a quiet life. Halfway there, he was simply too tired, so he found a place to nap. Someone mistook him for a seriously wounded man and took him home. The first time Gu Shangci opens his eyes and sees Su Qiao, he raises an eyebrow. The kid is quite pretty. Later: Kind, cute, and a good cook, too. Later still: Tsk. I want to marry him. But if he wants to bring this cabbage home, first he has to chase away the pigs crowding around it! So he puts his tea-flavored charm to work and finally succeeds in marrying himself a husband. Picking tea in the spring, catching fish in the summer floods, gathering wild fruit in autumn, and sitting by the stove to enjoy tea in winter. From then on, the court is short one young general, and Tea Creek Village gains a hunter from the mountains. A thousand acres of tea fields stretch green, egrets ride the breeze beneath the evening sky. Through the changing seasons and the comforts of home, they spend the rest of their lives together. #Bonus Scene: Their wedding night. Thinking that her husband was a freebie who knew nothing, Su Qiao decided it was his duty to take the initiative. So, the night before the wedding, he asked someone to find him an illustrated book of erotic poses and blushingly read it through. On their wedding night, Su Qiao pats his chest and assures Gu Shangci, "Don't be nervous. I'll teach you in a moment." Gu Shangci smiles faintly. "All right." An hour later. "No, no more..." Su Qiao bites the corner of the quilt, whimpering as he tries to push the other man away. His whole body has turned to water, only to be gathered up again in an instant. Gu Shangci kisses the reddened corner of Su Qiao's eye. His gaze is full of laughter, but his voice is still pitiful. "Did I do something wrong and hurt you? I'm so clumsy, Xiao Qiao. Teach me, please. Teach me again." Su Qiao: ... A single-minded, naturally airheaded, very oblivious uke * a young general with a very strong tea flavor seme Theme: An ordinary person's life, full of everyday warmth