The Lonely Young Man of the Mountain Village, Before and After Becoming a Man

Ji Yaoqian was the village's most famous lonely, unmarried young man, a star of the local gossip mill who came up in the village women’s conversations every day.

Look, look! Those two men are here again!

Wow, how does he get to keep both of those wonderful men all to himself? One is the cleverest scholar around, and the other is a hunter who brings home piles of game every day!

I saw Yaoqian come out of his house earlier, his face all flushed, with two men following right behind him. Oh my…

Ji Yaoqian had been a freshman who worked his way through college. An orphan, gay, timid and insecure, he had never dated anyone and was always dreaming of having a handsome boyfriend.

One day, exhausted, he dreamed he was doing naughty things with two gorgeous men. When he opened his eyes, he was stunned.

He was clinging to a burly man, one of the handsome men from his dream: a hunter.

He came out with a flushed face, and his younger cousin rushed over to tell him to get back inside, because someone had come to propose!

The visitor was a refined, scholarly young man.

Ji Yaoqian wanted to refuse, but when he saw the man's face, he couldn't get the words out. He was the other handsome man from the dream!

His aunt dragged him inside by force.

That evening, the scholar came to see him again. "Don't you like me?"

Seeing the handsome scholar looking so downcast, Ji Yaoqian stammered out some comfort. "N-no, that's not it."

But he already had one man. The scholar looked slender and elegant, so all he could say was, "I-I like you. I'll always want... that. Can you... do it?"

The man pressed him against the wall and kissed him until his legs went weak. Then he leaned close to his ear and said, "I'll come again tomorrow."

But the next day, not only did the scholar come, the hunter came looking for him too.

Ji Yaoqian was annoyed every day. The family he'd transmigrated into was poor, and he was an orphan and a young man to boot. Their house was dilapidated and drafty.

They had just over an acre of land, which the two men took turns plowing until the soil was soft and loose.

There was meat at every meal, and the chickens and ducks were plump. Apart from watching the two handsome men compete for his attention and having everything served to him, Ji Yaoqian felt he was good for nothing.

P.S. Yes, this is the kind of humblebrag it sounds like.

Two men go out and work hard to win his favor. There's also a plot where the love interest uses divination to decide which one to choose for a duck-catching outing.

One is a civil official, and one is a military officer?

Everyday life, wholesome and mild.

This is not a one-on-one romance. Surely no one missed that? The recipient is a scumbag, and the pursuers are shameless.

The next book will be The Overbearing Childhood Friend Is Clingy. Please add it to your wanted list. I'm writing a pure, innocent campus romance.

Shen Chu has a best friend.

He's genuinely nice, but also genuinely temperamental. He insists on having things his way. On the walk home from school, he won't allow a third person to join them. Otherwise, he'd rather walk alone.

What can you do? Spoil him, of course.

Shen Chu's motto: Isn't friendship all about giving in to each other? We've made it through eighteen years of friendship, wild and wonderful.

But on graduation day, they hit a snag they might not get past: the other guy wants him to be his wife.

Their classmates: What can you do? Spoil him, of course. Say yes!

Turns out he'd been tricking him all along. He'd even coaxed him into choosing the college entrance exam motto he wanted.

First place, Xie Si: Looking for a partner?

Second place, Shen Chu: Sure.

He said he was cool, but then

Damn!

Theme: If you can't keep your own house in order, how can you set the world to rights?