Trouble Stirs with Wine Part 4

YuHan Pov:

"At least tell me your name!" he shouted. My name.

"YuHan come on! Let's play in the snow!" my elder brother shouted.

"But you have practice and I have to read, in order to become as good as you."

"Come on it's your birthday today, just relax. Mother and father won't care today. I pinky promise you that I'm not lying to you," he said as he stuck his pinky out towards me.

"Fine," I said with hesitation. We ended up having a snowball fight and I ended up getting soaked.

"YuHan, are you feeling well? I'm going to have to bring you back into your room, so you can change."

"I'm fine, gege."

"I don't want you getting sick," he grabbed my hand and we walked all the way back to my part of the mountains. "You go and change, I'll get you some warm tea!" he said before he ran off. When I finished changing gege was sitting on the porch, the porch was made from fine pine tree wood. I sat beside him, he handed me a cup with tea. "I'll put this on you too," he said as he put a white blanket that covered my shoulders.

"Do you want anything to eat? I'll tell the cook to make something!"

"No, having you here is fine," I said.

"I didn't know my brother was this cheesy," he smiled.

"That's because...because you're my brother," I responded.

He patted my head, "I'm glad that I have you too. I can spoil with everything I can give you because you're my only little brother. Now drink the tea and warm up."

"Gege, why am I named YuHan?" I asked.

"Look at the current weather."

"It's snowing and it's super cold."

"Father named you after the cold weather you were born in and mother was super happy that day. She wanted you to be energetic and out of the ordinary. So you're named YuHan."

"What about you brother?"

"Chen Ye, I was born midnight with a bright moon. So father named me after the time and the way he wanted me to be, calm and in depth."

"No wonder why when I look outside at night, at the moon. It reminds me of you, gege," I said proudly.

"I'll get us some steamed buns for lunch, I'll come back."

When ChenYe came back with the steamed buns, I took one and started eating one. "Slow down kid, I don't want you to choke on food." I smiled at my brother and continued to eat.

Third Pov:

YuHan handed the basket of vegetables to Mei Jiejie, she started to cut them up into edible slices. "Gongzi, your friend over there is really nice. You're lucky to have him traveling along with you because he's the one who thought of getting more vegetables for you to eat," she said.

"I've only known him for two days, I don't consider him as a friend," YuHan responded.

"Well it would be nice to be Yin Gongzi's friend, he's nice and thoughtful. I bet you many beautiful young ladies like him too and you too if you talk a little bit more."

"He only owns a sweet mouth, that spills sweet comments. I could never take him seriously," YuHan said before exiting out of the kitchen.

When Mei Jiejie finished slicing up the vegetables and placing them into a plate it was already night. Her second eldest brother has returned with a bunch of wood logs. ZiNuo made the fire and placed the pot above it. The spice from one side of the pot blocked the smell of the more light flavored soup base. YuHan sat next to ZiNuo, "Do you guys have some wine?" ZiNuo asked Mei Jiejie who was placing the food on the table near the fire.

"I think my second brother/er ge might know where we put our wine. I don't think we have much, do we er ge?" Mei Jiejie asked.

"We still have some left plus we're going to make more when spring comes so I don't think dad or older brother would mind," Er ge responded.

"Go and tell mom and dad to stay indoors, I'll cook them some noodles. I'll come into their room in about 20 minutes." Mei Jiejie said before entering the kitchen.

"Ok!" Er ge responded before running off.

"Yin Gongzi and Bai Gongzi you guys can start cooking the food, don't want you two starving!" she shouted.

"Thank you Mei Jiejie!" ZiNuo shouted back before he grabbed a plate of deer meat on the table. He took the serving chopsticks and used them to put the deer meat in the spicy soup base. "Spicy is so good! I can smell and taste it already."

"You shouldn't eat too many spicy foods. Spicy isn't a taste, but rather a sensation," YuHan said as he placed white carrots into the light soup base.

"Ha pain from spicy food is no big deal. As long as it tastes good, it's fine," ZiNuo said as he placed some of the cooked deer meat into his bowl. He placed the serving chopsticks aside and used his personal chopsticks to eat with. "It's delicious, I haven't had hotpot since I was 15 on my birthday."

"That was three years ago," YuHan commented.

"It was fun while it lasted, all I did every year was watch my little brother and parents eat hotpot while I studied how to use needles better. I didn't get a single hotpot meal with them," ZiNuo frowned.

"We can always eat hotpot together," YuHan mumbled.

"What did you say?" ZiNuo asked.

"Nothing," YuHan said as he used the serving chopsticks to pick up his nicely cooked carrots.

Twenty minutes later, Mei Jiejie came out of the kitchen with two bowls of noodles on a wooden tray, "You two seem to be getting along," she said.

"Bai Gongzi won't even touch the meat or the spicy part of the soups," ZiNuo pouted. Mei Jiejie laughed and continued to walk to her parents' room. Er ge came back with two big jugs of wine, he placed them down beside the table, and sat down on the other side of the pot.

"Smells really nice," Er ge commented as he watched ZiNuo put deer meat into the pot. "Thanks to you two Gongzi, I'm able to eat deer meat for the first time!" he said happily. Er ge was a bit muscular, but his face was a bit on the younger side. He wore simple blue clothes and had his hair up.

"You should really eat the spicy based soup out of the two soup bases there is," ZiNuo said as he handed Er ge a bowl and a pair of chopsticks. ZiNuo used the serving chopsticks and placed a couple of well cooked deer meat into Er ge's bowl. "Bai Gongzi, over here only eats the light soup base and he doesn't like wine very much."

"Do you like wine Yin Gongzi?" Er ge asked.

"Sure do!" he said excitedly.

"You look a bit too young for a cup of wine, kid," Er ge responded.

"Don't worry I'm 18, I've been drinking wine ever since I was 16," ZiNuo chuckled. YuHan started placing mushrooms into the light soup base before ZiNuo placed a piece of deer meat from the spicy soup base into his bowl. YuHan glared at ZiNuo. "Jeez YuHan, You should try it at least before you stare at me like that."

"I know from my personal experience. My brother likes spice and I don't," YuHan said before he placed the deer meat in his mouth. He quickly chewed it and swallowed it. "Don't ever give me another bite of food from that spicy soup base."

"If you say so, Bai Gongzi. Xiong tai(brother), can you give me some wine? Eating from the spicy soup base is making me feel a bit hot," ZiNuo said. Er ge grabbed a bowl, then started to fill it up with wine, and handed it to ZiNuo. ZiNuo quickly drank it like water. "It tastes so nice, cold liquid down my throat after something hot, a slight burn from it, it's a bonus, it's a feeling you'll never get bored of. You sure you don't want to drink any, Bai Gongzi?" ZiNuo asked.

"No and your clothes are still wet, trying to get my clothes wet too by sitting next to me?"

"Why are you so picky?" ZiNuo asked as he continued to eat more mushrooms.

"Here, take it, and don't give it back to me," YuHan said as he took out a white handkerchief from his sleeves and handed it to ZiNuo.

"Can't imagine you being this generous, but thank you," ZiNuo smiled as he wiped his mouth. "Can I get more wine!" ZiNuo said excitedly as he handed his bowl to Er ge.

"Anything for, Yin Gongzi!"

After ZiNuo drank at least one jug of wine, he started to speak weirdly, and loud. "I should tell you guys my childhood! Hot pot during winter is the best thing ever, but wine is so much better! My parents are so strict, my mother won't even let me have my hair down in public," he pouted. He pulled his hair accessory out, letting his hair loose. The accessory was dropped onto the ground. Then he stood up, but his balance standing on the ground wasn't the best right now. Mei Jiejie laughed at how ZiNuo was walking. YuHan grabbed ZiNuo and made him sit down.

"Don't drink anymore," YuHan said as he grabbed ZiNuo's bowl and placed it on the table. ZiNuo tried to sit up straight, but he ended up laying his head on YuHan's shoulder, falling asleep.

"I didn't know, Yin Gongzi can drink that much," Mei Jiejie laughed.

"He drank a whole jug without vomiting, that is pure skill," Er ge said.

"If you look at Yin Gongzi for a few seconds, you might think he's a beautiful young woman, even I'm jealous of his beauty," Mei Jiejie said. YuHan was listening to them, but his ears were starting to tint red. YuHan looked at the male who was laying on his shoulder, his skin was flawless, and a bit pale. ZiNuo's hair was as dark as the night, his eyelashes were quite long, something that females would be envious of, and suddenly a teardrop streamed down his face.

ZiNuo Pov:

"Mother! Can I play with my Didi(little brother)?" I smiled and tugged her sleeve.

"No, he's still growing and he can't walk properly yet," mother said while staring at me seriously.

"But I learned how to walk at four and Dede is already five years old."

"It takes a longer time for him to learn because his body is weak. Don't bother your Dede and focus on yourself. You have to win for our Yin clan, I've spent most of my time training you to read and fight. It's up to yourself on what you want to learn next, whether it's helpful to you there in your fight or not. Unlike you, I want your Dede to grow up without worrying about all these sect stuff. So don't talk about that stuff to him when he can understand what we're saying, understood?"

"But I just wanted to play with Dede-" I said before mother cut me off.

"Again don't bother Dede and go back to your room and read," mother said before she swung my hand off and walked away.

The coldest day of winter eventually came and I was walking around the frozen pond. I saw servants walking my direction with baskets. When they got closer to me, I saw food in their baskets. "Hey, Xiao Jiejie, where're you heading to?" I asked one of the female servants.

"Shaoye, we're heading to the headmaster's room," the servant replied.

"What's with all the food you're bringing?" I asked.

"To answer Shaoye, headmaster Yin, xiaojie Ye, and Er [Second] shaoye are having hot pot today," she said.

"Oh, anyways does the kitchen still have wine left?"

"Ah, yes there's a bit left, do you want a servant to help you get it?"

"No worries, I got it, don't want father, mother, and Dede to wait so you should all get going."

"Thank you, Shaoye, we will be leaving," she bowed and left with the rest of the servants. I went to the kitchen to grab two small jugs of peach blossom wine and walked back to the frozen pond. I sat down at the place where father, mother, and Didi would have their tea in the spring, summer, and fall. I placed a jug of wine on the table, another in my hand. I opened it and started to drink it slowly. The taste of wine down my throat was a feeling I miss every now and then. Parents, what's the difference of having parents who didn't care for you and having no parents? There was no difference, they only focus on Dede and never me. Didn't care if I drank an unhealthy amount of wine or invited me to any events they held. I only found company at wine shops, all messy at the end, and often servants think that I came back from the brothel. My parents never mention anything about my drunken state and the things I do. If they didn't care about my reputation, why should I?