#li lianhua: hold up! what is that?

[tiny-breadcrumbs]

Di feisheng finally met a worthy opponent to contest his strong will, in a form of tiny kitten. Its a small thing. Dirty and ugly, but still fiesty. Fighting several cats twice its size for a small scrap of food. Truly, a warrior.

He should have walk ahead instead of watching the fight. Fang Duobing will be inconsolable if their groceries came late. But the kitten catch his eyes. Something in him recognised that desperate survival, to fight like he has nothing to lose, like there is no tomorrow. And maybe, there is indeed no tomorrow for that thing, its already very skinny. Obviously not the best fighter around, but still standing and trying. Stubborn to the tip of its fur.

The brawl didn't last long after that. Despite the numerous scratch, its suprisingly success in snatching a tiny part of the food. Dashed so fast to a far corner before other cats can catch it. Di feisheng must be wake up in a wrong position that day, because why should he care about that tiny kitten is beyond his understanding. But his feet already walk around that corner, trying to find the little thing before he can process anything.

It's only after several pat, a more edible food, and two big doe eyes that looks so sad, Di Feisheng finally came into the horrifying realization that he maybe really care about that ugly and dirty little kitten. Between that pleading eyes and the voice in his head that sound suspiciously like Li Lianhua saying they already have hulijing at home, His eyebrow twitch faintly. There is a moment when both didn't move or make a sound. And then the tiny kitten came closer, rubbing around his leg while keeping up the increasingly good performance of big sad eyes. Di Feisheng let out a mighty sigh. He's truly gone soft!

"Sly aren't you?" He pat the dirty fur once again.

--

Di Feisheng come back late that day, smuggling a tiny kitten between the fold of his robes into the lotus tower. So what if they already have hulijing, its a dog afterall. They can add a cat now.

[pastelcheckereddreams]

I added more things to Lotus Tower! Can you spot them all? To be honest, I can't pick anything I'm the most proud of. I'm so pleased to see all of it come together like this. Perhaps my brain will finally let me put the project to rest 😂

Breakdown of all the new fun decorations and modifications below.

You can see the first part of my model build here, or more of my art and my craft projects in my pinned post, where you can also find a link to my INPRNT store and my ko-fi if you would like to support my creative projects in any way 💛

So, the first thing I wanted to do was utillise some spare parts from my Life of Su Dongpo booknook kit to make Li Lianhua a small tea tray:

I cut tiny planks of wood from a strip of basswood to form the sides, but the base and teapot come from the Su Dongpo kit. I was also able to make the goodest girl Hulijing a stand from the same piece that makes the base of the tea tray. Now she can sit in Lotus Tower anywhere she wants to instead of being stuck into the wood outside her kennel!

To hold the tea tray, I also made a table and stool similar to the one in the show, and created some tiny baskets out of beige cross-stitch aida to replicate the many baskets and storage Li Lianhua has hanging from the Tower:

In that same vein, I used thread to make a net for some more storage beneath the stairs:

And used part of a bamboo place-mat and some dried flowers to create a herb drying rack on the upper level.

One of the more complex pieces I created was a second sail to hang under the eaves of the gourd door:

It was difficult trying to get this sail to hold a good final shape as, just as with the other sail in my first build, I had to guess how much material would be needed and how to gather it. But I'm pleased with how it turned out in the end! It, like the herb rack, is hung from the eaves with small pieces of metal wire, bent into hooks and stuck into the reinforced card.

You can also see in the pictures above that I added "rope" and a fake hook to the shelf on the side of the Tower to make it a bit more accurate to the show's design.

(You will also see in the very first picture that I made a set of removable stairs for the porches - unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of their building process and kept forgetting to move them back into the big picture.)

The biggest addition, though, is of course the lanterns:

I am so proud of these. I made them from paper and basswood, and they are ridiculously tiny (about 1.5cms). I wasn't going to put lights in them to start with, but when I bought the tiny bulbs (I was planning to try and put them inside Lotus Tower at the time) and shone them behind one of the lanterns - it looked so good I knew I just had to try it.

So here's how I pulled it off:

I first carefully slotted the bulbs and their wires through the beams of the sail awning, twisting the red and blue cables around each other to give them more structure and make sure they were hanging at the right length. I made sure the wires both led back to the side of the Tower I was going to store the battery pack on, and fastened them to one of the supports of the awning so that the wires would discretely trail down to the floor of the upper level. (I also painted them at this time.)

As for the battery pack, I stuck a small piece of wood underneath the porch where Hulijing's kennel sits for the battery to sit on. I tidied up the wires as neatly as I could and fastened them to the side of the Tower with a spare U-shaped piece from the Su Dongpo kit, wedged into the window slats of the ground level (making sure there's plenty of slack for me to unfasten it and change the battery without struggle). I then joined the wires as best I could and painted it all a yellow-brown colour.

As you can see, it looks a bit crude, but once the roof is back on over the door, the wires all but disappear!

I am so sooo happy with how it's turned out. Please let me know what you think! Is there anything else you would add? Anything you would do differently?

[bbcphile]

Newlywed Room Meta

Well, this is horrifying. I just realized that the newlywed room Jiao Liqiao had planned to marry Di Feisheng in is the same room she had him kneel at her feet in after crippling him and trying to destroy his martial arts.

(CW/tw: threat of rape)

Here’s the room in ep. 34 when he’s forced to kneel in front of her (and is in tons of pain and dissociating).

Here’s the newly wed room in ep. 38:

Notice that the bed is now where the chaise longue was. This means that she was planning on forcing the consummation in EXACTLY the same place that she had humiliated him in front of her men earlier (forcing him to kneel and calling him “Furen”). The screen behind the bed is even the same pattern as the screen that was behind her chaise longue, which means she planned to surround him with the same decorations, so there would be nowhere he could look where he wouldn’t be reminded of the earlier trauma and of his powerlessness.

Here’s something even more disturbing: the wedding bed is actually her bed, since it was already in that room, just in an alcove off to the side in ep. 34. 

Here’s the bed in episode 34.

And here it is in the newly wed room.

That means she moved it from its normal, more private location, and put it front and center of the room where her surrogate throne was. It’s now the focal point of the room and very deliberately staged, as though she was expecting an audience for the forced consummation, just like she had an audience when she forced him to his knees in front of all her men.

And if that weren’t enough, here’s another disturbing detail: do you see the decorative frame she’s using to hold up the curtain?

Guess where that’s from? Di Feisheng’s BEDROOM.

We saw it once before: in the scene where Jiao Liqiao tried to undress Di Feisheng. He had let her help him with the outer robe and wrist guard and then stopped her, looking furious, when she starts to undo his belt while saying that she will help him shower and change his clothes. She doesn’t listen to his very clear and furious no, and she only stops after he threatens to fire her. The curtain holder is the biggest piece of scenery in the background of the shots where she is reacting to being turned down, so much so that it practically becomes associated with her rejection.

Given this, it’s very telling that she ripped it away from the rest of his bed (which it matched) and put it with her bed; she took something that she’d associated with his rejection of her and put it with her (non-matching) bed, which she turned into their wedding bed, to symbolically destroy that resistance and to be a stark reminder that, now, unlike back then, he’s helpless to stop her. 

Everything about that room was designed to (possibly publicly) mock him for his helplessness and to revel in her triumph over him. 

So it’s even more powerful (and even more of a relief) that instead of that future, what actually happens in the newly wed room is that Li Lianhua carefully places Di Feisheng in the spot where he had previously been publicly humiliated and was in danger of worse, and heals him instead. Li Lianhua gives him back his power and agency, and even shares the mental codes for Yangzhouman, turning what was supposed to be a symbol of his defeat and helplessness into a symbol of respect, care, of sacrifice for another (because LLH gives him Yangzhouman that he needs to keep himself alive), and the strength that true cooperation and union can bring. 

And I’m going to be crying about this forever.

[difeisheng]

I need you all to know that Li Lianhua, Fang Duobing, and Di Feisheng had official Weibo accounts posting while MLC was airing, and there's too much to post it all here but some of these interactions are wonderful:

Li Lianhua: Today I wanted to go to the kitchen to cook, but it turns out Fang Xiaobao locked the kitchen doors?!

Di Feisheng: I've never eaten such unpalatable dishes in my life, @ Fang Duobing how did you survive before?

Fang Duobing (reply to DFS): Finally someone understands me

Li Lianhua (reply to FDB and DFS): I'm driving Lianhualou away, you two can sleep in the open tonight

Li Lianhua: I got woken up early this morning by Zhan Yunfei's sword practice, then dozed off again until now. Business is closed again today

Di Feisheng (reply to LLH): Who? Another person wants to duel with you? Make him line up behind me!

Li Lianhua: Let's celebrate tonight, I'll give the other two two extra dishes

Fang Duobing: Some people in the comments are saying Di Feisheng has been locked up by some Niuma Gang. What kind of gang is this and how have I not heard of it? How could Di Feisheng be so easily captured by a small gang?

Di Feisheng (reply to FDB): I can still hold out a little longer, come quickly you brat

If you want to scroll through these yourself, here's Li Lianhua's account, Fang Duobing's, and Di Feisheng's (it's not a great one but if you have the app, Weibo does have a translate function for posts which should give you the gist of some messages)

[nutcasewithaknife]

Sometimes I think about how Di Feisheng was the only one besides Li Xiangyi that Li Lianhua was comfortable holding a grudge against about what happened ten years ago.

Yun Biqiu is forgiven, Qiao Wanmian is absolved, Jiao Liqiao isn't even in the picture. But with Di Feisheng, you know Li Lianhua is still holding on to that perceived betrayal from a decade ago, rubbing salt in his wounds so very often about it. I will lie myself down in front of you and die an excruciating death before giving you your match. In this punishment for the past too, Di Feisheng is the only one allowed to join Li Xiangyi even after a decade. His punishment is exactly to watch the Li Xiangyi he wants die. Do you think, in a twisted way, Li Xiangyi felt even more alone once Di Feisheng's innocence in the matter came out? Once he lost this messed up yet constant company of a decade and had only himself to blame?

[joyouslee]

Variations on a Theme:  There Was Only One Bed

For @thawrecka

From this post. 

(I couldn’t help myself.)

The three of them stood looking down at The Bed.  An awkward silence descended.  The night was quiet, just the rustle of the cool night wind blowing through dry autumn leaves.  Su Xiaoyong was presumably all tucked in and sleeping soundly in the bed downstairs.  

Two pillows and a neatly folded blanket were stacked on the bed.  Li Lianhua had built his guest room with the idea of renting it out for extra money, so the bed was large enough for two, but – he glanced at Fang Duobing’s shoulders and Di Feisheng’s, well, everything – it’d be a squeeze for three.

Li Lianhua only owned two blankets: the one he was holding and the one Su Xiaoyong was using.  The tastefully luxurious one on the bed was one Fang Duobing brought from home.  (Other things Li Lianhua had found tucked in previously empty drawers: silver, lots of it; random gadgets and tiny tools; medicines and spices; old (expensive) ginseng; clothes and jewelry.)

After that very first night when Di Feisheng and Fang Duobing nearly tore the tower down around them, Li Lianhua had drawn a firm line and forced the two of them to get along and share or sleep in the woods.  They ended up sharing the bed, though not without muttered complaints from Fang Duobing about giants with ridiculous arms and legs taking up too much room.  A-Fei was easier-going than Di Feisheng and hadn’t objected to continuing the sleeping arrangements.  

A-Fei kicked off his boots, shrugged out of his outer robe, and was laying down on his usual pillow before either of them could say anything.  Clearly the awkward silence was only on Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing’s part.  A-Fei did not believe in awkwardness.

Variation 1 - a bossy shepherd herds an indulgent wolf and bewildered fox into bed

Li Lianhua looked around the room and started moving towards the bench against the far railing.  “You two take the bed, I’ll sleep over here.”  

Fang Duobing tsked audibly and said, “Li Lianhua you can’t sleep over there.  It’s too cold, there’s nothing to block the wind and it’ll go right to your bones.  You’re so skinny - you’re going to freeze to death.”  

Taking the blanket and pillow from Li Lianhua, he continued, “A-Fei, turn over, you’re taking up too much room, and take out your guan you’re going to stab Li Lianhua in the eye.”  

A-Fei huffed but did as he was told, to Li Lianhua’s astonishment.

“Take off your robe and hairpin, Li Lianhua,” Fang Duobing urged as he put Li Lianhua’s pillow down on the bed.  He then shook out the large blanket over A-Fei, laying it across the bed. “Quickly, it’s cold.  You should know better - the cold isn’t good for your heart.”  He then put Li Lianhua’s blanket around his shoulders, nudging him to sit on the bed.  

“Shoes off,” he tutted, before reaching over as though he were going to help Li Lianhua take them off.  Li Lianhua held him off with a quickly raised hand as he toed off his boots.  

“If you want any sleep tonight, just let him,” A-Fei said. “Otherwise he will go on forever.”  Li Lianhua was surprised to detect the slightest hint of indulgent amusement in his tone.  

“What are you talking about, A-Fei?  I’m just making sure Li Lianhua sleeps well and doesn’t catch a cold.  You know his health is poor.”  Fang Duobing said distractedly as he pushed Li Lianhua into bed against A-Fei’s back, straightening both blankets over him.

“You need us to block the wind for you,” he continued as he blew out the lamps and readied himself for sleep.  He carefully lifted only the top blanket and slid in gently, keeping the night air from touching Li Lianhua, and tucked in with his back to Li Lianhua.  

“Goodnight,” Fang Duobing said with a cheerful wiggle, getting comfortable, then within a few breaths he was asleep.

With both of them laying on their sides, Li Lianhua didn’t feel crowded in the middle, just … protected.

Li Lianhua blinked in bewilderment at how easily he – and Di Fucking Fei Sheng! – had been herded into bed together.  But as he lay there, fond amusement settled in.  He hadn’t a clue where the precious only son of Minister Fang and Sect Leader He of the famed Tianji Manor would have had the opportunity to learn how to take care of someone.  But his concern warmed Li Lianhua’s heart as much as the two furnaces he lay between warmed his old bones.  He closed his eyes and let himself rest.

Variation 2 - shutting up a yappy pup

Fang Duobing’s mouth dropped open in outrage.  

Li Lianhua braced for noise.

“A-Fei how can you take the bed like that?  You know Li Lianhua’s sick.  He can’t sleep on the floor.”  He stomped over and started pushing at A-Fei’s shoulder, presumably to get him to move onto the floor.  A-Fei tolerated three pushes before grabbing his arm and uncurling in a flash.  With a startled squeak Fang Duobing rolled over him and landed on the other side of the bed.  A-Fei rolled on top of him smoothly and covered his mouth with one hand.  

“Sleep,” he said firmly.  

Fang Duobing flailed at him with his free hand but A-Fei had him fully controlled.  Fang Duobing’s protests were muffled but it was clear what he was yelling about with the way he kept looking over at Li Lianhua emphatically.

A-Fei looked at Li Lianhua and jerked his chin at the open space.

Li Lianhua rolled his eyes and put his pillow on the bed.  

Alt chord progression 1: A-Fei puts his other hand over Fang Duobing’s eyes and he falls asleep - I’ve seen that trick work on puppies before and expect it would work just as well here.

Alt chord progression 2: A-Fei and Li Lianhua find other ways of keeping Fang Duobing quiet and sharing the bed.  i.e., lots of sex.  

When Li Lianhua wakes up, Di Feisheng is curled around him, and Fang Duobing is tucked up against his back, a little spoon trying to be a big spoon even though his forehead only hits A-Fei’s nape.  Fang Duobing’s arm is around Di Feisheng with his fingers curled into Li Lianhua’s robe, leg thrown over both of them.  Untangling is going to be a process but - Li Lianhua cups his hand around Fang Duobing’s, tilting his cheek against Di Feisheng’s nose- something to deal with later.  He closes his eyes and falls asleep again.  

Variation 3 (minor chord progression to theme in G major) - puppy pile 

“No.   My house, my rules.  No dogs in my bed.”  He swept the thick blanket into Fang Duobing’s arms and pushed him towards the clear space on the other end of the room, ignoring his indignant “Who are you calling a dog?!”.  

He pointed at Di Feisheng.  “Off,” he said imperiously.  “You two can keep each other warm over there.  Don’t think I don’t know what you two have done up here.”  

Fang Duobing choked and turned red.

“But you better keep in mind I’m right here, and downstairs is the granddaughter of the biggest gossip in the jianghu.  If you don’t want your liaison published in the next bulletin, keep your paws off each other.”

A-Fei shrugged and grabbed a sputtering Fang Duobing by the arm, pulling him down and rolling them in the large blanket like a spring roll.  “Go to sleep,” he said calmly.  

Fang Duobing managed to choke out a muffled “Goodnight.”

Li Lianhua blew out the candle and only heard a few rustles and a rather loudly whispered “A-Fei!” before all was quiet.  He curled up, rubbing his socked feet together.  He’d known about them pretty much since they started… whatever it is.  Fang Duobing wasn’t able to keep his emotions off his face; he blushed to the tips of his ears every time Di Feisheng came near him and occasionally tripped over nothing while pretending not to look at him.  He’s glad for them - the jianghu can be vicious, so taking comfort where you can is a gift.  He doesn’t want what they have, but it still feels ….  He shakes his head, no point in being maudlin about something he doesn’t even care to have.

The night wind swept through the room, and Li Lianhua shivered.  It really was a lot colder up on the second floor, and he couldn’t expend any neili to warm himself.  He was so tired.  His joints ached and he worried he might have a bicha attack that he wouldn’t be able to hide. He pulled the blanket over his head to keep the heat in and squinched his eyes shut, hoping to reach unconsciousness before his teeth started chattering. 

“Li LIanhua?  Are you okay?”

He ignored him, deciding that pretending to be dead was a viable route to sleep.  

“Li Lianhua?” 

A long pause.  He clutched the blanket closer, wondering if Fang Duobing gave up.

“Don’t be an idiot,” he heard as warmth settled over and around him, two warm bodies bracketing him, legs tangling and arms curling around him.  

“Don’t call him an idiot,” he felt more than heard Fang Duobing mutter.  The heat of them settled into his bones, and he fell asleep before he could tell them to get out of his bed.  

***

He woke up warmed through, muscles relaxed for once instead of tight from pain and cold.  He blinked his eyes open, shockingly well rested.  Fang Duobing was still asleep, clutching him like a favored toy, soft breaths hot against his neck.  He could tell by Di Feisheng’s breathing that he was already awake, but he still kept his arm over Li Lianhua’s chest, hand curled at Fang Duobing’s nape.  A warm wiggly weight settled over his feet, and he glanced down.

Hulijing had once again snuck into bed.

Li Lianhua sighed.  How did he end up with three unruly dogs in his home?

Note: ok, so like, not so much variation because I’m constitutionally unable to leave Li Lianhua sad and cold and alone in bed.  Or any of them, really.  So.  Puppy pile!

[exitvelocities]

fic meme fill for @orchisailsa for the prompt: Post-canon DFS being uncharacteristically sweet and trying to kiss LLH in the kitchen to distract him while FDB sneaks behind them to try to salvage whatever he's attempting to cook

*

di feisheng waves smoke out of his face, frowning into lotus tower's kitchen. he doesn't know what exactly li lianhua is cooking up, but he doubts it's anything good. while his regular fare has improved, regaining his sense of taste has, if anything, made him more enthusiastic about his culinary experiments. di feisheng has even deigned to subject himself to some of them, mostly due to li lianhua's increasingly outrageous flirtations. while his indifferent mask and iron stomach are basically invincible, di feisheng can't say he's enjoyed the experience.

fang duobing, on the other hand, in the event of his visits, has neither of di feisheng's advantages and therefore is reduced to begging him for help. more often than not he plays along, simply because he enjoys having something to hold over fang duobing's head. today, fang duobing looks at him with pleading eyes and a series of hand gestures that make di feisheng scoff. still, he wades into the smoking kitchen and draws li lianhua away from the stove by the hips.

"xiangyi," he says, pulling li lianhua far enough away from whatever he's cooking to give fang duobing space to doctor it as he sees fit, "do you really have to go through so much trouble just because the brat is here?" fang duobing makes a face at him over li lianhua's shoulder, but di feisheng ignores him in favor of the bright smile beaming up at him from li lianhua's face.

"a'fei," he says, practically glowing, "i've told you before you don't need to be jealous of xiaobao. this is simply what a teacher should do for his student."

di feisheng purses his lips, mainly to keep from smiling. while he can't deny occasionally being possessive of li lianhua's time and attention, these little shows of jealousy are, more often than not, simply because they make li lianhua happy. "you've been cooking more every night he's been here," he says, because that's probably why fang duobing has reached the end of his endurance.

"his wife keeps him on a tight leash, he doesn't get to come that often," li lianhua says in his most reasonable tone, "i should spoil him when i can."

"are you sure that's what you're doing," di feisheng can't help asking, cognizant of the offended pause in fang duobing's frantic flailing at the stove even without looking at him directly.

"of course," li lianhua says, entirely sincere, "my shifu cooked for me every time i visited after i left yunyin mountain."

"ah," di feisheng says, because there's not much he can say to that.

"now stop distracting me," li lianhua says, starting to turn back toward the stove, "dinner will burn." well, that won't do.

"xiangyi," di feisheng repeats, and reels him back in to kiss. li lianhua relaxes into it after almost immediately, arms coming up to wrap around di feisheng's neck. he lets di feisheng's tongue nudge past his lips, sighing and tilting his head cooperatively, and for a moment they both indulge in the contact.

"what's gotten into you," li lianhua says, looking quite thoroughly kissed when di feisheng finally pulls back. behind him, fang duobing gives di feisheng a thumbs up as he scuttles out of the kitchen.

"nothing," di feisheng, letting his hands skim up and then down li liannhua's side before he reluctantly lets go. "can't i be affectionate?"

li lianhua laughs, presses another quick kiss to the corner of di feisheng's mouth, and turns back to the stove. he picks up the wooden spoon, tasting the contents of a steaming pot. "oh," he says, smiling, "not bad at all."

[acequinz]

Does anyone remember the idea i pitched about the DFS as an emperor, LLH as his concubine and FDB as the new empress being forced into a marriage.

Switching things around for that. LLH is the real emperor but switched positions with DFS for safety reasons and cause he's not supposed to be overworking himself.

This causes a massive confusion for FDB who had the ceremony with DFS but enters the marriage chambers to find LLH lounging on the bed.

"why are you here?" Fang Duobing asks, standing at the edge of the bed. There was no anger in his tone just a bone deep exhaustion from the ceremony and the need to crawl into the bed regardless of the new man being present was strong.

"to keep my betrothed company." Li Lianhua smiles coyly, trying to take a peek under the veil to see his bride's face.

Fang Duobing nodded as the understanding came to him, "ah- great, then you can entertain him. Is there a different room for me? I wanna sleep." He muttered, looking around for an exit that wouldn't give him away.

Li Lianhua chuckled grabbing Fang Duobing's wrist and pulling him to the bed so he could look at him properly, right at that time the door opened and Di Feisheng stepped in closing the door behind him and securing it.

"I see you started already," Di Feisheng said, carefully keeping his voice neutral.

"Aiyah I need to see my bride's face at least, there's nothing inappropriate going on," Li Lianhua waved his hand at the emperor while Fang Duobing struggled to free his wrist.

"who said I am your wife? Let go!" Fang Duobing whined, tugging harder. "You! You help me! I don't care what sort of business you have with your consort! I don't want to be a part of your silly perverted games! I am a man from a proper upstanding family. How dare you treat me this way?" He yelled at Di Feisheng, his surprise at being overpowered as obvious as the moon shining in the sky.

Di Feisheng rolled his eyes before striding over and pulling Fang Duobing's arm free but he did not let his escape, rather he picked him up and deposited the new bride in the waiting arms of his consort who seemed very pleased holding the mouth gaping wife.

"yes, i know. It's very stimulating isn't it? How easy he picks you up like you weigh nothing? When he did that to me the first time I was so red I had to visit the physician to make sure I wouldn't burst," Li Lianhua teased, boping the nose of the youngest in the room.

"Xiangyi~" Di Feisheng interrupted, his voice rough.

"okay okay, I was just teasing. I will explain everything to our new bride."

[mimosaeyes]

Hello MLC fandom~

I've started posting the third fic in my post-canon series. The first chapter is up now and updates will be weekly. Summary:

“Xiaobao,” he says slowly. “What are you going to do after this?” Fang Duobing is scraping the bottom of the bowl. Without looking up, he makes a confused sound. “Stay with you, of course. What are you talking about?” “I don’t mean today. I mean…” Li Lianhua feels his expression grow clouded. “In the future.” The delicate sound of porcelain against porcelain comes to a halt. Fang Duobing lowers the bowl. “Stay with you,” he repeats, quietly. Or: while visiting Tianji Manor with Fang Duobing, Li Lianhua has his first flare-up since his return.

It's Lotus Trio (albeit with more Fang Duobing/Li Lianhua, especially at first) plus another OT3 (He Xiaofeng/Liangyi Xianzi/Zhan Yunfei). If I'm not mistaken, this is the first fic in English on AO3 for that throuple :O

You may have seen me refer to this fic variously as the one where Li Lianhua holds a baby, and the one with the hot springs scene (that I got stuck writing for nine months). Regardless how it's received, I'm happy that I'm finally able to share this work!

[mx-myth]

Mlc au where li lianhua just. Doesn't re-enter the jianghu. He has a couple of Big Realisations and disassociates so hard that li xiangyi is permanently dead now and he's not touching that shit with a ten foot pole.

He still meets fang duobing except they meet during on of fdb's probationary cases because he's like, sprained his wrist. He's also bleeding a lil' bit everywhere so when he sits down at the booth where llh has set up shop llh is like who is this yucky boy. Fdb is like daifu I'll pay you x amount of money to heal me. Llh ups his first impression to yucky rich boy.

Anyway it turns about when llh isn't there to guide him fdb is really reckless. But guess what! He always meets li-daifu wherever his case is! Isn't it a miracle? (Llh is long-suffering. Why does this (his, unfortunately) yucky little rich boy keep coming back to him)

Very soon fdb starts giving him gifts instead of money (because he has no money management skills). He starts off small like flowers and little soaps then desserts and then suddenly he's showing up with a set of fancy robes for llh (who had seen fdb looking at him all intently when he was estimating his measurements and thought he was checking him out. It was the start of a minor - soon to be major and ongoing - crisis) (but it turns out he likes the fucking robes).

At some point fdb runs into A Spot during one of his cases and declares, to everyone in the vicinity, that he's li xiangyi's disciple. This is overheard by di feisheng's spymaster (I CANNOT remember what his name is) who reports it back to dfs, who is like hmm, interesting.

And obviously, the most logical response here is to kidnap him and announce that he has li xiangyi's disciple held hostage.

Llh hears of this, scoffs because xiaobao can take care of himself, paces for ten minutes, and then grumbles to himself while grabbing his sword and booking it. He bursts onto the scene and it's all like:

Dfs: ...li xiangyi? You're alive?

Fdb: li lianhua-daifu!!! ...why do you have a sword.

Dfs: oh, i get it, you went into hiding. *shaking fdb* is this your new boytoy

Llh: di feisheng! Unhand him, he's a paying customer!

Dfs, nodding: I see. Boyfriend then. But you haven't had the balls to court him properly, huh

They have an argument that is actually just them exchanging small talk. Fdb is slowly dying because this is dfs, villain of the jianghu, so why is he having a reaction to him scruffing him like a kitten? Also, is li-daifu actually li xiangyi???

Long story short about three weeks later dfs arrives for dinner. And then he just. Keeps showing up. The third time he shows up fdb is there also having dinner with llh. They bristle at each other like street cats but eventually it becomes a Thing That They Do.

(In the background dfs is picking up the fucking slack and destroying the whole nanyin revival plot. Fdb keeps unintentionally and accidentally foiling related plots as he takes cases)

(Fdb: I found this in my latest case and I don't know what it is. *holds up the Rama heavenly ice shard or whatever it is*

Dfs: ...it's a screwdriver.

Fdb, who has never seen a screwdriver in his life*: oh, okay *sticks in a drawer of the lotus tower and immediately forgets about it*)

(Dfs thinks it's amusing bordering on ridiculous because fdb just keeps bringing these artifacts back. But he doesn't know what they are and neither does llh so the lotus tower is turning out to be a really safe place to put them)

Also because this version of llh actually knows from the start that he wants to live. He just never actively looked for a cure because he didn't have much to live for in his little life. But now he does so he accepts the Styx flower or whatever dfs finds for him and they all live happily ever after.

(*Edit: oh I'm an idiot. Of COURSE fdb knows what a screwdriver is. He lives with the Queen of Inventing Clever Things (master he my beloved) for god's sake. I think if he knew dfs was lying to him he wouldn't be able to let it go, since we all know how he is. So I don't know what dfs would actually tell him lmao)

[pastelcheckereddreams]

Sooo, I bought the Lotus Tower model kit and, of course, I went overboard making it as accurate as possible to the show. To no one's surprise, I'm guessing? 😅

For reference, this is what the completed model (sans horses) looks like without most* of my alterations:

*The awning material and decoration is my only alteration at this point, as I didn't like the fabric they included with the kit.

I had so much fun with this model! It is well-made, has moving parts, and is actually fairly easy to put together, with most parts just clicking into place. It even has furniture details inside!

Let me know what you think! Have you got the kit? How are you finding the building process to be? If you want to hear a more detailed review of it and see my progress shots and details of my own creative additions, click below:

UPDATE: I've now added even more things to Lotus Tower! Find them here.

First, unboxing!

This is how the box arrives. I ordered it from CPOP Universe and it arrived well-packaged and undamaged within a matter of weeks.

Along with the kit itself - which as you can see consists of a stack of laser-cut sheets coded from A-Q, and numbers detailing the specific parts - you receive a coaster (ceramic, backed with cork, and very pretty), little standees of difanghua, a letter styled after the ones difang recieve from Li Lianhua, and a replica of the booklet of yangzhouman techniques.

The process:

The first floor came together pretty quickly:

Glue is provided, but isn't necessary for a lot of the pieces, as I found the measurements for a lot of the joints to be pretty snug and able to hold together themselves. Glue is necessary for some parts, though, particularly for areas such as the step up to the rear sleeping area. Strong glue. Here is what the fist floor looks like:

Fitting on the ceiling turned out to be the hardest part of most of the build. All of the holes on the second floor had to line up with every joint on top of the walls and doors.

The next big step I encountered was a curiosity. How to make the rear wall work? There was a curious piece clearly meant to anchor the rope, and a round hole that - much like the doors - meant that this piece was supposed to rotate - and even lock. But I received no instructions on how to achieve that. I found this puzzle (which I like to think was an intentional challenge, given the gadget-orientated FDB) to be a fun challenge. So I won't show you the inner workings and spoil it, but I'll show you the working product:

Next was the rather fiddly job of creating the sail awning. I imagine this will be quite difficult for some as there's no clear indication of how to fix the material in place.

My instinct was to sew it as that is also a craft I have practice in, though granted not everyone who buys this kit will be as comfortable with a sewing needle. The two swatches of fabric provided is also quite prone to fraying, and is quite thick and canvas-like. So, knowing that the awning is a big feature of Lotus Tower, I decided I could do better:

On the left is the provided fabric, and on the right is my own material (an old blouse that I never wore, with patches dyed with my promarker pens).

After that, things should've been an easy home run, as all I had to do was affix the wheels to their axis points and put the horses together. However, quite unfortunately, one of the wheels hadn't been cut out in my kit. I had to cut it out myself with a coping saw, a Stanley knife and much patience😅

It came out looking rough, but nothing a little sanding and a touch up with my promarkers couldn't fix. I also eventually glued the wheel caps to the axis to prevent the wheels popping off every time I touched it, and they all still spin fine (minus the one I had to cut myself, that one's a little sticky😅). Then came the horses, and I was done!

Or so I thought. "Don't you think it looks a little too brown?" said my detail-obsessed brain. "We could do... more...."

And so I did.

My additions:

I used scraps coloured by my blue marker to create the beams of the house, and later coloured the fence posts red.

I made a second sail to hand under the stairs.

I created a second planter box (again, from the scraps and coloured with promarkers - two sets of flowers were included in the kit, so I could put one in each planter.)

And I even created a rain chain using old earring backs, jewellery findings and a chain, spray painted matte black and then painted blue-grey.

To colour the roofs, I likewise painted them a light blue-grey (/brown for Hulijing's kennel), then used a darker blue promarker to roughly add in texture.

I painted the weather vane, and used scraps to add in its missing two cardinal points.

And then finally, I made a winch for the rear wall! It's also easy to turn with the roof on, so I'm very pleased even though it's a little rough looking 😅

Had to gif my video clip because tumblr said boo no to more than one :(

And that's it, that's my latest build! I found this kit very fun, loved the process and seeing Lotus Tower come to life. I also loved adding in all the details to make it just that bit more accurate to the show. My only true criticisms are 1) small design oversights with the base wood colour being a tad too dark imo; the missing arms on the weather vane; and no second flowerbed (although I may be being a tad too pedantic about it 😅). 2) The fact that one of the wheels in my kit didn't get cut out properly (a quality check issue).

Obviously, I made the choice to use a different material than the fabric included so I can't speak to how satisfactory it is. However, if I were ever in the position to give IQiYi direct feedback, I'd suggest they include thinner fabric, and paint (or paint suggestions, as I know model paints aren't usually allowed through customs in these kinds of kits) for the roofs, because (by way of how they're constructed) they're just raw edges of the reinforced card parts - completely uncoloured, despite being a very visual element of the piece.

Thank you for reading this far lol Keep an eye out for more art and craft posts! (I have a Siji Manor set update coming shortly 👀)

[momosandlemonsoda]

WIP Wednesday

OMG you guys I wrote? Actual words? For the first time in what feels like weeks? God, the relief.

Also, I started back with a sex scene because I guess why not make writing re-entry a high degree of difficulty?

Anyway, please have some feihua getting busy.

“There’s a fence,” he says, voice low. “The light will go out soon and it’s private enough here.” Li Lianhua looks down at his face, the way the lights throw it into relief, then runs a careful hand over the skin at his hairline. “Are you sure?”  “Really fucking sure,” he says. “You, leaning against my bike as I suck you?” A’Fei shakes his head. “Hold onto the seat,” he orders, and Li Lianhua starts to object and then flails for it, A’Fei’s hand on his cock throwing him off balance, the way the man himself has all day. He ends up with both hands behind him, clutching at the bike’s seat, hips thrust forward. That’s all the invitation A’Fei needs, leaning forward to rest his face over Li Lianhua’s still-clothed cock, to rub his cheek against it, eyes closed, just breathing. Li Lianhua stares down, open-mouthed, shocked silent because this— this is never something he expected from Di Feisheng. It’s quiet, just the two of them panting, until there’s a click and they’re plunged into darkness. Li Lianhua blinks against the sudden dark, trying to focus. A’Fei is just a shape at his feet until he shifts slightly and whispers hoarsely, “Stay still, or the light will come back on.” “What—” he starts, cuts off on a groan because A’Fei is opening his jeans now, the zipper loud in his ears, the night air cool against hot skin until A’Fei licks the crease of his thigh. His hands squeeze against the leather of the seat involuntarily, the bike rocking behind him, and oh, fuck, A’Fei is holding the base of his cock now, swirling his tongue around the head where he’s been leaking for a while and he chokes on the groan that rises up as A’Fei goes down, down, down.

[difeisheng]

Sometimes you see a picture of Cheng Yi from a certain angle, and have no choice but to 發瘋. Ever so slightly.

"On your knees," Li Lianhua says, voice like soft thunder, and Fang Duobing goes.

He barely registers the impact, the collapse of himself like a slack puppet down to the floorboards; the world has narrowed to become Li Lianhua and Li Lianhua alone. His hair falls warm from his shoulder in this lamplight, figure sculpted from the dark in flickering amber. Light and shadow travel across his skin with the tilt of his head, the swallow of his throat. The rise and fall of his chest where his robes fall undone, already tugged away by Fang Duobing at his prior bidding.

A hand reaches to cradle Fang Duobing's jaw, delicate if not for its brush callouses, forcing him to look upward. Li Lianhua's thumb traces along his lip, gentle tease of pressure, and Fang Duobing's mouth parts for him before he can register his own movement. Reaching, pleading for any taste of Li Lianhua, anything—

And the touch draws away, leaving Fang Duobing's breath struggling to steady, a choke of some noise sounding in his throat. At least he has enough self-restraint to keep his hands to himself. They rest at his lap instead, inches away from where every minute drag of Fang Duobing's clothes against his skin has become agony. Still, he wills himself motionless, to wait until Li Lianhua asks of him otherwise.

"Good." The corner of Li Lianhua's mouth twitches upward. Perhaps it's the start of a smirk. Perhaps, it is some show of fondness. Fang Duobing can't bring himself to care which, not while Li Lianhua looks down to study him like this, eyes flooded dark. "You've been good all along tonight. Would you like a reward, Fang Xiaobao?"

"Yes," and Fang Duobing might nearly feel ashamed at how he says it, breathless with want, if not for Li Lianhua's hand still stroking at his jaw. That single blazing point of contact has become a lifeline. He shifts, resettles himself on his thighs, for what will come next.

Li Lianhua's hand slides up into his hair, taking the length of it into his hand. It winds tight in his grasp, pulling steadily and slowly, so slowly, until the needle-sting of it makes Fang Duobing gasp into his next inhale.

Something in Li Lianhua's look changes. He holds himself more upright, set of his shoulders nearly proud. When he yanks Fang Duobing toward him by his hair, level with his hips, the curve of his mouth is more pronounced. Forgiving, and unrelenting.

Fang Duobing blinks up through tears in his eyes at Li Lianhua, charming and distantly beautiful, and understands how Li Xiangyi could have commanded armies.

"You know what to do." The words, fallen from Li Lianhua, are an offering.

Fang Duobing leans forward to run his mouth over skin and salt, and takes it.

[thesilversun]

WIP Wednesday once more and something from the Difang to Difanghua fic.

So the Difang part is about to happen.

“Enough,” Di Feisheng says, grabbing it back from him. “You’re spilling half of it.” 

“It’s still my turn.” Fang Duobing tries, unsuccessfully to grab it back from him. “I thought we were sharing it.” 

There is slight, but very definitely sway as Di Feisheng gets to his feet, holding the wine jar high above his head, and out of Fang Duobing’s reach. 

The sudden fear that he will walk out and leave him takes hold. He stands quickly, ready to try and stop him. He blinks, the room blurry and soft in the lamp light. They should probably stop drinking now, but then what other reason would he have to stay?  

“What are you going to do?” Di Feisheng waves the wine, teasing him with its presence, but keeping it just out of reach. “Are you going fight me for it?” 

He doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want either of them to be hurting more than they already are tonight. It doesn’t mean that he can’t find another way to distract him or get him to drop it.  

“What are you waiting for?” Di Feisheng asks, bringing the wine jar briefly into reach of him, so that he can take another drink from it.  

Fang Duobing knows he should take it from him now. Knows he could. Yet all he can do is watch how Di Feisheng throat moves as swallows, and how the wine leave a damp, shine to his lips. 

It’s not like he hasn’t noticed that Di Feisheng is a very attractive man before. He has. At first it had been an annoying realisation, because he’d found irritating and suspicious, because he hadn’t wanted to share Li Lianhua with him.  What a fool he'd been.

It had been harder to ignore when Di Feisheng had come to live with then.  When he’d been without his memories and he’d allowed a more playful side of himself to show. Less guarded. Less hurt by life. He wants that for him again. To see him laugh and smile. He wants to help it happen.  

He wants to help. It’s all he’s ever wanted to do. Whether it was those early dreams being Li Xiangyi’s disciple, of upholding what he’d wanted the Sigu Sect to represent, or become part of Bichuan Court and help people, or then just to be Li Lianhua friend to help him and eventually to save him.   All he wants to do help, but the world and everyone around seem to make almost impossibly hard.  

In the soft, alcohol blurred lamplight the droplet of wine still glints on Di Feisheng’s lip and Fang Duobing knows what he needs to do. What he wants to do at least. 

It’s stupid and reckless, and maybe it will still end in a fight, but maybe it won’t. Maybe he’ll just drop the wine and call him a fool or a cheat, for trying to get it from him in such an underhanded way, and for spilling it. Or perhaps he’ll kiss him back. There’s no way of knowing, and it’s probably a terrible idea for any number of reasons, but uncertainty or risk of failure have never been reasons to hold him back before, and Fang Duobing isn’t about to start letting them be now.  

Stepping in closer, Fang Duobing reaches up, standing on tiptoe as if he’s going to try to make a grab for the wine. Then at the last moment presses a kiss to his lips. 

Di Feisheng doesn’t drop the wine.   

Nor does he return the kiss. 

In a single swift movement, he grabs the front of Fang Duobing’s clothes in one hand forcing him back, until he’s bent backwards over the table, while he places the wine down on the bench beside it.    

It’s so swift and sudden that Fang Duobing finds he can do nothing but give an undignified squeak of surprise and go with it.  

Pinning him to the table, Di Feisheng presses an arm across his chest, holding Fang Duobing in place. “What was that?”   

“A kiss,” Fang Duobing replies, still uncertain where they are going to go with this. “It's what people do it when they-”  

Still holding him down, pinning him to the table, Di Feisheng kisses him hard.

[anndramarama]

More mlc meta

Wrote this after reading this post where I thought OP was really insightful re why Li Lianhua let Di Feisheng join him, why he's still holding onto complicated feelings of betrayal etc. It got me thinking about their complex relationship and my response ... got long, so I'm putting it here:

I've thought about how in the first scene we see the fight, that crazy, passionate fight when we don't know a lot about either of them, and how it shows us that these guys are so good that this fight is going to absolutely WRECK everything around them, but because I didn't know how anything about how closely, if at all, the drama would follow the book, I didn't know what quite what to expect going in, AND THEN ... Di Feisheng stabs Li Xiangyi in the shoulder and shouts "I won!"

And of course Li Xiangyi is poisoned and feeling bitter betrayal and grief because he thinks Di Feisheng had Shan Gudao killed, and we see him surge up and fight back. Cheng Yi's expression at that point is amazing because he looks furious but also like he's about to burst into tears.

That was the point where I stopped and thought, oh, they're coming at this fight from different places, with different expectations.

Di Feisheng thinks Sigu Sect (Li Xiangyi) broke the peace they brokered after Shan Gudao's death, and at that point I think he already suspects that someone has framed his Alliance, but he's more than willing to fight Li Xiangyi when he shows up, and hopefully win and then figure out what the hell is going on.

But Li Xiangyi is grieving and he thinks he's been betrayed in the worst way by someone who is not only a match for him in terms of ability but also by this person he brokered a peace with, who he thought of as an honorable man, who he admired, and if the way they interact from their very first scene together is anything to go by, a person who he knows admires him in turn, who banters with Li Xiangyi because he likes him, who he thought of as an equal and a friend.

We know Li Xiangyi had a lot of admirers, and sect brothers and sisters who were his subordinates, but Qiao Wanmian was his only real friend, and their relationship was complicated by expectations and propriety.

So Di Feisheng's betrayal hurt like hell, and while Di Feisheng is dueling with Li Xiangyi in a battle to see who has the best martial arts, Li Xiangyi is fighting all out, looking to do damage to Di Feisheng and, I believe, to himself too. He's hurting. He's in a mad rage, and he's poisoned, and he's willing to kill and be killed.

They both almost die, etc., and each doesn't know quite what happened to the other, but their first thoughts when we catch up with them 10 years later are about each other.

Di Feisheng is grieving the loss of the person who was his match and Li Xiangyi is still haunted by Di Feisheng, still trying to find Shan Gudao's body. So that connection is alive for both of them, but what are the feelings there?

Before they met in person I would have called what Li Xiangyi was feeling toward Di Feisheng a grudge, too, but I think it's more complicated than that, because the way those first scenes played out gave me another "oh!" moment. The show defied my expectations again, and instead of a hint of the old rage, or coldness, Li Xiangyi recognizes Di Feisheng immediately and is pleased to see him.

Now, it's a complicated pleased -- and if you've read this far I thank you because I know I'm long-winded as hell but I promise to get to the point -- but he's pleased nonetheless, and I think we see a hint of relief, too, because now that Di Feisheng is back in the picture, Li Lianhua thinks he's closer to finding Shan Gudao's body.

The angst, the anger, the passion of friendship and betrayal, and all of those complicated feelings that might have been part of their relationship when it was put on hold by that last battle have been tempered by years apart and they fall right into a careful, playful back and forth, testing each other as Di Feisheng insists on a rematch, Li Lianhua refuses, and they start chasing each other.

It's playful, and they banter, but instead of a grudge I think the edgy undercurrent in Li Lianhua's first interactions with Di Feisheng is disappointment, or disappointed hurt. And when Di Feisheng finds out about Li Lianhua's condition he is similarly disappointed, e.g. You are not quite the person I thought you were, and if that faith has been broken, then who am I?

I thought it was delightful that the show gave us those nuances and let us see that there were other things at stake -- a history, a rapport, a relationship -- instead of just one guy fighting another from a rival sect to avenge a murder.

I'm only vaguely familiar with the concept of zhiji (知己) in wuxia but I believe it can cover a lot of ground and come in many permutations in terms of relationships between people, but if zhiji is the person who knows you, who challenges you, who sees your worth personally and on a spiritual level, then what happens if you break with them? Is it even possible to break with them?

The show seems to be telling us that no, it isn't, even if you cripple each other for a decade; even if you hurt each other, you're still zhiji and there must be some resolution, somewhere, to untangle the knotted threads in your heart, even if it takes a very long time.

You might go into seclusion for a decade but you still drink to your zhiji every lonely afternoon; you might escape your life, travel under an alias for ten years, but dream about your zhiji every night. So when you finally confront that person again there are a lot of complicated emotions involved, and even if you say you want to escape that relationship fate will still pull you back together, so why not enjoy the ride? Might as well keep him close; that's where he belongs.

I think the concept of zhiji applies to Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng's relationship as the most obvious example on the show, but it also does a good job of telling us how it's possible to have more than one person who gets us on a spiritual level.

Qiao Wanman was the zhiji of Li Xiangyi's youth, even if they didn't know or appreciate it at the time. The scenes where they came back together to resolve that relationship are possibly my favorite scenes in the show.

Li Xiangyi/Li Lianhua is the zhiji of Fang Duobing's childhood and young adulthood, and I love the silliness and the sweetness of that relationship, and that Fang Duobing got such a great resolution too, that he got to spend time with Li Lianhua and create a real connection with someone who before was only a starry-eyed memory.

Di Feisheng is the zhiji of Li Xiangyi's past, and of Li Lianhua's present. It's possibly the only zhiji pairing that can't be resolved within the narrative -- unless you think they really did find Li Lianhua, which I can't say that I do -- because Li Lianhua is Di Feisheng's only zhiji.

Qiao Wanman and Fang Duobing have other deep connections, but Di Feisheng doesn't, and probably won't because, "I have only one opponent in my life, that is Li Xiangyi. I have only one wish in my life, and that is to beat him."

Watch Shunyao's face in that scene: he might be framing everything in terms of martial conflict, but that's only because Di Feisheng doesn't have the language to express himself any other way. If he doesn't find Li Lianhua he'll continue searching, he has no choice.

It sucks, but it's beautiful too. The show delivers so much, which is why I tend to ship that pairing first, and imo why the OT3 with Xiaobao is so attractive.

[exitvelocities]

a kiss out of envy or jealousy fic meme fill from discord. yes, there's almost definitely a threesome later. no, i'm probably not writing it.

*

upon stepping out of lotus tower on the thirteenth anniversary of the donghai battle, li lianhua registers three things at once: the moon is very bright, there is someone in the clearing wearing the flashy white and red of his own old sigu sect garb, and he is kissing di feisheng. "what's going on here?" li lianhua says, voice sharper than he means it to be. understandable, when one comes upon a stranger kissing one's husband.

li xiangyi — because that's indisputably who it is, once his face is visible — pulls away with a scowl, clearly displeased at being interrupted. di feisheng, for his part, looks faintly bemused. "what does it look like i'm doing?" li xiangyi says, chin lifted challengingly.

"kissing my husband," li lianhua says, tone acidic. "and you!" he turns to di feisheng, whose face is so carefully blank that he must want to smile, the jackal, "why were you letting him?"

"well, he wanted to kill me for your shixiong's body," di feisheng says, the corner of his mouth quirking in a way that's probably only visible to li lianhua, "so i had to explain a few things to him."

li lianhua turns back to li xiangyi. "and that made you kiss him why?"

"i don't see why only you should get to," li xiangyi says crossing his arms. "i have as much a right to him as you do."

"you do not," li lianhua cries. "you don't know what we've been through!"

"i do too, he told me," li xiangyi says.

"not all of it," di feisheng says.

li lianhua levels a finger at him, "you're enjoying this!"

di feisheng raises his hands placatingly, but li xiangyi cuts in before he can say anything. "why shouldn't he?" he says, "you can't even fight him anymore."

li lianhua sways like he's been struck, vision going white with fury. di feisheng is by his side before he can blink the anger out of his eyes, hand on his elbow holding him steady. "xiangyi?" he says softly and li lianhua shakes his head.

"you little brat," he says, waving a finger at li xiangyi. "just like always, you know nothing!" li lianhua grabs at di feisheng, pulling his head down and kissing him soundly. he feels di feisheng's eyelashes flutter against his cheekbones in surprise but he relaxes into it easily, lips parting for li lianhua's tongue. kissing di feisheng is familiar and comforting, and li lianhua loses himself in it for a moment before he remembers he's supposed to be teaching someone a lesson and pulls back.

li xiangyi looks like he's bitten into something sour. "well, whatever," he says. "you just have more practice than me right now, that's all." he turns and stalks up the steps of lotus tower like he owns it, ignoring hulijing's inquisitive bark. "i'm going to find something to eat."

"good luck," di feisheng mutters, but his gaze is soft when li lianhua turns to glare at him. "don't worry," he says, cupping the side of li lianhua's face tenderly. "i won't leave you. not even for a younger version of yourself."

"who said i was worried," li lianhua says with a sniff, eyes cutting away to hide the way his heart is full and trembling.

"i do still want to fight him, though," di feisheng says thoughtfully, and li lianhua swats at his face.