#ranwan wontons

[yumemiruuuu]

Chu Wanning if he couldn’t make wontons (ft. the uncooked batch in the background) 🥹👍

Hi yes this took SO LONG to make, and I was missing quite a few of the ingredients (like the Black Vinegar and Garlic Chili Sauce) so I had to improvise 🙇🏻‍♀️ I also didn’t have the wonton wrappers so I had to make them from scratch which was PAINSTAKINGLY time and stamina consuming (but hey, living the canon Chu Wanning experience)

Definitely messed up and it looks nothing like the picture in the RanWan wonton recipe I used but it was super fun to make and I hope my friend and I can enjoy it

Link to the RanWan wonton recipe ↓↓↓

[friedwizardwhispers]

[inthefaceofadaffodil]

[rejectedfables]

"how to reconcile Chu Wanning's cooking skills vs Mo Ran's love of The Wontons", a Guide:

(NOTE: I have only read the first two official English translated volumes, and scoured the internet for spoilers-- if there's later canon confirmation of something that I haven't encountered yet, I don't know her)

Chu Wanning is shown cooking things badly (such as the cabbage and tofu stew), and cooking specific things very well (the wontons). He is also implied to have cooked other things at least tolerably well as Chu Fei. Evidence:

The wontons are described thusly, with the implication that they're just as good every time Mo Ran has had them:

Conclusion? Chu Wanning can cook at least this one thing consistently, and Mo Ran loves it every time. As far as we know Mo Ran is the only one who's ever eaten them, so him loving them is not actually an endorsement that they ARE good-- just that HE thinks they are.

When he's going to make the cabbage and tofu stew, this is Chu Wanning's response to being asked if he even knows how to cook:

Conclusion? Chu Wanning is at least not confident enough in his cooking abilities to claim proficiency. I would be tempted to chalk this up to "he's so skilled at other things and so critical of himself that he's downplaying his cooking skills" except he absolutely flubs the recipe so badly that it's unrecognizable, and everyone who eats it gets sick.

When Mo Ran is half asleep, and believes himself to still be in his previous life with Chu Fei, he says this:

Conclusion? Chu Fei frequently cooked non-wonton food for Taxian-jun, which Taxian-jun enjoyed enough to request more of it.

I've compiled options of what this all might mean when put together:

Probably authorial intent: Chu Wanning isn't a BAD cook he's just a SLOW and METHODICAL cook, and that does not lend itself to batch cooking like he was expected to do in Mengpo Hall.

POSSIBLY authorial intent: Chu Wanning is a REALLY GOOD cook when he knows a recipe, but had never made the cabbage and tofu stew before and had no real instructions, so he fucked it up and got an unfair reputation for being a bad cook. This is a loose parallel to how he is broadly misunderstood as a person.

Sappy/sad option: the wontons are fine but the fact that they were made FOR MO RAN makes them special to Mo Ran. He's associated them with feeling good, and because he thought they were from Shi Mei, his happy memories of them weren't warped or stolen by the flower, leaving them as his favorite memory of food. They're untainted by hatred, and therefore they are the best.

Funny option (not supported by canon): Mo Ran just has bad taste.

Funniest option (not technically UNsupported by canon >_>): Chu Wanning is a bad cook, and frequently hurts himself while cooking. Unbeknownst to Mo Ran, the flower's bloodlust can literally be sated with literal blood. Mo Ran's memories of the wontons are his least tormented by the flower, because while eating them he's consuming Chu Wanning's actual blood, so the flower is sated and pleased. They taste the best to Mo Ran because their secret accidental ingredient (blood) overwrites their actual mediocre flavor.

My favorite option: The reason the wontons are the best food Mo Ran has ever eaten is because they're literally just... all of Mo Ran's favorite foods combined into one dish. Chu Wanning isn't a good COOK so much as he's an encyclopedia of knowledge about Mo Ran. The wontons are perfect because they're perfect for Mo Ran specifically.

[talk-danmei-to-me]

ranwan mpreg in og timeline + kid and 100% of chu wanning's soul/memory go to new timeline + mo ran is revealed as a BBBF early

Hi, I don't write mpreg or kid fic and I've only read the official translations so I have no idea how the souls are working at this point. Apart from there's something up with Chu Wanning's. That being said, I appreciate the prompt and I have been wanting to write something auction themed about Mo Ran for the longest time so I went with a Mo Ran BBBF reveal. Enjoy!

***

‘Shizun, have you been to one of these before?’ Shi Mei asked, leaning over the railing of their booth to peek at the stage.

‘A couple. They’re vile things, attracting all manner of filth. But, they are a good place to learn information and secure valuable items related to cultivation. That is why Xue Zhengyong suggested you accompany me. This may be the most successful way of securing you a spiritual weapon.’

Shi Mei nodded. In a matter of minutes, the Xuanyuan Pavilion auction would begin. His shizun’s face remained an unreadable mask as he waited for the Second Pavilion Master to appear and launch into her familiar spiel. Suddenly the booths were cast into darkness and only the stage was alight. The drama of it all drew a gasp from Shi Mei but Chu Wanning remained unmoved, he took a perfunctory sip of his drink as the Second Pavilion Master of Xuanyuan Pavilion stood centre stage and introduced the first item, an overpriced love potion. Exactly the type of item he expected.

The auctions were not to his taste. They were far too boisterous and crass. Selling all manner of overpriced ridiculous trinkets and treasures. The only Chu Wanning agreed to attend was due to the hopes they might finally discover who the fake Gouchen was. Due to his cultivation methods, he needed as many followers and spiritual weapons as possible. Shi Mei might also benefit from the spiritual weapon for sale. Xue Zhengyong had said as much to Chu Wanning before he left. Shi Mei’s cultivation was low. Healing seemed the most appropriate pathway, but danger lurked everywhere. If his disciple was to protect himself properly, an orphaned spiritual weapon seemed most logical.

Following the love potion came potions that promised great riches through guaranteeing the drinker success in all they tried to achieve. Shi Mei turned to Chu Wanning a couple of times, though he never dared to speak or offer a single thought.

‘Are you well?’ Chu Wanning asked after a while.

‘Fine, shizun. It really is mesmerising the amounts people will pay.’

Chu Wanning unintentionally snorted. There was nothing at the Xuanyuan auction that surprised him. Instead, he was fortunate to maintain his knowledge of  could shock or surprise him. At least, that’s what he believed before the Second Pavilion Master announced the next item.

A Butterfly Boned Beauty Feast.

A Butterfly Boned Beauty Feast in itself was not so shocking to Chu Wanning, he’d lived a while and knew of their appeal to those within the cultivation world. What shocked Chu Wanning, and the disciple beside him, was the fact that this Butterfly Boned Beauty Feast was horribly familiar. After months of painful silence, Mo Ran had returned to their lives.

The day after Xue Meng caught him robbing a whore, Chu Wanning had been so overcome with disappointment and resentment, he’d beat Mo Ran with Tianwen so hard, he fled Sisheng Peak in a rage and sworn never to set foot their again. He never even left enough time for Chu Wanning to prepare the wontons that usually soothed his soul in such times of upset. Upon his return, Xue Zhengyong remained adamant his nephew would return and yet, his optimism went unrewarded for months. Now, Chu Wanning suspected he knew why. Mo Ran hadn’t returned home because he’d been captured. Yet Chu Wanning was confused. He’d seen Mo Ran cry and his cultivation had always been exceptional. Were the auctioneers lying? It didn’t make sense. He gripped his seat and tried to focus on the words spewing from the Second Pavilion Master’s dainty mouth.

‘A real treat, this one,’ she promised, ‘a confirmed Butterfly Boned Beauty Feast, with no giveaway features. We recommend keeping this one within your bedrooms.’ 

Chu Wanning sensed the reluctance in the room. No golden tears… What if Mo Ran was a dupe? But the cultivation world’s faith in Xuanyuan was resolute. After a few seconds of awkward whispers, the bets began to float down to the stage like rainfall after a drought. The Second Pavilion Master read each one out, her voice filled with glee as the number grew higher and higher. Chu Wanning felt more uncomfortable and unwell by the second. Bile rose in his throat. Xue Zhengyong would be beside himself if he knew the kind of horrors that were about to be inflicted upon his beloved nephew. Chu Wanning also couldn’t stand the thought of one of his disciples being treated so poorly. Shi Mei’s voice rang in his ears

‘We have to do something!’ He offered Chu Wanning the pouch of money that was supposed to be for his spiritual weapon.

Chu Wanning took it and scribbled his bet on a tab before sending it floating down to the stage.

‘Woah!’ the Second Pavilion Master exclaimed, ‘We have our highest bid of the night, forty million!’

‘There’s not forty million in the pouch…’ Shi Mei said, his features twisted with concern.

‘I didn’t just bet the pouch,’ Chu Wanning said.  

He felt sick. He’d offered all of Sisheng Peak’s wealth to secure Mo Ran’s freedom. There was nothing else he could do. If someone else bid even 1 coin higher, Mo Ran would be lost to them forever, never to reconcile with his uncle and cousin.

‘Do you have any more money?’

Shi Mei shook his head, his gaze fixed on Mo Ran’s form, his youthful body draped in sheer fabric strapped to a bed on the stage. They truly had presented him as someone who was ready to be devoured. Somehow, Chu Wanning was unable to picture it, no matter how hard he tried.

Silence filled the pavilion and in as dramatic a fashion as she could manage, the Second Pavilion Master announced that the Butterfly Boned Beauty Feast had been purchased by Sisheng Peak.

That night, with the few coins they’d managed to preserve, Chu Wanning purchased two rooms at an inn so they could rest well before the return to Sisheng Peak. He told Shi Mei he would share his room with Mo Ran in case anyone came looking to steal him. Shi Mei seemed pleased Mo Ran’s safety had not become his responsibility and disappeared into his room with a faint smile. Inside his own room, Chu Wanning was at a loss of what to say to his disciple who he’d recently purchased.

‘Do you require a bath, or some food?’ he offered, completely out of his depth.

Mo Ran’s handsome features distorted into a wild expression and he sneered at Chu Wanning as he knelt on the bed, ‘Aren’t you going to fuck me, Shizun? It’s what you paid for isn’t it?’

Such crass words were enough to make Chu Wanning’s face burn. He wasn’t equipped for this, ‘I bought you so you could come home.’

‘Where’s that?’ Mo Ran asked, his tone bitter.

‘Sisheng Peak. Your uncle has been beside himself since your disappearance.’

‘Well, I’ve not been having the best time either.’

Mo Ran moved around the room as though in search of something, ‘Remember the last thing I said to you, Shizun?’

Chu Wanning shook his head, though the words were etched into his memory, he watched his disciple embody a trapped tiger.

‘I told you I’d fuck you to death.’ Mo Ran burst out laughing, ‘Could you imagine? If I’d actually done it? I’d actually have made you stronger. What a joke!’

Chu Wanning couldn’t listen to anymore, ‘Enough, Mo Weiyu. Tomorrow, we will return to Sisheng Peak. Once you have safely to your uncle, you need not suffer me any longer.’

‘Are you leaving?’ Mo Ran asked, frowning slightly.

‘I was thinking of resigning as your shizun. Unless you would prefer I was gone from your life completely.’  

‘I-’ Mo Ran faltered, ‘Well, you did rescue me, which I appreciate. I guess it’s okay if you remain my shizun too. Apparently I still have a lot to learn about the ways of the world.’  

[nacrelysis]

the xue family is alive and well. xue zhengyong helps xue meng name his spiritual fan; the name sucks, as is expected, but xue meng can't think of a better one. madam wang tends to sisheng peak's affairs and spoils veggie bun rotten, so to this day, xue meng can't get the cat to favor him over his mother. she sends medicine and small trinkets from the market to chu wanning, reminding mo ran he's always welcome no matter his past. she asks after taxian-jun's flowers, while xue zhengyong insists that ranwan come pay them a visit - don't they miss madam wang's cooking?

the hanxue twins court xue meng, and it takes five months before he notices and another year and a half before they start making wedding preparations. chu wanning and mo ran get married. they have a ceremony on sisheng peak. madam wang prepares chu wanning's favorite sweets and leaves the wontons for him to make himself. xue zhengyong gifts them things both extravagant and ordinary - a jar of aged peach blossom wine, matching guan sets, lotus seeds for taxian-jun.

at the end of the celebration, madam wang brings over a basket. mo ran moves to pull back the blanket, but the little kitten pokes its sleepy face out before he can do so. veggie bun had kits, they're told, perhaps you'd- and mo ran has already jumped to say yes before madam wang can finish. the hanxues hang around to tease xue meng and get matching whacks over the head from his war fan. mo ran passes the kitten to chu wanning and watched his beloved's face melt in affection. madam wang and xue zhengyong preside over this little family, and xue zhengyong's fan is broadly, proudly turned to the side that says "xue is beautiful."

now you wake up.

[incarnadinedreams]

I'm finally reading 2ha (I've been traveling and finally dug into it on the plane back home Sunday) and I have to say so far my early impressions are that it's very entertaining and purely at a romance level I think I might be way more into Ranwan than I was ever interested in Wangxian or Hualian (though generally I always find myself more interested in the side characters than main canon couples regardless of genre so we'll see how long that holds up)

Give me some problematic™ and a cat-coded grumpy man with a whip and I'm happy I guess!

I am 100% here for the detailed descriptions of food/meals too it's inspiring me to learn some recipes soon :D

I feel like I'm not supposed to like Xue Meng but I do, he's so funny. And just calling it now, this Shi Mei guy and his wontons are suspicious as fuck

(I'm only near the end of the first volume of the official TL so no spoilers please! Though I'm not one of those super anti-spoiler people so if something slips then whatever)

[yumemiruuuu]

Gonna be making RanWan’s Wontons tonight, wish me luck 😔🙏🏻

[otomeza35]

“Food can’t make you cry”

The food:

Also, I’m at chapter 100 and wontons had been mentioned 42 times 💀💀💀

[shesnotquitedead]

Mo Ran can have little a redemption, as a treat

I quite like how this lineart is looking so far. I might even get around to coloring this at some point....

[xiaoguiheyu]

I've been well fed with hyx leaks today. It was a good day.

AAAAAAAAAAA

Chen Feiyu said that wontons in chili oil is his favorite food.

And he fed lyx with his own chopsticks?!!?!

Sooooo many leaks

I'm losing my shit!!

[holographings]

oh i also started reading 2ha.. this might’ve been a mistake. but im so excited for the live action i hope they don’t change anything more than what we already know is changed ://

[yewangxis]

2ha spoilers 😌

[silverstark]

It’s heartbreaking and striking upon re-read that even though Mo Ran found Shi Mei beautiful, it was Shi Mei’s kindness that he fell in love with. The wontons. “Thank you for being the only person to never look down on me.” His trust that Shi Mei wouldn’t mind his table manners. Jincheng Lake.

It’s just so simple and sweet. And:

Isn’t that an apt summary of the tragedy of RanWan 1.0?

[se-hos]

vegaspete’s noodles 🤝 ranwan’s wontons

[softienakyum]

i love the way cwn shows his affection; make wontons. quietly making wontons and finding ways to make sure moran eats them. give them to shi mei and make sure they reach moran. but shi mei deepens the misunderstanding between of ranwan. the way moran chewed cwn’s heart and spit it out; throwing the wontons away and blaming him for shi mei's death. he was hurt by moran's blind hatred for no reason and chu fei never did anything moran likes again, slowly destroyed cwn's heart. 2ha hurts so delicious especially 0.5 sigh