Why is This Clingy Snow Leopard Acting So Innocent? - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Handsome? You Plan to Wear This to the Festival?

The body of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy is always prone to restless, surging heat.

This is a very common thing, but it happened a bit too frequently with Yun Shu. Perhaps it was because he was an adult-bodied snow leopard.

Logically, an adult male snow leopard’s rut is influenced by the presence of females. However, since becoming human, Yun Shu had essentially zero contact with female leopards. Consequently, during his early teens in human years, he hadn’t experienced similar situations.

When was the first time? Well, it was when he was seventeen in human years.

During that summer break in the eleventh grade, he went to Linzhou. It happened to be a gap in Su Wen’s work schedule, so Su Wen took him all over the city, helping him adapt to life at a lower altitude.

They stayed at the grandest hotel in Linzhou. The presidential suite on the top floor had a massive floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the city’s entire nightscape. Yun Shu, seeing such a view for the first time, sat by the window for hours until Su Wen came to call him.

Su Wen had just showered. He was wearing a loose, thin shirt, and his hair was dripping wet. Droplets fell one by one onto the thin fabric, causing the damp shirt to cling to his skin, revealing a faint, pinkish hint of his chest. A subtle fragrance, carried by the escaping steam from the bathroom, drifted into Yun Shu’s nose.

That was the first time Yun Shu felt a scorching heat while sitting in a room with the air conditioning set to 20°C.

Su Wen was the first to notice the strange reaction in his body. The two of them were sitting cross-legged on the carpet, facing each other with the bustling night of Linzhou beyond the glass. The scent on Su Wen was so close it felt like it was seeping into Yun Shu’s skin.

With a mischievous smirk, Su Wen leaned in close to his ear, his warm breath hitting Yun Shu’s eardrum:

“Why is your face so red?”

“Hey, Yun Shu,” a hand lightly patted his cheek. Seeing no reaction, Su Wen pinched him a bit harder. “What’s up with you?”

Yun Shu snapped back to reality from the sharp sting. He looked up to see Su Wen propping his head on one hand, head tilted, looking at him with an air of idle boredom. It seemed waiting was indeed tedious; they had arrived early, and the others were still on their way.

“I’m asking you,” Su Wen yawned. “Why is your face so red?”

Yun Shu grabbed the water on the table and leaned back in his chair, avoiding eye contact as he blurted out a cover-up: “Hot.”

Su Wen arched an eyebrow, a barely perceptible smirk playing on his lips. “It’s been several days now… and you’re still hot?”

“Pfft—!”

Yun Shu scrambled with tissues to wipe the water he had just spat all over the table. Before he could finish, Ke Ning pushed the door open and handed him a dry rag from behind the door. “The documents didn’t get wet, did they, Yun Shu?”

“No,” his voice was inexplicably hoarse. He coughed heavily and tried again. “No.”

Ke Ning’s inquisitive gaze darted between the two of them before landing on Su Wen. She pointed at Yun Shu. “Ge, what’s wrong with him?”

Su Wen shrugged. “Probably just hot.”

Yun Shu coughed even harder. Ke Ning poured him another glass of water and set it by hand.

…

Today was the day to finalize the schedule for the Mountain God Festival and the filming methods for the crew.

A few days ago, Ke Ning had printed out her repeatedly revised proposal and handed it to Su Wen. Surprisingly, yet reasonably, Su Wen agreed almost immediately after reading it, without much persuasion needed.

While she suspected Yun Shu had played mediator, Su Wen told her it was simply because the plan aligned perfectly with his vision.

Confirmed in her success, the first thing Ke Ning did after saying goodbye was to open Weibo and follow “Su Wen.” Su Wen hadn’t posted in two years; excluding professional work, he hadn’t voluntarily posted a personal update in nearly five.

But even after five years of nearly “vanishing,” his post last month had sparked significant discussion and shot straight to the trending searches. She had backed the right horse. Ke Ning’s mind was already filled with visions of Su Wen leading the entire village onto the trending topics after the festival.

The Mountain God Festival of Sare Village. The massive influx of tourists at that time would surely bring economic benefits far greater than what was possible back when the internet was less developed. She was determined to lead this village to prosperity.

“Haha…”

“Hmm?” The village chief looked at her. “Xiao Ke, do you have anything to add?”

“Ah,” she waved her hands quickly. “No, no. All my questions are resolved.”

Sare Village had at least two promotional periods: one centered on Su Wen, and the other during the release of the documentary. At the meeting, almost everyone had “Tourist Village” written on their faces. The scenic area they had spent over a decade building was finally going to be put to use.

After the meeting, Su Wen and Yun Shu said their goodbyes and prepared to leave. Ke Ning followed them out and called them back.

Su Wen had one hand resting on Yun Shu’s shoulder, a faint smile on his face. He turned to look at her, waiting for her to speak. The sky had darkened, and only a single beam of light from the meeting room hit his face. Ke Ning froze for a moment.

When she didn’t speak for a long time, Su Wen finally asked, “Hmm? Is there something else, Ke Ning?”

“Oh, no, no,” it took her two full seconds to remember what she wanted to say. “I just wanted to ask, is the ceremonial chuba that Amma Drolma sent over a good fit?”

“If it doesn’t fit, we can swap it for a smaller size. I forgot to ask last time, haha,” she scratched her head, adding sheepishly.

“Oh, right.” It took Su Wen a moment to remember that intricately crafted robe. He had put it in the corner of his wardrobe after receiving it; it was probably gathering dust. But he couldn’t say that directly, so he gave her a charming smile. “I’ll try it on tonight and let you know, okay?”

Ke Ning had a dazed, silly smile on her face, but she quickly snapped out of it. “I’ll wait for your message then.”

Beside them, Yun Shu pursed his lips and gave Su Wen’s sleeve a tug. “Can we go now?”

Su Wen patted his head and said to Ke Ning, “Alright, we’re heading out.”

…

His promise wasn’t just a brush-off; he tried it on the moment they got back.

The white robe was densely embroidered with various exquisite patterns. Looking closely, one could see they depicted scenes of the Mountain God bestowing blessings. Near the chest, there was a very delicate embroidery of a snow leopard’s head. It was clear that a lot of effort had gone into it.

But, as expected, it didn’t fit. Su Wen tried wearing three or four layers underneath to fill it out, but he only ended up drenched in sweat. He had to strip down to nothing and put the oversized robe back on just to test the look.

“How is it?” he asked, opening his bedroom door.

The living room was silent. No one answered.

“Where is everyone?” Su Wen looked around. Yun Shu was sitting on the sofa, staring fixedly at him. “Why are you sitting there and not saying anything?”

Yun Shu’s gaze followed him as he approached. Only when Su Wen stood right in front of him did Yun Shu look up, his eyes trembling slightly.

Su Wen looked himself over, then met Yun Shu’s gaze, arching an eyebrow. “Handsome?”

Yun Shu sat there, utterly dazed.

Su Wen was very fair. After months on the snow mountain, he had some sunburn, and the reddened patches on his skin hadn’t fully faded. A few days ago, the sunburn had been so itchy that he had scratched himself red. The scratch marks extended from his jaw down to his collarbone. Because the robe was so loose, it revealed the scratches as well as the faint tooth marks on his collarbone beneath them.

It inspired an urge to follow those scratch marks downward. Yun Shu looked away uncomfortably, his voice going hoarse. “You plan to wear this to the festival?”

Su Wen chuckled and tapped his knuckle against Yun Shu’s forehead. He turned and sat down on the chair next to the sofa, swinging one leg up casually. Propping his head on his hand, he teased, “What? Is it not good?”

Yun Shu knit his brows and looked down. After a moment, he looked up again. “It looks… very bad on you.”

Su Wen: “…”

He pulled his leg back and crossed his arms. “Are you sure you want to be that harsh?”

Surprisingly, Yun Shu didn’t apologize. “No one wears it like that.”

“Like what? How am I wearing it?” Su Wen looked down at his clothes, tugging at them. It seemed normal enough, if a bit baggy. “How else should I wear it?”

Yun Shu didn’t answer. He reached out and pulled the open collar closed. He looked at the hidden scratch marks. “This is better.”

As soon as he let go, the collar slid open again.

Su Wen raised an eyebrow. “Pointless effort.”

Yun Shu watched the collar return to its original position, even sliding a bit further out. He looked up. “It’s because you aren’t wearing anything underneath, right?”

Su Wen shrugged. “It’s the same even if I do.”

Yun Shu was confused. “Then why?”

“Stupid,” Su Wen smacked the top of his head. “It’s too big!”

“Oh,” Yun Shu’s tone weakened. “I thought you were wearing it like that because of ‘fashion’.”

Su Wen was speechless. “Don’t you think I’d die of heat stroke trying to pull off that kind of fashion?”

Yun Shu tilted his head. “Not freeze to death?”

“Wow, you’re so smart.”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

Su Wen rubbed his hair. “Really smart.”

Yun Shu: “…”

“I have to go to Ke Ning’s tomorrow anyway,” Su Wen stood up, grabbing a shirt from the folded pile on the sofa to change out of the robe. “I’ll give the clothes back to her then.”

“Oh, but wait,” he remembered something and looked at Yun Shu. “Let me see yours.”

“My what?”

He tugged at the ceremonial robe he was still wearing. “Your chuba.”

“Oh…” Yun Shu looked away. “I don’t have one.”

“Huh? Why?” Su Wen paused in the middle of taking off the robe. “Doesn’t everyone wear one for the festival? What did you wear before?”

“Just… my own clothes.”

Su Wen recalled the detailed explanation of local customs in the handbook. At the Mountain God Festival, everyone was supposed to wear ceremonial dress to show the highest respect to the Mountain God to receive blessings for the coming year. Dressing casually was considered disrespectful and would result in no blessings.

Because of this “good fortune,” parents in every household would prepare unique ceremonial robes for their children from a young age, refining the size as they grew. Every piece was one-of-a-kind.

Su Wen was silent for a moment. “Why don’t you have one?”

Yun Shu didn’t seem to care. “Should I?”