Chapter Text
“This should be the last of it,” the deckhand skims over the clipboard once more, “Good work today, Mo-gongzi, we should be good to go from here.”
“Yeah, you too,” Mo Ran replies in kind, and starts to put his shirt back on, rolling up the sleeves, “Why are we unloading these here anyway?”
“Oh, Old Xuanji said the captain announced we’ll be docking here instead, since we’re so close to Wuchang,” the deckhand looks at Mo Ran in a way that basically suggests that he should already know this.
“Huh, what about the rotation of guild members?” Mo Ran looks out past the skyport, wondering if this means they’ll be taking jobs here.
“They’ll just take the rail, apparently,” the deckhand shrugs once, “That’s why I’m standing in for Old Xuanji—he’s escorting them back, and bringing the next group.”
“Right, thanks,” Mo Ran shoots the other a lazy salute in goodbye, and makes his way back down inside the ship. As he descends down, he wonders whether now was a good time to pay a little someone a visit.
His thoughts pause as a familiar melodic voice calls out to him just as he steps within, “A-Ran?”
Mo Ran turns around to see Shi Mei’s affable, smiling face, who was walking towards him. He smiles back and greets the other man, “Hey, welcome back, it's been a while. Are you staying long?”
Shi Mei shakes his head, and gestures for them to walk and talk, “Just stopped by to deliver a missive from Guyue’ye. I'll be heading back when Sisheng stops over Xuanyuan’s skyport.”
A blur of a familiar-looking coat catches the edge of his vision as he turns back around, but it's gone too fast for him to recognize it, and it slips from his mind just as quickly.
“That's plenty of time to join us and cause some havoc,” Mo Ran huffs out jokingly, “And a missive delivered in person? Sounds important.”
“It is,” Shi Mei confirms honestly, “The captain will probably inform you about it later. A-Meng’s in his office right now, actually.”
“Do you know what it's about?” Mo Ran glances sideways, simultaneously curious and slightly worried. A personal, hand-delivered from one of the richest, largest guilds in the empire…that can't bode for anything good.
“I do, but it's probably not something that should be discussed without proper precautions,” Shi Mei replies, “I can tell you one hint though—it’s about a bounty.”
“Huh, you've only made me more curious,” Mo Ran scans the reception hall quickly for an empty spot, and leads them to one of the further corner tables by the window, to have more privacy, in case anyone accidentally or not-so accidentally eavesdrops,“I should start attending official meetings now.”
“You'll probably take this one as a challenge,” Shi Mei smiles knowingly at him, “The reward is 10 times the amount of the largest bounty in history.”
Mo Ran was lucky he hasn't gotten up to get anything to eat or drink yet, though it was likely more appropriate to start choking on nothing after hearing that. The largest bounty he knows of was listed by the empire itself, at 20,000 gold.
“Who the hell is willing to pay such an outrageous amount?” Mo Ran wheezes out, “I’m pretty sure Sisheng’s liquid assets don't even come anywhere near that. Now I really need to know more about this.”
One of the stewards passing by suddenly backtracks and says,“Oh, Mo-gongzi, you just missed him.”
“Huh?” Mo Ran glances at the steward distractedly, “What?”
“That scary passenger you brought on board,” the steward replies, “Chu-gongzi, I think?”
Mo Ran stands up instinctively, palms flat against the table, heartbeat racing suddenly at the reminder. He clicks open his pocketwatch, and feels heart sink a little. It was nearing noon, now—he didn't realize that much time had passed. The work on the docks took longer than he realized.
“How do you know he was waiting for me?” Mo Ran can't help but ask; that kid rarely spoke unless addressed, after all.
“Well…he was sort of just sitting there. I thought maybe he was waiting for someone to serve him,” the steward scratches the back of his head, “You know how in those fancy, luxury skyships, they have a menu and waitstaff and the like. So I explained to him that we do self-service here in Sisheng.”
“He just nodded and thanked me, but didn't move,” the stewards shrugs, “When I asked after him again after an hour, he said he was waiting for someone. He mentioned your name. I let him be after that.”
“Ah, fuck,” Mo Ran hurriedly puts his coat back on and glances at Shi Mei and quickly says, “Sorry, I gotta go. I'll catch you around if you're up to grab a job with us.”
He doesn't wait for a response and makes a beeline for the passenger cabin. He feels his chest squeeze, remembering how distrustful the boy had seemed about everything and everyone—and yet he took Mo Ran's invitation sincerely, and even waited patiently for him. That was—really sweet, and really sad.
It's not even that he forgot—he’d gone to Butterfly Town’s market early to get a small gift. But then he got waylaid when he went back and saw the crew unloading cargo and was asked to help, and then again when he saw Shi Mei who he hadn't seen in months.
Mo Ran arrives in the passenger cabin just in time to see Chu Wanning, in his disguise, walking behind a deckhand, “Hey, ki—I mean, Chu-gongzi, can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Ah, Mo-gongzi, the captain requested Chu-gongzi’s presence in his office,” the deckhand answers instead when Mo Ran's met with silence from Chu Wanning.
“What?” Mo Ran blinks at the words. Why would the captain personally summon one of the passengers? Unless auntie told him about the disguise? But it's not like his uncle cares about that sort of thing enough to intervene, “I'll take him there, thanks, you can go.”
The deckhand glances between them falteringly, before bowing hastily and leaving them be. Silence reigns over the air pointedly for a moment, before Mo Ran swallows back his contrition and speaks, “Hey—I’m sorry I’m late. Some work on the ship came up.”
“Hn, it’s fine,” Chu Wanning replies, tone inscrutable, gaze not meeting Mo Ran’s own.
“No, it’s not—I…you waited the whole morning, right?” At that, Chu Wanning looks up, his neutral expression tensing into something colder.
“I didn’t forget, I promise; I just lost track of time,” Mo Ran rummages within his coat and pulls out a jar, “Do you like candies? All kids like candies.”
Mo Ran opens the jar of milk candy and holds it out, “Here, my humble offering.”
Chu Wanning’s expression falters slightly, biting his lower lip as he glances between the jar and Mo Ran, before reaching out tentatively and taking one. Mo Ran watches in rapt fascination the way his stoic expression unfurrows into something softer as he eats the candy. He mentally files away the adorable sight.
“You can have the whole thing,” Mo Ran puts the lid back on and holds it out once more, shaking it slightly towards Chu Wanning, whose expression seemed like he was going to refuse. But then his hands take the jar anyway, before he mumbles out a barely audible thank you. Mo Ran tries not to feel a little too pleased at finding out something Chu Wanning liked, “I was hoping you’d like candies.”
He had gone at the crack of dawn just as the stalls in the market were setting up, having restlessly thought through the night what gift he could get that would be received well but didn’t seem too excessive that it would be refused. Thankfully, it seemed this kid does like candies. Why does he find this kid even cuter now? Like he said, it was normal for kids to like sweet things. And yet the thought of this grumpy, quiet kid liking childish things was just precious.
“We should probably head to the captain’s office now,” Mo Ran suddenly remembers the deckhand’s words. He watches Chu Wanning’s expression tighten once more, and so he adds, “You don't have to worry—the captain’s a good man, he's not gonna turn you in or anything just because you don't meet the age requirement to fly alone.”
When Chu Wanning's expression doesn't unfurrow, Mo Ran adds, “But if you want, I can accompany you inside. So don't worry too much, okay?”
Mo Ran puts a hand on Chu Wanning's shoulder and steers him to the captain’s office, which he notes happily, don't get shaken off.
“What do you like eating? We should go to the town instead for breakfast, not that our food isn't great,” Mo Ran tries to make casual conversation, “Oh right, were you still heading for Wuchang?”
Chu Wanning only glances at him sideways, blinking once, which Mo Ran takes as questioning, “Cause apparently this is where we’re docking for the next few days. We're skipping Wuchang this route.”
“Oh,” Chu Wanning seems to contemplate Mo Ran's words, and says, “I suppose I'll get off here.”
“You still being secretive about why you're going there?” Mo Ran wheedles slightly, “We don't have rare artifacts there like they do in the upper islands, you know.”
Chu Wanning just looks at him with uncomprehending eyes, and eventually replies with, “I'm not being secretive. Someone said that I could meet him in Sisheng, if I needed to find him.”
“Oh, did they mean the skyship or the guild?” Mo Ran asks, wondering with mild curiosity who this someone is.
“I don't know,” Chu Wanning says hesitantly, “I didn't see him here…so I suppose it's within the isle.”
“I can help you out, show you around if you want,” Mo Ran immediately jumps on the opportunity to hang out with the kid for a little longer before he even properly thinks it through, “Oh we're here. Want me to come with you?”
Chu Wanning considers for a moment, before nodding slightly, movement almost inscrutable. Mo Ran smiles reassuringly at him, and opens the door to his uncle's office.
“Don't you know how to knock?” His cousin's voice greets him, tone dry, standing near the captain's desk.
“What’s got you so pissy? Uncle's the one who asked for Chu-gongzi to be brought here,” Mo Ran snipes back, before leading Chu Wanning inside and shutting the door.
“Ah, Ran-er, thank you for escorting him,” the captain greets him warmly, before turning to Chu Wanning, “Chu-gongzi, please take a seat.”
Mo Ran only notices Chu Wanning's eyes widen slightly because he'd been looking. Mo Ran lays a comforting hand on his shoulder in passing as he makes his way to stand on the side of the room.
“Ran-er, Meng-er, can you give us some privacy?” The captain addresses them, his expression still friendly, but Mo Ran hears the underlying seriousness.
“Uh…I don't mean to disrespect, uncle, but I promised Chu-gongzi I’d stay with him,” Mo Ran glances between the two with uncertainty.
“Is that so?” Xue Zhengyong eyes him and Chu Wanning with mild curiosity, before saying, “Well if Chu-gongzi doesn't mind, let's proceed.”
“It's good to formally meet you, Chu-gongzi, my name is Xue Zhengyong, the captain and guildmaster of Sisheng,” his uncle introduces himself, voice unusually quiet—and by that, Mo Ran means it was at a normal volume.
Chu Wanning stares at the captain, then glances at Mo Ran, seeming to hesitate about something before looking down at his hands and bowing deeply.
“Please, there's no need for that,” his uncle suddenly barks out a laugh, as if surprised by the gesture.
“I'm not sure whether you're aware,” his uncle continues in a measured tone, “But we received a missive early today, and we weren't sure on what to do. To put it bluntly, you have a bounty on your head—the largest this empire has ever seen.”
Mo Ran shoots up from where he'd been leaning lazily against the wall, remembering his conversation with Shi Mei, “What?”
His cousin shushes him from the side, and Mo Ran feels indignation surge within him at the dismissive gesture, but settles back down anyway, not wanting to overstep his uncle's authority.
Chu Wanning…doesn't look surprised, but rather, there is a tension within him that radiates smoldering anger, as his hands shake while he reads the missive the captain hands over.
“This is a complicated and unprecedented situation. We don't know all the details—we don't know any details actually—about this whole thing,” the captain sighs, “We don't know who listed it, and it's not a public bounty either. Just something passed around furtively—it’s clear that the lister wants to keep it hushed up. We don't know what you've done, if you've done anything to even warrant this.”
“Sisheng has decided to stay out of this entirely,” Xue Zhengyong continues, “But I decided to lend you the courtesy of letting you know. You don't have to worry about us turning you in, but I can't say the same of other guilds. I hope you don’t make us regret this decision.”
Chu Wanning remains silent, his head bowed, gripping the missive in his hands. Mo Ran feels something conflicted within him. He understands his uncle's decision, and it was more than what others would have done…but Chu Wanning was just a kid, this was completely outrageous. A bounty isn’t surprising, but a bounty of that amount? That was unreasonable.
“Well…this escalated fast,” Mo Ran tries to joke to lighten the tension, “And here we thought you were called in for disguising your age.”
“Ran-er, what do you mean?” His uncle whips towards him, “What disguise?”
“Didn't auntie tell you?” Mo Ran glances at his uncle in confusion, “He's just some kid pretending to be older so he can board a skyship.”
“Is that so,” his uncle says in a faltering tone, and Mo Ran thinks something may have shifted after this little revelation, “Chu-gongzi, it might be safer for you not to wear that disguise at all.”
“The image on the bounty is his current appearance,” Xue Meng explains when Mo Ran looks on in confusion.
“Apologies for the trouble, captain,” Chu Wanning says stiffly, sliding back the paper on the desk towards Xue Zhengyong, “Thank you for your kindness. I will take my leave now.”
“Wait,” Mo Ran wraps a hand around Chu Wanning's wrist, “That disguise…is it based on someone else? A relative, perhaps? Maybe they're not after you at all.”
Chu Wanning just shakes his head, “I don't have relatives. The bounty has my name on it.”
“But this is just ridiculous,” Mo Ran can't help but blurt out, “Did you steal from the emperor or the empire or something?”
“Steal? Why would I steal anything?” Chu Wanning balks at his words, seemingly genuinely outraged, “I'm not a thief.”
“Huh?” Mo Ran blinks owlishly, before realizing he made that leap on his own. But then, how the hell did this kid acquire such expensive magical items? “Right…”
“Chu-gongzi, do you know of anyone or any reason someone might put that large a bounty on you?” His uncle interrupts their little squabble, “The missive did specify that they wanted you alive.”
“I can take a guess,” is all Chu Wanning says in reply, expression grim.
Silence hangs over the room, and it becomes clear Chu Wanning wasn't going to explain further.
“Hey you, don't you think you should be more cooperative? My dad’s already extending more kindness than what he should towards you,” Xue Meng steps forward, annoyance bleeding through his words, “If it were me, you’d be turned in immediately. What sort of crime did you commit for someone to have it out for you that extremely?”
The sudden shattering of a large vase startles everyone in the room, and Mo Ran turns back to Chu Wanning, whose eyes remain pointedly unchanged—no red in sight, nothing to suggest a destruction spell being casted at all. No words, no movements, no items.
“I'm no criminal ,” Chu Wanning spits out, his tone filled with venom.
“Well you must have done something, if someone is willing to pay two hundred thousand gold pieces to have you turned in,” Xue Meng replies with false bravado, clearly confused and surprised by the vase breaking. But no one in the room seemed to have done anything to have caused that.
“I guess this was poorly made,” the captain swiftly cuts in through the tension with humor as he inspects the shards of broken ceramic, “Better tell Tanlang he's losing his touch on telling between genuine and fake items.”
“This is beyond a mending spell,” Mo Ran comments, and sweeps up the broken pieces with a simple gesture, a luster of teal enveloping the shards, lifting it up and being dropped on a nearby trash can.
“Right, well, come on kid,” Mo Ran puts a comforting hand on Chu Wanning's shoulder, “I promised you breakfast didn't I? And we still need to find that person you're looking for. Don't worry, my offer still stands.”
“You might want to stop wearing your disguise though,” Mo Ran gestures to his chest, reminding Chu Wanning of the necklace, “Who knows who else might know about the bounty?”
Chu Wanning nods at him reluctantly, but makes no move to remove the disguise.
“Before I forget—Ran-er, Meng-er,” the captain calls out, pulling out a different scroll, “There’s a contract in town, the eldest son of the Chen family reached out to us. You might want to bring Shi Mei along—it’s about an illness, or a curse apparently, see if he can somehow heal it. If not, the eldest son is willing to negotiate a contract to find out who cursed Madam Chen, or figure out a way to lift it.”
The Chen family? Mo Ran's definitely familiar with them. A classic story of success, from a poor family to one that's now in control of Butterfly Town in all but name after striking gold with their Hundred Butterfly Fragrance.
The captain exchanges stilted goodbyes with Chu Wanning—or well, his uncle said something and the kid just bowed in silence. Once they exit the room and the door closes behind them, Chu Wanning removes the necklace and pockets it, and a glow of purple and gold envelops him lightly once more.
“Gold?” Mo Ran hears his cousin say in a confused tone. Now that he thinks about it, it is a little strange. It should only be purple—maybe the disguise had other properties than illusion, though.
“You and Shi Mei can go first, I'll catch up later if you still need my help,” Mo Ran says to Xue Meng as he puts an arm over Chu Wanning to lead him outside.
“You're getting food, right? We'll just tag along,” Xue Meng says as he checks his watch, “It’s almost lunch time anyway. Then we can go to the Chen family after.”
Mo Ran doesn't even bother to keep the annoyance out of his face. His cousin needs to learn to read the room, “Look, I'm sure you two can handle it. I promised this kid I’d help him find someone.”
“It's fine,” Chu Wanning shakes his head, “You don't have to anymore. I know where he is.”
“What? I thought you said earlier you didn't?” Mo Ran furrows his brows in confusion. Chu Wanning just shrugs in response, “I can still accompany you though, when you go.”
“I won't be meeting with him anymore,” Chu Wanning sighs quietly.
Mo Ran feels a little at a loss here. The situation was overwhelming even for him, he can only imagine what it was like for this boy, “Don't worry about anything right now, let's just get lunch, alright?”
He gets a nod in response, and they begin to walk, with Xue Meng taking the lead to look for Shi Mei. As they walk, he can't help but feel like the whole bounty thing hasn't sunk in properly yet. 200k gold as a concept was an unfathomable amount in general, and for it to be the reward for turning in a child was simply incomprehensible. They come to a stop near the exit, as Mo Ran waits with Chu Wanning for Xue Meng to get Shi Mei.
Should he be more suspicious of this kid? Maybe he's being too trusting or lackadaisical about this whole thing? But he can't even think of a single reason that makes sense to explain the bounty reward. There was no reason given, which would normally make any bounty hunter with half a brain already think something was up. But for it to be passed around privately through official channels means it has backing from the upper islands. There are very few guilds that can afford such a bounty, but why waste it on a child who hasn't even been hiding his real name?
“—I see. And is he coming with us?” Shi Mei's voice filters through as he shakes himself out of his thoughts.
“Yeah, cause Mo Ran’s volunteered to be his babysitter,” Xue Meng answers dismissively before yelping in pain and clutching his leg after Chu Wanning kicks him in the shin, “Ow, you little brat—that hurt .”
“I’m not a baby and I'm not a brat,” Chu Wanning crosses his arms, expression huffy in a way that Mo Ran feels contradicts his statement. Surely just one pinch of those cute cheeks won't hurt—aaand nope his hand gets violently swatted away just as his fingers make contact. At least it wasn't nearly bitten off the way it was when he tried to pet a really cute fluffy white cat before.
“It's just a joke, can't you take a joke, kid?” Xue Meng finally stops hopping around in pain as he glares at Chu Wanning in outrage.
“Guess you're just not funny Mengmeng,” Mo Ran easily rebuts, even though he would have teased Chu Wanning the exact same way.
“Whatever, let's just go,” Xue Meng rolls his eyes and gestures to the steps.
“Hello,” Shi Mei leans down to be eye level with Chu Wanning, “My name is Shi Mei. What's your name?”
Usually, just about anyone would be calmed or charmed by Shi Mei's gentle presence. But it seems to do the opposite to the kid, who seems to be uncomfortable by the attention, eyes not meeting Shi Mei's as he responds, “...Xia…Sini.”
…What the hell was up with that name?
While Shi Mei's smile doesn't falter, he does fail to say anything else, as if a kid not immediately warming up to him was a novel concept.
“Let's go, I'm hungry,” Xue Meng interjects from the side, already on the steps. For once, Mo Ran's thankful for his cousin’s inability to read the room. Sometimes his tendency to have poor timing circles back that it becomes perfect timing.
They reach the main deck, and make their way towards Butterfly Town's bustling marketplace. He only notices it as he had been looking at Chu Wanning, but the kid seemed fascinated by the place, his eyes bright as they flit around all over the place in equal parts wonder and apprehension. He’s a little confused by what’s got the kid so fascinated, though, as the marketplace from before had been grander by a long measure. Well, either way, he’ll make sure to find time to take the kid around the place later once they do their work here.
Their group makes a beeline towards the inn they frequent whenever they dock here. He has missed eating food that meets the spiciness he craves. The places they’ve been to the last few weeks have been pathetic in that aspect. Just as they enter the establishment, he hears a small, quiet sneeze next to him.
“Are you cold?” Mo Ran glances down at Chu Wanning, who shakes his head in response. The skies had been clear, and the weather was temperate here, so he accepts the answer as it is.
They take their seats, Mo Ran taking the one next to the kid, as Xue Meng was already ordering for all of them, “Get a twin pot.”
“What?” Xue Meng says in an unwarrantedly offended way like Mo Ran had insulted his entire lineage, “Hell no.”
Mo Ran turns to the boy taking their orders instead, “We’ll have a twin pot, half spicy and half mild.”
“You’ve become weak,” Xue Meng shakes his head patronizingly at Mo Ran.
“And you’re still denser than a rock, are you forgetting it's not just us eating?” Mo Ran snipes back, unamused, and ignores his cousin after that to turn to Chu Wanning instead.
“You good with hotpot? If you want something else, we can get that too,” Mo Ran wanted to cheer the kid up a little with good food; it's been a rough day for the boy, and it's only noon. He gets an agreeing noise in response, and so he leaves it at that.
Mo Ran tries not to fuss too much over the kid—he’s still not sure whether Chu Wanning was just tolerating his hovering or if he didn't mind. And so he just sits back and lets the kid work up the courage to get some food in his bowl, only moving after the three of them have already taken some. This really wasn't how he imagined his meal with Chu Wanning going…but whatever, there's still dinner—hopefully he’ll shake off the other two tagalongs by then.
“Hey kid,” Xue Meng addresses Chu Wanning, who doesn't visibly startle, but does pause in his movements to look at Xue Meng, “Are you gonna eat it just like that?”
Mo Ran himself for the life of him could not fathom what his cousin was saying, and it seems neither does Chu Wanning, who puts his bowl and chopsticks down instead and glances at Mo Ran.
“No, I meant—” Xue Meng waves his chopsticks at the pot, “Are you gonna eat that plain? Add some of the spicy broth to it, don't just eat it like that.”
Mo Ran wonders whether the flash across the kid’s eyes had been fear, but that was ridiculous. He hadn't shown fear at a 200k bounty on his head, what would he be scared of now?
After a moment, Chu Wanning obediently adds some spicy broth to his bowl—it was barely anything really, a tablespoon at most.
“That's barely gonna give a kick to it,” Xue Meng criticizes, “You should add more, trust me, it'll taste better that way.”
“Don't listen to him,” Mo Ran takes the ladle from Chu Wanning, “You know what you want, not him.”
Luckily, Xue Meng leaves it at that, and they continue their meal in peace.
At least, until he hears a small, subdued cough from beside him. Mo Ran glances beside him to see both of Chu Wanning's hands covering his mouth, coughing quietly, face getting redder by the second. Mo Ran immediately hands him a glass of water, and requests for a jug of milk as well.
“Hey now, you’re okay,” Mo Ran rubs the kid’s back as he continues coughing even after drinking the whole glass. This poor kid just can't catch a break today.
Mo Ran immediately pours him a glassful of sweet, cold soy milk once it arrives, which Chu Wanning also downs in one go. Thankfully, it seemed to do the trick, and the kid’s face was steadily returning to its normal paleness. He can't help but put a hand on top of Chu Wanning's head, making soothing motions as the kid wipes some tears away with the back of his fingers. It was sad and cute and it really was too bad that Mo Ran can't just hug him tightly in comfort.
A large group—an entourage, really—enters the inn, and the innkeeper herself greets them with profuse hospitality, “Miss Yao! It's an honor to have you visit us again. Welcome, welcome, we have a seat ready for you.”
His attention slips away from the commotion easily enough, and sees his cousin handing Chu Wanning a new bowl, looking just the tiniest bit contrite, “Sorry kid, here. You could have said something, though.”
“I didn't think it would be that spicy,” Chu Wanning admits, taking the new bowl and filling it once more. Well it technically really wasn't—but their definition of spicy probably greatly varies.
They continue on with their meal in relative peace. Though Mo Ran mostly ends up just resting his cheek on his hand, arm propped up as he subtly watches Chu Wanning eat, observing the food he picked out, which ones he seemed to go back for more. Chu Wanning ate neatly and properly, and Mo Ran thinks it wasn't just because there was company.
—
After lunch, they head to the Chen Manor at an even pace. As they walk through town, Mo Ran glances around once more, wondering if there were any local sweets he could buy for Chu Wanning to try.
“Go away, will you? You're driving away my customers,” Mo Ran hears a nearby stall owner shoo away a pair of kids, dressed raggedly, who seem to be siblings.
“Please, sir, we…we can pay for it,” the older boy holds out his palm with gold, “We just want to buy some food.”
“I don't want your dirty money, who knows who you stole that from,” the man waves the kid off dismissively, turned away in disgust.
Mo Ran feels his blood boil at the scene. No matter where, it really seemed like the scum of the earth roamed every nook and cranny of this empire.
“Gege, I'm hungry,” the small young girl holding the older boy’s hand whimpers, clutching her stomach.
A white blur momentarily hides the kids from his vision, and he sees Chu Wanning come to a stop in front of the stall. The kids seem intimidated, stepping back and cowering. The stall owner seems to do a 180 and greets Chu Wanning profusely, happily serving the kid in the opposite way he had treated the other children.
Mo Ran feels his stomach slowly sink at the sight, to the point of nausea. That indifference…hurt, perhaps too personally. Had he read this kid wrong? Was he really no better than the rich, spoiled brats that used Mo Ran and his hunger as some sick form of entertainment in the past?
Before his thoughts could spiral down worse, he feels his heart squeeze tightly, almost chokingly at the sight of Chu Wanning kneeling down in front of the two kids, holding out the food, which the older of the two takes tentatively, as if afraid that it was going to be taken back away. The younger of the two had no qualms immediately eating, however.
Mo Ran watches Chu Wanning take his coat off, a nice white coat reaching to the boy’s knees with a pattern of a flowering tree on it…he thinks it might be of plum blossoms? Which he wraps around the young girl, who happily snuggles into it. He hands the boy a small pouch, which is refused initially but accepted eventually.
As Chu Wanning stands up, however, he turns back to the stall owner—and though Mo Ran couldn't see his face, the pure venom and disdain practically drips from the boy’s words as he addresses the stall owner frigidly, “People like you are a disgusting stain on this world. Re-evaluate your priorities, or not even whichever god you pray to can save you.”
And with that, he turns away, ignoring the stall owner’s outrage once the man recovered from shock, the two children walking alongside him, the older of the two looking back once before wincing and turning away again.
Chu Wanning glances up at the three of them as he reaches them and says, “I will go separately from here…thank you for—”
Mo Ran doesn't even let him finish before he feels his self-control loosen and ends up pulling the kid into a tight, probably uncomfortable hug, clutching his waist and cradling the back of his head, pressing it against Mo Ran's chest.
“Sorry,” Mo Ran knows the kid hadn't heard what he'd been thinking, what he'd hastily judged Chu Wanning of—but he feels the need to say it anyway, “Don't leave yet, I promised I'd show you around, remember?”
“I was only going to go back to the skyship,” Chu Wanning clarifies, eyeing him with a measuring look, before continuing, “Would Sisheng mind if…if I bring these two along to let them use the bath in my room? I can pay extra—”
“No, no, of course it's fine,” Mo Ran tries to say evenly, “I still owe you extra, remember? Don't worry about additional costs.”
“Then, I'll leave you three to do your work,” Chu Wanning bows stiffly at them, and leads the younger children to the ship, their hands clasped on each of Chu Wanning's own.
His eyes start to sting as he watches them walk away, not blinking once until they disappear from Mo Ran's vision. A treasured childhood memory plays at the back of his mind, an uncanny parallel of what he’d just seen. Except it had been him, and a much younger child, holding out a piece of osmanthus cake at him, smiling more radiantly than any sunrise he’s ever seen.