baby it's cold outside (WangXian FF)

9

Lan Wangji led the way to a private office and closed the door behind them, before he told Wei Wuxian to sit on the chair. He then sat in front of him with a table between them.

"I take it that you want to talk about buying this place, correct?" Lan Wangji spoke directly and without preamble.

He looked straight to the sparkling silver eyes – which looked at him with a hint of amusement – and he felt his stomach tightened.

"Well, well, well, straight to the point, Mr. Lan. And yes, I am very interested in buying this… palace. Should we ask our lawyer here too?" Wei Wuxian leaned back on the uncomfortable chair, and cursed lightly when his head bumped the hard wooden back of the chair.

He swore he would put furry pillows everywhere soon after the deal was done. He would like to see how this uptight man would react if he decorated the whole palace boudoir style.

He smirked.

"We can do that. But before, why don't I give you a tour of this place? See if you really know what you're going to buy before you decide that this is not for you?" Lan Wangji didn't seem to be fazed by Wei Wuxian's charm, and it fascinated the latter more.

"I won't say no to a tour of the beautiful palace by its very handsome owner." Wei Wuxian grinned, but Lan Wangji still looked unimpressed. "You probably heard that a million times before though."

Lan Wangji ignored the invitation to talk more about himself and walked out of the office.

"We'll start from the first level, since it will be less crowded now that the other guests are in the gift shop."

Lan Wangji walked through the huge open space with pillars decorated with dragon sculptures that circled them. There was also something that resembled a throne at the back of the room and Wei Wuxian deducted that this must be where the King held meetings.

"This is the courtroom, although you probably could use it for… Christmas party, or other parties, maybe. It's spacious and with the high ceiling that gives off grandeur feelings." Lan Wangji pointed up and Wei Wuxian gaped. The top of the roof was painted in intricate paintings that depicted war, marriage, and many other things.

"It's very beautiful." Wei Wuxian took his phone out and snatched a lot of photos of the ceiling and the dragon's sculptures. "You must be very proud of this place. I can see how this place is treated, with love and care."

Lan Wangji did not answer him, but Wei Wuxian could see that his eyes became moist. Then his face hardened as he continued his walk.

"This way please."

Oof.

First time he was being ignored so blatantly.

But he followed the man and they moved around a few other rooms – which looked taken care of although minimally. He knew this kind of place would cost a pretty penny to maintain, and no matter how many shows or how many gifts they sold, it would not be able to cover even a tenth of the maintenance fee.

This project would take a huge chunk of his savings, if he decided to make this place like it was when in its glory. But he didn't mind. He had a lot of money and nowhere to spend it. Buying an ancient Chinese palace was his way to boast to his adopted family that he did well and did not need them in his life.

They walked to the back of the palace where someone was obviously staying there, but Wei Wuxian didn't see any modern stuff like a bed, a working shower, or a toilet.

"Is this your place?" Wei Wuxian looked around the super neat place. It gave off the feeling of a solitary life, a lonely one. "Where do you sleep?" He walked around and saw a wooden bench with a thick blanket on the corner and he gasped.

"You… sleep here?"

Wei Wuxian didn't know why he was so obsessed with Lan Wangji. He was so cold and unyielding, but he was super beautiful and Wei Wuxian could see the flicker of the golden fire behind his cold gaze, and he was intrigued.

He always especially wanted to peel the layer from the intricate man to see the inside – and he didn't mind if the clothes got peeled too.

"Hard surfaces help with body posture. You should try it sometimes." Lan Wangji surprisingly sounded amused as he continued his tour.

"Oh? Are you saying I have a hunchback?" Wei Wuxian laughed and Lan Wangji suddenly felt very conscious of the other man's nearness. He could feel his ears blushed, so he walked faster to show the flirty man the other part of the palace and hoped he didn't change his mind about the monstrosity that would suck his money and his soul to the last drop.

After that, they didn't speak again until Lan Wangji took him to the ancient but functional kitchen and saw Luo Binghe was cooking. He used firewood and the ancient tools to cook and Wei Wuxian whipped out his phone to video him in action.

"You do this every day?" He asked Luo Binghe who smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, the tedious process actually elevates the taste of the food, and also helps with the body and the mind. With the repeated process, we can train our bodies and by doing so, it makes us forget a bit about the world outside and focus on ourselves, our inner peace, and find our purpose."

Wei Wuxian started to look at the man in a different light.

"Wow." Wei Wuxian clapped. "That's some worthy philosophy, by the way. Sounds like ikigai, and I love those things." Wei Wuxian moved closer and saw what kind of food that Luo Binghe made. "Tell me what you make."

"This is porridge with vegetable broth, and this is steamed eggplant drizzled with soy sauce and fried garlic. This is steamed vegetables, also with soy sauce and this is cold tofu. They are all minimal in seasoning but taste great and will cleanse your palate."

Wei Wuxian frowned when he heard the description of the food.

"Are you guys monks or something? You don't eat meat? Spices?"

"Well…" Luo Binghe looked at Lan Wangji who shook his head.

"We tried to let the people who visited here to experience the taste of authentic food. If you want to eat more extravagantly, you can always go to the bar. Liu Qingge will take care of your needs. But here, we only eat simply like this. And this is included in the price for admission tickets."