Huo Zhixu was the first to react. He nudged Si Yanli with his elbow. "How could you say that about Beauty Tang? Even if she wanted to peek at a man bathing, she would be peeking at me."
Tang Wu looked at Si Yanli's noble and handsome face. He was wearing a black tactical outfit, the dark color making his skin look even more coldly pale. With gold-rimmed glasses resting on his tall nose bridge, at first glance, he appeared gentle, upright, and polite.
But the words coming out of his mouth were truly unpleasant to hear.
Even if he didn't have the slightest feeling for her, there was no need to leave her with absolutely no dignity in front of others!
"Mr. Si is perhaps a bit too confident. Even if I wanted to peek at a man bathing, I would look at a muscular hunk. I only used the binoculars to check the situation in the Seville district, not to intentionally offend you. Furthermore, I only saw you walking out of the bathroom bare-chested. Besides, there is nothing much to look at with your scrawny chicken figure!"
Scrawny chicken figure?
Under his lenses, Si Yanli's phoenix eyes narrowed deeply. He raised his long fingers and pulled down the zipper of his jacket, which had been zipped all the way to the top, by a few inches.
It seemed that only by doing this could his stifled chest feel a bit better.
Seeing Si Yanli's livid face, Huo Zhixu was overjoyed inwardly.
This guy had always been aloof, noble, and high above others. Now, he finally had a moment where he was roasted until smoke came out of his ears, right?
"Beauty Tang, is your type a muscular hunk?" Huo Zhixu asked with a curious face.
Tang Wu sat opposite the two men, hugging her knees with both hands. Her bright and beautiful small face looked very cold and indifferent under the reflection of the firelight. "Not necessarily, it depends on fate."
"Then has Beauty Tang ever had a boyfriend before?"
When Huo Zhixu asked this question, Si Yanli also looked toward Tang Wu.
Tang Wu picked up a stick and poked the campfire. "What era is it now? Of course I have."
"Beauty Tang's past boyfriend must have been very handsome, right?"
Tang Wu dated Cheng Huaian during her university days. He had pursued her for several years before she finally agreed.
They had been dating for less than a year when Tang Shiyan stole him away from her.
Cheng Huaian was once the president of their school's student union and indeed had a good-looking appearance.
Other than that, she didn't have a very deep impression of him.
In her youth, apart from Si Yanli leaving a vivid and colorful mark in her heart, everyone else was just a passerby.
However, the scene of Tang Wu falling into deep thought took on a completely different meaning in the eyes of Huo Zhixu and Si Yanli.
Huo Zhixu lowered his voice and said to Si Yanli, "It looks like Beauty Tang is still quite nostalgic about her first love!"
Si Yanli's phoenix eyes under the lenses were dark and profound.
...
In the second half of the night, none of the three slept. Huo Zhixu was a chatterbox, and it was him and Tang Wu talking the whole time.
Si Yanli was noble and indifferent, his emotions unclear, appearing very quiet.
Tang Wu knew that Si Yanli liked gentle and elegant women who smiled without showing their teeth, but from now on, she would no longer be untrue to herself just to please him.
In the future, she would smile when she wanted to smile, cry when she wanted to cry, and do whatever she wanted to do.
She would not live within his preferences anymore.
After a simple wash, the three continued their journey.
Approaching the lower reaches of the stream, Si Yanli suddenly raised his hand. "There is someone by the river. I will go over and take a look first."
Tang Wu subconsciously said, "Mr. Si, be careful."
Si Yanli turned back to look at Tang Wu. "I think it would be better if you just called me by my name."
Tang Wu, "..."
Si Yanli walked over and turned the woman lying face down by the water over.
The woman seemed to be from the Ba tribe. She had darker skin and wore primitive jungle clothing.
Si Yanli checked for breath under the woman's nose.
She was still breathing.
He took a pill from his bag and fed it into the woman's mouth.
His sister-in-law was a miracle doctor. Since he was away from home all year round, she had given him a lot of medicine.
Not long after, the woman slowly woke up.
The woman spoke a sentence in the Ba tribe's language, and Si Yanli had a simple exchange with her.
Tang Wu and Huo Zhixu could not understand a word.
Si Yanli could speak even such a niche language as the Ba tribe's so fluently; his professional abilities were truly strong.
Back when Tang Wu was in junior high school, he was in the senior high division.
Every time during the flag-raising ceremony, the dean of students would mention Si Yanli, talking about how excellent he was and telling everyone to learn from him.
She still remembered that in order to catch an extra glimpse of him, she would intentionally detour to his teaching building, pretending to go to the restroom while actually secretly peeking at him.
Every noon, she would arrive at the cafeteria early.
After getting her food, she would see him coming over with the boys from his class.
At that time, the hair on his forehead was a bit long. He didn't wear glasses, and his hair slightly covered those slender phoenix eyes. With his coldly pale skin, exquisite and elegant facial features, and tall, lean figure, he looked just like a prince walking out of a comic book, incredibly handsome and beautiful.
"Beauty Tang, why are you spacing out staring at Lao Yan? Don't tell me you've taken a fancy to him. I'll tell you the truth, Lao Yan is a married man."
Tang Wu snapped out of her memories. She shook her head. "You saw wrong. I wasn't spacing out staring at him."
Seeing that the woman's clothes were soaked through and she was at risk of exposing herself, Tang Wu quickly took off her own jacket and draped it over the woman.
Just as the woman was about to say something, a flurry of strange cries suddenly rang out.
The woman said something to Si Yanli, and Si Yanli looked at Tang Wu and Huo Zhixu. "Stand behind me. She says her tribesmen have caught up."
Tang Wu and Huo Zhixu stood behind Si Yanli.
Tang Wu stepped on something. She picked it up, took a look, and lowered her long eyelashes thoughtfully.
Before long, the woman's tribesmen, wielding longbows, spears, and other sharp weapons, completely surrounded them.
The woman communicated with the leading man for a bit, and the man ordered his people to escort the three of them back to the tribe.
There were many houses built of stone situated in the tribe.
Tang Wu, Si Yanli, and Huo Zhixu were locked into a stone house.
It wasn't until evening that the tribal chief came over to communicate with them.
The tribal chief had someone take away all the gold leaves Huo Zhixu had brought with him, then pointed at Si Yanli and said a few words to him excitedly.
Tang Wu and Huo Zhixu looked at each other in dismay, completely unable to understand what he was saying.
After the chief left with a livid face, Huo Zhixu asked, "Lao Yan, what did he just say to you?"
Si Yanli's face was cold, his thin lips pressed tightly together, and he didn't speak for quite a while.
Instead, it was Tang Wu who thoughtfully remarked, "He didn't ask you to marry that woman you saved, did he?"
Si Yanli's face turned even colder.
Huo Zhixu slapped his thigh fiercely. "Damn, you guy, even in a primitive tribe someone takes a fancy to you. How come this face of yours is more popular than mine?"
Si Yanli sneered coldly. "If you want to marry her, you stay."
Huo Zhixu hurriedly took a few steps back. "No, no, no, I still prefer Beauty Tang's type."
Si Yanli looked at Tang Wu. "Later, the chief will bring his neighbor sister over. I will make my relationship with you public."
Huo Zhixu looked completely bewildered. "What is the relationship between you two? Aren't you just strangers who aren't very familiar with each other?"
Neither Si Yanli nor Tang Wu said a word.
A short while later, the chief came over with his neighbor sister, who was the very woman Si Yanli had saved.
Si Yanli reached his hand out to Tang Wu. Wuwu, come here.
Hearing him suddenly call her Wuwu, Tang Wu's heart gave an uncontrollable leap.
Even though they had agreed to be strangers, she knew she had to weigh the gravity of the situation at a time like this.
She walked over to Si Yanli and placed her slender, pale hand into his large palm.
Once he grasped her hand, Si Yanli pulled her into his embrace.
He exchanged a few words with the leader and the woman. Then, after the leader said something she could not quite catch, Si Yanli suddenly lowered his head to look at her.
Just as Tang Wu was wondering what he was about to do, he leaned in and kissed her, catching her completely off guard.
