Xu Ancheng walked along with the crowd, so distracted that he didn’t even notice when people bumped into him.
Qin Qiwu grabbed his arm, concern in her voice. “Young Master Xu, what’s wrong?”
Young Master Xu had seemed rather unwell ever since earlier.
Xu Ancheng’s face flushed bright red. He didn’t dare look at her. “Mi—Miss Qin…”
“Miss, would you like some chestnut cake?” An old woman cheerfully poked her head out from behind her stall.
Qin Qiwu smiled and shook her head. “No, thank you.”
The old woman didn’t seem disappointed and simply turned to ask someone else.
Xu Ancheng stared silently at the ground.
Ji Zhaoxi also noticed that something was wrong with him and squeezed her way over. “Young Master Xu, what’s wrong?”
Xu Ancheng clenched his fists and took a deep breath.
He had to be brave.
He suddenly looked at Qin Qiwu. Under his gaze, Qin Qiwu’s face reddened, and she awkwardly turned her eyes away.
They rarely looked at each other like this.
The surrounding townspeople noticed the subtle atmosphere as well, their gazes drifting over from time to time.
Under everyone’s expectant eyes, Xu Ancheng held out the shaobing to Qin Qiwu with a trembling voice. “Miss Qin, shaobing should be eaten while it’s hot!”
Qin Qiwu froze for a moment, then hurriedly took it from him. “O-okay!”
Xu Ancheng closed his eyes and charged ahead in one breath. “Miss Qin, this sha—shaobing is very hot, just—just like my feelings for you!”
The atmosphere fell silent.
Ji Zhaoxi looked at him in delighted surprise, while Fu Xianyan was utterly speechless.
Qin Qiwu accepted the shaobing with her hands and feet in disarray. “Thank you, Young Master Xu…”
Why had this happened so suddenly…
Holding the shaobing, Qin Qiwu’s blush spread all the way down to her neck. She lowered her head and silently walked on.
Xu Ancheng kept his face stiff and his eyes fixed ahead. By then, his arms and legs were moving in perfect disharmony.
Fu Xianyan glanced to the side. Ji Zhaoxi was already so moved that she had begun wiping away tears.
“This moment is so beautiful.”
Fu Xianyan remained silent for a while.
What was so moving about it? What was so beautiful? All he saw was a man handing a shaobing to a woman.
Ji Zhaoxi completely understood Fu Xianyan’s indifference.
“Fu Xianyan, you’ll understand once you meet your true love. Even if it’s just a shaobing, it’ll still be a shaobing filled with love,” Ji Zhaoxi choked out.
After knowing Xu Ancheng for so long, he had finally found his voice. It truly hadn’t been easy.
Fu Xianyan calmly ate his rabbit-shaped sugar painting.
He felt that he would never understand it in this lifetime. A shaobing was a shaobing, and a rabbit sugar painting was a rabbit sugar painting. There was nothing different about them.
In a corner, a man anxiously stretched his neck as he searched for someone.
Where had those people gone? How had they disappeared in the blink of an eye?
Several old women looked at the man, frowning, then set their vegetable baskets on the ground.
“Move aside. You’re not selling vegetables, so what are you doing taking up space here?” One of the women rudely shoved the man away.
His expression darkened. He didn’t want to argue with these people, so he moved to the side.
But then several more old women arrived with vegetable baskets and directly pushed him away again.
“If you’re not selling anything, don’t stand here getting in the way.”
The man: “…”
He left with a gloomy expression. Finding those people was what mattered.
If he hadn’t been worried about alerting everyone else, he would have killed them long ago. They were truly ruining his plans.
Ji Zhaoxi and the others had already left the market and were heading into an alley.
The man stood on a roof some distance away, narrowing his eyes. A vicious glint flashed through them.
There was still some water left on the ground. Ji Zhaoxi avoided the puddles and followed behind Qin Qiwu, her face brimming with happiness.
This outing had indeed been worthwhile.
Suddenly, she felt a chill by her ear, and the loose strands of her hair fluttered. She looked at Fu Xianyan in confusion.
Fu Xianyan lowered his eyes and glanced at her before offering her the food in his hand. Ji Zhaoxi shook her head.
“I’m not hungry.”
The instant Ji Zhaoxi turned her head away, Fu Xianyan’s gaze darkened.
Just now, a needle as fine as a strand of hair had shot toward the side of her neck.
A faint flash of silver glimmered between Fu Xianyan’s two fingers. The next moment, the needle shot back out, moving so quickly that it made no sound at all.
On the rooftop, a figure suddenly stiffened.
The man immediately realized what had happened. He was just about to send out a signal when he had taken only half a step before his body lurched violently, and he collapsed directly onto the roof.
The market remained as lively as ever. The people inside the houses were startled by the noise.
“What was that?”
“I don’t know. Probably a rat.”
“Leave it be. We wouldn’t be able to catch it anyway…”
A drizzle began to fall from the sky. Passersby stepped through the streets, leaving little puddles with every footfall.
Ji Zhaoxi rose onto her toes and held the umbrella over herself and Fu Xianyan.
Actually, she wasn’t being particularly considerate. Fu Xianyan was carrying all her things, and she was only worried that her belongings would get wet.
“I’m so tired. I’m exhausted! Oof!”
Ji Zhaoxi had barely taken a few steps before she began to complain.
Fu Xianyan looked at the raindrops on the tip of her nose, then at her exaggerated performance. With practiced ease, he took the umbrella from her.
Ji Zhaoxi looked at him apologetically. “Fu Xianyan, I’m sorry to trouble you.”
Fu Xianyan raised an eyebrow. “It’s no trouble. My life is the trouble.”
Ji Zhaoxi pretended not to hear him and fell silent beneath the umbrella.
The two of them were standing very close. Every now and then, her shoulder bumped against his arm.
Ji Zhaoxi was a little tired and didn’t say much. The others had never been talkative, either, so the atmosphere quickly grew quiet.
Fu Xianyan watched Ji Zhaoxi’s eyelashes and suddenly found himself curious.
What did she think about when she wasn’t talking?
He was already used to her saying everything that happened to her out loud. But when she fell silent, he realized that he still didn’t seem to understand her very well.
Was she thinking about stepping into the puddles on the ground? Or perhaps where they could sit down and rest? Or maybe she was looking at Qin Qiwu and Xu Ancheng sharing an umbrella and feeling delighted inside…
“You…”
Fu Xianyan suddenly spoke.
Ji Zhaoxi looked at him warily. “What is it?”
Fu Xianyan was silent for a moment. “What are you thinking about?”
He seemed to prefer her usual chattering. When she fell quiet, the whole world seemed to become quiet with her.
Ji Zhaoxi stared at him in shock. “How did you know I was thinking about splashing water on you?!”
She hadn’t said a word, and she hadn’t even acted yet. How had Fu Xianyan managed to guess her plan?
Fu Xianyan: “…”
Never mind.
Ji Zhaoxi began to feel a little wary of Fu Xianyan. He was gloomy enough on ordinary days. Could he have some kind of…
“I can’t read minds. Stop overthinking things,” Fu Xianyan said flatly.
Ji Zhaoxi stared at him solemnly and stopped where she was.
Perhaps she needed to find a way to deal with him. This Fu Xianyan knew far too many of her secrets.
Holding the umbrella, Fu Xianyan’s mouth twitched. “Your expression gave you away, Miss Ji. Are you going to keep walking or not?”
Ji Zhaoxi suddenly understood. She gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Fu Xianyan. I shouldn’t have suspected you.”
Fu Xianyan stared blankly ahead.
