Inside the airtight sleeping tent, Lu Hexu lay there.
The wide sleeves covered his face, revealing only a pale, gaunt jaw. He hadn't eaten for the past few days. The autumn sun was fierce, and his mental state was poor. On his bent knuckles, the fingertips showed an unhealthy pallor.
Sushan crouched beside him, scratching the white felt floor with its claws.
The sound of claws scratching the white felt floor was annoying.
Lu Hexu raised his hand and pressed Sushan down.
The little cat rolled over under his palm and obediently lay in the crook of his arm to sleep.
The surroundings quieted down, leaving only the howling autumn wind outside the tent.
Lu Hexu closed his eyes. When his mental state was poor, he would start dreaming.
Dreaming many chaotic dreams.
-
It was snowing.
Snow was rarely seen in Jinling City. For the rich, snow was something to be admired—pure, flawless, and rare. Fishing, seeking plum blossoms, enjoying the snow, taking in the scenery, gathering around the stove, writing poetry; there were plenty of elegant activities.
But in Yeting, the palace servants' quarters, winter was the hardest to endure.
Winter in the south brought a wet, biting cold, especially during the snowy days when the chill seeped right into the bones. It wasn't just the snow, but also the rain that pierced to the bone, making people instinctively shiver at the mere thought of winter.
The people in Yeting were all slaves, the lowest of the low.
They did not have enough winter clothing or food to survive this winter.
Every winter, many people died in Yeting.
When one batch died, a new batch was brought in to replace them.
Human life was the most worthless thing in Yeting.
Lu Hexu sat in the room, his hands and feet numb from the cold, unable even to bend them. He stretched out his frozen fingers and saw the mottled frostbite on them.
Because there was no medicine, they had begun to rot and fester, like little radishes left to rot in the ground.
"It's snowing. I brought you a cotton-padded coat."
With a creak, the door of the small hut was opened. A person walked in, carrying the wind and snow, with a look of impatience on her face.
It was a middle-aged momo.
Wearing a dark cross-collared robe and a silver hairpin, she was dressed neatly and seemed to hold a decent status. She handed him a half-old small cotton coat.
For as long as Lu Hexu could remember, this person would occasionally appear by his side.
[One becomes the Crown Prince, while the other hides in Yeting as a slave.]
At that time, Lu Hexu didn't understand the meaning of these words.
He only knew that he had survived until now because of this momo.
Although she didn't come often, she would bring him winter clothes and food to keep him alive.
[So annoying. With so many things to do, I still have to come and serve this one.]
It was just that this momo was growing increasingly impatient.
This impatience seemed to be transmitted from somewhere, pressing heavily upon Lu Hexu.
He didn't understand, he felt uneasy, and he was not yet ten years old.
"Pour me a cup of tea."
Lu Hexu stood up and reached out with his frozen fingers to pour tea for the momo.
The momo looked down at the cold tea, which still had tea dregs in it.
"How am I supposed to drink it when it's this cold? What bad luck."
[Why isn't he dead yet.]
Lu Hexu lowered his head and looked at his red, festering fingertips.
Why wasn't he dead yet? He didn't know either.
"Go boil some hot water for me."
There was no kitchen in Yeting, only a small stove in the room where the manager lived. This momo had a high status, and every time she came, she would inevitably seek out that manager to exchange a few words. At these times, he would be assigned to boil water.
A charcoal basin was burning in the room, and his body warmed up.
Lu Hexu stared at the flames on the small stove until the hot water boiled.
He lifted the heavy kettle to brew tea, but because his fingers were stiff, he dropped and shattered the teacup.
"Idiot!"
The head eunuch immediately sat up, his palm as large as a palm-leaf fan raised but yet to fall.
"Sir, he is still young. Please calm your anger." A thin eunuch walked in. Because the weather was too cold and he was dressed too thinly, his legs were numb from the freezing temperature, causing him to walk with a stiff, cold limp.
"You mentioned last time that you wanted to write a letter home. This servant will write it for you."
Most eunuchs were illiterate and of low status. In the entire Yeting, only this condemned slave named Wei Heng knew how to read and write.
A former favored son of heaven, fallen overnight. After a period of silence, he quickly found a way to survive. His shattered pride settled down, completely becoming a thing of the past.
Lu Hexu was punished by the head eunuch and sent to the Yeting prison.
Although that momo would bring him some clothes and food, her attitude towards him was very poor, and she did not stop others from bullying him. Here, the bestiality in human hearts was fully stimulated. Their kindness was ground away by the need to survive, leaving only cold malice.
This malice existed in the body, piling up like a mountain. If one wanted to live, they could only vent it out.
The superiors bullied the subordinates; the strong preyed on the weak.
He was the lowest ranking little eunuch; as long as he didn't die, it was fine.
Or perhaps, even if he died, it wouldn't matter.
Lu Hexu was already accustomed to the Yeting prison. He came here often.
He was short and didn't have to suffer by hunching over like an adult.
He could stand straight.
His pitch-black pupils reflected the rustling snow falling outside. Snowflakes blew in and stuck to his face, bringing a delicate coldness.
He tilted his head and stared at the narrow window, trying to dodge backward, but he couldn't escape it at all.
Fine raindrops mixed with very light snow fell in from outside. In winter weather, if it snowed, it didn't need to be heavy. Just a little thin snow mixed with raindrops was enough to drop the temperature to its lowest.
"Is it here?"
A voice rang out.
Lu Hexu's vision was illuminated by something extremely bright.
He had never seen such a thing that could light up the night as if it were day.
A young boy in magnificent brocade clothes had rosy cheeks. He struggled to lift the glazed lantern in his hand, bringing it close to the window of the Yeting prison.
Lu Hexu narrowed his eyes and saw the person standing there.
The momo wouldn't let others see his face.
She made him grow his hair very long to cover his face, and she would even rub black dirt on it.
But if his face was occasionally seen by someone, the momo wasn't worried. She would only say, "People who live in Yeting will never encounter that person in their entire lives. Even someone like Wei Heng, who might have encountered him before, will never have the chance to leave."
No one expected that the Crown Prince would actually sneak into Yeting.
That was the first time Lu Hexu had seen the Crown Prince.
He was exceptionally clean from head to toe, like a carefully nurtured porcelain doll.
The momo quickly rushed over.
Her face pale, she knelt on the ground and begged the Crown Prince to return.
The Crown Prince looked troubled. "I haven't seen him yet."
"Next time, next time this servant will definitely bring him to see Your Highness."
The Crown Prince was finally coaxed away.
Before leaving, the momo glared at him resentfully.
The winter passed, and he didn't see the Crown Prince again.
The weather grew warmer. From late spring to early summer, the change of seasons was the easiest time to catch a cold.
When Lu Hexu woke up, he found himself in a drafty room, with a eunuch holding a handkerchief standing beside him.
He knew his name; it was Wei Heng.
"How is it possible..." the eunuch muttered to himself, slowly shaking his head. A hint of confusion appeared in his eyes as he looked at him.
"How could they be so similar."
Lu Hexu reached out his hand and touched his own smooth cheek.
He raised his eyes to look at Wei Heng, his gaze steeped in a lifelessness that did not belong to a person of his age.
The second time Lu Hexu saw the Crown Prince, it was the mama who personally took him there.
It wasn't in the Ye Ting, but in a very large garden.
He had never left the Ye Ting; this was his first time coming outside.
The people in the Ye Ting did not know how to smile.
Neither did he.
So there were this many flowers in the summer.
Flowers filled the sky and the earth, soaked in fragrance. He stood there, a dusty, gray figure.
The mama wiped his face clean, and he saw astonishment and joy in the Crown Prince's eyes.
He looked at him with a smile, "He really looks exactly like me."
Lu Hexu's gaze moved down, seeing the young boy opposite him stretch out five beautiful, slender fingers. There was not a single scar on them. The soft fingertips carried warmth as they gently landed on his face, as if somewhat disbelieving that this face was natural.
"I secretly heard Imperial Mother say that you are my younger brother, that we are twins." The Crown Prince held his hand, looking very happy. "I've never had a younger brother or sister. I begged the mama for a long time, but she refused to bring you to see me."
[I really have a younger brother, I'm so happy.]
[My younger brother is so cute, I want to be good to him forever.]
In those years, the Empress gave birth to twins.
At that time, the late Emperor already trusted the State Preceptor to the utmost, and asked him to divine the fortune of these twins.
The State Preceptor said that the Empress giving birth to twins was a disaster.
Only one could be kept.
The late Emperor believed the State Preceptor without a doubt, reaching a point of madness, even going so far as to make the Empress kill their child.
The Empress kept the older one, but could not bear to kill the younger one.
So she had the mama secretly raise him in the Ye Ting.
At first, the Empress would still think of this child. Later, as time went on, because she did not see him or raise him, she stopped thinking about him and missing him. She would only occasionally remember that she actually had such a child.
This conversation was overheard by the young Crown Prince.
The mama standing beside Lu Hexu was extremely nervous.
This mama, who rarely appeared in the Ye Ting, was actually the head mama in charge of the Crown Prince's daily life. Because she was afraid of being reprimanded by the Empress for carelessly letting the Crown Prince slip into the Ye Ting, she had kept this matter a secret.
The Crown Prince then used this matter to "threaten" the mama, saying he wanted to see him more often.
Later, Lu Hexu would frequently come out of the Ye Ting.
He had an older brother.
Teaching him to read, teaching him to study, to draw... His older brother's spoken words were exactly the same as his inner thoughts.
It was Lu Hexu's first time encountering such a person.
They sat together eating pastries and reading books. Lu Hexu would even do the homework assigned by the Grand Tutor for him. His handwriting was taught by him, so he wrote exactly like him.
Lu Hexu would secretly hold his hand to see what his older brother was thinking.
[My younger brother is so cute.]
[My younger brother seems smarter than me.]
[The Grand Tutor really likes the essays my younger brother writes.]
[My younger brother seems to like eating sweet things.]
Later, this Crown Prince fell ill.
Batches of imperial physicians came and went, but the illness showed no signs of improvement.
The Empress, desperate and willing to try anything, sought out the State Preceptor.
After examining the Crown Prince, the State Preceptor said they could try using blood of the same origin, nourishing blood with blood.
What was blood of the same origin? The blood of siblings was blood of the same origin.
The current Emperor only had this one child under the Empress's knee, so where would blood of the same origin come from?
The pale and frail Crown Prince lay on the bed, the torment of illness making him lose his reason.
Even though he was just a ten-year-old child, because of the precocious teachings he received from a young age, he understood the rules of the adult world and was forced to mature too early.
He understood what losing his life meant.
He held his Imperial Mother's fair and soft hand, his lips moving on his pale face, "Can we use my younger brother's?"
Lu Hexu woke up from his dream.
He had not dreamed of these childhood events for a long time.
For a period of time, he knew he was so crazy that he couldn't remember things clearly, and couldn't even dream about them.
For Lu Hexu, this was a good thing.
Ever since Lu Hexu was old enough to understand things, he discovered that he could hear the thoughts in other people's hearts.
At first, he could not distinguish truth from falsehood.
He didn't understand why the words people said in their hearts were different from the words that came out of their mouths.
Nor did he understand why human hearts could change so quickly.
Later, he finally understood that this was simply what humans were like.
The wounds on his forearm began to itch again.
Lu Hexu frowned, reaching out to scratch through his sleeve.
The more he scratched, the itchier it got. He reached his hands into his sleeves, his sharp, pale fingernails leaving several bloody scratches on his forearm.
The pain rose, covering up that itchiness.
Fresh blood flowed down his forearm. Lu Hexu lowered his head and saw the mottled burn marks on his forearm that had not yet completely disappeared.
In this world, there was no true heart.
It was raining outside. The fine, dense rain hit the tent, making a pitter-patter sound.
Lu Hexu turned his head expressionlessly to look at the glazed lamp placed not far away.
This was an extremely beautiful glazed lamp, with fine copper as its bones, a delicate copper ring looped at the top, and a body of translucent glaze as thin as cicada wings. After the wick was lit, a halo of light would diffuse out from the glaze.
Lu Hexu pulled out his bloody fingertips and slowly propped himself up on the white felt beneath him to sit up.
Bright red fingerprints were left on the snow-white felt.
He looked down at Sushan, who had been woken up by him.
The little cat had slept enough and scampered out in a flash.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards standing guard at the door already recognized this cat and would not stop it.
Lu Hexu stood up expressionlessly, walked over, and squatted in front of the glazed lamp.
This small glazed lamp had not yet been lit.
Lu Hexu raised his hand, his fingertips sliding down its lamp body.
The slippery, fresh blood left marks on the glazed lamp.
Under the young man's wide sleeves, the mottled scars on his skin could be seen.
New scars and old scars crisscrossed each other.
Lu Hexu looked at the glazed lamp in front of him and thought of his older brother.
The heart was something that changed in an instant.
Reading minds was easy, but reading human hearts was difficult.
He had suffered losses and would not be fooled again.
He never wanted her true heart in the first place.
If she betrayed him, he would kill her without hesitation.
"Wei Heng."
Footsteps came from outside the sleeping tent. Wei Heng raised his hand and lifted the curtain, "Your Majesty."
"Hear the sacrificial vessel case."
-
Today was already the third day, and Su Zhenzhen was curled up sleeping in the imperial tent.
"Su Zhenzhen."
Su Zhenzhen dazedly opened her eyes and saw Wei Heng standing beside her.
"His Majesty is going to hear the sacrificial vessel case."
Su Zhenzhen immediately became alert.
She subconsciously tightened her grip on the chain she was holding in her palm.
"Follow me out." Wei Heng led Su Zhenzhen outside.
Su Zhenzhen propped up her body, stood up, and followed behind him, "Is the interrogation not happening here?"
"It is not His Majesty who is interrogating."
"Then who is it?"
"The Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision, Song Jiangshen."
Su Zhenzhen remembered this Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision. He was a rather upright person who did not fear authority. If he were the one to hear the case, then Mu Dan would not die.
Su Zhenzhen subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
For this sacrificial vessel case, dozens of people had been arrested from start to finish. Among them were those who knew the inside story and those who had failed in their supervisory duties.
The Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision, Song Jiangshen, was brought over by Han Shuo to hear the case here.
"I thought His Majesty would interrogate the suspect himself." Su Zhenzhen stood in front of the tent newly set up specifically for this case, secretly whispering to Wei Heng.
"His Majesty is feeling unwell."
When had this tyrant ever felt well?
The autumn wind blew gently, mixed with fine raindrops. She was still wearing the thin jacket from the daytime and felt a bit cold.
Su Zhenzhen waited patiently. She waited for nearly two hours until she was sleepy before being brought inside.
Several lamps were placed in the tent, illuminating the dim space. Su Zhenzhen saw the Dali Temple official in his official uniform. He was very thin, but his eyes were extremely sharp, falling heavily upon Su Zhenzhen.
"You claim to know who stole the sacrificial vessels, and that you have both a witness and physical evidence."
"Yes." Su Zhenzhen knelt on the ground and took out the gold chain she had been hiding on her person.
"I want to report the Deputy Commander of the Brocade Guards, Li Jinhuai, for stealing the sacrificial vessels and framing the eunuch Mu Dan. This is the physical evidence, and I also have a witness. I implore Your Excellency to investigate clearly."
A Brocade Guard stepped forward, took the chain from Su Zhenzhen's hand, and presented it to Song Jiangshen.
After carefully examining it, Song Jiangshen asked, "Where is this witness you mentioned?"
"In the kitchen tent."
-
Song Jiangshen spent two hours concluding the trial of the case.
He took the confession and went into the imperial tent.
The heavy folding screen had already been removed. The young emperor sat there in dark everyday clothes, holding a vermilion brush in one hand, writing a few sparse words on a memorial.
The red vermilion ink trailed across the memorial like meandering bloodstains.
"Your Majesty, this is the testimony."
Lu Hexu lowered his eyes, his expression cold.
Wei Heng, standing beside him, stepped forward, took the testimony from Song Jiangshen's hand, and placed it on the desk.
Song Jiangshen bowed and withdrew.
The imperial tent fell silent. Lu Hexu spoke indifferently, "Is she dead?"
Wei Heng had observed the entire interrogation.
"No, Your Majesty."
Lu Hexu's hand holding the vermilion brush paused.
"When will she die."
Wei Heng was silent for a moment before speaking boldly, "Your Majesty, perhaps you should look at her testimony."
Lu Hexu's gaze subconsciously fell on the testimony.
He did not move.
The light from the glazed lamp shone on the young man's face, casting mottled patterns of light.
Lu Hexu reached out and picked it up.
On it was Song Jiangshen's handwriting, along with her fingerprint.
"The person who stole the sacrificial vessels is the Deputy Commander of the Brocade Guards, Li Jinhuai."
"Both physical evidence and witnesses are present."
The rain outside the tent had stopped. Lu Hexu stood up subconsciously.
The cold honey tea was knocked over on the desk, soaking the memorials on the table.
Lu Hexu's eyes wavered. He raised his hand, rolled up his sleeve, and wiped the tea stains off the table. But it was not for the sake of these memorials, but for the slip of paper pressed at the very bottom.
He pulled the crumpled slip of paper from the bottom of the imperial desk.
The handwriting on it had been soaked in tea and become blurry.
Be good, wait for me.
-
Song Jiangshen worked with great efficiency. Under his handling, the sacrificial vessel case was resolved; those who should be released were released, and those who should be executed were executed.
Su Zhenzhen returned to her tent.
The sky had grown dark, and the temperature had dropped again recently. She was only wearing a thin jacket. Walking all the way back, she was shivering from the cold.
The tent flaps were hung tightly. Through the thin curtain, she could faintly see a faint glimmer of light filtering out from inside.
Su Zhenzhen's heart tightened, and she subconsciously quickened her pace.
Su Zhenzhen raised her hand and lifted the curtain.
Inside the small tent, the young man wearing a simple eunuch's uniform was sitting on a wooden chest, playing with Sushan.
A glazed lamp was placed to the side, softly illuminating the young man's thin figure.
Su Zhenzhen subconsciously softened her movements, not even daring to blink, afraid that if she did, the young man before her would disappear like a phantom bubble.
Lu Hexu tilted his head and saw her.
The young man's face was set against the light, his skin as pale as snow, but his eyes revealed a strange gleam.
He looked at her quietly, his black pupils reflecting Su Zhenzhen's soft and slender figure.
Su Zhenzhen held back the hot tears welling in her eyes. She walked in quietly, went up to the young man, then cupped his face and gently caressed it.
[You've lost weight.]
Su Zhenzhen spoke, her voice choked with emotion, "I thought you were going to die."
Lu Hexu raised his hand and grasped the woman's fingertips, intertwining his fingers with hers. His face was as pale as ever, and his pitch-black eyes stared at her fixedly, steeped in an emotion that Su Zhenzhen could not understand. It was like a desperately suppressed tide of passion that ultimately could not withstand the woman's soft gaze.
The young man reached out, his slightly cool palm pressing against Su Zhenzhen's cheek.
Lu Hexu's voice was slightly hoarse, "I told you, I wouldn't die."
The woman's cheeks were slightly cool, but after being rubbed by his palm a few times, they took on a pretty pink hue.
"Did you receive my note?"
"Yes."
"And the cream nut candies, candied hawthorns, spun sugar..."
The young man leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her.
His wide sleeves draped over half of her body. Su Zhenzhen felt the burning heat emanating from the young man, and her anxious heart finally settled down.
Su Zhenzhen let him hold her, her tears soaking the young man's shoulder.
[You scared me to death.]
Lu Hexu buried his face in the crook of the woman's neck, his hot breath hitting her skin.
He felt the beating pulse at the woman's neck, the sound piercing through his heart like beating drums.
-
They were to depart for Jinling tomorrow, and Wei Heng was packing up some important items in the tent.
"Meow..." That little kitten came over again.
Wei Heng glanced at the cat, and then at His Majesty.
Lu Hexu took a belt with great interest.
The kitten stood on its hind legs, batting at the belt playfully.
Wei Heng took one look and went back to packing.
The next moment, with a clatter, the kitten knocked over the glazed cup resting on the desk.
It was filled with cold honey tea, which spilled all over the floor. The glazed cup fell to the ground, hitting the standing glazed lamp next to it before shattering. The memorials on the desk were also scattered across the floor, along with the sachet that Lu Hexu had placed on the desk.
The culprit cat fled madly, disappearing from sight in an instant.
Tiny shards of glazed glass sank into the white felt rug.
Lu Hexu bent down to pick up that ugly sachet from the floor, and his fingertips suddenly felt a burst of dull pain.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?" Wei Heng hurried over upon hearing the noise.
The shattered glazed cup lay on the ground, and a sharp fragment had cut the young man's fingertip.
Lu Hexu said nothing and turned to leave the tent.
The night was hazy. Lu Hexu did not bring a glazed lamp; relying only on the dim moonlight, he arrived in front of the woman's tent.
There was no longer any light in the tent. She was probably asleep.
He reached out and lifted the tent flap.
There were some things blocking the entrance. After Lu Hexu entered, he pushed these things aside.
Hearing the noise, Su Zhenzhen woke up groggily and saw the young man's silhouette by the moonlight.
"It hurts."
Hmm?
Su Zhenzhen roused herself and lit the oil lamp. Lu Hexu walked up to her, his pitch-black eyes landing on her face.
Lu Hexu raised his hand, revealing a fingertip seeping with blood. "It hurts."
"Oh my, how did this happen?" Su Zhenzhen looked at the cut on the young man's fingertip and examined it for him. After finding that it was just a tiny scratch, she got up to clean it for him, applied medicine, and finally wrapped it with a bandage, tying a pretty little bow.
"All done."
Su Zhenzhen pinched the little bow and looked up at the young man in front of her.
Lu Hexu's eyes were cast down, staring at the bow on his finger.
Su Zhenzhen inexplicably felt that Mu Dan had somehow become very clingy.
In the past, he also liked to be intimate with her, but that was clearly more about physical sexual attraction.
Now, Mu Dan preferred to look at her quietly.
Su Zhenzhen also liked seeing her own face reflected in those beautiful, pitch-black eyes.
"The sachet is wet," Lu Hexu said, handing the tea-soaked sachet to Su Zhenzhen.
After Su Zhenzhen replaced the herbs inside with fresh ones for him, she hung the sachet over the small stove to roast, and it dried in no time.
Su Zhenzhen held it to her nose and sniffed.
Now, it not only had the herbal scent of mugwort and mint, but also the fragrance of honey and cold tea.
"I'm hungry." The young man standing opposite her rested his chin on Su Zhenzhen's shoulder.
Su Zhenzhen really didn't have any food in her tent.
She dug out a bottle of throat lozenges and stuffed it into Mu Dan's hand. "It's too late now. Tomorrow... let's go pick persimmons to eat?"
The Autumn Festival had ended, and everyone would soon be heading back to Jinling.
Just thinking about that massive and enclosed imperial city gave Su Zhenzhen the creeps.
Fortunately, she still had Mu Dan, this beautiful youth, by her side to relieve her boredom.
It really was a case of having a whole set of theories to persuade others to keep living, but when it came to herself, it was like putting a noose around her own neck.
The sun had just set; although the sunlight was gone, the sky was still reasonably bright.
Su Zhenzhen and Lu Hexu went up the mountain together, and before long, they found the persimmon grove from last time.
The persimmons, which had been a greenish-yellow color when they last saw them, had now become plump and round, hanging heavily on the branches in a brilliant orange-yellow, making one's heart itch with anticipation.
Su Zhenzhen put down the basket in her hand and stood on her tiptoes to pick the persimmons hanging on the branches.
Wild persimmons were generally quite small, especially those on the mountain.
She picked the soft persimmons; some would break their skin with just a gentle squeeze.
Su Zhenzhen broke open a persimmon with broken skin and gave half to Lu Hexu.
The young man stood beside her, a small bandage still wrapped around his fingertip. He avoided the bandage and took the wet half of the persimmon in his hand.
The persimmon juice dripped down as Lu Hexu lowered his head and took a light bite.
The flesh was as soft and sweet as honey, melting in his mouth with almost no astringency, a world of difference from the taste he had experienced before.
"Is it sweet?"
The young man's eyes curved slightly. "Sweet."
Su Zhenzhen was stunned.
She really rarely saw Mu Dan smile.
Although she always felt that Mu Dan would look even better when he smiled, being a servant was so bitter, who could manage to smile?
She could understand that.
Su Zhenzhen instinctively reached out and touched the corner of the young man's lips.
[He looks so good when he smiles.]
Lu Hexu slightly furrowed his brows.
He didn't like to smile.
[Ahhhhh he smiled again! Baby looks so good!]
To win a smile from the beautiful youth, Su Zhenzhen suddenly became full of energy. "Then let's pick some more."
She buried her head in picking persimmons, and Lu Hexu followed behind her.
The two of them picked their way deeper and deeper into the grove.
"The persimmons higher up get better sunlight, so they ripen faster and are sweeter."
People also need to get more sun. She heard that humans can develop depressive moods due to a lack of vitamin D.
The rate of depression is the highest among humans living in countries that lack sunlight year-round.
Take Su Zhenzhen herself as an example.
Her mood on cloudy days and on bright, sunny days was completely different.
The persimmons higher up were a bit too high to reach.
Su Zhenzhen stood on a rock under the persimmon tree and stood on her tiptoes to pick them.
The rock wobbled. Su Zhenzhen instinctively paused, and then felt her body tilt.
"Ah..."
Lu Hexu, standing beside Su Zhenzhen, immediately reached out to grab her.
This persimmon tree grew on the edge of a hillside, and that rock just happened to be perched right there.
The rock tipped over. The hillside was very long, and due to momentum, the two rolled down together, suddenly plunging into an empty hole.
"Ugh..."
It hurt so much.
Su Zhenzhen was aching all over from the fall. She rested for a moment before she could recover her senses.
The sky had grown dark, leaving only a thin sliver of moonlight.
Su Zhenzhen looked up. What a high hole.
Most of the holes in the mountains were dug by hunters to catch prey. In the middle of the night like this, they would probably have to wait until tomorrow before anyone found them.
They were really unlucky.
"Ugh..."
A voice came from beneath her.
Su Zhenzhen looked down and saw the young man pinned beneath her.
"Are you okay? I'll get up right away."
After saying that, Su Zhenzhen pushed herself up, but suddenly felt something wasn't quite right.
Wait a minute.
[What is this under your waist?]
The computer broke...
