Xie Zhaolin silently handed over a waterskin.
He did not say a word, but the cap had already been unscrewed so Shi Huai could drink from it immediately. His fingers trembled slightly as he held it out.
Zhao Huan pushed his way through the crowd, his eyes red-rimmed and his voice on the verge of tears.
“Shi Huai, are you really all right? Don’t try to tough it out. If it hurts, just say so.”
Wang Ren came running over, panting heavily, his forehead covered in sweat.
“Shi Huai, it really doesn’t hurt?”
Shi Huai looked at the group gathered around him. Some were offering him water, some were examining his ankle, and others were supporting his arm. Every face was filled with worry and concern. The corner of his mouth twitched.
“I’m really fine. Stop crowding around me. The match isn’t over yet.”
Shi Huai stepped out of the crowd, bent down to pick up the cuju ball, and placed it by his foot. Then he raised his head to look at the players on the opposite side, who were still standing there in a daze, and smiled faintly.
“Who’s going to try and take the ball from me?”
No one moved.
Everyone was staring at him. Sunlight fell across his body, and his moon-white riding robes were damp with sweat in one spot, clinging to his back and outlining his slender yet upright frame.
His cheeks were faintly flushed from exertion, and the loose strands of hair at his forehead had been dampened by sweat, sticking to his skin.
Several droplets slid along the curve of his cheek before gathering at his chin, trembling on the verge of falling.
Zhao Huan watched as one of those droplets fell from Shi Huai’s chin and landed on the moon-white collar of his robe, spreading into a small patch of darker fabric.
His throat bobbed. Then he abruptly turned his head away, not daring to look any longer.
Xie Zhaolin lowered his head, his fingers clenching inside his sleeves until his knuckles cracked.
His face was flushed, his breathing ragged, and his chest heaved violently, as though he were enduring some immense torment.
Li Chengze stood at the very edge of the crowd, his gaze never leaving Shi Huai for even a moment.
In those deep eyes churned an emotion even he himself did not recognize.
He had seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield. He had witnessed schemes and betrayals at court, and intrigue within the deep palace...
He had thought he had already seen through everything in this world, and that no one could ever make his heart stir.
But today, he finally understood that a heart like still water did not come from seeing through the world. It came from never having met the person capable of making ripples across that lake of the heart.
No. Perhaps he had met that person long ago. It was only that, back then, in order to escape the fact that he had fallen for a child, he had fled the capital without looking back...
After the cuju match ended, Shi Huai was surrounded by a group of people and escorted to the edge of the stands to rest.
At some point, the Second Miss Liu had appeared in the stands.
She wore a goose-yellow beizi, a red-gold hairpin adorned with pearls in her hair, and held a round silk fan embroidered with a lifelike pair of mandarin ducks.
When the Second Miss Liu saw Shi Huai approaching, the expression on her face shifted from anticipation to astonishment, then from astonishment to an indescribable infatuation. The round fan in her hand stopped in midair, forgotten.
“Young... Young Master Shi...”
The Second Miss Liu’s voice was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz. Her face flushed from the base of her neck all the way to the tips of her ears, and her fingers tightened around the fan’s handle until her knuckles turned white.
Hearing someone call his name, Shi Huai turned around and saw a girl of thirteen or fourteen standing in the stands.
She wore a goose-yellow beizi and had bright eyes, pearly teeth, and features that seemed faintly familiar.
“Who might this young lady be...?”
Shi Huai tilted his head slightly, a hint of confusion in his eyes. He did not remember knowing her.
The Second Miss Liu’s heart gave a violent leap beneath his gaze, and she nearly dropped the fan in her hand.
She bit her lip and only just managed to steady herself. Her voice still trembled slightly.
“I... I’m from the Liu family, the second daughter. I saw Young Master Shi from a distance at the marquis’s residence last time. You probably don’t remember me...”
Shi Huai thought for a moment. He vaguely remembered that several young ladies from the Liu family had indeed visited the marquis’s residence.
Especially Madam Liu.
When he was little, Madam Liu would always pat and pinch him whenever she saw him, and secretly stuff him with tasty treats and amusing toys. She must have been especially fond of children.
The Second Miss Liu was Madam Liu’s daughter, so perhaps Madam Liu had specifically instructed her to look after her “younger brother”?
Shi Huai nodded, a polite yet distant smile on his lips.
“Greetings, Second Miss Liu. Why are you here alone today? Didn’t any of your sisters come with you?”
Being addressed as “Second Miss Liu” made her feel as though she had been immersed in a jar of honey, sweetness spreading from head to toe.
She squeezed her palm hard to keep herself from doing anything even more embarrassing.
“They... They had other matters to attend to and didn’t come. I... I came by myself.”
The Second Miss Liu’s voice grew softer and softer, the final few words barely squeezed from her throat.
Zhao Huan poked his head out from the side, glanced at the Second Miss Liu’s flushed and flustered expression, then looked at Shi Huai’s utterly oblivious face. The corner of his mouth twitched.
“Second Miss Liu, where is your maid? How could she let you come all the way to the cuju field alone? It’s not exactly appropriate here, with nothing but men around.”
His voice was not loud, but the meaning behind his words was unmistakable.
The Second Miss Liu’s face turned red, then pale. Her fingers tightened around the fan’s handle as she took a deep breath and forced a composed smile.
“My maid is waiting over there. I just... happened to be passing by, and when I saw Young Master Shi here, I came over to greet him.”
After saying this, she gave Shi Huai a curtsy and hurried away.
She walked so quickly that the maid behind her nearly failed to keep up.
Her goose-yellow beizi flashed through the crowd like a little oriole desperate to escape.
Zhao Huan watched the Second Miss Liu disappear into the distance. He pursed his lips slightly, then turned back toward Shi Huai, only to find him drinking sour plum soup, completely oblivious to what had just happened.
“Shi Huai, don’t you think the way Second Miss Liu looked at you was strange?”
Zhao Huan leaned closer and asked in a lowered voice.
Shi Huai set down his cup and lifted his eyes to glance at Zhao Huan.
“Strange? What was strange about it? She was just saying hello.”
Zhao Huan opened his mouth, wanting to say, “That wasn’t an ordinary greeting. She was looking at you like you were a slab of fresh meat.”
But the words felt too explicit, and more importantly, he seemed to look at Shi Huai the same way himself...
So he swallowed them back down.
Xie Zhaolin listened to the exchange from the side, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. He cursed Zhao Huan inwardly.
“Zhao Huan, are you an idiot? What if you spell it out for him and he catches on?”
