Jiiang Xiaohu was furious.
He couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason for his anger, but looking at Luo Yueguan’s seductive appearance at this moment, and the faint contempt in her eyes, Jiang Huai felt an inexplicable sense of humiliation.
He was constantly battling his own desires, repeatedly failing, yet repeatedly trying again. And Luo Yueguan, standing before him, seemed to mock him with disdain.
“Not looking anymore?” Luo Yueguan’s slender calf, beneath the quilt, rested on something. “I was going to ask if you wanted a kiss. Weren’t your tongue that nimble when you kissed Qingyu last night?”
“Put your clothes on.”
“Hmm? Didn’t you say earlier…”
“Put your clothes on!” Jiang Huai repeated, his voice rising slightly this time. Luo Yueguan’s curled lips slowly dropped. She reached out and gently grasped the quilt, her perfumed, snow-white body once again concealed. “Alright, then what?”
Jiang Huai lowered the hands covering his eyes and stared intently at Luo Yueguan.
Luo Yueguan’s thoughts seemed even harder to decipher than Chu Xianning’s.
Chu Xianning’s every thought had a traceable path, but Luo Yueguan seemed to change incessantly, acting wildly. She could strip naked before you, shamelessly displaying her fair and beautiful body, or, the moment you touched her, she’d disdainfully swat your hand away, calling you disgusting. Yet, many things in this world weren’t arbitrary. If she acted a certain way, there had to be a logical reason.
But when Jiang Huai looked into her eyes, he seemed to see only a deep mist. That mist concealed Luo Yueguan, not as a disguise, but as if it had become an inseparable part of her.
But what kind of you is the most real Luo Yueguan? Jiang Huai suddenly felt a clear curiosity. He seemed to vaguely sense an inexplicable stir in his heart. He wanted to tear away the thick fog surrounding Luo Yueguan to see her true form beneath. Instantly, he bit his own tongue, regaining some clarity.
What curiosity? It was nothing more than coveting her beauty.
“Is it because it’s fun?” Jiang Huai suddenly said.
This statement sounded less like a question to Luo Yueguan and more like he was talking to himself. Hearing this, Luo Yueguan was taken aback. “What did you say?”
“I said… Auntie Luo, you were so shameless just now, was it actually just because you thought it was fun?” Jiang Huai seemed to be understanding something. Previously, Luo Yueguan had always urged him to do things to Chu Xianning, or deliberately disgusted Chu Xianning. Perhaps it was all just because… she found it amusing.
No, it wasn’t just that. There had to be a deeper reason.
What was she truly yearning for?
“Yes, it’s very fun.”
“What’s fun about it?”
“Seeing you, with greed in your heart, yet pretending to be a gentleman, is like watching a stray dog. It’s very fun.” Luo Yueguan’s fingertips lightly played with the strands of hair falling before her clavicle, her slender fingers twirling her dark tresses. “All you men are like this. You clearly only desire to pin women to the bed and humiliate them, yet you package it so nobly…”
Jiang Huai fell silent for a moment. He suddenly thought of Luo Yueguan’s background.
He remembered Luo Yueguan had told him herself that her mother had had her with a scoundrel. Her mother had waited for a long time before accepting that she had been tricked and abandoned, finally accepting her fate of becoming a prostitute.
So… Luo Yueguan hated men from the bottom of her heart.
So… Luo Yueguan wanted to see him act upon his desires, to confirm her judgment that all men were stray dogs. But why did she only test him?
Was it because… at some moment, she had held some expectation for him?
Jiang Huai’s previously clouded mind suddenly became clear at this moment, but moments later, only a bitter smile remained on his face. Because he had no desire to refute Luo Yueguan; he thought the same.
There was no baseless love or hate in this world; love and hate were intertwined, interdependent.
“If Auntie Luo believes all men in the world are like me, then she’s far too pessimistic,” Jiang Huai could only reply.
“Then why can’t you be the man who makes me see you differently?” Luo Yueguan’s voice suddenly contained a hint of inexplicable annoyance.
In the two months since parting with Jiang Huai, she had thought about many things. Late at night, she’d often told herself how absurd it was to harbor fantasies about a boy so much younger than her. Was it because he had the opportunity to possess her body, yet remained a gentleman? Or was it because he had always restrained his desires for her? It seemed he wasn’t as annoying as other men.
But gradually, she realized this was just her fantasy. The young man she thought had a clear mind also harbored greedy desires.
“In front of Auntie Luo, haven’t I always played the part of a well-behaved junior?” Jiang Huai looked at her with a wry smile. “I haven’t truly done anything excessive to Auntie Luo, have I? Instead, it’s Auntie Luo who always likes to tease me for fun, provoking those base and dark desires in my heart… Is it fair to blame me alone? If Auntie Luo had always been the dignified and composed Sect Master Luo Yueguan of Qingxuan Sect in front of me, then I would naturally always be that obedient and well-behaved junior.”
“It’s clearly you who’s always improper! You always want to know if I, like other men, have those despicable desires in my heart. But the moment you suspect it, the crime has already occurred. If you want to test the hardness of a stone, that stone will eventually shatter.”
Jiang Huai sat down by the bedside and, after a moment of hesitation, continued, “It’s as if Auntie Luo has some inexplicable expectation of me, hoping I’ll be like a saint. But I can’t do that. I don’t think I need to respond to your expectations according to Auntie Luo’s wishes, so your anger is unreasonable.” Jiang Huai’s tone gradually softened.
He suddenly reached out, gently grasped Luo Yueguan’s quilt, and, in her stunned eyes, slowly pulled it away. He looked up, gazing at Luo Yueguan. “When Auntie Luo asked if I wanted to see just now, what did she expect me to say? If I said yes, you’d call me lowly. If I said no, you’d call me hypocritical. Since either answer is wrong, I might as well choose an answer that makes myself happy?”
“W-what are you doing?” Luo Yueguan’s voice suddenly became hurried. Jiang Huai seemed to be slowly approaching, his breath almost falling on her clavicle. She desperately wanted to push him away, but she felt as if she had suddenly lost all strength. Her heartbeat accelerated, a mix of fear and a hidden anticipation.
“Didn’t Auntie Luo also want to ask if I wanted a kiss just now?” Jiang Huai looked up at her. He finally saw the panic in Luo Yueguan’s eyes. It seemed she was about to say something to mock him, but Jiang Huai directly interrupted her prelude.
“No, I just wanted to tell you that, as of now, I don’t want to at all.” Jiang Huai pouted and pulled the quilt back over her body. “It’s the same as with Qingyu. Kissing you is not as good as kissing Qingyu. You don’t trust me at all. You treat me like a toy. Everything you do is because you’re too empty, lonely, and cold, and you want to find something that can provide you with a thrill. It was the same when you spied on me and Qingyu last night. I don’t know if I felt thrilled, but I assume you must have found it very thrilling?”
Jiang Huai unreasonably reached out, pinched Luo Yueguan’s cheeks, and pulled them sideways. “Scared, aren’t you? You looked like you wanted to welcome me, yet also resist. If I had really kissed you, would you have had no intention of struggling or resisting?”
Luo Yueguan’s breathing gradually became more rapid, as if a surging flame was igniting in her chest, with sparks threatening to become an inferno. But Jiang Huai seemed oblivious. He released her cheeks and lightly touched her lips with his fingertips.
“Having greedy thoughts about you is a sign of respect for your beauty. But if I were to actually do something to you, I wouldn’t. Suspicious, sensitive, insecure, arrogant – these are all you. You are the one who is riddled with holes, much more so than Qingyu was a few years ago. You are the little girl who will never grow up.”
Luo Yueguan’s thoughts became a jumbled mess, but her mouth seemed to be faster than her brain. “What? Are you done with your delusions? If you had dared to kiss me just now… I would have cut off your tongue.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me?” Luo Yueguan’s voice was cold.
“I won’t try,” Jiang Huai shrugged. “But I bet you wouldn’t.”
“You don’t dare to try, yet you’re so sure I wouldn’t?” Luo Yueguan sneered. “You’ve only lived for twenty years, barely grown any hair, and you really think you can teach me how to be a person? You think you can easily guess my thoughts? You call me a little girl who won’t grow up, look at your arrogant, self-important demeanor. You’re just a stray dog wagging its tail at your Master. But no matter how hard you wag it, Chu Xianning ignores you, and when she’s in a bad mood, she kicks you away. You can only lick your wounds in a corner and seek comfort from my daughter. Tsk, how pathetic.”
“Ah, yes, yes, yes.”
If it were the past, Jiiang Xiaohu might have panicked.
But thinking of his Master’s soft, pink, tender lips and the sweet flower dew from last night, Jiiang Xiaohu could barely suppress his rising smile. He looked at Luo Yueguan innocently. “You’re so right, I’m so pathetic.”
“What? Did I hit a nerve, so now you’re playing dumb? Oh, I almost thought you really didn’t care. Tsk, a mere stray dog. You have a marriage engagement with my daughter, yet you can’t forget your Master. Now that you know there’s completely no hope with your Master, you finally remember your infatuated Qingyu. Despicable, selfish, shameless, lewd, vulgar. Calling you a stray dog is elevating you.”
“Ah, yes, yes, yes.” Jiiang Xiaohu nodded innocently. “Anything else you want to say? I’m listening.”
Jiang Huai’s indifferent attitude didn’t dissolve Luo Yueguan’s inexplicable anger. Instead, it felt like her blood was about to rush to her head. The more indifferent Jiang Huai was, the angrier she became. Her fingertips clenched the quilt tightly, her breathing growing more rapid. “What? By pretending to be indifferent, do you think you truly are? Do you really think Chu Xianning’s personality would ever be moved by you? She would only despise your base greed. There will never be any possibility between you and her in this lifetime.”
“Oh.” Jiang Huai nodded. “Anything else?”
“Self-righteous! What do you think you are? Do you think I have even a shred of desire for you in my heart? I’m just amusing myself with you on weekdays. If you had really dared to kiss me, I would have made your tongue my breakfast today! You mutt… you worthless cur…”
Jiang Huai looked at Luo Yueguan innocently.
Even though Luo Yueguan was trying her hardest to insult him, her eyes were becoming increasingly red, tears already welling up, threatening to fall at any moment.
Watching the tears slowly fall from her eyes and her voice becoming increasingly choked, the trace of defiance in Jiang Huai’s heart gradually melted away. After a moment of silence, “Okay, okay, it’s all my fault… I’ll apologize, alright, Auntie Luo.”
“Apologize? Weren’t you just so self-righteous? Now you’re apologizing and bowing your head? You spineless creature! I thought you would remain proud! What’s the matter? Can’t handle a few scoldings from me… I’m telling you… I’m telling you…”
But Luo Yueguan’s voice became increasingly intermittent, her chest heaving with her breathless gasps. Jiang Huai took out his handkerchief and brought it close to her face, gently wiping away the tears. “Please spare me… Auntie Luo, I was wrong. Stop scolding me, I really know I was wrong.”
Luo Yueguan’s curses stopped abruptly, but her tears continued to fall, her eyes as red as a little rabbit’s.
She suddenly clenched her fists and swung them at Jiang Huai, but the force was neither painful nor itchy. “It’s your fault! It’s you! It’s you who had desires first! It’s you who likes to pretend to be a gentleman! It’s you who acts so high and mighty every day! It’s you… it’s your fault… it’s you…”
“Okay, okay, it’s my fault.” Jiang Huai gently agreed. Somehow, looking at Luo Yueguan sobbing uncontrollably before him, he felt an indescribable pity. On impulse, he gently pulled the approaching Luo Yueguan into his arms, placing a hand on her back and patting it. “Okay, okay, it’s all my fault… Don’t cry, don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying!”
Luo Yueguan lowered her head and bit Jiang Huai’s shoulder fiercely, but Jiang Huai wasn’t angered. He simply held her soft body, gently patting her back with slow, gentle movements. In a daze, he seemed to catch the scent of Luo Yueguan’s hair and let out a quiet sigh.
“Okay, okay, you’re not crying. It’s all my fault. Don’t be angry anymore, be good.”
Perhaps it was Jiang Huai’s childlike coaxing tone that made Luo Yueguan even angrier. She bit down harder on his shoulder, but aside from an inward gasp, Jiang Huai said nothing. He simply held her.
Jiang Huai truly loved hugs. The simple action could inexplicably bring a sense of peace. Luo Yueguan’s body trembled in his arms like a little deer, tears dampening his shoulder. She continued to bite his shoulder and cry. Jiang Huai just held her back like that. After a long, long time, Luo Yueguan finally let go.
Her tears had dried up. She pushed Jiang Huai, who was holding her, away. In an instant, all softness vanished, and she reverted to her cold, defensive posture, arms crossed, her eyes icy. “Don’t touch me with your dirty hands!”
Jiang Huai obediently stepped back, his eyes innocently gazing at her. “Okay,” he replied softly.
