“That didn’t happen.” Jiang Huai shook his head.
“You… are you angry with me… disobeying me…” Chu Xianning’s voice was unclear, whether it was resentful or wronged, but Jiang Huai, used to seeing her drunk, chose to ignore her. He simply held her hand and walked towards the room. However, Chu Xianning’s body seemed so weak that she almost fell to the ground after taking just one step. Jiang Huai embraced her.
Chu Xianning closed her eyes again at this moment, as if she was about to fall asleep.
Jiang Huai looked at her snow-white cheeks and delicate pink lips, which seemed to be glistening with moisture. He wasn’t sure if it was drool from falling asleep drunk. At this moment, Jiang Huai suddenly thought of that question again: are Flower-Plucking Fairy Chu Xianning’s lips sweet?
“Master.”
“What is it…”
“I’m still very curious if Master’s lips are sweet.”
“Do you want to die?”
“I want to try.” Jiang Huai reached out and straightened her body slightly. His hand rested on her ribs. Chu Xianning’s body was indeed excessively slender and so soft.
Jiang Huai’s ears were already ringing with the system’s ding-ding-ding. He didn’t care what mission the system had issued. He hadn’t slept for two hours due to his annoyance, and now he suddenly really wanted to see if Chu Xianning would kill him.
If you have the ability, kill me, Chu Xianning.
The bright moonlight fell on her cool and aloof face. Her lips were as pure as flower petals. Jiang Huai once again smelled the faint subtle fragrance on Chu Xianning. He gently embraced Chu Xianning, his voice very soft, “Chu Xianning, am I too greedy?”
His question received no answer. Chu Xianning seemed to be falling asleep again, but the next moment, Jiang Huai had already leaned in and lightly kissed Chu Xianning’s petal-like lips.
Her lips were warm and soft, yet they also seemed to carry a slight hint of coldness. But when Jiang Huai pried open her teeth, her soft tongue was as slippery as jelly. Chu Xianning did not respond at all, yet she did not push him away. Perhaps she had lost consciousness from drinking too much. Thus, Jiang Huai became increasingly greedy. He tasted a faint sweet flavor, like the pistils of peach blossoms.
He tasted it.
Jiang Huai was satisfied. Looking at Chu Xianning in front of him, he was ready for her to kill him with a sword.
However, Chu Xianning’s eyes remained closed, and her head soon fell heavily onto his shoulder, as if she had fallen asleep.
So Jiang Huai picked her up, returned her to her room, gently covered her with a quilt, extinguished the light in the room, and walked back to his own room.
………………………………
Alright, Jiang Huai sat on the bedside and began counting down his life.
But unexpectedly, he didn’t feel any anxiety or unease in his heart. All his previous烦躁 (fánzào – annoyance/restlessness) seemed to have disappeared in an instant. Chu Xianning’s lips were so soft to kiss, her little tongue was smooth and tender, and holding her body was just right. So her lips were indeed slightly sweet. That faint sweetness seemed to seep into his heart, and Jiang Huai’s mood inexplicably brightened. All his worries vanished in an instant.
Good, now he should have a good sleep and then wait for Chu Xianning to kill him tomorrow.
Thinking this, Jiang Huai clutched the quilt and soon fell into a contented deep sleep.
…………………………
The next day, early morning.
It was a bright spring day, and the peach blossoms in the courtyard were blooming beautifully.
Jiang Huai was in the kitchen, preparing the last meal of his life.
For his last meal, he chose to cook himself a bowl of wontons, filled with seaweed and fresh meat. He cooked six more than usual. To be stuffed to death was better than to starve to death. When he carried the wontons into the courtyard, Luo Qingyu was already stretching in the courtyard. Unexpectedly, Chu Xianning had not woken up yet.
Normally, Chu Xianning woke up at a fixed time, and even after drinking, it was usually around this time. However, today, the door to her room remained tightly shut. Jiang Huai walked to her door and was about to gently knock.
The door opened. Chu Xianning inside had already changed into a white dress, her expression still as cold as ever.
Jiang Huai stood frozen in place, looking into her eyes. After thinking so resolutely all night yesterday, he now wondered if Chu Xianning would spare his life if he knelt and begged for mercy. As expected, he was a spineless coward, only able to be brave once in a while.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
They stared at each other for a full five seconds. Chu Xianning glanced at him indifferently, “Why are you staring at me?”
“Did Master sleep well last night?”
“You sent me back to my room?” Chu Xianning’s voice held some confusion.
“Mmm, Master drank too much last night.”
“Oh.” Chu Xianning replied indifferently, then brushed past him and sat at the table. Looking at the wontons in the bowl, she picked up the spoon and ate her breakfast seriously.
Jiang Huai looked back at her.
Could it be that she had blacked out after drinking?
A sense of relief washed over Jiang Huai’s heart, but for some reason, a small wisp of disappointment also welled up within him.
It’s over. He really was a cheapskate.
Jiang Huai also returned to the table and began eating the wontons. He then realized that Chu Xianning was eating the bowl he had prepared for himself, the one with six extra wontons. Chu Xianning couldn’t finish it, leaving six in the bowl. Chu Xianning looked at him, “I’m full.”
“What a waste.” Jiang Huai’s heart ached.
Chu Xianning didn’t understand the cost of daily necessities at all. The spirit pig meat for these dumplings was not cheap. Tian Xuan Sect only raised a few spirit pigs in total; most were cattle, sheep, and deer. Spirit pig meat was naturally extremely expensive. This bowl of wontons cost one spirit stone.
Chu Xianning glanced at him sidelong, then lifted her bowl and poured the six wontons in it into his bowl. “Then you eat them.”
With that, she stood up and went to sit in the pavilion.
Jiang Huai was slightly stunned for a moment, tilting his confused little head.
Could it be that Master actually remembered and prepared to let him eat his fill before going on his way?
Jiang Huai ate the wontons with trepidation, not wasting even a drop of the soup. After he finished eating, he went to the pavilion. Chu Xianning’s fingertips were holding a white chess piece.
This chessboard was also polished by Jiang Huai using spirit jade. The wood of the chessboard was spirit wood sandalwood, and the jade was warm moon mystic jade. The entire chessboard cost 500 spirit stones. Chu Xianning really liked the feel of the chess pieces.
But actually, Jiang Huai didn’t particularly like playing chess because he couldn’t beat Chu Xianning. He sat opposite Chu Xianning, picked up a black piece, and casually asked, “Why did Master drink alone last night without calling me?”
“Afraid of being bitten by a dog.” Chu Xianning replied indifferently.
“That’s slander.” Jiang Huai looked at her with an innocent expression. “Clearly, I only have respect for Master.”
Chu Xianning gave him a cold glance but said nothing more, just focusing on the chess game. Jiang Huai used all his might, plus cheating and taking back his moves twice, but he was still no match for Chu Xianning.
They had played over two thousand games of chess together. To this day, he had only won once. That one time was when Chu Xianning saw him about to get depressed from losing and probably wouldn’t play anymore, so she deliberately went easy on him.
Jiang Huai still lost. He looked at the chessboard in frustration, then put the pieces back, “Again!”
Chu Xianning gave him a faint glance and started the next game.
Luo Qingyu came to Jiang Huai’s side at some point, watching him play chess obediently, occasionally offering some pointers. But even so, Jiang Huai was still resoundingly defeated by Chu Xianning.
Jiang Huai angrily put down the chess pieces, “I’m not playing anymore!”
“Oh.” Chu Xianning replied indifferently.
So Jiang Huai went back to the kitchen to prepare lunch. The pork trotters soup he was preparing needed to be stewed for some time.
………………………………
Until after lunch.
Chu Xianning did not mention anything about last night again. Jiang Huai’s anxious heart finally relaxed. It seemed that Master really didn’t remember what happened last night. But thinking about it, he couldn’t help but recall Chu Xianning’s soft and slightly sweet lips, so his eyes kept falling on Chu Xianning’s face, but Chu Xianning’s gaze remained as cold as ever.
So even the coldest Chu Xianning had soft lips to kiss.
Chu Xianning sat in the lounge chair Jiang Huai had made for her, basking in the sun. Her ankles beneath the white dress were snow-white and slender. Her fair and tender little feet were bathed in sunlight, looking even more warm and exquisite.
Luo Qingyu and Jiang Huai were also lying on lounge chairs. Sunbathing was perhaps the happiest thing.
Jiang Huai began to secretly glance at Chu Xianning’s profile again. After all these years, he still couldn’t get immune to her beauty. How could she be so beautiful? It was too much!
Luo Qingyu lay beside him, gazing at Jiang Huai, who was secretly looking at Chu Xianning, like a wronged kitten.
After lying there for a while, Jiang Huai turned his head to look at Luo Qingyu. He looked at her plaintive eyes and spread his hands, “Come here.”
Luo Qingyu was startled. The next moment, she got up from the chair and suddenly sat in Jiang Huai’s embrace. Jiang Huai gently embraced her waist and mumbled softly, “Gently.”
“Qingyu isn’t heavy, you know.”
Luo Qingyu’s waist was soft and comfortable to touch. Luo Qingyu shifted her snow-white buttocks, adjusting to a more comfortable sitting position on him. Just as she shifted her buttocks, Jiang Huai felt a sense of foreboding.
“Jiang Huai Gege…”
“Mmm?”
“What is… poking me…”
“Nothing.” Jiang Huai immediately reached out and covered Luo Qingyu’s lips. “Nothing!”
“Mmph…” Luo Qingyu couldn’t speak and could only shift her buttocks again. But no matter how she shifted, she felt something poking her. As soon as Jiang Huai let go of her mouth, she complained softly and dejectedly, “There really is something…”
“Sit properly, and it will be gone soon.”
“Okay.” Luo Qingyu nodded obediently, holding Jiang Huai’s arm around her waist, leaning comfortably against Jiang Huai. She lifted her snow-white legs and swung them lightly.
Chu Xianning stood up, no longer looking at Jiang Huai and Luo Qingyu, and returned to her room for her nap.
Chu Xianning’s room was simply decorated. She sat at the table and took out the thick notebook from the cabinet.
She had lived for six hundred years. The longer she lived, the easier it was for her to forget past events, so she had formed a habit of writing a diary. Chu Xianning silently recorded what she had eaten that morning and at noon. Her eyes were always calm until she thought of something and flipped the diary to the previous page. In yesterday’s diary entry, she silently added four words.
“Bitten by a dog.”
