Jiang Huai was speechless for a moment.
The young girl in front of him had porcelain-white cheeks, but now, due to a slight intoxication, they were tinged with a beautiful pink. Her long, slender eyelashes blinked innocently. Jiang Huai’s hand was still gently resting on her shoulder as he slowly spoke, “I don’t think I’ve offended Miss Mu Yao in any way, have I?”
“Yes, you have,” Mu Yao nodded.
“How so?” Jiang Huai asked, confused.
“When you… treated my illness, you know what you did.”
“What did I do?” Jiang Huai’s eyes widened. If she threw this mud at him, how could he ever wash it off?
Mu Yao remained silent, her cheeks flushing even more, appearing too shy to speak. “Anyway… you know what you did. Do you want me to say it in front of my father?”
“No, I didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t slander me. You clearly…”
“Then I didn’t do anything,” Mu Yao blinked aggrievedly. “You really did nothing.”
Jiang Huai was furious, his teeth itching. If the Chess Saint and Fang Qingmu weren’t present, he would have pinned Mu Yao down and given her a stern lecture.
“If I did anything wrong earlier, I apologize to Miss Mu Yao. Please calm down, and in the future… could you stop tormenting me like this?”
“Okay,” Mu Yao agreed so quickly that Jiang Huai was momentarily surprised. She just blinked at him innocently. “I promise.”
Jiang Huai breathed a sigh of relief, only to see Mu Yao pick up her wine cup. “Then will you have another drink with me?”
Jiang Huai picked up his wine cup. She drank the wine in one gulp, but she didn’t seem satisfied. She picked up the wine pot again and refilled her cup, drinking it down before Jiang Huai could even speak. After finishing this second cup, she poured herself a full third. By the time she finished the last cup, her cheeks were flushed crimson.
“I’ve had too much to drink,” she tilted her head back, her voice trembling slightly. Even her eye sockets were slightly reddened from drinking so quickly, and her eyes looked at Jiang Huai with pitiful confusion. “Could you send me back to my courtyard?”
This hot potato was difficult to handle.
Jiang Huai sighed deeply and looked at the Chess Saint, about to speak. However, Mu Yao clutched his arm again. “I want you to send me.”
Jiang Huai hesitated for a few more seconds, then finally stood up and looked at Mu Yao, who was still sitting on the chair. “Can you still walk?”
Mu Yao shook her head like a rattle.
“Then you can just use your spiritual energy to dispel the effects of the alcohol,” Jiang Huai said, looking into her eyes.
“No, no,” Mu Yao shook her head. “If I did that, why would I have drunk in the first place?”
Her words made sense. Jiang Huai finally leaned down slightly and said, “I’ll carry you back.”
Mu Yao’s eyes became incredibly bright. In an instant, she jumped down from the chair and then onto his back. She wrapped her slender arms around his neck, her long, slender legs around his waist, her snow-white chest pressing against his back. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, “I knew you would agree.”
“So sure?”
“Because you’re easy to talk to.”
“Not necessarily.” Jiang Huai carried her out of the courtyard. The snow had stopped, but the snow on the roadside hadn’t fully melted yet. The warm breath from Mu Yao’s lips landed on his neck. Her face rubbed against Jiang Huai’s neck like a lonely kitten seeking affection.
“I have a basic level of patience for everyone, but once that basic patience is exhausted, it’s over.”
“Do pretty girls have more patience?”
“That’s true.”
“Then I should have a lot left.”
“You have a tiny bit left,” Jiang Huai said faintly, cupping the back of her legs. “If you think clinging to me is fun, I advise you to give up sooner rather than later.”
“It’s not because it’s fun.”
“Then what is it?”
Mu Yao’s delicate pink lips moved close to his ear, her breath warm against his skin. Her voice was soft and sweet, as if she were announcing a momentous secret.
“I like you,” she said.
“Your liking is very cheap.”
But Jiang Huai replied without even blinking, as if his heart hadn’t stirred in the slightest. Mu Yao was stunned for a moment, then felt an inexplicable sharp pain in her chest.
“You don’t believe me?”
“No.”
“Then how can I prove that I like you?” Mu Yao gently bit his ear. “If you send me back to my courtyard, I’ll give you my body. Will that prove that I like you?”
“Those words are spoken too lightly.”
“Because it’s to you, Jiang Huai.”
“I still don’t understand. Is it because you’re too young and haven’t experienced anything, so you’re deceiving yourself with your so-called passion, or are you just simple and foolish?”
“Aren’t those two examples the same meaning?”
“Fine, I guess so.”
“I am foolish,” Mu Yao suddenly laughed by his ear again. “I’ve been thinking about it these past few days.”
“Thinking about what?”
“Wondering if I’ve fallen for you.”
“Then I suggest you stop thinking about it.”
“No, I’ve figured it out. I do like you, Jiang Huai.”
“You’re sick,” Jiang Huai’s tone was excessively cold. He could clearly feel that there wasn’t the slightest ripple in his heart, but he didn’t think it was because he was too indifferent. He just found it absurd and laughable.
For him, liking someone was always a serious matter. He wasn’t sure if it was due to his slow-burning nature, but he always felt that to love someone, one had to first understand her myriad aspects, to understand her heart, rather than a superficial fated encounter or indulging in some self-delusion. That wasn’t liking; it was mere self-infatuation.
When something he cherished deeply was spoken of so lightly by Mu Yao, he felt an inexplicable contempt in his heart.
Jiang Huai wasn’t sure if this could be considered his own arrogance, so he said nothing more, but silently continued to carry Mu Yao forward. He stepped through the soft snow. It wasn’t that cold when it snowed, but the melting snow was quite chilling.
Mu Yao’s soft body was warm. She hadn’t spoken for a long time until she finally spoke, her voice slightly tearful. “You’re too much.”
“Am I?” Jiang Huai asked indifferently, his voice still cool. Perhaps it was because he had spent so much time with Chu Xianning that he had also learned Chu Xianning’s aloofness that kept people at a distance.
“Xu Qing can like you, so why can’t I?”
“Because your liking is cheap.”
“You’re not me, so how do you know my liking is cheap? Does it feel cheap to you because I haven’t shared life and death with you like Xu Qing did? Or is it because I’m not as timid as Xu Qing, not modest enough, and not shy enough?”
Jiang Huai was momentarily unable to retort. He said softly, “When the Eastern Region Grand Competition ends, and you don’t see me for a while, your liking will gradually cool down, and then you’ll realize how absurd you are right now.”
“Are you that sure?”
“Probably,” Jiang Huai sighed.
“Liking doesn’t fade with time.”
“Stop watching those idiotic scripts! They’re all lies!” Jiang Huai suddenly felt somewhat agitated. Listening to Mu Yao’s confident tone, he felt a sense of inexplicable annoyance.
Perhaps at some point, he too had said such absurd and laughable things, and now, from a certain perspective, he was mocking his past self. Perhaps his agitation now wasn’t because of Xu Qing, but because he was beginning to negate his past self.
“You don’t understand at all. You’ll understand when you read it.”
“Read what?”
“A Mumu. I have a collector’s edition you can borrow. He’s written a lot about love stories. After reading it, you’ll understand… Liking someone isn’t as simple as you think. Liking someone is a sudden, unreasonable thing that happens in an instant. My liking isn’t cheap. You’re not allowed to deny my liking… I have no reason to lie to you, so why would I?”
“I am A Mumu,” Jiang Huai replied coldly.
Mu Yao, who was on his back, suddenly froze. She asked blankly, “What did you say?”
“I am A Mumu,” Jiang Huai repeated.
“You’re lying.”
“Believe it or not, but I am that A Mumu. Even he didn’t believe many of the stories he wrote. They were all lies. True love is ethereal. Even he himself didn’t believe it would ever descend upon him.”
“Does he believe it now?”
Mu Yao’s slender arms tightened around his neck. Her lips were pressed against Jiang Huai’s ear, her voice soft and timid. “What about him now? Does he believe?”
“He believes.”
Jiang Huai suddenly laughed.
“Then why don’t you believe I like you?” Mu Yao mumbled aggrievedly, “It’s not that you don’t believe, it’s just that I’m not pleasing enough to you. If I were pleasing enough, you would choose to believe that I like you.”
Her logic was flawless.
“Since you know, why are you still saying it?”
“Even if I know, I still want to tell you. I like you… In the future, I’ll guess what kind of girl you like, and I’ll become that kind of girl.”
“If you abandon yourself just to like someone, isn’t that putting the cart before the horse?”
“But I never knew what kind of person I should be,” Mu Yao’s delicate pink lips brushed against his ear. “Do you like girls who seem very pure but are actually very shameless in private?”
“I’m very well-behaved. It’s only in front of you that I act like you’ve seen before. I don’t know why, it’s hard to explain. Maybe it’s because you’re too good-looking,” Mu Yao’s voice was small.
“If it’s just because of looks, then there are so many good-looking people in this world. Would you like other good-looking people too?”
“No, when you like someone, they become the most good-looking. No one is better-looking than you.”
Jiang Huai was too lazy to argue with her. He had already brought Mu Yao to the entrance of the courtyard. “We’re home. Go back to sleep.”
“Do you want to sleep with me?”
“No.”
“Even if it’s just a secret… only we know, and I won’t tell anyone?”
“No.”
“Hmph, you just don’t believe I’ll really keep it a secret, that’s why you won’t agree.”
“You’ve figured it out again?”
“Men are all like that, A Mumu said so himself.”
“The original quote was that *most* men are like that. I’m different. I’m pure and chaste, a gentleman.”
Mu Yao chuckled. “You’re shameless.”
“Yes.”
“But I like it,” Mu Yao leaned closer to him. “Could you give me a secret kiss?”
Jiang Huai took a step back.
Mu Yao took a step forward.
Jiang Huai was cornered by Mu Yao before he could even speak. Mu Yao lifted a slender, white leg and placed her ankle on his shoulder, pinning Jiang Huai against the wall. She still had to stand on tiptoes, her snow-white neck stretched like a swan’s, but even so, she was still a little short of kissing his lips.
Unless Jiang Huai lowered his head.
But Jiang Huai just helplessly reached out to move her ankle away. Mu Yao pouted in dissatisfaction, leaned in, and gave his neck a peck. Then, Jiang Huai grabbed her by the armpits and lifted her up like an disobedient kitten.
“Go to sleep obediently.”
“You seem so impatient.”
“I am this impatient.”
“Then you first say that you believe I like you, and I’ll go to sleep obediently.”
“It makes no difference whether I believe it or not. After your passion fades, you’ll think you’re so stupid, and you’ll want to roll around on the ground.”
“The more you say that, the more I want to contend with you, to tell myself then that I’m not like that, otherwise I’ll really become stupid. Hmph, as expected, you’re a bad man, all this is an act of playing hard to get.”
