The clouds around the moon were gradually dyed by the halo.
A bowl of hangover-sweet soup sat on the table. Jiang Huai had just picked it up when his hand trembled, spilling some soup onto his sleeve. Xu Qing hurriedly embraced the soup bowl, snatching it away. She then quickly took out a handkerchief and began to wipe the soup water that had spilled on his wrist.
“Just at the banquet, I saw you drinking so, so much wine…” Xu Qing pouted slightly, her voice not really a complaint, but more like a murmur. The dazed Jiang Huai sat by, speechless like a child being disciplined.
It wasn’t until Xu Qing picked up the soup spoon and brought it to his lips, opening her mouth slightly and making an “ah” sound, that Jiang Huai couldn’t help but speak, “I’m not drunk.”
“Oh, but you still need to obediently drink your soup first… ah.”
Jiang Huai obediently opened his mouth, and Xu Qing’s spoonful of hangover soup was sent into his mouth. She softly asked, “Is it delicious?”
Jiang Huai nodded, and the girl’s eyes became slightly brighter. She said softly, “My father taught me. He said my mother used to drink heavily all day when she was young and always dragged him along, so he researched this recipe for hangover soup.”
Jiang Huai was stunned for a moment. He had seen Xu Qing’s mother, Pei Ning; she appeared to be a dignified and elegant woman. It was hard to imagine she had such an interesting past.
Jiang Huai obediently sat there, spooning up the hangover soup. When there was a little left, he spoke, looking at Xu Qing in front of him and blinking his eyes, “I’m full.”
Xu Qing put down the hangover soup in her hand and picked up a handkerchief to gently wipe the corners of his mouth.
Jiang Huai gazed at Xu Qing’s face. Her eyes were so serious, her slender eyelashes not trembling in the slightest. When she put away the handkerchief, Jiang Huai softly asked, “I remember you weren’t wearing these clothes during the daytime…?”
“Yes, the slit on the side of this qipao is too high; I didn’t want others to see it.” As Xu Qing spoke, she pointed to the slit on the side of the qipao. As if worried Jiang Huai couldn’t see clearly, she gently lifted a bit with her fingertips. Her tender white thigh flesh was fully revealed, tightly wrapped in thin, silky, sheer white stockings, exuding an indescribable seductive charm at this moment.
Xu Qing didn’t like sitting with her legs crossed. Her posture always had the demeanor of a lady from a good family, proper and elegant, but at this moment, she seemed a little fidgety.
Jiang Huai’s head was fuzzy, and he asked, “You didn’t want others to see, so why…?”
His words abruptly stopped.
Xu Qing didn’t answer, just cast him a languid glance before turning her face away. A hint of pink appeared on her delicate, small earlobes.
The courtyard seemed to suddenly become very quiet, and the petals in the flowerbed by the wall trembled slightly in the wind.
When Xu Qing turned her head back, she had already reached out and gently grasped the hem of the lifted qipao, covering her slender, snow-white thighs again. She then muttered softly, “Even you can’t see it now.”
Jiang Huai couldn’t help but laugh and cry. He watched Xu Qing lean forward slightly, resting on the table. At this moment, her posture appeared particularly lazy and relaxed. She looked up, her eyes innocently gazing at his face, not speaking.
Jiang Huai also lowered his head to look at her, but he didn’t know what to say either, so he also closed his mouth and fell silent. The two of them gazed into each other’s eyes like this, one second, two seconds, three seconds; time seemed to slow down bit by bit.
After looking at each other for a while longer, Jiang Huai finally couldn’t help but laugh first. When he laughed, Xu Qing also started to laugh. Both of them laughed heartily, even though they themselves didn’t understand why they were laughing.
“Speaking of which, did you provoke Mu Yao?” Xu Qing suddenly asked softly.
“Ah?”
Jiang Huai looked at her in confusion. To provoke her… it could be considered so, but Jiang Huai felt no guilt. It was Mu Yao who provoked him first. A jumping, yapping cat should be prepared to be spanked afterward.
Xu Qing said somewhat guiltily in a small voice, “A few days ago, when Mu Yao came to visit me, she said a lot of bad things about you…”
“Like what?”
“She said when you spanked her butt, you bullied her with your fingertips…” Xu Qing became more and more ashamed as she spoke, but she still tried to stare at Jiang Huai, essentially waiting for him to explain.
Jiang Huai winked at her, “Then do you believe it?”
“No.”
“Really don’t believe it?”
“Really don’t believe it.”
“It’s true there wasn’t such a thing, but I did spank her butt.” Jiang Huai scratched his head. “It’s like disciplining a disobedient child. I’ve almost forgotten what she said that day to deserve a spanking…”
“She was so, so angry then.”
Jiang Huai innocently spread his small hands, “Anyway, she can’t do anything to me.”
Xu Qing couldn’t help but chuckle. After another moment, she suddenly thought of something, her eyes darting around uneasily. She said, “Maybe it’s because she likes you, but you always ignore her, so it turned into hatred out of love.”
“Her liking is just a lie she tells herself, a way to find an excuse for her own unease,” Jiang Huai scratched his head. “This sounds a bit condescending, but that’s how I feel… I don’t feel her so-called true affection.”
Xu Qing’s gaze shifted elsewhere. “I don’t understand your affairs; I just asked casually…”
“Oh.” Jiang Huai nodded obediently, then looked at her innocently. “Actually, I have another question.”
“Hmm? Go ahead.”
“You’re in the courtyard, so why did you put on sheer white stockings…?”
This question had been circling in Jiang Huai’s mind since he entered the courtyard, like little cat claws constantly scratching. He had an answer in his head derived from narcissistic fantasy.
Xu Qing, upon being asked this question, suddenly stiffened. After a moment, she put her hands over her cheeks, her eyes narrowing slightly, and replied guiltily, “What do you think?”
“It’s precisely because I’m curious… that I’m not asking.”
“Do you think I’m dressed like this to please you?” Xu Qing’s voice became more and more guilty.
“Wh-where did you get that idea? I’m not that narcissistic, hahaha, you’re really joking, I know it’s not like that, wear whatever you like if you like it…”
*Sister, please take this sentence back, I can’t stand it, I’m going to die.*
Jiang Xiaohuai, whose narcissistic fantasy had been exposed, suddenly wished he could disappear into a crack in the earth.
“You guessed right.”
Xu Qing’s voice was only a fifth of its usual volume.
“Eh?”
Jiang Huai, who had just been agonizing with shame, was suddenly stunned. But when he looked down at Xu Qing again, she had already slumped onto the table, burying her face in her arms, revealing only a pair of shy eyes. Her cheeks had become extremely hot, as if steam were about to rise from her forehead.
This time, it was Jiang Huai who looked at her eyes, while Xu Qing couldn’t help but dodge. After a long while, Xu Qing was heard muttering softly, “Because A Mumu always likes to write about various female characters in books wearing all sorts of cute little socks… especially these sheer white stockings, she’s written about them so many times, so… I wanted to try wearing them… Do you think… they look good?”
Her eyes held a certain expectation while also being evasive.
“Th-they look quite good, don’t they…” Jiang Huai was instantly flustered.
“But I’ve always wanted to ask… why do you like them?” Xu Qing tilted her head, looking at him confusedly. Her shyness was slowly disappearing, while Jiang Huai’s shame was rapidly increasing.
“This… it’s all sorts of things… it’s hard to explain…”
“But I want to hear about it.”
Jiang Huai became flustered and clumsy. After stammering for a while, he summarized two points, “Perhaps… when wearing white stockings, the legs look more hazy, without such blatant temptation, making them appear more mysterious and forbidden, making one’s heart itch… and they feel smooth to the touch?”
“But legs already feel smooth to the touch.”
Jiang Huai immediately sat up straight, gazing at her with a serious expression. “This is where you don’t understand. Not all women’s legs feel as smooth as yours.”
“As if you’ve touched mine…” Xu Qing looked at him innocently, her cheeks becoming even more shy.
“Anything else?” Xu Qing tilted her head and asked him.
“Perhaps some people have unattractive leg shapes, and stockings can help modify them. Also, when paired with certain clothes, the color tone appears more harmonious and less abrupt…?”
“Oh…” Xu Qing nodded obediently. “So you can actually come up with so many reasons.”
Jiang Huai couldn’t help but look at her reproachfully. Xu Qing secretly giggled. She looked at Jiang Huai’s face and suddenly said very, very softly, “After we part this time, who knows when we’ll meet again.”
“It seems so.”
Jiang Huai suddenly didn’t know what to say. If Xu Qing didn’t intend to invite him to meet again sometime in the future, he probably wouldn’t be able to open his mouth. But if Xu Qing did make the invitation, should he agree? Their relationship seemed to be constantly testing the boundaries of friendship, and Jiang Huai was already dizzy and unsure of what to do.
The atmosphere suddenly became a little melancholic. Xu Qing lay on the table, her eyelashes drooping slightly.
Liking someone really was a terrifying thing.
If she had never liked him, even if she stayed alone at Guanxue Sect, she would never have felt lonely and would not have been afraid at all. But she didn’t know when it started, but the thought of being so far apart and never seeing each other again after this parting suddenly made her feel that life alone at Guanxue Sect seemed to have become somewhat dull and boring.
To solve this problem, it seemed the only way was to stop liking him.
She raised her head to look into Jiang Huai’s eyes. Jiang Huai seemed to want to say something but hesitated, ultimately making no sound. Moonlight spilled onto the tabletop, covering it with a layer of silver frost.
“In two months, I should be going to the Western Regions. I’ll pass by Guanxue Sect on the way…”
Jiang Huai spoke softly.
Xu Qing’s lowered eyelashes slowly lifted, her dark pupils reflecting the moonlight brightly.
“Then, will you come find me to play and drink together then?”
“Of course, I can come find you to play. Drinking a little should be fine, but drinking a lot… probably not, no.”
“Eh, why?” Xu Qing looked at him confusedly.
“Because terrible things might happen if I get too drunk,” Jiang Huai explained with a serious expression.
“But you seem drunk now too…”
“I’m not very, very drunk right now. If I were very, very drunk, I might ruin something important.”
“Is that so…” Xu Qing’s fingertips gently twirled her hair. She glanced at Jiang Huai, then looked away. After a few seconds, she looked at Jiang Huai again. She suddenly said very, very softly, “I just thought of something again.”
“Hmm?”
“I think when I’m not wearing socks, my legs feel much softer and smoother than when I’m wearing them…”
“Is that so?”
“You don’t believe it?”
“I believe it.”
“No, you don’t believe it.”
“You don’t believe it.” Xu Qing puffed out her cheeks slightly.
“Then I don’t believe it.”
“You don’t believe… you can touch and see.” After saying this, Xu Qing turned her face away again, her gaze falling on the petals of the flowers in the corner.
