Leaves fell one after another by the lakeside.
Autumn had arrived, and the fishing today yielded an excellent catch. Besides fishing, Jiang Huai had also accompanied Luo Qingyu to Ziyun Pavilion in Qingxuan Sect and bought many beautiful dresses. Luo Qingyu then added many, many cute little socks. She had bought a lot before; some had been given to Wanwan when she was at Qingmu Immortal Palace, some had been torn by Jiang Huai, or gotten dirty… It wasn’t good to wear them out anymore.
By the time they returned to the courtyard, it was already evening. The sky was filled with rosy clouds. Luo Yueguan sat in the pavilion, the two cats she had bought earlier lying lazily on the table. She stroked the cats’ backs, and upon seeing the two return, she seemed to want to say something but ultimately remained silent.
Jiang Huai didn’t ask any further questions. He simply went into the kitchen and prepared a table full of exquisite dinner. After dinner, Qingyu went to the backyard to play with the cats. Jiang Huai tidied up the bowls and chopsticks. He didn’t deliberately look at Luo Yueguan, nor did he wait for her to apologize.
This wasn’t Luo Yueguan’s fault to begin with. She just liked to act spoiled and wanted to be doted on. After much thought today, Jiang Huai felt that Luo Yueguan couldn’t really be blamed. It was just that perhaps because he couldn’t give Luo Yueguan the favor and affection she desired so much… Luo Yueguan always had to understand the principle of knowing when to stop.
“I will not apologize,” Luo Yueguan suddenly said. She tilted her head up, her sapphire eyes looking at him with exceptional stubbornness. Jiang Huai stacked the bowls neatly and responded with a lukewarm “Oh.”
He finished tidying the dishes and went to the kitchen, but Luo Yueguan followed him. Rootless water coiled around the bowls and chopsticks, washing them all clean in an instant. She leaned against the doorframe, looking at Jiang Huai. Just as Jiang Huai was about to walk out, Luo Yueguan directly reached out and stopped him.
“What are you doing again?”
“Didn’t you say you would never cook for me again?”
“But you still ate it, didn’t you?”
“You didn’t say I couldn’t eat it, so why shouldn’t I?” Luo Yueguan tilted her face slightly, looking into Jiang Huai’s eyes. “Have you fallen for me, Jiang Huai?”
Jiang Huai scratched his head.
Luo Yueguan said nothing, just stared at him intently for several seconds. The moment she asked the question, she was already observing his reaction, yet she couldn’t articulate what kind of answer she expected. In an instant, she was suddenly startled because her heart was in turmoil, and in her daze, she failed to notice the quarter-second change in his pupils.
“No,” Jiang Huai shook his head.
Luo Yueguan looked at him suspiciously and stared for a few more seconds, as if interrogating a prisoner. “Really no?”
“Really no.”
“Don’t regret it.”
“No regrets.”
“Fine.” Luo Yueguan let go of his hand and no longer blocked him from leaving the kitchen. She then started to mumble, “I want to eat glutinous rice cakes tomorrow morning.”
“What if I don’t make them?”
“Nothing will happen, but I’m just telling you, I want to eat glutinous rice cakes tomorrow morning.”
“Then keep wishing.”
“If you don’t make them, it means you’re guilty.”
“Guilty of what?”
“Anyway, you’re guilty. That’s why you’re not making them for me, and that’s why you’re intentionally being cold to me.”
“How am I being cold to you again?”
“It’s colder than before, anyway.”
“Please, it’s normal for me to keep my distance, isn’t it?”
“Then were you keeping your distance before?” Luo Yueguan tilted her chin slightly. “Hmm?”
“I won’t argue with you.”
“You can’t win an argument with me.”
“…” Jiang Huai turned and walked out of the kitchen. He suddenly realized that he couldn’t understand Luo Yueguan’s thoughts anymore. But what did it matter? Not every woman needed to be understood. If he could truly guess the thoughts of all women in the world, then he would never be able to fall in love with anyone again.
“I want to eat glutinous rice cakes tomorrow morning.”
“Not making them.”
“Then when you open your eyes tomorrow morning, you’ll see me appearing by your bedside.”
Jiang Huai looked back at her. Luo Yueguan was leaning against the doorframe, smiling charmingly at him. He straightened his back. “Do you think I’m easily scared?”
“You know what to do after weighing the pros and cons.”
“If you want to appear, then appear. Am I afraid of you?”
“I won’t be wearing any clothes.” Luo Yueguan blinked innocently at him again. Jiang Huai was so angry he almost jumped. He always suspected Luo Yueguan would actually do something like that. After weighing it, it seemed he really had no choice but to obey obediently.
“I won’t! Do whatever you want… I won’t indulge you.”
Even after saying it, Jiang Huai felt their conversation was like children sulking. He chuckled at himself, but he still looked stubbornly into Luo Yueguan’s eyes. Luo Yueguan nodded, “Okay.”
***
Late at night.
Luo Qingyu sat by the bedside, carefully pulling up her over-the-knee black stockings on her calf. Jiang Huai looked at her light purple dress and felt it was strangely familiar, so he couldn’t help but ask, “Why does this dress look so familiar?”
“Mother also has one,” Luo Qingyu blinked innocently at him.
“Then perhaps Qingyu shouldn’t wear this one?” Jiang Huai’s eyes twitched slightly. Luo Qingyu wearing the exact same dress as Luo Yueguan, and Luo Qingyu’s increasingly similar eyebrows, eyes, and figure, made Jiang Huai feel very strange.
But Luo Qingyu just blinked innocently. “Doesn’t Brother Jiang Huai think it’s fun?”
“Fun? Fun?”
“Mhm,” Luo Qingyu nodded, reaching out to cup Jiang Huai’s face, and suddenly giggled. “Brother Jiang Huai can call me Auntie Luo later.”
Jiang Huai immediately looked at Luo Qingyu with a face full of resentment. “That’s your mother!”
“Anyway, Mother doesn’t know, and besides, she wouldn’t care even if she knew.” Luo Qingyu still had an innocent look, but in an instant, Jiang Huai’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Wait, could this be Luo Qingyu testing him?
This isn’t good, this isn’t good.
“No, no, it’s too strange,” Jiang Huai shook his head like a rattle, but Luo Qingyu had already put on the black stockings. She walked to the bedside and skillfully assumed a kneeling-prone posture, her snow buttocks slightly raised beneath the skirt hem. She looked back into Jiang Huai’s eyes. “Then don’t call me that. Brother Jiang Huai can just think of it as me wearing a pretty dress.”
“It’s still strange.”
“But Mother is Mother, and Qingyu is Qingyu. If Mother wears it, Qingyu can’t? Or is it that Brother Jiang Huai feels… guilty when he sees me wearing Mother’s clothes?”
Jiang Huai glanced at her deeply, and the next second, he slapped her soft, full snow buttocks. Luo Qingyu cried out in pain, “Ouch!” then her snow buttocks swayed slightly. “Okay, okay, let’s not worry about it for now. I want a kiss.”
“You want a kiss again?”
Luo Qingyu slightly pouted her lips. “It’s much easier for Brother Jiang Huai to kiss Qingyu than for Qingyu to kiss Brother Jiang Huai. Several times Qingyu’s throat felt uncomfortable.”
“It’s your own fault for insisting…”
“Qingyu likes it,” Luo Qingyu looked at him mischievously. “Hurry up, I want a kiss…”
***
The next morning.
Jiang Huai had a nightmare. He dreamt that when he woke up in the morning, Luo Yueguan was naked beside him, and at the same time, Luo Qingyu woke up. It immediately caused a huge explosion, resulting in a world-shattering disaster. He woke up from this nightmare, opened his eyes, and carefully looked around with trembling hands, only to find that Luo Yueguan was nowhere to be seen beside him.
He let out a long sigh of relief.
Luo Qingyu habitually lingered in bed. He got up and went to the kitchen. Unexpectedly, he didn’t see Luo Yueguan. She was probably still fast asleep. While preparing breakfast, Jiang Huai hesitated, then made a plate of glutinous rice cakes.
It must be that Luo Yueguan tossed and turned all night, cured her madness, and pulled back from the brink, thus not appearing by his bedside. She deserved to be rewarded. A little more positive encouragement might stop her from always finding amusement in trying to seduce him.
Luo Yueguan woke up at noon, wearing a nightgown. She yawned lazily, stretching, her soft chest almost tearing open the neckline of the nightgown. She walked to the table and saw the plate of glutinous rice cakes piled there. The corners of her lips curved up. She leaned in and picked up a piece, bringing it to her mouth. With her other hand, she gently patted Jiang Huai’s head.
Jiang Huai looked up and suddenly heard her say, “I won.”
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
Jiang Huai’s eyes widened, and he looked at Luo Yueguan’s face. “Won what?!”
“I got to eat glutinous rice cakes. You didn’t see me this morning, so you would definitely make them.” Luo Yueguan put her hands on her hips and laughed heartily. Jiang Huai finally snapped back to reality. She was the one playing chess in the fifth dimension.
He slumped dejectedly onto the table, defeated. Completely defeated, Jiang Huai.
“I found out,” Luo Yueguan picked up another piece of glutinous rice cake and put it in her mouth, her cheeks puffed up. She continued indistinctly, “If you listened to me every time I ordered you around, it would be boring. It’s more fun like this.”
Perhaps this was what was meant by “there is endless joy in struggling with others.”
Jiang Huai looked up at her. “You think playing with me is fun?”
But Luo Yueguan showed no guilt or shame. Instead, she reached out and patted his head again. “Don’t act like I’m taking advantage of you. I promised you that if you ever need the Ice Soul Profound Body for Dual Cultivation, I’ll accompany you for one round of Dual Cultivation, you know? Hmph, hmph, I’ve already entrusted the most important thing a woman has to you, so what’s wrong with taking a little advantage of you?”
“I never said I wanted it!”
“Hmph, what if you want it someday?”
“This is coercion.”
“Then what can you do to me?” Luo Yueguan showed him her small tiger teeth. “Bite me?”
“…” Jiang Huai was speechless. Just as he came to his senses, he suddenly realized that Luo Qingyu was sitting by the side at this moment. She was innocently eating glutinous rice cakes, looking obedient and well-behaved, her cheeks puffed out. But what Luo Yueguan had just said… Just as he was about to explain properly to Luo Qingyu, Luo Qingyu looked up at Jiang Huai. “What’s wrong, Brother Jiang Huai?”
“Qingyu, did you… hear just now?”
“I heard, Brother Jiang Huai wants me to witness what Mother said?”
“No, no, I mean… I didn’t want to Dual Cultivate with your mother. I wasn’t trying to hide this from you, it’s just…”
“But I already knew.” Luo Qingyu blinked innocently at Jiang Huai again. “Mother already told me that if Brother Jiang Huai wants to recover his cultivation, she and Aunt Chu would both Dual Cultivate with Brother Jiang Huai once… Mother even asked for my opinion.”
“Huh?”
“I’m alright with it…” Luo Qingyu blinked innocently again. “After all, it’s just for healing. I also think it’s good for Brother Jiang Huai’s cultivation to recover as soon as possible. If Brother Jiang Huai is worried that Mother will bully you then, Qingyu can supervise from the side.”
Jiang Huai covered his head.
Just the thought of this scene made him want to die.
