The rain started to fall on Jiang Huai’s way back to the mountain. He opened the bamboo bone umbrella given to him by Wen Wanwan, who had walked him to the foot of the mountain. As they parted, Wen Wanwan gently tugged at Jiang Huai’s sleeve. Understanding her unspoken words, Jiang Huai turned and pulled her into a gentle embrace.
“Tonight… nothing happened, right?” Wen Wanwan rested her chin on Jiang Huai’s shoulder, her voice barely a whisper.
Jiang Huai always suspected this was Wen Wanwan’s subtle ploy, that a girl saying she didn’t want anything was actually the most greedy. Yet, he also wondered if he was being too suspicious. Sometimes, lies and truths didn’t seem to matter as much; what mattered was what you were willing to believe it to be.
“If Wanwan wants to remember it, then remember it. I will also remember it well,” Jiang Huai’s voice was soft, yet firm.
Wen Wanwan was stunned.
Was this some sort of promise?
“It’s better to forget it…” Wen Wanwan’s voice grew softer. Jiang Huai turned his head, looking at her with confusion. “Why?”
“A secret.” Wen Wanwan refused to tell him the answer, closing her eyes, her thick eyelashes trembling.
Jiang Huai hesitated for a moment, then the next moment, he leaned closer and lightly kissed her delicate pink lips.
Raindrops pattered softly on the umbrella.
“Can you tell me now?” Jiang Huai held the umbrella over their heads, gazing into the beautiful eyes of the girl beneath it.
“Because, Wanwan knows Senior Brother Jiang Huai can’t promise Wanwan anything yet. I’m always afraid Senior Brother Jiang Huai will be worried and flustered because he’s thinking about tonight… If we both forget, then, we can meet again like before.”
Wen Wanwan’s slender waist straightened in the wind. “So… it’s better to forget. Just, just pretend I drank too much tonight, and Wanwan will wake up tomorrow and not remember anything.”
For a fleeting moment, Jiang Huai looked into her beautiful eyes and suddenly wanted to say something serious. Perhaps if he made a promise to Wen Wanwan, the girl’s eyes would shine even brighter.
But promises, once spoken, must be kept. Perhaps Wen Wanwan didn’t hold enough weight in his heart? Or perhaps he himself was unable to cope with his current situation? Jiang Huai didn’t have the answer, but he didn’t want Wen Wanwan to be unhappy.
“Senior Brother Jiang Huai doesn’t need to worry. Wanwan isn’t unhappy at all,” Wen Wanwan’s voice was serious. “Wanwan never dared to imagine that one day I could sit in Senior Brother Jiang Huai’s arms, that one day I could kiss Senior Brother Jiang Huai, that one day I could be held tightly by Senior Brother Jiang Huai… So, Wanwan is very content and not a bit disappointed.”
“Wanwan is so considerate.” Jiang Huai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Had she guessed even this?
“Then, I’ll go back now…” Wen Wanwan said softly. Jiang Huai was about to hand her the umbrella, but Wen Wanwan shook her head, “Keep the umbrella for Senior Brother Jiang Huai. I’ll just shield myself with spiritual energy.”
She turned and walked a few steps, then suddenly remembered something, turned back, and winked playfully at Jiang Huai.
“If Senior Brother Jiang Huai has an umbrella, then next time it rains, I won’t have to worry for no reason that Senior Brother Jiang Huai won’t come because of the rain.”
Jiang Huai was taken aback and smiled. “Be careful on your way.”
“Mm-hmm.” Wen Wanwan nodded obediently. Jiang Huai stood on the spot, watching her disappear into the distance before turning and slowly walking towards Guanxue Mountain.
Got hooked, Jiiang Xiaohu.
***
Wen Wanwan returned to the courtyard and entered her room. She gently pushed open the door. Wen Fufu, holding a script, looked up, her eyes fixed on Wen Wanwan for a good few seconds before she suddenly burst into laughter.
“Quick, tell me, what bad things were you doing outside just now?” Wen Fufu’s eyes were suddenly full of curiosity.
“No, no, I wasn’t doing anything bad…”
“Hmph, hmph, Sister always acts like this when she’s guilty, her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes are darting. Hurry up and tell me, what did you do with Senior Brother Jiang Huai?”
Wen Wanwan walked to the bedside, took off her shoes and socks, and threw herself onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow. “I told you, I didn’t do anything.”
“I don’t believe you. Hmph, you forget your sister once you have a man, you won’t even tell me.” Wen Fufu pouted, climbed onto Wen Wanwan, and started tickling her. Wen Wanwan’s ticklish spots were hit, and she couldn’t stop laughing. The two sisters wrestled on the bed for a while. The snow-white gauze dress on Wen Fufu’s body had quietly slipped down, filling the room with the exquisite beauty of spring.
Wen Wanwan covered her face with both hands, refusing to reveal anything. Wen Fufu continued to bother her until Wen Wanwan couldn’t resist anymore. She leaned into her ear and whispered, very, very softly, about what she and Jiang Huai had done in the bathhouse.
She had expected Wen Fufu to blush, but to her surprise, Wen Fufu just glanced at her sideways. “Ew, I thought you did something outrageous.”
Wen Wanwan’s eyes became instantly resentful. “Wasn’t it outrageous?”
“You just moved your hands a little, how is that outrageous?” Wen Fufu lay down on the bed, looking at Wen Wanwan’s flushed cheeks, and then suddenly laughed again. “Did you lick between your fingers clean in front of him?”
“You, you, you, you!” Wen Wanwan leaned in and started tickling Wen Fufu, pinning her fragrant and soft body beneath her. “Where do you get these things from every day? You never learn to be good.”
“What can I do? I can’t go out every day, so I can only read scripts to pass the time. Scripts have so many interesting methods. Do you want to read them together?”
“No.” Wen Wanwan turned her face away, feigning seriousness.
“Maybe Senior Brother Jiang Huai would like it? Men, they all look dignified and serious on the outside, but deep down, they have a lot of perverted little thoughts, they just don’t say them out loud because they want to save face. Do you really not want to understand? What if Senior Brother Jiang Huai really likes it…”
Wen Wanwan’s arms, which had been crossed, lowered. It was clear she was wavering. Wen Fufu leaned in beside her, pressing against her body, and lit the small firefly stone lamp by the bedside. Wen Wanwan looked at the script that had just flipped to that page: “The mother-in-law swayed her hips, the virtuous son-in-law gently entered the land of warmth…” She immediately turned red. “What are you reading!”
“Ooh, that’s not right, let’s change it.” Wen Fufu took another one from under the pillow. This time, as soon as Wen Wanwan saw the title “Sisters’ Bliss,” her eyes became incredibly resentful.
“No, no, let’s change it again, Sister. We can start with something more pure…”
Wen Fufu became a little guilty.
***
On Guanxue Mountain.
On Jiang Huai’s way back to the mountain, the firefly stones on the mountain were still lit.
Firefly stones usually required spiritual energy to be infused. Jiang Huai had no spiritual energy left. He thought he would have to walk a stretch of mountain road in the dark, but the lights were as bright as day all the way. The bluestone-paved ground was a bit slippery due to the rain, and Jiang Huai had fallen because he was distracted.
He was distracted because he was still recalling Wen Wanwan’s delicate pink lips, her fragrant and soft body, and those cold and gentle eyes.
Speaking of which, if you didn’t count the time he took advantage of Chu Xianning when she was drunk, this was the first time he had ever seriously kissed a girl.
He had never even kissed Luo Qingyu’s lips before, only her forehead and cheeks at most. But why was he so bold with Wen Wanwan? Was it because he was drunk, or because he held some kind of retributive psychology towards Chu Xianning? No, Chu Xianning was Chu Xianning, and Wen Wanwan was Wen Wanwan. If he were to treat Wen Wanwan well out of revenge for Chu Xianning, that would be too much of a bastard.
Speaking of which, Jiang Huai realized he was really not good at refusing.
The reason he could refuse Luo Qingyu relatively firmly was probably because Luo Qingyu always seemed like a young girl in his heart, cute and charming like a child. Or perhaps it was because he knew that once he was truly settled with Luo Qingyu, he would no longer be able to chase the moon, so he hesitated and couldn’t see things through. But now that his marriage with Luo Qingyu was settled, he was drinking and having fun with another girl in her courtyard at night…
Jiiang Xiaohu, you’re damned!
Jiang Huai had already returned to the outside of the courtyard, but for a moment, he didn’t want to go in. So, he sat down under the pagoda tree outside the courtyard. This pagoda tree had been here for many years. Every summer, Jiang Huai would pick pagoda tree flowers to fry eggs with, or make pagoda tree flower cakes. Chu Xianning liked them very much.
From childhood to adulthood, Jiang Huai had been trying various methods to please Chu Xianning. He didn’t think this was being a simp; it was Chu Xianning who had brought him back to the mountain and given him a second life. Only then could he live so leisurely. Therefore, treating Chu Xianning well was only natural. As for any other thoughts besides treating her well, it seemed to be because he was too greedy.
Chu Xianning took you as her personal disciple and gave you a second life, not so you could spend your days thinking about Master kissing you.
She and Luo Yueguan had arranged your marriage. There was nothing wrong with the marriage, so you shouldn’t resent Chu Xianning at all. If you harbored resentment because you couldn’t have her, that would be too dark and despicable.
Jiang Huai, Jiang Huai, shouldn’t you curb your greed sooner and stop fantasizing?
Jiang Huai sat under the pagoda tree for a long time, listening to the rain hitting the leaves. He took out the forgotten happiness wine he had left in Wen Wanwan’s courtyard. There was still half a pot left, which he drank all by himself. Only when the wine pot could no longer pour out a single drop of wine did he stand up groggily. He pushed open the door. The firefly stones in the courtyard were lit, and the light was as bright as day.
Chu Xianning, wearing a thin white dress, was asleep, sprawled on the stone table in the pavilion.
A jar of wine was also placed on the stone table. The chess pieces on the chessboard by the wine jar were scattered. Perhaps Chu Xianning had been sitting alone in the pavilion, playing chess against herself. Perhaps she was still thinking about losing to Jiang Huai during the day. Perhaps she was just bored, or perhaps she was secretly cursing Jiang Huai in her heart.
Having been with Chu Xianning for so long, Jiang Huai still couldn’t guess what Chu Xianning was thinking.
Master was drunk and asleep again.
Jiang Huai walked into the pavilion. He suddenly wished he could hear some dinging sounds in his head at that moment, but there was nothing, only the sound of rain hitting the eaves reaching his ears.
The world seemed to become incredibly quiet.
He started to take off his clothes.
