As they made their way through the winding lanes, the noise gradually grew louder.
Shen Qingxu led Jiang Shu to a part of the village that had been specially set aside for visitors: a short street lined with snack stalls.
The place was steeped in the trappings of modern commerce.
The smoky aroma of grilled skewers, the distinctive smell of stinky tofu, and the fragrance of all kinds of snacks mingled together. Pop songs advertising the stalls played on a loop over loudspeakers, making the street especially lively—almost noisy.
Shen Qingxu seemed familiar with the place, though not particularly interested in it. He walked through the crowd without looking around and eventually stopped in front of a milk tea shop decorated in a decidedly “ethnic” style.
A batik banner hung above the shopfront, bearing the words “Yunjiang Specialty Milk Tea,” and the staff wore modified Miao attire.
Jiang Shu leaned in to look at the menu and couldn’t help clicking her tongue.
The prices were every bit as “scenic-area” as she’d expected. Even ordinary milk tea cost twenty or thirty yuan a cup, while anything with words like “Miao,” “hidden realm,” or “mountain wilds” in its name—or claiming to include some local specialty ingredient—immediately jumped to forty-five or forty-six yuan.
“Tsk. They really know how to do business,” Jiang Shu muttered. The markup was almost on par with that of a top-tier city.
Shen Qingxu didn’t seem to care about the price. He turned to Jiang Shu and silently asked with his eyes what she wanted.
After a moment’s deliberation, Jiang Shu pointed to the cheapest option, “Miao Ridge Love Song.” “Let’s get this one. I want to see just how ‘special’ it is.”
Shen Qingxu showed no reaction. He simply gave the name to the shop assistant, then reached into the old embroidered purse at his waist and pulled out several crumpled banknotes. He counted out the exact amount and handed it over.
His movements were natural, without the slightest hesitation or reluctance at spending the meager earnings from selling medicinal herbs on an expensive cup of milk tea.
The shop assistant set to work at once.
Shen Qingxu waited quietly to one side, his tall, straight figure seeming to belong to a different world from the tourists around him, who were taking selfies with their milk tea and chattering merrily.
Soon, the assistant handed Jiang Shu a cup of milk tea with a straw and a mint leaf for decoration.
The paper cup was printed with an exaggerated silver Miao-style pattern.
Jiang Shu took a sip. The cold, cloyingly sweet drink slid down her throat. The tea flavor was faint, and she could barely taste anything distinctive in the honey. Mostly, it tasted of syrup and creamer.
As expected, the flavor didn’t quite live up to either the price or the name.
But when she looked up, she saw Shen Qingxu watching her quietly. The faintest hint of amusement seemed to flicker through his eyes.
Suddenly, she felt that this ridiculously overpriced milk tea wasn’t so bad after all.
Jiang Shu held the cold, cloyingly sweet drink, but her heart felt a little heavy.
She looked at the old embroidered purse at Shen Qingxu’s waist, its color faded from washing and its edges worn and fraying, then recalled how carefully—and without the slightest hesitation—he’d counted out the money.
He had worked so hard to earn it, yet hadn’t even blinked before spending nearly all of it on this flashy, impractical “specialty” milk tea for her. She appreciated the thought.
She took another sip. The sweetness spread across her tongue, but only strengthened her resolve.
“Shen Qingxu,” she said suddenly, her voice bright with a smile. “Could you wait here for a moment? I… I just remembered seeing a little thing at one of the stalls over there that I really liked. I’ll go buy it and come right back. It’ll only take a minute!”
A hint of amusement passed through Shen Qingxu’s dark eyes. He nodded and waited quietly where he was.
Jiang Shu hurried into a nearby shop selling all kinds of ethnic-style handicrafts and accessories. Her eyes swept quickly over the dazzling array of goods before settling on a rack hung with handmade embroidered purses.
These purses were clearly much more refined than Shen Qingxu’s old one. They were made of brand-new, brightly colored silk, embroidered with intricate butterflies, flowers, plants, or auspicious patterns, and finished with colorful tassels.
She carefully chose one with a dark blue background and simple cloud patterns embroidered in silver thread. It wasn’t especially ornate, but the stitching was dense and the workmanship sturdy. It looked understated and durable.
It wasn’t cheap, but Jiang Shu didn’t mind the cost.
What mattered was the thought behind the gifts they’d exchanged.
She paid promptly and hurried back with the new purse.
Shen Qingxu was still standing where she’d left him, idly teasing the little green snake that had poked its head out of his sleeve again.
When he saw her return, he looked up.
Jiang Shu walked up to him, a radiant smile spreading across her face. Then she brought out the hand she’d been keeping behind her back and held the brand-new, dark blue purse embroidered with silver thread out to him.
“Here, this is for you!” she said brightly. “I thought you’d had that purse for a long time, so take this as… a thank-you gift for treating me to milk tea! And look—the cloud pattern goes so well with the color of your clothes!”
Shen Qingxu was clearly taken aback.
He looked down at the new purse, then up at Jiang Shu’s expectant smile. Almost unconsciously, he touched the old purse at his waist.
He was silent for a few seconds. In his usually unreadable dark eyes, something shifted almost imperceptibly, like the tiniest pebble dropping into a still lake.
Ripples spread, again and again, without end.
He didn’t refuse. He reached out and silently accepted the new purse.
His fingertips brushed Jiang Shu’s palm by accident, cool as a mountain spring.
Then, right in front of her, he untied the old, crumpled purse and carefully emptied its scattered banknotes and several coins into the new one, making sure not to miss a single piece. He pulled the drawstring tight.
Only then did he carefully tie the new purse around his waist.
The dark blue cloth set off the indigo of his robe, and the silver cloud embroidery glimmered faintly in the sunlight. It really did suit him.
Her eye for these things was good.
He raised a hand and gently traced the raised embroidery on the purse, then looked at Jiang Shu and curved his lips into a smile.
It was a beautiful smile!
“Mm,” he replied with a single syllable, accepting the gift.
The little green snake coiled around his wrist poked its head out curiously too. It touched the tassels of the new purse with the cool tip of its tail and gave a very soft hiss, as if it liked them.
Jiang Shu sipped through her straw, quietly pleased that he’d accepted the purse she’d given him.
She swallowed the cloyingly sweet milk tea and asked casually, “So, what are you planning to do tomorrow? Sell herbs again?”
“I’ve sold all the herbs,” Shen Qingxu replied matter-of-factly as he tied the drawstring of the new purse. “Tomorrow I’ll go dig up more, then sell them the day after.”
Jiang Shu couldn’t help laughing. “Dig herbs, sell herbs… Your life really does go round and round, plain and simple.”
Shen Qingxu didn’t respond to her teasing. Instead, he asked, “What are you doing this afternoon?” His gaze rested on her face, and he seemed genuinely curious.
“Me?” Jiang Shu gave the milk tea cup a little shake. “I’m going on a boat ride this afternoon! Uncle Luo said this stretch of the Yunjiang is especially beautiful, so he arranged it for me.”
As she spoke, her eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. She eagerly invited him, “If you’re free this afternoon, why don’t you come along? It’ll be livelier with more people!”
She was a little worried he might find it boring, or simply turn her down.
Shen Qingxu didn’t answer right away. He fell silent, as if considering it.
Instead, the little green snake coiled around his wrist seemed to understand. It suddenly lifted its head toward Jiang Shu and hissed several times in quick succession. The tip of its slender tail lightly tapped Shen Qingxu’s wrist.
Shen Qingxu looked down at the unusually lively little creature on his wrist, then lifted his eyes to Jiang Shu, who was watching him expectantly.
His expression remained unchanged, but his answer instantly lit up Jiang Shu’s face.
“If it wants to go,” he said, flicking the little green snake’s head with a bent finger, “then let’s go together.”
What an excuse! Jiang Shu almost laughed out loud. He was the one who wanted to go, but he insisted on using the snake as an excuse. Still, she didn’t call him on it. All that mattered was that he’d agreed!
“Great!” Jiang Shu said happily. “Then let’s meet at two this afternoon at the boat dock at the east end of the village. You know where it is, right?”
Shen Qingxu gave an almost imperceptible nod. “Mm.”
“Then it’s a date!” Jiang Shu said, her heart buoyant. Even the milk tea in her hand seemed to taste better.
Sunlight fell across her smiling eyes and brows, and also on the brand-new dark blue purse at his waist, embroidered with silver cloud patterns.