After a brief pause—
Yu Qingci obediently opened his mouth after all, allowing Tong Huanyou to place the chestnut inside as he slowly chewed.
It actually… wasn’t bad.
“There’s a sugar painting stall over there! Come on, come on! Let’s go look!”
Like she had just discovered a whole new world, Tong Huanyou grabbed Yu Qingci’s wrist again and dragged him toward the sugar painting vendor.
Yu Qingci’s face darkened slightly, instinctively resistant.
But when he lifted his gaze, he caught sight of the girl’s twin buns glowing faintly golden beneath the sunlight.
The ribbons tied around her hair fluttered in the wind, brushing lightly against his face and carrying a subtle scent of pear blossoms.
He froze momentarily.
And unconsciously forgot to shake off that soft little hand.
They arrived at the sugar painting stall, where curious children crowded around the small wooden booth.
The vendor smiled as he handed completed sugar paintings one by one to the children, who cheered happily while holding them.
“Boss, I’d like a sugar painting,” Tong Huanyou said brightly as she stepped forward.
The vendor looked up with a smile.
“Four copper coins for one zodiac spin, little miss.”
“I don’t want a zodiac one. Could you… could you make the two of us instead?”
Tong Huanyou had originally intended to ask for only herself, but after suddenly remembering Yu Qingci standing beside her, she immediately changed her words.
Yu Qingci’s gaze unconsciously fell upon her dazzling smile.
She looked like a rabbit bouncing happily after finally getting a carrot.
The vendor nodded.
“Of course, little miss.”
The moment Tong Huanyou heard that, her eyes curved into crescents as she immediately handed over eight copper coins.
The vendor skillfully lifted a small ladle and stirred the bubbling syrup inside the heated sugar pot. The molten sugar flowed smoothly like silk.
His eyes repeatedly swept between Tong Huanyou and Yu Qingci, carefully observing their expressions and features.
Before long, the sugar painting was finished.
Tong Huanyou’s radiant smile had been captured vividly, while Yu Qingci’s cold and indifferent expression was equally lifelike.
The vendor handed the finished sugar paintings to each of them.
Tong Huanyou accepted hers happily.
Under the sunlight, the sugar artwork gleamed with a golden glow.
“Yours looks exactly like you!” she exclaimed while pointing at the stern-faced sugar figure in Yu Qingci’s hand.
“How childish,” Yu Qingci replied.
Yet despite his words, his expression had clearly already been affected by Tong Huanyou’s mood. Looking at the sugar painting in his hand, the corners of his lips carried the faintest trace of a smile.
Did it really resemble him that much?
[System: Congratulations, Host! Yu Qingci’s favorability has increased to -2.]
Tong Huanyou: It went up! It actually went up! Oh my god! The black-hearted villain finally improved!
Excitedly lifting her head, Tong Huanyou sharply noticed the direction of his gaze.
Following it, she discovered a mask stall.
The smile on her face widened instantly.
“You like masks? Come on, come on! I’ll buy you one!”
Money is no problem! A single smile from the black-hearted villain is worth more than gold!
Before Yu Qingci even realized what mask she was talking about, he was already being dragged away again.
“Little miss, which mask catches your eye?” the stall owner asked warmly.
Tong Huanyou’s gaze wandered across the many masks before finally settling on an exquisite white wolf mask.
She picked it up, turned toward Yu Qingci, and gently placed it over his face.
The elegant contours fit him perfectly, adding an entirely different kind of beauty to his appearance.
“This one! It looks amazing! Bought!”
Tong Huanyou clapped her hands and immediately paid for it.
From then on, anything Yu Qingci’s eyes so much as glanced at—
Tong Huanyou had only one response.
Buy!
Buy all of it!
She even dragged him into the largest clothing shop in the city and ordered two custom outfits made for him, while she herself shopped gleefully the entire time.
Internally, she couldn’t help marveling at how entertaining ancient marketplaces truly were.
Eventually, her gaze landed on a delicate accessory stall filled with elegant hairpins and ornaments.
“Miss, would you like to look at some hairpins?” the vendor greeted enthusiastically.
Tong Huanyou stared at the beautiful hairpins with conflicted indecision.
She wanted them… but she had absolutely no idea how to use them.
Meanwhile, Yu Qingci stepped forward, his eyes drifting across the selection.
Eventually, they stopped on a camellia hairpin.
The corners of his lips lifted slightly as he picked it up, his peripheral vision briefly sweeping over the girl’s twin buns.
But before he could examine it properly, Tong Huanyou suddenly leaned in and asked,
“For Sister Song?”
Yu Qingci frowned faintly and decisively put the camellia pin back down before selecting a begonia hairpin instead.
Yet before he could even inspect that one—
Tong Huanyou had already expertly pulled out two pieces of silver from her pouch and handed them to the vendor.
Yu Qingci: …
“Young Master truly has excellent taste,” the vendor praised.
“Those two hairpins are my finest pieces. Unfortunately… this craftsmanship won’t exist much longer.”
Tong Huanyou blinked.
“Why not?”
The vendor sighed.
“They were made by the Zhang family’s wife in the eastern district of the city. Recently, she’s fallen gravely ill. I’m afraid she may not survive.”
Tong Huanyou suddenly slapped her forehead.
“The Zhang family wife from the eastern district? Ah! I completely forgot about that!”
The moment Yu Qingci heard this, something strange flashed through his eyes.
Then he abruptly turned and strode rapidly toward the eastern district.
The cold aura surrounding him deepened several degrees.
He had actually… forgotten about Senior Sister.
“You—wait for me!”
Tong Huanyou hurried after him and grabbed onto his sleeve.
But Yu Qingci violently shook her off, wrenching free as he stared at her coldly.
“Does Miss Tong truly think I came out here for amusement?”
Caught off guard, Tong Huanyou lost her balance and fell heavily onto the ground.
“Ow!”
Yet Yu Qingci showed no concern whatsoever.
He merely swept a cold glance over her before disappearing into the crowd without another look back.
He had actually delayed searching for Senior Sister because of someone utterly meaningless.
The thought alone darkened his expression further.
He tore the mask from his face in irritation and ruthlessly threw it to the ground, crushing it beneath his boot.
Tong Huanyou struggled to her feet.
Her knee had scraped open, blood slowly seeping through as she muttered curses under her breath.
“That moody black-hearted bastard… it hurts like hell…”
After staggering forward a few steps, she winced painfully.
“Little miss.”
The hairpin vendor approached her and handed her the camellia hairpin.
“The money you gave was enough for two hairpins. That young master only took one.”
Tong Huanyou looked at the camellia pin in her hand.
After gritting her teeth, determination filled her eyes as she tucked it into her sleeve.
It’s fine. Worst case, I’ll just coax him again.
No matter what, she absolutely had to return home!
The vendor then asked curiously,
“Do you know the Zhang family wife?”
Tong Huanyou shook her head.
“No.”
Then suddenly remembering something, she turned back toward him.
“Boss, do you happen to know if there’s a cliff around here with an old broken Buddha statue nearby?”
The vendor scratched his head thoughtfully.
“A broken Buddha statue? Doesn’t ring a bell.”
Tong Huanyou dusted the dirt off her clothes and waved at him.
“Alright then. Thanks, Boss~”
Afterward, she headed in the same direction Yu Qingci had disappeared.
“Mother, I received a token from the Wish-Granting Immortal~”
Suddenly, a faint young girl’s voice drifted from behind her.
Tong Huanyou instinctively wanted to stop and listen more carefully, but the voice was quickly swallowed by the bustling noise of the crowd.
The stone-paved road stretched windingly ahead.
After asking multiple passersby for directions along the way, she finally arrived before the Zhang hunter family’s house.