“Between Young Master Zheng and I… who’s better looking?”
The question came out of nowhere, leaving Li Ruoshui utterly baffled.
Her head, still trapped in Lu Zhiyao’s hand, swiveled slightly as she tried unsuccessfully to free herself. Giving up, she relaxed.
“Why are you asking that?”
She remembered him saying before that he didn’t particularly care about appearances. So what was the meaning behind this question? What was he thinking of doing now?
“Just curious.”
If she believed that, she’d be an idiot. This was definitely not just curiosity. There was definitely some kind of plan in his mind.
Though her head was pinned in place, Li Ruoshui’s mind raced trying to analyze the pros and cons of what she could say.
First, he seemed to have an issue with her valuing looks. Second, he claimed not to care about his own. Third, he fundamentally believed she was shallow. Therefore—
“I think you’re both about the same.”
After this rapid analysis, Li Ruoshui chose the safest, most diplomatic answer.
The hand stroking her hair stilled. “I see,” he murmured.
Li Ruoshui couldn’t see his expression, and his tone hadn’t changed. She pondered it and felt her answer was good—perfectly balanced, no missteps.
“Do you often look at him too?”
His cool fingertips brushed against her neck, raising goosebumps. Li Ruoshui instinctively hunched her shoulders.
Her analysis told her to be diplomatic, but her gut instinct screamed at her to be honest.
She chose to trust her gut and be honest. “Of course not.”
She clenched her arms unintentionally out of nervousness and the cat in her arms let out a meow then struggled free. It immediately darted out the door, disappearing from her sight in moments.
“Your cat ran away.”
As Li Ruoshui turned her head with difficulty, he released his grip.
“It didn’t run.”
Lu Zhiyao stepped down from the windowsill, casually tossing the black hair that had slipped forward back over his shoulder. He picked up his white cane nearby, his brows and eyes soft.
“Let’s go. I’ll catch ghosts with you tonight.”
He looked just like one of those compassionate, chivalrous heroes who stepped in to help everyone they encountered. Even Li Ruoshui couldn’t help the absurd thought from forming in her mind, ‘He’s so nice,’.
Smoothing her hair, Li Ruoshui hurried after him. “Let’s get breakfast first.”
The mornings in Cangzhou were lively. People started work early, and the streets were lined with breakfast stalls offering wontons, pan-fried dumplings, noodles—you name it. Clouds of steam rose into the April air as they lifted bamboo lids from their steaming baskets.
Li Ruoshui led Lu Zhiyao to a streetside spot and ordered two bowls of wontons in a rich broth. Excitedly, she handed him a spoon.
“Just from the smell, I knew their wontons would be delicious. See? They’ve even mixed in small dried shrimp. It must be incredibly flavorful.”
Lu Zhiyao tilted his head toward her. “What are ‘small dried shrimp’?”
“Just very tiny shrimp.” Li Ruoshui took a sip of the soup, feeling as if her very soul had returned to her body. “Do you like it?”
Lu Zhiyao’s expression remained unchanged. He ate one wonton without much reaction.
When he was young, his mother only gave him plain steamed buns. Later, with his master, life wasn’t any better. Logically, a child raised like that would usually develop a strong love for food.
However, he didn’t love food. On top of that, his appetite was small, as if eating was a form of torture.
Even these wontons, with their thin skins, generous filling, and rich broth, failed to impress him. After five or six and a bit of soup, he slowed down, sipping his broth intermittently.
Wanting him to eat more, Li Ruoshui started a conversation.
“Weren’t you at all curious when I mentioned catching ghosts?”
Now it was Li Ruoshui’s turn to be stunned. “What do you mean?”
“When the ‘ghosts’ were trying to get in, I was sitting on the roof listening. It was the first time I heard you curse. It was quite interesting.”
Li Ruoshui: “…”
Somehow, the image of Lu Zhiyao smiling gleefully behind their backs made the atmosphere even more terrifying. But—
“Why were you on the roof?”
“Waiting for something to happen.”
He had been waiting for the scene where the newlywed couple would start ‘arguing’. When that happened, he might ‘accidentally’ slip up, sending Zheng Yanqing to the afterlife. Then, after that, everything would return to its original course.
She didn’t know what he was waiting for, but Li Ruoshui decided not to press the issue. A gut feeling told her that asking further might give her a heart attack.
Sitting on the stool, stretching in the morning breeze, Li Ruoshui felt the fatigue of the past few days melt away.
“There aren’t many wontons in this bowl. You should finish them. I’ll wait for you.”
Hearing this, Lu Zhiyao paused and put down his spoon. “I’m full. Let’s go.”
Li Ruoshui stared at him for a moment, a hint of laughter sparkling in her dark, bright eyes. “Alright, let’s go.”
She didn’t argue with him about how much he’d eaten. She just left some coins on the table and led him away.
Instead of heading straight back to the Zheng residence, she took a detour, strolling through the streets with Lu Zhiyao.
“These soup dumplings taste weird. Here, try one.”
Not only did she eat herself, she also very naturally picked one up and held it to his lips. “See if it’s different from the ones you’ve had before.”
A smile playing on his lips, Lu Zhiyao felt the warmth near his mouth and instinctively opened up to take a bite.
It tasted like a normal soup dumpling to him. Nothing weird about it at all.
Li Ruoshui couldn’t hold back a laugh. She patted his shoulder, her voice full of unconcealed amusement. “This one probably isn’t right. Here, try this one instead.”
Though he immediately figured out her intentions, he still smiled gently at her. Lu Zhiyao felt an indescribable strangeness in his heart.
He maintained his smile but didn’t open his mouth again. Li Ruoshui didn’t force him and ate the dumpling herself.
He thought to himself, ‘this street is so long. If they only tried a little from each stall, he should have eaten enough by the time we reach the Zheng residence.’
“Someone’s selling cold cakes[1] over there!”
These cold cakes were made with fruit. The steamed outer skin was crystal clear, and the glutinous rice cake inside looked soft and adorable. They had to be delicious.
Holding Lu Zhiyao’s wrist with one hand, Li Ruoshui pulled out some coins with the other. “Boss, give me a few more.”
As soon as they approached the stall, a clear, sweet fruity fragrance wafted into Lu Zhiyao’s nose. Just the smell alone made his mouth feel sugary.
As if unable to bear the sweetness, Lu Zhiyao, who had been smiling, slightly furrowed his brow and took a step back.
This piqued Li Ruoshui’s curiosity. This man wasn’t afraid of death, but he’s scared of the smell of a cold cake? What kind of logic is that?
Taking the paper-wrapped cold cakes, Li Ruoshui picked one up and waved it back and forth under his nose. “Smells good, right? Do you want to try one?”
Lu Zhiyao’s smile finally slipped. Pressing his lips together, he took another step back. “I don’t want any.”
“Just one bite~”
Thrilled to have backed Lu Zhiyao into a corner for the first time, Li Ruoshui forgot all about maintaining a safe distance. She bumped into his chest and took a big bite of the ice cake herself. “Fine, I’ll eat it then.” The broken ice cake released its fragrant aroma, drifting from Li Ruoshui’s mouth. “Aren’t you scared?”
The young woman, single-minded in her advance, brought her sweet-scented breath close to his ear. For a moment, he lost the upper hand. He felt like a delicate young lady being harassed by a ruffian.
Yet, far from being angry, he felt a surge of delight, as if thrilled by this loss of control.
His heart throbbed again, thumping away uncontrollably like a spooked horse. …He strongly pondered how to resolve this strange feeling.
“The horse got spooked! Get out of the way, quick!” A pedestrian shouted.
The sound of frantic hooves cutting through the air approached. Pedestrians scrambled to get out of the way, scattering their belongings across the street.
Feeling Li Ruoshui’s frantic heartbeat under his fingers, he instantly calmed down, as if all control had returned to him.
His eyelashes curved as he felt the pulse in her neck. He softly uttered three words: “Are you scared?”
Up ahead, a burly man failed to dodge in time. The horse collided with him, and a hoof came down on his leg like a loud crack—it was likely broken.
Just my luck! Li Ruoshui thought miserably. I finally got an opportunity, and now I have to deal with a runaway horse!
“I was wrong, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have teased you!”
Lu Zhiyao seemed not to have expected this response. A smile spread across his face. “That was you teasing me? Then what I’m doing now is also teasing you, is it not?”
She cursed mentally, ‘What kind of wack logic is that?!’
“Yes yes! You could say that! You can find another chance to tease me back later. If I get trampled here, there’ll be no one left to play with.”
Li Ruoshui wrapped an arm around his waist, trying to pull them both away from their dangerous spot.
Perhaps it was something she said that convinced him. The rogue put his finger against the side of her neck to check her pulse. Then, just as the horse reached them, he lightly tapped his toes and they shifted to the side in the split of time.
Li Ruoshui patted her chest, catching her breath. That was too close! She could almost still feel the horse’s hot breath on her neck.
Lu Zhiyao mumbled to himself, “What a nostalgic feeling. Teasing is so interesting.” Then she heard a soft sigh from behind her. Li Ruoshui was speechless.
Trying to explain the difference between teasing and attempted murder to him would be far too difficult. She decided to keep her mouth shut.
Anyway, she was already used to his sudden, impulsive attacks on her mental state. One more or less didn’t matter much anymore.
Her mental fortitude had long been tempered. After the scare, Li Ruoshui recovered quickly and pulled out another cold cake with a straight face pretending as if nothing had happened.
“Now that you teased me, you have to compensate me. Eat this cold cake.”
Lu Zhiyao might be a pervert, but in some ways, Li Ruoshui wasn’t exactly normal either. When it came to jumping between topics, Li Ruoshui could rival him.
“Compensate?” Lu Zhiyao turned his head away from the sickly sweet pastry. “Why are you always trying to make me eat?”
“You’re too thin. You might have some muscle, but the energy you take in isn’t nearly enough for what you expend. That’s why your hands and feet are always cold.”
Li Ruoshui couldn’t resist poking his slender arm, his prominent shoulder blades, and his thin waist…
Lu Zhiyao couldn’t suppress a tremble. His hand instinctively went to the sword at his side, and the smile on his lips stiffened.
Acting on some inexplicable impulse, Li Ruoshui poked at his waist again. His body trembled even more this time, even his long eyelashes fluttered.
… So sensitive.
Her face turned slightly flushed, Li Ruoshui suddenly felt her actions were a bit perverted. She withdrew her hand and stuffed the cold cake into his. “Y-You eat it. This one isn’t too sweet.”
She went to grab his wrist again but stopped herself, remembering something. Instead, she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him toward the Zheng residence.
Li Ruoshui felt she had discovered some incredible secret and feared she might be annihilated at any moment. As she pulled him along, she also kept a hand pressed down on the sword at his side.
Lu Zhiyao, holding the cold cake, was pulled along stiffly. The tingling sensation that had shot up his spine just moments ago had already faded, but he still felt somewhat dazed and absent-minded.
Li Ruoshui wasn’t faring much better.
She had caught every detail of his expression moments ago—the trembling body, the even more fluttering eyelashes, the tightly pressed lips. It was all so different from his usual demeanor.
Strangely enough, it made her want to bully him.
╰(/ω＼)╯
Li Ruoshui shook her head, trying to dislodge this terrifying thought, silently chanting ‘Don’t play with death’.
‘Don’t play with death’
‘Don’t play with death’
‘Don’t play with death’.
However… the way he trembled was really, really hot.
She cursed. ‘Darn it. I’m actually a little… turned on.’
[1]These 冰糕bing gao are essentially the very first version of ice cream. This particular version seems to be more like a rice cake than ice cream though.