With Xiaodie supporting her arm from behind, Fu Yunyang stepped onto the footstool and climbed into the carriage.
Only after she was seated securely inside did Xiaodie follow.
The curtain fell, shutting out the sunlight and the fragrance of peach blossoms.
The carriage slowly started moving.
Its wheels rolled over the stone-paved road with a steady rumbling sound.
Soft cushions lined the interior. Fu Yunyang leaned back against them, her body swaying gently with the motion of the carriage.
Sitting opposite her, Xiaodie watched her for quite a while before finally asking:
“Miss, are you alright?”
“Mm.”
Fu Yunyang closed her eyes and answered softly.
“Would you like to stay a little longer?” Xiaodie ventured. “We’ve only been out for less than half an hour. There’s another peach grove farther back in Peach Blossom Cove. I heard the blossoms there are even prettier than the ones near the entrance. Why don’t we go take a look?”
Fu Yunyang opened her eyes and looked at her.
Under that quiet gaze, Xiaodie suddenly felt a little guilty.
Lowering her head, she twisted her fingers together and muttered:
“I just thought… you’ve finally managed to come outside for once. The weather’s so nice today. A little sunshine would probably be good for your health too…”
“I know.”
Fu Yunyang’s response was gentle despite her weariness.
“I’m just a little tired.”
She said no more.
Instead, her gaze drifted toward the carriage window.
A gust of wind lifted one corner of the curtain, revealing a narrow strip of daylight and a sea of rosy blossoms beyond.
Fu Yunyang raised her hand and lightly hooked a finger beneath the curtain.
Turning her head, she looked outside.
Peach Blossom Cove was slowly receding behind them.
The ancient peach tree.
The pink clouds of blossoms.
The visitors strolling among the flowers.
All of it gradually faded into the distance as the carriage rolled onward.
Far away, she could still make out one corner of a pavilion.
Its vermilion pillars stood out vividly amid the sea of pink.
She could vaguely see several figures moving inside.
“…Let’s go home.”
Fu Yunyang released the curtain.
It fell back into place, cutting off the view.
“We can come again in a few days when there are fewer people.”
The carriage continued along the same road by which they had come, neither hurried nor slow.
As it passed the ancient peach tree at the entrance to Peach Blossom Cove, a breeze swept through.
A shower of petals drifted down from the branches.
Several slipped through a gap in the curtain and landed softly upon Fu Yunyang’s lap.
Meanwhile, back at the pavilion, Shen Jinghong was still completely distracted.
Leaning against a pillar, one leg propped on the railing, he held a wine flask loosely in his hand.
But he wasn’t drinking.
His gaze traveled beyond the layers of peach blossoms outside the pavilion and settled in the direction of Peach Blossom Cove’s entrance.
Fixed on a single point.
Unmoving.
Fang Ziheng was in the middle of telling a story.
Zhao Zheng and Zhou Yanzhi enthusiastically chimed in at all the right moments, occasionally shelling peanuts as they listened.
Only Shen Jinghong remained frozen in the same position, as though someone had struck an acupoint and immobilized him.
“Hey.”
Zhao Zheng flicked a peanut shell at him.
“What are you thinking about?”
No response.
Zhao Zheng threw another.
This one hit Shen Jinghong squarely in the forehead.
Only then did he snap out of it.
Frowning, he rubbed his forehead and shot Zhao Zheng an annoyed look.
“What was that for?”
“I asked what you were thinking about.”
Zhao Zheng stared at him.
“I called your name three times. Did you go deaf?”
“Nothing.”
Shen Jinghong turned his face away.
His voice sounded strangely muffled.
Zhao Zheng clearly didn’t believe him.
Leaning closer, he followed Shen Jinghong’s line of sight.
All he saw was a stretch of peach trees and a few distant figures.
“What are you looking at over there? What’s so interesting?”
“Nothing.”
Shen Jinghong repeated himself.
This time his voice sounded even more sullen.
From the other side, Fang Ziheng poked his head over with a mischievous grin.
“Don’t tell me you’re looking for a peach blossom spirit?”
He laughed.
“Did my story earlier actually get into your head?”
Shen Jinghong ignored him.
Retracting his gaze, he looked down at the wine flask in his hand.
He raised it and took a long drink.
The fiery liquor burned down his throat.
Yet it did nothing to suppress the strange restlessness churning inside him.
His mind was filled with that single glance.
That one moment beneath the peach tree.
Shen Jinghong squeezed his eyes shut.
Then opened them again.
Stop thinking about it.
He told himself firmly.
Stop thinking.
What does that girl have to do with you?
You don’t even know who she is.
And even if you did know, so what?
You don’t know her.
And even if you did know her, so what?
You wouldn’t…
He stopped.
Wouldn’t what?
He couldn’t come up with an answer.