What’s your real name?
The box containing the silver wasn’t particularly large, about the size of a jewelry case, square and compact.
Unlike a jewelry box, however, it had no compartments inside, just neatly stacked silver ingots arranged in rows.
Orderly and pleasing to the eye.
The box rested on the table, and Shen Su sat beside it, one hand propping her chin while the pad of her other index finger lightly traced the smooth, rounded surface of the silver.
“I can really take as much as I want?” Shen Su lifted her face to look at Qin Yu. “Didn’t you say this was for balancing the accounts?”
She blinked, a teasing smile curling at the corners of her lips. “The young mistress is indulging in favoritism and embezzlement now. Truly, beauty leads one astray.”
She sighed dramatically, shaking her head with exaggerated self-admiration. “It’s all my fault.”
Qin Yu fell silent for a moment, suppressing the urge to retort before finally saying, “You’re overthinking it.”
She wasn’t so hard up for money.
Even if she let “Su Qingqing” take as much as she pleased or even gave her the entire box, Qin Yu wouldn’t bat an eye.
It was just that upon seeing the silver, Qin Yu had suddenly recalled the way Shen Su had playfully stretched out her hand the previous afternoon, asking for money with a smile.
Her eyes curved like crescents, her bright, beautiful face brimming with joy and satisfaction.
Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Qin Yu had never found a sense of achievement in material wealth, nor had she ever felt that gold or silver could bring her happiness.
But yesterday, watching “Su Qingqing’s” delight in money, Qin Yu had found it oddly refreshing.
Since “Su Qingqing” was short on funds, why not just give it to her?
As for balancing the accounts, she could cover it from her own treasury.
“Don’t want it?” Qin Yu raised a brow, pretending to close the box.
“I do!” Shen Su immediately reached out to shield the box, her tone resolute. “Of course I do. How could I refuse a gift from my dear sister?”
“Let me think.” Shen Su tapped her red lips with one finger while the other hovered over the silver, as if calculating how much to take.
Qin Yu lowered her gaze to Shen Su. Her lips were a natural, lush red no rouge applied, yet fuller and more vibrant than if they had been, like ripe cherries that begged to be bitten and savored.
Meanwhile, the fingers resting on the silver ingots appeared even more delicate and jade-like against the cold metallic sheen.
Qin Yu suddenly remembered Su Qingqing’s hands were incredibly soft. Slender at a glance, yet boneless to the touch, fitting perfectly when clasped.
Her own fingers, hardened by martial training, bore calluses and prominent knuckles. At a glance, they were elegant but undeniably masculine in structure.
She had never paid much attention to her hands before until that rainy night in the abandoned temple, when Shen Su had arched her back, pressing deeper into Qin Yu’s grasp.
Go deeper.
Qin Yu: “…”
She froze, abruptly snapping out of her thoughts.
What am I thinking about in broad daylight?!
Her fingers twitched slightly at her side, her expression stiff as she forcibly redirected her attention to “Su Qingqing” selecting silver.
Now, those soft, boneless hands of hers picked up a single ingot and held it up for Qin Yu to see.
“I’ll just take one.”
She had borrowed money from Qin Yu the day before to buy books, though she had repaid it in another way last night.
This ingot today was a reward from Qin Yu.
“Just one?” Qin Yu frowned. “Is that enough?”
Shen Su smiled. “It’s plenty!”
For her and Yunzhi’s travel expenses, it should suffice.
Shen Su couldn’t quite read Qin Yu’s temperament she didn’t know when the young mistress might suddenly turn ruthless and decide to eliminate her.
She wasn’t willing to gamble with her life.
Even if Qin Yu were to let her go, Shen Su would still have to part ways with her before entering the capital. Otherwise, as a woman traveling with a group of men for over a month, the gossip in the capital would likely spiral out of control.
By then, if the Shen family believed she had tarnished the reputation of their daughters, what would happen to her wet nurse.
From the very beginning, Shen Su had resolved to separate from Qin Yu near the capital outskirts.
Initially, she had worried about how to manage without travel funds, but now it seemed like a pillow had appeared just as she was dozing off, Qin Yu was offering her silver on her own accord.
Though she didn’t know Qin Yu’s ultimate intentions, at this moment, the young mistress Qin, who was giving her silver, buying her clothes and jewelry, and having the shopkeeper prepare exquisite dishes for her, was genuinely kind to her.
At the very least, right now, she had no intention of killing her.
Shen Su’s delicate brows furrowed slightly, a faint trace of guilt stirring in her heart. But that guilt was instantly swept away by other emotions when Qin Yu kissed her.
Lost in thought, Shen Su unconsciously bit her lip.
“Su Qingqing?” Qin Yu called out twice, but when she received no response, she pinched Shen Su’s chin with one hand and tilted her head to bite her lip.
Qin Yu had only meant to tease her, but she never expected that when she kissed her, Shen Su would unconsciously lift her head to respond.
Soft lips pressed together, neither willing to pull away.
Qin Yu had always been strong-willed, and having lived as a man for years, her instinct when faced with resistance was to conquer.
Shen Su, too, hadn’t been raised in luxury, she had learned from childhood to adapt and endure, resilient in every way.
When the two clashed, cherries burst, spitting out cloves, pushing and pulling like a game of taiji, neither willing to yield.
“Qingqing,” Qin Yu murmured, one hand caressing Shen Su’s delicate neck, the other resting on her smooth, soft cheek. Her voice was low and serious as she asked, “What’s your real name?”
She didn’t want to keep calling out a false name.
Shen Su clutched Qin Yu’s lapel, lifting her head to kiss the corner of her lips, her voice equally husky. “Qingqing.”
“Jiejie, call me Qingqing.”
Qin Yu understood immediately, the surname “Su” might be fake, but “Qingqing” was real.
Perhaps it was her given name, or perhaps a childhood nickname.
Qin Yu chuckled and whispered in her ear, “Qingqing?”
Shen Su’s waist went weak. “Mm.”
The silver was left on the table as Shen Su wrapped her arms around Qin Yu’s shoulders, using her strength to stand.
Stumbling, they moved from the table to the window, and finally collapsed onto the bed.
Summer afternoons were naturally lazy, the perfect time for a nap.
Shen Su felt dazed, as if drunk.
Though an ice basin in the room kept the summer heat at bay, Shen Su still ended up covered in sweat from their exertions.
She was prone to sweating, she’d probably need a bath after waking.
“One more,” Shen Su bit her lower lip, eyes half-lidded, her voice slipping out between breaths, each word a soft moan:
“I like it~”
She liked Qin Yu’s slightly calloused, slender fingers sharp and domineering, so unlike her own.
“Are we leaving tomorrow?”
Downstairs, the bearded man was discussing plans with Qingmu and the others.
“Yeah, we can’t delay any longer.”
Especially since Chen San had already been sent back to the capital by Qin Yu at noon, they couldn’t lag too far behind.
“In this scorching heat.”
Someone glanced outside, where the sun blazed like fire, the heat unbearable.
“The young master said we’ll set off at dusk each day, travel through the night, and rest during the day,” the bearded man explained. “That way, we’ll avoid the worst of the sun.”
There were still a few shops to inspect on the way to the capital, so resting at the small inn for two days should suffice, they couldn’t afford to delay too much time.
Initially, they had worried that Qin Yu might be too enthralled by beauty to set off promptly. But as soon as Chen San left, Qin Yu was already preparing to depart.
Beauty, didn’t seem to hinder “him” from handling serious matters.
A few who weren’t keen on hurrying even began to wonder was Miss Su’s charm not enough? She hadn’t even managed to keep him in bed.
Yet upstairs, behind the drawn bed curtains, Qin Yu was murmuring over and over:
“Qingqing.”