Originally, Lu Chengsha thought it was no big deal to give her a hairpin, but now it felt a bit ambiguous, like he was expressing affection.
It felt strange.
Of course, it could just be his imagination.
Hua Yan immediately felt a sense of relief, though she didn’t know why, and said, “Oh…” She couldn’t help but take another look at the hairpin. “Your mother has good taste! This is beautiful!”
Lu Chengsha, holding the hairpin, decided he was overthinking it. He made up his mind and said, “Then it’s yours.”
Hua Yan’s eyes widened. “Really? Are you serious?”
Lu Chengsha, feeling resigned, said, “It was meant for you.”
Hua Yan’s face lit up with joy, and although she said, “Oh, I can’t accept this,” her hands quickly took the hairpin from Lu Chengsha. The silver tassels collided with each other, making a faint tinkling sound.
She fiddled with it, liking it more and more, and couldn’t help but smile at Lu Chengsha, “Thank you!”
Lu Chengsha’s face immediately turned red.
This time it was so obvious that even Hua Yan noticed. She leaned in closer to examine him, “Why is your face red…”
She was so close that Lu Chengsha could see the fine, dense lashes under her eyes, and he could almost feel her breath on his face—
Lu Chengsha quickly took a step back.
Originally, in his memory, she was still a small, lively, and cute little girl, but she had grown up so fast…
Her bright, expressive eyes, cherry-red lips, and high, delicate nose were the same features, but she was no longer a child; she was a beautiful young lady.
He knew why his face was red.
However, Hua Yan leaned in again, really trying to figure out why he was blushing.
Lu Chengsha finally said, “You’ve grown up now. You shouldn’t stand so close to me.”
Hua Yan replied, “Huh? Is this close?”
They used to stand this close all the time.
To his surprise, Lu Chengsha’s voice became even more unhappy. He suddenly asked, “Do you… still go out together often like that?”
“We?” Hua Yan’s mind quickly turned. “Oh, you mean Xie Yingxian? Occasionally, occasionally. He’s grown up now and has a lot more to do, so he’s pretty busy… Why are you making that face! You’re the one who left! It’s not like I didn’t want to go out with you! You should have come back sooner! It’s been so many years!” She started to complain, unable to hold back, “I’ve come here several times to look for you, and I thought you’d never come back!”
Lu Chengsha was taken aback by her complaints and said, “I’m sorry. It’s not that I didn’t want to come, it’s…”
“What is it!” Hua Yan demanded.
Lu Chengsha rubbed his forehead, feeling that the matter was too foolish to explain. But… he sighed and said, “My father took my mother and me to the Western Regions.”
Hua Yan was shocked. “… That far! Was it fun?”
Lu Chengsha said, “He got lost.”
Hua Yan: “…?”
Lu Chengsha continued, “… If I hadn’t said I wanted to come back, he almost wanted to stay in the Western Regions.”
Hua Yan looked at him with an expression of “really, that happened.”
No wonder she thought he seemed a bit tanned, although it wasn’t very noticeable, but his features were more defined than before. He used to have a bit of a boyish look, but now that was gone. Hmm… he had grown a lot too.
Lu Chengsha brought the conversation back, explaining to her, “In any case… it wasn’t that I didn’t want to come.”
Hua Yan hadn’t been seriously angry in the first place. She generously said, “I won’t hold it against you for that. But you still haven’t explained, why were you blushing?”
Lu Chengsha suddenly went silent.
Hua Yan blinked, wanting to reach out and touch his forehead to make sure he wasn’t coming down with a cold, but halfway there, Lu Chengsha grabbed her sleeve and held her hand. He said, “You should be more cautious.”
“Cautious about what?”
In the sect, no one dared to mess with her!
Lu Chengsha felt a wave of helplessness.
Hua Yan just thought he seemed strange!
He didn’t use to have so many random rules. Could one trip to the Western Regions change a person’s character?
Or maybe it had been so long that they felt distant!
The days that followed seemed to prove this point. Even though Lu Chengsha had returned, when she greeted him early in the morning in her sleepwear through the window, he would suddenly look away and tell her to get dressed before talking to him.
And whenever she got a bit closer, he would seem like he wanted to dodge.
In the past, when they went out to play and got tired at night, Xie Yingxian, being lazy, would ask Lu Chengsha to carry her. He would do it without any reaction, just carrying her back.
But now, when they were alone together for a long time, he always seemed to want to leave early, exuding a sense of distance.
Apart from that, there were countless little things. Hua Yan couldn’t help but wonder if their long separation had caused their feelings to fade!
She had missed him for so long!
It turned out that everything had changed!
Hua Yan was very troubled and couldn’t find anyone to ask, so she had to go back and ask her mother.
She pushed the door open and saw her mother tenderly feeding medicine to her father. Her father was leaning on the couch, awkwardly saying, “I can do it myself… I may be sick, but I’m not so sick that I can’t take medicine.”
Her mother replied, “No, I’m feeding you! If you don’t let me feed you by hand, I’ll feed you by mouth.”
Her father’s cheeks instantly turned red.
Seeing Hua Yan come in, her father turned his head and coughed. Only then did her mother, with a look of being interrupted, turn and ask Hua Yan, “What’s the matter?”
Hua Yan, used to this, asked without any embarrassment, “I just want to know why Lu Chengsha keeps… uh, avoiding me recently and not letting me get too close, even though he didn’t use to be like this!”
Her mother waved her hand dismissively, saying, “Because you both grew up.”
Hua Yan felt a bit melancholic, “Does growing up mean this will happen?”
Hua Ran found it amusing and couldn’t resist teasing her, “Yes, that’s right. Growing up means this will happen. People’s hearts change. Maybe next time he leaves, he won’t come back.”
Hua Yan was stunned, “He… he even gave me a hairpin.”
Hua Ran raised her eyebrows, thinking that boy did well to give a gift, but said, “Probably just a parting gift. He’s probably regretting it now.”
Huh???
Hua Yan angrily said, “Mom, you’re talking nonsense!”
Hua Ran laughed heartily, “Why don’t you go ask him yourself? You’re old enough now. Don’t come to me for everything. I still need to feed your father his medicine.”
With doubts and a bit of nervousness, Hua Yan finally decided to find Lu Chengsha.
At this time, Lu Chengsha should be practicing his swordsmanship in the training field.
Hearing about his return, the young disciples of the sect were in an uproar, all vividly recalling the early morning sword training they had to endure because of him. Xie Yingxian had been busy lately and probably didn’t have time to come to the rescue, but Qi Xiusi was eager and ready to compete with him again.
Hua Yan arrived at the training field and ran over, interrupting Lu Chengsha, who was practicing his swordsmanship.
Lu Chengsha stopped his movements and looked at her in surprise. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, she grabbed his sleeve without a word and dragged him to an inconspicuous corner. She whispered, “I have a question for you. You have to answer honestly.”
“…Okay.”
Lu Chengsha looked at her as she moved closer, his gaze slipping over her bright eyes, fair cheeks, and rosy lips. He quickly looked away and subtly shifted to the side.
In the past, Hua Yan might not have noticed, but now she saw it immediately. Her heart ached, and she bitterly said, “Have we drifted apart forever?”
Lu Chengsha: “…???”
Hua Yan couldn’t help but accuse him, “You’re avoiding me! You won’t treat me like you did when we were kids! And you won’t go out with me alone!”
Lu Chengsha was stunned. “That’s because…”
Because you’ve grown up. I can’t treat you the same way as before.
Hua Yan pressed, “Because of what?”
Lu Chengsha said, “Because…” He leaned in closer, intending to make her realize that being this close as a man and a woman was inappropriate. However, she didn’t show any sign of resistance or avoidance.
Lu Chengsha kept getting closer, almost touching her. The shadows in the corner covered her face, and he could see her cheeks turning slightly red, as beautiful as peach blossoms.
Hua Yan, covered by his shadow, felt her back against the wall and his chest right in front of her. She could clearly see his Adam’s apple. The closeness made her face warm up, and she realized belatedly that being close really could make her blush. She hadn’t blushed before because the distance hadn’t been close enough.
Lu Chengsha’s lips almost brushed her forehead.
He couldn’t help but swallow, his voice a bit hoarse as he said, “…Do you understand now why I’m avoiding you?”
Hua Yan said, “…No.”
Lu Chengsha: “…?”
Hua Yan mumbled with a red face, “Being close is fine. It’s not like we can’t be…”
Lu Chengsha: “…???”
Hua Yan said, “What’s the big deal if we’re a little closer?”
Hearing her words, Lu Chengsha took a deep breath and said in a nearly helpless tone, “…Stop talking.”
However, as soon as he spoke, Hua Yan had already moved a little closer, and Lu Chengsha’s lips immediately felt the smooth touch of her forehead.
He was stunned.
Hua Yan shivered all over, but quickly justified herself, “See, it’s no big deal!”
Lu Chengsha: “…” He almost clumsily pressed down on her shoulders.
“Alright, now you don’t have to avoid me anymore!”
Lu Chengsha’s heart was pounding like a drum. He thought he had to explain to her that this was wrong, that it shouldn’t be like this, but—
Hua Yan, with a red face, said, “What more do you want? I’ve tried so hard!”
Lu Chengsha, also blushing, replied, “I…”
Hua Yan demanded, “Are you still going to avoid me?”
Lu Chengsha couldn’t control himself and said, “…I won’t.”
Hua Yan continued, “You’re not planning to leave again, are you?”
Lu Chengsha said, “I won’t leave.”
Hua Yan finally seemed a bit satisfied and asked, “So, you don’t actually hate me, or have feelings for me faded, right?”
Lu Chengsha was surprised and asked, “Why would you think that?”
Hua Yan replied, “What else? What did you mean before?”
“I…” At this point, if he didn’t understand, he’d be a fool. Lu Chengsha blurted out, “What I mean is…” The last few words were unclear, but the lingering sound in the air was enough to make Hua Yan’s eyes widen suddenly.
In an instant, her face became even redder than before.
Lu Chengsha also lowered his gaze, not daring to look at her.
The tense atmosphere in the air was almost palpable.
After a moment of silence.
“You…”
“You…”
Both of them spoke at the same time, then stopped abruptly.
In the wind, there were the sounds of birds chirping, the voices and footsteps of other disciples not far away, and the sound of her pounding heart… What should she do, Hua Yan wondered. She wanted to cover her face, to run away, and to do something all at once, making her mind a chaotic mess.
Lu Chengsha was clearly not doing any better.
She quickly lifted her head, whispered something in Lu Chengsha’s ear, and then lifted her skirt and ran away without looking back.
The golden sunlight poured down, draping over the shoulders of the boy and the girl. The play of light and shadow mirrored the feeling of a heart stirring in that moment.