Startled for a moment, Gu Wuyou then turned her head happily—
It was the general’s voice!
She was still clutching that heavy bag of candies in her hand, her little face covered by the hood full of surprise. Her almond-shaped eyes were even clearer than the bright sky, and now she was smiling as she looked at Li Qinyuan, who stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the mottled wall.
Li Qinyuan had already noticed Gu Wuyou following him from the start.
Originally, he just wanted to see what this little girl was up to, but she was so silly that she could even lose track of a person she was following. Out of all the alleys, she somehow managed to pick the least likely one.
So he simply stepped out himself to see what she intended to do.
But now, seeing her bright eyes and smiling brows as she looked at him, Li Qinyuan couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
He was sure that he had little interaction with this Gu family’s little girl. Apart from that brief encounter at Jintai Temple—where he had only seen her from afar—and the conversation they had yesterday at the academy, they had no other connection.
If it were simply because of his face, that didn’t seem likely either.
The little girl’s eyes were clean and clear. There was joy and admiration in them, but it was different from those women who only cared about looks.
So—
Why did this lawless little pepper from the Gu family always look at him with such eyes? He was used to roaming the streets, and now, seeing the little girl standing there motionless, just staring at him, he simply lifted his gaze and looked back at her.
His eyelids were thin, and when he looked up like this, the curve at the corners of his eyes was particularly striking.
He gazed lazily at Gu Wuyou, the corners of his lips curling into a casual and slightly roguish smile as he sneered, “What, gone mute?”
Gu Wuyou heard him this time, and her face turned red. She opened her mouth to argue, “No.”
“No?”
Li Qinyuan chuckled. As he spoke, he leaned in a little closer. He was tall, and when he stood in front of Gu Wuyou, he completely blocked out the light above her. Now, as he lowered his head to look at her, his voice sank low and deep, carrying the softness of a lover’s whisper. He laughed lightly, “You weren’t following me? Then what are you doing right now, hmm?”
Gu Wuyou hadn’t expected Li Qinyuan to come over, much less—
Like a startled kitten, her eyes widened into perfect circles. She instinctively reached up to cover her ears, which had turned burning hot from his breath, her face even redder than before. Her voice became stammering, “I—I just saw you and wanted to come over and say hello.”
Coming over to say hello for no reason?
Li Qinyuan found this little girl utterly amusing. He didn’t move, still standing in front of her, lowering his head as he teased, “Why greet me? Are we close?”
“Or…”
He deliberately dragged out his words, watching Gu Wuyou with her round almond eyes still fixed on him. His phoenix eyes lifted slightly, his voice husky as he continued, “Do you like me?”
This kind of teasing could be heard in any brothel in the capital. Back when his conflicts with his family were at their worst, Li Qinyuan had frequented brothels, and words like these rolled off his tongue with ease.
But to say such things to a noble lady from a prestigious family was clearly disrespecting her.
Any girl with a bit of pride would probably turn red with anger and leave immediately. Even those with milder tempers would likely pale, curse him, and then run away.
Li Qinyuan had never tried this approach before.
Even if those noble ladies admired him, deep down, they still looked down on him, thinking of him as a useless scoundrel, and would never approach him like this. As for the girls in the brothels, they didn’t need him to say anything—they would naturally soften their bodies and flatter him with honeyed words.
So what would this peculiar little girl do?
Would she cry, scold him, or slap him across the face and call him a scoundrel? Li Qinyuan’s thoughts wandered aimlessly, but his face remained gentle and smiling, as if he truly regarded Gu Wuyou as his little sweetheart.
And Gu Wuyou?
She did not disappoint Li Qinyuan’s expectations. Her face indeed turned red, but not from anger—rather, it was a shy, delicate blush. She even covered her face with her hands and murmured softly, “Is… is it that obvious?”
She had thought she hid it well.
At the very least, she hadn’t thrown herself into the general’s arms the moment she saw him.
So how had he still noticed?
Her voice was too soft, and the noisy shouts of vendors in the alley drowned it out. Even Li Qinyuan didn’t quite catch what she had said, but he could clearly see her flushed face.
She wasn’t angry, nor did she cry—she looked even more delicate than before.
Seeing such a Gu Wuyou, Li Qinyuan, who had been playing the part of a dissolute young master teasing a girl, suddenly furrowed his brows. Before he could say anything, the girl before him seemed to remember something and let out a soft “Ah.”
“I’ll treat you to some candy.” Gu Wuyou cupped the small paper bag in both hands, tilted her head up, and gazed at him with bright, shining eyes.
For a fleeting moment, Li Qinyuan had an illusion—the girl before him wasn’t offering him a bag of candy, but her heart itself, pure and untainted, wanting to give him what she thought was the best thing in the world.
Because of this illusion, he actually lost focus for a brief second.
“This shop’s candy is especially delicious. I always buy a lot whenever I come here.”
Gu Wuyou had no idea what was going through Li Qinyuan’s mind. She continued smiling radiantly at him. Perhaps afraid that he would refuse, she carefully added in a soft voice, “Do… do you like it?”
Li Qinyuan lowered his gaze to the mark on the candy bag—Fu Man Hall.
It was his mother’s favorite shop.
When his mother was still alive, she would always buy candies and preserved fruits from this place. Every time he finished his studies or martial arts practice, she would call him over, wiping his sweat with a handkerchief while taking a few pieces of candy from a small box for him to eat.
Later, his mother died.
Occasionally, when he passed by, he would glance inside, but he never bought anything again.
Perhaps it was the memory of his mother, or perhaps he simply didn’t want to continue this interaction with Gu Wuyou—just moments ago, he had been smiling and teasing, yet now, his face lost its amusement. He took a few steps back, returning to his usual distant and indifferent demeanor.
“I don’t like it.”
After speaking, he didn’t look at Gu Wuyou again and simply turned around, striding into the alley.
Gu Wuyou had no idea what had happened. Just moments ago, he had still been smiling as he talked to her, but suddenly, his face turned cold, and he even said he didn’t like candy… Wasn’t this his favorite?
Or did the young general not like it when he was younger?
Hmm.
She watched Li Qinyuan’s tall and straight figure walking away without looking back and let out a soft sigh. The young general was truly hard to understand.
But she wasn’t discouraged. Clutching the bag of candy, she tucked it into the small satchel Bai Lu had made for her yesterday, lifted her skirt, and quickly caught up. Once she was close enough, she followed behind him step by step, tilting her head and asking in a small voice, “Then… then what do you like to eat?”
“Pastries?”
She guessed, “I know a shop that makes really delicious pastries. If you like them, I can bring you some tomorrow, alright?”
Li Qinyuan hadn’t expected Gu Wuyou to catch up, much less that she would follow right beside him. For the first time, he felt a sense of unease—since his mother passed, his world had only included a few important people. Everyone else was either despised by him or ignored entirely.
He could be indifferent, he could be frivolous, he could be ruthless—he could show a different face to every person.
No one besides Fu Xian and the others would willingly approach him anyway.
Yet now, there was actually someone like this—someone approaching him for unknown reasons, unfazed by teasing, undeterred by coldness. For the first time in his life, Li Qinyuan didn’t know what to do.
He furrowed his brows, his expression cold and silent.
But the little girl beside him remained completely fearless, tilting her head as she continued to guess, “You don’t like pastries either? Then you…”
Before she could finish, she was suddenly pushed gently against the wall. The action wasn’t forceful, but it was so abrupt that her face instantly turned pale in shock.
She blinked, still somewhat startled, staring blankly at the culprit, Li Qinyuan. “Wh-what’s wrong?”
“You know who I am, don’t you?” Li Qinyuan had finally lost all patience. His expression was cold, and his voice even more so. “Even if you’ve been in Langya all this time, you should’ve heard about me, right?”
“If not, then let me tell you now.”
Li Qinyuan’s face remained expressionless as he stared at Gu Wuyou. His elbow rested against the wall, his head lowered, bringing his face dangerously close to hers.
At this distance, he could see the fine, soft hairs on her cheeks. He looked at her, but the teasing from earlier was gone. Now, he was harsh, oppressive, and dangerous.
“I’ve been a scoundrel since I was a child. I love fighting, skipping class, and my grades are an absolute mess. My family has a younger brother—he’s still young now, but he’ll definitely surpass me in the future, so that Duke’s title will never be mine.”
“I don’t care why you’re approaching me, but from now on, stay away. I have a bad temper, and I hit people—including women. Did you hear me?”
After saying that, he saw that Gu Wuyou’s face was still pale, assuming she was finally frightened.
Of course, even someone as bold as her should be scared by now.
Someone like him—who could truly like him?
After today, she probably wouldn’t need him to say anything. She’d naturally keep her distance.
With a sneer, Li Qinyuan lifted his hand, about to leave. But before he could take a step, someone tugged at his sleeve. His movements halted, and without turning back, he simply cast a glance at the girl behind him.
“You wouldn’t hit a woman,” came her soft, mosquito-like voice from behind him.
Her voice was so light, yet her tone was utterly firm. The paleness on her face had already faded. When she saw him looking at her, she even smiled again—sweet and lovely—as she gazed at him.
That radiant smile was piercing to Li Qinyuan’s eyes, deepening the strange discomfort in his heart.
He instinctively wanted to escape.
He hated this feeling. His thin lips pressed into a firm line, and his face took on a mocking sneer, as if ridiculing her naivety. “You’re that sure?”
“Mm!”
Gu Wuyou nodded vigorously. Then, as if she wasn’t afraid of death, she gripped his sleeve even tighter, stepping even closer as she tilted her head and said sweetly, “If not, why don’t you try hitting me?”
Li Qinyuan had never met a woman like this before. One who wouldn’t listen even when scolded, who couldn’t be beaten, and who refused to back down. His expression shifted through countless changes, and in the end, like a man at the end of his rope, he found himself utterly without a way out. All he could do was sneer and say, “You already have a fiancé, and yet you still seduce others like this?”
With that, he yanked his sleeve free and strode forward.
But before he could take more than a few steps, his sleeve was grabbed once again.
Li Qinyuan considered himself to have a decent temper. Most of the time, he was indifferent to things. As long as no one crossed his bottom line, he remained distant and unbothered by most matters. Yet today, in just a short span of time, this little girl had disrupted his composure again and again.
He turned around sharply, his expression fierce, his tone utterly unkind. “What now?!”
Gu Wuyou seemed startled but still didn’t let go. “I don’t have a fiancé.”
She peeked at him cautiously before softly clarifying, “I broke off the engagement.”
“And—”
Gu Wuyou watched as Li Qinyuan’s expression subtly changed. Lowering her head, she tugged at his sleeve and quietly added another sentence, this time with a hint of grievance in her voice, “I… I wasn’t seducing you.”
How had she seduced him?
She had only wanted to give him some candy.
If she really wanted to seduce him, she would have just thrown her arms around him.
The young general wasn’t just difficult to understand—he was hard to please and even falsely accused her. Gu Wuyou sighed softly, feeling utterly helpless.
Li Qinyuan looked at the girl in front of him, head lowered, gently scuffing the ground with the tip of her shoe. His expression became even more complicated. Not seducing him? Then what was she doing now?
He opened his mouth as if to say something but, in the end, simply pressed his lips together and continued walking in silence.
Hearing the soft footsteps following behind him, he paused for a brief moment but didn’t look back.
—
Author’s note:
The General has no other women, only drinks, drinks, and drinks!
Wuu!
Our General is—
The pure and upright Li Qilang!