As expected, Li Qinyuan panicked. He was at a complete loss, his hands twitching, wanting to wipe her tears but stopping midway. His hands clenched behind his back as he lowered his voice and asked, “Tell me, who bullied you?”
“Was it someone from Pingshuo Hall, or Buzhi Hall? Or was it that bastard Zhou Changbai?”
He went down the list one by one, but Gu Wuyou neither nodded nor spoke. Just as he was about to lose his patience and step out to ask Fu Xian and the others, the little girl before him finally spoke.
“Li Qinyuan.”
Li Qinyuan was stunned. This was the first time this little chili pepper had directly called his name.
“What is it?”
“I told you before—I will find out the truth for you and clear your name. Even if everyone else refuses to believe you, I will always believe you. Always, always believe you.”
Gu Wuyou lifted her head and looked at him. “Do you still remember that?”
Li Qinyuan hadn’t expected her to bring this up. His ears instantly flushed red. He didn’t dare look at her and instead awkwardly turned his head away, his phoenix eyes fixed on a small hole in the wall. After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?”
The brilliant sunset had gradually shifted from red to black.
Gu Wuyou took a deep breath. In this twilight, she continued to look up at her great general, at his slightly reddened ears, at his face tinted with the hues of the evening glow. The expression on her face, which had been somber for a long time, finally softened into a smile.
“I just wanted to tell you.”
“No matter what happens, not just this matter but anything else, I will always believe you.”
“This—”
“Will always count.”
“That’s all I wanted to say. Nothing else.”
The emotions Li Qinyuan had felt that day when he overheard her words in the alley surged back again. No, this time, it was even stronger. That day, it had been like fireworks quietly bursting in his heart. But this time, it was like a firecracker had exploded with a deafening bang.
Crackling and popping, it left him utterly dazed, his heart practically leaping out of his throat.
He blankly turned his head and lowered his gaze to look at Gu Wuyou.
The little girl was smiling radiantly, her bright eyes as clear as autumn waters. Such naturally joyful eyes could make anyone feel delighted just by looking at them.
But right now, those eyes were fixed solely on him, filled with unwavering trust and hope, as if in her entire world, there was only him.
“You—”
Li Qinyuan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he found his words to be utterly pale. Even though he could compose elegant prose, under the gaze of those eyes, he couldn’t utter a single word.
“Cough.”
A male voice, laced with amusement, suddenly came from outside the door.
Li Qinyuan seemed to snap back to reality. He turned his head sharply and saw Jing Yubai standing at the doorway, dressed in a plain blue robe, smiling as he looked at them. For some unknown reason, Li Qinyuan instinctively moved to shield Gu Wuyou, blocking her entirely from view.
He spoke, his voice still carrying a slight tremor from that inexplicable unease, “Wha…” The moment he spoke, he frowned. After clearing his throat again, he managed to speak more clearly, “What is it?”
Jing Yubai raised an eyebrow at his movement, a hint of teasing in his expression, but his tone remained casual as he said, “We’re having hotpot tonight. Everything’s ready. Come on.”
“Oh.”
Li Qinyuan nodded. “You go ahead first.”
Right after saying that, he realized how wrong it sounded. Under Jing Yubai’s amused gaze, he quickly added, “The water hasn’t boiled yet. You all go ahead, I’ll be there soon.”
As he spoke, he glanced behind him, his tone carrying an unconscious hint of caution, “You go with Dabai first.”
“Alright.” Gu Wuyou smiled and nodded. She had already composed herself, and when she stepped out from behind Li Qinyuan, she looked completely normal. Seeing Jing Yubai, she even greeted him with a bright smile, “Let’s go.”
Jing Yubai also smiled and replied, “Alright.”
He let her walk ahead, but before leaving, he deliberately turned back to glance at Li Qinyuan. Seeing him staring intently at Gu Wuyou’s retreating figure, then awkwardly turning away as soon as their eyes met, Jing Yubai scoffed, “Are you not coming?”
With that, he huffed and sat down, continuing to watch over the pot of water that had yet to boil. He even picked up a woven fan and fanned it a few times.
It was all Dabai’s fault. Why did he have to show up at that exact moment?
And that little chili pepper—he told her to go, and she really just went? And she even smiled at Dabai? Since when were they so close?
But what lingered most in his mind…
Were the words that little chili pepper had just said.
His heart was still racing—pounding so hard it made his ears ring. But in contrast to the chaos in his chest, the smile on his face was spreading wider and wider.
Noticing that Jing Yubai was still lingering at the doorway, he hastily suppressed the grin on his face, turned around, and put on a nonchalant expression, raising an eyebrow, “Why haven’t you left yet?”
“I’m going.”
Jing Yubai chuckled and turned to leave. The night had not yet fully descended, and as he looked up at the sky, his face carried a serene and breezy smile… How wonderful.
By the time Li Qinyuan returned to the main hall, the place was already brightly lit, and the hotpot was bubbling away. A group of people sat around an eight-immortal table. Fu Xian was fighting with Gu Yu over skewers, while Qi Xu held onto one himself, grumbling, “I told you earlier that I wanted to buy some. Why didn’t you say anything then? Now you’re all just snatching mine.”
“What do you mean, yours? I was the one who told the coachman to buy them!”
Fu Xian, in the midst of wrestling the last skewer from Gu Yu, still had the presence of mind to retort, then turned back to Gu Yu and scolded, “Gu Qiniang, do you have any ladylike manners at all? What kind of girl fights over food like this?”
After saying that, he even seemed puzzled, “I remember you used to eat so elegantly.”
Gu Yu’s cheeks visibly flushed at his words. She had indeed been very refined when eating in the past. Whenever she dined with Xiao Yi and the others, she would always chew slowly and carefully, sometimes even covering her mouth with a handkerchief.
But the truth was, she never liked eating like that.
It was just the rules she had been taught since childhood that forced her to.
At first, she had planned to eat gracefully, just as usual. But watching Qi Xu and Fu Xian enjoy their skewers so happily, even Gu Wuyou beside them eating without any reservations, she suddenly felt that keeping up appearances like that made her seem out of place.
And then—
Things had escalated to this point.
Now, with her face flushed, she was actually already quite full, but she still stubbornly held onto the skewer, refusing to let go, as if determined to battle Fu Xian to the very end. “And do you have any manliness? A grown man fighting with a girl over food?”
Li Qinyuan hadn’t expected to walk into such a scene.
How long had it been since he experienced this kind of lively atmosphere? He couldn’t even remember.
The cheerful noise around him felt as if it had pulled him down from the lofty, unreachable clouds, grounding him on solid earth. It was noisy, but also steady and warm.
Gu Wuyou was the first to notice him. The little girl, who had been sitting obediently on her chair, immediately lit up with a smile the moment he walked in. The rising steam from the hotpot made her cheeks flush red—like peach blossoms in spring, like lotus flowers in summer.
Bright and delicate.
As he gazed at her smile, his eyes flickered slightly.
Qi Xu had just finished his last skewer. Sitting directly across from the door, he spotted Li Qinyuan and greeted him with a grin, “Qilang is here.”
This greeting also made Fu Xian turn his head. He had just been about to complain to Li Qinyuan when Gu Yu suddenly snatched the skewer from his hand. He whipped around, only to see Gu Yu grinning triumphantly under the lantern’s glow, looking utterly pleased with herself. His eyes widened in outrage.
“You—”
“You cheated!”
Jing Yubai had already started dipping meat slices into the hotpot. Seeing Fu Xian’s reaction, he couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle. “Come on, how old are you? It’s just one skewer. If you want more, we can have someone buy more later.”
As he spoke, he turned to Li Qinyuan and said, “Qilang, come sit over here.”
Li Qinyuan glanced at the empty seat beside him. Right next to it sat the little chili pepper. His heart gave a small thump, like a tiny drum being struck. His face remained unchanged, his expression as lazy and indifferent as ever. He simply let out an “Oh” and went over to sit down.
Meanwhile, Gu Yu and Fu Xian were still arguing, neither willing to back down.
Li Qinyuan found it amusing and cast a brief glance their way. Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks after sitting down, he suddenly felt a light tug on his sleeve.
His entire body stiffened.
Such a bold move—besides that little chili pepper, who else could it be?
But he had never expected her to be this bold. It was one thing when they were alone, but now, in front of so many people! Did she not care at all?
If word got out, how would she ever save face?
Li Qinyuan couldn’t quite explain what he was feeling. A mix of nervousness, unease about being caught, and something else he couldn’t name.
“What are you doing?” He turned his head, deliberately putting on a fierce expression—but it had no effect whatsoever. Before he could say anything else, a soft voice reached his ears.
“For you.”
Hmm?
Li Qinyuan blinked in surprise. Lowering his gaze, he saw a small, pale hand beneath the table, holding out a skewer of grilled meat, carefully offering it to him. When he didn’t take it immediately, she grew anxious. “Eat it.”
Then she added in an even quieter voice, “Don’t let them see. I went through a lot of trouble to save this.”
If Ah Yu found out, she would definitely get mad again.
This fool.
Li Qinyuan’s heart suddenly softened into a pool of spring water in April. His once-rigid back relaxed, and the tense expression on his face gradually melted away.
He took the skewer from her hand and gripped it firmly. When the little girl withdrew her hand, he noticed the faint red marks on her pale fingertips—evidence that she had been holding it tightly for a long time.
Turning his head, he saw the little chili pepper pretending as if nothing had happened, keeping her head down and focusing on dipping her meat into the hotpot.
His normally indifferent and lazy eyes were now filled with an unbearable tenderness, and even his heart felt warm and numb, soft beyond recognition.
Fu Xian, unable to outargue Gu Yu, had just sat down in a huff when his eyes suddenly caught sight of the skewer in Li Qinyuan’s hand. He was instantly shocked.
“Qilang, where did that skewer come from?!”
Wasn’t all the food already gone?!
Except for Gu Wuyou, everyone’s eyes immediately turned toward Li Qinyuan.
Li Qinyuan raised an eyebrow, the gentleness in his gaze fading as he returned to his usual lazy demeanor. He didn’t bother hiding anything and simply smirked.
“Someone gave it to me.”
As he spoke, he intentionally glanced out of the corner of his eye at the little chili pepper beside him. The girl was gripping her chopsticks tightly, keeping her head low.
Tsk. As expected—she was blushing.
“Who?!”
Fu Xian was visibly displeased. “You don’t even like eating these things! Just give it to me.”
With that, he cheerfully reached out to snatch the skewer, already planning to eat it slowly just to spite Gu Yu.
But before his hand could even touch it, a sharp pain shot across the back of his hand.
Smack!
A pair of chopsticks had struck him with such force that his eyes nearly welled up with tears.
Shocked, he turned to stare at Li Qinyuan in disbelief, as if unable to comprehend how the brother he had grown up with could actually hit him—over a skewer of meat!
“Qilang!”
But the young man sitting leisurely on the bench showed not the slightest hint of guilt.
Under the glow of the lanterns, he tilted his head lazily, his high ponytail swaying slightly. In his hand, the skewer also swayed with him.
He looked at Fu Xian’s incredulous expression with clear phoenix eyes and smirked before casually tossing out a single word.
“Scram.”
His skewer—he wouldn’t give it to anyone.
“Hmph!”
Fu Xian clutched his reddened hand and plopped back down in his seat, fuming. Out of spite, he reached into Qi Xu’s bowl and snatched several pieces of meat, stuffing them all into his mouth at once.
Then, with his mouth full, he mumbled indistinctly, “You’re all bullying me!”
But his irritation came as quickly as it went. After all, there wasn’t much to be truly upset about in the first place.
As the hotpot boiled over with steam, the mood around the table lifted once more, and soon, everyone was eating happily again.
For the first time, in this not-too-large but not-too-small courtyard, such warmth and liveliness filled the air.