Xie Tao fell into a hazy sleep and when she woke up again, she opened her eyes to see Fu Hua lying beside her.
Fu Hua was still asleep, and Xie Tao did not disturb her.
She quietly got up.
It was only when she saw the box of heart-shaped candies she had prepared the day before on the counter that she remembered she had forgotten to give it to Wei Yun.
At this moment, with Fu Miaolan not around and Fu Hua not yet awake, Xie Tao walked over and placed her cell phone on top of it.
At that time, Wei Yun had just boarded a carriage, leaving the forbidden palace, when he noticed the copper pendant he was holding in his hand beginning to heat up.
When the box of heart-shaped candies appeared on the table, Wei Yun’s lips slightly lifted.
He reached out to open the box, took out a piece of candy, brought it to his lips, and took a bite.
The clear, sweet, and not greasy taste made his eyes and brows relax, complementing perfectly with the hot tea on the table.
In the afternoon, Xie Tao packed her luggage, said goodbye to Fu Miaolan and Fu Hua, and took a carriage back to the southern city.
Bringing the heart-shaped candies she made and some special products from Qizhen, Xie Tao put things back in her home and then went to the vegetable market to buy groceries.
Standing by the roadside, all the scenery and pedestrians around her gradually faded away, becoming blurred and static shadows.
Xie Tao entered the tavern, placed the heart-shaped candies she brought for Old Xi and Xie Lan on the table, along with some homemade pickles and hot sauce that Fu Miaolan insisted she bring.
“Are all these things you brought back by yourself?” Xie Lan asked, feeding a chocolate-covered heart-shaped candy into his mouth and looking at the items on the table.
Xie Tao nodded, “Mhm.”
Old Xi also fed himself a piece of candy and even took a sip of the wine at hand. His eyes and brows lifted slightly, obviously enjoying the taste.
“Tao Tao, what are we eating tonight?” Old Xi, a god who has been detached from the mortal world for many years, also started to yearn for mortal food.
“Uncle Xi, didn’t you say you wanted to stay away from the worldly atmosphere?”
Xie Tao suddenly remembered what Xie Lan had told her before.
Old Xi shook his head and said with a smile, “It’s okay. When you’re not here, I don’t eat anything.”
“When you’re not here, I can only eat plain noodles…” Xie Lan said resentfully.
“…”
Xie Tao didn’t know what to say.
After organizing everything, Xie Tao prepared a table full of dishes and warmed a pot of wine for Old Xi.
“Are we having such a feast tonight?” Xie Lan was a bit incredulous.
He didn’t even have to compete for the meat dishes on the table.
These were pork ribs, beef, chicken, and pig bones for soup that Xie Tao bought with her own money.
“Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve,”
Xie Tao poured a glass of wine and said to Old Xi and Xie Lan, “Because I’m going to Wei Yun’s place tomorrow, so I wanted to spend today with you.”
Both Old Xi and Xie Lan were visibly startled upon hearing Xie Tao’s words.
One is a deity who is far from the mundane world and not bound by worldly constraints.
The other is a young man who has been accustomed to living alone for many years.
It had been a long time since they cared about such days.
“What’s the matter?” Xie Tao, seeing the two of them looking dazed, asked in confusion.
Old Xi was the first to snap back to reality, smiling and saying, “If you hadn’t mentioned it, we would have forgotten about it altogether.”
“Don’t you celebrate the New Year?” Xie Tao asked.
“What’s there to celebrate for just the two of us.”
Xie Lan said this, picking up a rib with his chopsticks and gnawing on it without further ado.
“Then, three people can celebrate, right?” Xie Tao tilted her head, looking at him.
Xie Lan’s gaze flickered, and upon seeing Xie Tao’s smiling face, he pursed his lips and vaguely responded, “…Hmm.”
He was always someone who couldn’t express himself well. Even though he felt touched at the moment, he still couldn’t articulate his feelings.
“Then, let’s toast!”
Xie Tao poured two cups of liquor, handing one to Old Xi and shoving the other into Xie Lan’s hand, then lifted her own cup as well.
The three glasses clinked against each other, producing a crisp sound.
The three people sitting at the table began to eat, talk, and laugh, somehow bringing a warmth and liveliness unlike before.
The tavern was too quiet.
It could only ever wait for the occasional few customers.
It had never been lively.
Old Xi and Xie Lan were both lonely.
But at this moment, they seemed to feel the enthusiasm from this girl, also finally feeling the most ordinary sense of life and warmth on such a cold night.
This feeling was plain, yet very warm.
In this vast sea of people, they were originally three unrelated individuals.
No blood ties, no kinship.
But a strange fate connected her to meeting Old Xi in the bottle, and after losing the bottle for many years, she met him again and also got to know Xie Lan.
For each of them, this was a connection worth cherishing.
That night, Xie Tao stayed in the tavern until very late before going back. She even set off fireworks several times with Xie Lan for fun.
During the New Year,
How could fireworks be absent?
The sound of fireworks exploding was the sound of liveliness.
That should be the sound of the New Year.
Because of various incidents that happened after getting drunk last time, Xie Tao didn’t dare to drink much this time, only having a small cup and not drinking anymore.
But this time, Xie Lan got drunk.
A tall guy, 1.86 meters tall, drunk and fake crying while holding a stool, leaving Xie Tao dumbfounded.
She even took out her phone to record a video and sent it to Xie Lan, planning to let him see his hilarious expressions after he sobered up the next day.
In the end, it was Old Xi who sent her back.
After a night passed, Xie Tao got up early to organize the things she was going to bring to Wei Yun.
In the afternoon, she went out to buy gifts for Wei Bo and the others.
“What do you think about me buying a hat for Wei Bo?” Xie Tao messaged Wei Yun.
Today was New Year’s Eve, and Wei Yun didn’t need to go to the palace. When he received her message, he was painting, holding a writing brush in his hand, and casually pulled over a piece of paper to reply:
“Um.”
Thinking that would be the end of it, she didn’t expect another message from her right after:
“What about Wei Jing? What does Wei Jing like?”
What does Wei Jing like?
Wei Yun frowned.
He simply looked up and called, “Wei Jing.”
Wei Jing, standing outside the door, suddenly heard Wei Yun’s voice and hurried in, respectfully bowing, “My lord.”
“What do you like?” Wei Yun asked.
“Ah?”
Wei Jing was stunned.
He originally thought the lord had another task for him, but… why this question??
Wei Yun glanced at him, seemingly a bit impatient.
“Sword.” Wei Jing said dryly, even shaking the treasured sword he was holding in his hand.
That was his favorite sword.
The large chest in his room, locked with six locks, was filled with treasured swords he had collected over the years, most of which had seen blood.
This could be considered his biggest hobby.
“…”
Wei Yun didn’t say anything, only let him go out, and then wrote down a word on the paper, pressed it under the bronze ornament, and sent it over.
When Xie Tao saw the “Sword” sent by Wei Yun, she was standing in a mall, at a loss.
Where was she supposed to buy such a thing for Wei Jing?
Until… she passed by a toy store.
This conundrum, perfectly resolved.
Then she asked him again, “What about Liyin?”
She still remembered that girl who seemed so aloof.
Wei Yun had no choice but to call out for Wei Jing again.
“Sir.”
Wei Jing entered again, thinking that this time it must be something serious, right?
“Go ask what Shao Liyin likes.” Wei Yun didn’t lift his eyelashes, still sketching the outline of a deer on the rice paper.
Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a sika deer but a… giraffe with a long neck.
Beside him lay a wool felt giraffe ornament, as he drew on the paper, he also scrutinized the giraffe ornament.
“…Yes.”
It took a moment for Wei Jing to find his voice again.
When he returned, his face bore a slap mark, which was particularly clear on his handsome features.
Seeing this, Wei Yun raised an eyebrow, “What happened?”
“…She thought I had improper thoughts about her.”
Covering his face, Wei Jing’s answer came with a hint of teeth grinding, as if recalling something unpleasant.
Clearly, he got slapped without managing to ask anything.
Wei Yun was silent for a moment, then said, “Hard work.”
“Leave now.”
Wei Jing hung his head and turned to leave.
Since Wei Jing hadn’t found out anything, Wei Yun could only write on the paper:
“Don’t know.”
Upon seeing this message, Xie Tao stood there for a while, then went to buy two large iced milk teas from the milk tea shop, and also bought a lipstick.
Which girl wouldn’t like milk tea and lipstick?
Xie Tao felt she had chosen the gifts well.
Later, she also picked gifts for Sheng Yueqi, and even for Wei Yun’s good friend, the seldom-seen Qi Ji, she prepared two boxes of crispy heart candy.
She prepared gifts for Old Xi and Xie Lan as well.
After finishing her shopping, Xie Tao urged Wei Yun to light the incense.
When she appeared in Wei Yun’s study with a big backpack on her back, she just stood in front of Wei Yun.
“Why bring so much?” Wei Yun stood up from his chair, took the backpack from behind her, and placed it aside.
“It’s not that much.”
Xie Tao let him take down the backpack and place it aside, then she turned her head and saw the giraffe drinking water by the creek on his rice paper.
Her eyes lit up, “Wow, Wei Yun, you drew a giraffe!”
Saying so, she picked up the giraffe ornament on the desk, looked at it and then at the one on the rice paper, and they were very similar.
Even the giraffe in his painting, as if capturing motion in stillness, appeared even more vivid.
“Have you not finished drawing?” She saw the large area left blank above and looked up at him.
Wei Yun nodded slightly, “Mhm.”
“Then you continue drawing.”
Xie Tao tugged at his sleeve, then hugged her backpack and ran to the table inside the room to tidy up.
After she took everything out and filled the table, sat there drinking a glass of water, ate a pastry, and rested for a while.
Because it was very quiet outside, she stood up and walked over to the tassel curtain to take a look.
The young master wearing a deep red brocade robe stood in front of the desk, his cold, white profile even more flawless like jade under the light and shadow coming through the window lattice. His back was straight, just standing there, already a sight in her eyes.
Another day lost in admiration for her boyfriend’s beauty!
Xie Tao sighed silently, her eyes rolled, and she pursed her lips, then suddenly lifted the curtain and ran out.
“Wei Yun!”
She stood in front of him.
Wei Yun was still holding that brush, and when he heard her voice, he turned his head to look at her.
“What is it?”
His voice was as cold as ever.
Xie Tao gestured to him with a hook of her hand, making a mysterious face, and said, “I have a secret I must tell you…”
A secret?
“What secret?” he asked.
“Bend down, I’ll tell you.” Xie Tao said, tugging at his sleeve.
Seeing her eagerness and somewhat serious demeanor, Wei Yun hesitated for a moment, but still did as she said, leaning down to her face.
At that moment,
She suddenly pecked his cheek with a kiss.
Wei Yun froze completely, then heard the laughter of Xie Tao.
After he reacted, he saw her turning to run away, he quickly reached out and grabbed her collar, pulling her back.
When did she learn to deceive?
Wei Yun didn’t know whether he was momentarily furious or what other emotion, he directly grabbed her waist and pressed her against the desk.
In that moment, the unfinished painting on the desk had already lightly fallen to the ground.
The brush holder also fell down.
Xie Tao saw him holding the brush, her ears reddening, her expression somewhat displeased, she felt a thump in her heart, and quickly said, “I’m sorry, I was wrong!”
“Wrong?”
Wei Yun’s voice betrayed no emotion, “What was wrong?”
Xie Tao blinked, thought for a moment, and then suddenly felt she wasn’t wrong after all.
She looked at him, boldly stating, “It seems like I did nothing wrong…”
“Do you not like it when I kiss you?” she asked.
Her tone was surprisingly serious, evidently awaiting his earnest response.
“…”
Wei Yun’s ears grew hotter, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and his crow-feather-like eyelashes quivered.
He found himself unable to retort.
She grew increasingly fond of being close to him, and what he couldn’t deny was that her proximity brought him joy.
This was a sentiment he had kept hidden in his heart, never revealed.
Wei Yun stared at the girl’s fair and clear face, which he had pinned against the desk, for a long while before suddenly glancing at the vermilion paint in a porcelain dish beside him.
Suddenly, he reached out, dipped his brush into the vermilion, and, as Xie Tao’s almond eyes widened in shock, gently dotted it on her forehead.
The vermilion hue at her forehead made her seem even more strikingly beautiful in an instant.
For a moment, he found it hard to look away.
Perhaps it was the incense burning in the burner on the desk that added a touch of haziness to the room, his gaze towards her eyes gradually deepened.
The brush slipped from between his fingers.
He then leaned in, closing the distance between them.
Their breaths mingled closely.
Their noses lightly brushed against each other.
At this moment, there was merely an inch of space between her and him.
