The rain outside seemed to become heavier, and the dark sky made visibility increasingly low. Although it was clearly midday, it already felt like night had fallen.
The flame of the old oil lamp flickered, the lamp oil slowly dripped into the cup, but it didn’t accumulate much, as if Xu Chang’an hadn’t stayed by Yun Qian’s side for long.
"Why don’t you leave?" Yun Qian asked as she turned around.
"Our teacher is not someone who acts in haste." Xu Chang’an placed an unlit Fire Stone next to the oil lamp, then stood behind Yun Qian, arranging her long hair and tying the ribbon neatly in a red and white combination, cute yet still possessing a girlish charm.
"It looks good too." Xu Chang’an said.
"Mm, but I still want..." Yun Qian reached out to touch her ear, not yet explaining before Xu Chang’an interrupted.
"I know." Xu Chang’an helplessly glanced at the golden earring on the bracelet.
Yun Qian wanted to wear the jewelry he had given her, and it was hard to refuse.
"It’s good that you remember." Yun Qian nodded. According to the principles she learned since coming into the world, she wouldn’t easily return jewelry that Xu Chang’an liked to Li Zhibai; she would exchange something for them instead.
But she still removed the earrings, hair pin, and Jade Bracelet.
Because Yun Qian wanted the best, and undoubtedly, what Xu Chang’an gave her was the best.
With her husband’s gifts adorning her ears, Yun Qian didn’t want to miss out on such a good thing.
"Miss, when I said the jewelry to be clipped to your ear, that’s also my gift to you, you don’t necessarily need to wear an earring?" Xu Chang’an suddenly said.
"It’s different." Yun Qian shook her head.
Can clipped ear ornaments and worn ones be the same?
"True, a long pain is worse than a short one. Instead of enduring something uncomfortable, it’s better to feel a little pain once." Xu Chang’an said, his hand pausing, and helplessly continued: "After all, this is the Immortal Sect, wanting it to not hurt... is a simple matter."
"Is that so?" Yun Qian tilted her head: "Seems like it."
"Since it won’t hurt, what am I resisting then? Clearly, the Miss said she wants it." Xu Chang’an furrowed his brow.
"You ask me, but I don’t know what you’re thinking." Yun Qian said seriously.
In this world, she knows whatever she wishes to know, except her husband’s thoughts, which have always eluded her and she never seeks to understand—that’s her boundary.
"I wasn’t asking the Miss." Xu Chang’an couldn’t help but smile at Yun Qian’s contemplative manner following him: "Actually, I know why I am resisting this."
With Yun Qian like a mirror, Xu Chang’an is exceptionally in tune with his own heart, and the one thing he never does is deceive himself.
"What is it?" Yun Qian asked curiously. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ ɴo(v)elFɪre.ɴet
Standing behind Yun Qian, Xu Chang’an’s fingers gently ran through the girl’s smooth long hair. Taking a deep breath, his smile gradually faded, as did the gentleness upon his face that receded with it.
Yun Qian did not turn around, but could sense that the restrained emotion within Xu Chang’an was gradually rising, making his dark eyes even more profound.
"The Miss was once perfect." Xu Chang’an said.
His voice was very light, as if speaking only to himself, not wanting Yun Qian to hear.
Yun Qian seemed oblivious to Xu Chang’an’s unusualness and said as usual: "Would you like perfect people?"
"Maybe not as much as I do now?" Xu Chang’an hesitated, his accumulated emotions of the moment disrupted by Yun Qian’s words.
"Mm." Yun Qian responded, pausing a moment before adding: "But I think you would like perfect people."
"You’ve confused me." Xu Chang’an said helplessly: "The Miss never used to go around in circles ."
"I believe I’ve made myself quite clear." Yun Qian lowered her head, looking at her black and white dress, asked: "What did you want to say just now?"
"The Miss was once perfect." Xu Chang’an released his hand from Yun Qian’s silky hair and said: "But she encountered me."
"Ah, you mean to say... the first time I and you..." Yun Qian recalled the event on the island.
"Alright, don’t bring it up anymore." Xu Chang’an suddenly appeared before Yun Qian, making a silencing gesture.
"I understand, restraint is needed." Yun Qian nodded and said no more.
"...You took the words from my mouth." Xu Chang’an sighed: "In this world, a young lady’s chastity is very important. I haven’t yet given the Miss a wedding, yet... did such a thing."
"Is the wedding very important?" Yun Qian shook her head. As long as she heard Xu Chang’an call her "wife," she could give him anything.
Yun Qian suddenly thought of something, clutched the hem of her dress, and calmly said: "Or do you mean... regret wanting this from me?"
"No regrets." Xu Chang’an grumbled and caught Yun Qian’s hand clutching the dress hem earnestly: "There’s no regret about this... also, don’t learn the way those women speak from my copied books."
Feeling the warmth of Xu Chang’an’s fingers, Yun Qian thought of her cabinet full of books and asked: "But I’ve already finished them all, should I forget them all?"
"Why would you need to forget them?"
"Forget them, so I can read them again."
Yun Qian spoke with such seriousness, serious enough that... Xu Chang’an felt there might be another meaning behind her words, so he asked: "What do you mean?"
"You’re like these books." Yun Qian simply said without further explanation.
Looking at his mysterious girl, Xu Chang’an said: "You mean... forgetting a book means you can re-read it to feel what you felt the first time. Is it the same for people?"