Although Lin Yuan wasn’t quite sure about the martial arts skills of those two guards, seeing them closely following Xiao Linshuang and Lin Wei, she still felt relatively at ease. Besides, they were now some distance away from the two younger sisters, and catching up to them would indeed be somewhat difficult.
Lin Yuan sped up her pace, only to be blocked by several people in front of her. She hadn’t expected Yecheng’s streets to be so crowded at night, and mostly with young couples too. As a girl, barging through was really not very appropriate.
After the sixth collision with a couple holding hands and cooing over each other, Xia Zheng finally couldn’t help but grab Lin Yuan’s hand tightly and keep her firmly by his side. He scolded with annoyance, "Stop worrying, the younger sisters have guards looking after them, they’ll be absolutely fine! As for you, running around like a headless fly, what will you do if you hurt yourself?"
Lin Yuan touched her nose sheepishly. It wasn’t her who got hurt, it was clearly the others who were hurt by her, and she had even been glared at and threatened several times. If it weren’t for Xia Zheng being there, those disturbed couples would have probably thrown her aside long ago.
"Alright, just enjoy the night in Yecheng, I promise it will be worth your while." Xia Zheng stretched out his hand to ruffle Lin Yuan’s soft hair, smiling as he led her to stroll slowly along the street.
Lin Yuan looked up ahead; where were the young sisters’ figures? Never mind, with two guards there, they should be safe.
With her mind at ease, Lin Yuan was immediately drawn to Xia Zheng’s enthusiasm. She couldn’t deny the unparalleled sense of relaxation she felt around him, as if she’d truly returned to her younger days, acting like a young maiden experiencing her first love, laughing and frolicking with him.
Once she relaxed, Lin Yuan was truly in the mood to look at the stalls on both sides. Besides the lanterns, there were quite a few other trinkets as well.
Xia Zheng would point here for a while, then lead her there, occasionally picking up something beautiful he liked to show Lin Yuan. The already handsome and distinguished Xia Zheng drew a lot of attention from young men and women. The men looked towards Xia Zheng with envy and jealousy, wishing to compare themselves to him but also avoiding him knowingly. The women, on the other hand, would gaze at Xia Zheng with infatuation before turning to Lin Yuan with envy, and then poutingly nudge their male companions, hinting that they should learn from him and see how considerate he was toward his partner.
After hearing complaints from other women to their men for what could have been the umpteenth time, Lin Yuan covered her mouth with a grin, finding Xia Zheng truly jealousy-inducing. No matter where he went, he successfully attracted everyone’s attention, and now even the men were captivated by him.
The focus of everyone’s attention, however, had no self-awareness at the moment and was holding a rabbit-shaped lantern, smiling at Lin Yuan and saying, "Yuanyuan, look, doesn’t it look like you?"
Lin Yuan was amused by the cute little lantern in his hand. She, the famously fierce Lin Yuan, was being compared to a rabbit? If the people back at the Lin family village knew about this, they would surely die laughing.
Lin Yuan glanced at the other lanterns on the stall, her eyes suddenly lighting up, and with a mischievous smile, she picked up a plump pig lantern and winked at Xia Zheng, "And this, doesn’t it look like you?"
Xia Zheng’s brow drooped. Was he really an ugly little fat pig in Lin Yuan’s eyes?
Xia Zheng shook his head like a bobblehead, "Not at all, not at all, where do I look ugly? Your lord is very handsome!"
Lin Yuan looked at the chubby pig in her hands, suddenly remembering a dream she once had. In the dream, Xia Zheng was a fat pig with pig legs and a pig face. She had coincidentally picked up a little fat pig for him now.
"Ugly? What’s ugly about it? It’s rather cute!" Lin Yuan giggled as she shook the chubby pig in her hand. If Xia Zheng knew she had once dreamed of him as a big black pig, wouldn’t he faint from anger?
Cute? Xia Zheng was swayed by Lin Yuan’s words. Cute, wasn’t it? Well, fine, it was white and plump, indeed somewhat cute.
"Alright, your lord will take this little chubby pig!" Xia Zheng decisively took the chubby pig from Lin Yuan’s hands and put it in his pouch, then he told the vendor, "And this little rabbit, your lord wants it too."
Before the vendor could respond, Lin Yuan snatched the little rabbit back and returned it to the stall, "I don’t one."