Facing Chu Yuan’s invitation, Gu Qingwan shook her head slightly. “I really don’t need to. I’m not interested in these things…”
Despite her words, her feet had already shifted toward the shop’s entrance.
Seeing this, Chu Yuan laughed softly and followed her inside.
In the shop, Gu Qingwan looked around here and there. She picked up every jade item, examined it for a moment, and then gently set it back down. When the shopkeeper greeted her warmly, she merely offered a shallow smile and shook her head.
Following behind her, Chu Yuan felt more and more strange.
‘Why is this girl acting so strange today? Is she waiting for me to ask “what do you like”? Where did she learn this kind of little trick?’
‘Fine! I might as well tease her!’
Thinking this, Chu Yuan let his gaze sweep aimlessly over the shop’s displays, occasionally glancing at the crowd outside, but no longer letting his eyes rest on her.
Gu Qingwan waited and waited, feeling secretly vexed. She tilted her head slightly, letting her earrings sway gently.
He didn’t look.
She shook them again, just a little.
Chu Yuan suppressed a secret smile and still didn’t look.
Seeing that her childhood friend was giving no reaction, Gu Qingwan felt increasingly frustrated and reached out to Chu Yunlan for help.
‘Young Master Yunlan, why is it different from what we agreed on? I’m already shaking my earrings, so why isn’t A-Yuan looking my way?’
Several miles away, Chu Yunlan pressed a hand to his forehead. ‘It only works if you act like it’s accidental. You’re being too obvious. Be more natural.’
Gu Qingwan shook her head slightly. ‘It’s definitely not a matter of being natural or not. If this were the past…’
She suddenly remembered.
That year, she was 14 years old, several months before her Coming-of-age Ceremony. While passing by that jade shop in the city, she had accidentally spotted a jade hairpin lying in the display case. That hairpin was translucent white, with a lotus carved at the head; its petals were layered and lifelike.
She had stood in front of the window for a long time—long enough that the shopkeeper eventually came out to greet her. “Young lady, do you like this jade hairpin? Why don’t you come inside and take a look?”
Startled, her body trembled. She quickly shook her head and ran away with a flushed face.
It was too expensive. Even though it was just a jade hairpin, it cost over ten spirit stones, which was equivalent to six months of expenses for an ordinary cultivator. She had only looked at it a bit longer than usual, but she had never even considered buying it.
But she didn’t know that on that day, the way she stood in front of the shop counter was witnessed by someone else.
At that time, the youth was working at the tea house across the street, carrying trays. He was dressed in coarse, patched clothing, and his sleeves were stained with tea. Through the window, he took everything in and silently memorized the shop’s location.
For the following month, he worked like his life depended on it. During the day, he served tea and water at the tea house; at night, he went to the docks to haul cargo. Blood blisters formed on his hands, burst, scabbed over, and were rubbed raw again.
Dozens of days later, one day before her Coming-of-age Ceremony, he knocked on her door.
When she opened the door, she saw the youth drenched in sweat. His heavily patched clothes looked completely out of place next to the beautiful silk box in his hands. When the youth handed the box to her, his hands were still shaking. “Wan’er, this is for you.”
She opened the box, and inside lay a jade hairpin. It was translucent white with a lotus carved at the head—exactly the one she couldn’t bring herself to buy.
She stood there stunned, unable to say a word for a long time.
The youth scratched his head and gave a foolish smile. “I saw that you liked it, so… I saved up a bit of money. Do you like it?”
Accidentally catching sight of the scabs covering his palms, she suddenly understood everything. Her eyes instantly reddened. At that time, she hadn’t said anything.
But what she thought in her heart was: ‘How can there be someone so foolish in this world?’
She had only looked at it once more than usual, yet he had kept it in his heart. She had only stood there for a short while, yet he had risked his life to earn it. At that time, she was the only person in his eyes.
—
Many years had passed, and Gu Qingwan was once again in this jade shop. The dark green jade ornament lay silently in the counter, and just like that jade hairpin from back then, it was something she had looked at an extra time.
But this time, she tilted her head and shook her earrings. Once, twice, three times.
He didn’t look again. He didn’t even ask a curious question like “do you like this?”
He simply stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze as indifferent as if he didn’t care about anything.
Lowering her eyelashes, a surge of indescribable bitterness welled up in Gu Qingwan’s heart. ‘Is it already too late? Only a day or two has passed since we broke up, yet can feelings really change just like that?’
‘No! Absolutely not!’
Sniffing her nose, she put the jade ornament back in its original place and turned to walk toward Chu Yuan. She suddenly wanted to ask him: ‘A-Yuan, do you still remember? I’ve always kept the jade hairpin you gave me that year. My feelings for you…’
Before Gu Qingwan could voice her thoughts, a cold female voice drifted from the shop entrance.
“Oh! I didn’t expect Young Master Chu Yuan to be here!”
Hearing that familiar voice, Gu Qingwan and Chu Yuan’s hearts skipped a beat simultaneously. Following the sound, the two saw a graceful, charming shadow standing at the shop’s doorway. She was dressed in a black palace gown that complemented her frost-like expression and elegant poise.
“Your… Highness?”
Gu Qingwan’s heart sank, and she instinctively moved closer to Chu Yuan’s side.
Chu Yuan was even more covered in cold sweat. ‘Why is the Crown Princess appearing here? Didn’t the City Lord say she would be busy with official business these few days? What is going on???’
Chu Yuan had a faint, ominous premonition.
Ji Xuanyuan, on the other hand, first glanced at Gu Qingwan before her gaze landed on Chu Yuan. A smile played on her lips. “Young Master Chu Yuan, I heard you were injured. What? You still have the leisure to accompany someone shopping?”
“Ah… I, I…”
Chu Yuan’s teeth were chattering. At this moment, he felt like a husband caught by his wife while having an affair, utterly flustered.
In contrast, Chu Yunlan, watching from a distance, frowned. ‘How could the Crown Princess even find this place? Does she like this kid that much? No! I absolutely have to stop this!’
To that end, he used the command medallion to urge her: ‘Fairy Gu, I didn’t expect the Crown Princess to be so aggressive. You absolutely cannot let her have her way! Do you understand?’
Gu Qingwan was already beyond caring about Chu Yunlan’s instructions. Her heart tightened. ‘Injured? When did A-Yuan get injured? Why didn’t I notice sooner?’
In her anxiety, she immediately grabbed Chu Yuan’s hand. “A-Yuan, where are you hurt?”
Seeing his childhood friend’s worried expression, Chu Yuan felt a warmth in his heart and tried to brush it off. “It’s nothing! Just a minor injury.”
Gu Qingwan suddenly thought of the City Lord’s request from yesterday and couldn’t help but scold him. “A-Yuan, you didn’t privately accept the City Lord’s request yesterday to scout some Demon Path Alliance stronghold, did you?”
Chu Yuan had been found out, but he kept a calm face and waved his hand. “Oh, no.”
Gu Qingwan’s eyebrows shot up. “No? Then why are you suddenly injured? You were fine yesterday, and now you look like this first thing in the morning, yet you say no?”
Chu Yuan was at a loss for words and said sheepishly, “Really, no… I just accidentally took a fall.”
Gu Qingwan laughed out of anger. “Took a fall? Do you take me for a 3-year-old child?”
Chu Yuan rubbed his nose and gave a dry laugh, not knowing how to respond. Seeing him like this, Gu Qingwan was both angry and anxious, and her eyes turned quite red. “A-Yuan! Do you know what kind of place that Demon Path Alliance is? Do you know how cruel those people are? You…”
Listening to her nagging, Chu Yuan just kept his head down and chuckled sheepishly. To an outsider, they looked like a young couple bickering.
This scene made Ji Xuanyuan feel inexplicably irritated.