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 didnât accumulate much, as if Xu Changâan hadnât stayed by Yun Qianâs side for long.
"Why donât you leave?" Yun Qian asked as she turned around.
"Our teacher is not someone who acts in haste." Xu Changâan 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 like this too." Xu Changâan said.
"Mm, but I still want..." Yun Qian reached out to touch her ear, not yet explaining before Xu Changâan interrupted.
"I know." Xu Changâan 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.
"Itâs good that you remember." Yun Qian nodded. According to the principles she learned since coming into the world, she wouldnât easily return jewelry that Xu Changâan 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 Changâan gave her was the best.
With her husbandâs gifts adorning her ears, Yun Qian didnât want to miss out on such a good thing.
"Miss, when I said the jewelry to be clipped to your ear, thatâs also my gift to you, you donât necessarily need to wear an earring?" Xu Changâan suddenly said.
"Itâs 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, itâs better to feel a little pain once." Xu Changâan 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 wonât hurt, what am I resisting then? Clearly, the Miss said she wants it." Xu Changâan furrowed his brow.
"You ask me, but I donât know what youâre thinking." Yun Qian said seriously.
In this world, she knows whatever she wishes to know, except her husbandâs thoughts, which have always eluded her and she never seeks to understandâthatâs her boundary.
"I wasnât asking the Miss." Xu Changâan couldnât help but smile at Yun Qianâs contemplative manner following him: "Actually, I know why I am resisting this."
With Yun Qian like a mirror, Xu Changâan 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.
Standing behind Yun Qian, Xu Changâanâs fingers gently ran through the girlâs 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 Changâan was gradually rising, making his dark eyes even more profound.
"The Miss was once perfect." Xu Changâan said.
His voice was very light, as if speaking only to himself, not wanting Yun Qian to hear.
Yun Qian seemed oblivious to Xu Changâanâs unusualness and said as usual: "Would you like perfect people?"
"Maybe not as much as I do now?" Xu Changâan hesitated, his accumulated emotions of the moment disrupted by Yun Qianâs words.
"Mm." Yun Qian responded, pausing a moment before adding: "But I think you would like perfect people."
"Youâve confused me." Xu Changâan said helplessly: "The Miss never used to go around in circles like this."
"I believe Iâve 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 Changâan released his hand from Yun Qianâs 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, donât bring it up anymore." Xu Changâan 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 Changâan sighed: "In this world, a young ladyâs chastity is very important. I havenât 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 Changâan 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 Changâan grumbled and caught Yun Qianâs hand clutching the dress hem earnestly: "Thereâs no regret about this... also, donât learn the way those women speak from my copied books."
Feeling the warmth of Xu Changâanâs fingers, Yun Qian thought of her cabinet full of books and asked: "But Iâve 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 Changâan felt there might be another meaning behind her words, so he asked: "What do you mean?"
"Youâre like these books." Yun Qian simply said without further explanation.
Looking at his mysterious girl, Xu Changâan 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?"