Looking at the beautiful smoke and rain scenery outside the eaves, Zhu Pingniang stood quietly under the curtain of rain in a bright red long dress embroidered with gold threads, silently gazing in the direction of Xu Changâan.
She probably carried a sense of disheveled beauty.
After all, as a steward of the Immortal Sect, sometimes just standing there, she could exert pressure on others.
Until she stretched lazily and made a slight sound, all that pressure transformed into a warm atmosphere.
Xu Changâan emerged from the darkness, and Zhu Pingniang clicked her tongue.
"Come out, little Changâan who likes to talk behind peopleâs backs... hmm, and likes eavesdropping on girlsâ whispers."
Zhu Pingniang tilted her head: "Thatâs not a good habit."
Xu Changâan: "..."
He had been hiding in the alley to conceal himself, watching a little girl with an umbrella carrying an elixir run past him blushing, thinking he hadnât seen a warm scene but rather Senior Zhu teasing the little girl.
He suddenly realized why the senior sisters on Muyu Peak said Zhu Pingniang was good at flirting with little girls.
Because she really was.
Xu Changâan had been watching from the side for a while. When he first arrived, he saw Zhu Pingniang pinching the little girlâs cheeks, then sitting disheveled on a small stool... washing dishes?
As the senior sisters would say, Senior Zhuâs hands were best used for playing music, yet she always used them for all sorts of odd things.
But it wasnât easy for him to come out and disturb the conversation between Zhu Pingniang and the little girl, so he quietly waited by the side, not expecting the senior to notice... he had become an eavesdropper?
Xu Changâan walked over, slightly helpless.
"Zhu..."
"..."
Xu Changâan was about to speak when he saw Zhu Pingniang staring at him, so he forced back the words "Senior" and said helplessly, "Ms. Zhu."
"Hmm."
Zhu Pingniang was somewhat satisfied, "Donât always look so unwilling. Now you call me Ah Zi, and I might just be called old."
If sheâs the sister of an immortal, isnât she nearly in her grave?
She didnât mind, so why should Xu Changâan mind?
Moreover.
Zhu Pingniang stood under the eaves, looking at the spiritual power hovering over Xu Changâanâs head that slightly shielded the rain, her eye twitching slightly.
He... really didnât conceal it at all, huh.
She finally understood what Li Zhibai meant when he said in the letter that "he" was very ostentatious.
Zhu Pingniang stomped her already soaked embroidered shoes on the ground, while expressing her dissatisfaction, "Little Changâan, you spoke ill of your sister behind her back. Shouldnât you be punished?"
"..." Xu Changâan heard this without any surprise.
As expected.
He thought, if he hadnât held Miss Yun on his lap and talked about Zhu Pingniangâs past, she would surely have heard.
Very normal.
Zhu Pingniang wasnât deliberately monitoring him, but she was very curious about Xu Changâanâs current identity, plus he mentioned her name in her territory, so it was impossible not to hear.
But since Xu Changâan dared to speak, he didnât care if she found out.
"Ms. Zhu, saying youâre someone who protects her shortcomings, does that count as speaking ill?"
"I suppose not."
Zhu Pingniang, lifting her water-stained red dress, with her makeup slightly smudged, pursed her lips: "But, I feel when you mention me to Ms. Yun... the version of me you talk about seems a bit foolish, and itâs somewhat annoying."
Xu Changâan: "..."
He looked at the senior in front of him who seemed like she had just crawled out from a mud pit, unsure of what to say.
Is it possible...?
Her current look really does seem a bit foolish.
"Enough, Iâm broad-minded and wonât mind you talking about me behind my back." Zhu Pingniang stretched lazily, then indicated for Xu Changâan to take the plates and cups already caught in the rain and covered by light rain into the room.
"Changâan, be careful. These are the utensils we need for tonight."
"..."
Listening to Zhu Pingniang and looking at the half-wet ceramic bowl in his hand, Xu Changâan wondered if he had unknowingly offended this senior.
"If you have something to say, say it inside." Zhu Pingniang didnât give Xu Changâan much of a chance to speak, opening a room on the deck and walking in.
Just before entering, she looked back at Xu Changâan standing in the rain.
How to put it...
The barrier above his head was truly unshakable.
Ugh.
The impact between what she read in the letter and what she saw with her own eyes was entirely different.
As Zhu Pingniang entered the room, her actions became indistinguishable from those of a regular mundane woman.
First, she tidied up the messy table, then placed the preserved fruit she got from Xu Changâan on it.
Then she bent down, rolled up the wet part of the tail of her red dress entirely, and set a small stove at her feet.
Finally, she hid the exposed part of her skirt under the table entirely.
Zhu Pingniang tidied her damp hair by her ear, took off her red gemstone earrings, and placed them neatly to the side, stretching lazily.
Then she picked up a piece of preserved fruit and popped it into her mouth, one cheek puffed as she watched Xu Changâan walk in.
"Just place the dishes to the side for now."
Zhu Pingniang swallowed the fruit and said along with Xu Changâan: "Sit, thereâs something I need to tell you."
Under the lamplight, Xu Changâan looked at the woman in front of him, who was relaxed to the extreme, unsure of what to say for a moment.