"Great kindness need not be spoken with thanks," An Jiu said.
Wei Yuzhi replied indifferently, "I saved you this time in exchange for a condition. There is no kindness to speak of."
The room fell into silence once more.
Mo Sigui couldn’t help but interject, "If there’s nothing left to say, hurry back and rest."
An Jiu had initially intended to promise that she would do her best to help him if he ever needed it in the future. But after a long pause, she ultimately refrained from making any such commitment.
Wei Yuzhi watched her leave, his gaze lingering on her slender figure as it merged into the blinding snowlight. It took him a long while to finally look away.
All communication between them had become silent and slow, carrying an unspoken affection and a faint, lingering ache.
Before the incident at Baohua Gate, there was no doubt that Wei Yuzhi had been An Jiu’s enemy. But since then, she no longer knew how to face him—what attitude to adopt.
Spotting Chu Dingjiang standing beneath the corridor, An Jiu quickened her steps toward him.
"Chu Dingjiang..."
Chu Dingjiang took her cold hand in his, a smile touching his lips. "You can’t always call me by my full name like that—it sounds like you’re scolding me."
Whether in the Song Dynasty or earlier times, it was customary to avoid addressing someone by their full name out of respect.
"Then what should I call you?" An Jiu thought for a moment. In her memories, couples usually called each other by their names or "darling," but she always found "darling" awkward to say in Chinese, and "Dingjiang" felt even more unnatural!
"How did others address you before?" An Jiu asked, hoping for inspiration.
Chu Dingjiang leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Hua Rongjian, Gongsun Rongjian, Jizi."
An Jiu blinked in surprise before recalling that in his past life, he had indeed been Hua Rongjian. "And what does 'Jizi' mean?"
Chu Dingjiang coughed lightly. "It means 'youngest son.'"
An Jiu studied his face seriously for a moment. "Looking at your weathered face, I can’t bring myself to call you 'little darling.'"
After all, the youngest son was practically a "little darling"!
"Never mind, there’s no rush. After we marry, you can call me 'husband,'" Chu Dingjiang said, having originally hoped to find a more intimate term of endearment. But in the end, he had only dug himself into a hole—he really shouldn’t have expected anything from her in this regard.
"Marry?" An Jiu’s voice rose slightly.
Chu Dingjiang inwardly cursed—this girl had many quirks, and she was especially averse to the idea of marriage. "You can call me that even if we don’t marry."
"Hmm." An Jiu gave a noncommittal response.
Truthfully, after all they had been through, she had come to understand Chu Dingjiang quite well. The thought of marriage no longer repelled her as it once had. She knew very clearly that he was nothing like her father—he was responsible and dependable, and that made her feel secure.
Seeing her mild reaction, Chu Dingjiang relaxed slightly. Heaven truly rewarded those who persevered!
Lost in thought, An Jiu suddenly sensed someone’s gaze on her back and turned to seek its source.
The only place nearby was Mo Sigui’s room, where shadowy figures moved behind the latticed window.
Inside, wisps of incense smoke curled from the burner.
By the window stood a figure in green robes with white hair, his gaze seemingly piercing through the paper to watch the two conversing outside.
Noticing An Jiu’s glance, Wei Yuzhi lowered his eyes.
Mo Sigui, still grinding Medicine with a rhythmic thud, finally looked up after a while. "They’ve already gone back inside! I don’t understand you people obsessed with love all day. A Jiu clearly has you in her sights too—if you like her, just go and like her openly. What’s with all this peeping?""I proposed to her the moment I laid eyes on her." At the time, Wei Yuzhi had been struck by her, but not to the extent of love at first sight or vowing to marry none but her. Perhaps it was due to his usual way of doing things—unwilling to waste too much time and energy on such matters. Or perhaps his formidable Mental strength granted him keen intuition; he knew that even if deep affection hadn't taken root yet, he would surely grow fonder of her with time.
"Oh, so that's what happened!" Mo Sigui couldn't help but sympathize. "She must have mercilessly mocked you then!"
Mo Sigui mused that An Jiu's mouth was usually sharp enough as it was—faced with such a situation, she would surely have held nothing back.
Unexpectedly, Wei Yuzhi shook his head. "Not at all. From the day we met, we've rarely crossed words."
Every encounter between them had been a matter of life and death—either she was fleeing or he was in peril, either he captured her or she captured him. Someone always ended up suffering.
Mo Sigui was somewhat surprised.
But Wei Yuzhi didn't allow him to press further, shifting instead to a topic Mo Sigui would never avoid. "The Miracle Doctor would go through fire and water for Lou Shi. I envy that."
"What's the use of going through fire and water? She's as stubborn as a mule—won't stop until she's knocked down the southern wall." Mentioning this, Mo Sigui grew distressed, his mood no longer suited for prying into others' affairs.
Wei Yuzhi slowly walked back and lay down on the bed. "Extremes meet; deep affection is short-lived. Perhaps the world cannot tolerate extremes, hence the particular suffering. The Miracle Doctor must learn to ease his heart."
"Deep affection is short-lived"—this "affection," whether love or hate, never lasts when one is too deeply mired. Otherwise, it will inevitably lead to ruin.
Wei Yuzhi closed his eyes. These words weren't really meant to console Mo Sigui, but rather himself.
Mo Sigui seemed to understand. To lift the gloom, he rummaged through his Medicine pile and pulled out some Medicated Smoke. "This is my latest concoction—'celestial bliss.' Care to try it?" (To be continued...)
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