Peaceful Jianghu

Chapter 86

Xue Beifan was slightly taken aback. He opened his eyes, which had been slowly closing, and looked at Xiao Dao. "You?"

Am I smart or stupid?

“Of course you’re smart,” Xue Beifan replied earnestly. “You’re beautiful, smart, and very capable.”

"Have you ever lied to me?" Xiao Dao asked in a low voice. "Have you ever lied to me and I was kept in the dark, without knowing anything about it?"

Xue Beifan looked at her innocently, "Why do you ask that?"

Seeing his expression, Xiao Dao pursed her lips, extended a finger from the bed curtain and gently tapped him, her tone threatening, "If you dare to lie to me, I won't forgive you."

After saying that, she slipped back under the bed curtains and yelled, "Turn off the lights!"

Xue Beifan gently blew on the candle on the table, plunging the room into darkness.

The heavy rain outside seemed to have stopped, but the wind was still howling.

Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan could have gone back together, but both felt lazy and didn't want to move. They lay there quietly, one inside the bed curtains, the other outside, a man and a woman, one on a bed, the other on a stool, quite far apart. The only thing they had in common was that they both stared wide-eyed at the ceiling until dawn.

47

Unwilling

[Unwilling to accept defeat]

"Ooh ooh ooh".

A rooster crowed.

Xiao Dao tossed and turned for most of the night, lost in thought. When she finally felt sleepy, she forced herself to wake up.

It was freezing cold in the Northwest before dawn. Xiao Dao felt a bit cold huddled under the covers. He lifted the bed curtain and saw Xue Beifan lying on his back on the bench, covered with nothing, sleeping soundly.

Xiao Dao struggled for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and crawling out from under the covers. He opened the closet, pulled out two blankets, and quickly covered Xue Beifan with one.

He quickly crawled back into bed, rubbed his hands together, and then placed another blanket on top of them.

Wrapped in two thick blankets, Xiao Dao felt comfortable. She lay down, squinted, and parted the bed curtains a little. She found that Xue Beifan had already wrapped himself in the blankets, turned over, poked his head out for some fresh air, and winked at Xiao Dao.

Xiao Dao quickly pulled down the curtain to cover herself properly, pouting. This guy really wasn't asleep! She should have made him fetch the blankets; she'd been freezing.

...

It seemed like he hadn't slept for long. Xiao Dao was dozing comfortably in the blankets, his whole body limp like a lazy cat, when he heard three crowing sounds beside him.

He burrowed deeper into the blankets and casually scooped the blanket over his head.

"Ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh."

Xiao Dao listened to the rooster crowing with a rhythm, like a bamboo clapper storyteller! She rolled around in the blanket and mumbled, "Do you have Suzhou storytelling?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the blanket was pulled back a little.

The light was blinding; even with his eyes closed, Xiao Dao had to shield his face. His movement resembled that of a cat awakened by a noise, eliciting a soft chuckle.

"Get up, it's past noon!" Xue Beifan laughed, then poked Xiao Dao's hand.

"How could that be?" Yan Xiaodao said, half-opening her eyes and waving a finger. "I just heard a rooster crow!"

Xue Beifan's lips twitched, and he leaned against the window, looking at Xiao Dao with a smile, "Sigh, your brother has to compete in the first round this afternoon, if we don't go back soon we won't be able to see him!"

Xiao Dao suddenly opened his eyes, surprised, "The competition is this afternoon?"

Xue Beifan, resting his chin on his hand, feigned jealousy, "I'm clearly not as important as your brother!"

Xiao Dao reached out and pulled up some blankets to cover herself, waving her hand at him, "Go away, go outside the curtain, this young lady needs to change!"

Xue Beifan deliberately glanced into the blanket, pretending to peek.

He was slapped out with a pillow by Xiao Dao.

Rubbing his nose, Xue Beifan shook his head, "You brat, you're getting more and more violent!"

Xiao Dao busied herself in bed for a while, then came out dressed and turned around in front of the bronze mirror. "Ugh, this gauze is so wrinkled!"

Xue Beifan came over and took a look. "Really? It's quite pretty."

"It looks like he's not dressed properly." Xiao Dao reached out and tugged at the front of his clothes.

"I think it looks great on you. Who cares if it's wrinkled or not? As long as you wear it, even rags will look like a golden robe." Xue Beifan flattered Xiao Dao smoothly and reached out to pull her wrist. "Come on, we're starving. Let's go find something to eat."

This time, Xiao Dao didn't pull her hand back. She followed him outside, her other hand tugging at her collar. She was probably too concerned about the wrinkled patch, fiddling with it from time to time. The collar still wouldn't listen, sticking out one corner.

Xue Beifan opened the door and walked down the corridor. "There's food in the lobby. I'm starving. How about we make do?"

"Hmm." Xiao Dao finally pressed down on his upturned collar. "I want to eat tofu pudding!"

"It's in the middle of nowhere, so it'll probably be hard to find."

Turning the corner of the corridor leads to the staircase. An east-facing window is open, letting in a ray of sunlight. Xue Beifan is momentarily blinded by the sunlight, looks up, and exclaims, "Achoo!"

Xiao Dao glanced at him and asked, "Have you caught a cold? Did you get chilled last night?"

"How could that be?" Xue Beifan chuckled. "Would you cover me with a blanket?"

Seeing that he was trying to gain the upper hand verbally again, Xiao Dao kicked him.