Hibiscus as a Painting

Chapter 208

Zi Jin carried the food box and walked step by step toward the small house. The small kerosene lamp by the window emitted a very faint light, and a figure swayed in the flickering light.

Zi Jin stared blankly at the person under the lamp. He had lost weight; his once round, baby-faced features had been sculpted into a diamond shape by time, though his pointed chin remained. His eyes appeared larger, but they had lost their former sparkle and become much more reserved.

After an unknown amount of time, the person inside finally sensed something was wrong, looked up at the window, and froze in place. He instantly stood up, strode out of the room, and stared blankly at the person still standing in the distance. His Adam's apple bobbed, and after a long while, he softly called out, "Jin..."

“Jun Chi…” Their eyes met, and tears instantly welled up in their eyes.

Jun Chi rushed to Zi Jin's side and pulled her into his arms: "Jin...it really is you, it really is you...I knew it, I knew you were still alive, I knew you were still alive...It's good that you're alive...It's good that you're alive..."

Leaning against Jun Chi's unusually thin chest, Zi Jin felt an overwhelming sadness. Back then... he was just as thin, just as abandoned in the cold palace. Now, all these years later, he's still stuck here, living a life worse than a servant: "Jun Chi... how could he do this?... How could he treat you like this?..."

After holding the person in his arms tightly for a long time, Jun Chi slowly released her, looked her up and down several times, and then took her hand and led her into the house, saying, "It wasn't him... I wanted to move in myself."

Zi Jin gazed at the room's furnishings with complicated emotions: a dilapidated bed, chairs and tables with faded paint, and leftover rice on the table. The rice was slightly yellow, likely leftover from the pot, and there wasn't even a single vegetable in the bowl.

Zi Jin tried hard to open her eyes wide, not wanting the tears to fall. She lowered her eyes and saw the food box in her hand. She quickly put the food box on the table and forced a smile, saying, "I brought you some food. I made it myself. The mud hasn't even been removed... and it's still warm."

After searching for a long time, Zi Jin still couldn't find any tools to break the mud, and she glanced at Jun Chi apologetically.

Jun Chi smiled and smashed the mud with his fist.

Zi Jin peeled away the broken mud bit by bit, revealing the lotus leaves, which emitted a fragrant aroma.

"Did you make this? How can you make such tender and fragrant meat?" Jun Chi chuckled.

Zi Jin pursed her lips, wiped her muddy hands on her robe, tore off a chicken leg, and handed it to Jun Chi: "Don't underestimate me. My cooking skills are pretty good now, and I don't need to steal other people's food anymore."

Jun Chi took it and took a small bite: "Then I really have to try it."

"How is it? How is it?" Zi Jin swallowed hard and asked.

Jun Chi frowned: "It's too salty."

"How could this be!?" Zi Jin quickly tore off a piece and put it in her mouth, looking at Jun Chi with some puzzlement. "It's exactly the right size."

Seeing Zi Jin's serious expression, Jun Chi laughed and said, "Jin, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Let's eat together."

"No..."

Jun Chi said, "I can't finish two chickens. In this weather, if I leave these chickens here, they'll spoil before tomorrow. Let's eat them together."

Having not eaten properly all day, Zi Jin was already starving and no longer held back. She roughly tore off a piece of chicken and took a big bite.

Jun Chi laughed and said, "You're such a grown-up, yet your eating is still as...unseemly as ever."

Zi Jin said dismissively, "Don't even mention it. I haven't eaten all day. If you don't eat, I won't even remember to eat."

Jun Chi paused for a moment, glanced at Zi Jin's filthy palace attire, and asked in a low voice, "Is he... not good to you?"

Zi Jin ate what she was holding and waved her hand: "How could that be? His temper is much better than before. At least he won't hit people for no reason. When he's angry, he just ignores people, but that's fine."

Jun Chi ate his food thoughtfully, then paused and asked, "Why did Jin come back?"

Zi Jin paused slightly, then said nonchalantly, "If you want to come back, then come back. You're tired of living outside, so come back and stay for a couple of days."

"Yeah?"

Zi Jin frowned: "Why are you interrogating me like a thief? I really came back of my own free will. Besides, how would I know he treated you like this if I didn't come back?"

Jun Chi slowly turned his face away, looked at the light under the window, and said in a low voice, "It wasn't him... I chose to stay here myself."

"Are you stupid? It's just saying a few kind words, why are you making things so difficult for yourself?"

Jun Chi lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes obscuring them: "Back then... back then when I saw you fall... I kept thinking, kept thinking if I had treated you sincerely back then, if I hadn't wanted to use you, if I hadn't so cruelly trampled on your kindness, how could you, how could you have gone to Chen Kingdom with him, how could you have suffered so much, how could you have..."

“Jun Chi! You’re overthinking it… It’s been so long, why are you still holding onto it so tightly? I’ve long forgotten about it. Go apologize to Jun Lin and leave this place… I can’t rest easy knowing you’re living in a place like this.”

Jun Chi gave a bitter smile: "I was supposed to live here all along. If it weren't for you... I don't think I would have ever left this place. Now that I'm back, it's more comfortable than anywhere else I've been before."

Zi Jin said anxiously, "Jun Chi, what nonsense are you thinking? You are a prince, and you have no reason to live in a cold palace or abandoned courtyard. Jun Lin is just angry for a moment. If you sincerely help him, he will definitely give you a place to stay. Who is left in Yue Kingdom now? Isn't it just you and Jun Lin?"

Jun Chi turned around, his back to Zi Jin, and said, "It's not that he can't accept me... it's that I can no longer accept myself..."

"Jun Chi..."

Jun Chi interrupted Zi Jin, gazing at the night outside the window, and said, "It's almost dawn. You should go back now. If he finds out you came to see me, he'll definitely be angry."

Zi Jin glared at Jun Chi's retreating figure with resentment, then sat down on the small bed and said angrily, "You want me to leave? I won't! I'm staying here tonight."

Jun Chi turned around and smiled gently at Zi Jin: "Stop being temperamental, go back now."

Zi Jin said angrily, "I walked for almost two hours before I got past the Locked Love Palace. It was so difficult to get in, and you, on the other hand, chased me away as soon as we met."

Jun Chi sat down next to Zi Jin and gently smoothed her disheveled hair: "Don't be willful. Things are different now than before. If he gets angry, who can protect you?"

Zi Jin chuckled lightly: "I'm even less afraid now. Anyway, I have nothing to think about anymore. I didn't want my worthless life a long time ago. If he gives me a quick death, that's fine, but I'm afraid he won't even let me die, and will torture me to death..."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Jun Chi scolded lightly, then looked at Zi Jin's ambiguous expression, which was neither smiling nor crying, and coaxed her in a low voice, "What do you mean by dying? You're perfectly fine, why would you want to die? He... he still likes you, he won't do anything to you... Go back quickly, it won't be good if he finds out."

Zi Jin turned her face away and said angrily, "If you don't leave, I won't leave either."

Jun Chi chuckled softly: "Alright, stop fooling around. I'll apologize tomorrow, okay?"

Zi Jin looked at Jun Chi with a smug expression: "I knew you couldn't win against me. Fine, I'll wait for you to come out. If you still don't want to come out, I'll come every day until you're willing to come out."

Jun Chi smiled helplessly, took Zi Jin's hand, and walked towards the door, saying as they went, "Now that you're back, I have no reason not to go out. You don't even have the slightest sense of caution; how can I feel at ease having you living alone in the palace?"

Zi Jin frowned and said, "I know, I know, why are you still being as nagging as before?"