"No, that's all." Qiu Su pursed her lips somewhat awkwardly. He Zhuo's kindness to her was more than just a little; she didn't know if she could ever repay it. Speaking of which, he was almost twenty. If Uncle He and Aunt He were around, they would definitely be putting marriage on the agenda.
"He Zhuo," Qiu Su thought for a moment and then said, "The girls from the border are so free-spirited, do you...?"
He Zhuo turned his head away, clearly not wanting to talk about these things, but Qiu Su had no choice but to speak.
“He Zhuo, you’re all grown up now, you should start thinking about your own affairs.”
He Zhuo led Qiu Su out of the camp. After walking a long way around, he finally stopped when Qiu Su didn't want to go any further. He lowered his head and remained silent for a long time before giving a dry laugh and saying, "Su Su, actually, there's something I've always wanted to ask you."
"you say."
"Do I still have a chance?" He Zhuo didn't wait for her answer and forcefully pulled her hands out from behind her back, holding them tightly. He lowered his eyelids and said, "Let bygones be bygones, okay? After things are settled here, we'll go back to Qingyuan Mountain, and you can be your chieftain again."
"How could we possibly go back?" Qiu Su tried to pull her hand away, and He Zhuo loosened his grip, but then clenched it again. He could never let go of this hand again. The last time he let go was almost two years ago, and now that he could finally hold it again, how could he bear to let go?
"He Zhuo?" Qiu Su turned her head to look at He Zhuo, who was hanging his head, and winked mischievously into his eyes, saying, "He Zhuo, you're a little dragon from Qingyuan Mountain. Maybe Qin Qin is still waiting for you, and there are so many good girls, one by one..."
Before Qiu Su could finish speaking, He Zhuo suddenly embraced her. He Zhuo was nervous—no, extremely nervous, with a hint of desperate nervousness. His arms, gripping Qiu Su's waist tightly, trembled uncontrollably. This was the first time he had dared to do this, yet he worried that his impulsiveness would ruin their current harmonious relationship. But he also realized that no matter how harmonious their relationship was, it was still like back on Qingyuan Mountain, when she treated him like a younger brother or friend, but never as a man, a man she could entrust her life to.
Because no matter how much he stared at her, she wouldn't blush. She wasn't like this when she was with Pei Yuan. If Pei Yuan made any move, she would lower her eyelids to hide her shyness, occasionally smiling with a blush on her cheeks. But with him, she was always so open and honest.
"Susu, why can't you treat me... Let's give it a try, okay? Let's try. If you think there's anything wrong with me, I'll change it, I'll change everything."
Qiu Su's hands hung limply, unsure of what to do. She wanted to push him away, but seeing He Zhuo trembling slightly, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Qiu Su swallowed, forced a smile, and patted He Zhuo's back, saying, "He Zhuo, what's wrong? You've been good enough. Sigh, it's all because you're too picky. Qin Qin back then, she was such a good girl..."
"Don't talk to me like that." He Zhuo suppressed the tears in his eyes and softened his voice, saying, "Let's... forget him, okay? Let's... just the two of us, start over. In my heart..."
"He Zhuo!" Qiu Su helplessly pushed away the person leaning on her shoulder. How could she not know He Zhuo's feelings for her? Since she hadn't accepted him back then, how could she pick him up again more than two years later? That would be unfair to him, and she couldn't let go of some things either.
"He Zhuo, isn't this better for us?"
He Zhuo slowly released her, and Qiu Su quickly took a step back. He Zhuo stared at Qiu Su and said, "Okay? You say it's okay? Do you even know what 'okay' means?"
He Zhuo stared at Qiu Su's mouth, which was opening and closing as she tried to think of a reason but couldn't bring herself to say it. He made up his mind, took two steps forward, cupped her face, and kissed her fiercely, ignoring the panic in her eyes.
The kiss startled Qiu Su, leaving her mind blank. A sharp pain shot through her philtrum, followed by a salty, metallic taste in her mouth. Qiu Su snapped back to reality and stomped her foot hard on He Zhuo, only to find him clutching her even tighter in pain.
Qiu Su clenched her teeth, but He Zhuo showed no intention of going any deeper. He simply pressed against her, his gaze filled with despair and his purest emotions, remaining there quietly. Qiu Su tried to pull away, but seeing a glistening tear slide down He Zhuo's eye, she couldn't bring herself to push him away.
With a bitter taste in her mouth, Qiu Su slowly cupped his face and moved her lips away. She licked the scab that had finally shrunk a bit but had been knocked off and was bleeding again. She smiled and said, "He Zhuo, you're going to disfigure me."
He Zhuo remained silent, then hugged her tighter again. Seeing that she was still struggling, he sighed and said, "Let me hug you for a moment, just for a moment."
This lasted a while, and Qiu Su's legs ached from standing, and her stiff back was also very sore. The blood that had flowed from under her nose had scabbed over on its own, drying on her nose and lips. Licking it made her feel unpleasantly salty and fishy, and not licking it made her feel tight and uncomfortable.
Qiu Su coughed lightly, "Um, He Zhuo, my nose is bleeding."
After He Zhuo had calmed down, he hugged Qiu Su and didn't know how to let go. Of course, he didn't want to let go so soon. When he heard Qiu Su say this, he snorted and reluctantly let go of her. He cupped Qiu Su's face and looked at the blood that flowed down her nose to the corner of her mouth. He sneered and said, "Serves you right." Then he raised his sleeve to wipe it.
"No, you'll get your clothes dirty." The border isn't like the capital; where can you find so many clothes to change into?
For some reason, she thought of the capital. Qiu Su's eyes darkened, and she crouched down to free herself from his grasp. She took out a handkerchief and wiped her nose, but the dried bloodstains couldn't be wiped away, hanging between her mouth and nose in a ridiculous way. He Zhuo reached out and poked her nose, pretending nothing had happened and said with a smile, "Look at you, you're too hot-tempered, you get nosebleeds all the time."
Qiu Su glared at He Zhuo and turned to walk back. He Zhuo quickly followed, insisting on holding Qiu Su's hand, his peach blossom eyes narrowed with obvious joy. Qiu Su thought for a moment, then stopped and explained, "He Zhuo, I really..."
"Don't say anything." He Zhuo looked at her and smiled. "Don't say anything. I've thought it through. Until you find someone else you can entrust your life to, you have to stay with me. If one day you really do... I think I'll consider finding a girl from here. But that's all in the future."
Qiu Su felt a pang of bitterness in her heart, gave a wry smile, and whispered, "Anyway, I'm sorry to you."
"How do you know you've wronged me? Heh, but I think we'll have a future." He Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief, stretched out his arms towards the blue sky and the vast grassland, and shouted in a drawn-out voice. Xiao Qiu at his feet also looked up and howled, which drew a series of responses from the wolf pack in the distance.
Qiu Su patted Xiao Qiu's head, looked at the clouds drifting across the sky, took a deep breath, and said, "He Zhuo, thank you first. I don't want to deceive your feelings. You've always been so good to me, but I... I can't guarantee how I can reciprocate. I need time. No, I'm not saying you have to wait for me. I still hope you can see some things clearly, and also see Qin Qin's feelings for you. When we were in the capital, she wrote to me, but things were so complicated that I didn't have time to reply. How can you just forget some things?"
Qiu Su smiled and said, "But there is one thing I can promise you: after everything is settled here, we will go back to Pingcheng together."
"Okay." He Zhuo took her hand again, and Qiu Su looked at him sideways but did not pull away.
Xiao Qiu stood to the side, watching with amusement, and squeezed between the two, licking their clasped hands. Qiu Su looked at it and murmured, "I wonder how Huang Tao and the Mountain Lord are doing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Huang Tao and the mountain lord were actually living quite comfortably, but there was one thing that really annoyed Huang Tao. Back when Mo Mo was unwell, Pei Yuan took them to live in a remote village, where they stayed for more than half a year. Mo Mo grew up plump and healthy, while Dou Dou ended up hooking up with a pack of wolves.
At first, DouDou only ran away at night. Later, Huang Tao tied it up for a few days, but seeing how agitated it became, she felt sorry for it and untied it. After that, DouDou hardly ever lingered around her during the day. Until one day, it dragged a wild goat taller than itself into the yard, and Huang Tao realized that it wasn't a docile dog. But when she tried to tie it up again, it had cleverly prevented Huang Tao from getting close. Huang Tao was also afraid that it might suddenly become wild and hurt MoMo, so she didn't stop it from going out again until recently when they set off for southern Xinjiang again, and DouDou reappeared, leading several wolves to see them off.
Momo was quite excited to see Doudou and leaned forward to spit at it. Doudou was also quite good-natured. It ran to the carriage and obediently let Momo grab its neck and tug at it for a while under Pei Yuan's cold gaze. Then it licked Momo's face, ran to the mountain lord and rubbed against him, retreated and looked at Huang Tao for a long time, then turned around and disappeared with a few brothers.
Huang Tao burst into tears on the spot, which frightened Mo Mo into wailing as well. Pei Yuan grabbed Mo Mo and pulled her close to his chest, then ignored her, mounted his horse, and rode off.
They didn't travel fast. Most of the time, Pei Yuan kept Mo Mo tied to his chest, only taking him off when he fell asleep so Huang Tao could hold him in the carriage. Huang Tao had known Pei Yuan for so long that trying to get Mo Mo away was practically impossible, so she stopped arguing. Besides, the boy was extremely close to his father, and he would definitely throw a tantrum if he couldn't see him for a long time.
"Look, look, their intimacy is infuriating," Huang Tao squinted at Pei Yuan, who was on horseback exchanging unintelligible words with Mo Mo, peeking through the carriage curtain, and snorted. Qi Xiu, on the other hand, had learned to enjoy himself, occupying half of the carriage, lying there with his legs crossed, peeling peanuts and eating them as the carriage swayed back and forth.
"Girl, what are you angry about again? If you keep your emotions inside, it's bad for your liver, and it will make you more prone to developing sour and putrid odors. You'll have trouble digesting, and you might even get boils or freckles on your face. If that happens, the young master will be even less willing to stay in your arms."
Huang Tao flung down the carriage curtain and gritted her teeth, saying, "Qi Xiu, who are you calling pedantic?"
"Sigh, you're easily angered and irritable." Qi Xiu peeled two peanuts and handed them to her. "Girl, he's still the young lady's husband, you should stay together."
"Hmph, he made Miss suffer so much. If it weren't for... I would have thought Miss was gone." Huang Tao lowered her voice, as if giving herself a reason to dislike Pei Yuan. They'd been together for so long, and she could clearly see his good qualities, but the clearer she saw them, the stranger her feelings became. Thankfully, he had set off for Southern Xinjiang. Huang Tao thought, "It'll be good to see Miss again. I won't have to struggle between dislike and liking anymore, and I won't have to see him with that stiff face, like he'd lost a fortune. Except for Mo Mo, he had a icy, deathly cold face towards everyone else, making me want to beat him up. What an awkward man. Once I see Miss, someone will deal with him."
Qi Xiu glanced at Huang Tao and sighed, "Actually, the son-in-law is very smart."
"Dare to call her stupid?" Huang Tao squinted and pouted. Qi Xiu stretched his back, yawned, and said, "No, I need to sleep for a while."
Outside the carriage, Pei Yuan patiently spoke to Mo Mo in a low voice. Mo Mo pointed to the big tree above her head and babbled. Pei Yuan stopped his horse, broke off a branch, and said with a smile, "Poplar tree."
"Ugh... Yahoo!"
"Yang Shu." Pei Yuan wiped the drool from the corner of Mo Mo's mouth with his sleeve, stared at him for a moment, then raised his hand to stroke his eyebrows and eyes and sighed.
A beautiful child, with the same dark eyes as Qiu Su. When she was first found, she was terribly thin, dressed in a little white outfit, looking like a little scholar. Later, she gained weight, and although her features didn't change, she looked completely different. Her chubby face sagged slightly, and when she sat naked in her lap, her belly was bulging, and even her thighs had grown into little chubby mounds—just a bunch of little fat. But still, she was adorable. Finally, she grew up and became even more beautiful.
Pei Yuan paints several portraits of him every month, hoping that these can make up for Qiu Su's inability to see her son these days.
Pei Yuan scratched Mo Mo's chin, leaned forward, and covered Mo Mo, who was playing with tearing leaves and paying no attention to him, with the shadow of his large straw hat. He then spurred his horse and continued forward.
"Mo Mo, you're going to see your mother soon. Aren't you happy? Your father doesn't even know how he feels."
"What do you mean by not feeling anything? Tell me, will your mother cry when she sees your father? Your father is most afraid of seeing her cry. No, I want to see her cry in my arms. Your mother is as stubborn as a mule. She keeps everything to herself. But Momo is so good. She knows to tell her father when she's in pain, hot, stuffy, or tired."