He Zhuo smiled wryly, paused for a moment, and said, "Su Su, I regret confessing my feelings back then. If I hadn't done that, would you be less wary of me now?"
Qiu Su was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "How could that be? We've always been good friends."
"A friend? Susu." He Zhuo grabbed Qiu Su's hand and asked, head bowed, "Susu, are you really going to marry that stranger?"
“Well, maybe…” Qiu Su looked at He Zhuo, who was only slightly taller than her, and at his dark hair with his head hanging down. She changed her mind as if possessed and said, “Well, not necessarily.”
Qiu Su gently pulled her hand away, and He Zhuo suddenly looked up, his beautiful peach blossom eyes shining like black gemstones in the moonlight. So earnest, so passionate, so aggrieved… Oh, passionate? Oh, aggrieved! Qiu Su's brow twitched, and she was about to say something when He Zhuo suddenly smiled, grabbed her hand, and jogged away, saying, “Su Su, are you hungry? I saved you some midnight snacks, and I even had the cook make braised dog meat.”
He Zhuo ran at a moderate pace, and Qiu Su easily kept up. Hand in hand, they ran under the moonlight, as if they had returned to their childhood. Back then, He Zhuo loved to hold her hand and run around everywhere, insisting on taking her to see any interesting place he found. Time truly waits for no one; in just a few years, they had gone from carefree children to two people burdened with their own worries. Qiu Su sighed with a compassionate yet slightly melancholic expression.
Sure enough, there was meat stewing in the kitchen, along with several side dishes and bayberry wine. He Zhuo let go of that hand, took the casserole off the fire, and placed the side dishes and bayberry wine on the stone table, smiling as he said, "Are you hungry? You haven't eaten anything on the way."
Qiu Su was somewhat unaccustomed to He Zhuo's sudden change. Recalling Qin Qin's behavior during the day, she pondered and asked, "He Zhuo, what do you think of Qin Qin?"
"fine."
Qiu Su smiled, and then He Zhuo said again, "Not as good as you."
Okay, she was wrong. She thought He Zhuo had suddenly become serious, but it turned out he was still the same as before.
"Susu, try this bayberry wine. It was brewed by your mother last year."
Qiu Su took it and drank it.
"Susu, try this meat. I asked the cook to add bay leaves."
Qiu Su looked at the meat that was being offered to her mouth, gritted her teeth, and ate it.
"Ah, I ate it!" The mountain lord groaned mournfully twice, found an open space to lie down, and covered his eyes with his paw.
He Zhuo smiled so hard his eyes narrowed, and in his smugness, he gulped down half a bowl of soup.
While He Zhuo was drinking with his head tilted back, Qiu Su secretly moved the pot of meat closer to her and scooped a bowl for herself. He Zhuo was in a good mood and saw Qiu Su's sneaky actions. He smiled and said, "Su Su, we used to raise a little black dog together when we were little. Later, it ate something dead and got sick and died. You cried your eyes out back then. I never thought you would like to eat dog meat to this extent."
"I didn't cry." Qiu Su took a bite of dog meat and a sip of wine, then frowned and said, "It was you who cried your eyes out."
“It was you. You were holding the dog’s head and saying you were going to avenge it. Later, you had people find all the dead things on the mountain and stab them one by one.”
Qiu Su shook her head in disapproval. That wasn't like her at all. She would have stood with her hands behind her back, silently mourning for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, then casually waved her hand and ordered, "Bury him." He Zhuo couldn't have just drunk half a bowl and gotten dizzy, could he? That's something only he would do!
Qiu Su relaxed, and with such good wine and meat, she naturally ate heartily. Before she knew it, He Zhuo had poured her more than a pot of wine. The bayberry wine was fragrant, sweet and sour, and drinking too much of it could make her feel tipsy. At this moment, Qiu Su seemed to have forgotten that there was someone opposite her. She was so focused on eating the pot of meat that her forehead was sweating, and her cheeks were flushed red, like rouge, whether from the wine or the heat.
He Zhuo called out with a smile, "Su Su?"
"Hmm?" Qiu Su was a beat slow to look up and respond, but her gaze was slightly confused.
He Zhuo leaned closer, "Susu, are you feeling dizzy?"
"Not dizzy." Again, a beat late.
He Zhuo grinned, shrugged, and then smiled, before moving closer to hug Qiu Su's waist and saying seriously, "Su Su, come here to the little table and eat while I'm holding you."
The mountain lord, who was lying on one side, shook his head, and Qiu Su frowned. She paused for a moment, reaching for the clay pot that seemed to have wandered off, when suddenly the world spun around her, and she fell into someone's arms. Her head hit the person's sternum, causing her to wince in pain, her eyes misting over. Looking up, she met a pair of smiling phoenix eyes. Those long eyelashes also seemed to smile, trembling slightly as if brushing against her palm, making her heart skip a beat and her fist clench.
**************************************************
Qingfeng Theater:
He Zhuo: (Squinting) Put him down!
Unknown person: Using someone's trust to do bad things is despicable.
Mountain Lord: (Looks left and right, licks paws) Hmm, the Mountain Lord was so dashing tonight. And, cough cough, there's always a conspiracy~~
Author's Note: Double update! Please encourage me and give me flowers~~~ Aww~~~~
7
7. After getting drunk...
Beauty leads to mistakes! Qiu Su reiterated in her heart.
Without a word, He Zhuo stepped forward to snatch it, but Pei Yuan didn't dodge. He picked up Qiu Su and sat down on a stone bench to the side, then suddenly picked up his chopsticks and struck He Zhuo's elbow with considerable force. He Zhuo's arm went numb and he pulled back, angrily saying, "Shameless."
Pei Yuan, seemingly to prove he had teeth, picked up a piece of meat and ate it with smacking sounds, while He Zhuo snatched the casserole and placed it behind him. Pei Yuan reached for the bayberry wine, but He Zhuo grabbed it again. Pei Yuan looked up, stared at He Zhuo's dark face for a long time, and nodded in praise, "The meat is well-made."
He Zhuo rolled his eyes and snorted.
"It's a pity it wasn't used for the right purpose. If Su Su were sober, she would be furious with you for doing this. In the future, we probably won't even be able to be friends." Pei Yuan stroked the wine glass that Qiu Su had used, and said with a smirk, "Think about it yourself."
He Zhuo's face paled, and he snorted, "We've grown up together since childhood. How can you sow discord with just a few words?"
“Since she took me, she has to take responsibility for me.” Pei Yuan said this without any blush, but Qiu Su in his arms felt a sudden heat rising within him, as if a fireball had been placed on his body. Pei Yuan stared at Qiu Su’s earlobe, noticing a small scarlet mark next to her plum blossom birthmark. He gently wiped it away, their expressions truly resembling those of lovers deeply in love. Pei Yuan said in a low voice with a hint of resentment, “Su Su, how can you strip someone and then just walk away?”
Qiu Su felt the chill, and the thin layer of sweat on her forehead had receded, but now it was starting to appear again in scattered spots.
He Zhuo was furious, but didn't know what to say. Looking at Qiu Su lying quietly in someone else's arms with her eyes closed, he wanted nothing more than to rush forward and kill that person. Thinking of the blood-stained sheet he had seen earlier, he also wanted nothing more than to kill himself. He shouldn't have thought of slowly approaching her; he should have just pounced on her, so that no one else would have had a chance to interfere.
Pei Yuan looked at He Zhuo's almost distorted face and kindly reminded him, "Not everyone can be forced. Su Su can be with me, and I'm happy to see it happen. But you can't be with Su Su. She will... hehe, you know what I mean."
He Zhuo took a breath. "If she were sober, she wouldn't let you hold her like this. Hmph, I know Su Su. She wouldn't be with a strange man... Don't let me find out there's any conspiracy, or you'll die a horrible death."
He Zhuofu sat down again, calmly placing the meat and bayberry wine back on the table. Pei Yuan raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you leaving?"