To retaliate against her condescending phrase of “gratitude and indebtedness,” Gan Xun proposed a mischievous “promise herself to me.”
Zhao Chiyun knew it all.
She had known Gan Xun for a long time—long enough to easily see through the principles hidden beneath kindness and the pranks concealed within sweet words.
It was always half-true, half-fake.
Zhao Chiyun did not back down. Her body and words both advanced as she agreed: “Approved.”
Gan Xun was caught off guard. The jovial facade she wore was torn away.
She pressed further: “How do you plan to promise yourself?”
Zhao Chiyun’s eyes were exquisite and gorgeous. She gazed over with deep affection, laced with seduction. Her tone held a question, yet felt like flirting.
Although Gan Xun knew Zhao Chiyun was an upright person—often led astray by her before responding like this—
when Zhao Chiyun asked her this way, she truly understood what boundless allure meant. It made her want to submit.
Gan Xun could not look away. Speechless, she fumbled the phone box back and forth several times, at a loss.
“With your body?”
Zhao Chiyun did not let her off. She probed the wording deeply, her gaze shifting from eye contact down to Gan Xun’s lips, then to her collar.
Gan Xun felt suffocated by the stare. It was as if Zhao Chiyun’s eyes were a vacuum-sealed bag that forcefully enveloped her, stealing her scant oxygen bit by bit.
To save herself, Gan Xun reached out and placed her palm between them, blocking Zhao Chiyun’s teasing and scrutiny.
There was something self-deceptive about it, since Zhao Chiyun sat higher and could probably still see her expression.
Flustered and panicked, she reaped what she sowed.
Zhao Chiyun stared at her palm and fell silent for a moment. A flush of heat and annoyance rose to her face: “Your hint is too explicit.”
Gan Xun was puzzled. She moved her hand aside to look at her.
Zhao Chiyun thought she had not understood the term again. She searched for the words: “In your local terms, indecent?”
With that, a hint of reproach appeared in her expression. She even glared softly at Gan Xun.
Then she took Gan Xun’s withdrawn palm and studied it: “That said, Gan Xun, your hand is quite nice.”
Gan Xun finally understood what had happened.
Zhao Chiyun had asked how she would promise herself. Gan Xun had said nothing and reached out to block her, so Zhao Chiyun assumed the hand was the answer.
No wonder Zhao Chiyun called her explicit.
Gan Xun’s face suddenly flushed red. She was eager to explain.
What the heck!
That was not what she meant at all. Otherwise, it would be too weird.
But as she opened her mouth, she first noticed that Zhao Chiyun did not seem truly upset beyond the glare. Then she realized that establishing a pure persona carried great risk—it was too easy to shatter. In the end, she said nothing.
Otherwise, it would ruin the mood.
She acquiesced.
Her palm merely began to heat up under Zhao Chiyun’s gaze.
“What does ‘quite nice’ mean…”
Gan Xun felt like it was teasing, but Zhao Chiyun’s expression was so restrained. It did not seem like an adult joke.
Uncertain, she wanted to ask.
Fortunately, she did.
Zhao Chiyun tapped her palm. “Look closely and you’ll know.”
Gan Xun’s palm was warm to the touch. Zhao Chiyun’s was slightly cool, her nails poking at the softest spot. It sent an electric current through her, a tingling resonance that spread across her entire body.
Gan Xun involuntarily wanted to curl her palm, but Zhao Chiyun held her fingers together.
Her breathing grew heavier.
If Zhao Chiyun’s attention had been on her face instead of her hand, she would have known just how much Gan Xun wanted to continue the “explicit” topic right then.
Zhao Chiyun did not notice her anomaly and assumed she was listening attentively: “Look at your palm reading. The lines are clear and deep. You are destined for wealth and longevity.”
The County Princess had turned into a fortune teller.
“…”
“So fake. Way too formulaic.”
She muttered, overcome with a sense of powerlessness—like she had taken off her clothes only for the other person to offer a back scratch.
“Fake how?”
Zhao Chiyun’s fingertip traced the longest line in her palm. “See for yourself.”
Gan Xun felt itchy and instinctively tried to pull away.
“Don’t move.”
Zhao Chiyun explained: “See here. The first half of the lines is bumpy and uneven, tangled and shallow. But from the latter half onward, it shows the momentum of a dead tree bursting back into spring. Your future prospects are boundless.”
Gan Xun did not understand—or rather, did not believe it. Linking these physiological lines to fate felt far too childish.
She only knew her palm felt itchy and numb, leaving her whole body somewhat soft.
In a soft voice, she asked: “Why a dead tree in spring?”
With confidence, Zhao Chiyun pointed to a thin line nearby: “A noble person assists you and shows you the way.”
Gan Xun shifted from simple disbelief to sensing something off. She followed up: “Who is the noble person?”
Zhao Chiyun patted her palm lightly, smug: “Is there anyone around you nobler than this County Princess?”
“This County Princess is your fated one.”
She spoke convincingly and continued pointing and circling on Gan Xun’s palm. She even drew lines and would not let Gan Xun withdraw it.
Once the palm lines were done, she said she still needed to feel the wrist bones to confirm.
Without waiting for Gan Xun’s agreement, she climbed from the palm upward to touch the bones.
The tingling sensation wreaked havoc all the way up. Gan Xun could no longer sit idly by. She grabbed both of Zhao Chiyun’s hands in turn.
“You, the dignified daughter of a prince—where did you learn bone reading?”
Zhao Chiyun could not move. She confessed honestly: “From books.”
Gan Xun found it amusing: “Are random books accurate, Zhao Chiyun? Are you teasing me?”
This time, Zhao Chiyun did not scold her for using full name and surname. Gan Xun’s voice was not serious—it brimmed with irrepressible laughter.
“Even if inaccurate, they are all auspicious words. How is that teasing?”
“But you kept touching me. It made my thoughts wander.”
Gan Xun confessed.
She was certain it was deliberate.
Zhao Chiyun refused to yield: “Already monkey mind, horse heart—just from touching your palm? Compared to when you touched me earlier, this is the height of propriety.”
“The spots are different. How can you compare?”
“Don’t you know which is lighter and which heavier?”
Emboldened, Gan Xun said: “You can touch back if you want.”
Zhao Chiyun struggled free and shoved her. Her voice cracked: “Impudent!”
Gan Xun leaned back slightly before steadying herself. The ideas stirred in her heart lingered for the moment—all Zhao Chiyun’s fault.
She said: “This is impudent? There are even more impudent words.”
Zhao Chiyun’s eyes widened as she stared at her—like a startled yet curious white crane, wings fluttering but reluctant to fly away.
Gan Xun continued: “You said my hand was nice. I did not know you meant the palm reading. I thought you were agreeing to my ‘promise myself’ right there…”
Zhao Chiyun shouted her name, refusing to let her continue. Gan Xun’s mouth was covered, and she took two punches.
She even stole several kisses from Zhao Chiyun.
She laughed nonstop, her heart much more balanced.
During the truce, Gan Xun turned on the phone and began setting it up step by step, transferring data.
She vulgarly estimated the value of Zhao Chiyun’s works in her mind. Art was worth so much money.
Of course, she was not overcome with gratitude and indebtedness, but she was still touched by Zhao Chiyun’s thoughtfulness.
Somewhat embarrassed, she said: “You do not even have a new phone to use yet.”
Zhao Chiyun’s emotions from the teasing had yet to settle. She hummed once before reluctantly saying: “I may not even use it for a few days. A mere vulgar object—what difference between new and old?”
After the teasing, the heart that softly throbbed was suddenly gripped by a force lurking in the shadows. Gan Xun nearly suffocated.
It hurt, and it was heartbreaking.
Her expression paused for a moment. Then her smile faded, though her eyes still tried to curve.
Dryly, she repeated: “Thank you, County Princess.”
“Just sitting there to give thanks?” Zhao Chiyun teased her.
Gan Xun stood up from the bed and performed the Mirror Country courtesy as Zhao Chiyun had taught her.
Zhao Chiyun adjusted the precise hand position for her. With both hands braced on the bed behind her, she admired it once over and said with a beaming smile: “Rise.”
As Gan Xun raised her head from the bow, her eyes peered from behind her hands, staring at her with full longing.
Zhao Chiyun’s memory jumped back to the afternoon.
She had wanted to paint two pieces for her new home—depicting the same summer pastoral scenes as those hanging in her room at the Prince’s Mansion: bouquets, fruits, birds.
On the day of completion, a parent walked into her painting space and introduced herself as the mother of one of her students, Yan Qiuyu.
Lady Yan expressed deep thanks. Originally, Yan Qiuyu had not liked calligraphy and had clamored to quit after several years of study.
But upon meeting Zhao Chiyun, she suddenly became motivated.
Zhao Chiyun remembered Yan Qiuyu—a quiet and reticent girl, but one who willingly asked questions and put genuine effort into her homework.
After chatting a bit, Lady Yan made her request for Teacher Zhao’s painting.
Zhao Chiyun did not hesitate and said she did not sell it—this piece was for her own appreciation.
Then she saw the woman’s expression freeze. In her heart, she wondered if she should make an exception.
It pained her, but Cui Can had been good to both her and Gan Xun. This was Cui Can’s major client—she could not very well refuse face.
So she changed her words to offer it as a gift.
She also tactfully declined any talk of price.
Not long after, Cui Can came to the office to find her. She said Lady Yan had made two transfers—one to the Book Garden and one to Teacher Zhao.
“I forwarded your share to you.”
“How much?”
Zhao Chiyun received a figure several times her half-month salary. She had no real grasp of it. “I want to get a new phone. Is it enough?”
“More than enough.”
Zhao Chiyun said: “Gan Xun’s phone shattered. I want to buy her a replacement.”
“What about one for yourself?” Cui Can asked.
Zhao Chiyun smiled and gave the same reply she would later give Gan Xun.
Cui Can was very expressive. She stomped her foot and wailed dramatically: “You are reluctant to leave, but Gan Xun is even more reluctant!”
“With you gone, how are we lonely widows supposed to get by!”
Zhao Chiyun was torn between laughter and exasperation. She got the feeling that Cui Can was actually more reluctant to see her go than Gan Xun was.
After all, Gan Xun had never wailed like that.
She had always smiled and wished her an early return home.
On the way to the mall, Cui Can sighed: “Though you will leave sooner or later, at least Gan Xun met someone who runs toward her mutually. She did not foolishly give all her money to someone else to chase some dream.”
“Right, I’ll ask Sifeng another day if this kind of ‘loan’ is easy to recover.”
Zhao Chiyun did not understand where that came from: “Someone else? Who?”
Cui Can’s expression shifted in that moment—an awkward “you had no idea” look plastered on her face.
“Uh… pretend I did not say that.”
Zhao Chiyun had already pieced it together: “You mean Gan Xun is penniless now because she gave all her possessions to someone else.”
“It was not me who said it!”
She hurriedly instructed in a panic: “Wait until Gan Xun brings it up herself. Do not ask her, or she will definitely be mad at me.”
“It was not a gift either—it was a loan. She will definitely pay it back.”
Zhao Chiyun reluctantly agreed with a cold hum: “Great philanthropist.”
Cui Can asked deliberately: “So, still buying the phone for her?”
Zhao Chiyun was both annoyed and amused: “Of course we buy it. Why not? One matter is one matter.”
Fine then. What did past events have to do with her?
When selecting the phone color at the mall, Zhao Chiyun safely chose a basic color—similar to the one Gan Xun currently used.
After payment, Cui Can asked what to do with the remaining money.
“Still some left? Just consider it payment for your ride.”
Cui Can did not stand on ceremony with her. She treated her to a cup of milk tea and chattered endlessly about her feelings dating Tang Sifeng, grinning foolishly the whole time.
She also asked if things were going well between her and Gan Xun.
Zhao Chiyun said they were happy.
“It feels like every day is an auspicious one.”
When she snapped back from the memory, she was already pinned beneath Gan Xun on the bed. The hands propping up Gan Xun’s upper body were secured above her head.
Gan Xun’s kisses fell densely, like spring petals rustling down on the side of her face, her ear, between her lips, and across her chest.
She finally found a gap to ask: “Gan Xun, are you happy with me?”
