Getting an inch and taking a mile.
That was Yu Ruoyin’s self-assessment, but Jiang Huaining clearly did not think so. She let Yu Ruoyin half-recline onto the bed along with her, supporting her head against the softest spot, one hand gently resting on her back, the other leisurely tucking the blanket around her: “Sleep.”
The hand on her back patted rhythmically and slowly, making Yu Ruoyin’s already drooping eyelids impossible to keep open.
No one had coaxed her to sleep like this since her grandmother disappeared.
She thought she would grow more and more infatuated with Jiang Huaining.
Definitely.
Yu Ruoyin could not help but hug Jiang Huaining’s waist, ensuring every inch of exposed skin touched her—not out of desire, but a thirst for warmth.
She was truly afraid.
Afraid that one day Jiang Huaining would disappear like her grandmother.
“Auntie Ning, you won’t leave me, right?”
“Of course.”
She could have discerned if it was a lie just by looking up, but Yu Ruoyin did not dare lift her head to confirm.
She buried her head deeper, wishing she could meld into Jiang Huaining’s flesh and blood.
Jiang Huaining pressed her head and lifted it slightly, looking amused at her already flushed face: “A-Yin, aren’t you afraid of suffocating yourself?”
The smiling face bore no trace of pain, so she had been telling the truth just now.
Yu Ruoyin brightened with joy and excitedly stuck back to Jiang Huaining: “Not suffocating! Very fragrant!”
Her nonsense brought a rare flush to Jiang Huaining’s face for an instant. She stroked Yu Ruoyin’s sleep-tousled hair, indulgence and tenderness etched in her eyes.
As Yu Ruoyin indulged, she also enjoyed Yu Ruoyin’s dependence on her.
Perhaps it was too fragrant, or perhaps the stimulation from casually brushing against smooth skin was too much—Yu Ruoyin’s sleepy consciousness grew clearer and clearer.
She delayed falling asleep, and neither of them moved.
One pretended to sleep, the other pretended not to see she was not asleep.
Yu Ruoyin was the first to break. She suddenly recalled scenes from Yin City and could not help asking: “Auntie Ning, in Yin City, you said the barrier’s time flowed differently from the outside. You woke up naturally, so how much time has passed now?”
“A-Yin, it’s already August now.”
August.
That meant they had stayed in Yin City for over ten days.
Yu Ruoyin had not expected time to pass so quickly. They had been in Yin City that long, yet they had not given Nan He a good ending.
Thinking of Nan He, Yu Ruoyin lifted her gaze slightly: “Auntie Ning, how is Nan He?”
“She’s still very sad, but that’s normal too. Forgetting someone takes time.”
“Auntie Ning, do you really think Nan He could forget Gou Nanchun?”
“Very difficult.” Jiang Huaining lowered her gaze, her ink-black long hair cascading over her shoulder, a few strands catching on Yu Ruoyin’s nose tip: “Although she is a family guardian spirit, for her, only Gou Nanchun was her one and only master.”
Yu Ruoyin followed the fragrance of her hair and stretched her head up a bit.
Her nose tip sniffed lightly, her head extended slightly, just like a puppy.
Jiang Huaining couldn’t help but pinch her nose tip, pressing her head back to her abdomen. While staring at her with a smile, she seriously answered her question: “Even… not just a master.”
Yu Ruoyin lay in Jiang Huaining’s arms, staring at her unblinkingly.
She felt that Jiang Huaining had changed again at some moment. She had always been gentle with her before, but occasionally it was clear that it was deliberately performed gentleness. Unlike now, when a maternal glow emanated from her very core—soft and warm.
Yu Ruoyin felt she would drown in such a gaze, while a thick jealousy rose within her.
She couldn’t help but wonder uncontrollably whether Jiang Huaining was truly looking at her.
Yu Ruoyin withdrew her gaze and rubbed her head in her arms, her breathing growing a bit more muffled: “Forgetting is hard, right?”
She was asking about Nan He, and also about Jiang Huaining.
Jiang Huaining hummed: “Very hard, especially forgetting someone important.”
Was she analyzing Nan He, or talking about herself?
Yu Ruoyin couldn’t confirm, nor did she dare to.
Her arms around Jiang Huaining’s waist tightened slightly, and she suddenly asked: “Auntie Ning, would you accept my offerings?”
“Hm?”
Yu Ruoyin mustered her courage and lifted her gaze a little, trying to offer her a smile: “If you go on my offering table, you’d be mine alone.”
Jiang Huaining didn’t catch the implication in her words. She smiled and leaned closer to Yu Ruoyin: “But I already am yours alone.”
The smile on her face was brighter than Yu Ruoyin’s, and the sweet words she spoke were even more captivating.
Yu Ruoyin fell into it quickly. The faint worries couldn’t suppress the instant joy, and she excitedly called out to Jiang Huaining: “Pretty wife!”
“I’m here.”
It wasn’t an illusion.
Jiang Huaining had indeed become even softer and more patient. She seemed afraid Yu Ruoyin hadn’t heard clearly and repeated it several times: “A-Yin, I’m here.”
No one could refuse such gentleness—at least Yu Ruoyin couldn’t.
She fell easily, tumbling into the waves of affection.
Yu Ruoyin couldn’t help but roll around in Jiang Huaining’s arms, repeating “pretty wife” over and over. In moments like this, she finally remembered she was still an eighteen-year-old girl and could afford a bit of childishness.
Her rolling was still stopped by Jiang Huaining. She pulled up the blanket that had fallen off Yu Ruoyin and wrapped her up like a dumpling.
Yu Ruoyin’s eyes were full of resentment as she lay immobile. Jiang Huaining tucked in the edges of the blanket and said sincerely: “You’ll catch a cold.”
As if.
With Yu Ruoyin’s current body that didn’t even count as alive or dead, it wasn’t easy for her to die completely, let alone get sick.
She was clearly annoyed by her fidgeting. Yu Ruoyin was provoked by Jiang Huaining’s clumsy excuse. Even though her head was still cradled in her arms, her gaze grew more and more resentful: “You’re too much.”
Jiang Huaining held her without denying or admitting it.
She seemed to be enjoying this quiet embrace, her arms around Yu Ruoyin tightening more and more: “A-Yin.”
Jiang Huaining had too many words she couldn’t say aloud. Fortunately, the emotionally sensitive Yu Ruoyin could sense the ups and downs in her brief words—the thick attachment.
Jiang Huaining was depending on her, of course… perhaps not her.
“Auntie Ning, you seem to have changed a bit.”
“Isn’t that good? Didn’t A-Yin say she likes me no matter what I become?”
Yu Ruoyin instantly recalled that sweet nothing she had said by sheer luck in Yin City. Was Jiang Huaining’s change because of those words? Because of her?
Yu Ruoyin felt her heart was about to jump out of her chest. Her hand squeezed out from under the blanket, fumbling hurriedly toward Jiang Huaining’s chest, wanting to probe for the same emotions she felt in her. Before she could touch that softness, her hand was gently slapped away by Jiang Huaining: “A-Yin, what are you doing?”
“Touch… touching.”
Yu Ruoyin only then realized the position her hand had reached, and how suggestive her words sounded.
The ambiguity made even their breathing heavier. Jiang Huaining no longer dodged and didn’t refuse.
She waited, but Yu Ruoyin didn’t dare anymore.
She shrank back under the blanket, leaning against Jiang Huaining through it, mumbling some words even she herself didn’t understand.
Jiang Huaining found it amusing: “How are you…”
Before she could finish, Yu Ruoyin hurriedly blocked her: “No matter how I am, you like it, right?”
“Yes.” Jiang Huaining lifted her up a bit in her arms, moving her head from her abdomen to her chest: “I like you. I’ve always liked you.”
Jiang Huaining granted her wish, letting her rest against that softness.
Yu Ruoyin stiffened completely in her arms, her breathing growing more rapid: “Auntie Ning!”
“What’s wrong?”
“You…”
Jiang Huaining wasn’t just gentler; she had become much more tolerant too. She no longer minded those formal “you”s and patiently asked again: “A-Yin, what’s wrong?”
Is it really me you like?
Do you like this sensitive, fragile Yu Ruoyin who overthinks so easily?
The words on the tip of her tongue still didn’t come out. She was afraid that if she pointed it out, that lively girl would become an insurmountable obstacle between her and Jiang Huaining.
She knew she had fallen into a vicious cycle, constantly arguing and struggling with a memory, even heading toward self-destruction, but she couldn’t save herself or change her mindset.
Ever since that memory appeared, her possessiveness had grown wildly like weeds, filling her heart in the shortest time—impossible to cut or burn away.
Her fleeting desires faded quite a bit. She lowered her head and said muffledly: “I’m sleepy.”
Jiang Huaining coaxed her softly: “You can sleep more. I’ll stay with you.”
Jiang Huaining had no intention of letting her go, and Yu Ruoyin was reluctant to leave her arms. She leaned against the soft embrace and slowly closed her eyes. Just as sleepiness swept over her, strange noises suddenly came from downstairs, and an unnatural vibration appeared beneath them.
Sensing the aura of danger, Yu Ruoyin abruptly opened her eyes.
The floor in her room was actually jumping, and the bed she lay on shook violently.
Because Jiang Huaining held her, her body was fixed, but her head swayed uncontrollably from side to side. Either her nose tip bumped into Jiang Huaining’s chest, or her head knocked against her collarbone. Her lips brushed past Jiang Huaining’s fair neck several times, leaving faint red marks.
Yu Ruoyin couldn’t tell if she felt more pain or more bliss right now.
She grew a bit worried, fearing the bed would suddenly crack from the shaking or the floor would shatter.
It took Yu Ruoyin a while to realize the commotion came from downstairs. After focusing, she even heard two voices arguing. Now, forget about resting; she couldn’t even stay still safely.
Yu Ruoyin was wide awake. She wriggled out of Jiang Huaining’s arms and struggled bit by bit to free herself from the blanket: “Auntie Ning, are they fighting?”
As for who was fighting whom, she couldn’t quite figure it out yet.
It couldn’t be Zhuang Huaisu and Ying Zhu, right? Zhuang Huaisu shouldn’t cause such a big commotion.
No, Zhuang Huaisu wasn’t the type to lose her head. Facing someone with absolute strength like Ying Zhu, her greatest dislike would only be moving her lips—no way she’d foolishly start a fight.
Even if not for herself, she’d think of Zhuang Ciyue.
Jiang Huaining didn’t react as strongly as her. With just a thought, she could probe the situation downstairs.
She lightly tapped the edge of the bed and gave Yu Ruoyin the correct answer: “She really did start fighting with Xia Yu.”
No need to name who “she” was—Yu Ruoyin knew.
In the Four Spirits Shop, among so few people qualified to fight Xia Yu, besides Jiang Huaining lying next to her, there was only Ying Zhu, who had just gone to find Zhuang Huaisu.
