Looking at the exquisitely arranged room before him, Deng Tianyu turned to Qu Qirong. “This is my room?”
Qu Qirong pursed her red lips slightly and asked, very concerned, “Does Tianyu like it?”
She had spent the entire night arranging it, hoping to give him a feeling of home warmth here.
“I like it!” Deng Tianyu withdrew his gaze and smiled faintly. “Was it Aunt Rong herself who arranged it?”
It was obvious that this room had been specially decorated.
The tables, chairs, Incense Burner, and the landscape paintings—all were brand new and spotless.
And who else but Aunt Rong would be so attentive to him?
“Mm!” Having gotten the answer she wanted, Qu Qirong nodded, her smile growing increasingly radiant.
Deng Tianyu was the junior she cherished and her only family now.
Therefore, she wanted to give him all the warmth he had previously lacked, including familial love and motherly affection!
A warm current passed through Deng Tianyu’s heart. “I’ve made Aunt Rong worry again.”
“I’m your aunt. If I don’t worry about you, who else would?”
Qu Qirong gave him a coquettish glare and took his hand in her soft one. “And besides, I just want you to understand—even if Mother Consort isn’t here, Aunt Rong is still by your side.”
“I understand.”
Her delicate hand was cool, but Deng Tianyu could feel the meticulous, all-encompassing care within it.
As if suddenly remembering something, he took an item from his Storage Ring. “Oh right, Aunt Rong, look at this stone carving—see if you like it.”
What came into view was a stone album formed by layers of extremely thin stone sheets.
Qu Qirong’s fair, jade-like fingers stroked the object, feeling a smooth, soft, and comfortable texture. “What is this?”
“It’s called a Cloud Carved Stone Album, carved using a special carving technique—[Cloud Carved Stone Carving]!”
“I obtained this technique some days ago when I led the sect disciples on a training expedition and accidentally entered a Secret Realm.”
“Aunt Rong, why not open it and take a look?”
Facing her puzzled gaze, Deng Tianyu explained.
[Cloud Carved Stone Carving] was a lost carving technique.
Had he not ventured deep into that Secret Realm and found this carving technique by chance, it probably would never have reappeared in the world.
Being interested in such things, Deng Tianyu had studied the [Cloud Carved Stone Carving] for a while.
This carving technique didn’t use wood, but rather commonly found stones—though the stones had to be somewhat larger.
After just a little research, Deng Tianyu fell in love with its simple, elegant lines.
Because he felt guilty for breaking their previous promise, he carved a stone album, intending to give it to Aunt Rong as an apology gift.
“What’s carved inside here is… me?”
As Qu Qirong opened the first page, she saw a figure identical to herself.
In the stone carving, the first page depicted a mature noblewoman, her delicate hand holding a string of Candied Hawthorn, walking along a street.
In the image, the pedestrians on the street were all faded, leaving only the beautiful woman’s outline exceptionally clear.
“This is the scene when Tianyu and I were viewing the night scenery in Xuan City?” Qu Qirong instantly located the exact memory from her mind.
Deng Tianyu smiled. “Aunt Rong can keep flipping.”
Hearing this, Qu Qirong turned another page. It showed the same mature, beautiful noblewoman releasing flower lanterns on a river.
The flower lanterns were beautiful, but the woman’s smile in the carving was even more so—beautiful as a poem or painting, stirring the heart!
Guessing riddles, strolling along the Xiang Bridge, and even her figure walking into the distance under the breathtaking moonlight.
There were also scenes of her painting in a pavilion and listening to music and watching a play at the Chanting Moon Pavilion.
Turning page after page, every figure was her.
Ripples stirred in Qu Qirong’s beautiful eyes as she looked carefully, waves of emotion gradually rising in her heart.
From these carvings, she could feel an emotion named “You are all I see” spreading through her being.
Moreover, Qu Qirong noticed an incredibly heartwarming detail.
Every time she had gone out with Deng Tianyu, she had been disguised.
Although this prevented her identity from being leaked, it also brought a discomfort—the inability to show her true face.
Yet in these carvings, her appearance had been completely restored!
Qu Qirong stopped her movements and couldn’t help but ask, “Tianyu, how did you restore my facial features?”
Hearing this, Deng Tianyu shook his head. “There was no need to restore them.”
Qu Qirong’s fine brows furrowed. “Why?”
“Because this is how Aunt Rong has always been in my heart!”
“So when I carved, it naturally came out as Aunt Rong’s truest appearance.”
Indeed, when Deng Tianyu had been carving, it was just as he’d said.
He hadn’t deliberately substituted anything. He simply carved Aunt Rong out, exactly as she existed in his heart.
“So that’s how it is…”
Qu Qirong’s expression grew slightly entranced, and her heart trembled. Her hand holding the stone carving tightened its grip.
Though she didn’t understand this [Cloud Carved Stone Carving], she understood that if she didn’t hold an important position in the other’s heart, it would be impossible to achieve this.
In other words, her Tianyu had long since deeply imprinted her image within the depths of his inner heart.
“Aunt Rong, you can flip back to the first page.”
“Then press the edge of the stone sheet with your thumb and let it turn the pages by itself. There will be a different scene.”
Seeing that Aunt Rong had nearly finished leafing through the entire stone album, Deng Tianyu said mysteriously.
“A different scene?”
Filled with anticipation, Qu Qirong did as he said, pressing the edge of the stone sheet with her thumb.
In the next instant, her beautiful eyes widened.
The Cloud Carved Stone Album in her hand came to life, like a flickering lantern show.
The images of her every movement, every smile and frown, flowed seamlessly together, like drifting clouds and flowing water.
In this way, all the previous scenes replayed before her eyes once more, as if she were there in person, sweeping away the discomfort of not being able to go out with Tianyu in her true appearance.
Qu Qirong was stunned.
This was the gift Tianyu had given her?
“Aunt Rong, do you like it?”
Suddenly, a familiar, gentle voice came, pulling her back to her senses.
“Such an ingenious and lifelike Cloud Carved Stone Album—Aunt Rong naturally loves it dearly!”
“It’s just…”
Deng Tianyu was somewhat puzzled. “Just what?”
Qu Qirong suppressed the ceaselessly growing, unfamiliar sentiments, raised her head, and looked at Deng Tianyu. “It’s just, why is it only me in the carvings? Where is Tianyu?”
Deng Tianyu smiled wryly. “Because this item is a gift for Aunt Rong, the person depicted in the carvings could naturally only be Aunt Rong.”
“Then, can Tianyu teach me the [Cloud Carved Stone Carving]?”
“Since you carved me, let me be the one to carve you.”
“This way, with each of us carving half, this Cloud Carved Stone Album will be complete!”
Qu Qirong took a deep breath and parted her red lips to speak.
She undoubtedly loved this Cloud Carved Stone Album very, very much.
But for some reason, an intense thought rose in her heart: she wanted to carve Tianyu into it as well.
And the person doing the carving could only be herself!
To a request from an elder, Deng Tianyu naturally had no reason to refuse. “Since Aunt Rong has spoken, of course it’s alright.”
