I feel very good to receive this letter from Master Shen...

So cute!!

If you're jealous, just be jealous; don't make it sound so serious.

But then again, since Master Shen has always treated her like a child, does it mean that parents can also be possessive of their own children?

Or perhaps, in truth, Master Shen actually finds her a little bit cute?

Zhan Xinjia's face grew hotter and hotter as she thought about it, turning as red as a boiled shrimp.

Lost in thought, a cool hand touched my forehead.

The coolness temporarily soothed her fever.

Suddenly, a slightly flustered voice came from beside him.

"Ah Zhi, you're sick."

It seems so, after all, she hadn't slept well for so many days and had been soaked in the rain for most of the day. Zhan Xinjia felt her head getting heavier and heavier, and her vision began to blur with the mist.

She struggled to her feet.

"Master Xiao Shen..."

Before she could finish speaking, she stumbled and fell right into his arms.

Sensing the faint scent of ink on the young man's clothes, Zhan Xinjia tugged at his collar, struggling for a long time but unable to stand up. She could only issue a disclaimer before she lost consciousness.

"I didn't mean to be too intimate with you, Lord Shen... I'm just so sleepy..."

After explaining this sentence, Zhan Xinjia's consciousness fell into a state of chaos.

She vaguely felt someone pick her up horizontally, and the corners of her mouth twitched involuntarily. The little girl murmured a few words, then obediently rested her head against his chest, curling up dependently in his arms.

After shifting to a more comfortable position, Zhan Xinjia finally fell into a deep coma.

It seems like the first time I met Lord Shen, it was raining just like this.

——

Zhan Xinjia had a very long dream.

I dreamt of the ruins of an abandoned general's mansion in the suburbs when I was a child, where birds were chirping and the mountains were fresh after a rain.

In the courtyard, her father carried her on his shoulders, lifting her high to reach the kite hanging on the treetop. Under the pear blossoms, her mother lay in a rocking chair, leisurely reading the latest storybook from the bookstore.

A gentle breeze stirs, and the pear blossoms dance like snowflakes.

"You better watch out, Zhan! If you hurt my precious daughter, I'll make you pay!"

"Yes, yes, Madam is right. Come on, Ah Zhi, let's go fly kites again!"

Not far away, Yan Xiyue and Yan Huishi were running wildly around the pond, with another child, who was taller, chasing after them.

"Hehehe, brother, come and catch me!"

"Ah Yue, be careful! You'll be in trouble if you fall into the pond."

"Hehe, anyway, my brother will save me!"

In my dreams, it's always a bright spring day in April, the sunlight so bright it's blinding. Everyone's figure appears overexposed, presenting a low-fidelity, eerie feeling that subconsciously makes me feel uneasy.

Zhan Xinjia had a vague feeling that this was not a good dream, but the peaceful and warm dream had no flaws.

Family and friends were there, and on this bright spring day, joyful laughter filled the air.

But she felt inexplicably afraid.

The taller child suddenly stopped in his tracks. He paused for a moment, then picked a few sprigs of forsythia in full bloom from the nearby flowerbed and wove them into a small wreath. He then carried the wreath towards Zhan Xinjia.

It wasn't aimed at the little piece of paper that her father had lifted high, but at her, who remained in the dream as a spectator.

Upon realizing this, Zhan Xinjia was immediately horrified.

A strong sense of unease made her want to struggle, to escape, but her feet were firmly rooted to the spot. Her chaotic consciousness felt as if she were trapped in a locked box, and she began to breathe rapidly with tension.

The white figure slowly walked up to her. Although the other person's face was just a blank space, Zhan Xinjia knew that the other person must be smiling.

He held up the wreath in his hand.

"Little Sister".

Zhan Xinjia suddenly opened her eyes.

Before me were low wooden beams, and the narrow room was pitch black, with only a few dim moonlight seeping in through the window.

The rain seemed to be continuing, dense and heavy, accompanied by the occasional clear, gurgling sound of water being stirred.

Zhan Xinjia's forehead was covered in a fine layer of cold sweat, her heart was pounding wildly, and she was extremely tense.

She was panting heavily, her heavy body unable to even perform a simple action like pulling back the covers, so she could only lie on the bed with her eyes open in vain.

Soon, both the darkness and the cold were completely dispelled after the candles were lit.

The young man looked tired and weary. He reached out and brushed aside the strands of hair on her cheek that were damp with sweat, his face showing concern.

"Did you have a nightmare, Ah Zhi?"

It turned out that Master Shen had been sitting by her bedside the whole time.

The dim candlelight flickered slightly with the wind seeping in through the cracks, casting his shadow on the cabin wall. The young man's loose, dark hair made his all-white attire appear even softer, adding a touch of marital charm.

Zhan Xinjia coughed a few times with difficulty.

"Young Master Shen... are you on the ship right now?"

The bitter taste in her mouth suggests that she was given medicine while she was unconscious. However, her head is still foggy, her limbs are weak, and she is listless.

Shen Suqing felt very sad looking at the little girl, who looked sickly like a cabbage that had been hit by frost.

He tucked the blanket in and brought over a bowl of warm sugar water.

"Your throat seems to be burning and hoarse... Drink some sugar water to soothe it first. I only brought dry food like biscuits in my luggage, which isn't really suitable for a sick person. I'll take you to eat something nice after we get off the ship."

As he spoke, he gently blew on the spoon and brought it to Zhan Xinjia's lips.

With the pillow behind his shoulder propped up, Zhan Xinjia took a sip of the sugar water from the spoon he fed her. The light sweetness dispelled the lingering bitterness in her mouth and soothed her dry throat.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where are Lord Fu and the others?"

"They're in the other cabin. Judging by the time, they should arrive at Yaozhou Ferry by noon tomorrow."

"Isn't it supposed to take two or three days by water from Jiangyuan County to Yaozhou...? I've been unconscious for almost two days?!"

I was greatly impressed by the letter.

She felt like she had just had a strange nightmare and woke up immediately, less than half an hour later. She didn't expect so much time to have passed in reality.

Suddenly, she remembered some incongruous parts of her dream.

In her dream, Yan Xiyue said that if she fell into the pond, her brother would save her, but as far as she knew, Yan Huishi couldn't swim at all.

When he was thirteen, he sneaked out to play with Yan Xiyue during the Lantern Festival. They were pushed into the moat by the crowd and almost died young. It was his ten-year-old self who rescued him with great effort.

"Ah Zhi?"

A soft call from beside her ear interrupted Zhan Xinjia's reverie.

She shook her head and gave Lord Shen a weak smile.

He placed the back of his hand on her forehead again.

"It's not as hot as before, but I still have a slight fever. I need to find a clinic to get a proper check-up after I get off the ship."

He frowned deeply.

His child already had some intellectual disability due to burns, and he didn't even want to think about it if the child were burned again.

Zhan Xinjia gave a vague "hmm". It was rare for the two of them to be alone in a room. The sound of rain outside the cabin became part of the atmosphere, which made her overflowing girlish thoughts come alive again.

Since she couldn't sleep anyway, she decided to chat for a while.

"Young Master Shen, how did you recognize me on the road earlier?"

Shen Suqing was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"intuition?"

It's actually the look in their eyes.

Shen Suqing had never seen such fervent admiration in anyone else's eyes.

When she looked at him, her eyes always sparkled, making him feel that he was always being relied upon and needed.

Physical appearance and even voice can be altered, but the fact that her eyes involuntarily light up with sparkling stars when she sees him is something that can't be changed in the short term...

Shen Suqing vaguely felt that even if the two of them were to become indistinguishable from the crowd in the future, separated by clouds and mist, and countless difficulties and dangers.

He could recognize her by her eyes as soon as she looked at him.