books

"Book of Answers (Two Editions)"

What two versions?

Life·Classic Deluxe Bound Edition.

Love Classic Deluxe Edition.

...?

? ?

Is this what Miss Tao gave her?

Jiang Nian’s first reaction was to cover the covers of the two books so that Xiao Yingzhu wouldn’t see them.

But obviously judging from the current position and distance, there is no chance and no possibility.

Fortunately, Xiao Yingzhu probably can't understand simplified Chinese.

His heart was beating fast, and Jiang Nian maintained the curious look he had at the beginning. After pausing for a moment to make sure there was nothing wrong with his expression, he met Xiao Yingzhu's indifferent gaze.

The thoughtful look in the other person's eyes was not concealed. He had just escaped Xiao Yingzhu's suspicion, but now he was being circled back. Jiang Nian smiled and asked, "What's wrong?"

He suddenly smiled: "Do you understand?"

Jiang Nian shook his head honestly: "It feels very familiar, don't you feel familiar?"

If you directly say that you don't understand, Xiao Yingzhu will definitely ask again, but if you are ambiguous, that's not necessarily the case, and there is still room for excuses.

The two looked at each other quietly for a moment. Jiang Nian predicted that according to his usual habits, Xiao Yingzhu would be bored and turn away to continue reading the book.

But at this moment, not only did he not look away, but he continued to stare at her indifferently, as if he was dissatisfied with her answer.

Jiang Nian felt creepy when she saw the half-smile on that face. She had the illusion that she had said something wrong. She felt uneasy and conflicted for a few seconds, then she gave up and moved back a little.

"What's your problem?"

"Um."

He responded lazily, changed himself into a more comfortable position, calmly raised his eyes which had just been half closed, and after a moment, smiled gently.

The laughter was like the gentle breeze, so soft that she couldn't hear it clearly. When she was trying to distinguish it in her daze, the next question came straight at her, and she was stunned.

"Say my name once."

"?"

Jiang Nian opened his mouth, a thought flashing through his mind, and stared at him in disbelief. After a moment of silence, he finally found his voice: "What?"

Doesn't he know what this word means?

Xiao Yingzhu raised the corners of his eyes slightly, not caring at all about what she was thinking. He just repeated his words as if he was obsessed with this matter, his brows still relaxed and calm.

The friction between their sleeves gave each other a different feeling than before.

Beneath his calm, harmless exterior, there seemed to be a fire ignited like burning ice, ready to ignite at the slightest touch. Even his voice was so cold it seemed to burn his eardrums. His eyes were deep, like the smooth black jade of porcelain, reflecting her shadow.

Jiang Nian sighed in disbelief and laughed a little weakly, barely avoiding the seemingly real gaze, and felt his cheeks getting hot.

"Why?"

That's crossing the line.

“…”

The person next to him didn't move, and the room suddenly became quiet. Jiang Nian couldn't see him in his sight. He looked away for a long time but didn't get a response. He wanted to turn his head away, but while he was hesitating, a cool voice pierced his eardrums.

"Jiang Nian."

His voice was light and airy.

"What are you hiding from?"

The voice came from behind, at a certain distance from her, but it was as clear as if it was right next to her earlobe. If she listened carefully, she could still make out the ambiguous tone that was impossible to tell whether it was happy or angry.

The surface is as indifferent as water, but there is a blazing fire burning inside.

Jiang Nian lowered his eyelids and blinked rapidly. He glanced at the book on the table for a moment and wanted to reach out to grab it, but someone calmly held his wrist.

A slender hand with distinct joints clasped her delicate wrist. Xiao Yingzhu's reaction speed was much faster than hers. The strength he held on to her was neither light nor heavy, but it made Jiang Nian's heart palpitate. It was as if an electric current flashed through her body, causing her hand to tremble.

Noticing the slight shaking of his wrist, Xiao Yingzhu slowly took the set of books that Tao Yu had given him in two parts. He lowered his eyelids and looked at Jiang Nian carefully, his eyes dark and gloomy, with an oppressive look as if he would not let go unless she said it.

Her ice-cold wrist felt warm in his grip, and that inch of skin felt a completely different temperature from the surrounding area. The burning heat burned from the place where their skin touched to the bottom of her heart. Jiang Nian secretly adjusted her slightly disordered breathing, trying to break free from his hand, but he held it tighter in a way that made it even more difficult to break free without hurting her. After she stopped struggling, he continued to hold her hand neither lightly nor heavily.

Jiang Nian glanced at Xiao Yingzhu angrily and exerted force on his wrist to the side of his body.

"let go."

Xiao Yingzhu remained indifferent. The strength on her wrist did not decrease at all. She remained calm and silent.

“…”

Jiang Nian took a deep breath, and the hand that was not held by him was forced to start twisting the slender fingers on his wrist. This wrestling action was like a child playing childishly. They were both deadlocked over a trivial matter and refused to give in.

Because his arms were shackled and he couldn't pull them back, he could only move closer to Xiao Yingzhu if he wanted to pry her hands apart.

Intentionally or unintentionally, Jiang Nian was forced by this invisible force to get closer to him with nowhere to escape. She lowered her head in response to his indifferent gaze, pursed her lips, paused for a moment on the white fingertips, and reached towards his fingertips half helplessly and half forcedly.

Xiao Yingzhu lowered her eyes, her gaze falling lightly on Jiang Nian's long hair which was half tied up with flowers. Her hair was scattered behind her shoulders, and a few strands were separated to the side because she lowered her head. Her neck looked particularly white and eye-catching under the black hair.

His eyes darkened a little, his expression was calm, he lowered his eyelids lightly, and watched Jiang Nian struggling with his knuckles darkly.

It was really hard to remove the fingertips on Xiao Yingzhu's wrist. He didn't know where Xiao Yingzhu got the strength from. Jiang Nian wanted to give up several times, but there was no reason to back down after entering the battle.

There was silence in the room for a moment.

Under Xiao Yingzhu's gaze, Jiang Nian, who was trying hard to pull his hand away from his wrist, suddenly heard a chuckle above his head.

This chuckle was just as hard to catch as before. It only touched the earlobe teasingly and disappeared in an instant.

“…”

The hand on his wrist didn't move at all. Just now, Jiang Nian loosened his grip on his fingertips after being laughed at again. He wordlessly withdrew his left hand, not intending to continue this childish game. He glared at Xiao Yingzhu, pulled his wrist hard, and said in a deep voice:

"Are you going to loosen up?"

Xiao Yingzhu raised his eyes with interest and touched her wrist with his fingertips provocatively, "Name."

The touch of skin against skin numbed half of Jiang Nian's body. She pursed her lips and looked at him silently.

Seeing the ironclad determination in Jiang Nian's eyes to not give in, she exerted a little strength. The corners of the eyes of this young lady who ran around every day actually turned a little red.

He lowered his voice slightly, half coaxing, half deceiving, extremely deceptive: "Each of you take a step back. You read once, and I'll read once."

“…”Is there any difference?

Xiao Yingzhu just wanted her to read his name so that he could use this excuse as a sign of their closer relationship. Then, through this relationship, he would ask her whether she could really understand the simplified Chinese characters in the book, in order to explore her identity.

This thought is really like a winding mountain road, always appearing in unexpected places.

Jiang Nian resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him, and her expression returned to its calm state. She let him continue to hold her hand, and leaned back on the chair with her arm half extended.

"Then hold on to it. When Young Master Qin comes up, who knows who will be left speechless."

Anyway, anyone who sees this posture can tell who is half-forcing whom.

Xiao Yingzhu slowly glanced at their seats and actions at the moment, curled his lips meaningfully, and looked at her with a smile.

"Yeah?"

They had been fighting and playing with each other for a while, openly and covertly. Even though they were a little distant now, her handcuffed hands, her slightly messy hair, and her face flushed with embarrassment and failure in trying could easily be thought of as the starting point for another incident.

Jiang Nian was silent and didn't want to respond.

…

I don’t know what switch was touched, but Xiao Yingzhu seemed like a different person.

Compared with his previous ambiguous attitude, he now had a certain closeness that was as soft as water but could not be ignored. This closeness did not seem to appear out of thin air, but rather slowly emerged after being together day and night, reaching its peak at this moment, thus creating the current scene.

He has always been a man of control.

It's just that the usual casualness and spontaneity weakens this desire for control. Even if you get to know someone better day by day, you will involuntarily let down your guard and ignore his original habits.

Jiang Nian closed his eyes, helpless that what he said did make sense, and glanced towards the door of the noble room.

Outside, a cold, damp wind howled, its rustling rustling seeping through the doorframe into the warm room. The wooden door was shut tight, and no sound could be heard from the nearby stairs.

Qin Lan and Ai haven't come up yet.

My half-raised heart returned to its original position, and the hand on my wrist continued to follow slowly. The warm and cool palm and the cold arm were in contact for a long time. Now the touch was no longer as obvious as before, and I felt a bit accustomed to it. My body and limbs were also much more relaxed.

Jiang Nian breathed a sigh of relief, her temper inexplicably subdued. She really wondered if Xiao Yingzhu had studied her personality or habits... Otherwise, how could she always calm down her temper just when she was a little angry, and still continue to carry on as planned?

She shook her hand, her temper gone, and she became the dignified and calm eldest lady of Liangdu Pharmacy again. Her eyes were calm without any ripples, as if she was not the one who was so angry that she kept twisting Xiao Yingzhu's fingers like a child.

During the moment of silence between them, Xiao Yingzhu inadvertently changed the strength of his hand, holding her wrist with one hand, and flipping a few pages of the book with his free hand.

His eyebrows were slightly lowered, and the bright white light outlined the shadows of his facial features. The room was quiet and peaceful. Just looking at him leaning back in the chair and turning the pages of a book, with a calm and leisurely look, Jiang Nianzhen felt as if he was back in a modern library at this moment, studying in the library with a second-generation official who appeared from nowhere.

The words in the white paper sent by Tao Yu were still simplified Chinese, but the styles of some characters were somewhat similar to those of the Huan Dynasty, and the sentences were short. Xiao Yingzhu had a high talent for learning. He asked questions casually and applied them to other situations. Except for some characters that were added later or were completely different from those of the Huan Dynasty, he almost understood all the "Book of Answers to Life".

I don’t know how many cups of tea had passed, but when I finished reading one of the books, the fog outside, which had been bright and seemed to never dim, actually dissipated a little, and I could see some green shadows of the green mountains.

The afterglow of the setting sun enveloped the mountain, blending with the green through the mist, sparkling in Jiang Nian's eyes.

Xiao Yingzhu withdrew her hand at this time, lazily stacked the two books together, and put them back in front of Jiang Nian.

This temptation was completed half-heartedly.

Afterwards, Jiang Nian thought about it and couldn't clearly tell who took the first step back, which allowed them to hold hands and lean against each other, and bypass the question of whether they could understand the simplified Chinese characters. They tacitly left a mark of the post-era in each other's hearts.

This moment of leisure time for reading seems to foreshadow the last dawn before the storm. This ship is about to arrive at Akagi.