Zhu Jiayu stopped and looked up at him: "I guess he likes it. In any case, if Lord Wei gives it to me, I would be happy to accept it."
Wei Qinglou looked down at her. She smiled, her eyes shimmering with tears, and the tip of her nose was slightly red from the wind. She looked pitiful yet adorable.
Unconsciously, his heart seemed to skip a beat. Before he could even think about what she meant, he hurriedly gave her the winter plum blossoms he had prepared.
Zhu Jiayu took the flower and brushed aside the leaves on the stem: "Just one? There are so many left, who does Lord Wei intend to give them to?"
Wei Qinglou was confused: "Huh?"
“Lord Wei, I am very greedy,” Zhu Jiayu said as she walked forward, holding the flower branch. “But I am also stingy. I want the greatest benefit, but I am only willing to pay the least cost. I’m asking you for this, and this is what I’m giving you, but what I want is far more than just this one flower. Will you give it to me?”
Wei Qinglou nodded.
"You nodded without even asking me what I wanted?" Zhu Jiayu asked him with a smile.
Wei Qinglou gave a soft "hmm".
He was willing to give her anything she wanted.
"Then I'll ask you again, Lord Wei, you have so many winter plum blossoms, but you only gave me one. Who are you going to give the rest to?"
Without hesitation, Wei Qinglou presented the bouquet to her, his voice low and deep: "I chose the most beautiful one for you; I won't give the rest to anyone else."
Perhaps it will be thrown away, or perhaps it will be taken back to the mansion and put in a vase.
But no one will ever receive a second branch from him.
Zhu Jiayu smiled with satisfaction, took the bouquet from his hands, and hugged it to her chest: "That won't do. What I want must be much more than what others have. Even if it's not as beautiful, it doesn't matter."
"But if I don't want it, will you give it to someone else?" She looked down at the winter plum blossom in her hand and asked him with a faint smile.
Wei Qinglou shook his head: "No."
After a while, he remembered what Shujian had told him, "You should say what's on your mind," so he said to Zhu Jiayu, "I bought them originally to give to you. If you don't want them, what's the point of giving them to someone else?"
"Flowers are like this, and so are people?" she said, turning to look at Wei Qinglou.
A flicker of panic crossed Wei Qinglou's face. He fell silent, unsure of what to say.
Actually, he had considered speaking up, but he couldn't forget what he overheard Zhu Jiayu and Lüzheng saying in Songjiang:
"Relationships are like fruit. After a while, they slowly start to rot until they're completely ruined. Some people will compromise, thinking that if you remove the bad parts, the good parts will still be edible. But I can't do that. I only want the whole thing. Whether it's fruit or relationships."
"But there is no fruit that will never rot, nor is there any emotion that will remain unchanged forever."
He then realized that Zhu Jiayu didn't believe in sincerity. She was skeptical, even resistant.
So he never made it clear, he just wanted to stay by her side in a way that she could accept.
But he didn't expect that Zhu Jiayu would discover his feelings so quickly.
He was powerless to refute or deny it.
So he could only remain silent and wait to be judged.
"If you don't say anything, I'm leaving." Zhu Jiayu waited for a while, but didn't hear a reply, so she made a move to leave.
Wei Qinglou couldn't hold on any longer and closed his eyes briefly. "Yes."
"Whether you want it or not, what I want to give you, I will never give to anyone else. This is true of plum blossoms, and it is also true of people."
Zhu Jiayu turned to look at him: "Lord Wei, I am very pleased that you say that."
She was a very open and honest person, her love and hate were both straightforward. She thought Wei Qinglou was a good person, and coincidentally, Wei Qinglou also liked her. She thought there couldn't be a better thing.
She had once loved Rong Heng, only to be betrayed by him. Yet, at this moment, she still felt she was willing to try again. She was willing to believe that Wei Qinglou and Rong Heng were different.
She is ready to love, and she is willing to give him her trust and lasting affection.
Wei Qinglou was taken aback by her words. He met her gaze, his breath hitched, and then a wave of ecstatic joy surged through his heart.
"You...I, Zhu Jiayu," he stammered, taking a deep breath, still unable to believe what he was hearing, "Do you know what you're saying?"
He calmed down, his dark eyes looking intently at the girl in front of him, and said in a hoarse voice, "You...you need to explain yourself clearly, otherwise I will misunderstand."
"What misunderstanding? You think I like you, that I'm in love with you?" Zhu Jiayu pressed on, asking him in return.
Wei Qinglou awkwardly looked away and slowly hummed in agreement.
“You didn’t misunderstand.” Zhu Jiayu smiled and handed him back the most beautiful winter plum blossom he had just picked out. “You gave me a peach, I returned a precious jade.”
Wei Qinglou reached out and took the wax plum blossom. He accidentally touched her fingertips and quickly withdrew his hand as if he had been burned by something.
His earlobes turned slightly red, and he spoke almost word by word: "It's not a repayment, but a promise of lasting friendship."
Zhu Jiayu chuckled softly, and using her wide sleeves as cover, reached out to hook his finger.
Wei Qinglou stood there, stunned, feeling as if he were dreaming. He dared not move, afraid that he would wake up from the dream if he wasn't careful.
"elder sister?"
A clear, melodious young voice came from behind them. Zhu Jiayu quickly withdrew her hand, and Wei Qinglou also came to his senses.
He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief; it wasn't a dream after all.
Zhu Jiayu had already turned around and looked at the person who had come in: "It's A-Xing."
Jiang Shaoxing glanced coldly at Wei Qinglou beside her, then looked up and smiled sweetly at Zhu Jiayu: "It's me. I saw your back from afar just now and it looked like you, so I came over. Luckily, I wasn't mistaken."
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