Chapter 32 Drawing Eyebrows: His Hands, His Breath
Long live the Wild Boar King! If it weren't for the Wild Boar King, he would have been a third wheel when his partner reunited. The Wild Boar King has truly done a great deed.
Jinlan thought to herself silently.
Qiao Xi noticed that Jin Lan seemed lost in thought, so she nudged him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Jin Lan coughed twice and turned to ask Qiao Xi, "Did the Emperor see you first when he returned?"
Qiao Xi shook her head: "No, he met with his master and the others first."
Jinlan thought for a moment: "You just said that all these things were given to you by the Emperor, then—"
Jinlan suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "Did the Emperor accompany you to the lantern festival?!"
Qiao Xi didn't understand why Jin Lan was so excited. She assumed that Jin Lan admired the Emperor and was excited to hear news about her idol, so she nodded and said, "Yes."
Jin Lan clenched his fists secretly. His pent-up feelings for his partner, which had been building up for days, finally found an outlet. In a moment of impulsiveness, he looked directly at Qiao Xi and asked, "Do you think the Emperor might like you?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Qiao Xi stuffed a rice ball into Jin Lan's mouth. Jin Lan mumbled and whimpered, unable to speak, her face full of question marks.
Qiao Xi became inexplicably anxious: "How can you say that? He is also my master, my elder."
Jinlan pulled the rice ball out of her mouth, eating while looking at Qiaoxi, chewing like a speechless roe deer.
He thought, "Qiao Xi has so many stories in her head, how come she seems so silly when it comes to reality? She can't connect them to reality at all."
Jinlan swallowed the dumpling. He realized that what he had just done was not very good, and he almost revealed the truth about his shipping. He patted Qiao Xi and said, trying to make amends, "Oops, I've just been listening to too many stories."
"You're wiping your hands on my clothes again," Qiao Xi moved aside and explained, "It's just a story."
Jinlan nodded, and after finishing the last dumpling thoughtfully, he couldn't help but sigh. Indeed, the Emperor didn't seem like someone who would be in a relationship, let alone one with Qiao Xi.
But who cares about talking about it later? Let's just enjoy ourselves for now. Maybe one day they'll just invite him to their wedding.
Jinlan started her fully automated mental conjecture again and unconsciously laughed.
Qiao Xi looked at him with disdain: "Are you sick?"
Jinlan snapped out of her daze, looked at Qiao Xi, and shook her head with a smile.
Qiao Xi sat a little further away, resting her chin on her hand and gazing at the distant stars. Neither of them spoke. The night was extremely quiet, with the wind howling and the air filled with the atmosphere of a long winter night.
I wonder if Morax is asleep?
Qiao Xi tucked her hands into her pockets, fiddling with the five jade stones Morax had given her. When she realized she was unconsciously thinking about Morax, her hands paused. She took her hands out, but because they were too cold, she had to put them back on the warm, smooth jade stones.
Qiao Xi looked at Jin Lan and asked, "Jin Lan, what are your dreams?"
Jinlan thought for a moment: "I'll be a Qianyan soldier for life, and live to be eighty!"
Qiao Xi gave Jin Lan a thumbs up: "Great!"
Jinlan smiled and asked Qiao Xi, "And you?"
A cool breeze gently blew the hair on Qiao Xi's cheek. She rested her chin on her hand and looked into the distance: "I want to get into a good school, have a stable job, or win the lottery and just lie down and travel the world."
Jinlan didn't understand a word, but she still cooperated and said, "Okay!"
It was very late, and when no more sounds came from the foot of the mountain, and when the last wisp of smoke on the horizon went out, the two said goodbye.
After returning to the Bamboo Garden, Qiao Xi took a shower, threw herself onto the bed, and struggled to turn over. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she felt something pressing against her. She reached out and touched it; it was the jade stones.
Qiao Xi held it in her hand, staring into the dark air, unable to see anything clearly.
She held the jade in her palm and closed her eyes.
It was a tiring day, yet it felt exceptionally long. On the first day of the new year, with Morax around, Qiao Xi slept soundly and without any dreams, a rare occurrence. However, her hand never left the jade stone.
The next day, Qiao Xi woke up to the sound of firecrackers.
She sat on the bed to recover, put on her clothes, opened the window and looked out. It was already noon, and no one had come to urge her to get up and practice her martial arts.
Qiao Xi was still in a daze when another burst of firecrackers rang out. She belatedly realized that today was the first day of the new year, and everyone was celebrating, so naturally she didn't have to do her homework.
This feeling is very similar to a long break after two weeks of classes, even if it's only for one day. On this day, you don't have to think about anything, no exam results, university majors, or other messy things. You can just be happy.
Qiao Xi sat up with a jolt, ready to dress up nicely before dinner, after all, it was the New Year.
But when she looked for clothes, she couldn't find anything interesting, and in the end she just wore her usual cotton-padded coat.
Since there aren't any new clothes, at least put on some makeup.
It just so happens that Master Liuyun's New Year's gift to her is cosmetics.
Speaking of gifts, Qiao Xi suddenly remembered that she had promised to prepare a gift for Morax during the Chinese New Year. She thought Morax wouldn't be coming back, so she didn't prepare one. Now, she received a gift from Morax, but as a junior, she hadn't prepared one for him.
Now, Qiao Xi couldn't even put on makeup in peace.
We'll definitely be having dinner together tonight, so she needs to finish making the gift before then.
But what gift should I give?
Qiao Xi is skilled in handcrafted mechanisms, but there's nothing particularly good in her room...
Just then, Qiao Xi thought of something. She took out a box from the corner of the room, and found a box at the bottom. She opened the box and found some gold, silver, jade and jewelry inside.
These were the decorations she wore when she traveled back in time as a bride. After changing out of her clothes, she kept them at the very back of her trunk.
Looking at these again now feels like a long time has passed.
This is the best thing Qiao Xi has.
Qiao Xi picked out some items, found some tools, and pondered what she should make for Morax.
As she thought about it, Morax's image unconsciously began to form in her mind, and she had to think about every inch of it carefully.
Qiao Xi suddenly remembered that day at the dinner party, when she exclaimed how beautiful Morax was.
She lowered her head, feeling a strange unease in her heart for some reason.
Qiao Xi picked up her tools and made a safety buckle bracelet before nightfall. The safety buckles were made of jade and there were six of them. She then stretched gold into a gold cord and strung the safety buckles together. However, Qiao Xi did not know Morax's wrist size, so she left a loose buckle and planned to cut it later.
When she finished all that, she belatedly realized that she hadn't put on makeup.
The room was a mess from making bracelets, but she didn't care. She just pushed things aside, washed her hands, and started fiddling with her cosmetics.
During high school, she went without makeup. Although she longed to wear makeup, she wasn't very skilled at it. After casually applying powder to her face, she would get stuck on the step of drawing her eyebrows.
Why?! I just can't draw these eyebrows right!
I used to see beauty bloggers applying makeup so effortlessly, but it seems like she can't do it at all; she even broke the brush tip twice.
Just as Qiao Xi was having a battle of wits with the eyebrows, the door was pushed open, and Qiao Xi turned her head to see Morax.
Night had fallen, and Morax had changed into a new outfit, a slightly brighter amber-gold color. He used to always dress so darkly that this bright color made Qiao Xi a little dazed.
She was still holding an eyebrow pencil in her hand, but subconsciously waved to Morax, the tip of which poked her eye, making her hiss in pain.
Qiao Xi smiled sheepishly, tears still welling in her eyes from the pain. She said, "You came to call me for dinner, right?"
Morax grunted in agreement and walked in. "I was just passing by, so I'll take you with me."
Qiao Xi said, "Can you wait for me a moment? I'll be ready soon."
Morax frowned as he looked at her colorful face, sighed helplessly, and walked closer, reaching out his hand to Qiao Xi.
Qiao Xi stared blankly at Morax's outstretched hand, then looked up at him. Morax's gaze was as deep as a calm sea, and the hem of his golden amber robe carried a faint fragrance in the wind.
As if by some strange twist of fate, Qiao Xi placed her hand in Morax's palm.
Morax was wearing gloves, but you could still feel the warmth of his palms.
Faced with Qiao Xi's action, Morax did not immediately withdraw his hand, but merely frowned slightly and looked down at Qiao Xi's hand placed in his palm.
Her hands were warm.
After a brief standoff, Qiao Xi winked at Morax.
Morax sighed: "Give me the eyebrow pencil."
Qiao Xi suddenly paused. She slowly removed her hand from Morax's palm, her face a little hot, and placed the eyebrow pencil on it.
Looking at the eyebrow pencil in his palm, Morax lowered his eyes slightly. He bent down to face Qiao Xi and gently touched her face with his left hand. Qiao Xi flinched slightly, and Morax reminded her, "Don't move."
They were so close at that moment that Qiao Xi could clearly feel Morax's breath and his faint fragrance.
She murmured an "Mmm," but her heart was beating inexplicably.
Morax held the skin behind Qiao Xi's ear with his left hand, while holding an eyebrow pencil in his right hand, and carefully drew her eyebrows.
The distance is really, really close.
When Morax was drawing Qiao Xi's eyebrows, his gaze was focused on her eyes and brows. Whenever Qiao Xi looked at Morax, it was as if they were staring at each other. She looked away in surprise, even afraid that her breathing would disturb Morax.
The pen tip scraped against her skin, and Morax's hand occasionally brushed against Qiao Xi's eyelashes, causing a slight itch.
After finishing one eyebrow, Morax picked up a handkerchief, wiped Qiao Xi's other eyebrow, and started drawing it again.
Soon, both eyebrows were drawn. Morax looked at Qiao Xi, his gaze gradually moving downwards. He paused slightly and picked up the lip rouge box next to him.
Morax lightly dipped his finger in the mixture and then moved it toward Qiao Xi's lips.
Qiao Xi took a slight breath, sensing what was about to happen, and looked at Morax.
But Morax hesitated for a moment just before touching Qiao Xi's lips. He changed direction and finally placed a dot on Qiao Xi's forehead.
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Author's note: See you tomorrow.
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