Chapter 23
Zhu Yun kept pressing her for details about Long Aotian's background, and Luo Yan could only lie and say that he was the protagonist of a storybook. Unexpectedly, he looked shocked after hearing this: "You've always liked gentle and kind scholars."
"That's ancient history," Luo Yan said dismissively.
"..." Zhu Yun paused for a moment to process what he was saying, then casually said, "Then lend me Long Aotian's storybook later."
She squinted at the boy's expression, a certain guess forming in her mind, and said with a smile, "Ah Yun, you wouldn't be jealous of even storybooks, would you?"
"Absolutely impossible." Zhu Yun denied it outright; he had only learned it to make her happy.
After all that commotion, her anger had mostly dissipated. Luo Yan hummed a little tune on his back, letting the early winter wind brush against her cheeks.
At the foot of the mountain, a dark-skinned, shirtless man was waiting for a long time, leading two fine horses.
She glanced at Zhu Yun in surprise, and he smiled and said, "I specially asked someone to buy it from Long County. It is said to be the most docile."
She recognized the brown horse; Zhu Yun often rode it to town. Because it would be troublesome to take care of it back in the village, it was kept by a farmer, and the farmer would settle accounts at the end of each month.
Upon seeing Zhu Yun, the brown horse flung off its reins to greet him. The white horse followed closely behind; it was much shorter, with a gleaming coat, and easily captured Luo Yan's heart.
The man was the farmer's eldest son. He bowed to the two strangers, put on his straw raincoat, and went home.
Luo Yan couldn't wait to pet the little white horse and bond with it, then casually asked, "Long County is quite a distance from here. Since you bought it a long time ago, why didn't you tell me?"
"Why should I tell you?" he asked, seemingly puzzled. "One brown horse is enough for you and me."
She was in high spirits and didn't want to argue, so she suggested, "Let's give them names."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yun's lips twitched slightly, thinking to herself that if she were asked to name them, they would either be "Fourth Sister" or "Fifth Sister" or "Little White and Little Brown".
But Luo Yan said, "Let's call the white horse 'Yunpian Gao' and the brown horse 'Tiramisu'."
"What rice cake?"
“Tiramisu.” She took Zhu Yun’s hand and wrote on his palm, stroke by stroke, “This is a pastry from my hometown. If you think it’s too long, you can call it Susu.”
Zhu Yun outwardly agreed, but in reality, she was determined not to call it that in front of others.
"Yunpian Gao, from now on I am your master." Luo Yan turned her head and urged, "Call Su Su also, it likes you so much."
"......"
He helped Luo Yan onto the horse, "Let's go."
Although there were two horses, they still rode together. Luo Yan looked up in confusion and saw only the boy's sharp jawline.
Actually, she was quite familiar with horseback riding, having accompanied Zhu Yun on numerous trips between the village and town. But Zhu Yun must have had his reasons for doing this, perhaps for safety reasons?
Luo Yan convinced herself and was about to lean on him for a nap as usual when the phrase "as fast as your heartbeat" suddenly popped into her head.
Immediately afterward, her heartbeat seemed to respond urgently, gradually increasing in frequency. Her back stiffened instantly, and she deliberately straightened up, trying to distance herself from the boy.
However, Zhu Yun reached out and pulled her into his arms, his palm pressed against her lower abdomen. At the same time, a deep voice, somewhere between a boy and a man, whispered in her ear, "Are you cold?"
"Knock knock knock".
Luo Yan's heart pounded like a drum.
Especially since her back was pressed tightly against Zhu Yun's chest, even though the sound of horses' hooves and the wind could mask it to some extent, the trembling of her body was still directly transmitted to him.
He raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on the girl's bright red earlobes, and after a few moments, he suddenly realized:
Yan Yan is shy again. Yan Yan must really admire me.
Soon, the trembling of her chest caused by laughter intertwined with her heartbeat, and Luo Yan's body became increasingly stiff. She simply covered her ears and said, "You're so annoying."
"Say a few more insults."
"......"
Fortunately, a large open space was already in sight. Luo Yan didn't argue with him and said seriously, "I know the basics. Let me wander around by myself."
Zhu Yun did not respond. After helping her onto the white horse, he still refused to let go of the reins, his attitude firm: "I will lead you."
Luo Yan thought it was just to familiarize herself with the road conditions and obediently nodded. But after walking around and around, the other person showed no sign of letting her practice alone.
This reminded Luo Yan of her past life when she was in kindergarten, and her grandfather taught her to ride a bicycle in the same way. He would ride around and around, refusing to let go of the back seat, as if afraid his granddaughter would shatter like glass.
But Grandpa is Grandpa, and Zhu Yun is still a sixteen-year-old boy.
She suppressed a laugh and raised her hand to touch the top of his head.
Zhu Yun: "?"
Luo Yan blinked innocently: "Well, this is the first time I've seen you from this angle, it feels novel."
He has grown tall and slender, and his presence alone gives Luo Yan a great sense of security.
Moreover, she usually looks up at Zhu Yun, but now their positions have been reversed...
Thinking this, she flicked her finger to lift the boy's face.
Zhu Yun nearly tripped and fell flat on her face.
Well, the pebbles and branches have been cleared away. He blew his whistle and rode alongside her on his tiramisu: "Now, it's my turn to follow you."
Having received confirmation, Luo Yan spurred her horse and charged off without hesitation, her clear and melodious laughter spreading in the cold wind.
He silently raised his lips, maintaining a distance of about ten feet.
When she got tired of playing, she finally turned around and waved to Zhu Yun: "When can I ride on the official road?"
"Not today."
"Why?" Luo Yan looked at him with a pitiful expression. "I'm not afraid of the cold, nor am I afraid of pain."
Zhu Yun sneered: "No means no."
She asked suspiciously, "Is it because I was so focused on riding that I neglected you?"
"..." Zhu Yun turned her face away as if trying to cover up her misunderstanding, and said calmly, "It's getting late. Didn't you say you were going to pick a basket of flowers to give to Grandmother?"
"oh."
Return journey.
He tricked Luo Yan into getting closer, and once she fell for it, he openly abducted her from Yunpiangao's back.
Still shaken, Luo Yan found herself in a familiar embrace, broad and strong, carrying the same refreshing scent as her. In a flash, many things connected, and she said, "So that's what you were planning to keep me from practicing on my own."
"Yes." Zhu Yun smiled warmly. "So what?"
She choked back a sob, tilted her head back and glared at him, while Zhu Yun lowered his head in response, allowing her to see the possessiveness in his eyes.
Some people are naturally thick-skinned and don't mind the awkwardness of the position. They lean down and touch their foreheads to hers, saying happily, "The two of us, one horse is enough, isn't it?"
At first glance, it sounds like a discussion, but upon closer examination, it sounds like a threat.
But A-Yun is not that kind of person.
Luo Yan felt ashamed for misunderstanding him and softened her attitude: "The reason I insisted on learning to ride a horse is because I wanted to travel with you to places outside of Linchuan. Maybe we'll go to Cangxi to pay respects to our family first, and then climb mountains, see the sea, and enjoy the scenery of various places."
"With you," she emphasized softly, blushing.
Zhu Yun was stunned for a while, making her think she had said something wrong. Just as she was about to raise her eyes to question him, he blocked her gaze again.
This time I remembered to only cover my brow bone and eyes.
She was quite indignant: "Why can't people watch it?"
The girl's lips pouted, full and rosy, much like the camellia petals that Zhu Yun carefully watered every day. He didn't need to get close to smell the delicate fragrance of the flowers.
But he wanted to get closer.
When the warm breath brushed against Luo Yan's nose, it tickled her so much that she shrank her shoulders and begged for mercy, "Let go of me, my neck is sore."
He seemed to wake from a dream, hovering precariously above, and finally licked his lips with a wistful relish before releasing Luo Yan.
Luo Yan was still thinking about the plan they had just discussed, and asked with great interest, "Ah Yun, my dream is to travel around Dali, what about yours?"
"have no idea."
"You need to know this," she said domineeringly, "What you really want to do is a dream. You love reading martial arts manuals so much, don't you want to be the best in the world?"
His gaze swept over the girl's moving lips, and he gave a mumbled reply.
Luo Yan didn't notice his absent-mindedness and continued, "When we travel, we can be chivalrous and act as a mysterious couple. When we get old, we can go back to town and open a martial arts school."
The words "heroic couple" pulled Zhu Yun back from his wandering thoughts. He abruptly shifted his gaze from her red lips to her eyes.
Her ears burned from the stare, but unwilling to lose face, she feigned a harsh tone: "What do you want?"
As soon as she finished speaking, everything went dark. Then, a young man's gentle kiss landed on her brow, like a feather or a breeze, carrying her soul into the air.
But Zhu Yun quickly stepped back, and the sunlight returned to her eyes, bringing feeling back to her weak legs.
His face was also flushed, and his handsome features revealed a hint of voluptuousness. He said bluntly, "What you said sounds very nice."
"It looks great too."
Luo Yan felt as if her blood was boiling, and she leaned forward to calm her embarrassment with the cool breeze. However, the horse's back was not spacious, and he cheekily pressed himself against her, his nose intimately touching the girl's neck.
She immediately started laughing from the ticklish feeling and forgot to push him away.
The joyful mood lasted until they returned home, where more than a dozen maids, dressed exquisitely in red and green, surrounded the usually quiet courtyard.
"Who are you?" Luo Yan asked coldly.
All the maids turned their heads in unison, and when they saw the two of them, they all showed amazement. Especially when facing the young man in the black robe, they secretly glanced at him a few times, and their ears turned red.
It was Jia Yufang who heard her granddaughter's voice and came out to greet her. She quickly explained in a low voice, "The Wang family has sent someone to propose marriage again. This time, they asked the Sheng family's steward to act as the go-between."
After saying that, he pointed to Zhu Yun and introduced her to the matchmaker and two middle-aged managers who had come with him, "My granddaughter is already betrothed."
Although they falsely claimed to the villagers that they were a family of three, their household registration only listed Jia Yufang and Jia Luoyan, and outsiders from the town were even less aware of Zhu Yun's identity.
Looking at the two of them, who had an extraordinary bearing, like celestial children in a Buddhist temple mural, the matchmaker dared not rush out to act as a monster that would break up the couple, and could only awkwardly take her leave.
Luo Yan didn't take the matter to heart. She handed Jia Yufang a basket of wildflowers as if it were a treasure, and the grandmother and granddaughter chatted and laughed as they went into the house.
Only Zhu Yun remained where he was. He saw the two stewards leading the maids down the western slope, while the matchmaker went alone to the south. Listening closely, he could faintly hear angry male voices, and there was more than one.
Something's not right.
He went back to his room, retrieved two bottles of medicine and a dagger, and quietly followed them.
*
Luo Yan changed into dry clothes, but when she went out, Zhu Yun was nowhere to be found.
"Appearing and disappearing like a ghost." She pouted, picked up her newly acquired slingshot, and said to the busy figure in the east kitchen, "Grandmother, I'm going to the Changsheng family."
Jia Yufang replied, "Go quickly and come back quickly."
The weather was getting colder and colder, and Qingyuan Village became deserted. Luo Yan walked a hundred steps away and saw no passersby, but she saw her third sister suddenly pop out from the haystack.
She ran over laughing, saying, "You! I was wondering why I couldn't find you anywhere."
However, the third sister's eyes widened, her pupils emitting a ghostly green light. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a rain of numbers from a science fiction movie.
Luo Yan's heart nearly stopped. She tentatively reached out to it and said anxiously, "Don't scare me."
Just then, an electronic notification sound exploded in my ear—
"Ding, signal connected."
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