In Huaijiang Bureau, Chu Zhishui always felt that the atmosphere around her was different after returning from Qiwu. Jin Yu was the same as before, but when she occasionally ran into Hong Ximing and other demons, she found that they were more gossipy and had not even covered up recently.

In the corridor, Chu Zhishui saw Hong Ximing face to face and greeted him with a smile, and the two chatted about their recent situation again.

Hong Ximing winked at Chu Zhishui and hinted, "Xiao Chu, I found out about the situation when you came back from Qiwu. Has your personal problem been solved?"

Chu Zhishui laughed dryly, "Sister Hong, you are joking. What is solved? You must have misunderstood."

"Oh, are you embarrassed?" Hong Ximing said hurriedly, "Okay, then I won't say anything. I know you are shy."

"..."

Chu Zhishui found that the other party was full of teasing, and she felt more and more scalp numb. Hong Ximing used to chat with her in a roundabout way. Ever since he talked to her about the criteria for choosing a spouse, he was inexplicably convinced of something. These two days, he was just short of naming names. After

the two sides exchanged greetings, Chu Zhishui quickened her pace and rushed to the Economic Development Department in a flash, not daring to stay in the corridor any longer.

In the office, she walked in a hurry and ran into Xin Yunmao head-on.

He had broad shoulders and long legs, blocking the intersection and almost causing her to bump into him. Especially when he saw her rushing towards him, he did not avoid or give way, as if he was waiting for a car crash.

Chu Zhishui quickly slowed down and barely brushed past Xin Yunmao. She found that he was still not moving, so she simply turned sideways and passed by, casually complaining: "Have you been wandering around in front of me these two days?"

She had often seen Xin Yunmao before, but never like these two days, even when she got up to get water or went out to get something, she could see him passing by in her field of vision.

"Really?" Xin Yunmao asked casually, but he had actually been glancing at her with his peripheral vision, his eager heart about to jump out of his chest, "Do you always think of me?"

"..."

Very good, now she was not sure whether he was just trying to make his presence felt, or whether she was always observing him too sensitively.

Chu Zhishui did not dare to dwell on this topic, and hurriedly walked away as if she had not heard anything.

Xin Yunmao witnessed this scene, on the one hand he hoped that she would notice, and subconsciously circled around her, on the other hand he was so nervous that he did not know where to start. After all, the time for the flower to bloom was inexplicably delayed by Long Yan, and now when he recalled what happened on her birthday, he realized that he had missed the best opportunity. He

did not know that he could not bloom at that time, and he had never thought about it in this regard, and actually replied "I don't know".

The embarrassment of this incident was no less than his initial misunderstanding that she liked him. It seemed that all his dark history was related to her.

At home, Chu Zhishui sat around the table with his parents for dinner, chatting while eating.

Chu Xiaohe suddenly remembered something. He quickly put down his chopsticks, took the mobile phone beside him, and said to his wife and daughter: "By the way, didn’t I go to your new house to put the bedding yesterday? Guess what I saw?"

Chu Zhishui was confused and said: "Dad, where did you go yesterday?"

"Yes, I saw something interesting, right in your yard..." Chu Xiaohe smiled and said, "I took pictures."

"In my yard? And took pictures?" Chu Zhishui's heart suddenly skipped a beat, thinking to herself that Xin Yunmao might have been photographed, then she couldn't explain it clearly.

"Yes, look, it's bamboo." He pointed the screen of his mobile phone at her so that she could see the photo, and said with interest, "The bamboo is blooming."

Chu Zhishui's palms were sweating when she heard the first half of the sentence. When she looked at the green bamboo forest in the photo and heard the hint of the second half of the sentence, she held her breath and said in a daze, "...blooming?"

"Yes, it's the first time I've seen it, it's really interesting." Chu Xiaohe enlarged the photo with his fingers and handed it to Xie Yan to admire, "Look, it's so interesting."

"Indeed, I haven't seen it either."

"Did you ask someone to transplant this? That should be an old bamboo, new bamboo doesn't bloom."

The bamboo flowers are not brightly colored, but rather small granules hanging down, swaying among the leaves in the breeze, and you can't find them without careful observation. It hides quietly in the bamboo forest, and at first glance, the colors are integrated.

While her parents were still chatting and asking questions with smiles, she felt the voices in her ears gradually faded. Her thoughts had long drifted to who knows where. She just nodded mechanically, her heart was empty.

He said that the bamboo in the yard cannot bloom because it is a part of him.

The next day, Chu Zhishui had something on her mind. She did not go to eat with Jin Yu during lunch break. Instead, she said she had something to deal with and waited for the other party to leave.

When Xin Yunmao heard this, his eyes flickered. He also did not go out. He sat behind her and stared at her carefully.

The atmosphere really sounded like they had some unspeakable secret in the office.

After Jin Yu left, Chu Zhishui stood up.

Xin Yunmao's slender fingers tapped on the table, looking like he was playing the piano. He pretended to be calm on his face, but his heartbeat was speeding up.

"I have something to ask you." Chu Zhishui took a deep breath, she turned her head and glanced at him, whispering, "Are you blooming?"

Xin Yunmao suddenly didn't dare to look her in the eye. He put his hands away from the table, leaned back subconsciously, and said almost inaudibly, "Yes."

Even though he was mentally prepared, Chu Zhishui was still stunned: "Didn't you say that you can't bloom?"

He moved his eyes to the window, pretending to look at the scenery, and said in a muffled voice, "I couldn't help it."

It was summer, and the office was left with the cool air of the air conditioner, but the ventilated windows let in the hot summer wind. The sticky and hot breeze rushed in, colliding with the cold air indoors, giving people a feeling of hot and cold.

They didn't speak for a while, being tortured by the changing temperature repeatedly.

"So..." Chu Zhishui was silent for a long time. With a final hope in her heart, she said in a hoarse voice, "Will the power really be greatly weakened?"

Xin Yunmao was calm and said, "Well, it has already started."

His evil spirit dissipated with the blooming of flowers, and if it produced seeds, it would weaken even faster.

"What should we do? Is there no way?" Chu Zhishui asked anxiously, "Such as stop blooming, or something else..."

"Why stop blooming?" Xin Yunmao was surprised by her expression change, and said, "Why are you so panicked?"

"How can I not panic?" Chu Zhishui was about to retort, but she stopped talking in an instant, looked at him suspiciously, and stammered, "Isn't your blooming due to... me..."

Xin Yunmao has been guessing her reaction to learning that it bloomed recently. On the one hand, he was very happy and wanted to show it to her, but on the other hand, he was worried that she didn't like it. However, he never expected that she would let him stop blooming.

Her expression was different from what he guessed.

He suddenly felt a little breathless, and even his throat became dry: "It bloomed for you, but so what?"

Chu Zhishui said in embarrassment: "You are starting to weaken now. I must think of some way. I can't just let it go..."

A huge loss surged like a tide, as if it suddenly drained away all his strength. His demonic aura had been fading since he blossomed, but it was not like this moment. He only felt that even the skeleton supporting his body was shattered, which was a hundred times more unbearable than the burning of the black dragon flame.

His heart seemed to be crushed suddenly, leaving a patch of broken red.

"Why not?" Xin Yunmao lowered his eyes, folded his hands, and said in a calm voice, "Are you pitying me? Because I bloom for you, you have to take responsibility and find a way to solve all this."

She trembled and said, "It's not pitiful, it's just..."

"Just feel it's not worth it, or something else?" He raised his eyes and stared at her, his eyes like stars in the night sky, like a peaceful inquiry, but also like a hidden plea, "After knowing that I bloomed, are you not happy at all? Even a little bit."

Chu Zhishui was silent.

She was also flustered now, and didn't know how to answer for a while, she just felt a mess in her head.

Blooming and bearing seeds is a countdown, he who was omnipotent began to face weakness, and it was she who caused all this to happen.

How could she be happy?

Seeing that she was silent, Xin Yunmao's eyes were completely dim and empty.

This was not what he wanted.

He had decided in his heart to change and become like her, but he didn't expect that she had a different idea.

She had never planned to occupy all the remaining time with him, and she had even prepared to leave.

He might be in her hundred years, but she never forced him to spend the rest of his life with her.

"I don't need your pity, nor do I need your heartache. Blooming is my own choice, and it has nothing to do with you."

Xin Yunmao frowned, his heart felt like being stabbed repeatedly by a sharp blade, and like ice spikes stirring back and forth in his body, but his tone suddenly became tough: "Even if my demonic energy is greatly weakened, I am still better than those people who eat dry food, and I can still live for hundreds of years. You have no demonic energy and only a hundred years to live, why do you think you can pity me?"

He looked straight at her and said coldly: "I am a monster, and you are a human, you pity the wrong person!"

He thought she was perfect and perfect, and looked forward to being completely dependent on her, but she thought it was not good.

He didn't expect that she would be the one who silently refuted his beliefs in the end.

Xin Yunmao stood up and left. He really couldn't face her. He was completely on the verge of collapse. He always felt that if he stayed for another second, he would be overwhelmed by the sadness spreading to his chest, and he would fall down completely if he said another word.

Chu Zhishui looked at his cold and upright back, like the top of a steep and cold snow-capped mountain, revealing an unapproachable sharpness.

The tall and thin figure finally disappeared at the door.

He hadn't shown such a distant expression for a long time. He cried out in pain when the Dragon Flame was mentioned, and deliberately shouted in pain on the plane, always hoping to be coaxed by others, but when he was really in pain, he didn't say a word and endured it with gritted teeth.

She was not hurt by his harsh and direct words. She knew that his pain was a hundred times greater than hers. She put on a nonchalant and cold look, but she was just hiding the trembling in her heart, just like a strong wind whistling through the bamboo forest. The bamboo poles seemed to be as stable as Mount Tai and the grains were motionless, but the bamboo leaves had been rustling because of the wind, as if they were calling out, "Look at me, hug me, I feel so bad."

Since that day, it has not been easy for Chu Zhishui to find Xin Yunmao. She wanted to talk to him, but he always avoided her. Jin Yu was in the room during working hours, and he disappeared immediately during breaks, so it was difficult for both parties to have a chance to communicate.

In the cafeteria, Hong Ximing was standing at the long buffet table getting food. She saw Chu Zhishui coming to get the food, so she took the initiative to reach out and say hello.

Hong Ximing chatted idly: "I haven't seen the God recently."

Chu Zhishui thought of Xin Yunmao who was hiding from the cat, and said numbly: "He is avoiding me."

"Ah?" Hong Ximing was confused, "I thought he would be in front of you every day?"

Chu Zhishui: "Why?"

Hong Ximing: "Don't you know that he has bloomed?"

Chu Zhishui sighed: "I know, that's why he is hiding from me."

"Impossible." Hong Ximing hesitated, "Xiao Chu, you wouldn't say that his flowers are not beautiful or something?"

"Of course not." Chu Zhishui said, "Sister Hong, why do you suddenly ask this?"

Hong Ximing blinked: "Plant monsters bloom basically to seek mates. Unless you dislike him, he will circle around you and find ways to let you see him."

He did so not long ago.

Chu Zhishui's face turned red at the word "courtship": "But isn't flowering a meaningless behavior? It also consumes the plant itself?"

"What you said is also meaningless for humans to send flowers and gifts, and we have to spend money on it. It's the same principle." Hong Ximing said, "This is human thinking. According to this logic, how do you view species where males are eaten by females?"

Chu Zhishui said weakly: "We think that male mantises are sacrifices and dedications."

Hong Ximing: "You really take it for granted. Have you asked the mantis demon? Don't impose your emotional colors on other species."

I'm sorry, humans have always loved to express their emotions through objects. Isn't this blowing the bamboo fluttering?

Chu Zhishui: "I didn't say the flower is not beautiful, but let it stop blooming..."

"Then he will understand that you are not interested in him." Hong Ximing suddenly realized, "his self-esteem is hurt." "

..."

It must be said that Hong Ximing provided Chu Zhishui with a new perspective, and she began to understand Xin Yunmao's thoughts.

She was thinking about his weakening demonic energy, but he was thinking about his confession being rejected. Maybe blooming also represents a kind of joy for plants, but she poured a basin of cold water on him directly, as if telling the person she has a crush on, "Don't like me, I'm not worth it." The secret admirer thinks that

the statement is a fact, but the secret admirer is heartbroken after hearing it.

Chu Zhishui couldn't wait for the opportunity on weekdays, and finally made it to the weekend to have a good chat.

The courtyard is lush with vegetation, the ancient vine rocking chair is still under the eaves, but the wooden shelf is empty, as if he had never been there again.

Chu Zhishui stood in the courtyard, facing the void, and whispered, "Xin Yunmao, let's talk."

No one responded, and there was silence, except for the rustling of bamboo leaves.

Chu Zhishui raised her eyebrows, knowing that he had a bad temper, and simply called him repeatedly.

"Xin Yunmao."

"Yunmao."

"Mao."

The sound became shorter and shorter, and finally he was called out.

In the black crack, Xin Yunmao finally appeared hesitantly. He looked at Chu Zhishui in the yard, keeping a distance from her. Finally, he crossed his arms and half sat on the ancient rattan rocking chair, his eyes flashing slightly, and said: "What to talk about?"

"Talk about your blooming." Chu Zhishui glanced at the bamboo forest. She saw the drooping small flowers and exclaimed, "There are really a lot of them."

Chu Xiaohe took photos, but she went to work not long ago, and today was the first time she saw it in person.

The real bamboo flowers are much more lush than in the photos, or maybe they have bloomed more recently.

Xin Yunmao said stubbornly, "I won't talk."

Chu Zhishui curled her lips and advised in a good-tempered manner, "Can you put aside your emotions and talk calmly?"

Xin Yunmao felt very awkward, "No."

She said patiently, "Let's talk about reason..."

He turned his head and said decisively, "I don't need your pity, and I don't need you to be responsible!"

"Why should I pity you, and why should I be responsible for you?" Chu Zhishui was irritated by his disobedient attitude. She was instantly furious. Her psychological construction collapsed in a second. She raised her voice and said, "No, let's analyze it from the beginning. Am I playing with your feelings or your body? Do you want to show me this?"

She wanted to have a serious conversation, but he just wanted to piss her off!

Xin Yunmao was shocked by her voice, his pupils also trembled, and he looked at a loss.

Chu Zhishui saw that he finally responded, so she immediately took advantage of the situation and asked angrily: "Who said that he couldn't respond to human emotions, who was the one who shouted every day that humans and monsters would have a bad end, and who was sitting here saying that he couldn't bloom and would never be tempted!"

"You know that blooming will weaken you, why did you rush to provoke me!?"

She didn't understand the situation before, but he was obviously not innocent. He had been doing strange things and trying every way to tease her!

Xin Yunmao's lips trembled and he wanted to speak, but he was directly silenced by her retort. He was hit hard by a series of attacks, and his face flushed with embarrassment in an instant. His whole body was on fire. He recalled all the words he had said in the past, and the countless stupid things he had done in the past. He wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into!

She forced him to recall a wave of dark history on the spot, which simply forced him to want to escape like a wolf!

"Tsk tsk, I don't even want to talk about the shit you did in the past. It's all so confusing and I can't figure it out." Chu Zhishui became more and more annoyed as she spoke. Seeing that he was still stiffly tilting his head, she said dissatisfiedly, "Can you look at me when you talk, don't make it seem like I'm bullying you. Is there anything I said wrong?"

Xin Yunmao's cold white skin was now completely red, and even his shoulders were shaking slightly unconsciously. He covered his hot face and ears with his fingers, his clear eyes shining, and he still refused to look her in the eye, showing an unyielding attitude: "No, you want to call me out and humiliate me, so go on."

She wanted to torture him on the spot with the old things, and he had no choice but to accept it.

"You're putting the blame on me again." Chu Zhishui was stung by his words. She was not happy with his stubborn look and sneered, "You have already convicted me. If I don't confirm it, wouldn't I be at a disadvantage?"

"Look at me when you talk. Don't dodge. You've been avoiding me for a few days." She stretched out her hand and straightened his face, forcing him to look at her, smiling and saying, "If telling the truth is humiliating, then what is this? What crime are you going to convict me of?"

Xin Yunmao was forced to turn his chin because of her action. His eyes were as bright as spring tides, staring at her. He pursed his lips tightly now, and his body was obviously very tense, but he turned his head back when she touched him, without making her waste any effort at all.

He was now shy and annoyed, yet seemed full of tenderness, and he even had the illusion that he was letting her do whatever she wanted.

There was only her in his eyes, and her figure was reflected in them.

She was still a little angry, but now when she met his eyes, her anger was instantly extinguished.

She suddenly became silent, as if she was bewitched, and could only stare at him blankly, also slightly pursing her lips.

Seeing that she didn't say anything, Xin Yunmao took her hand, gently squeezed it, rubbed the skin on the side of his face affectionately, and finally kissed her palm. The touch was as soft as a feather, and it even made people feel like an illusion.

When he did all this, he was still looking at her with clear eyes, appearing ignorant, pure and seductive.

Damn, he seemed to be seducing her.

Then, everything went out of control, with only two bodies moving closer and closer.

The moist and warm touch, the blending breath, the tentative steps of walking on thin ice, but it was like countless electric currents running through. It was not a deep plunder, but like a light kiss on the first flower that blooms in winter, with a slightly cool and moist sweet taste. It

was a light taste, with restraint, but when they separated, they couldn't help but gasp, and felt that their internal organs were burning.

It seemed like just a moment, and it seemed like ten thousand years.

He was still looking at her with those eyes, but they were no longer shining brightly, but instead had a light mist, a green and throbbing feeling.

"What are you looking at me for?" Chu Zhishui was stared at by his eyes full of hidden affection. She suddenly became shy and avoided his burning gaze. She muttered, "How many years will you monsters be sentenced for blasphemy?"

A pair of hands gently climbed up her waist, as if slowly tempting her to bend down again.

"One more time, I'll find you not guilty."