Tang Qingyu rushed ahead of the crowd and spotted an empty spot at the bottom of the stone steps. "Sister Jiao, there are fewer people here, let's stay here."
"No one's going to take it from you, what's the rush?" Li Jiao smiled and walked down, while Tang Qingyu reached out her jade hand to greet her. "It's almost midnight, if you miss the appointed time, your prayers won't be effective."
"Hey, hey." Li Jiao grabbed Tang Qingyu's hand, her eyes darting around, a mix of teasing and seriousness in her expression: "Qingyu, such a good opportunity to be alone, why don't you invite your brother Yang Xi along?"
Mentioning this, Tang Qingyu's heart pounded nervously. She lowered her eyes shyly and pursed her cherry lips, "Sister Jiao, isn't this too abrupt?"
Li Jiao was anxious for her, "Silly girl, what's wrong with a woman pursuing the person she likes?"
"This?" Tang Qingyu secretly glanced at the figure above the stone steps. Although she and Brother Yang Xi had known each other since childhood, she was shocked by his expressionless face.
She took a small step forward, then stepped back. "Never mind, I'm already satisfied that Brother Yang Xi is willing to travel with me."
"You, you're such a blockhead, so inflexible. What will you do if Yang Xi gets snatched away by another girl in the future?" Li Jiao was annoyed and wanted to scold her again, but when she saw Tang Qingyu's pitiful tearful eyes, she softened and gently pinched her nose. "If you won't take action, we can only hope that God will lend you a hand."
Shen Yunzhi's gaze followed his wife and Tang Qingyu intently for a while, until his eyes grew dry and tired, and he couldn't help but feel depressed.
“If praying for blessings were effective, my clinic wouldn’t be filled with people crying and shouting every few days.”
Seeing his dejected state, Yang Xi softened his tone: "It's just a wishful thinking, something is better than nothing."
"That's true."
The two men stood on the shore, chatting idly, and the atmosphere gradually cooled down between their words.
Yang Xi looked up and glanced around. His sharp gaze fell on the familiar figure on the opposite bank. He paused for a second, then decisively looked away, pretending nothing had happened.
But after a moment of calm, it feels as if a million ants are crawling on my mind, intentionally or unintentionally tugging at that heartstring.
Yang Xi relaxed his clenched fist, opened his eyes, and silently looked towards the opposite bank again.
At this moment, Zhou Chenyu was praying with her eyes closed, and the frivolous smile on her face was gone.
Yang Xi's furrowed brows, which had been furrowed with tension, gradually relaxed, and the coldness in his sharp eyes faded, his pupils darkening as a rare tenderness and infatuation surfaced.
Seeing Zhou Chenyu alone at the end of the stone steps, Li Xiuju was a little worried and nudged Baoyu, "Quick, go and watch over your sister, don't let her fall into the water."
"Hey." Baoyu walked over, recalling what had just happened, and quickened his pace with a hint of glee. He ran over and squatted down next to Zhou Chenyu. "Sister, you still haven't answered me. What happened between you and Yang Bantou just now?"
The riverbanks were crowded with people. Zhou Chenyu turned her gaze away from the river lanterns and, seeing Baoyu's gossipy face, instantly changed her expression: "Didn't I already tell you? We just met on the road."
"There are so many people on the street, how come you're the only one who ran into me, but I don't? Sister, are you... hiding something from me?" Baoyu leaned back, feigning ignorance.
you?
Zhou Chenyu smiled slightly, "You brat, you refuse a toast but insist on drinking a forfeit, don't you? Do you want a beating?"
"You dare!" Baoyu's eyes widened, and he grinned smugly, "Sister, if you touch a single hair on my head, I'll tell Mother about it and let you bully me."
"Fine? You dare threaten me? I'll shove your head into the river right now to calm you down!" Zhou Chenyu sneered, rolled up his sleeves, and reached out a cold hand toward Baoyu's neck.
When Baoyu saw her eyes and posture, he knew it wasn't fake. "No, no, no, sister, I was wrong, I was wrong. Your hands are cold, cold."
"Where did I go wrong?" Zhou Chenyu's hands had just been splashing water and were as cold as ice. She put them into Baoyu's neck to warm him up, but Baoyu shrank his neck from the cold and stood up to ask Li Xiuju for help.
As he straightened his legs, his panicked eyes swept across the opposite bank, where he saw a figure as straight as a bamboo shoot. Seeing this as a savior, he urged:
"Sister, Chief Yang is watching from across the street. Could you please be a little more quiet and gentle?"
Yang Xi?
Zhou Chenyu withdrew her hand and turned to look at the opposite bank, but her foot slipped on the moss. "Ah!"
Yang Xi saw from the opposite bank that she was about to fall into the water, and in his haste, he immediately let go of the knife he was holding around her.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured and no one fell into the river.
"Sister, are you alright?" Baoyu reacted quickly and grabbed Zhou Chenyu tightly.
"I was just one step away from being soaked to the bone." Zhou Chenyu looked up at the dark river, then, relieved to be safe, looked towards the opposite bank.
Yang Xi concealed the worry in his eyes, silently withdrew his gaze, and acted as if nothing had happened.
As Zhou Chenyu watched this scene, a smile quietly crept onto her lips. "He's worried about me."
"Sister, what are you laughing at?" Baoyu asked, then secretly glanced at the other side, turned to stare at Zhou Chenyu, and chuckled, "Sister, could it be that I'm about to have a brother-in-law?"
Brother-in-law?
The way he called him "brother-in-law" was very pleasant to hear.
Zhou Chenyu's lips curled into an uncontrollable smile, a smug grin spreading across his face. But the thought of the arrogant Baoyu, which he couldn't afford to embolden, instantly turned him on.
"Brother-in-law my foot!"
Baoyu turned and ran, and Zhou Chenyu chased after him.
Shen Yunzhi witnessed the whole thing. At first, he thought it was just a common scene of someone accidentally falling into the water during a festival, nothing special. But when he looked closely at the woman's very familiar face on the other side, a cunning and treacherous smile appeared on his lips.
"Hey, Yang Xi, you're so worried about her?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Xi's face instantly turned cold. "What's wrong with you now?"
Shen Yunzhi sized up Zhou Chenyu across the crowd, a playful smile on his face. "So that's why you, Yang Xi, were so concerned about this woman last time. You investigated countless cases, yet you couldn't even see through her feigned injury. It turns out you two had already developed feelings for each other, and your love had taken deep root. Perhaps you two were just now..."
Yang Xi glared at him angrily, "What do you mean by 'secret feelings' and 'deeply rooted love'? We are completely innocent and have never done anything inappropriate! Shen Yunzhi, don't spout nonsense, or don't blame me for being impolite!"
Shen Yunzhi had known Yang Xi for several years. Given his temperament, even if the sky were to fall, he would remain unmoved.
But now that he's met this woman, he's lost his composure.
That's really rare.
Shen Yunzhi tirelessly circled around to Yang Xi, his wicked smile growing increasingly exaggerated, urgently needing further confirmation:
“Yang Xi, you two… have never done anything out of line, so you must have truly developed feelings for each other.”
Yang Xi looked down at him with disdain, his slightly raised, sharp eyes filled with a chilling coldness.
Shen Yunzhi was so frightened that he took two steps back. If he continued to ask questions, he would definitely suffer the consequences.
But he couldn't resist his curiosity about the woman. He savored the memory of their first encounter, a smile playing on his lips. He blinked innocently and murmured:
“We’re brothers, if you don’t tell me the truth, then I’ll have to ask that woman myself.”
"Shen Yunzhi!" Yang Xi's dark eyes flashed with anger as he grabbed Shen Yunzhi's collar with his large hand, his aura terrifying.
Shen Yunzhi, both shocked and alarmed, observed the furious expression on Yang Xi's face. He finally discovered this earth-shattering secret, and his smile stretched almost to his ears.
"I never expected this, Yang Xi, that you like this kind of woman."
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