The shrike glanced at the bush, then touched his paws, clearly annoyed by the thorns on the thornberry bush. But he said something else: "Look at you, you've done nothing but eat a few berries. You're asking for your life! Those are overripe berries. If you don't finish them, they won't keep for even half a day. They'll rot sooner or later."
Xiao Nan turned around and ignored him, thinking: I'd rather it rot outside than inside your stomach.
Just like that, her eyes happened to fall on a carriage not far away.
The carriage was silent, except for the occasional breeze that blew up a corner of the curtain on the window. Who would have thought that there was a person sitting inside?
This person doesn't seem to like getting off the car and walking around. Along the way, except when it was necessary, the number of times he got off the car could probably be counted on two hands.
Xiao Nanhui often felt puzzled as to how anyone could endure staying in such a small and crowded space for so long.
She didn't want to bother him at first, but somehow she remembered how he looked when he was sick before, and she felt a little sorry for him. She wondered if he had recovered. After all, he had caught a cold because he saved her.
Looking at the fruit in his pocket, Xiao Nanhui quickly walked to the carriage and raised his hand to knock on the window.
After a moment, the indigo curtain was lifted, revealing half of a still pale face. He looked at Xiao Nanhui without saying a word when he saw her face.
She hesitated for a moment, picked out the fullest and brightest fruit from the fruits in her pocket, and handed it to the man.
Zhongli stared at the fruit with his dark pupils for a while, then spoke slowly.
"What's this?"
Xiao Nanhui raised the fruit a little higher.
"Pengsu, a wild fruit from the mountains, is ripe now. Try some."
The man didn't move, just looked up and down at the bright red fruit, as if examining whether it was really edible. For a moment, Xiao Nanhui even thought that time had stopped.
Forget it, this person must have lived a life of luxury, so why would he eat these strange fruits in the mountains? She had just made the shrike angry and confused, so she thought of doing this.
Just as she was about to take back the gift she had suddenly given him, Zhongli finally moved. He slowly leaned forward, and the golden light from the shade of the tree fell on his face, dancing because of the wind.
Xiao Nanhui was stunned.
He didn't take it with his hands, but came over directly, opened his mouth and took the fruit from her fingertips.
The other person's movements were so graceful that Xiao Nanhui's fingers neither touched his teeth nor his lips. At most, a little warm breath passed by, but the feeling was a bit strange, so she subconsciously retracted her hand.
In fact, it only took a moment, and Zhongli Jing's face had returned to the shadow behind the car window. He seemed to be gently chewing the taste of the fruit. A little red juice lingered on his lips, adding a bit of vitality to his face.
Xiao Nanhui blinked, trying to break the strange atmosphere: "How is it? Doesn't it taste good?"
There was a pause, and then he slowly uttered three words: "A bit sour."
"Sour? No, I'm good at picking fruits." Xiao Nanhui didn't believe it and picked a few more from the cloth bag. After tasting one to confirm, he handed the rest to Zhongli Jing, "Try these."
This time the man seemed even more silent. His gaze moved from the fruit to Xiao Nanhui's face, with a strange look on his face.
This wasn't the first time Xiao Nanhui had looked into those eyes, but every time, she couldn't quite discern the emotion within them. Sometimes, she wondered: perhaps those beautiful eyes never held any emotion at all.
But this time, she clearly saw something.
But the thing flashed by so quickly that she didn't know if she could catch it in time.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Ding Weixiang's voice suddenly sounded behind him, and Xiao Nanhui was startled. Thinking that if this man knew that he had given his master some strange things to eat, who knows how he would frame him, Xiao Nanhui's first reaction was to retract his hand and "destroy the evidence."
Unexpectedly, the man in the car was faster than her and had already grabbed all the fruits in his hands. At the end, he showed an impeccable smile as if nothing had happened.
"Master Yao said this carriage is very stuffy and asked me to lift the curtain to get some fresh air."
Xiao Nanhui nodded in agreement. Ding Weixiang walked up doubtfully, looked around, and seemed to find nothing wrong, so he handed the freshly drawn water to Zhongli Jing.
Seeing this, Xiao Nanhui quickly found an excuse to leave.
"Isn't it time to get going? I'll go get the Shrike."
She walked quite a distance away, but Ding Weixiang's gaze was still like a leech on her back. After much deliberation, she decided to confirm again: "Master... were you really alright just now?"
Zhongli didn't even raise his eyelids: "What could it be?"
Ding Weixiang thought of what Xiao Nanhui had said just now by the river, and couldn't help but remind her, "Miss Xiao, I don't know your identity. You should be more careful about some things."
Zhongli didn't say anything for a while. He lowered his head and took a sip of the water in the water bag. The river water was cool and diluted the taste of taro in his mouth.
The fruit was not sour at all, but for some reason, he felt a momentary nausea and wanted to know her reaction.
He was rarely curious about people. Was that a good thing or a bad thing now?
"That's the stupid part, but also the interesting part." Zhongli actually supported his forehead with a childish smile between his brows.
Ding Weixiang saw it and was stunned.
He had been with this man for more than ten years and hadn't seen him look like this in a long time.
Zhongli seemed to notice and glanced up at him: "What's wrong? Looking at me like that?"
Ding Weixiang shook his head: "Nothing, I just feel that the master seems to be more emotional than before."
The smile that still remained on Zhongli's lips disappeared in an instant, replaced by a chilling coldness.
"Perhaps, I shouldn't have saved her that day." Zhongli Jing's eyes fell on the woman who was playing with the Shrike not far away, and he said word by word: "Anyone who disturbs my mind should be killed."
Ding Weixiang was shocked. He almost forgot how unpredictable the person in front of him was. He had no idea how much truth or falsehood the words he said were.
The warm wind blew away the cold sweat on his forehead, but the man's voice gradually returned to calm.
"Never mind, it hasn't come to that. Just consider it a favor to Xiao Zhun. The Qinghuai Marquis's Mansion has always been deserted, how could I let people feel disappointed and disappointed?"
He was holding those pomegranates in his hands, and the fuzz on the fresh fruits scratched his palms, making him feel a little itchy.
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