Chapter 40: The fireworks haven't faded yet. At this moment, I just want to take a good look at you. ...
Shen Wenji almost choked, and her hand holding the teacup paused slightly, and she looked up.
The woman in front of him was wearing a dark red dress with blood lotuses embroidered on the hem. Her skirt swayed gracefully as she walked, and there was an indescribable strangeness in her beauty.
She approached with a familiar air, revealing her wrist with a golden bell, and picked up the teapot on the table. The clear water flowed into the cup, interweaving with the subtle clinking sounds of the golden bell.
She pushed the poured teacup in front of Shen Wenji, made a gesture of invitation, and her inquiring eyes fell on Shen Wenji without any concealment.
Although Shen Wenji was dressed as a man, with her chest and hair tied up, her slender figure was still very different from that of a man. At this moment, being stared at by this woman with a burning gaze, her heart was beating fast, fearing that her identity would be exposed, and her expression and movements became somewhat uncomfortable.
All these subtle reactions fell into Su Tengyue's eyes. Her eyes darkened a little and asked, "Sir, don't you like tea?"
"No, no." Shen Wenji laughed dryly twice, took the teacup a little stiffly, and his eyes accidentally met with the other person.
She glanced away in panic, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the wall of the cup. She deliberately lowered her voice and asked in a steady male voice, "Who is the girl?"
The woman covered her lips and chuckled softly, and the golden bell rang a few more times. "I am the deputy shopkeeper of this Zuihualou, my name is Su Tengyue. The owner of the building specifically instructed this morning that Master Shen would be coming today, and asked me to wait here first and have a few drinks with him."
As she spoke, she clapped her hands lightly, and several graceful girls came slowly over, holding exquisite wine jugs.
Su Tengyue picked up the wine jug and was about to move closer, when a sweet fragrance blew towards her.
Shen Wenji calmly moved aside to avoid her approach, and said in a flat tone: "No need, I don't have an appointment with the owner of the building, but with my friend, I dare not trouble the girl."
"Friend?" Su Tengyue raised her eyebrows, her eyes slightly turned, and asked casually, "Is it a friend named Xie Yunqing?"
Shen Wenji was a little surprised. She nodded and replied, "Exactly. Does Miss Su know him?"
Su Tengyue lowered her eyes, a gleam of light flashing in them. She curled the corners of her lips slightly and said, "Of course, Mr. Xie is a frequent visitor here, and he has a very good relationship with me and the host."
As she spoke, she took the opportunity to sit down and picked up the wine jug to pour wine for Shen Wenji.
Shen Wenji waved his hand and declined politely: "I'm sorry, I'm not good at drinking."
Su Tengyue's fingertips brushed the back of her hand, and she said with a mixture of anger and resentment, "Master Chen, do you dislike me?"
Her eyes moved, and her tone was aggrieved: "The owner of the building said that Mr. Shen is his honored guest. If I fail to entertain him well, I will be punished."
The wine filled the white jade cup, shimmering in the mottled light and shadow.
Shen Wenji glanced at the wine glass that was forced into his hand, and his heart sank. The girl in front of him with a sweet smile did not look as kind as her face suggested.
In the opponent's territory, she cannot be led by the opponent and must take the initiative.
Shen Wenji picked up the wine glass but did not drink. He met Su Tengyue's inquiring eyes with sharp eyes and asked with a smile: "Miss Su, do you know why my friend and I are here?"
Su Tengyue blinked and pretended to be innocent: "Maybe it's... for the sake of romance? After all, this Zuihualou is a place of romance."
Before Shen Wenji could speak, she said unreasonably: "If you want to spend a night with me, Mr. Shen might as well consider me."
Shen Wenji choked. He didn't expect her to be so bold. He wanted to pry into her but failed to get the answer. Instead, he put himself in an awkward situation.
Su Tengyue's eyelashes curved, she stood up and pulled Shen Wenji's wrist, pretending to take him out. Her voice was sweet: "They say that a moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold, why don't we seize it."
Shen Wenji: “???”
She had never expected this move, and the woman in front of her was acting too erratically. She couldn't figure out Su Tengyue's specific intentions, so she could only refuse for now.
Shen Wenji put down his wine glass, coughed lightly, and said seriously: "Miss Su, I'm afraid I can't go with you."
"Young Master, you look down on me. There are thousands of girls in Zuihualou, some fat and some thin, there must be one who can catch your eye."
"No, no, no." Shen Wenji waved his hands quickly, fearing that she would force him to buy. He had no choice but to lower his voice and said with a stiff upper lip: "To be honest, I...have a crush on this man."
Now, I should finally give up, right? I can't hold her back anymore, right?
The charming smile on Su Tengyue's face suddenly froze, a heavy gloom instantly surged in her eyes, and the corners of her lips were pursed into a cold straight line.
The moment Shen Wenji looked over, she returned to her previous innocent look: "The one that Mr. Shen likes...isn't it your friend who didn't show up?"
Shen Wenji didn't want to argue anymore, and his tone turned cold: "Miss Su, this is my personal matter. You have been delayed here for so long, you must have something to do, right?"
She had only been able to get this far because the other party brought up the relationship between the OP and Xie Yunqing. Now that she had been given basic face, there was no need to be polite and flattering anymore.
The smile on Su Tengyue's face froze. He must not have expected her to say that.
As the atmosphere became stagnant, the door was pushed open again.
Xie Yunqing was dressed in red, holding a cloud-patterned cloak in his hand, and was still touched by the coolness of the twilight as he walked in slowly.
For a moment, Shen Wenji was a little surprised. Xie Yunqing rarely wore such a conspicuous color. She had only seen him a few times. But this red was very beautiful. It made his eyebrows and eyes look even more handsome. He lost some of his usual coldness and aloofness, and added a few more blazing youthful spirits.
As soon as Xie Yunqing entered the room, he saw the two people in a tense atmosphere. His gaze paused at Shen Wenji's profile, then fell on Su Tengyue. His voice was cold and indifferent: "Who asked you to come?"
Su Tengyue seemed frozen by his tone. Blinking her watery eyes, she quickly stood up and said timidly, "It was the owner of Zuihualou who asked us to entertain her well."
She deliberately emphasized the word "host" and beneath her pitiful appearance, the corners of her lips curled slightly.
Xie Yunqing realized she was using her status as the building owner to threaten him, and frowned unexpectedly. If he had known earlier, he wouldn't have invited Shen Wenji to Zuihualou. He had forgotten that there was an unknown hidden danger here, Su Tengyue.
"The owner of the building is busy today, so he asked me to tell Miss Su that I'd like you to check the transaction accounts of Zuihualou today."
It was just a threat, but he was not incapable of it. He also had a lot of leverage over Su Tengyue. For example, this demon saint, without the knowledge of her brother the Saint, was using the money from Zuihualou's business to raise a private army. She probably didn't want others to find out about those accounts.
The smile on Su Tengyue's face almost disappeared, and a fierce look flashed in her pitiful eyes.
Xie Yunqing was too lazy to care about her and said coldly, "Miss Su, you'd better go check the accounts as soon as possible. The landlord is pressing for payment."
As soon as he finished speaking, he walked straight to Shen Wenji and sat down, then naturally picked up the teacup in front of her and took a sip.
Seeing that Shen Wenji seemed to have gotten used to his intimate behavior, an imperceptible smile flashed in his eyes.
Su Tengyue bit her lip and stared at Xie Yunqing's comfortable expression when he was talking to Shen Wenji. Her eyes gradually became fierce and she swept coldly over Shen Wenji.
Finally, she left the room without saying a word, and the sound of the golden bell gradually faded away.
There were only two people left in the private room. Shen Wenji turned his head to look at him, his eyebrows slightly raised: "Mr. Xie, why didn't you keep the beauty with you? I heard that she is an old acquaintance of yours."
"Don't accuse me, she and I are just acquaintances. The person I know best in the entire Zuihua Tower is right in front of me."
Xie Yunqing put down the teacup, and brushed his fingertips along the rim of the cup she had just touched, with a faint smile on his lips: "All the beauties in this room combined are not as compatible as a single word with you."
He leaned slightly towards Shen Wenji, the candlelight casting a tiny light in his eyes, and said in a serious tone: "I am also accompanied by a beautiful woman now. In my eyes, no one is more beautiful than you."
"Stop talking nonsense here." Shen Wenji raised his eyes and glared at him, avoiding his gaze and said, "What I want to know more is, when can you show me what you promised?"
Xie Yunqing took out a rosewood box from his arms and pushed it in front of her: "It's all here."
In addition to the thick martial arts secret manual, the wooden box also contained the pink sachet she had left behind. Xie Yunqing really did not lie to her.
He watched her eagerly open the wooden box, and the smile in his eyes deepened. "There's a fireworks display in the capital today. Would you be so kind as to go up to the rooftop of Zuihua Tower and watch it?"
Shen Wenji raised her eyes and met his smiling eyes. Her heart beat faster. She put her things away and said calmly, "Okay, lead the way."
Perhaps we arrived a little early, the fireworks had not yet started, but looking at the bustling sea of lights in the capital, it was no less spectacular.
Shen Wenji stood by the railing and said excitedly: "It's so lively!"
Xie Yunqing walked up to her, stood side by side with her, and quietly placed his fingers on her fingertips.
It was just a light touch, but it felt like a burning sensation, spreading from the fingertips to the whole body.
His heart was beating fast, Shen Wenji's cheeks felt hot, and he retracted his fingers.
The retreating hand failed to withdraw completely, but was instead tightly grasped by Xie Yunqing, who held it tightly with his ten fingers interlocked.
Shen Wenji turned his head away in embarrassment and looked, but met Xie Yunqing's eyes.
It turned out that he had never looked at the lights of the capital, but had been staring at her intently.
Her throat moved slightly, and she glanced away nervously, trying to find a topic to talk about: "Why do you keep looking at me? Is there something you want to tell me?"
Xie Yunqing chuckled and said, "Before I invited you up here, I had a thousand words in mind to say to you, but now I regret it."
Shen Wenji was a little confused: "Huh?"
Xie Yunqing gently pulled her hands over, and they stood facing each other, exerting slight force on their hands and keeping a close distance from each other.
He leaned over slowly, brushing his nose against hers.
Shen Wenji blinked his eyelashes slightly, feeling indescribably nervous.
Under the night sky, their hot breaths intertwined and their heartbeats were like drums.
The imagined kiss did not fall, his eyes were glued to her lips, but in the end he just rested his forehead against hers.
The thousands of words that were left unspoken, the love that was about to burst out, all melted between the two of them through the tightly held hands and the gently touching foreheads.
"Bang!" Fireworks suddenly burst above his head, and the light of the fireworks was reflected in his eyes and also on Shen Wenji's trembling eyelashes.
"A thousand words." Xie Yunqing's voice was low and hoarse, with restrained tenderness: "None of them are as real as looking at you now."
"I don't care about the uncertain future. Right now, I just want to take a good look at you."
It is said that fireworks are fleeting, but memory can freeze the moment into eternity.
From now on, whenever fireworks are set off, Xie Yunqing will think of Shen Wenji.
In the night sky, the fireworks have not yet dispersed, and thousands of fireworks are blooming one after another, stretching the shadows of the two people longer and shorter.
Xie Yunqing slowly let go of her, his eyes moving away from her lips to her ears which were red with nervousness, and suddenly he chuckled.
The laughter was very soft, mixed in with the sound of fireworks, but it could be clearly heard by her ears.
Shen Wenji raised her eyes and stared at him. She wanted to say something, but her throat seemed to be blocked, and only her heartbeat like a drum could be heard.
She should give a specific answer today, but she really doesn't know what to do... Having too many concerns will only be a burden.
"Don't worry, I won't force you. I can wait for you to think it over." Xie Yunqing seemed to see through her thoughts. He gently pinched her fingers and said with a smile, "Let's go watch the fireworks. It's said that making a wish under the fireworks is very effective. Do you want to give it a try?"
"Make a wish?" Shen Wenji repeated softly, his fingertips curling unconsciously.
Xie Yunqing nodded, closing his eyes first, clasping his hands to his lips, his eyelashes casting a faint shadow under his eyes. The light of the fireworks flickered on his face, and the way he made a wish looked as devout as a child, which made Shen Wenji stunned.
When he opened his eyes, he saw that she was still in a daze, so he smiled and raised his hand, gently covering the back of her hand and holding her hand: "Try it? Maybe it will really work."
His palm was warm, wrapping around her slightly cool fingertips, and Shen Wenji closed his eyes.
What wish should I make?
Overnight wealth? A sudden increase in cultivation? The revival of the Hehuan Sect?
…
Thoughts came one after another, but in the end they all turned into a simple prayer.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Xie Yunqing looking at her and smiling. The light in his eyes was brighter than fireworks. "What did you wish for?"
"It won't work if you say it out loud." Shen Wenji turned his head away, and the tips of his ears began to feel hot again.
The last firework bloomed in the sky, dragging a long tail of flame and falling into the darkness. Only a faint mist and the warm light of thousands of lights remained in the night sky.
Xie Yunqing slowly released her hand, and his fingertips brushed across her fingers, leaving a slight itch of reluctance.
"Go back," he said, a smile in his voice. "When you have made up your mind, I will listen to whatever the answer is."
Shen Wenji lowered her eyes, twisting the remaining warmth on her fingers, feeling the remaining warmth belonging to him dissipating bit by bit, until she could no longer grasp it. She didn't know what she was thinking.
The next moment, she suddenly raised her hand and gently wrapped her arms around Xie Yunqing's waist.
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Author's words: Watch the fireworks! Come and make a wish~ Comment the [fireworks][fireworks][fireworks] symbol, and everyone's wishes will come true! [laughing][laughing][laughing] I am a prophet, and I never cheat anyone [starry eyes]
Thank you all for your support. I hope that all your wishes come true and that everything goes smoothly. Love you all. Bow! [Red Heart]
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