79 come true
◎What a coincidence, I like you too. ◎
Upon hearing this, Du Zhijin didn't react for a moment. She uttered an "Ah," her eyes filled with confusion, her lips slightly parted as if she were struggling with something. It was this moment of hesitation that made Ying Jianhua even more determined. He bit his lower lip hard, turning his face away so she wouldn't see his disheveled state, but his chest heaved uncontrollably.
His hands were still tightly gripping her clothes, as if she were a high-flying kite that would fly away if he let go.
Perhaps they were never meant to be together, and were destined to go their separate ways.
The warm tears turned icy cold as soon as they left her eyes, landing on the back of her hand like touching a string of broken pearls. She was slightly surprised, her voice flustered: "Amo, you've been crying?"
Ying Jianhua muttered, "I didn't."
Even so, she felt even more coldness.
Du Zhijin had never felt so guilty. What had she done? She had actually made Amo cry!
Then she thought about it again and was confused. Because she hadn't done anything.
Just as she was racking her brains trying to figure it out, the person who had been exposed to the cold wind all night finally couldn't take it anymore and his body began to tremble slightly. Without thinking, Du Zhijin took off her outer garment and draped it over him, her fingers brushing against his neck, and she noticed that his heart was beating very fast.
It was as if something was about to emerge.
She unconsciously stopped what she was doing and waited quietly for him to speak.
The warmth of her clothes wafted from his outer garment, comforting and dry. Ying Jianhua hugged her tighter, but then his expression darkened as he considered the impending situation. Then, in a fit of despair, he buried his face in her clothes, thinking, "We're going to break up anyway, what's wrong with taking one of her clothes?"
"You..." She was so shocked that she couldn't speak, her tongue felt like it was wrapped with two sword tassels, and she couldn't straighten it out.
Hearing her exclamation, Ying Jianhua regained her composure slightly and blushed.
What he did... was so unladylike...
His earlier courage vanished, and he forced himself to lift his head, trying to naturally return her coat. However, the moment his fingers touched the buttons on the coat, he was burned by her burning gaze.
He was stunned.
He had only ever seen that kind of gaze when Du Zhijin wielded his sword.
It means that victory is inevitable.
His throat suddenly tightened, feeling dry and parched. He blinked, his eyes filled with lingering mist, and the corners of his eyes still faintly red.
"It's so beautiful," Du Zhijin thought.
This beautiful Amo belongs to her.
Seeing her smile, Ying Jianhua finally regained her lost composure and calmness, and questioned her, "Are you making fun of me?"
Du Zhijin shook her head, her eyes still holding a faint smile. The more she acted like this, the more uncomfortable he became. He touched his clothes and realized he was still holding them, which made him even more uncomfortable, so he threw them away as if he were throwing them away.
"I'm giving it back to you."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he was in trouble. Why was he stuttering? Had he caught Shi Er's stammering? Du Zhijin, of course, didn't miss the fleeting embarrassment on his face, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons with laughter. He was furious and embarrassed, glaring at her and saying coldly, "Stop laughing."
"Okay." She readily agreed, but before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, she changed the subject and asked, "Amo, do you like me?"
It's not a question, it's an affirmative statement.
After the words were spoken, silence fell. Even the noisy cicadas fell silent, afraid to sing.
The summer light and shadows, the lush greenery. The floating clouds shift and change, and the sunlight shines through the gaps in the branches and leaves into her eyes, but not as bright as her gaze.
She was there, watching him intently.
Ying Jianhua stood frozen in place, instinctively wanting to refute, but this long-buried feeling was another kind of instinct. The two instincts argued in his mind, almost tearing him in two, determined to determine a winner today.
In the end, the bitter resentment prevailed. He considered himself a man of principle, and even if revealing his feelings only led to rejection, he would stubbornly continue down that path.
"So what if it is?" He clenched his fists at his sides, struggling to keep the rest of his sentence from coming out.
Anyway, you already have someone you like.
If he were to say it out loud, he would truly become a huge joke.
Ying Jianhua expected to hear a rejection or denial, or even a "we're friends" like Shi Er had, since Du Zhijin had treated the previous people that way. But he didn't; he heard a different answer.
She smiled slightly and said, "What a coincidence."
What a coincidence! It's not like... etc.
He stared blankly at the person opposite him, when suddenly a cacophony of noise filled his ears, like a raging storm and a torrential downpour.
Yet, even in this torrential rain that had lasted for seventeen years, her voice was still clearly audible.
Du Zhijin: "What a coincidence, I like you too."
I also.
I like you.
"Then, who did you buy your jade pendant for...?" he stammered, the usually quick-witted Doctor Ying unable to speak clearly for the first time.
Du Zhijin tilted his head, curious: "How did you know I bought a jade pendant?"
Ying Jianhua was embarrassed. He couldn't very well say he was stalking her... His face flushed red as he stubbornly insisted, "I calculated it."
"So amazing?" She deliberately drew out her words, her voice tinged with a hint of mockery. "Then how come you couldn't figure it out? I bought it for you."
After saying that, she took out a jade pendant from the brocade pouch she always carried and placed it in his palm.
Holding the jade pendant in my palm, I first felt a cool sensation, like clutching a piece of warm jade just scooped from an icy spring, so smooth and warm to the touch that it seemed to melt into water. The jade, as fine as solidified fat, was so delicate that not a single stone pattern could be found where my fingertips rubbed.
He froze again, looking at her and then at the jade pendant in his hand, realizing something was wrong: "Why is it only half a piece?"
Upon hearing this, Du Zhijin could no longer hold back and burst out laughing. Under his embarrassed and indignant gaze, she coughed a few times, took out another jade pendant from the brocade pouch, and in front of him, the two jade pendants were combined into one, nestled tightly together, and became a complete shape.
At this moment, she suddenly became nervous again, swallowed several times before saying, "Well, I heard from the locals that the Yin-Yang Jade Pendant can bless lovers to stay together forever and grow old together."
"To be together forever?" Ying Jianhua murmured, repeating herself. Du Zhijin immediately tensed, as if facing a formidable enemy: "Don't you want to be with me forever?!"
Aren't they mutually in love?
He was taken aback and subconsciously shook his head. Seeing her eyes widen, he realized that wasn't the case and nodded vigorously.
"I never wanted to not be with you... forever." His voice was hoarse, his tone soft and earnest.
All of this came too suddenly. His dream had come true overnight, and he was like a beggar who had suddenly become rich, with a room full of gold and silver treasures and not knowing what to do with them.
She said she liked him, gave him a jade pendant, and wanted to stay with him forever.
He wanted to ask Du Zhijin if she was some kind of deity who could grant any wish made to her.
The two jade pendants came together again, their eyes met, a gentle breeze flowed quietly, and the flower garlands hanging from the eaves suddenly swayed, a petal swirling and falling into their hair, but no one brushed it away.
Ying Jianhua suddenly spoke, looking at her and saying firmly, "I will never be separated from you."
Huh? Of course, Daoist partners won't separate.
She didn't detect the difference in his tone, assuming he was feeling uneasy, and reassured him, "Yes, we won't separate."
————
Ying Jianhua later learned that Du Zhijin had been running around for two or three days in a row to buy a suitable yin-yang jade pendant. He also stayed up all night with his door tightly closed because he couldn't find a suitable one and planned to make one himself. As a result, he finally got a piece of high-quality raw jade from Jin Cui Fang yesterday, so he searched overnight for a skilled craftsman to make it.
"At first I thought that jade carving was similar to wood carving, so I stayed behind closed doors and carved for two nights."
As for the result—
Ying Jianhua picked up one of the pieces and guessed, "What are you carving here, two ducks?"
Du Zhijin: "...Pretty much, mandarin ducks and ducks are both water birds."
"So, is this a bird with its wings spread?"
She choked, then weakly said, "It's a twin lotus..."
Hearing him chuckle softly, she turned away dejectedly and poked at the dust on the wall.
Oh well, it's worth it if it makes Amo smile.
Seeing that she was in a bad mood, Ying Jianhua stopped laughing and coughed loudly to bring her back to her attention.
“Actually, it’s not that none of them look like it.” He tried to save face for her, pointing to a jade pendant and saying, “At least the character ‘墨’ (mo) is carved quite vividly.”
"Really?" Her eyes lit up, finally regaining a bit of confidence. She snuggled up to him and hummed, "I knew it... I'm just not good at carving flowers, plants, fish, and birds, but I can do it... Hey, Amo, why are you wearing it?"
Ying Jianhua took off the exquisitely carved jade pendant from the master craftsman and wore the crookedly carved "ink" character at her waist.
Du Zhijin scratched his face sheepishly, "It was Master Dai who made it. Mine is a bit ugly." "It's not ugly." He shook his head in denial, gently brushing his finger against the jade pendant at his waist.
This sensation felt like a gentle touch to her heart, instantly making her cheeks flush. She hurriedly pushed open the doors and windows, thinking that would cool her down.
"Oh dear, the sweltering heat is truly unreasonable."
Ying Jianhua listened to her rambling, looked around, and had an idea: "Do you have any jade left?"
"Ah." She paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, yes, I'll go get it." "No need, I'll just go to your room."
Upon hearing this, Du Zhijin's mind raced, and she began to consider whether her room was messy or not. However, before she could come to a conclusion, Ying Jianhua had already arrived at the door, and she had no choice but to bite the bullet and open it.
After entering the room, he looked around and commented, "This room of yours is a bit small."
"Is it small?" She looked around, puzzled. "No, it's just right for me."
A tatami mat, a table, and a cabinet that's tall enough for two people—isn't that just right?
He gave her a deep look, said nothing more, and then picked up the jade material and began to carve intently. Du Zhijin assisted him and asked him what he was carving, but he smiled without answering.
But she soon found out what Yingjian had painted and sculpted.
The character "舟" (boat) is engraved on the translucent white jade.
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