32. Competing for attention
◎"Want me to... touch it?"◎
Although she hadn't deliberately tested her alcohol tolerance, Du Zhijin felt that she was definitely not drunk.
To demonstrate this, she even showed off how to fly in a straight line on a sword.
But the doctor didn't want her to think that way and insisted on making hangover soup, claiming that "all patients say they're not sick." She had no choice but to obediently stay in the room and wait for him to bring the hangover soup back.
However, instead of seeing the painting, they received the crimson tail.
Hearing the knock, she knew it couldn't be Ying Jianhua outside; Doctor Ying wouldn't be so polite to her. Opening the door, she saw Jiangwei carrying a tray, bowing respectfully to her.
"Be careful." There was a bowl of dark soup on the tray, and she helped him hold it to prevent it from spilling.
Jiangwei thanked her, his hand, which had been touched, trembling slightly as he nearly lost his balance. Du Zhijin welcomed him in and asked, "What are you carrying?"
He replied, “It’s a hangover remedy. Since my benefactor has returned from the Worry-Free Tavern, he must have drunk their signature ‘Nanke’ wine. I’ve heard that ‘Nanke’ wine is rich and mellow, which might cause a hangover, so I’ve prepared some hangover remedy.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he nervously added, "No, but this is my first time cooking this kind of thing. I don't know if it will suit your taste..." With each word, he secretly observed her expression, as if he would immediately apologize if she showed even the slightest impatience.
It seems that the Liu family left him with a deep-seated resentment.
Du Zhijin's heart softened, and she said to him, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness." After saying that, she took a sip of the drink and nodded to him, "It tastes very good, and I do feel much better."
There's no such thing as a hangover cure that works so quickly. It's just a lie. But even that lie made a sweet taste rise in Jiangwei's throat.
He laughed along, his fluffy ears swaying gently, instantly catching her attention.
Noticing she was watching, he immediately blushed, covered his ears with his hands, and stammered, "I-I'm sorry, my ears accidentally popped out. I'll put them back in right away." "Hey, why do you want to put them back? Aren't they cute?"
As he spoke, Du Zhijin removed his hand and leaned closer to examine the pair of soft ears, his serious expression as if he were looking at some rare treasure.
For her, a pair of movable ears growing on the head of a living fox demon was indeed a rare sight. After all, the ears she had seen were either those that had died along with their owners or those that were about to die. In short, she had never seen fox ears growing so steadily and peacefully on a head before.
"Can't you usually control your ears from sticking out?"
She was getting quite close, her breath, tinged with the smell of alcohol, brushing against his ear like the wind rustling through dandelions, causing Crimson Tail's ears to flush red without him even realizing it. Luckily, he was a red fox, so the redness in his ears wasn't very noticeable.
He said timidly, "I can usually hold back. But as the full moon approaches, the demonic nature within me becomes difficult to control at night."
Demons are nocturnal, not only because there are more people during the day and fewer at night, but also because moonlight can enhance their cultivation.
If it's because of the full moon, that makes sense. Du Zhijin nodded, his eyes fixed on his ear, his face full of curiosity.
His original form was a demon, hence the ears on his head. But in human form, the ears are on his cheeks, so does he now have four ears? Can he hear all the sounds from the outside world?
Staring at someone like that would be too frivolous, so she decided to start a conversation: "By the way, Amo said you told him I was at the Worry-Free Tavern?"
"Hmm." Jiangwei's face flushed slightly, and she said softly, "The one who tied the knot must untie it. I dare to guess that my benefactor's distress is related to Young Master Amo, which is why he acted this way."
He paused, then asked, "So, is the matter resolved?"
Du Zhijin smiled and said, "If we don't resolve this, wouldn't we be letting your good intentions go to waste?"
His good intentions...? Jiangwei lowered her eyelashes, her eyes revealing an unreadable emotion.
Even he himself wasn't sure whether he meant well or something else.
Perhaps demons are inherently of low character. Their benefactors saved them from dire straits, but they were dissatisfied with the status quo and wanted to covet more.
He dared not hope to be on equal footing with Young Master Amo. He would be content as long as his benefactor was willing to share a little bit of that affection with him, even just a tiny bit.
But what did he have to compete with others? Young Master Amo had known his benefactor long before him, and was an upright and honorable man. And what about him? He was just a scruffy fox, whom even his own people wouldn't accept.
What does he have to fight for?
Suddenly, Jiangwei recalled a scene from the novel "The Overbearing Immortal Falls in Love with Me: The Fox Demon Chapter." The characteristics of certain beastmen seemed quite alluring?
Looking again, Jiangwei realized that Du Zhijin's gaze was fixed on her ears. Feeling she had found an advantage in the competition for favor, she tentatively asked, "Want... to touch them?"
He had expected to be rejected as soon as he said it, and was even prepared to run away, but the next second he heard—"Is it okay?"
Du Zhijin had been eyeing fox ears for a long time, and now his hands were itching to try them out.
After all, she had only ever touched cold, lifeless demon ears before; this was the first time she had ever seen one so vividly alive...
What are you doing?
Familiar words drifted into their ears, sending a shiver down their spines. Du Zhijin quickly hid his hands behind his back and shook his head in unison with Jiangwei.
Ying Jianhua watched their synchronized movements, her lips slightly drooping.
He placed the hangover soup in front of her and said curtly, "Drink it."
Du Zhijin glanced at the empty bowl beside him, then at the full bowl in front of him, and found it hard to swallow.
Ying Jianhua noticed her little action and frowned: "What are you doing now? The hangover soup isn't bitter, do you want me to make you sweet soy milk?"
He remembered when they were in Wuling Village, she had no appetite because of the bitter taste of her medicine, so he went to town to buy sweet soy milk and carried it back warm in his arms. But this wasn't Wuling Village; where was he going to make soy milk for her? Was he going to start grinding soybeans like she did?
Just as Ying Jianhua was pondering where to borrow the Time Mill, Du Zhijin finally made a move.
After drinking all night and having a bowl of hangover soup, she truly understood what it meant to have "a fishbone stuck in her throat."
But Huo Bai once said, "If you give this, you must give that." She concluded that it's not scarcity that's worrisome, but inequality. Should she drink Jiangwei's hangover soup or Doctor Ying's? Yes! She'd drink it even if it killed her!
She thought she had drunk it all up, and that Doctor Ying would surely be satisfied now. But to her surprise, Ying Jianhua frowned even more deeply: "Was my cooking that bad? You drank it so fast."
Heavenly Venerable.
From an angle he had never considered before, Du Zhijin was completely outmatched.
How could she not have thought of something so thoughtful?
Just as she was racking her brains for a way out, Jiangwei spoke up to help her out: "Perhaps it was too delicious, and she subconsciously drank it all in one gulp."
That's a good explanation!
Du Zhijin gave him a grateful look, and he returned a shy smile.
Ying Jianhua's mood improved somewhat. People always like to hear nice things, and besides, he had no grudge against Jiangwei, so there was no reason for him to hold a grudge.
"Get some rest early. Don't practice tonight, or you'll have a headache tomorrow." He walked towards the door, and Du Zhijin got up to see him off. They had this habit since Wuling Village, so neither of them felt anything was amiss. But to others, however, this scene was quite jarring.
Jiangwei suddenly followed her toward the door, stepping over the threshold without a word. Ying Jianhua raised an eyebrow and said to Du Zhijin, "Aren't you going to see them off?"
He and she lived on the same floor, next to each other, just a few steps away. Jiangwei, having arrived later, only had rooms available upstairs. Compared to him, Jiangwei definitely needed someone to take her home.
Du Zhijin seemed to have just remembered this, and with a slight turn, followed behind Jiangwei. Looking at the two of them from behind, Ying Jianhua suddenly felt displeased. Why were they wearing clothes of similar colors?
But he was the one who brought it up, so we can't go back on our word now, can we?
He bit his lip in frustration, a look of annoyance he himself hadn't even noticed between his brows.
Du Zhijin was oblivious, but Jiangwei noticed his gaze.
Their gazes met, then one looked away and the other looked down.
"I've gotten used to walking alone. My benefactor should go and keep Young Master Amo company," he said softly.
So she looked back at Ying Jianhua, hesitated, and seemed about to turn back.
Ying Jianhua turned her head, stared at the somewhat rotten beams of the inn, and said calmly, "No need. There's plenty of time in the future, no need to rush."
Du Zhijin thought what he said made sense, so he moved closer to Jiangwei.
Jiangwei: "Who can say for sure what will happen in the future? Just like me before, I never expected to meet a benefactor. Young Master Amo, seize the day while you can, why not cherish the present?"
Ying Jianhua: "Ha, I'll say the same thing back to you. Since you know the future is unpredictable, you might as well know when to stop and stop while you're ahead."
The two men quoted extensively from classical texts, speaking politely, making it sound like a gentlemanly debate. Du Zhijin glanced at one from one side to the other every now and then, belatedly realizing that there was a hint of confrontation between them?
But what rift exists between Amo and Xiaohong?
She patiently stood between the two, listening to their heated debate, and before she knew it, drowsiness overcame her and she fell asleep standing up.
Ying Jianhua was the first to notice her nodding vigorously, and immediately shut up.
Jiangwei also noticed and helped him bring Du Zhijin back to the house. Seeing Ying Jianhua skillfully take off her shoes and socks and remove her outer robe, his eyes darkened.
Only now have I realized how close they are?
Ying Jianhua snorted coldly, tucked the blanket around her and was about to leave when she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist.
He struggled, but couldn't break free, so he remained frozen in place.
At that moment, the two conscious people in the room heard a muffled murmur.
“Amo…”
Seeing Jiangwei's distraught appearance, Ying Jianhua suppressed a laugh, went back and tucked the blanket around her again, feigning modesty: "Really, she can't be separated from me for even a moment."
Jiangwei's expression darkened further.
However, Ying Jianhua's slight pride didn't last long, because Du Zhijin's next line was—
"...Why are you cheating again?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com