Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

The commotion inside alerted the neighbors next door.

Jiang Zhiyu came over and gently knocked on the door, his voice filled with concern: "Xiaomi, Wu Li, are you two alright?"

Since they came back last night, the atmosphere between the two of them has been strange; they've been ignoring each other.

You know, when these two are together, it's either you say three things to me or I say five things back.

They're making a ruckus almost all day long.

On one occasion, they even argued about some strange little thing, like "which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

Xiaomi insisted on having him, his master, and Yao Yao take sides.

Master and Yao Yao voted for Xiaomi. Although the result was already clear, he still used his precious friendship vote to support Wu Li.

In fact, if you observe carefully, you'll see that Wu Li never really got angry during the debate; his lips were always pursed in a half-smile.

As for Xiao Mi, she often stood with her hands on her hips and angrily lashed out at her husband. Sometimes she would blurt out a few swear words without thinking, but he would just pinch her cheek and pretend to scold her: "It's not cute for a little girl to say swear words."

The way the young man held his wife's face in his hands, pinching and kneading it with such doting affection, clearly showed how much he loved her.

It was obvious that Xiaomi's voice was louder inside the room just now.

Jiang Zhiyu only heard her say, "Why are you yelling at me?!"

In fact, he didn't hear what Wu Li said at all; instead, Xiao Mi's roar almost ripped the roof off.

For a moment, he almost thought that Yao Yao had possessed her.

After all, Xiaomi always speaks in a soft, gentle voice, and when she gets angry, her voice just becomes a little more spoiled. But if it were Yao Yao with her fiery temper, she would roar like a lioness, scaring away a hundred thousand elite soldiers.

If he hadn't known that Yao Yao was waiting outside the Illusionary Sound Pavilion, he would have almost thought that the voice from next door came from her.

"fine."

Wu Li's slightly cold voice came from inside the room.

Jiang Zhiyu, standing outside the door, was taken aback, a strange feeling of emotion welling up inside him.

He had assumed it would be Xiaomi who would respond, but to his surprise, it was Wu Li who spoke first. Wu Li was always cold and indifferent when he was with him, and Jiang Zhiyu often wondered if he had done something wrong to make Wu Li dislike him.

But he remembered that not long ago Wu Li had spoken up for him in front of his master, and now he was responding on his own initiative.

Could it be that Wu Li is also trying to get closer to him?

To be honest, in the environment Jiang Zhiyu grew up in, everyone around him either flattered or feigned affection towards him, the young master. The reason he always clung to his master was precisely because, although his master was strict, he was always genuinely kind to him.

Wu Li was the first friend he wanted to get close to.

Perhaps it was because Wu Li knew his identity as the young master of Lingyu Prefecture, yet he never gave him a kind look, just like Yao Yao, who would still smash his head when necessary.

So it was at this moment that he realized the other party wasn't holding back because of his status, and was genuinely treating him as a person.

Jiang Zhiyu's eyes welled up slightly. He sniffed, tilted his head back, and took out a folding fan to fan his eyes.

He couldn't help but wonder if the young couple were deliberately arguing in order to ease the tension between Yao Yao and him.

Yao Yao had been cold to him, but ever since Wu Li and Xiao Mi had a falling out, she probably had no one to talk to, so she finally became a little warmer towards him.

Just now, I even got a flick on the forehead from her.

I felt refreshed and invigorated.

The sunshine feels warm today.

Recalling the sharp rebuke, Jiang Zhiyu quickly closed his folding fan.

I almost forgot, the reason Yao Yao vented her anger on him was because she had been waiting for the "archery master" for too long.

Before returning to his room last night, he clearly heard Yao Yao and Wu Li agree to go to the outskirts of Qianwu Town to learn archery at 7:00 AM this morning.

He wanted to go with them, but his master was worried that the fox spirit might return, so he left him in the Illusionary Sound Pavilion to keep an eye on things.

He had assumed Wu Li had already gone downstairs, but upon hearing the "archery master" arguing with his young mistress in the room, he realized that Yao Yao was still waiting downstairs.

Jiang Zhiyu coughed lightly outside the door, reminding her, "By the way, Wu Li, Yao Yao is still downstairs waiting to practice archery. Aren't you going to participate in the New Moon Archery Competition? There's not much time left, you should hurry up."

Wu Li's gaze paused slightly; he had almost forgotten about this matter.

"Okay." He casually replied to Jiang Zhiyu outside the door, wanting to get rid of the person as soon as possible.

His gaze lingered on Chai Xiaomi's face, her face flushed and delicate, and for some reason, he was afraid that anyone would see it.

In a few breaths, he managed to get his breathing back in order.

He got up and walked to the washstand, took a handkerchief, soaked it, wrung it out, and came to Chai Xiaomi, reaching out to gently pull her closer.

"What?" Chai Xiaomi asked blurtly as his chin was lifted by his fingertips.

I feel like he's acting a bit strange today. Maybe he's been smelling too much incense?

Thinking of this, she lowered her eyelashes and unconsciously glanced downwards.

He suddenly lifted her chin again, "Look up, let me wipe the drool off your face."

"!!!" Chai Xiaomi suddenly realized, "You did this on purpose, didn't you!?"

First, he put on his shoes and stepped on her bed, then he spit on her face—a blatant act of revenge for the cold war last night.

Poor thing, she had worked so hard all morning to put on her full makeup in front of the flower girls.

Once you wipe off the blush, the essence of the entire makeup look is gone.

Then she remembered how Wu Li had smeared her face with saliva but also eaten the face powder from her cheek. Chai Xiaomi instantly laughed, her eyes crinkling as she leaned closer and asked, "How does it taste?"

He tried to sabotage her, didn't he? She's wearing a thick layer of powder on her face today.

Wu Li's hand, which was wiping his face, suddenly stopped.

He unconsciously clenched the handkerchief between his fingers, crumpling it into a ball, and water droplets seeped out and dripped from the gaps, about to splash onto her newly changed dress. He reacted quickly and raised his hand to brush away the drop of water.

Then he paused slightly, realizing it was just a drop of water.

Why did I instinctively worry that I might get her dirty?

He concealed the fleeting confusion in his eyes, skipped over her second question, and only answered the first one:

"Yes, I did it on purpose."

His tone was extremely shameless, giving off an attitude of "what can you do to me?"

Chai Xiaomi choked.

She was out of options.

Are you suggesting she wear shoes and step on his chaise longue?

Her upbringing made it seem inappropriate for her to deliberately damage public property; after all, they had left, and the house was meant for future guests.

Then... I'll pounce on him and bite him a couple of times?

Chai Xiaomi looked up at him.

so high.

Out of reach.

She was trying to figure out what excuse to trick him into leaning down when Wu Li suddenly bent down and leaned in herself.

He gently rubbed his fingertips against the spot on her cheek where she had been lightly bitten, then looked up at her, his voice low and soft, as light as a feather falling on her heart:

Do you need cotton balls?

Chai Xiaomi froze for a few seconds, not yet having grasped the meaning of those words.

His profile was already close to mine.

Soft, gentle, even docile, the touch brushed against her cheek.

His earring touched her chin; it was slightly cool.

But her entire face started burning uncontrollably.

Thump—thump—

I don't know whose heartbeat it was, but it was deafening, as if it was about to burst out of the chest and soar into the sky.