Transmigrating into the world of Jade Dynasty, I was targeted by the female lead in a reverse romanc

She wore a moon-white dress, still looking slender, with her long, black hair loosely draped over her shoulders, the ends swaying gently as she tilted her head. She had soft lips, alluring eyes, a delicate nose, and graceful eyebrows.

At that moment, her alluring eyes were slightly curved as she looked at him, her gaze filled with an undisguised, mischievous smile.

She was holding the string of candied hawthorns in her hand, and the top one had a small bite taken out of it—the one Jiang Xiaochuan had just bitten.

She slowly and deliberately stuck out her pink tongue and licked the edge of the notch. Then, she opened her mouth and fiercely bit into the notched hawthorn.

"Click—"

There was another crisp sound, louder and crisper than the bite Jiang Xiaochuan had taken earlier.

She chewed, but her eyes remained fixed on Jiang Xiaochuan, watching his wide eyes, puffed-out cheeks, and his blank, shocked expression as if he had seen a ghost.

Then, she swallowed the candied hawthorn, stuck out her tongue, and licked the corner of her lips, which were still covered in sugar crumbs, before speaking. Her voice was soft, with a hint of laughter, yet also a touch of gritted teeth:

"Is it good? Small, Sichuan-style?"

Jiang Xiaochuan: "..."

He swallowed the half-eaten hawthorn whole with a "gulp," choking so badly that his eyes rolled back. He coughed violently, his face turning bright red, and pointed at Xiaobai, his finger trembling, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Several villagers looked over curiously, pointing and whispering. The old man selling candied hawthorns grinned, probably thinking that the young couple was having a fight.

The old man selling candied hawthorns chuckled and said, "Young lady, pursuing your husband? Youth is truly wonderful."

Xiaobai's expression changed instantly, her eyes reddened, and she grabbed Jiang Xiaochuan's sleeve, saying, "Husband, don't leave me and the child..."

Jiang Xiaochuan was struck dumb, exclaiming, "Who, who is your husband! Where did this child come from!"

Xiao Bai wiped away non-existent tears and said, "Last night... you clearly said you would take responsibility..." Her voice was not loud, just enough for the surrounding villagers to hear.

The villagers' expressions changed, and they pointed and whispered, "What a handsome young man, how could he be like this..."

"Exactly, with a wife as beautiful as her, why would she run away..."

Jiang Xiaochuan was speechless, not knowing what to say, and almost choked on his breath.

When he finally caught his breath, he saw Xiaobai proudly holding up the candied hawthorn and happily eating it in small bites. Then he looked at the eyes of the villagers around him. A surge of heat rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He turned around abruptly, pushed through the crowd, and rushed out of the village with his head down!

I'm so ashamed! I'm so ashamed!

That old fox! He's like a persistent ghost!

He ran incredibly fast, as if a raging flood was rushing behind him. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, whether from anger or something else, he didn't know.

Watching his retreating figure, Xiao Bai leisurely bit into the last candied hawthorn, chewed it, swallowed it, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, casually tossed the bare bamboo stick aside, and followed after him.

As dawn broke, the thin mist in the valley dissipated.

On the dirt road, a green figure ran frantically ahead, while a moon-white figure chased leisurely behind. Dewdrops clung to the roadside weeds, and a startled grasshopper hopped away, disappearing into the deeper grass.

The sweetness of the candied hawthorn still lingers on the tip of the tongue.

The person holding the candied hawthorn had caught up with the boy who was trying to escape, and it seemed they weren't going to let him get away so easily.

……

The road was difficult to walk on, mostly dirt roads, softened by the recent rains, making it uneven and difficult to walk on. Some grasses I didn't know grew by the roadside, with thick, dark green leaves. Occasionally, a lizard would dart past my feet, disappearing into a crack in the stone.

Jiang Xiaochuan walked ahead at a slow pace. He had changed into a blue coarse cloth outfit commonly worn by people from southern Xinjiang, and his hair was loosely tied back with a strip of cloth of the same color.

Xiao Bai walked half a step behind him, following at a leisurely pace. She was still wearing that moon-white dress, which stood out conspicuously on the dusty mountain road.

The hem of her skirt was already stained with mud, and the edges were torn from being scraped by tree branches, but she didn't care. She just occasionally lifted the hem of her skirt and stepped over puddles.

The two walked one after the other for about half an hour without saying a word; the only sounds were their footsteps and the rustling of the wind through the grass and trees.

In the valley ahead, the outline of a cluster of houses can be faintly seen. It is a small village with a few dozen households. The gray-brown roofs are hidden in the shade of the trees, and a few wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys.

"There's a village ahead," Jiang Xiaochuan said. He stopped and glanced back at Xiaobai.

Xiao Bai stopped as well, looked in the direction he was pointing, and nodded: "Yes, I can see smoke rising from chimneys, there are houses."

"You..." Jiang Xiaochuan hesitated for a moment, his gaze sweeping over her skirt. "Your clothes are too conspicuous. If you enter the village, you might cause trouble."

Xiao Bai looked down at herself, then looked up at him, a hint of a smile in her eyes: "So what do you suggest we do?"

Jiang Xiaochuan took out some loose silver and copper coins from his pocket, counted them, and looked up, saying, "There should be a clothing shop in the village. Let's go buy some ordinary clothes."

"You're paying?" Xiaobai raised an eyebrow.

"Otherwise what?" Jiang Xiaochuan said irritably, "Do you even have half a copper coin on you?"

Xiaobai smiled, walked over, and naturally reached out to take his arm. Jiang Xiaochuan stiffened and tried to pull away, but she held on tightly.

"Then let's go, my little husband." Her voice was soft and smiling. "Let's go buy me some new clothes."

Jiang Xiaochuan's ears felt a little hot. He turned his face away and walked forward with his head down. His arm was being held by her, and he could feel the warmth of her arm and the soft touch of her body. He wanted to shake her off, but he felt that would be too deliberate, so he just let her be.

The village was larger than it looked from a distance. The dirt road had been replaced by a stone slab road, which was worn smooth by footsteps. There were low wooden houses on both sides of the road, some with their doors open, displaying mountain products, salt, and coarse cloth. The air was filled with the aroma of food.

It was midday, and there weren't many people in the village. A few old men were squatting under the eaves smoking pipes. They looked up at them, their gaze lingered on Xiaobai for a moment, then they lowered their heads and continued smoking.

There were also a few naked children playing in the mud by the roadside. They weren't afraid of strangers; they just stared at them with their big, dark eyes.

Jiang Xiaochuan pulled Xiaobai along and found a clothing shop. The shop was small, with a dilapidated facade and dim lighting inside. Rows of gray, coarse cloth clothes hung there. The shopkeeper was a thin old woman who was dozing behind the counter.

Hearing footsteps, the old woman opened her eyes, saw the two people, paused for a moment, then smiled broadly: "Gentlemen, are you buying clothes?"

"Okay." Jiang Xiaochuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the clothes hanging on the wall. "Pick something for her that's easy to walk in."

The old woman looked Xiaobai up and down, a hint of amazement flashing in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it. She took down two sets of clothes from the rack: an indigo blue coarse cloth skirt and a dark gray pair of trousers.

"Would you like to try it, young lady?" the old woman said, handing it over.

Xiao Bai took the outfit, held it up in front of her, and then looked at Jiang Xiaochuan: "Which one looks better?"