Fifteen fifteen

“Sure, of course! Absolutely!”

When she heard that Senior Brother Xiahou Che was going shopping with them after class, Ruan Mianmian was even more excited than Su Xiaoyuan. “That’s Senior Brother Xiahou, you know!”

“What’s so special about Senior Brother Xiahou? He’s a really nice guy,” Su Xiaoyuan admitted that Xiahou Che was handsome, but Ruan Mianmian’s reaction still surprised her.

“Don’t you know?” Ruan Mianmian said in astonishment. “Many disciples from the inner sect want to practice dual cultivation with him, but he’s refused them all. He’s been in the inner sect for years and hasn’t even been on a mission; his primordial yang must be almost full.”

The Cloud and Rain Sect forbids disciples from absorbing each other’s spiritual energy, but dual cultivation isn’t prohibited. Absorption transfers cultivation power, while dual cultivation means progressing together—though less efficient than absorption, both parties benefit.

Rumor had it that Senior Brother Xiahou kept himself pure. Su Xiaoyuan was quite surprised; he didn’t seem like the type to uphold such strict virtues. Truly, appearances can be deceiving.

“Xiaoyuan, you have to work hard and win Senior Brother Xiahou’s primordial yang in one go!” Ruan Mianmian urged.

“Shh—be quiet, Kaishan, shh—” Su Xiaoyuan’s face flushed red as she glanced around furtively, like a thief. Luckily, few disciples walked to school, and besides them, only her puppet was on the Rainbow Bridge.

She sneaked a look at the puppet, who of course wore a cold expression, more mechanical than a human machine.

Su Xiaoyuan breathed a quiet sigh of relief; thankfully, the puppet had no consciousness.

“It’s just that Elder Qin asked him to guide me, nothing more…” she hurried to explain. “He’s just kindly helping out.”

“Tch, do you really believe he’s so free that he’d guide every outer sect junior sister? Why didn’t he come to guide me?” Ruan Mianmian patted the back of Su Xiaoyuan’s head, frustrated at her naivety. “Xiaoyuan, you’re such a blockhead. If he didn’t want to, could Elder Qin force him?”

“But I’ve never met him.”

“Maybe he’s noticed you already. You’re so pretty.”

Su Xiaoyuan recalled Xiahou Che’s half-joking words from last night and felt a bit flustered, but then she thought she might be overthinking it.

These days, even idol dramas don’t play out like this.

“Impossible… and I don’t have those kinds of feelings for him anyway…” Su Xiaoyuan muttered.

“I know, I know, your heart belongs to Ling Yue Xianzun, but primordial yang never hurts. Dual cultivation with Senior Brother Xiahou won’t stop you from absorbing Ling Yue Xianzun.”

Suddenly, the puppet’s footsteps paused.

Su Xiaoyuan looked at him in surprise. “What’s wrong?”

The puppet glanced coldly at her, then turned his face away.

Following his gaze, Su Xiaoyuan saw a pair-bird flying low on the opposite bank.

Does he like watching birds?

He’s just like a cat.

This puppet’s intelligence level is probably on par with a cat.

A 1.9-meter-tall big cat... Su Xiaoyuan found it oddly endearing, her heart feeling as if it had grown a layer of soft fuzz.

She’d always wanted a cat, but Ms. Su was a neat freak and absolutely forbade it.

After watching for a while, the puppet turned his head, and Su Xiaoyuan snapped back to reality. She turned to Ruan Mianmian and asked, “If you don’t mind, can we have Senior Brother come with us?”

Ruan Mianmian tapped her forehead, exasperated. “What do you mean ‘come with us’? Of course you and he go together!”

“No, no,” Su Xiaoyuan shook her head, pleading, “I can’t go alone. Kaishan, please come with me…”

Ruan Mianmian’s heart softened at her watery eyes. “Alright, alright, I’ll go with you this once, but next time you have to go alone.”

Ruan Mianmian urged, “Quick, send him a message before you change your mind!”

Su Xiaoyuan took out her communication talisman, feeling uneasy. She had a phobia of voice chats—talking by voice with strangers made her more nervous than face-to-face.

Being coaxed by Ruan Mianmian made it even harder.

After a long moment of mental preparation, she finally mustered the courage and ignited the talisman.

The talisman could only be used once. After it burned away, Xiahou Che’s gentle and magnetic voice rang in her ears as if he were right beside her.

“I was just thinking whether to send you a message, and you beat me to it.”

Xiahou Che always sounded cheerful, his voice like basking in the sun, making listeners feel inexplicably better.

He didn’t use any formal titles, his tone casual, strangely intimate and familiar.

Ruan Mianmian winked at her, making Su Xiaoyuan’s flushed face burn even hotter.

After explaining everything and setting the meeting time and place, the message ended, and Su Xiaoyuan finally regained normal breathing.

Her nerves remained taut all day because of this.

After class, they returned to the dorm to drop off their things. Su Xiaoyuan changed into an outer garment for going out, washed her face, and tidied her hair. Ruan Mianmian was also ready.

Su Xiaoyuan planned to bring the puppet along.

Ruan Mianmian said, “Why bring a puppet when you’re going with Senior Brother Xiahou?”

“But I want to take him to pick out clothes…”

Ruan Mianmian scolded her for not making the most of the rare chance. “You got a date with Senior Brother Xiahou, and you’re bringing a puppet shopping? Do you want him to help the puppet try on clothes?”

Su Xiaoyuan imagined the scene and found it a bit odd.

“Fine,” she said to the puppet, “Fu Tingyun, you’ll stay home today.”

The puppet likely had no emotions, but she inexplicably felt he was in a bad mood—perhaps just her imagination.

She couldn’t help but worry that after they left, the puppet would be lonely staying home doing nothing.

She asked Ruan Mianmian, “Kaishan, what does the puppet do at home when you’re at class?”

“Let him work,” Ruan Mianmian crossed her arms, matter-of-fact. “Oh, remind me later to buy some seeds. Have Song Jinshu plow the empty ground in the yard and plant some water radishes and baby bok choy.”

Su Xiaoyuan hesitated to let such a handsome puppet do farm work and then said, “Fu Tingyun, just help with whatever housework you can—like taking out the trash…”

Ruan Mianmian clicked her tongue but said no more, urging her to leave.

Fu Tingyun stood quietly by the window, watching the girl’s retreating figure—the soft footsteps, breathing, heartbeat, and the quiet flow of blood inside her body lingered in his ears for a long time. Though faint, no other noise could drown them out.

When those sounds finally faded, he began to look around Su Xiaoyuan’s tiny room.

“Housework I can do”—there was nothing beyond his capabilities, so to make those words disappear, he had to finish every chore.

She had gotten up late, so the bed and pillows were in disarray.

Fu Tingyun smoothed the sheets flat as paper, unfolded the quilt, aligned the corners meticulously, folded it into a square, then fluffed the pillow and placed it atop the quilt.

He pulled out a wooden basin from under the bed—it contained the clothes Su Xiaoyuan had changed out of last night. She had a habit of hand-washing her clothes, especially intimate garments, which she didn’t feel comfortable washing with water and soapnut alone.

Fu Tingyun had observed once and knew the steps.

The clothes still bore the faint scent of the girl’s body. She seemed not to use perfume, so only a subtle natural fragrance remained.

Fu Tingyun’s senses were extraordinary; what was faint to others smelled rich and fragrant to him.

Expressionless, he carried the basin outside, fetched a bucket of water, poured it in, sprinkled some pale blue powder Su Xiaoyuan had made, stirred it, then took a piece of cloth to begin scrubbing.

He didn’t know what herbs made the powder, but it had a fresh scent that masked Su Xiaoyuan’s smell.

Most of her clothes were issued by the Cloud and Rain Sect, made of very light, pale pink silk. When wet and rubbed, they formed only a small clump.

After scrubbing, Fu Tingyun rinsed the clothes clean with water, then steamed them dry with spiritual energy. He realized it was a thin undergarment with two delicate straps tied around the neck and two longer ones tied at the waist behind.

Perhaps because it was so thin, two clusters of camellia flowers were embroidered on the front, subtly covering the garment. The embroidery matched her painting skills exactly, clearly done by herself.

Fu Tingyun’s Adam’s apple moved slightly. He set the garment aside and picked up another piece from the basin.

It was a pair of sheer silk panties.

He accidentally scrubbed too hard and tore the fragile fabric.

Frowning at the torn garment, he lost patience and stopped washing. He poured out the water and used a cleansing spell to clean and steam the remaining clothes, folding them quickly into the wardrobe.

Then there was the “take out the trash” task.

Fu Tingyun went to the drawer and threw away a half-empty jar of orange candies.

Food everyone could eat—no need to keep them.

He then looked around. What in this room wasn’t trash?

…

Outside the front gate, Su Xiaoyuan and Ruan Mianmian found Xiahou Che already waiting, having rented a winged boat in advance. It was spacious enough for the three of them.

Whether because Ruan Mianmian was present or to let his junior sister take things slow, Xiahou Che toned down his seductive powers today. He didn’t teach impromptu lessons or tease her.

Most of the time, he was like a good-natured older brother, trailing behind the two girls, accompanying them shopping and carrying their things.

Su Xiaoyuan gradually relaxed her tightly strung nerves, even feeling a comfort and ease only found among familiar people.

Xiahou Che treated both girls fairly, making them feel refreshed, but it was obvious his attention was focused on one of them.

While shopping, Ruan Mianmian suddenly grabbed Su Xiaoyuan’s arm, sniffed, and lowered her voice. “Xiaoyuan, I think I smell Song Jinshu’s scent.”

Su Xiaoyuan was stunned before realizing she wasn’t talking about the puppet, but her scoundrel ex-fiancé.

“How could he be here? No way. Maybe it’s just my imagination?”

Ruan Mianmian frowned, her eyes sharp as a hawk, scanning the crowd. “No mistake. I’ve known his scent since I was a kid—even if he turned to ashes, I’d recognize it… over there!”

“You two keep shopping; I’ll come find you later!” She said and dashed off.

Su Xiaoyuan wanted to follow but couldn’t keep up with a Golden Core stage cultivator’s speed. She called out, “Mianmian, be careful!”

With Ruan Mianmian chasing the scoundrel, Su Xiaoyuan had to stroll slowly with Xiahou Che.

Passing a ready-made clothing shop, she glanced inside and hesitated. Xiahou Che said, “Junior Sister Xiaoyuan, would you like to go in and have a look?”

Su Xiaoyuan admired his perceptiveness—he caught her unspoken intention before she even understood it herself and responded perfectly.

She hesitated; it was a men’s clothing store, and she immediately noticed a sky-blue headband hanging on the rack, embroidered with flowing cloud patterns.

It would suit Fu Tingyun perfectly.

“May I go in and take a quick look?” she asked cautiously.

Xiahou Che’s eyes flickered as he smiled gently. “Of course, I was just about to check out the Wu Mountain Festival clothes myself.”

Once inside, before Su Xiaoyuan could speak, Xiahou Che pointed to the sky-blue cloud-patterned headband. “This headband’s nice. Junior Sister Xiaoyuan, do you think it would suit me?”

Embarrassed to admit she had noticed it first, she could only nod disappointedly. “It’s beautiful. Senior Brother Xiahou looks good wearing anything.”

Xiahou Che chuckled softly. “Just kidding. You spotted this headband at first glance; how could I snatch what you like?”

Su Xiaoyuan hadn’t expected him to notice even that.

“This is a men’s headband,” Xiahou Che asked casually, “Junior Sister Xiaoyuan, is it for your beloved?”

Su Xiaoyuan froze, then quickly shook her head. “No, no… it’s for my puppet.”

Her face flushed.

Xiahou Che suddenly understood. “So that headband yesterday was for the puppet too?”

Su Xiaoyuan nodded.

Xiahou Che looked down into her eyes. “So that means Junior Sister Xiaoyuan doesn’t have a beloved yet?”