If only she had said a few more words, he would have allowed her to come over to rest, and even lent her a set of clothes to change into. Why didn’t she say anything after coming in? Surely she didn’t expect him to speak first and invite her over?

Shen Yao Xing, feigning sleep, was unaware of the young man’s thoughts. Whether it was due to her wet clothes or something else, she felt increasingly cold.

This heavy rain lasted for a long time. Without knowing the sky or the time, it only stopped temporarily when it was completely dark. By then, Shen Yao Xing’s clothes were half-dry, and seeing the rain stop, her entire demeanor became more spirited.

She looked towards the young man by the fire, her voice clear: “I’ll go see if I can catch some meat to roast.”

By the time Jiang Ming Yue looked over, the girl’s figure had already disappeared into the night. His eyes fixated on that spot for a long time, unable to look away, his pupils as dark as the night.

After a long while, there was a sound from the direction the girl had left. Jiang Ming Yue unhurriedly withdrew his gaze. It wasn’t until the girl stood still by the fire that he lazily lifted his eyes to glance at what she was holding in her hand.

“Look! Such good luck, this wild rabbit just happened to walk right by my feet.”

Shen Yao Xing smiled as she held up the wild rabbit, then went to the side to start skinning and preparing it.

Perhaps because she was in a good mood, the girl started humming a tune softly. The cheerful melody couldn’t help but infect others with her good mood.

Jiang Ming Yue pursed his thin lips, his beautiful eyes falling on the girl’s back through the firelight. His heart felt as if it was on fire, burning unbearably. When she stood up and walked towards him, his heart began to beat erratically.

A flash of panic passed through the young man’s long, narrow eyes. His hand suddenly gripped his wide sleeve tightly, and his gaze shifted back to the fire, his face still as cold as ever.

“You have wine, right?” Shen Yao Xing asked, standing beside him.

“Mm.”

“Then let me use some.”

“In the carriage,” the young man was sparing with his words.

Shen Yao Xing followed his words and brought the wine from the carriage. She also took the opportunity to secretly take a sip when the young man wasn’t paying attention. It was a sweet, fragrant fruit wine, delicious and not intoxicating.

She sprinkled the fruit wine on the roasted rabbit. The oil sizzled under the fire, emitting a fragrant aroma. When it was done roasting, she originally thought to split it half and half, but the young man showed a look of disgust. Feeling a bit deflated, Shen Yao Xing had to eat the whole rabbit herself.

Late at night, Jiang Ming Yue could rest in his spacious and comfortable carriage, while she could only barely spend the night in a tree.

After the heavy rain, water kept dripping from the tree leaves. Shen Yao Xing pulled her clothes up to cover her face, but even with a layer of clothing underneath, she couldn’t ward off the chilly dampness.

A night of poor sleep plus getting rained on during the day left Shen Yao Xing feeling dizzy the next morning. She raised her hand to feel her forehead, which was hot enough to fry an egg.

To have a high fever at a time like this, wasn’t this asking for her life?

“Um… can I sit in the carriage today?” Shen Yao Xing asked the person inside the carriage.

Jiang Ming Yue’s first instinct was to make a few cold remarks, but when he looked up, he saw an unnatural flush on the girl’s face, and her usually bright eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist, unfocused and unclear.

He frowned: “What’s wrong with you?”

Shen Yao Xing shook her head listlessly: “Maybe I didn’t sleep well last night.”

She felt her eyelids were very heavy now, almost unable to keep them open.

This was the first time he had seen the girl so lifeless. It felt as if his heart had been pricked by a needle. The young man’s fingertips trembled slightly, his cold voice carrying a hint of barely concealed concern: “Come in.”

Shen Yao Xing dragged herself to the corner where she had been yesterday, curling up and about to fall asleep.

“Come here,” the young man spoke again, pointing to the soft fur rug beside him. His eyes were full of unnatural emotion, his voice softening, “It’s more comfortable to rest here.”

Shen Yao Xing, with her mind in a fog, squinted at him. Seeing it was next to the young man, her first instinct was to refuse. However, she did change her position, after all, the entire carriage was covered in rugs, and sleeping anywhere would be better than her previous spot.

Shen Yao Xing lay down on the rug mat near the door, facing outwards. She stretched out her body and fell into a deep sleep within moments.

Jiang Ming Yue stared at the girl’s back turned towards him, his face as gloomy as the moments before a storm. A sullen air surrounded him, as if it might explode at any moment.

Crack! The wine cup in his hand shattered completely. The young man shook off the fragments, got down from the soft couch, and sat next to the girl. He stared at her profile for a long while, then slowly reached out his hand and placed it on her forehead.

When Shen Yao Xing woke up, she felt a bit more energetic, but her mind was still in a haze. She yawned, crawled to the carriage door, and lifted the curtain. It had started raining lightly again outside.

The fine raindrops blew onto her face with the cool wind. Whether it was due to the fever or something else, Shen Yao Xing suddenly felt a sense of desolation. She gazed blankly at the rain curtain, unconsciously chanting a line: “The cold, icy rain slaps chaotically on my face…”

At this moment, Shen Yao Xing was probably delirious from the fever. She had forgotten whose carriage this was, and also forgotten that there was someone behind her. After chanting one line, she suddenly felt a surge of passion. She abruptly flung the carriage curtain with force, singing loudly: “Slaps chaotically!!”

After her outburst, she fell back onto the floor, groaning and whimpering while holding her forehead.

“Have you gone mad?”

A cold voice suddenly came from behind. The whimpering stopped, and Shen Yao Xing had to crane her neck to its limit on the floor to see the person behind her clearly. He was sitting on the soft couch, looking down at her condescendingly.

The girl was silent for a moment, then suddenly rolled to his side.

Jiang Ming Yue was slightly startled, involuntarily propping himself up from the soft couch.

Shen Yao Xing whimpered as she grabbed onto the soft couch with both hands. Her pupils were unfocused, and she pouted as she started to ramble: “Go tell my mother that my brain is about to burn up, tell her to have another child…”

After saying this, the girl clutched her forehead again, groaning in pain, and rolled around the carriage once more.

“Don’t move around, I’ll take you to see a doctor soon,” Jiang Ming Yue frowned, reaching out to pull the girl onto the soft fur rug beside him.

Suddenly, the girl grabbed the young man’s hand that was pulling at her clothes. She opened her unfocused eyes to look at him, choking out miserably: “You must remember to tell my mother…”

The girl’s palm was unexpectedly scorching hot. The heat source traveled from her hand to his body, causing a tingling sensation that made his body go soft. His eyes suddenly widened, and a blush spread across his entire jade-like face.

“Let… let go…” Jiang Ming Yue, having come to his senses, could no longer hide the panic on his face. He wanted to withdraw his hand but had no strength left, only able to use a voice that had lost all its intimidation to rebuke her.

Unexpectedly, the girl gripped even tighter.

Jiang Ming Yue’s whole body was trembling, the blush spreading to his neck. At this moment, he was just like those ordinary young men experiencing their first love, his icy eyes melting into spring water, rippling with faint waves.

The girl kept wailing the same sentence, and Jiang Ming Yue, out of options, could only agree with a red face: “I… I understand, you… you quickly let go of me…”

Shen Yao Xing immediately stopped her wailing. Her headache made it difficult to see the young man’s face clearly. She clutched her head and grinned: “Thank you…”

She rubbed her eyes hard, squinting to barely make out the young man’s face. His handsome features were as beautiful as a celestial being.

“You’re really good-looking,” the girl said sincerely, holding her head.

The blush on Jiang Ming Yue’s face deepened. He lightly bit his lower lip, averting his shy gaze, his fingers almost digging into the soft couch beneath him.

“From now on, we’ll be sisters,” Shen Yao Xing said before rolling back onto the rug, whimpering about her severe headache.

“……”