TDSDE 34

34. Furiously Fluffed Up

In the dead of night, the White Tiger Hall was silent, and the cook’s loud scream echoed especially clearly:

“Whoa, you scared me to death!”

Bai Yuanxiu scratched the back of his head, sheepish.

“Haha, sorry, sorry.”

The cook pulled out a piece of coarse cotton cloth, dampened it, and covered the wooden bucket. After estimating the dough’s fermentation time, she found a cool spot to sit with Bai Yuanxiu.

She glanced over at him, first thanking him for helping with the Yunhua disciple’s poisoning incident, then asked,

“So, what brings you here this late at night?”

The first thing Bai Yuanxiu did after returning to the Demonic Sect was find Zhou Xiaoxiao. The boy had been terrified by him earlier and had cried his eyes out as soon as he was brought into the Black Tortoise Hall. When Bai Yuanxiu showed up, he practically spilled everything without hesitation.

At first, Bai Yuanxiu thought Xiao Qing was so proactive this time because of Zhou Xiaoxiao. After all, in some way, the boy was like a junior martial brother to Xiao Qing—caring about him would be normal.

But after this trip, Bai Yuanxiu realized things weren’t quite what he thought.

Xiao Qing hadn’t shown the slightest concern for Zhou Xiaoxiao the whole time. Which could only mean—what Xiao Qing truly cared about… was someone else caught up in the matter.

—That cook who made the soup.

Knowing full well that Xiao Qing’s prickly nature would never allow for any direct explanation, Bai Yuanxiu could only sneak into White Tiger Hall while everyone was asleep to find the cook himself.

He lowered his voice.

“Miss Fu, has the Left Protector… interacted with you before?”

His question came out of nowhere. The cook blinked, tilted her head and thought for a long while—then suddenly clapped her hands.

“That’s right! He did!”

“This year—no, last winter—it was freezing. I was steaming cakes, and the Left Protector suddenly showed up.”

According to the cook, Xiao Qing had helped her quite a bit that day. He didn’t ask her anything until dusk, when he finally inquired what kind of food was best for the season.

“In the dead of winter? Of course, something hot is best.”

As she spoke, her expression turned a little puzzled.

“But there’s something that always struck me as strange—he specifically said it was for someone injured, but… he didn’t look hurt to me at all.”

The cheerful cook began recalling the details—how the Left Protector had swatted a wild pheasant to death with a single palm, smashing it beyond use for cooking, then how he carefully sliced a piece of ginger with a kitchen knife, learning to cut it into thin slices.

“He was so serious about it.” The cook laughed.

“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe that man would ever personally cook anything.”

Bai Yuanxiu listened silently, but the more he heard, the harder it was for his heart to calm—the turbulent emotions that had started in the Black Tortoise Hall only swelled further.

It was early summer now, already growing hot. The dough couldn’t sit too long or it would sour. The cook excused herself and returned to the kitchen. When she looked up again by chance, Bai Yuanxiu was already gone.

The moonlight hung like gauze. Bai Yuanxiu sprinted through the night toward the bamboo grove at top speed. But when he finally reached the bamboo house, he suddenly lost the courage to knock.

Just as he hesitated, the door opened.

Xiao Qing stood inside in his inner robes, a light green outer robe draped loosely over his shoulders. Embroidered on it were two fluffy, snow-white rabbits.

He folded his arms, expression blank.

“What are you doing here this late?”

Bai Yuanxiu felt like something was surging up from his chest, ready to burst from his throat. He strode forward and pulled the man into a tight hug.

He held him so hard that Xiao Qing was shoved back two steps and bumped into a short bamboo cabinet behind him.

The cabinet was newly made, the bamboo still smooth. The bump caused the cabinet door to pop open, and a small box on the top shelf fell down, landing just right so that a little oiled paper-wrapped bundle rolled out.

“You didn’t get hurt, did you?” Bai Yuanxiu quickly asked.

Xiao Qing shot him a glare.

“What do you take me for? I’m not made of porcelain.”

Then he looked down and noticed what had fallen. His eyes widened.

Bai Yuanxiu hadn’t caught the change in his expression. Worried the item might’ve broken, he picked it up at once and was about to say something—only to look up and see Xiao Qing staring at him, tense and nervous.

Bai Yuanxiu followed Xiao Qing’s line of sight and immediately got a mischievous idea.

He deliberately moved the oiled paper bundle left, then right, watching with amusement as Xiao Qing’s head followed every motion.

Xiao Qing suddenly froze. Then his expression shifted—and he lunged straight at Bai Yuanxiu.

Bai Yuanxiu instantly flipped his wrist and tossed the paper bundle upward, catching Xiao Qing around the waist and spinning them around, pretending to block Xiao Qing’s hands.

Xiao Qing clearly noticed what Bai Yuanxiu was up to. He pressed his lips together, flipped his hand, and struck, forcing Bai Yuanxiu to dodge aside.

But with that strike, Xiao Qing missed his chance to grab the oiled paper bundle. Bai Yuanxiu leapt slightly as he dodged, securing the bundle in his hand.

He waggled it teasingly.

“What’s in here?”

Xiao Qing’s face was stern.

“None of your business. Give it back.”

Before today, that line might’ve stung Bai Yuanxiu. But now, he just pouted slightly and thought to himself: Keep pretending.

He was almost certain it had something to do with him—otherwise Xiao Qing wouldn’t be acting like this.

Instead of rushing, he just smiled and said,

“Not telling me? Fine, I’ll open it myself.”

Sure enough, Xiao Qing’s face changed instantly. Backed into a corner, he launched a palm strike without warning. Bai Yuanxiu barely dodged, and with a flick of his eyes, suddenly crouched down with a pained expression.

He knew that Frost Palm’s sensation all too well—his act was convincing.

At first, Xiao Qing said, “I didn’t even hit you,” and told him to get up and hand it over. Bai Yuanxiu acted like he didn’t hear, silently kneeling and counting in his head.

Sure enough, soon he heard Xiao Qing’s footsteps, much faster than usual—clearly in a hurry.

Bai Yuanxiu took advantage of the moment when the other person also half-squatted, immediately pulling him into an embrace. He was about to laugh at Xiao Qing for falling for it, but when his hand reached out, he noticed Xiao Qing’s fist was tightly clenched, his palm slick with cold sweat.

Bai Yuanxiu suddenly wanted to smack himself on the head.

He had completely forgotten that Xiao Qing, back then, had run around looking for medicine and little trinkets to pass the time. Despite not even being able to make a simple bowl of wontons, he had stayed up all night to prepare a pot of fresh and delicious pheasant soup for him.

Back when Xiao Qing had injured him in the arena, Bai Yuanxiu could only imagine how much Xiao Qing must have blamed himself.

Yet he was still making jokes about it.

Bai Yuanxiu felt that cold hand start to pull away, and without thinking, he tightened his grip to hold it in place.

But this grip was like stepping on the tail of a cat that had already been on guard.

“Let go!”

Bai Yuanxiu heard it and immediately realized he was in trouble. Ignoring Xiao Qing’s hand, he applied a bit of finesse to disperse the continuous struggles, finally pulling the person back into his arms.

He exerted force with his arm, but each movement as he gently stroked Xiao Qing’s cold back was incredibly tender.

He could feel the strength in Xiao Qing’s punches landing on his shoulder and chest, but he couldn’t help but sigh: Even though he was this angry, Xiao Qing was still only using the strength of his body to hit him, and it didn’t hurt at all.

Bai Yuanxiu coaxed Xiao Qing for a while, and eventually, he calmed down, half-leaning against his chest.

“Do you think it’s fun to mess with me?”

Hearing that voice, completely devoid of emotion, Bai Yuanxiu’s heart felt like it was pierced with a needle. He quickly softened his tone, “How could I? I just think you’re really cute, so I did it.”

Xiao Qing didn’t respond, and Bai Yuanxiu, afraid he wouldn’t believe him, began listing off, one by one: “Every time you glare at me with a cold face, you’re cute. When you eat snacks, you’re cute. When you act spoiled with me, you’re cute. When you smile—”

He didn’t finish his sentence, as Xiao Qing covered his mouth, the tips of his ears turning red. “Smooth talker.”

Bai Yuanxiu smiled and gently pulled Xiao Qing’s hand away, rubbing his cheek against it. “But I’m telling the truth.”

Xiao Qing snorted, turning his head to avoid looking at him.

Bai Yuanxiu thought for a moment, then shoved the paper package back into Xiao Qing’s hand. Though he was indeed curious, since Xiao Qing was resisting so much, he decided not to look.

However, the next moment, he saw Xiao Qing’s fingers, which had been holding the corner of the paper, shift. To his surprise, Xiao Qing opened it.

The oiled paper was small, no larger than half a man’s palm, and what was inside was not at all what Bai Yuanxiu had expected—just seven shriveled, blackened lumps.

Bai Yuanxiu was still puzzled when he saw Xiao Qing turn his head away and mutter a few words under his breath.

“Candied hawthorn.”

In that brief moment, the image that Bai Yuanxiu had long since pushed to the back of his mind suddenly surged up from the depths of his memory.

Midsummer, Liuzhen, the Flower Pavilion, the white corner of a robe, and the two strings of candied hawthorn he had casually bought.

That day, Xiao Qing had absentmindedly nibbled on the candied hawthorn, finishing one string and then losing interest. Bai Yuanxiu, thinking the weather was hot and the candy wouldn’t last, was about to throw it away.

But Xiao Qing had said, “Don’t throw it away, Yuanxiu. Keep it for me.”

At the time, Bai Yuanxiu hadn’t thought much of it. He had assumed Xiao Qing just wanted it as a snack to pass the time later, so he had casually put the candied hawthorn and the oiled paper on the table.

Now that he thought about it, Xiao Qing had only sat there, looking up at him, pulling at the corner of his clothes with a calm expression.

What was Xiao Qing thinking when he said that, after witnessing him go to the Flower Pavilion and stay out all night?

Bai Yuanxiu suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

Zhou Xiaoxiao’s words, Chef Fu’s words, and this bag of already spoiled candied hawthorn.

In that instant, Bai Yuanxiu realized that the cold, distant Xiao Qing cared about him far more than he had ever imagined.