Zhao Rong had looked back for the twenty-first time.
The reason she remembered so clearly
was that the persistent follower behind her had a new trick every time.
Sometimes she was scared enough to turn her back, pretend to walk away a few steps, then sneak a glance back, only to jump in fright again.
Other times, she would hastily step aside, grab a light silk fan from a roadside stall and fan herself frantically, attracting the peculiar gaze of the stall owner.
Or suddenly brake, stumble nearly falling over, scramble to regain balance and then stand in the middle of the street, staring up at the sky at a perfect one hundred and eighty-degree angle, causing all the nearby people to stop and look up curiously.
And on this twenty-first time Zhao Rong turned back.
"Bang."
"Thud."
She had bumped into a pine on the roadside, startling a squirrel which released its grip and scurried away, its halfway-eaten pine cone dropping in free fall and hitting her pitiable head, which had been combed into a man's style.
Zhao Rong was at her wit's end.
She's acting as if we haven't noticed her yet.
Zhao Rong and Liu Sanbian had a quick meal at Zangzhou Pu then hurriedly left, embarking on their journey northward; not long after, Zhao Rong noticed the persistent follower behind them.
At first, Zhao Rong thought she was just going the same way, but they had been traveling for two days now, even taking a detour through a secluded path in the deep forest under Liu Sanbian's lead, and she was still following them; Zhao Rong, slow as she might be, understood what was happening.
It was now the afternoon.
A cool breeze was blowing.
The pine trees beside the road rustled.
Mountain springs tinkled between the rocks.
At this moment, except for Zhao Rong, Liu Sanbian, and the persistent follower behind them, there was no one else on this path.
"Brother Sanbian, wait for me for a moment," Zhao Rong said with a helpless expression, turning towards the poor misfortunate soul under the tree who was red in the forehead, in pain, covering her forehead with one hand, hugging her head with the other, shrinking her little melon head, her eyes brimming with tears.
Alas, truly... truly clumsy.
At this moment, Su Xiaoxiao was still sitting on the ground, lightly biting her lower lip, her little face scrunched up, looking up at the tall pine tree with eyes full of grievance.
"Hey, why are you following me, young master?" Zhao Rong called out.
Su Xiaoxiao, startled, leaped up and took off running in a random direction, bamboo basket on her back.
"Stop."
The fox-eyed girl immediately halted in her tracks, standing there clueless.
Zhao Rong raised her eyebrow, huh, quite obedient.
"Turn around."
The delicate figure of the fox-eyed girl trembled slightly, but she still obediently complied, although she continued to lower her little head, staring intently at the tips of her shoes as if trying to find flowers on them.
"Look up."
Su Xiaoxiao widened her eyes, her nose turning sour; he, he's so fierce...
But ultimately.
She succumbed to the tyranny of the scoundrel before her and lifted her head, looking at the extremely fierce Zhao Rong with teary eyes.
Their eyes met.
"Don't follow me anymore."
Zhao Rong's expression was stern, but upon seeing the normally fair little face of this victim before her, now red on the forehead, slightly skin-abraded; nose tip red, sniffing repeatedly; red lips, tempting to bite... cough cough, that's not right; eyes rimmed red, as if something was swirling inside them, her heart softened unintentionally.
"You'd better go back to Qiantang Mountain quickly and stop wandering around. If you run into that situation again, you might not be able to escape."
Su Xiaoxiao stared blankly at Zhao Rong.
After finishing her piece, Zhao Rong thought for a moment, felt there was nothing else to say, and turned to walk back; but before she took two steps, her clothes at the waist were tugged by someone.
Turning her head, what she saw were a pair of captivating, narrow fox eyes.
Zhao Rong had read in a miscellaneous book that fox eyes, also known as enchanting eyes, could be divided into fierce and kind eyes, both of which were considered signs of overpowering a husband. Fierce eyes indicated a person was shrewd in dealing with the world and smooth in social interactions, whereas kind eyes signified that one was born charming, capable of captivating hearts and spirits, and often entangled in romantic affairs.
The book did not detail how to distinguish between them, but the fox-eyed girl in front of him, clumsy enough to make Zhao Rong anxious for her, was very likely to possess kind eyes.
At this moment, the tears that had been swirling in the enchanting eyes finally broke through like a dam bursting, pouring forth in torrents.
Tears soaked the begonia flowers.
Sobbing and choking.
"Xiaoxiao won't go back, wuu, Xiaoxiao won't go back. Xiaoxiao wants to find great-grandma, the tribespeople on the mountain won't play with Xiaoxiao, the elder even wants to marry Xiaoxiao off to a man-eating monster, wuu, only great-grandma is good to Xiaoxiao, wuu, Xiaoxiao wants to find great-grandma, wuu..."
Su Xiaoxiao clutched desperately at the waistband of Zhao Rong's scholar robe with her little hands. The girl, who had been timid and faint-hearted until now, was seemingly filled with borrowed courage, her tear-soaked, little face stubborn with resolve.
"No, you let go first, don't do this."
"Wuu, Xiaoxiao doesn't know the way. You take Xiaoxiao to Du You City, or Xiaoxiao can follow behind, wuu."
"Hey hey hey, let go quickly, damn, hurry and let go."
"Hmph, I won't."
"Let go let go, stop stop stop... don't pull at my belt! Stop pulling!"
"..."
The two of them tugged at each other in the small grove beside the road, amorously entangled.
Should someone happen to pass by at this moment, they would witness the following scene: a handsome man frantically trying to untie another man's waistband, the latter equally anxious, their four hands moving back and forth around the waist, creating a feverish scene.
Most people would spontaneously exclaim, "Yeesh, my eyes are polluted, what has the world come to, no respect for traditions!"
Zhao Rong gripped his own belt tightly, struggling mightily to protect his innocence.
He frantically looked around while "tugging of war."
There were no signs of pedestrians in the area. Liu Sanbian either intentionally or unintentionally had his back to them, and was it just Zhao Rong's imagination or was he standing oddly far away?
No time to think about that now.
This girl in front of him had some inexplicable strength, and Zhao Rong felt his trousers were about to fall. He quickly freed one hand to hold them up, only for her to tug another length of the belt away...
"Stop stop, for goodness' sake, stop tugging!"
"No no no, Xiaoxiao won't, bad man, will you yield to Xiaoxiao or not?"
Why did that sound odd?
But he no longer had the time to ponder it.
"I yield I yield I yield, let go of me!"
"Rip ～ Tear ～"
"..."Su Xiaoxiao.
"..."Zhao Rong.
Su Xiaoxiao had forcefully twisted off a melon, and before she could taste whether it was sweet or not, she was so thrilled that her hands lost control and she ended up pulling down a piece of Zhao Rong's damaged robe along with the belt...
Great, now I finally don't have to worry about my belt because the robe is torn, tying it is useless, and my trousers will still show.
Su Xiaoxiao retracted her hand, looked down at the spoils of war in her grip, and cautiously raised her head to look at Zhao Rong.
Zhao Rong watched her expressionlessly.
At this moment, his moon-white scholar robe, unrestrained by a belt, lay open, revealing the white undergarment within. While it was not as compromising as a full exposure, it was still quite improper for scholars.
Su Xiaoxiao glanced, quickly lowered her head, extended a small, delicate fist towards Zhao Rong, and tentatively pushed it forward, even giving it a little shake.
Inside the little fist was a wad of fabric.
The disheveled scholar watched her without expression.
The fox-eyed girl stuck out her tongue, her mood falling, and she withdrew her hand. Suddenly, as if struck by Spiritual Light, she hurriedly bent down to untie her own belt.
Her expression showed eager anticipation.
The stern-faced scholar panicked and grabbed her hand.
"Please have some self-respect, miss!"