I Like You

Besides the awkward tension when they first ran into each other, the rest of the day went well with no accident, except…

It was a little regretful.

Before leaving, Qi Yan kept looking at Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi, hoping that something would break out between the two men. But in the end, neither of them paid him any attention. They politely bid each farewell and went separate ways.

Song Caitang helped Old Madam Li into her carriage and was amazed at how tasty the old lady’s fried seeds were. She instructed Qingqiao solemnly, “Bring these back and give them out to everyone at home, but save more for Wan’er, because I’m pretty sure she’d want to experiment with them and try to recreate this.”

Qingqiao was equally solemn in her response, “Don’t worry, Young Mistress, I will make sure to carry out your instructions well.”

As she spoke, she carefully wrapped the seeds in a few layers, as though she was afraid someone would steal them from her.

Qi Yan was so frustrated by the situation that he nearly snatched those seeds away. “Don’t you know what’s going on? How could you still be talking about snacks at this time?!”

Song Caitang turned to stare at him puzzledly, the sun catching the shiny tassels hanging from the pins in her hair. “What’s…going on?”

Qingqiao also glared warily at him as she carefully hid the bag of seeds behind her back.

“I…” Qi Yan nearly burst. “I’m not trying to steal your fried seeds!”

He was about to lose his mind.

When he first arrived, he didn’t know what was going on, but after a while, he realized what he had unwittingly walked into and he suddenly felt as though a thunderstorm was going through his heart. How could Song Caitang, one of the people involved in his matter, remain so calm?

Did she not notice at all? What happened to the intelligence she usually displayed? This was serious!

Song Caitang just stared at the wide eyed, incredulous Qi Yan, then quietly took a few of the seeds in her hand and gave them to him. “You can try some. They’re really tasty.”

Qi Yan instinctively popped one into his mouth. “You’re right, they’re tasty…”

Wait! What was he doing???!

“NO! I said I wasn’t trying to take your fried seeds!”

“If you say so,” Song Caitang turned to look at Zhao Zhi who was walking toward her. “Can we go now?”

Zhao Zhi nodded. “Yup.”

The couple started walking off together without getting into a carriage or taking a horse with them.

Qi Yan didn’t know what to say to that. He knew that the mountain roads were narrow and they had all eaten quite a bit just now, so walking it off was a normal thing to do. But didn’t the two of them notice that they weren’t alone? What about him?!

Just as he was about to run after them, the round faced Qingqiao grabbed hold of him and gave him a large handful of seeds. “If what you had earlier isn’t enough, you can take more from me. Young Mistress doesn’t have a lot on her.”

As she spoke, she also glanced at the seeds she gave him with a pained look on her face, as though she couldn’t really bear to give them to him.

Qi Yan was about to lose his mind. He wasn’t after Song Caitang’s seeds, and certainly wasn’t trying to rob this maid of her share either!

While Qi Yan was about to faint in anger, Song Caitang and Zhao Zhi continued taking their leisurely walk. “You’ve had a good chat?”

“Yeah.”

“Mr. Wen is a good man, so don’t bully him.”

Zhao Zhi pursed his lips and looked upset. “But he bullied me. He knows how to bully others!”

He sounded like he was trying to complain about Wen Yuansi, but also looked like he was trying to gain some sympathy from her.

She burst out laughing. “I’ve already purposely said goodbye to him so that I can spend time with you, but you’re still not happy?”

“Nope, unless…” Zhao Zhi turned to stare intensely at Song Caitang, “unless you tell me that you like me.”

Song Caitang looked back at him. “I do like you.”

Zhao Zhi was stunned. She said it so easily!

“You…what did you just say?” He stopped walking and his stare grew even more intense. “Say that again!”

Song Caitang stopped as well. She touched his forehead, then touched her own. “You’re not running a fever.”

He grabbed her hand as his breathing quickened and his tone grew anxious, “Just now, you…”

“Didn’t I already agree to marry you?” Song Caitang began to realize what was going on and found this man so silly. “If I didn’t like you, why would I agree to do that?”

Zhao Zhi just held onto her hand tightly and didn’t say anything.

She stared at the somewhat awkward man in front of her and smiled brightly. “Now, don’t tell me you’ve been so grouchy because of this one phrase…”

Zhao Zhi’s breathing became even heavier and his gaze dimmed, as though there was a ferocious beast inside of him that was threatening to burst out from his body.

She gently touched his face. “I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. You don’t want that?”

He couldn’t hold it in anymore. He put an arm around her waist and stepped gently on the ground and flew further into the air at top speed. They disappeared out of sight within seconds.

From afar, Qingqiao could sense something going on between the couple, so she forced everyone to walk more slowly and turn around, including Qi Yan.

Qi Yan was a man who loved gossip and scandals above all else, so while he was obtuse about a lot of things, he could smell what was going on instantly. He was ready to fly over anytime and was very tempted to do so, but Qingqiao was glaring at him with her hands on her waist, so he felt a little embarrassed to do so…

Amidst the strong tree trunks and beneath the fiery red pomegranate blossoms, a romance was being sealed with a kiss.

Zhao Zhi pressed Song Caitang against a tree but he was afraid that it would be too uncomfortable for her, so he wrapped his left arm around her waist and gently caressed her face with his right as he slowly savored her lips.

He really wanted to go hard on her and let every desire in him out, but he couldn’t bear to do that to her either. He felt that this soft body in his arms had to be treated with great care and protected with all his might. He had to be as careful as he could and make sure he never hurt her.

There were so many conflicting thoughts in his head. He wanted to do so many things, but everything seemed inappropriate, so in the end, he decided to let go of her… This girl was always so good at making him feel this way!

“One day…one day, I’ll end up dead in your arms…” Zhao Zhi whispered into her ears, his voice slightly unclear.

Song Caitang shut her eyes, but she could still see the remnant images of the flowers, she could still smell the fragrance of the blossoms and she felt that wonderful warmth around her.

This was what she had been looking for all this time.

A warm person, a safe embrace, moments of peace and quiet.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t noticed the animosity between Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi earlier. But it was not right of her to interfere.

She trusted the two men to do the right thing. She gave them space and believed they would be able to handle this matter properly. Besides, she was watching the whole time, so nothing bad would have happened.

And as she had expected, everything was settled smoothly.

Zhao Zhi was magnanimous and a straight talker, while Wen Yuansi was elegant and gentlemanly. Both of them were very good people and she didn’t want them to be unable to even be friends just because of her. That would be such a pity.

Thankfully, the heavens were on her side and everything worked out in good time. They were all going to have an even brighter future ahead of them.

…

Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang returned very quickly.

They were in the middle of a deep forested mountain with difficult and dangerous roads, not in the bustling city where everyone could just head home by themselves. A lot of people had come here together, so they all had to go back to the city together.

Zhao Zhi didn’t want to create an embarrassing situation for Song Caitang, so he purposely picked some green almonds on the way back and gave them to Qingqiao with an excuse, “I suddenly remembered I didn’t prepare any gifts for you to bring back, so I thought these green almonds would be good. They’re too bitter to be eaten by themselves, but they’re great for making candies or wine.”

Qingqiao was cooperative and received them with a huge smile on her face. “We happen to be short on these! Thank you, Your Highness!”

Qi Yan couldn’t believe these people were such top notch liars!

He had noticed that Song Caitang’s dress was a little crumpled and untidy, and her lips were way redder and moist. It was so obvious what happened earlier, yet Zhao Zhi was going to pretend none of that happened?

What was that about not bringing gifts? There were two full carriages of gifts waiting right here! Did he intend to throw those away?! Tsk!

He didn’t dare to tease Song Caitang, so he started winking at Zhao Zhi instead.

Zhao Zhi grabbed a random handful of leaves and slapped them on Qi Yan’s face.

Qi Yan got angry. “What was that for!”

Zhao Zhi remained calm, “I noticed your eye was twitching and was afraid you had been bitten by some poisonous bug, so I plastered some herbs on the area.”

Qi Yan turned to look at Song Caitang with a pitiful look on his face and tried to complain, “Tangtang, look at how Brother Zhi—”

Song Caitang just grinned at him and held out some fried seeds. “Have some.”

Qingqiao joined in the fun, “If that’s not enough, I still have some more.”

“Enough! That’s…that’s really enough!!!”

Qi Yan pouted angrily.

The journey down the mountain was a long one. But eventually, everyone got back into their respective carriages and horses and made their way down.

And shortly after they reached the foot of the mountain, they ran into another familiar face.

It was Cao Zhang.

The leader of the Green Gang was on horseback as he galloped swiftly down a small road with a huge grin on his face as though he had done something amazing and couldn’t wait to tell someone about it.

When he spotted Zhao Zhi and Qi Yan, he pulled his horse to a stop with great effort and greeted them, “What a coincidence! Are both of you headed back to the city?” As he spoke, he turned to look at the horse carriage approaching and noticed Qingqiao looking out of the window. “Little Miss Song is here too? Just nice – I can send her home.”

Zhao Zhi’s expression instantly darkened. “I will send her home myself. No need for you to worry about that.”

But Cao Zhang seemed to not have heard him and just shook his head with a laugh, “No worries, it’s really no trouble at all. I happen to be headed to the Guan house myself.”

Zhao Zhi got it now. This man was going to visit Guan Qing and was hoping to use Song Caitang’s company to keep Guan Qing in a good mood.

Since neither Zhao Zhi nor Cao Zhang were particularly good natured, Qi Yan became the mediator. “How about…we all head to the Guans’ together?”

The two men paused to think, then surprisingly agreed to this arrangement. “Sure.”

And so, the group expanded once more. The group of three had become four.

Zhao Zhi glanced at the road from which Cao Zhang had appeared. “Why were you here?”

This was no ordinary road. It didn’t look special, but this road led to only one place, and only one person lived there. This person was someone of extremely high status, so nobody could visit them without getting an invitation.

Qi Yan had grown up among the aristocratic circles of Bianliang, so he knew about this too and was even more curious than Zhao Zhi, “Yeah, and you look so pleased with yourself too. What were you doing there? How did you even get yourself in?”

Cao Zhang raised an eyebrow. “And…why should I tell both of you anything about my own private business?”

Zhao Zhi threw Qi Yan a glance, and Qi Yan quickly scowled at Cao Zhang as he threatened him, “Aren’t you afraid we’d rat you out to Guan Qing?”

“Sure, go ahead and do that! We members of the Green Gang are all men who can stand on their own feet and are capable people. As their leader, why would I be afraid of a woman?” Guan Qing wasn’t around, so Cao Zhang could say these words with great confidence.

Qi Yan wished he could get Guan Qing to appear right now and watch how this gang leader was going to wiggle his way out of this situation.

But his response gave Zhao Zhi a clue.

He glanced at that small road. Could it be…

Cao Zhang had gone there because of Guan Qing?

Did that person…know Guan Qing?

Song Caitang was seated in her carriage and while she knew they had run into Cao Zhang, she couldn’t hear what they were talking about at all.

When she saw Cao Zhang’s arrogant smile through the window of her carriage, she couldn’t help but smile as well.

This leader of the Green Gan was a scheming, vicious and bold man who dared to do absolutely anything and dared to barge into any place. He worked into an environment where people got killed every single day, yet his personality was not depressive at all. Instead, he lived without worrying about anything and had this boyish cheekiness about him.

He was very compatible with Guan Qing.

Da’an was a country that was extremely different from the modern society that Song Caitang once lived in, with very different rules for living, but with Zhao Zhi watching over the land, Song Caitang wasn’t too worried about the future. Guan Qing would definitely live happily ever after too.

She looked past the trees and up at the sky.

Torches were slowly being lit for the night. They were getting closer and closer to home.