Xiao Pei opened his mouth to press her for the question but Du Juan just turned away from him, her attention seamlessly captured by the gnarled stall owner.
"Forget I just said that," she said quickly, the words tossed over her shoulder like a discarded wrapper.
Her entire demeanor shifted as she leaned over the stall's counter, her eyes scanning the bizarre array of roots and barks. "Now, what do we have here? A spiritual bitterness root, and is that... molten elderleaf bark? Excellent! Just the things I'm looking for."
She carried on chatting lightly, pointing things out on the shelves, asking questions as though Xiao Pei hadn't spoken at all, derailing his urgent thoughts with casual ease.
"Du Juan, hey! this is important," he pressed, his voice tight. "I need an answer."
Du Juan released an exaggerated sigh, finally turning back to him.
Impatience flickered in her eyes for a brief nanosecond before her expression smoothed again.
