Minnie looked around and whispered, "I'll only tell you, don't tell anyone else!"
"Okay!" Jax agreed immediately.
"Erina told me, the third boss…" Minnie's face turned a little red, and she looked slightly shy.
"What about the third boss?"
"Erina said the third boss is pursuing me." As soon as Minnie said that, her face turned red like a big apple. She lowered her head awkwardly.
After a long silence beside her, Minnie couldn't help but turn her head to look. Jax was sitting there with a calm expression, as if still waiting for her to say more.
"Jax?"
"Mm?"
"I'm done talking, give me some reaction!"
"Mm." Jax responded flatly.
That's it? Minnie felt disappointed. She thought sharing good news with a friend would make him feel excited too. But his reaction was lighter than a breeze.
Maybe she had acted too exaggerated, not reserved enough like a proper girl. Thinking of that, Minnie forced herself to explain, "I just found out, and I felt a bit happy, because it's the first time in my life someone pursued me… hehe…"
Minnie laughed dryly. Seeing that Jax was still so indifferent, she became more and more awkward and could only fall silent.
"So, are you planning to marry the third boss?"
Jax didn't speak for a long time, and then suddenly asked that explosive question. Minnie was so startled that she staggered forward, nearly falling.
Luckily, Jax reached out and supported her.
"Why… why would you ask that?" After sitting properly, Minnie rubbed her temples, feeling a headache.
"The third boss is pursuing you, aren't you really happy?"
"That's completely different! I'm just happy that someone is pursuing me. I'm a girl too, and I don't like playing around."
I've always been seen as a bookworm and don't interact with guys much. Now that I know someone likes me, I naturally feel happy. This is proof that I have some feminine charm.
"Then you and the third boss…"
"Between me and the third boss, it's just that he has feelings for me. As for me…" Minnie thought of Rhett, and her expression twisted again.
"I can't really say… anyway, this kind of thing has to go slowly."
"You're happy about the third boss pursuing you. What about Kane?" Jax suddenly asked.
"What does Kane have to do with this?" Minnie looked at him in confusion.
"Kane made shoes for you with his own hands, that clearly means he likes you too."
Minnie's mouth dropped open. "Kane? No… that's not possible… he's just a kid! You're overthinking this!"
"Kane is thirteen. Even if you think he's young, you can get engaged first, and then marry him after a few years."
"You're… you're joking, right?"
Jax's face remained calm.
"You're serious? Kane, really…"
"If you don't believe it, go ask Sanruwi, or ask Kane himself."
Minnie quickly shook her head. She wasn't going to embarrass herself by suddenly asking a young boy if he liked her.
"Besides Kane, there's also Hu Hai, Ji An…" Jax started listing names.
"Stop, stop!" Minnie screamed in fright. "No way… that's impossible…"
"They're the same as the third boss and Kane. The things they do are also because of you."
It took a long time for Minnie to return to her senses. She stared blankly at Jax. "Are you telling the truth? You're not joking?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"But… but…" Minnie stammered for a while before sorting out her thoughts.
"I'm not a great beauty. No guy has ever confessed to me before. Why would I suddenly become so popular?"
"You're very good." After Jax said that, he seemed to realize something was off. He turned his head and looked into the distance, his ears slightly red.
Minnie thought deeply and suddenly clapped her hands. "I get it."
"Get what?" Jax saw her expression relax and couldn't help but ask.
"I get it… not telling you." Minnie finally realized the special situation here—there are fewer women. So whenever a strange woman appears, all the men without partners will naturally try their luck and seek an opportunity.
They're not really pursuing her. If it were another woman, they would also gather around.
What they're chasing is a woman, not Minnie.
"So I'm really not that attractive after all!" Minnie's expression dimmed. She had been happy for nothing.
But this was actually better. She wouldn't have to stress over how to handle those feelings. Also, she still planned to go home.
She decided that once she returned, she would accept the introductions and try to fall in love properly. In the past, many people tried to set Minnie up with a boyfriend, but she always refused because she was lazy.
"Sigh, then how am I supposed to take walks in the future?"
"Walks?"
"I won't be able to walk with the third boss and the others anymore." Without the third boss's help, the road down the mountain wouldn't be so easy to pass.
That would reduce her chances of going back.
"Why not?"
Minnie looked at Jax strangely. "Isn't it obvious? I can't let the third boss and the others misunderstand, so I need to keep some distance."
If she couldn't return their feelings, then she shouldn't give them false hope. She didn't want someone here to hold resentment toward her after she left.
Jax was silent for a moment and then said, "The third boss may be a bandit, but he's actually not a bad person…"
Minnie shook her head. "Impossible."
She spoke calmly, but her tone was very firm. Jax didn't try to convince her anymore. He thought for a moment and smiled.
"If you want someone to walk with you, I do have someone to recommend."
"Who?"
"Sanruwi!"
"Impossible," Minnie shook her head instinctively. "Sanruwi wouldn't pay any attention to me."
"You won't know unless you try."
Minnie was really tempted. Sanruwi had great influence, even Boss Hayes at Phoenix Mountain followed his lead. But Sanruwi usually didn't treat her kindly.
Still, maybe one day she'd walk and suddenly return home. Minnie was someone who took things seriously. As long as there was a chance, she wouldn't give up.
Especially when it involved going home. Walking the road down the mountain every day had become a habit. It was also the time when the men on Phoenix Mountain tried to surround her.
Before, with Rhett around, they couldn't go too far. But if she went walking alone and ran into those overly enthusiastic men, that would definitely be trouble for her.
But getting Sanruwi to walk with her would be really difficult. Minnie frowned with worry.
After dinner, Minnie ignored the look from Jax and hid in her room. She left word that no matter who came looking for her, they were to be told she was already asleep.
Sanruwi frowned.
Later, when Rhett and the others came to invite her, Jax just said she was asleep. Everyone left disappointed.
"What's wrong with her?" Sanruwi asked.
"Who?" Jax pretended not to understand.
Sanruwi glared at him.
"It's nothing serious," Jax remembered how shocked Minnie had looked today and laughed. "Maybe her family was really strict."
"She rarely interacts with men, so she didn't realize what the third chief and the others felt about her."
"So what?" Sanruwi didn't get it.
"Well, now she knows." Jax smiled.
"She knows?" Sanruwi looked a little confused. If she knew, why was she hiding?
"She said she didn't want the third chief and the others to misunderstand, so she's avoiding them."
After a while, Jax added, "She was quite troubled this afternoon. Now she can't walk down the mountain as easily every day."
"Really?" Sanruwi said softly. He didn't speak for a long time. Then he suddenly asked, "Why does she have to walk that road every day?"
"Is she in a hurry to get down the mountain?"
Jax thought about it. "I don't really understand. If she wanted to go down, she could just go."
"But every day she only walks to a certain spot and then turns back. Still, it must mean something to her."
"I saw her walking back and forth many times on the second day she arrived." Jax remembered how lost she looked back then and felt a sudden weight in his chest.
The two were silent for a while. Jax then said with a smile, "I originally told her to invite you for a walk, but she was worried you'd refuse and didn't dare ask."
Sanruwi gave a snort. "Then why didn't you go with her?"
Seeing his friend fall silent, Sanruwi realized he had said too much and cleared his throat. "If you're free, the three of us can go for a walk."
Minnie felt quite satisfied that she could still walk the same path down the mountain. But with Sanruwi at her side, she was uneasy.
Usually, they only talked a little while treating Madam Qing. During meals, Jax was there to ease the mood. Wandering around like this with nothing to do was a first.
And Jax had quickly excused himself and left for some unknown task.
Rhett and the others followed behind. They wanted to approach but were afraid of making Sanruwi unhappy.
With Sanruwi's reputation for disliking women, yet walking with Minnie on the mountain path, they couldn't help but wonder.
If feelings developed between Sanruwi and Minnie, knowing Sanruwi's nature, there was no way she'd get close to them anymore.
Just thinking about that made Rhett's heart ache. Was it really this hard to find a good partner?
Sanruwi watched Minnie pacing back and forth. He observed coldly, curious but unwilling to ask anything.
Minnie let out a quiet sigh. It was almost a month since she came to this world. When could she go home?
How exactly did she get here in the first place, and how could she return?
She looked up at the sky. The moon was bright, the stars were few. A sky this beautiful was rare in her own world.
She stared up, dazed, until her neck grew stiff and her eyes sore.
Sanruwi stood silently nearby, not saying a word.
Minnie finally lowered her head. When she looked at Sanruwi, the mountain wind was blowing through his long hair and robes.
He looked like he didn't belong to this world, like a spirit from legend.
She thought, if I go back and tell everyone I saw someone this beautiful, they definitely won't believe me. They'd be so jealous.
Thinking that way, her mood got a little better.
"Sanruwi, was there anything strange the day we met?"
Sanruwi frowned slightly.
"Like a weird sky, or an earthquake, or maybe stars aligning?" Maybe time travel needed some kind of trigger, a celestial event or something…
"Idiot."