Zero lowered his head, staring at that dewy peach blossom branch.
From the time the Cloud Knights set out for battle, to their victory and return to Luofu, a long time had already passed.
The seasons had turned again and again, now, it was no longer spring.
Jingliu seemed to realize this too. She paused imperceptibly, then, holding the wooden box she had just handed over, continued, "Now that Luofu has entered autumn, this thing… seems rather out of season. If you don't like it..."
"Thank you."
Zero interrupted Jingliu's unfinished words, reaching out to take the wooden box from her hands. Facing the suddenly dazed Swordmaster, he smiled and said, "I like it very much."
He looked straight at Jingliu, who had just reacted, and repeated again, "I like it very much."
His affection hadn't been worn away by the passage of time.
On the contrary, it only made him even more moved.
Zero knew how difficult it must have been to preserve such a thing intact from the battlefield and bring it all the way back to Luofu.
He couldn't possibly refuse such a special gift.
Zero was friends with Jing Yuan, and often heard him talk about all kinds of experiences on the battlefield.
The conditions there were nothing like Luofu's, simple and harsh.
When they were busy, their meals were pared down to the extreme, and they barely had time to gulp down some nutrient fluid to stave off hunger.
It might have been nutritious, but the taste was terrible, and they rarely got to eat anything good.
Besides the rough living conditions, there were the troublesome enemies.
The enemy didn't care about day or night. Sometimes the Cloud Knights would be busy fighting for an entire day, barely having time to blink before the enemy came surging back again.
What could they do? They could only gulp down another bottle of nutrient drink for strength, curse under their breath with a few Xianzhou swear words, and grab their weapons to fight again.
But Jingliu was different from the average Cloud Knight. She had to attend meetings with her comrades, listening to their tactical discussions.
She must have been even busier, even more exhausted.
Even a Swordmaster, praised and trusted by all, could still get tired.
Yet even so, during her rare moments of rest, she would take out her jade device to snap photos to share with Zero, she even broke off that branch of blossoms for him, and took great care to preserve it all the way home to Luofu.
That must have been hard.
If not for wanting to deliver this gift to him as soon as possible, Jingliu probably wouldn't have let that trace of weariness show.
Faced with such a carefully prepared gift, Zero couldn't help but be touched.
He lowered his gaze to the blossoms in the box and gently closed the lid.
Seeing that he had accepted it, Jingliu said softly, "As long as you like it. It's getting late, you should hurry to the Divination Commission."
"How could I accept someone's gift and then just leave them standing here?"
Zero chuckled and shook his head. He asked Jingliu, "I don't really understand your Cloud Knights' rules. Do you still need to report back for duty later?"
Hearing that question, Jingliu instinctively shook her head and said, "The Cloud Knights who returned to Luofu today have a day off. We'll report back to the base tomorrow."
Once he saw that she had nothing urgent to attend to, Zero said, "Then, if I may trouble the great Swordmaster, would you accompany me to get something to eat?"
He saw her crimson eyes brighten even more and continued, "Something sweet, perhaps? How about that?"
He didn't know if she had eaten yet, so he chose the desserts she'd loved most after drinking.
Jingliu nodded, curling her lips in a faint smile, but suddenly seemed to realize something, and her expression quickly turned cold again.
She asked, "What about the Divination Commission?"
Zero thought to himself, 'So she really thinks I'm skipping work, huh.'
But if he told her the truth, she'd probably just feel guilty and start insisting he go back to work.
After thinking for a bit, he said, "I'm working in the archives now, it's usually quiet there. I can slack off for a bit. No one will notice."
'What could Jingliu say to that?'
If it were any other Cloud Knight, daring to say something like that in front of her, they'd be eating her sword already.
But facing Zero, who had gladly accepted her gift and was now inviting her out, Jingliu could only agree.
Besides, the war was over now. She could afford to relax a little.
There was a faint smile in her voice as she deliberately drew out her tone, "Not working seriously… deserves punishment."
Zero went along with her teasing and said, "Then I'll have to beg the Swordmaster for mercy, come on, let's go eat something good together."
Jingliu followed Zero to a dessert shop.
Since it was workday and work hours, there were only a few customers inside when they looked through the window.
Jingliu glanced up at the name of the dessert shop and said to Zero, "I've heard Tingyun mention this place, it's owned by one of her friends."
Zero, "...Ah. Of course it is. That's Tingyun for you."
He was momentarily overwhelmed.
'Tingyun, why do you have friends everywhere? The Extrovert King of Luofu has got to be you!'
After they entered the shop, Zero quickly took out his jade device, opened the payment page, handed it to the cashier, then turned back to Jingliu and said, "My treat this time, to bribe the great Swordmaster. Please, don't expose the fact that I was slacking off."
Jingliu folded her arms and gave a small huff, pretending to sound aloof, "We'll see how you behave."
She glanced at the menu and only ordered the cheapest dessert.
Zero hesitated a little.
Before, whenever Jingliu and Tingyun had gone drinking, she would always order an entire table's worth of desserts afterward.
And now, just one? Not even enough to count as an appetizer.
He didn't quite understand, so he ordered every signature dessert on the menu.
Jingliu looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. She calculated the total in her mind, then pulled out her jade device to transfer money to Zero.
After the cashier took the payment and handed the jade device back to him, Zero saw Jingliu's transfer and finally realized why she'd been acting so strangely.
'Oh, so that's it, she's worried I'm spending too much money?'
He didn't even know what to say for a moment.
It wasn't like he lacked money, so why would he care about the cost of a few desserts?
Carrying the tray full of desserts back to their table, Zero sat down across from her and transferred the money right back.
He told the Swordmaster, whose expression showed clear surprise, "Jing Yuan isn't half as polite as you. He takes every chance he gets to make me pay."
Aside from the pension of several thousand credits he'd already received, Hua had also tallied up all the assets from his past life.
Luxury homes and star-destroyers aside, the profits from a dozen vacation planets under his former name added up to a truly staggering amount.
Zero thought that transferring ownership of over a dozen planets all at once would be far too flashy.
And since he didn't feel particularly secure, half-afraid some Aeon might just show up in Luofu one day, he hadn't changed ownership, only instructed Hua to have the managers transfer the profits to him.
Just the monthly income alone was enough for him to coast through the universe until the end of time.
Zero suddenly remembered a few details from his past interactions with Jingliu.
Like how she'd once insisted on paying him back over something trivial, like milk; or how she'd taken him to eat at the commissary, yet when she offered to treat him, she'd only ordered a single dessert.
Could it be, she thought he was under too much financial pressure? That she didn't want to hurt his pride, and so found these small ways to help?
If he were just an ordinary diviner from the Divination Commission, she wouldn't be wrong, such a person could never afford the place he currently lived in.
Zero's thoughts were complicated.
Seeing Jingliu still holding her jade device, looking like she wanted to transfer the money back again, he felt helpless, yet didn't know how to even begin explaining.
"My situation's a bit special. Um… let's just say I hit the lottery. I'm not short on money."
Jingliu let out a quiet breath of relief.
At least materially, he didn't seem to have suffered, no debts, no hardships.
But then, why didn't Zero care about his own safety?
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