Xuan Yi looked at the candied hawthorn that Xiao Tian held out to her and raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you treating me like a child?"
The string of hawthorn berries in his hand was a vivid red, glistening invitingly in the lamplight.
"Who says candied hawthorn is only for children? Eating it when you're older gives it a different flavor..." Xiao Tian let the end of his sentence trail off, a gentle smile in his eyes.
Xuan Yi had meant to refuse. But the moment she looked up, she caught the pure, open happiness in his eyes. It was like a spring breeze that could melt solid ice, and it refreshed her heart. Without quite meaning to, she reached out and took the string from him.
As she took it, their fingertips brushed. In that fleeting touch, a faint current seemed to pass between them. Xuan Yi froze for a moment, then quickly pretended that nothing had happened. But the slip had not escaped Xiao Tian.
She lowered her head and looked at the candied hawthorn, and suddenly remembered the last time she had eaten one. She had been a child then, in the most innocent and happiest time of her life. She vaguely recalled standing with her parents before a stall, gazing eagerly at the strings of bright red fruit. In the end, after much coaxing, her father had bought her the biggest one, which had seemed to be the most delicious.
She could not help wondering whether the pure happiness of those days had truly slipped away so long ago without her ever noticing.
"Xuan Yi?" Xiao Tian's voice drew her out of her memories and back to the present.
She came back to herself and looked at the candied hawthorn in her hand. A smile touched her eyes before she knew it. She cleared her throat softly and said, in a tone of studied calm, "It's nothing."
She lifted her veil and took a small bite. The sweet and sour treat seemed to have lost all its sourness at that moment. Only a pure sweetness remained, like nectar, and it warmed her heart. She even felt a trace of that old, simple happiness in it, and a quiet satisfaction glimmered in her eyes.
"How is it?" Xiao Tian asked with a smile.
Xuan Yi nodded slightly, and a brief, almost invisible tenderness passed through her eyes as she looked at him. "It's really good." Then she held the string out to him. "You try it too. See how it tastes."
Xiao Tian looked at the candied hawthorn, paused for a heartbeat, then lowered his head and bit off one of the berries.
Just as he finished eating, Xuan Yi froze. She looked at the hawthorn in her hand, then at Xiao Tian. Her pupils contracted sharply, her cheeks flushed at once, and her heart began to pound like a drum. Her mind went blank and filled with a single thought.
The one he just ate... was it the one I bit? Did I really just hand him a hawthorn I had already bitten?!
In truth, it was her own mistake. When she held out the string, the berry she had bitten had been the one facing him.
Noticing her odd behavior, he looked up at her flushed face and asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing!" Her voice trembled, and she did not dare to look at him. She had eaten from the string, and then he had eaten from it too. Did that not mean they had just shared an indirect kiss?
The more she thought about it, the hotter her face burned. She felt that if she stayed there any longer, Xiao Tian would surely notice.
"Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng have gone far ahead. It isn't safe. I... I'll go and watch over them."
Before she had even finished speaking, she turned and fled with the candied hawthorn, as if a raging flood were chasing her.
Xiao Tian watched her hasty retreat with a slight lift of his eyebrows, and a knowing smile slowly curved his lips.
He had only meant to let her relive the happiness of her childhood and warm her heart a little. Her heart had been worn by long years, and only a touch of that old innocence could really warm it. He just had not expected such an unexpected bonus.
Meanwhile, Xuan Yi had run some distance and was now not far from Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng. She looked at the candied hawthorn in her hand, then took out a jade box, cool to the touch. As carefully as if she were holding a rare treasure, she laid the string inside and put it away.
Then she joined the two girls, and they went on strolling, their laughter never stopping.
* * *
As Xuan Yi and the girls wandered on, a slightly leering voice suddenly reached their ears. "Oh, what beautiful ladies. Would you care to have a few drinks with this young master?"
The three of them frowned slightly and looked toward the voice.
The crowd in the middle of the street parted like a tide to make way for a young man in brocade robes. His face was pale and his build slight, and several uniformed guards with long swords at their waists surrounded him. A repulsive, lecherous gleam shone in his eyes, and it was plain that wine and women had hollowed him out.
"That's... that's the eldest young master of the Cheng Family. He's a scourge of Tianhuang City. Because his father is the Cheng Family's Patriarch, he's harmed many women in the city. Young or old, as long as they're pretty, he'll make a move."
"These three are in trouble. With a pervert like that, unless they have powerful backing, they'll suffer for sure."
The onlookers along the street murmured among themselves, but none of them dared to step forward.
The young man stood at the head of his guards, laughing loudly, his gaze sweeping brazenly over Xuan Yi and the two girls. "What figures! What voices! Excellent, excellent, excellent!"
"This young master is Cheng Shou, the eldest young master of the Cheng Family. To meet such beauties today, young and grown, is a gift from heaven. Why don't you come with me to Yichun Tower for a few drinks?"
As he spoke, he laughed lewdly, showing a mouth full of yellow teeth and giving off a faint, foul stench.
"Get lost!" Xuan Yi said coldly, disgusted by the sight of him.
"Oh, I didn't expect her to be so spicy. I love the ones who resist most." Cheng Shou's expression grew even more lewd. He waved a hand at the guards behind him. "Go. Bring all three of them to me. I'll take them back and teach them some manners."
The moment he finished speaking, the Cheng Family guards drew their swords. Their blades glinted coldly as they advanced on Xuan Yi and the girls.
"What a disgusting creature, plotting against Aunt Xuan. It's like a toad dreaming of swan meat, ugly and sneaky too. I'll send you to go meet your ancestors!"
Xiao Ling looked at the feeble Cheng Shou with open scorn as she spoke. Xiao Meng's round eyes held the same disdain.
The two girls exchanged a glance, ready to make their move, to deal with the whole pack and teach them what fear was.
They were the Little Tyrants, after all. When had they ever put up with such insolence?