Round One (15)

If she kept teasing any longer, she was bound to explode. If she appeared now, Shen Huai still hadn’t figured out how to face her. He decided not to push his luck and left the bronze mirror, moving instead to the other side of the room—behind the mirror, in a spot completely out of its line of sight.

He even said, “I didn’t sleep well last night—a mischievous little kitten kept me up till dawn, and I traveled again today. I’ll take a nap for a bit and come keep you company when I wake up, all right?”

Si Jiu pursed her lips and muttered to herself: He can’t hear you, and he doesn’t know whether you stay or not. How sickeningly sweet. Ugh!

Shen Huai fell silent.

The room suddenly grew quiet—completely still.

Had he really fallen asleep?

Si Jiu couldn’t see him; she stared at the walnut pastry before her, eyeing it over and over. After a long moment, she deliberately tapped the mirror.

A crisp “snap” sounded—not loud, but if Shen Huai were awake, he’d surely have heard it.

She strained her ears. Still, no reaction.

He really was asleep!

“What kind of kitten is so clingy it keeps you up all night?” she grumbled sourly.

Then, with a mischievous glint, Si Jiu stealthily stretched half her arm out from the mirror, swiftly snatched a piece of walnut pastry, and even took care to rearrange the remaining pieces.

Perfect—no one would notice one was missing.

She quickly drew her hand back and popped the pastry into her mouth.

Mmm!

It was truly delicious.

The silly boy had done well!

Delighted by the taste, her eyes narrowed in bliss, the small brown mole beneath her eye seeming to shimmer with a subtle light—it was captivating.

Shen Huai hadn’t closed his eyes at all.

He watched her little antics, imagining her expression; his eyes were full of warmth, his lips curved in a gentle smile, like ice melting in spring, rain softening the earth.

From that day on, Shen Huai always liked to bring pastries into the room.

He always placed them on the dressing table, right before the bronze mirror.

He’d bring them back but hardly ate any himself, instead lounging lazily in his wheelchair, pretending to nap.

At first, Si Jiu was thrilled to pilfer the snacks, but gradually she felt something was off.

Shen Huai hadn’t slept in his bed for ages!

He hadn’t called out “Tangtang” in a long time!

Lately, Shen Huai seemed to be in high spirits, a smile always on his lips!

Si Jiu suddenly sat bolt upright. She came to a startling conclusion.

Shen Huai was in love!

The more she thought about it, the more his “symptoms” fit the pattern.

She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or a little dejected.

A hopeless romantic for a hundred years, and now when the real one arrives, you suddenly fall for someone else?

Hmm... Maybe she should go ask that silly boy and see what’s going on?

Come to think of it, Shen Huai had been in the room so much lately, she’d hardly had a chance to go out. She was a bit bored.

Besides, she hadn’t teased that silly boy in days—she rather missed it.

Now was the perfect chance, with Shen Huai gone. Si Jiu acted as soon as she thought of it, drifting out from the bronze mirror and heading straight for the annex where Shen Yu lived.

He wasn’t in his room.

Not in the study.

Not in the parlor.

Oh, found him.

Si Jiu glanced at the closed kitchen door. Hearing sounds from within, she guessed the silly boy was cooking again.

With a wicked grin, she decided to play a prank. She deliberately let her hair fall forward, covering her face, then suddenly thrust half her body through the kitchen door and let out a ghostly wail: “I’ve—caught—you—now...”

Was the silly boy so scared he was stunned? No sound at all?

She remembered how that shameless spirit had once made the silly boy shriek in terror—his reaction had been so entertaining.

Not satisfied with the lack of response, Si Jiu flicked her hair aside a bit, rolled her eyes back, stuck out her tongue, and hissed, “The wicked ghost is here to eat Little Sweetie...”

Shen Huai, holding a bowl of noodles, was speechless.

“Hey, what’s wrong with... you?!” she blurted.

Why was it Shen Huai?

Si Jiu froze.

“Don’t move!” she shouted, darting to the far end of the kitchen—putting as much distance between them as possible—arms raised defensively. “If you hit me again, I won’t let you off so easily!”

A flicker of pain flashed in Shen Huai’s eyes.