After Xiao Jingcheng took on the task of carving up the roast chickens, Ye Wanmian felt much more relaxed. She waved to Sangsheng first and said with a smile, "Come here quickly."
Sangsheng glanced at Xiao Jingcheng who was lowering his head to cut the roast chickens. Then it tucked its tail between its legs and walked forward cautiously. After picking up a roast chicken with its mouth, it saw the man toss the dagger in his hand and twirl it skillfully. Frightened, it tucked its tail and ran away at such a high speed that it left an after - image.
The scene Ye Wanmian was worried about, where a group of dogs would swarm up to snatch the roast chickens, didn't happen. After Sangsheng, the dogs lined up voluntarily, one by one stepping forward to get their share of the roast chickens, and then quickly left, staying far away from the two of them.
While distributing the roast chickens, Ye Wanmian secretly wondered why these dogs had suddenly become so timid today. They were sneaky even when eating the roast chickens, as if they had seen a ghost.
They weren't even afraid of grave - digging before!
The two of them cooperated very well. Soon, they had distributed all the remaining 29 portions of roast chickens. Even Dahuang got a big chicken leg.
The dogs carried their share of the roast chickens and hid aside to feast. The sound of chewing filled the whole place.
Ye Wanmian clapped her hands and stood up, letting out a sigh of relief.
Finally, this matter was settled. She hadn't let down these dogs in the town.
Noticing that the man beside her was standing still, Ye Wanmian looked at him and saw that Xiao Jingcheng was looking down at his hands, seemingly quite disgusted.
He looked up at Ye Wanmian and said to her with a hint of grievance, "Dirty..."
Ye Wanmian found it a bit funny.
Now he thought his hands were dirty. Wasn't he enjoying cutting the roast chickens just now? As expected of the Crown Prince, he was really clean - loving.
There was also grease from the roast chickens on her hands. She said to him, "Follow me."
She was quite familiar with the terrain around here. She led him along a small path, turning a few times in the forest. Soon, they came to a small stream.
By the light of the moon, she searched beside the stream, pulled out two plants, and handed one to him.
Then, she squatted down, immersed her hands and the plant in the water, tore the plant into several pieces, and carefully rubbed her hands with the sap from the plant. Then she immersed her hands in the stream again, and the grease on her hands was completely removed.
She said to Xiao Jingcheng, "Do as I did just now."
Xiao Jingcheng did as she said, and sure enough, he washed off all the grease on his hands. Standing up, there was a handkerchief in front of him. Ye Wanmian said,
"Wipe the water off your hands."
The moonlight shone on the girl, covering her with a layer of white - jade - like veil, softening the deliberately yellow - dyed skin on her face. One could vaguely tell what she really looked like.
The image of the soft and graceful figure like a water nymph underwater involuntarily emerged in his mind.
Xiao Jingcheng's eyes flashed. He took the handkerchief from her hand and lowered his head to carefully wipe the water off his hands.
The fragrance of the plant got on his fingers, but as he wiped with the handkerchief, the fragrance of the plant was gradually replaced by the girl's fragrance on the handkerchief.
His fingertips touched the pattern sewn on the corner of the handkerchief, and Xiao Jingcheng unconsciously rubbed it gently.
"Hey."
Xiao Jingcheng looked up. There were flickering fireflies floating in the air, like stars in the sky, surrounding Ye Wanmian.
"There are fireflies here!"
Ye Wanmian just wanted to look for medicinal herbs by the stream, but unexpectedly, she startled the fireflies hiding in the grass.
She still remembered that the last time she saw fireflies was when she was fourteen. She went to a villa with the Ye family to escape the summer heat. At night, she secretly went out to play with her two elder brothers in the Ye family.
Since she fled her marriage in Xuanzhou and had to live carefully in the folk under a different name and with a concealed appearance, she rarely went out at night.
Even when she did, she was always in a hurry. She had never had such a relaxing and peaceful moment like this.
It was said in the books that fireflies were very timid. They would hide themselves deliberately when there was fire or noise. Being able to find fireflies meant she was lucky.
She looked very happy and raised her hand to catch the glowing dots in the air. But the fireflies were extremely sensitive. They had already sensed her intention and flapped their wings to avoid her, making her miss.
Xiao Jingcheng quietly watched the girl trying to catch the fireflies in the moonlight. He only felt a warm current surging in his heart, and the corners of his lips lifted slightly.
He naturally put the handkerchief into his bosom, then stepped towards the girl.
His entry made the grass vibrate more violently, startling more fireflies.
When Ye Wanmian looked at him, he quickly reached out his hand in the air to catch something. Then he walked to Ye Wanmian's side and held out his closed fist in front of her.
Ye Wanmian blinked. She heard him say in his not - yet - fluent words, "Give... you."
He opened his fist. The fireflies he had caught were quietly lying in his palm. They flapped their wings, and their tails flickered. The light was reflected in his glass - like pupils.
There were dots of light in the forest. Looking up, one could see the star - filled sky. There was no cold condescension or any hint of disgust in those shiny eyes.
They were crystal - clear and so beautiful that one couldn't help but hold their breath.
Ye Wanmian was attracted by those gem - like eyes and stared blankly.
It was not until the firefly in his palm seemed to be startled and flapped its wings to fly away from his broad palm that Ye Wanmian suddenly came to her senses.
"Cough, cough, cough."
She quickly averted her eyes, not daring to look at the man opposite for too long. She raised her sleeve to fan her slightly hot cheeks and mumbled, "It's really hot."
She wanted to run away, but her sleeve was grabbed. Xiao Jingcheng held her back and said, "Catch... bugs?"
The man hadn't learned to speak long sentences yet, but the tacit understanding they had developed recently made it easy for Ye Wanmian to understand what he meant. Her heart skipped a beat, and she looked at the dots of firefly light in the forest.
She blinked and said to Xiao Jingcheng, "If you help me catch fireflies and make a firefly lantern, I'll make delicious food for you when we get back."
Upon receiving the instruction, Xiao Jingcheng immediately let go of her sleeve and went to help her catch fireflies.
The fireflies that she couldn't catch no matter how hard she tried couldn't escape his palm. He almost caught one every time. Ye Wanmian took out another handkerchief from her body to put the fireflies he caught. Soon, the handkerchief was flickering with light from the inside.
"That's enough, that's enough." Feeling that there were enough fireflies in the handkerchief, Ye Wanmian stopped Xiao Jingcheng. She found a rope to seal the opening, and a glowing firefly lantern was made.
Ye Wanmian held up the firefly lantern and looked at it from side to side. Her eyes curved into two crescent moons. She was very happy and satisfied.
Seeing her like this, Xiao Jingcheng was also in a very good mood, and the corners of his lips lifted.