Chapter 66: Has Qinghuan Fallen First?
Qinghuan brought out the locust flowers she brought for Qiao Yue. Fortunately, it was hot weather now, and she had kept this large bowl of locust flowers in the pot throughout, so it was still warm.
Qiao Yue’s eyes widened when she saw the locust flowers. They were coated with Fuqiang powder [flour] and drizzled with sesame oil, a delicious treat.
Qiao Yue swallowed, but said, “Such a good thing, why are you still giving it to me to eat? It’s such a waste.”
As she said this, her eyes couldn’t move away from the bowl.
After all, after so many years in the countryside, she hadn’t had Fuqiang powder for a long time.
Despite feeling like there wasn’t much in the bowl of locust flowers, at least there was one or two extra coatings of Fuqiang powder, something no one would easily offer to others.
Qinghuan smiled and handed it to her. “Just eat it. It’s not wasteful to give it to you, and besides, didn’t I also eat your fruit?”
“How can they be compared?”
One was just ordinary wild fruit that she could pick herself, while the other was locust flowers coated with Fuqiang powder and sesame oil, already quite precious with just the oil and flour.
But despite saying this, Qiao Yue still sincerely accepted and began to eat.
She brought it over to share with Shen Jingyang.
Shen Jingyang only tasted a few bites before refusing to eat more when Qiao Yue tried to feed him. He just smiled as he watched her eat.
Qinghuan looked at the interaction between the two and smiled.
Little An’an, who wasn’t as tall as her waist, had seen her eat the plump and red locust berries, which looked delicious and made his mouth water.
He stood on tiptoe to make his mother see him, but Qinghuan hadn’t noticed him at all. Unable to resist, he called out, “Mom, I want some too.”
Qinghuan finally noticed him and lightly tapped his head, “Little glutton, remember to spit out the pits.”
As she said this, she spat out the pit from her mouth onto the nearby grass.
She was afraid he might swallow it whole because he was young.
Seeing Bai Naihan looking at her too, Qinghuan didn’t think much of it and directly handed him a plum, saying, “You try it.”
The man was sitting in a wheelchair, although he was a bit taller than An’an, she treated him like a child.
Her tender and delicate hand held the plum near his mouth, the fingertips pinching the red-purple plum, making the fingertips appear even whiter and more translucent, as if made of jade. She hadn’t dried her hands after rinsing the plums, and there were still droplets of water on her fingertips, making her skin look crystal clear and beautiful, somewhat enticing.
As she fed him, she glanced at the couple in front of her, and with her other hand, she didn’t forget to feed herself plums, as if watching a TV drama, enjoying herself.
But after a while, she realized that the man hadn’t taken the plum yet. Her hand was tired from holding it up, so she turned to ask him, “Why aren’t you eating?”
When she turned her head, she realized her hand was only a palm’s distance from the man’s lips, and the heat from his breath was dispersing onto her hand.
In an instant, she felt like her hand was burning, scorching hot.
The man was silently looking at her.
In his eyes were emotions that Qinghuan couldn’t understand, but inexplicably felt a bit stifling.
She didn’t dare to look closely, but now she realized that her act of feeding plums was too ambiguous. After all, he was an adult male, not a child like An’an. She should be more cautious.
Mainly because she found the interaction between Qiao Yue and her partner interesting just now and didn’t think much about it at all.
The little guy seemed to sense that something was off. Biting into his plum, he looked up curiously and said, “Uncle, why aren’t you eating? It’s so sweet!”
As he sucked on his plum, his eyes lingered on Qinghuan feeding the plum to Bai Naihan. Then he said, “Uncle, if you don’t want to eat, you can give it to An’an.”
Saying this, he reached out to take it.
Even Qinghuan hadn’t reacted yet when she suddenly felt a cool sensation touch her hand. Then she realized the plum in her hand was already in the man’s hand.
Bai Naihan held the plum, glanced at his nephew, and calmly said, “I’ll eat it. If you want some, just ask.”
Qinghuan came back to her senses, pretended to be calm, and gave the remaining plums to Bai Jin’an and Bai Naihan. Then she turned and said, “I’ll go wash some more.”
With that, she hurriedly walked to the stream.
Perhaps she was walking too fast and stumbled on a stone, causing a few plums and loquats in her bag to fall out and roll far away.
With her back to everyone, Qinghuan closed her eyes tightly and resignedly bent down to pick up the fallen fruit.
After calming herself down a bit, she washed the plums and loquats again.
Qiao Yue, who had been enjoying herself, became curious when she heard the little guy’s words and looked over. When she saw her friend’s series of reactions, she furrowed her eyebrows.
Had Qinghuan already fallen for him?
Although she didn’t object to Qinghuan being with Bai Naihan for real, if her friend had feelings first, she would be worried.
If Bai Naihan didn’t feel the same way, how would Qinghuan coexist with him under the same roof in the future?
Especially after Bai Naihan got married, it would probably be even more awkward to interact.
If Qinghuan knew what her good friend was thinking, she would probably be at a loss.
Although she felt slightly different towards Bai Naihan in her heart, after all, she had never encountered a man like him in her past life, so being attracted to him was normal.
But her upbringing from childhood to adulthood made it impossible for her to have a love-struck brain.
If she really had a love-struck brain, facing the various temptations in the entertainment industry, she wouldn’t have been able to climb to such a high position.
Perhaps she might feel a bit moved, but when that bit of emotion involved harming her own interests, she would ruthlessly cut it off.
By the time Qinghuan turned around, holding the washed fruit in her hands, her emotions were flawless, perfect to the point where no one could detect any trace of her previous awkwardness.
“Let’s eat the fruit first, and then we’ll cut the pig grass.”
Qinghuan was more measured this time, just placing the fruit in the man’s hand and giving some to the little guy.
There were still plenty left in the cloth bag, and she didn’t bother to take anything else. Instead, she said to Qiao Yue, “Can I borrow your cloth bag for a bit? I’ll return it to you tomorrow.”
Qiao Yue’s cloth bag was probably stitched from scrap cloth, with inconsistent colors and shapes, but it looked quite nice.
In this era, it represented poverty, but if placed in modern times, it would probably represent fashion.
“Sure, I’m not in a hurry to use it.” Qiao Yue had already finished eating the locust flowers and rubbed her stomach as she walked over, returning the washed bowl to her. “Qinghuan, when did you become such a good cook? These locust flowers taste really delicious.”
It was genuine praise.
After all, back when they were in the youth point, everyone took turns cooking, and the original owner had also taken a turn as the cook.
It couldn’t be said that the original owner’s cooking was bad, it was just mediocre in taste.
After all, in the original owner’s family, there was a preference for boys over girls, and she had to cook and do laundry at home.
But Qiao Yue never knew that Qinghuan’s cooking skills had improved so much. Even a simple dish like steamed locust flower tasted so delicious.
Qinghuan responded calmly, “It must be your misconception. With locust flowers coated in rich flour and sesame oil, even a piece of cloth would taste good, or else it wouldn’t do justice to such good ingredients.”
“True,” Qiao Yue chuckled. Both of these were indeed good things.
Bai Naihan glanced at her beside him and then glanced at her fingers, which she unconsciously began to pick at.
∞
