Chapter 22 Two Hearts United [VIP]

Chapter 22 Two Hearts United [VIP]

Chapter Summary: Of all the women in the world, which one does a gentleman truly cherish?

"careful!"

Halfway through the "family banquet," after drinking three-cent liquor, Wu Da was already snoring loudly in the hall, and Pan Yue, who rarely drank, also had glazed eyes and flushed cheeks.

Songsong brought a blanket and covered Wu Da with it, then helped Pan Yue up, and they stumbled up to the second floor.

"Squeak"

The door was just pushed open a crack, and Pan Yue caught a glimpse of a familiar scene. She reached out and pushed the door open.

Unexpectedly, Pan Yue stumbled and crashed headfirst into the wall of the inner room; Song Song's pupils contracted sharply, he grabbed her wrist, and as he closed the door, he stepped to the side to block her from the wall.

"Bang!"

"Um?"

The loud slamming of the door startled her from her hazy thoughts. Pan Yue, her eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment, reached out and rubbed her forehead, which had bumped against his chest. She then looked up, her eyes unfocused.

The moonlight streamed in through the west window, gently outlining the face of the person before me.

"one two three……"

One becomes two, two becomes three… Looking at the increasingly blurry faces before her, Pan Yue's eyes narrowed, her lips curled into a smile, and she rested her chin on his chest, mumbling, “So many loose ones!”

The chest was hit again, and Songsong winced in pain. She quickly grabbed the hand that was trying to cause trouble and staggered toward the bed.

"Sit still!"

He helped her sit up by the bed, then turned his head to look at the shadowy, closed west window. He waved his hand in front of her, and when she opened her eyes, he said with concern, "Yunyun, would you be alright staying here by yourself for a while? I'll go get you a glass of water!"

"It's alright!"

Pan Yue shook her head, looking at the Five Finger Mountain rising and falling in the hazy world, blocking her view, and the corners of her lips suddenly turned up.

Before he could react, she suddenly moved closer, nestling her face in his broad, dry palm. Through his long, distinct fingers, she gazed at the moon's shadow, which had gracefully fallen and swayed in the wind on the window, and her smile grew wider and wider.

"fine……"

The hot air sprayed down, and the wisps of heat traveled from my palms to my heart, making my heart tremble.

The five fingers covering her face curled slightly.

The person in the palm of the hand, unaware of their current appearance, remained unrestrained, muttering to themselves.

"...It's been so long since I've felt this joyful!"

Limited by her birth and circumstances in her previous life, Pan Yue could hardly be free. After becoming Jinlian, besides worrying about repeating Jinlian's mistakes, two things were always on her mind, making her toss and turn and have sleepless nights.

I fear two things: first, the lack of freedom; second, the complete absence of freedom.

She feared being bound by the rules of the place because she was not free, and the existence of the marriage certificate forced her to abide by the principle of "the husband is the head of the household."

Only freedom fears that it will drift like dust on the roadside or leaves in late autumn, coming and going with the wind, without any support or attachment, unable to form even the slightest connection with the people and things here.

Now that the engagement has been dissolved, the steamed bun shop business is gradually taking shape.

"Career" is the foundation of her life, and it is her most basic and straightforward connection to this place.

As for the rest...

She slowly straightened up, a faint smile still lingering on her lips, gazing at the person before her.

The moonlight shines through the small window of the west-facing pavilion, where the willows sway gently in the evening breeze, forming slanting silver threads resembling frost. These threads linger by his temples, outlining his features, swaying and reluctant to leave.

She had known Wu Song was handsome before, and this wasn't the first time her heartstrings had been throbbing because of him, but never before had she felt so intoxicated, unsure whether it was the alcohol or the intoxicating moonlight. Every part of the man before her, inside and out, even the stray strand of hair fluttering in the evening breeze, seemed to perfectly and completely touch her heart.

"Oh!"

Pan Yue leaned forward again, grabbing his right wrist which was suspended in mid-air with one hand, and reaching towards his heart with the other. Her eyes blinked and suddenly curved into crescent moons.

Eyes can lie, but the heart cannot.

Their eyes met, and Pan Yue's smile widened, her grip on his wrist tightening suddenly.

"careful!"

Songsong hurriedly got up and sat down beside her; Pan Yue tilted her head back, her eyes filled with tender affection, and murmured: "Madam Zhao is gentle and graceful, Madam Li is charming and alluring, Madam Zhao is talented and learned, Madam He is good at managing... There are thousands of women in the world, whose appearance does my lord prefer?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a wave of dizziness hit her. Pan Yue frowned slightly and involuntarily fell forward.

"Yunyun?!"

Songsong's pupils contracted sharply, and he instinctively opened his arms, instantly pulling the person into a tight embrace.

The crisp scent of grass, tinged with the sweet aroma of wine, filled my nostrils and permeated my entire being. Looking down at the person nestled in my arms, I loosened my grip, unsure what to do with my hands. For a moment, my heart felt filled with the fragrance of grass, growing ever fuller, even burning hot. Then…

"Um?"

After the dizziness subsided, Pan Yue raised her head blankly.

A strand of black hair fell beside his temple, accompanied by a faint, wine-scented breath that brushed against his neck, and a sudden "boom" went through Songsong's mind.

"What is that?"

Pan Yue placed her hands on his chest, her moonlit eyes reflecting his current appearance. She subconsciously shook her head, frowned, and looked up, asking with a bewildered expression, "Ears?"

Songsong froze, staring into her eyes, but dared not move.

Pan Yue seemed unable to believe what she was seeing. She shook her head again and looked up. Above Wu Song's head, a pair of white fox ears were still sticking up.

After tilting her head and "thinking hard" for a moment, Pan Yue's eyes lit up. She supported herself with her relaxed shoulders, knelt on the couch, and stared wide-eyed at the viewer.

Still unable to determine whether it was true or false, a trace of distress flashed across Pan Yue's eyes. Recalling the usual appearance of the fox Songsong, she tilted her head and thought for a moment, then leaned forward and lightly touched the inside of the fox's ear with her right index finger.

Seeing that the ear indeed twitched like a fox's, Pan Yue smiled, then suddenly leaned forward and bit it in the mouth.

"Waaah..."

After blinking for a moment, Pan Yue released Wu Song, who had frozen like an iron plate, and muttered, "He's soft too!"

Filled with unprecedented curiosity, Pan Yue pressed down on the fox ears and released them repeatedly... She tried to move them in a little further, but her knees buckled and she fell to the ground with a thud.

"hiss!"

She propped herself up on the bed, looked up, saw Wu Song's appearance clearly, and burst out laughing.

"Songsong, I think I've had too much to drink..."

Pan Yue shook her head and looked again.

There were still three or four Wu Songs swaying back and forth, looking uneasy. What was even more bizarre was that all three or four Wu Songs had grown fox ears on their heads!

"ha!"

Pan Yue seemed to have discovered some unusually novel game. She knelt down, stood up, covered the fox ears with both hands, then released them, then covered them again, then released them again...

Why is it still here?!

"Songsong..."

Completely unaware of what she had just sat on, she looked up at his head and laughed, "You've grown two fox ears on your head!"

Before she could even see the other person's face clearly, she tilted her head and muttered to herself, "If you have ears on your head, will you have... oh!"

She pounced on Wu Song without thinking, and when she saw the white fox tail that suddenly appeared in front of her as if to protect her balance, her eyes lit up.

"Tail!!"

She lifted the fox tail tightly, as if embracing a soft little fox, and placed it under her neck, rubbing it vigorously.

I never knew before that what I heard and saw after drinking was so unbelievable!

If she fell into the eyes of a sober person, would they think she was behaving strangely or had some kind of illness?

Pan Yue suddenly laughed, rubbed the fox tail in her arms, looked up at Wu Song, whose face was flushed with embarrassment, and pointed at the tail, saying, "Songsong, can you see... ouch!"

Pan Yue tripped over the quilt with her left knee, lost her balance, and swayed diagonally forward again.

"careful!"

Songsong stretched out his hands and supported her shoulders, not daring to let go!

My thoughts always wander when I'm drunk.

Pan Yue held the fox tail tightly with both hands, her gaze slowly moving from the fox tail to her shoulder, and then slowly looking at his face, her eyes curving downwards again.

"Songsong..."

Pan Yue leaned forward, blinked her eyes, and gestured for him to be quiet before saying in a serious tone, "I have a secret to tell you!"

"secret?"

Songsong's fox ears, which had been burning with instinct, looked down into her bright eyes and asked in a hoarse voice, "What secret?"

“Songsong grew up in Jingyanggang. Do you know what day he was born?”

Pan Yue glanced at the fox ears on his head that were twitching involuntarily, and said with a smile, "Songsong doesn't know, it's my birthday in two days!"

"Birth date?" Songsong's eyes showed confusion. "What are the customs surrounding birth dates in the human world?"

"Sophisticated..."

Under the influence of the wine, Pan Yue did not notice the unusual wording of his words. She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment before saying, "It is not much different from other festivals. It is just a gathering of relatives and friends to eat some rare feasts... Sometimes there is a birthday cake, a pastry specially made for birthday banquets; in addition, most of the relatives and friends who come to the banquet will bring birthday gifts!"

"Birthday gift?"

Songsong looked out the window, lost in thought.

The evening breeze rustled the willows outside the window, and the moon's shadow danced on the windowpane.

"Chirp chirp"

Sometimes, night birds cannot sleep, and fireflies come and go, shining as brightly as stars in the sky.

A faint scent of pine wafted past his nose on the evening breeze, causing Songsong's ear tips to twitch slightly, and a plan suddenly came to mind.

"Yunyun, please wait a moment!"

Seeing that Pan Yue was drowsy and her eyelids were starting to droop, he gently told her to rest a little longer. Once she closed her eyes, he quickly walked to the window, glanced in the direction of Jingyang Ridge, and then leaped out of the window.

"Rustle"

"Chirp"

The leaves rustled, birds chirped, and the evening breeze gently tapped on the window; the summer night was peaceful.

The smell of alcohol lingered in the room, and breathing was shallow on the couch.

Pan Yue was playing chess with Zhou Gong when she was suddenly awakened by a regular, rhythmic knocking sound at the window.

With sleepy eyes, she looked up at the moonlight streaming through the window.

The moon shines softly outside the window, while the window frame is quietly divided into two ends.

A full moon hangs high in the distance, while several willow branches lean against each other nearby; in the center, a little fox, seemingly otherworldly, tilts its head as if checking whether she has woken up.

"Songsong?!"

Upon recognizing the fox, Pan Yue's eyes narrowed, and she suddenly threw back the quilt.

"Why have you come at this time?"

Before she could get up, the little fox on the window suddenly turned its back, looked around, and then raised its head towards the full moon, stretching its neck and howling.

"howl"

"Chirp! Chirp!"

Pan Yue was puzzled, when suddenly the sound of birds flapping their wings arose all around.

Pan Yue subconsciously sat up straight.

"Splash!"

Under the moon, all things seem to possess a faint spirit.

The little fox, bathed in moonlight, sat gracefully in the center of the "window painting," like a hermit immortal.

Looking up to the left, a pair of orioles emerge from the trees, their warbling melodies ethereal and graceful; looking up to the right, a peacock soars upwards, followed by a hundred birds, swaying in the bright green paulownia tree, awaiting the phoenix to roost.

Before the warbling of the orioles had finished, Songsong nodded slightly, and all the birds and the "phoenix" seemed to understand, and together they folded their wings and perched on the branches.

At the same time, with the night sky as a backdrop and the moon as a companion, a colorful rain of falling petals suddenly descended upon the world.

Honeysuckle, peony, lotus... Before Pan Yue could count them all, a rustling sound suddenly came from the grass, reeds, and willows swaying in the wind.

"Chirp!"

With a soft call, hundreds of fireflies rose up, leaping from the grass, reeds, and willows, passing through streets, alleys, and houses, dancing gracefully amidst falling petals, coming and going with the wind.

But it is like the Milky Way falling to earth, adorned with jade and pearls, and the Milky Way returning.

Like a dream, or perhaps, she was already in a dream...

"...Songsong?"

As the grand event came to an end, Pan Yue attempted to get up, but a wave of dizziness washed over her, causing her to fall back onto the couch.

"A little fox fairy?"

With her cheeks still flushed, she stared with hazy, drunken eyes and murmured towards the window, "If she really is a fox spirit, she should have nine tails!"

The little fox tilted its head, but didn't make a sound. It just raised its soft fox tail and swayed it from side to side.

Pan Yue was puzzled, then heard a rustling sound, and suddenly one or two foxes appeared from behind the little fox.

"One, two,..."

Pan Yue's eyes lit up until she exclaimed, "Red? Brown?!"

Pan Yue finally couldn't hold back any longer. She leaned against the wall and stumbled forward.

Seeing the bewildered "fox friends" behind the little fox, she leaned against the windowsill and chuckled: "A fox version of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin?"

She reached out and picked up Songsong.

The seven or eight little foxes hiding behind Songsong froze, propped up their tails, and raised their heads in unison.

"so……"

She exchanged bewildered glances with the group of foxes, rubbed her loose chin, and muttered, "Is this an optical illusion the real reason behind the Nine-Tailed Fox of Qingqiu?"

Pan Yue looked down at Songsong, who was comfortably squinting, then at the eight bright-eyed little foxes outside the window, and asked hesitantly, "Do you know the way home? Would you like to come in and rest for a while?"

As usual, Songsong wrapped her arms around her wrist and nestled her head on it. Upon hearing this, she paused, suddenly opened her eyes, and glanced vaguely out the window.

"Awooo"

"Chirp! Chirp!"

Pan Yue didn't know what they were shouting about. As their eyes met, all eight tails bristled. Before she could say anything, the eight "guest performers" scattered in all directions in a panic.

"Huh? They've all left?"

Pan Yue subconsciously looked at the little fox in her arms.

Songsong hugged its big tail, licked it hard, then twitched its ear tips and suddenly raised its head; its eyes were bright and it looked completely innocent.

"I was overthinking it..."

Pan Yue mumbled as she closed the window, then carried the little fox back to the bedside. As usual, she placed him on her pillow, kissed his forehead, and whispered, "Goodnight."

Songsong opened her eyes the moment she lay down, silently took two steps forward, touched the corner of her lips, leaned softly against her neck, and silently replied: Goodnight, Yunyun!

The wind is gentle, the moon is soft.

The man and the fox enjoyed another good night's sleep.

[Author's Note]

Adorned with jade and dangling pearls, the Milky Way seems to return. — Shen Quanqi, "The Ode to Airing Clothes on the Seventh Night of the Seventh Month"