Searching for Treasures in the Clouds

Rose Manor,

This is the home of Xi Yizai and Jun Wuxia, named after the many roses planted here.

There were many stray cats brought back by Jun Wuxia in the manor. You could see a cat running by almost every few steps. When the cats were still, they looked like colorful patches growing on the grass. When they moved, they looked like a bunch of small flies, very lively, always running around and catching air for fun.

Jiang Zaizhou likes cats and he has two of his own. This Rose Manor full of cats is his paradise and he can't help but play with the cats every time he comes here.

He likes to treat himself as a cat ball, rolling around on the grass to attract the cats' attention so that he can get along with them. But now he no longer needs this kind of anthropomorphic technique, because cats know him and will actively look for him.

Now, he sat on a bench like a cat climbing frame, the bench was covered with roses, and he was covered with cats. These were all small cats that were just born a few months ago, hanging on him like heavy fruits on a tree.

Xi Yizai and Jun Wuxia stood aside and looked at him.

"Sister Junjun, why do there seem to be more cats here? How many are there now?" A kitten was lying on his head. Its tail was so big that it just covered his face, making it difficult to see his expression.

"Not more, there are still dozens less, now there are only thirty."

"So many are missing?" Jiang Zaizhou took the cat off his head and showed his shocked expression, "Where did they go?"

"It was adopted by a kind-hearted person." Jun Wuxia replied with a smile, "There were so many that they wanted two at a time, so the kitten was taken away very quickly."

……

It was dinner time when Yun Jixing and Yu Ru arrived at Rose Manor.

This manor was Xi Yizai's personal property before it was given to Jun Wuxia as a wedding gift. Yun Jixing would come here from time to time to party with Xi Yizai and Jiang Zaizhou. He was quite familiar with the place, so he took Yu Ru directly to the restaurant without anyone leading the way.

The building located in the manor has a strong smell of old money in its interior decoration style, as if it was the home of a wealthy person in the Republic of China period that was influenced by Western culture in the last century. It has both the subtle and distant, dignified and luxurious style of traditional Chinese aesthetics, and the noble elegance pursued by Westerners. A considerable part of the furniture and decorations are Chinese-style furniture made of precious woods such as small-leaf red sandalwood, large-leaf red sandalwood, and big red rosewood, but there are also some things with distinct Western characteristics, such as crystal chandeliers, phonographs, and various exquisite lace dust cloths...

While following Yun Jixing, Yu Ru secretly observed the surrounding environment.

Jiang Zaizhou and the other two were already waiting in the restaurant. The dishes had been served and they were just waiting for Yun Jixing and Yu Ru to arrive.

The main course could not be touched, but the appetizers and desserts could still be eaten. Jiang Zaizhou was hungry, so he leaned on the table with one hand and kept stuffing cakes into his mouth with the other hand.

"Why hasn't Xiao Xingxing come yet? Maybe he didn't catch up with Xiao Ru at all, and is hiding at home crying, too embarrassed to come over."

"Maybe there's a traffic jam on the road. It will probably be over soon." Xi Yizai responded, then reached out and picked up the cup of scented tea in front of him and drank it.

Jiang Zaizhou stood up, looked around, and then smiled at Xi Yizai and asked, "How about we make a bet?"

"What bet?" Xi Yizai asked with a smile.

"Let's bet... whether Xiao Xingxing has caught up with Xiao Ru or not. I bet no."

"Okay." Xi Yizai agreed readily, "I bet he has it."

Jiang Zaizhou looked at Jun Wuxia again and asked, "Sister Junjun, do you want to bet? I'll bet one hundred dollars."

"Okay, then I'll bet he has it too."

About twenty minutes later, Yun Jixing came with Yu Ru. He held Yu Ru's hand and walked in front of the crowd, and the others stood up.

Jiang Zaizhou looked at the two of them in shock and said in disbelief: "You...are you serious about this? Not fake?"

"Of course it's true." Yun Jixing turned his head and glanced at Yu Ru, then said with a smile, "Can you joke about this? We are all preparing for the wedding, but we have to hold an engagement party first. I have already brought the invitations."

"Ah? It's really true..." Jiang Zaizhou slumped in his chair with a look of death, "I am the only one left alone."

"Don't worry, you're still young and not even 30 years old yet, so you still have a lot of potential." Yun Jixing comforted him and turned to introduce Jun Wuxia and Xi Yizai to Yu Ru, "Aru, let me introduce them to you."

He loosened his hand that was holding Yu Ru, and instead put his arm around her waist. He spread out his other hand and pointed at Jun Wuxia, "This is Sister Jun Jun. The one next to her is Xi Yizai. That one, Jiang Zaizhou, you already know him."

Jiang Zaizhou, who was called, immediately separated himself from his withered and discouraged body and turned into a happy self to face Yu Ru, "Xiao Ru, do you still remember me?"

Yu Ru immediately nodded to him and used sign language to gesture to everyone, "Hello, my name is Yu Ru, nice to meet you."

Everyone smiled and nodded. Jun Wuxia waved her hand and said, "Hello, Xiaoru. My name is Jun Wuxia. You can just call me by my name, or call me Sister Junjun. I will protect you like an older sister."

Yu Ru smiled and nodded, secretly trying to divert her gaze to avoid staring at others.

She still remembered Jun Wuxia. She had seen her at the airport when she first sent Mingshi to England. She was already very beautiful from a distance, but she was even more beautiful up close. She was born with a lively and graceful figure, dignified and generous, elegant and calm. She lived in a manor full of flowers. She was like the mother of the elves born from flowers. She had a calm and heavy feeling, and was fresh and handsome like the spring rain falling with the wind.

Not only is she so beautiful, she is also so gentle.

After getting to know each other, Xi Yizai asked everyone to sit down and prepare to eat. He pointed at Yun Jixing's feet and said, "Xiao Xingxing, there is a basket next to it. You can put the lid of the dinner plate there."

Yun Jixing glanced around himself, raised his head, and responded, "Okay, I understand, let's start eating."

He was the first to lift the lid of the plate in front of Yu Ru. It was tiger skin chicken feet, with tempting color and fragrant aroma. The smell pulled people's noses towards the chicken feet.

"I seem to smell my favorite." Jiang Zaizhou took a deep breath with an intoxicated look on his face, and looked at the tiger skin chicken feet in front of Yu Ru. Then he pushed his bowl in front of Yun Jixing, "Little star, give me some little feet, more."

"it is good."

Yun Jixing picked up his bowl with one hand and used the public chopsticks to pick up the tiger skin chicken feet and put them into his bowl with the other hand.

Yu Ru stared at the movements of his chopsticks intently, her whole body frozen in her seat.

Her ears were now covered by a strange membrane, weakening all the sounds around her. A shrill howl replaced her hearing, echoing in her head for a long time, as if it was the only sound she could hear, the sound she was supposed to hear, the sound that belonged to her.

Yun Jixing noticed her abnormality, and after picking up the chicken feet for Jiang Zaizhou, he gently patted Yu Ru's back, trying to bring her back to her senses. But Yu Ru seemed unconscious, without any reaction, and just stared blankly at the plate of chicken feet.

The smell of the chicken feet seemed to take shape and possess weight. They struggled to crawl out of the bowl and touched Yu Ru's neck.

She suddenly felt difficulty breathing and her heartbeat quickened. She smelled a kind of corruption that was close to death, turbid, salty and astringent. It might be from chicken feet, or it might be from herself. The smell was not pleasant. Her stomach began to churn, and the food she had eaten was rolled around by the wind and waves, struggling to survive.

The uncomfortable feeling made her lips tight, almost into a straight line. She opened her mouth, and closed it tightly again in an instant.

In an instant, she remembered a question she had thought about before: Could she successfully escape from the pain she had experienced? She could escape through her hard work, her pursuit of life, and her tireless study.

But it turned out that no matter how long it took, she could only struggle and weaken in the surging passion. She still hadn't escaped the shackles of fear. Those things lived in her mind and memory, and it was up to her to decide whether to stay or go. She didn't let them really die, so they were still eternal and real.

Looking up felt inferiority, and looking down felt fear. She didn't know where to look.