Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

When the two left the teahouse, the sun was setting and the sky was ablaze with red clouds.

The orange-red sunset painted half the sky, giving the rooftops and treetops of the entire street a warm, golden edge.

After walking all day and experiencing several emotional ups and downs, Lin Xi felt utterly exhausted, walking unsteadily without saying a word.

Shen Jingyuan walked half a step away from her, without saying a word, but his gaze would occasionally fall on her quiet profile.

These days, he watched Lin Xi run around and hit walls in her almost obsessive search for her brother, feeling frustrated and disappointed. In addition to feeling sorry for her, he also felt a kind of inexplicable suffocation.

He initially thought it was because he witnessed Lin Xixiang, like a tireless moth drawn to a wall, repeatedly rushing towards a sliver of hope only to fall in despair time and time again, and the resulting sense of powerlessness.

Just now, when she finally said "I'm not looking anymore," he thought he would breathe a sigh of relief. But strangely, the frustration in his chest did not dissipate; instead, it seemed to intensify.

He prided himself on being clear-headed and calm, and had never been a sentimental person, but now…

Seeing Lin Xi's lowered eyelashes and preoccupied expression, Shen Jingyuan pursed his lips and ultimately swallowed back the words, "Why didn't you look for her anymore?" that were on the tip of his tongue.

"See you later, see you later!"

As the two remained silent, a slightly hoarse yet powerful voice broke the quiet atmosphere between them.

The two looked in the direction of the voice and found that the speaker was the storyteller from before.

He was standing at the door, smiling broadly as he bowed to the teahouse owner in farewell, then turned and walked towards the two of them.

When he was on stage, Lin Xi only felt that he was slender but very upright. Now, seeing him slowly walking towards the setting sun, she felt that although he was slender, his posture was like a pine tree that still stood straight in the wind and snow, with a kind of dignified and humble demeanor.

Unlike his commanding and passionate demeanor on stage, offstage he had a calm expression, a faint smile on his lips, and a gentle aura that made people feel at ease and wanted to get closer.

Perhaps Lin Xi's gaze was too obvious, for the storyteller paused and suddenly looked up in their direction.

Lin Xi was startled and, unable to dodge in time, her gaze met his directly.

What bright eyes!

A look of amazement flashed through Lin Xi's mind.

His eyes weren't particularly large, but they were exceptionally bright and clear, like a pair of pearls that had become more lustrous with the passage of time, deeply embedded in his slightly thin face. They made his otherwise ordinary face look exceptionally radiant, giving him a peculiar, contradictory yet harmonious quality.

But whether it was Lin Xi's imagination or not, the moment her eyes met his, a scrutinizing look seemed to flash across the depths of his eyes, but it quickly returned to normal.

When she blinked and looked again, the storyteller's eyes were filled with only a gentle and peaceful smile, so clear that it reflected her somewhat dazed reflection.

"Miss, is there something on my face?"

While Lin Xi was still in a daze, the storyteller had already walked up to the two of them, smiled gently, and then took the initiative to speak, without the slightest displeasure of being offended.

"Ah? No...no." Lin Xi realized her lapse in composure, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she hurriedly shook her head, apologizing softly, "Sorry."

Seeing this, Shen Jingyuan took a half step forward without making a sound and stood in front of Lin Xi.

"It's nothing." As if unaware of Shen Jingyuan's subtle movements, he smiled good-naturedly and said nothing more. Instead, he turned his head and looked at the increasingly intense sunset on the horizon, which seemed to be burning. His gaze became distant and profound.

The brilliant sunset glow reflected on his lean profile, softening his features but highlighting the strange light in his eyes.

Shen Jingyuan frowned and moved Lin Xi a little further away from him. Lin Xi exchanged a glance with him and tacitly prepared to leave silently.

“Young man,” the storyteller spoke again, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching their ears. He did not turn around, still gazing at the sky, “Don’t be dejected and frown.”

He paused, as if reciting a poem, or as if stating a simple truth: "Don't say that the sun is setting, for the evening glow still fills the sky. Look at this sunset, how brightly it burns."

"Tomorrow will definitely be another sunny day."

Finally, he slowly turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Shen Jingyuan before finally landing on Lin Xi's face. Her bright eyes reflected the glow of the sunset, as if igniting a small, inextinguishable flame.

A meaningful smile curved his lips as he spoke softly.

"Red, what a hopeful color it is."

Before the two could respond, he raised his hand and gently pulled down the half-worn gray hat on his head, covering his eyebrows and eyes, revealing only his lean jawline.

"See you soon."

After saying that, he raised his head, straightened his back, and strode into the burning red sunset without looking back.

The rosy glow of the sunset outlined a dazzling golden edge around his slender yet upright figure, as if his entire being was melting into that boundless, hopeful crimson.

Lin Xi stared blankly at his retreating figure disappearing into the sunset, the words "Red, what a hopeful color" echoing repeatedly in her ears, and remained motionless for a long time.

"Why... are you crying again?" It wasn't until Shen Jingyuan's warm fingertips gently touched her face that Lin Xi realized she was already in tears.

"It's nothing." She quickly turned her face away, took out her handkerchief, covered her face, sniffed, and after a while, finally put down the handkerchief and looked at Shen Jingyuan again.

"It just suddenly occurred to me that if my brother were still alive, he would probably look like this too..."

Shen Jingyuan's eyelashes trembled. He remained silent for a moment, but instead of responding to Lin Xi's words, he focused his gaze on the tips of her shoes, which were slightly dusty, and on her small gesture of trying to shift her weight to her other foot.

Suddenly, he turned around, his back to Lin Xi, and decisively squatted down.

Lin Xi was startled by his sudden action. She hurriedly looked around and, seeing that no one at the street corner was paying attention to them, breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a low voice, "What are you doing?"

"Your feet," Shen Jingyuan's muffled voice came from ahead, carrying an air of unyielding authority, "I'll carry you back."

"Huh?" Lin Xi was startled and subconsciously asked, "How did you know about my feet...?"

She stopped mid-sentence. The town was remote and difficult to reach by carriage or horse; she had been traveling on foot for days.

Her feet had developed blisters several days earlier, but she had been so focused on finding her brother that she had completely ignored the stinging pain.

Today, her mind suddenly relaxed, and the fatigue and pain became clear belatedly apparent. She had felt a sharp pain in her foot as soon as she came out of the teahouse, but she endured it without making a sound, thinking that she had hidden it well.

Thinking of this, she felt a little embarrassed and bit her lower lip, trying to maintain her last bit of composure. "No...no need, it's on the street...it doesn't really hurt that much."

Thinking of this, she bit her lip and tried to refuse, "Isn't that a bit inappropriate? It's on the street, it won't hurt that much."

"Come up." Shen Jingyuan's voice deepened, his tone revealing a stubbornness.

After saying that, he seemed to realize that his tone was too harsh, and added somewhat stiffly, "If the blisters break and are not treated in time, they are prone to infection and may... leave scars."

He deliberately emphasized the last two words, as if he had precisely grasped Lin Xi's weak spot.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Lin Xi's fragile resolve crumbled instantly. Forget about the street scene and onlookers, she practically lunged forward and climbed onto Shen Jingyuan's back. She patted his shoulder anxiously and urged, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Shen Jingyuan was jolted by her pounce, and as he listened to her coquettish yet anxious urging, the melancholy in his heart seemed to be gently punctured by something.

Although his face remained expressionless, the corners of his tightly pursed lips involuntarily curved slightly.

He steadily supported her, lifted her up slightly, adjusted her to a more comfortable and secure position, and then carried her back towards the sunset glow.