"Hold your hand and grow old together."
Yan Ruxue smiled at Xiao Mo and spoke slowly.
"I like those two lines too." Xiao Mo nodded and took a sip of tea.
"This young woman thought you might laugh at me, sir." Yan Ruxue's lips curled faintly.
"Why would you say that?" Xiao Mo asked.
"Because they're all about love and romance. It makes me seem a little petty." Yan Ruxue lowered her eyes slightly and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"You're wrong about that, miss." Xiao Mo smiled and shook his head. "Of the eighty thousand words in this world, none cuts deeper than love. No matter how the seas change and the fields become mulberry groves, no matter how time passes and the world shifts, only love never changes."
"..." Yan Ruxue's eyes shimmered faintly as she gazed quietly into Xiao Mo's.
"Is something the matter, miss?" Looking at the woman before him, Xiao Mo had the feeling that, for just a moment, there had been something unusual in her gaze.
As if a sudden impulse had risen in her heart.
But she had forcibly suppressed it.
"It's nothing." Yan Ruxue shook her head. "I just think what you said makes a lot of sense, sir. Allow me to offer you a cup of tea in place of wine."
"You're too kind, miss."
Xiao Mo raised his teacup. He and Yan Ruxue touched cups from across the table, then drained them in one go.
A little under half an hour later, Wei Xun glanced at the sky, judged it was about time, and stepped forward to say softly, "Sir, it's getting late. Should we be heading back?"
"I know." Xiao Mo rose and bowed to Yan Ruxue. "Miss, I'll take my leave. I've thoroughly enjoyed