Qiao Xin: ...
Oh.
She really hadn't noticed anything particularly surprising or unexpected about this guy...
Xiao Xiao had never shown the slightest hint of panic.
Every move he made was so natural—
Or rather, completely at ease.
That included handing a candy to the flustered and slightly embarrassed Qiao Xin at just the right moment. Even when the little monkey attacked him and followed him around for no apparent reason, Xiao Xiao hadn't shown the slightest hint of panic or discomfort...
Little Deer's affection toward him didn't seem to bring any particular expression to Xiao Xiao's face, either.
At least, she hadn't noticed one.
Xiao Xiao had even seemed to talk with the little monkey and Little Deer?
They were some distance away, and Xiao Xiao had his back to them.
Even when he was feeding Little Deer and facing them, he had his head lowered.
The shadow of the huge canopy of the tree behind Xiao Xiao drifted over with the wind.
It enveloped Xiao Xiao.
Anyway, even though they hadn't been that far apart,
now that Qiao Xin thought back on it, the things Xiao Xiao had done seemed a little hazy.
She helplessly tapped her head.
She really had been focused entirely on Little Deer.
She hadn't paid much attention to anyone or anything else.
"So you really did see Little Deer for the first time just now, right?"
Qiao Xin changed her question.
"Yeah."
Xiao Xiao nodded.
It was his second time in the mountains, and the first time he'd seen Little Deer.
"Then how did you get Little Deer, who'd just met you for the first time, to be so affectionate toward you?"
Qiao Xin widened her eyes and turned to stare at Xiao Xiao.
The friend beside her tugged