Zhu Zhuqing's Choice: I'll Sleep in the Tent with You!

He walked over without saying anything, nor did he ask why she had been unable to set up a tent after half an hour.

He merely crouched down and, in a few quick motions, neatly arranged the parts that had given Zhu Zhuqing such a headache. His movements were smooth and efficient, completed in one fluid sequence.

In just a few breaths, the tent stood securely on the ground, its fabric stretched taut and its supports firmly anchored.

Zhu Zhuqing stood to one side, watching Yang Jian's practiced movements, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

"Done."

Yang Jian stood up and dusted off his hands.

"Get some proper rest tonight."

Zhu Zhuqing nodded and lifted her foot, preparing to enter the tent.

But after taking only one step, she suddenly remembered something. She spun around and looked straight at Yang Jian.

"You gave the tent to me. Where will you sleep tonight?"

Hearing that, Yang Jian smiled indifferently and pointed at the lush tree beside them.

"I'll sleep up in the tree later. The sky can be my blanket, the branches my bed. It's rather carefree."

Sleep in a tree?

Zhu Zhuqing pulled back the foot she had just placed inside the tent.

She stood at the entrance, her brows knitting slightly as her expression turned serious.

"Then I'll sleep in the tree instead."

Her tone carried a hint of insistence.

"This is your tent to begin with. I've already accepted your help. How could I possibly make you sleep in a tree too?"

"What are you talking about?"

Yang Jian laughed.

"You're a girl, and you were just being hunted. How can you not get a proper rest? I'll sleep in the tree. There's no need to argue."

"No."

Zhu Zhuqing shook her head, unexpectedly resolute.

"You've already helped me so much. I can't just take your kindness for granted. The tent is yours, so you should be the one sleeping in it. I've slept in the wilderness before. Sleeping in a tree is nothing."

"Are you sure?"

Yang Jian raised a brow.

"It might be rather inconvenient for a girl to sleep in a tree."

"I can do it."

Zhu Zhuqing's answer was brief and firm. Her back was straight, and she showed no intention of backing down.

The two of them stood before the tent, neither willing to yield.

The night wind passed between them, making the tent fabric rustle softly.

The argument went on for quite a while. Seeing how determined Zhu Zhuqing was, Yang Jian knew there was no point in continuing.

After thinking for a moment, he simply gave her two choices.

"How about this?"

Yang Jian raised one finger.

"Either I sleep in the tree, and the tent is yours."

He paused, then raised a second finger.

"Or we both sleep in the tent. It isn't that small, and if we squeeze in, we should barely be able to lie down. You choose."

When Yang Jian said this, he had already assumed Zhu Zhuqing would choose the first option.

After all, in his impression, although this girl had fallen on hard times, she still possessed the restraint and pride of someone born into a great family. How could she possibly share a tent with a boy she had never met before?

He had even prepared himself to turn around and climb up onto a branch.

Yet something happened that took him by surprise.

Zhu Zhuqing fell silent.

She did not answer immediately. Instead, she lowered her head, as though seriously considering something.

Moonlight fell across her profile, illuminating her pensive expression with exceptional clarity.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly, her brows drew together gently, and her soft lips pressed into a line.

Seconds passed one by one.

Yang Jian waited patiently, but he became ever more certain that she would choose to send him up into the tree.

But just as his certainty reached its peak, Zhu Zhuqing spoke.

"I choose the second one."

Her voice was soft, so soft that the night wind could nearly have scattered it, yet the determination within it was beyond doubt.

Yang Jian froze, even wondering whether something was wrong with his ears.

"What did you say?"

"I said..."

Zhu Zhuqing raised her head and met his gaze. An indescribable emotion filled her usually cold eyes.

"I choose the second one. We'll sleep in the tent together."

Her tone was calm, as if she were stating something perfectly natural, but her faintly trembling lashes and the corner of her clothes clenched tightly in her hand betrayed the tension in her heart.

For a moment, Yang Jian did not know what to say.

He had only said it casually. He had thought that, given Zhu Zhuqing's personality, she would definitely choose to make him sleep in the tree, ending the argument that way.

Who would have thought that she would actually...

"Are you sure?"

Yang Jian asked uncertainly.

"I'm sure."

Zhu Zhuqing nodded, her expression so serious that she clearly was not joking.

"Since you insist that I sleep in the tent, and I don't want you sleeping in a tree, then we'll sleep together."

She paused, as if recalling something, then added,

"I trust you."

When those three words left her lips, her voice tightened slightly, but her gaze was exceptionally firm.

Yang Jian looked into her clear eyes and suddenly found it somewhat amusing, yet also a little helpless.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to break the rather delicate atmosphere, but in the end, he merely shook his head and chuckled.

"Fine. We'll do as you say."

Zhu Zhuqing nodded and said nothing more.

She turned around and was the first to crawl into the tent, leaving Yang Jian only her slender back.

Yang Jian stood where he was, looking at the tent swaying faintly beneath the moonlight, an indescribable feeling rising in his heart.

But then he thought about it. Zhu Zhuqing, a girl, did not mind. Was he, a grown man, really going to be timid over something like this?

With that thought, his steps became firm, and he bent down to enter the tent.

The tent had originally been meant for one person. Though both of them were slender, it was inevitably a little cramped.

Zhu Zhuqing curled up in one corner of the tent with her back to Yang Jian, wrapping herself up tightly.

She deliberately kept her breathing quiet, but the subtle rise and fall of her shoulders still revealed that she was not as calm as she appeared.

Yang Jian tactfully lay down on the other side, leaving about a fist's width between them.

He neither spoke nor made any unnecessary movements. He simply lay quietly, his gaze resting on the roof of the tent.

The tent was utterly silent. Only their faint breathing could be heard, along with the occasional chirping of insects in the distance.

"Yang Jian."

After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Zhuqing's voice suddenly sounded in the darkness, carrying an indescribable softness.

"Mm?"

"Thank you."

Yang Jian smiled soundlessly in the dark.

"You've thanked me many times already. No need to be so polite. Go to sleep. We still have to travel tomorrow."

Zhu Zhuqing said nothing more.

She closed her eyes. On the first safe night she had known in four days, accompanied by that steady breathing, she finally fell into a deep sleep.

That night, she had a very long dream.

There was no pursuit in the dream, no escape. There was only the figure of a boy standing straight as a spear beneath the moonlight, and his calm words—

"If you trust me, then leave the rest to me."