Page 2

Before he could finish speaking, the walkie-talkie clipped to his waist rang first.

A pleasant female voice came through. "Boss, it's getting late. You should come back."

After politely saying goodbye to the young man, Owen turned and left.

Watching the man's receding back, Xin Chun smiled meaningfully, but the smile was quickly interrupted by a rustling from the grass behind him.

The blades of grass swayed. Xin Chun turned around, and the next moment, a large dog sprang out.

It had reddish-brown fur, brown almond-shaped eyes, triangular ears with rounded tips that looked plump and wonderfully soft to pet. It was large and tall, standing nearly seventy centimeters upright.

It was an Alaskan Malamute. After leaping out of the grass, it came over and rubbed against Xin Chun's leg. Clearly, it was his dog.

Xin Chun rubbed the dog's ears and murmured, "Did you hear that? He asked me that question again."

'How old are you?'

It was only at the very end of his previous life that he learned what that question meant—if he had reached the legal age, then Owen could pursue him.

The man had fallen in love with him at first sight.

At this point in his previous life, he had still been wary and had turned to leave after only a few words.

But now that he had a second chance, relying on his youthful-looking face, he lied about his age and deliberately said he was still underage. Sure enough, a flicker of surprise appeared in Owen's eyes.

Ha, remembering the man's expression just now made Xin Chun want to laugh.

And he did laugh aloud, his crisp, pleasant voice drifting through the woods with a hint of mischievous smugness.

"My reenactment of the scene wasn't for nothing. I even made a point of sleeping here again, right, Handsome Star?"

This time, Xin Chun happily used both hands to knead the dog's two wonderfully springy ears.

Handsome Star, an Alaskan Malamute whose real name was Xin Xing and who would only respond when called Handsome Star, twisted his head but failed to shake off Xin Chun's hands. He gave two unhappy rumbles instead.

Xin Chun narrowed his eyes and stared suspiciously at the dog's mouth. "Strange. Don't you usually bark once? Why aren't you barking today?"

"Open your mouth and let me see. Were you catching bugs to play with again?"

Handsome Star's eyes shifted ever so slightly to the side.

Xin Chun: "...Open your mouth. Spit the bug out. How many times have I told you? No playing with bugs!"

"Woof."

Owen had come to Jingu Town primarily for work—to cultivate medicinal herbs needed to brew a certain kind of liquor.

These herbs were difficult to grow and required highly demanding soil and climate conditions. On top of that, the liquor recipe needed further refinement, so after much searching, they had ended up in Jingu Town.

At the edge of Jingu Town ran an exceptionally clear river, and not far beyond it lay a forest.

Upstream on the town side was a teahouse that used mountain spring water to make tea. Its sweet, lingering flavor had made it quite famous in town.

Owen withdrew his gaze from the window, took another sip of tea, and stood. "I'm going to take a walk by the river. Stay here and rest for a while."

After working all morning, they had finally gotten some free time to drink tea, eat snacks, sit by the window, and enjoy the breeze.

Owen's secretary, Ivy, and his assistant, Li Ze, had no desire to get up and go outside. At his words, their half-raised backsides immediately settled back into their seats.

Once Owen had left, Li Ze could not help saying, "Ivy, the boss seems a little out of it today. He's been spacing out several times."

Ivy had long, wavy golden hair and blue-green eyes. She was a striking foreign beauty.

Her Hua Country language was excellent. "Maybe he's troubled over cultivating the medicinal herbs. These pastries are really good. Bring me another plate."

"Ivy, this is already the third plate..." Li Ze said weakly.

Didn't you say you needed to watch your figure?

"If I don't eat enough, where will I get the strength to work? Besides, these pastries are so tiny. They're gone before I've even tasted them properly." Ivy shot him a look, then picked up another small pastry with fingers painted bright red and put it into her mouth.

"Oh."

Li Ze pushed the plate a little closer to her.

Owen walked downstream along the river.

There was a small dam downstream. When the water was shallow, its stone surface would emerge. Both sides were higher by one level, lower by another, with plenty of pebbles and large rocks scattered below.

There were stone steps as well, allowing people to cross from the forest side to the town side.

At the moment, quite a few people had gathered beside the dam to wash clothes.

"Oh my, he's a foreigner. Mixed-race? He's really handsome."

Several aunties smiled as they sized up Owen approaching them. Some of the more outgoing ones even waved to him directly. Their attitude was warm, and Owen responded to each of them.

At that moment, however, a figure coming from the other side of the stone steps irresistibly drew Owen's attention.

He had met the young man in the forest only yesterday, yet here they were again today.

Xin Chun wore an oversized white T-shirt with shorts underneath, though the shirt nearly completely covered them, revealing two fair, slender legs.

He carried a pair of shoes in his hand and walked barefoot down the stone steps. Every now and then, he stepped into the water, laughing whenever it splashed up. He looked thoroughly happy.

Seeing this, one of the aunties said with relief, "That child Xin Chun has finally come out of it."

"His grandfather passed away more than half a year ago. The child had been unable to lift his spirits ever since. We were all so worried about him, but now he can finally smile again."

"So he took a leave from school?" Owen asked.

Was he so heartbroken over his grandfather's death that he had taken a leave from school to recuperate?

Otherwise, why was the young man still able to appear here so freely when it was school time?

The auntie was surprised. "A leave from school? You mean Xin Chun? He already graduated from university. What school would he be taking leave from?"

Xin Chun happened to walk closer and heard her. Facing Owen's startled expression, he stopped.

"Woof."

When the person in front stopped walking, Handsome Star bumped his head into Xin Chun's calf. He tilted his head to look ahead, his tail swishing.