Huo Xiaoru gazed into Hu Xiaotian's eyes, which had suddenly grown profound, and something stirred in her heart. It seemed his inner nature ran far deeper than the frivolity he showed. Perhaps he used that flippant, impulsive exterior to conceal his sharpness. Raising her wine cup, she said, "Young Master Hu, let me offer this cup as an apology. That day at the Misty Waters Pavilion, I left without saying goodbye..."
Hu Xiaotian smiled. "Why apologize over such a trifling matter?"
A faint blush rose on Huo Xiaoru's lovely face. "Were you angry with me?"
"Why would I be angry with you?" Hu Xiaotian asked in return. He had wanted to add, You're so beautiful, how could I bear to be angry with you? But with the words on his lips, he decided they sounded too frivolous and left them unsaid.
"You stood up for me, yet I fled in the face of battle and abandoned you."
"At first, I really was a little puzzled," Hu Xiaotian said. "But after thinking it over, I understood. You were worried that staying would cause me even greater trouble. Someone might seize on it and claim I fought them out of jealousy over you. Wouldn't that make things even thornier? So I wasn't angry at all. On the contrary, I was very grateful."
Huo Xiaoru had not expected him to see the matter so clearly, or to divine her true intentions without the slightest error. Never in her life had she met a man who understood her so well. Her beautiful eyes rested quietly on him as she bit her cherry-red lip. "It's rare to find someone as considerate as you, Young Master Hu."
"I seldom think of others," Hu Xiaotian said with a smile. "But you're a little different, Miss Huo."
Huo