As soon as Zuo Tang saw Zuo Tingyi walk through the door, she skipped over and linked her arm through his.
"Big brother, did you miss me?" Zuo Tang tilted her face up with an innocent, endearing smile.
A trace of warmth flickered in Zuo Tingyi's icy eyes, and the fatigue of the past few days seemed to take wing and vanish in that instant. With a soft smile, he ruffled her hair. "What happened today to make you so happy?"
"I rode in Sister Feng's Fire Mayfly today! It was so much fun! That shuttlecraft was so nimble, just like a fish, and it was so pretty!" Zuo Tang was so excited she almost jumped up and down.
Zuo Tingyi had no idea what the Fire Mayfly was, but he could roughly guess. Seeing Zuo Tang so happy cleared the gloom that had hung over him for days. "Haha, if you like it that much, shall I get you one?"
"Yes, yes!" Zuo Tang looked so happy she could have flown into the air, but she soon frowned. "But, big brother, you can't buy a Fire Mayfly."
Zuo Tingyi reached out and gently smoothed away her frown. "What shuttlecraft can't be bought? No matter how expensive it is, I'll buy you one, all right?"
"But... but..." Zuo Tang tried to say more, but Zuo Tingyi interrupted her. "All right, all right, no frowning! It'll make you ugly. Just leave this to me."
Just then, a servant stepped forward. "Young master, the master instructed you to go to his study immediately upon your return."
"Understood." Zuo Tingyi's expression returned to its usual composure. He gave Zuo Tang's head an affectionate pat with his right hand, then headed toward his father's study.
At the sight of the somewhat thinner Zuo Tingyi,