The closer the Moon-Chasing Festival drew, the livelier Peach Blossom Village became.
Xiangli Yao still needed time to unravel the third anomalous wish, so Ling An stayed in Peach Blossom Village with Tide Sis.
After all, even Jinzhou rarely got this lively.
Notably, the girl named Zhezhi whom they had met on their way to the Research Institute had sent them a message that day.
Ling An had already arranged for her to paint a portrait of him and Tide Sis. Now that they had some free time, the two decided they might as well have Zhezhi do it.
When Ling An and Tide Sis reached the agreed-upon stall, they found Zhezhi standing beside it with an anxious expression, talking to the stall owner.
"Zhezhi, we're here!" Ling An called out to her from a distance.
"Ah, ah! That's me!" Zhezhi seemed to jump in fright before hurriedly answering.
Just as she had said herself, she really wasn't good at socializing.
"Um... what sort of painting would you like?" she murmured.
"Well, this doesn't look like the best place. Let's talk somewhere nearby," Tide Sis said.
"Okay... oh, my studio is nearby. If you don't mind, we could go there. But it's fine if you don't want to..." Zhezhi waved her hands as she spoke, her cheeks reddening again.
"No problem." Ling An readily agreed. As it happened, what he and Tide Sis wanted painted wasn't this current body of his.
It really wasn't something they should let others see. Somewhere private would be better.
Zhezhi led the way with short steps and soon stopped in front of a small house. Seemingly remembering something, she said anxiously, "Um, it might be a little messy inside. Please wait here for a moment while I tidy up!"
With that, she rushed into