The carriage rocked gently, and the wind lifted a corner of the curtain, letting the morning light fall across their overlapping hands.
Everything was quiet, so quiet they could hear each other breathe.
Then Wei Nisheng noticed something was wrong.
Because his other hand had somehow been covered too.
The hand was large.
Its palm was damp-with sweat!!
The corner of Wei Nisheng's mouth twitched.
He slowly turned his head, shifting his gaze away from Fu Niang
and onto Zhang Zai's face on his other side.
Zhang Zai had his eyes closed, his head tilted back against the carriage wall, and a serene expression on his face.
His right hand covered the back of Wei Nisheng's left hand completely,
his five fingers spread like a starfish clinging to a reef.
"Brother Zihou," Wei Nisheng said, with a calm smile that never reached his eyes.
Zhang Zai did not respond. His eyes stayed shut, his breathing even, as though he were dozing.
"Zhang Zai," Wei Nisheng called again, his tone firmer this time.
Zhang Zai finally opened his eyes, looked sleepily at Wei Nisheng, and blinked.
"Hmm? Brother Wei? What is it? Are we there?"
Wei Nisheng lowered his head and glanced at his covered left hand,
then looked up at Zhang Zai with a meaningful gaze.
Zhang Zai followed his gaze downward and saw his own hand,
saw it covering the back of Wei Nisheng's hand completely.
His expression shifted from confusion to awareness, then from awareness to embarrassment.
"What's this, Brother Zihou?"
Zhang Zai sheepishly withdrew his hand, wiped his sweaty palm on the hem of his robe, and grinned.
"Well, I saw you were nervous, Brother Wei, and since Miss Feng was doing that..."
"So?"
"Your younger brother stands with you!"
"..."
"Hehe, actually, I'm a tiny bit