"...What nonsense is that?" Qi Zhaohua raised her eyebrows at him with an incredulous laugh. "I told you, he insisted on going."
"But..." Pei Ye found Miss Qi a little less endearing now. "If you don't like him, you should make a clean break. Brother Fang will only sink deeper this way."
"I've made things clear to him twenty times." Qi Zhaohua smiled faintly and handed him tea. They walked onto the Wind-Facing Platform, where the waterfront view opened before them, the breeze and the emerald lake suddenly lovely.
"He still insists on following me, and I can't be bothered to stop him. All this 'sinking deeper'-isn't that his own choice?" Qi Zhaohua lifted her tea and drank.
"That's not right." Pei Ye stubbornly shook his head. "You should take responsibility too, Miss Qi. Brother Fang likes you, and he's our friend. You should do your best not to hurt him."
"I have done my best." Qi Zhaohua was still smiling. "Surely you don't expect me to do nothing but spend every day figuring out how to soothe him?"
She paused again, tilting her head to study Pei Ye curiously. "...I've always known you were kindhearted, young hero Pei Ye, but this is the first time I've discovered this... sentimental side of yours. I'd intended to discuss the road to the Divine Capital with you today. How did we stray into such tedious matters?"
"...Do you think these things are tedious, Miss Qi?"
Pei Ye spoke quietly, looking up at her. The desolation on her face outside the gambling house was still fresh in his memory.
Qi Zhaohua fell silent for a moment. Gazing at the lake, she took a gentle sip. "Sorry... not really. It's just that, if I find true love, I entrust myself to it in life