Gu Qingyan froze for a moment, but then she lowered her head and smiled, saying nothing more.
She never argued with Chen Xun, and the two of them had never even exchanged playful banter.
But today, Gu Qingyan was a little different.
In the past, her words had been refined and literary, yet they always struck straight at the heart of the matter, often leaving Chen Xun at a loss for words. Her blunt, unadorned words today took some getting used to, but they still struck straight into his heart.
Gu Qingyan turned her face away, looking at the Crane Spirit Tree leaves scattered on the ground.
Chen Xun parted his lips, then stopped short of speaking. This Gu Qingyan...
"I once listened to so many of your troubles and experiences firsthand," Gu Qingyan said softly. "Back then, whenever you returned from your travels, I would always listen to your stories of what you had experienced, of the wind and rain you had weathered out there."
"Isn't that right..."
"Chen Xun."
Gu Qingyan raised her head again. Her eyes, soft yet stubborn, fixed directly on Chen Xun, carrying an unusual forcefulness.
Chen Xun's gaze sharpened slightly, as though this was the first time he had seen Gu Qingyan like this. He answered earnestly, "Yes."
It was all too obvious.
Gu Qingyan was lucid. She was neither mad nor bereft of reason.
"Then this time, it's your turn to listen to me." Gu Qingyan had changed. Her gentle voice carried an incomparable resolve, a resolve she had never shown before. It also seemed to be the first time she had cared so little about what anyone else thought. "And I don't... don't want to ask about your travels anymore."
After speaking, she bit her lip almost imperceptibly, as though she had