The Young Master gave a slight smile, his fingertips gently caressing the back of her hand, whispering, “Chuxia, is that really what you thought?” Chuxia glanced at him quickly, seeing his enigmatic smile, she felt he was inscrutable. She bit her lip, annoyed, “Did the Young Master guess everything?” The Young Master’s smile deepened, “So I say you’re a clever child.” “Chuxia was afraid of death… at the time, I thought if the bad guys took the scrolls, they would kill to silence me… but if I destroyed the scrolls, they wouldn’t kill me right away…” She expected the Young Master to scold her, but instead, he looked at her directly, “Chuxia, if I’m not by your side and you face life-threatening danger, do as you did today. Survive; that’s what matters most. Everything else is secondary.” Chuxia stared at him, her eyes welling up, and she whispered, “Yes.”
The night was silent. The Young Master didn’t press her to reveal the locations from the scrolls, instead, he put an arm around her shoulder, patting her gently as if coaxing a child to sleep, with utmost tenderness. “Young Master, one of those places is near Luoyang’s Qingtian River… and the other seems to be by the shores of Lake Dongting near Jun—” Chuxia mumbled drowsily, then suddenly woke up, sitting up in regret. The Young Master let go of her, smiling, “What’s wrong?” “One hand for the money, one hand for the goods!” Chuxia regretted, “You— give me the indenture first.” The Young Master patted her cheek, pressing her back onto the bed, and tucked her in firmly, saying without emotion, “You burned scrolls I bought for ten thousand gold, not to mention the entire courtyard. I can give you the indenture, but as you said, don’t you still owe me?”
