Chapter 26.2

Cherry Red and Lychee Fragrance (4)

Lu Zhi Yao didn’t feel the slightest bit timid, and after a moment of silence, he raised a sweet smile again.

This smile was even bigger than the previous one, showing off his teeth and curved eyes, but it just looked a little too exaggerated, a little incongruous in its sweetness.

The stall owner fanned himself with his hand and stood in the shade, the scent of sugar on him growing more sticky.

“You’ve ruined a lot of my sugar paintings, let your parents pay for them.”

Lu Zhi Yao frowned slightly and took two steps away from him, standing in front of Li Ruo Shui by mistake.

“No money.”

This stall owner looked at his eyes, then looked up and down at his clothes, choked for a long time, and pouted.

“If you don’t have money, use those earrings of yours to pay for it.”

The workmanship of the pair of red feather earrings looked very natural with no trace of smearing or variegation. The red was pure and gorgeous.

“These are from my master, and she’ll be angry without them.”

From Li Ruo Shui’s point of view, she could see his little head shaking. She couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled. Could it be that he was indeed innocent and cute when he was a child?

The stall owner was annoyed that he didn’t want to trade with him, so he stretched his hand out, “I’ll be angry if you don’t pay me back!”

There was a flash of cold light. The stall owner withdrew his hand in shock and stared at him with wide eyes.

Li Ruo Shui looked at the blade in Little Lu Zhi Yao’s hand with a subtle peace of mind. Sure enough, this was him.

“It seems that smiling doesn’t always work, but it’s still interesting.”

Little Lu Zhi Yao spun his blade towards him. Li Ruo Shui knew that this man would not survive today just by looking at his posture.

Suddenly, a sharp bird chirping appeared and Little Lu Zhi Yao’s footsteps stopped. The smile on his lips faded as he withdrew the small blade in his hand.

“Do I still need to pay for it?”

The stall owner snapped back to his senses and was shocked, but when he left, he still mocked him.

“Seeing that you are blind, I won’t dispute with you. What the hell, bad luck.”

Lu Zhi Yao didn’t seem to hear it. He withdrew his smile and continued to stay there in a daze.

Li Ruo Shui looked at his misty eyes and suddenly recalled the last time she saw Little Lu Zhi Yao.

He was locked up in the courtyard by Bai Qing Qing, and although he loved to smile, it was never the same expression he had when he grew up. He didn’t smile all the time when he was a child.

Who had taught him that mask-like smile?

The brass bell rang within the courtyard walls, and the children cheered as they hurriedly ran out of the school to the stall of sugar paintings that had been turned into sugar water.

For a penny a stick, some asked for rabbits, others for little flowers, and there was a lot of laughter with no trace of what had happened here.

A young boy in a school uniform bought a sugar painting and surprisingly ran towards the tree.

His eyes were bright with the innocence that a child should have.

“You’re here again.”

He came to look for Lu Zhi Yao.

Knowing that Little Lu Zhi Yao actually had a friend, Li Ruo Shui covered her mouth and there was a  hint of relief in her eyes.

However, Lu Zhi Yao didn’t react much. Although he was smiling, Li Ruo Shui couldn’t see any real happiness. It was as if he was just being perfunctory.

The little boy looked at the cherries all over the ground and couldn’t resist picking up quite a few intact ones from the ground.

“Cherry, do you want one?”

Lu Zhi Yao tilted his head, a little confused: “What’s a cherry?”

The boy picked one out and gave it to him, “This is it.”

The round thing swirled around in his fingertips. He had a rough outline in his mind, and only then did Lu Zhi Yao show some interest.

“Is this edible?”

“Yes, don’t you know?”

Lu Zhi Yao shook his head and put the soft cherry in his mouth, then nodded.

“Sweet.”

The long-ripened cherry was a little soft, but it was sweet and tasty. Although he didn’t really like sweet things, this tasted surprisingly good.

The little boy nodded and patted him on the shoulder like a good brother. He then casually flipped through his bag.

“We were taught a poem today. The teacher said it was about lychees, but I actually ate them a long time ago, they were too sweet for my liking.”

He finally pulled out a white sheet of paper and handed it to Lu Zhi Yao.

“This is the verse I learnt today. I’ve copied it on the paper, so you can take it.”

He was about to take it when a reproach stopped his movement.

“Put it down!”

Little Lu Zhi Yao paused for a moment and let go of his hand without a moment of hesitation, and his unfocused eyes looked to his left: “Master.”