Chapter 27: Alas, What a Pity

"Little Qin Xuan, Qin Little Xuan, Xuan Little Qin, open the door!"
In the early morning, Qin Xuan was startled awake by a frantic knocking at his door. He climbed out of bed and glanced out the window; the world outside was still shrouded in darkness, clearly too early for the sun to have risen.

"Little miss, the sun hasn't even come up yet. Why are you making such a ruckus?"
Qin Xuan checked his phone—barely past five in the morning.

"I'm hungry and I can't find anything to eat," came the sweet voice of a young girl from outside the door.

Qin Xuan was speechless for a moment.
"I don't have anything to eat right now. Opening the door won't help."
"Hmph! I don't care—I want food."
"All right, all right, you win. Wait a moment, I'll take you out for breakfast. Though I have no idea if anything's open this early..." Qin Xuan muttered as he got up.
Clearly, he would need to stock some food in the villa. Otherwise, this would become a real hassle.

After dressing and washing up, Qin Xuan opened the door, expecting to see someone. Instead, he looked down to find the girl curled up at the threshold, hugging her knees, clad in an oversized pink pajama.

Lowering his gaze, he caught sight of the pale skin at her neckline, and involuntarily swallowed.
"She has quite the figure... Wait, where did she get those pajamas?"
As Qin Xuan pondered, Liu Qianqian rubbed her sleepy eyes, yawned, and slowly stood up. "Qin Xuan, you're so slow. My stomach is completely empty!"

Ignoring her complaint, Qin Xuan asked, "Where did you get those pajamas?"
"These?" Liu Qianqian pinched the hem, spun around, and looked up at Qin Xuan with bright, watery eyes. "You prepared them for me, didn't you? Do I look nice in them?"

Qin Xuan was lost for words, feeling as though the sky might collapse upon him.

No doubt, those pajamas were intended for Dongfang Qingwan, who hadn't even moved into the villa yet. Now, unexpectedly, they had been claimed by this girl.

"What's wrong? Weren't they for me?" Liu Qianqian asked curiously.
"Who else would you prepare them for? Qin Xuan, you're such a flirt! Is there another woman hidden here?" She glanced around, but of course, saw no one else.

"It's related to my training. Don't ask too many questions. Qingwan will move in tomorrow, so you can explain it to her yourself." Though he said this, Qin Xuan couldn't help but sneak glances at Liu Qianqian's chest.

The pink pajamas chosen by Dongfang Qingwan were a bit loose, with a low neckline. Due to her petite stature, even when Liu Qianqian stood up, the creamy skin of her neck and chest was still visible to Qin Xuan.

Such a cute girl revealing a hint of spring, it was a deadly temptation for any man—especially for Qin Xuan, an eighteen-year-old with no experience.

"Qingwan?" Liu Qianqian asked, perplexed.
"Another girl is moving in tomorrow?"
"You'll see tomorrow. Go change your clothes, and let's head out for food," Qin Xuan said, awkwardly averting his gaze, unaware of the sly glimmer that flashed across Liu Qianqian's face.

"Okay. If I don't eat soon, I won't have any energy. I'm going to change, no peeking!"
With a nimble turn, Liu Qianqian went back to her room, closing the door with a bang.

Qin Xuan stood outside, his lips twitching. That girl slept in the room right next to his; who knew how much trouble she'd bring in the future?

"Well, if it's fate, so be it. If it's trouble, there's no avoiding it. Let it come—why worry?"
Qin Xuan decided to throw caution to the wind.

Soon after, Liu Qianqian appeared again, now dressed in a red outfit, pouting as she left her room, clearly unhappy.

"Qin Xuan, I want to buy clothes."
Qin Xuan couldn't help but curse under his breath. "Damn."
Waking him at dawn for food, now she wanted to buy clothes?

"Look at all those clothes Qingwan has, and I only have this one outfit. It's so unfair. So I've decided—I want to buy clothes," Liu Qianqian said indignantly.

Girls' love of beauty is innate.

At first, she didn't know those pretty clothes belonged to someone else, so she picked a set of pajamas and wore them for the night. Now, knowing the truth, she felt awkward about wearing someone else's clothes, and a sense of injustice crept in.

"Do as you please. Do you have money?"
"Money? No."
Liu Qianqian blinked.

"Then how are you going to buy clothes?" Qin Xuan shook his head helplessly.

"But you have money, right?"
"My money is from my master. You should ask your own master."
Qin Xuan was exasperated. This girl really didn’t make life easy.

Mentioning her master, Liu Qianqian grew even more frustrated. "My master didn't give me a single penny, just sent me to Jinling for school. It's infuriating!"

"Did your master tell you who to look for after leaving the mountain?"
"No."
"Any instructions?"
"No."
Liu Qianqian kept shaking her head.

"Your master is quite something," Qin Xuan couldn't help but remark. Who sends their disciple out for training without any instructions?

"Hmph! Don't badmouth my master," Liu Qianqian said, clenching her fists and glaring at Qin Xuan.

"Fine, I won't. Let's go get you something to eat, or you'll waste away."
Qin Xuan quickly changed the subject.

"Right! My stomach has been growling for two hours now," Liu Qianqian said, her attention instantly diverted at the mention of food.

So, as dawn began to break, a young man and woman walked along the mountain road. Breakfast could only be found in the marketplace district.

...

"Those buns smell so good."

Fifteen minutes later, the two finally left the mountain path and entered Jinling City, where they found a bun shop.

The aroma drifting from the shop filled Liu Qianqian's face with eager anticipation.

"Come on, let's take a look," Qin Xuan said, walking over. He saw two shop assistants bustling about.

Seeing customers, one skinny assistant hurried over. "You're early! Here for buns?"

"Yes. Ten meat buns, please," Liu Qianqian said excitedly, standing behind Qin Xuan.

"Ten... ten?"
The skinny assistant was surprised. He glanced over and saw a pretty girl in red, hair tied in a single ponytail, bright-eyed and pure.

"What a shame—a pretty girl like this," the assistant muttered under his breath.

"Hey, what do you mean, 'what a shame'?" Liu Qianqian heard him clearly and asked, curious.

The assistant was startled; he'd only whispered, not expecting anyone to hear. Embarrassed, he glanced at Qin Xuan and forced a smile. "Nothing, nothing. Ten meat buns coming right up. You two are really early."

"Correction—she wants ten, and I want ten as well. That's twenty in total," Qin Xuan said with a smile, leading Liu Qianqian to sit nearby.

He had heard the assistant's mutterings clearly. Obviously, the man assumed that since he and Liu Qianqian were out together so early, they'd spent the night doing something inappropriate.

Qin Xuan couldn't care less. The innocent need no explanation, and the guilty are free to speculate. There was nothing to clarify with a stranger.