Chapter Fifty-Two: She Will Return

Take whatever you want, just come and get it. He was more than happy to oblige.

Lin Qisheng was completely baffled by Xu Nuo’s actions. After a few one-sided arguments, he stomped off in a huff. Gu Xingze, on the other hand, said nothing, letting his silence speak for him.

“This chef—fire him at once,” Sheng Mingyue ordered, growing more irritated the longer he looked at Gu Xingze in his chef’s uniform. How had he let this man in so unwittingly, only to have him carry out little schemes right under his nose? And just because Xu Nuo enjoyed his cooking, he had even been put in charge of her late-night meals.

Gu Xingze made no move to leave. He stood there at ease, as if in his eyes, Xu Nuo was all that existed, as if her voice was all he could hear. The servants dared not lay a hand on an esper, and the atmosphere in the room grew tense and awkward.

“Xu Nuo, if you want to stay here,” Sheng Mingyue said to her, “then he has to go.”

“When did I ever say I wanted to stay here?” Xu Nuo crossed her arms, utterly unconcerned.

Sheng Mingyue was thrown. “Then just now…?” Had his guess been wrong? Was Xu Nuo not staying just to get something from him?

With a calm grace, Xu Nuo turned and walked away. “I’m not living at your base. But you’d better be careful not to lose anything—it’s not my responsibility.”

She left through the main doors with Gu Xingze at her side, bold and unhurried. The old butler grew anxious and made to stop them.

“Let her go,” Sheng Mingyue said.

“But young master…” the butler protested.

“She’ll come back,” Sheng Mingyue replied with certainty.

The old butler fell silent for a moment before asking, “Will you be staying here, then?”

“I will. Until she’s completely mine,” Sheng Mingyue answered.

The old butler sighed. The young master’s actions surprised him, but on reflection, they made perfect sense. Once the young master set his sights on something, he never let go, no matter how absurd or incomprehensible it seemed to others. Just as he had once gone to great lengths to save ancient treasures buried beneath the ruins, now his goal was Xu Nuo.

—

Lin Qisheng, though he left in a huff, hadn’t gone far. Xu Nuo soon spotted his solitary figure squatting by the roadside.

“You’re back?” Lin Qisheng’s face lit up with delight, and he began circling around Xu Nuo excitedly. “Now we can have a feast, right?”

“There’ll be a feast, but…” Xu Nuo began.

“Huh?” Lin Qisheng’s tail, which had been perked up, drooped instantly. He cut her off, “You’re still going to tangle with that damned young master, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am,” Xu Nuo replied.

Why can’t you ever consider my feelings? The words nearly slipped out of Lin Qisheng’s mouth, but at the last moment, he realized he didn’t really have the right to ask that of her.

Gloomily, Lin Qisheng glanced at Gu Xingze. Why could Gu Xingze remain so unfazed by Xu Nuo’s actions? No matter what she did, he never seemed to object. Truly, the model of a loyal hound.

“It’s a shame,” Lin Qisheng couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, “those who give quietly are always overlooked.”

“Is that so?” Gu Xingze replied, his tone carrying a meaning Lin Qisheng couldn’t grasp.

“Hey, wait up, sis!” By now, Xu Nuo had already walked far ahead, and Lin Qisheng hurried to catch up.

Xu Nuo returned to their original camp, bringing Lin Qisheng and Gu Xingze with her, as if the three of them had gone back to the days when it was just them together.

Lin Qisheng finally got his wish: a grand meal with Xu Nuo. The feast included dishes he had cooked himself. Though his efforts were still met with some disdain, he felt half content—the missing half was due to Xu Nuo’s ever-unfathomable actions.

She had said she would stay, yet in the end, she left Sheng Mingyue’s side. Did she really have some uncanny way of getting what she wanted from Sheng Mingyue, even from such a distance?