Little Alpaca – Chapter 91

Volume 2: Fuzhu Huodou

Pinky Swear.

When Yi Qiu first heard that she was to spend the Qixi Festival¹ with You Yan, a thousand and one rejections were written in her heart.

But Chao Yun had said that Moshui City would be very lively, and on second thought, if she didn’t bring You Yan along to celebrate such a lively day, there was no one else who could accompany her.

After all, apart from Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao, she didn’t know anyone else in the Xianlu Sect. They had all been through life and death together, so if it were any other festival, it would be fine to celebrate together, but on the wonderful Qixi Festival, she couldn’t just be like a light bulb², forcing herself between the male and female leads.

As for Chao Yun, she had really only met her a few times and didn’t feel they were close enough to go out on the streets together. After thinking it over, You Yan was indeed the most suitable person…

It was just that You Yan, that bird woman, was lazy and disliked the noise outside. Could she really drag her out?

As Yi Qiu thought this, she dazedly arrived at the inn where the members of the Xianlu Sect were temporarily staying.

In recent days, many of the Xianlu Sect disciples who had recovered from their injuries had followed the Three Revered Ones back up the mountain. The cloud bridge had been repaired, and the heavenly gods had not yet left, so they had to rebuild their sect that had been destroyed by the Huodou.

The ones who remained in Moshui City were either some of the younger children who were not strong enough to help, or a few disciples with relatively serious injuries, as well as two or three people who stayed behind to take care of them.

Chao Yun was one of those who stayed behind to take care of people. As soon as she entered the inn, she took the medicine packet in her hand and went to the backyard to brew the medicine.

Yi Qiu followed behind Chao Yun and watched for a while, but the medicinal smell wafting from the stove made her tongue bitter, so she turned and ran to the second floor of the inn.

In the past, Jiang Yuyao would have mostly stayed in Luo Mingyuan’s room, taking care of and accompanying him at all times. But today, when Yi Qiu gently knocked on Luo Mingyuan’s door, she did not see Jiang Yuyao’s figure after being allowed to enter.

Luo Mingyuan was currently sitting at the table, shelling hazelnuts one by one.

“Eh?” Yi Qiu went forward to take a look, picked one up and put it in her mouth. While chewing, she asked curiously, “Little pig trotter, what are you doing?”

“Shelling hazelnuts,” Luo Mingyuan answered honestly.

Yi Qiu pouted and said, “Of course I know you’re shelling these. I’m asking what you’re shelling so many of them for?”

Luo Mingyuan said “ah” and then seriously replied, “Shijie³ Chao Yun said that the Qiqiao Festival⁴ is coming soon. The conditions on the mountain are poor, so she wants to make more qiaoguo⁵ to send up. I can’t be of much help right now, so…”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Yi Qiu said, pointing to the shelled hazelnuts in the large bowl, “They’re quite tasty. Can I take some with me?”

The unshelled hazelnuts had a light, fresh fragrance, not as sweet as preserved fruits and sugar cakes. She wondered if You Yan would like them.

Luo Mingyuan looked up and asked, “You’re taking them for Miss You, right?”

Her little thoughts exposed, Yi Qiu subconsciously frowned and denied, “I’m, I’m eating them myself! Who would bring them for her!” As she spoke, seeing that Luo Mingyuan seemed to have more questions, she quickly changed the subject, “Where’s Jiang Yuyao?”

Luo Mingyuan: “Ah… Shijie should be in her own room, right?”

Yi Qiu: “Why isn’t she waiting on you?”

Luo Mingyuan: “…”

Yi Qiu waved her hand and said, “Alright, alright, I’ll go see what she’s doing for you. Don’t you be sad now.”

“I’m not…”

“Remember to wrap some of the shelled ones for me. I’ll come back for them later!” Yi Qiu said, then turned and ran out of the room, strolling towards Jiang Yuyao’s guest room.

When someone suddenly knocked on her door, Jiang Yuyao’s voice was clearly a little flustered.

When Yi Qiu entered the room, she saw Jiang Yuyao sitting at the table, intentionally pressing something under her sleeve. She quickly ran up to take a look out of curiosity, only to be surprised to find that Jiang Yuyao was actually embroidering.

“Oh my god, let me see, let me see!” Yi Qiu snatched the embroidery hoop from Jiang Yuyao’s hand and held it up high to admire it. “Wow, are you embroidering a little duckling? It’s so cute!”

“Man-mandarin ducks…” Jiang Yuyao said in a small voice.

“Sorry, sorry…” Yi Qiu felt a bit awkward and said seriously, “Mandarin ducks are good, the meaning of mandarin ducks is especially good. In pairs, perfect for giving to a sweetheart!”

“I was just embroidering casually.” Jiang Yuyao said, snatching the hoop back, the blush on her face having spread to the roots of her ears.

Seeing Jiang Yuyao’s girlish demeanor, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but smile. She leaned in and asked in a low voice, “Is this your first time embroidering something?”

Jiang Yuyao clutched her sleeves and said with a serious face, “I just heard that according to the customs down the mountain, women should make some small items on the Qiqiao Festival to test their dexterity… I, I was just trying it out. I’ve never done it before, just curious…” As she spoke, she covered it with her sleeve again and frowned, “It’s so ugly, don’t look.”

Yi Qiu raised her eyebrows in a smile, sat down beside Jiang Yuyao, took a sachet from her waist, and pushed it in front of Jiang Yuyao.

“This is…” Jiang Yuyao recalled for a moment, then raised her eyebrows and said, “I remember, this was a gift from Miss You.”

“You embroider pretty well. Could it be uglier than this?” Yi Qiu asked.

“But…”

“Don’t waste it if you’ve embroidered it. Find someone to give it to. No matter what, this is the first thing you’ve ever embroidered. You’re so wonderful, whoever receives it will carry it with them and regard it as a precious treasure.” Yi Qiu said, poking the sachet You Yan had given her with her finger, “Just like how I always carry this one!”

“Really… I won’t be disliked?” Jiang Yuyao asked softly.

“If you give it to someone who cares about you, then of course you won’t be disliked.” Yi Qiu said, taking the sachet back in her hand and examining it carefully from all sides, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud, “Look how ugly her embroidery is, but I can’t bear to throw it away, can I?”

A hint of a smile couldn’t help but appear in Jiang Yuyao’s eyes. After a brief silence, she looked up and asked, “Yi Qiu, you like Miss You a lot?”

Yi Qiu thought for a moment and answered seriously, “She is very good to me.”

Although sometimes she was also very bad, the good always outweighed the bad.

“Then, you’re not giving her anything in return?”

“Me?” Yi Qiu pouted and shook her head, “I don’t know how to do any of this, and I don’t want to learn… I have hands and feet now, I can just serve her from now on.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yuyao couldn’t help but lower her eyes and smile.

She said that no matter what happened, being with each other was the best.

As the sun was about to set that day, Yi Qiu took a small bag of shelled hazelnuts and ran back happily.

Before going upstairs, she ordered three dishes and a soup from the waiter, and then skipped to the door of her room.

She gently pushed open the door and saw You Yan sitting quietly by the window. The ink, brushes, paper, and inkstone on the table were all gone. It seemed she didn’t plan to punish her.

Yi Qiu gently kicked the door shut with her heel. Under You Yan’s gaze, she tiptoed to the window and placed the small bag of hazelnuts in her hand on You Yan’s lap.

You Yan lowered her eyes and glanced at it faintly, then untied the two layers of white cloth wrapped around it, picked one up, put it in her mouth, and tasted it.

“You shelled them?”

“Someone else shelled them, I snatched them.” Yi Qiu said. Seeing You Yan let out a small laugh, she pulled over a small stool and sat next to her, eating along with her.

“You Yan, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“Hmm?”

Yi Qiu carefully organized her words and said, “Have you, have you heard the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl⁶?”

You Yan thought for a moment and said, “The Weaver Girl secretly descended to the mortal world, took a bath in the river, the Cowherd was moved by her beauty, stole her clothes, forced her to marry him, and kept her in the mortal world…”

What was this situation? Was You Yan telling her a dark fairytale?

“Wait, wait!” Yi Qiu quickly made a stop gesture, her eye twitching, “How is your version different from the one I’ve heard?”

You Yan looked at Yi Qiu for a few seconds and said, “Then you tell it.”

Yi Qiu was at a loss for words for a moment, then said, “That’s not important. What I actually wanted to say is that in a few days, it will be the Qiqiao Festival in the mortal world. On this festival, the streets will be very lively. I was thinking… I want to go and see.”

“Go ahead.” You Yan said faintly, “I haven’t forbidden you from going out recently.”

“I mean, I don’t want to be alone.” Yi Qiu said, winking at You Yan and gently tugging at her sleeve.

You Yan was silent for a long time, then suddenly her eyebrows curved, and she said, “Oh.”

“Huh?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but be stunned.

What did that “oh” mean? Just from the tone, she couldn’t tell.

She tilted her head and stared at You Yan for a long time before frowning, “Don’t just say ‘oh’. I’m sincerely inviting you to go out with me to have a look!”

You Yan just had a smile in her eyes, silently looking at Yi Qiu before her, without giving a response.

Yi Qiu thought for a moment and continued, “You said that after we deal with the matter of the Yi Bird, we will return to the Demon Realm. Now that everyone is still injured, and Xun Chi has no intention of leaving for the time being, we can still live a quiet life. To be honest, I cherish it very much…”

“Although I don’t know how many more of these leisurely days are left, I also understand that they are numbered… I just feel that the mortal world is quite nice. I’ve seen it all, but you haven’t had a good look yet… I’m not saying the Demon Realm is bad!” As she spoke, seeing You Yan’s gaze become deeper and deeper, she became nervous and stammered, “You, you, you shouldn’t be so resistant to everything! Before, you didn’t like to open the window, didn’t like having someone chattering in your ear, and couldn’t be bothered to watch the sunrise and sunset… But, but haven’t things changed a little now? Um, are you listening?”

“Yes.” You Yan blinked, her tone was light.

This tone made Yi Qiu breathe a sigh of relief, and she boldly continued speaking.

She said that she wanted to listen to storytelling⁷ but had no one to accompany her, wanted to watch opera⁸ but had no one to accompany her, and had no one to accompany her when she went out to eat or buy things.

She said that the Qiqiao Festival should be the liveliest festival since she came to the mortal world, and she just wanted to go out and see it, but she really didn’t want to be alone.

She said that for many things, doing them alone and doing them with two people felt different. Just like many sceneries, seeing them alone and seeing them with two people also felt different.

“Before at the Xianlu Sect, when I was watching the sunset alone, I would always think, if only you could also…”

“Alright.” You Yan suddenly interrupted Yi Qiu’s words.

“Eh?” Yi Qiu came back to her senses, confused, “Did you just say something?”

“Yes.”

“What did you say?”

“I’ll accompany you.” You Yan said faintly.

“Really!” Yi Qiu’s happiness went beyond her expectations, and she grabbed You Yan’s wrist at once, “I didn’t mishear, did I!”

“If you don’t want to, then forget it.”

“I do! You can’t take it back! It’s settled now, you absolutely can’t go back on your word!” Yi Qiu said, holding out her little finger, “Let’s pinky swear!”

“Pinky swear?” A hint of surprise flashed in You Yan’s eyes.

The next second, You Yan saw Yi Qiu take her right hand, hook her little finger with her own, and then press her thumb against hers.

The moment the pinky swear was successful, the little alpaca demon childishly yet seriously muttered, “Pinky swear, hang yourself, no changing for one hundred years…⁹ Once we’ve pinky sworn, you’re not allowed to go back on your word. That’s the rule where I’m from!”

After speaking, she let go of You Yan’s hand, looked up at her, her eyes seeming to sparkle like stars.

She felt very happy, happier than she had been in a long time.

However, what was rather strange was that after the pinky swear, You Yan kept looking at her with a faint smile.

Yi Qiu: “Why… why are you keep looking at me?”

You Yan: “You alpacas only have two toes. You can still perform such a difficult maneuver?”

Yi Qiu: “…”

Can we ever have a normal moment! Why can this bird woman always find such a bizarre angle to kill the scenery!¹⁰

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The author has something to say:

Today is another day of the bird woman who doesn’t understand amorous feelings¹¹.

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