When Bright Moon Encounter the Dark Clouds

“What are you laughing at?” she asked.

“Nothing. You can go do something else. I can stay here to keep a lookout.”

She obviously seemed interested yet somewhat unsure. “Okay then. But, you’re still injured…”

“Didn’t I already wash the dishes?”

She let out a titter while gazing at me with her beautiful, sparkling eyes. She beamed like a full bloom flower under the sun as she got out of the car. “Alright then. I’ll heed your advice and go for a short walk around the neighborhood. After all, I need to keep my mind sharp so that we don’t overlook the big picture.”

“Oh. Keep up the good work.”

She covered her mouth and smiled again, looking very happy. Simultaneously, a vague and unfamiliar sense of joy filled my heart as well.

There was no activity at the Zhu family’s residence. However, several people could be seen gathered in the living room through a window covered by a curtain.

Not long after, Tan Jiao appeared outside the driver’s side of the car while holding two ice cream. I rolled down the window for her serious face to greet me. “I think you’ll like tiramisu favor.”

A mild headache struck me as I thought about the fact that I had never had anything like this and never really liked sweet foods. As I grew up in a poor family, we did not have the money to buy such things. Even if there were occasional purchases, they were for Wu Miao. She would act in a similar manner to Tan Jiao, holding the ice cream in her hand while eating away happily. The only difference being that Wu Miao seemed to cherish it and would look exceptionally happy, while Tan Jiao seemed calm with a hint of joy on her face.

“Are you able to finish two by yourself?”

Tan Jiao let out a piteous whimper before adamantly putting the ice cream in front of me. “Are you trying to make me gain weight?” I had no choice but to take it and eat while she stood outside the car, leaning against the door as she gulped down large mouthfuls of ice cream.

“Is it good?” she asked while leaning on the car window facing me.

“Yeah.”

Everything around us was quiet with only a gentle breeze blowing by. Unwittingly, our bodies became close as her arm leaned next to mine on the car window. Her face was only inches away from mine. The afterglow of the setting sun illuminating her delicate face. A touch of unmelted cream remained on her glossy lips as she looked at me with her glistening eyes.

“Mine’s tasty as well.”

“Is it?” I heard myself asking.

“Oh.” She looked at me before placing the ice cream in front of me. “You want a taste?”

I said nothing, only fixing my gaze on that touch of cream on her lips as I abruptly felt dryness in my throat.

She said nothing either as if she had not noticed anything. However, those glistening eyes of hers seemed to have something flash by.

This moment felt like the afterglow of a summer’s evening, warm and tranquil with a hint of sweetness and smoothness of ice cream similar to her fragrance. That moment felt like an odd splash of color amid darkness to me. Although there were many secrets and dangers lying ahead of us and a blood feud I had yet to resolve, she had once again appeared in my life.

I had never thought about love before she came into my life, yet what did the current me possess to seize the woman in front of my eyes?

“Someone came out,” I turned to the side and said.

The look in her eyes changed as she followed my gaze. She had lowered her hand holding the ice cream at some point in time. The gate of Zhu’s residence a few meters away had opened, with several people coming out. There were old and young, men and women, with a total of five people. They were probably Zhu Fengxian, Zhu Zhongling, Zhu Zhongling's wife, as well as the youngest daughter and her fiance.

All of them looked tense and remained mute, and the eyes of Zhu Zhihan’s mother were even red and watery. The bunch boarded a car and left.

“Get in,” I said.

Tan Jiao quickly entered the car. Then I started the car to tail them. The little episode between us was temporarily behind us, those thoughts vanishing from my mind as I focused my gaze ahead. Tan Jiao had a serious look as well. It was like that little episode just now was merely a figment of my imagination. Putting on a thinking face, she asked, “Where are they going?”

“It’s not the weekend, so why would the family gather at home, not go to work, and wait until evening to go somewhere together?”

The corner of Tan Jiao’s mouth quirked up as she said, “Because the fox is finally showing itself. He’s luring his prey into his lair.”