The night deepened as the crescent moon hung high in the sky.
Fang Xuan sat on the roof, gazing out over most of the valley and the hazy mountain silhouettes in the distance.
The night breeze blew past, carrying the fresh scent of bamboo leaves, which actually helped to calm his mind.
He held a small jar of wine, slapped off the mud seal, and tilted his head back to take a swig.
He hadn't expected senior sister to have such good stuff. She had so many jars; surely she wouldn't notice if he swiped one.
"The night air is cold... Why are you drinking here?"
A cold voice suddenly drifted from his side.
Fang Xuan jumped in fright, nearly tossing the wine jar away.
He turned his head. Ning Xian had joined him on the roof at some unknown point and was sitting right beside him.
He breathed a sigh of relief and instinctively moved the wine a bit further away, though it was clearly a case of self-deception.
"My heart is cold too, so it’s a perfect match."
"What is the matter?" Ning Xian asked softly, not looking at him.
"I failed to take senior sister away..."
Ning Xian's body stiffened slightly. Under the moonlight, a flicker of emotion seemed to ripple in her cold eyes.
"Nonsense..."
"Just kidding, Senior Sister."
The moment she spoke, Fang Xuan suddenly grinned and shook the wine jar in his hand.
"Just lightening the mood."
The reprimand Ning Xian was about to utter was choked back by his joke.
But as she looked at the relaxed smile on Fang Xuan's face, an inexplicable sense of emptiness suddenly hollowed out her heart.
"Mm..."
She gave a low response and looked away.
"Stop joking around."
"Senior Sister, are you sad?" Fang Xuan leaned in a bit closer and asked her.
"No."
Ning Xian denied it instantly, her tone returning to its usual coldness.
Fang Xuan didn't believe her. He handed the half-empty jar toward her. "Have some wine. Maybe it'll... wash away your sorrows?"
Ning Xian looked at the jar offered to her and hesitated for a moment.
Aren't these the jars she had stored away? It was very strong wine, she thought.
However, she still took it and took a small sip.
Fang Xuan laughed from the side. "Senior Sister, you talk so little."
"I do not," Ning Xian countered, her voice remaining flat.
"You call that not little?"
Besides 'mm', 'fine', 'no', 'eat', and 'practice swordplay', she basically said nothing else.
Ning Xian was stifled by his question. She opened her mouth to argue back but realized her mind was momentarily blank of any words to 'prove' she spoke a lot.
She was indeed quite taciturn most of the time.
"It is... not little."
In the end, she could only force out that one sentence, though her tone sounded weaker than usual.
The alcohol was starting to go to her head. Under the moonlight, one could see the tips of her ears turning slightly red.
Fang Xuan suspected he was getting drunk too as he spoke up out of nowhere.
"Senior Sister, do you know how to sing?"
Ning Xian couldn't fathom this sudden boisterous behavior of his. She responded flatly, "No."
"Then I'll sing for you... Miyue squeezes the oil~"
Ning Xian: "..."
"Are you drunk?" she couldn't help but interrupt him.
Fang Xuan stopped his singing, opened his eyes, and looked at her with an innocent expression.
"No? I’m perfectly sober..."
To prove it, he even deliberately shook his head. As a result of that shake, the scenery before his eyes seemed to blur.
Looking at his clearly glazed-over eyes, Ning Xian was certain he was truly a bit drunk.
She sighed, too lazy to argue with him, and gave the most direct evaluation: "It sounds terrible."
Fang Xuan: "..."
Whatever, he was drunk anyway.
He just started to stand up when his feet went soft, stepping on a loose tile.
Then, he fell straight through the roof and into the house.
Broken bamboo and shattered tiles rained down with a clatter, sending dust billowing into the air.
Ning Xian saw it all clearly from the roof and followed him down.
Fang Xuan was lying sprawled in his room, clutching his backside with a look of utter disbelief.
He was covered in dust and debris, looking quite pathetic, but he didn't seem to have any serious injuries; he was mostly just stunned by the fall.
He shook his dizzy head, trying to sit up.
But with the alcohol combined with the fall, he was completely dazed. He looked around confusedly before his gaze finally landed on Ning Xian standing before him.
Under the moonlight, Ning Xian's brow was slightly furrowed as she looked at him, and that small, usually cold and expressionless face seemed to show a hint of a smile.
Fang Xuan thought his eyes were playing tricks on him and blinked hard.
Ning Xian had already returned to her expressionless state, as if that fleeting curve had just been an illusion of the moonlight.
She had never truly laughed, or at least Fang Xuan had never seen it.
Seeing that he could still move, Ning Xian figured he was fine, aside from being... a disgrace.
She felt relieved but also found it a bit funny, though she didn't show it on her face.
She didn't say anything and turned to leave.
Her gaze then flickered to the small pile of clothes at the foot of his bed—likely a pile of laundry he hadn't washed yet—and her brow furrowed again.
So lazy... to let so many clothes pile up.
She walked over, picked up the pile of dirty clothes piece by piece, and held them in her arms.
Fang Xuan was still dazed. Seeing her action, he didn't react for a moment. "Sen... Senior Sister?"
Ning Xian held the clothes and didn't look at him, only leaving a flat sentence: "Fix the roof yourself tomorrow."
Then she carried the pile of dirty clothes out into the courtyard and gently closed the door.
Fang Xuan was left sitting alone in the ruins, staring at the closed door, his head spinning in a daze.
Why did... Senior Sister take his clothes?
To... wash them?
Is... that what she meant?
......
Not long after.
The sound of rain outside pattered down, beating against the broken roof.
Fang Xuan was jolted by the icy rainwater, and most of his remaining drunkenness vanished.
He clutched half of his blanket that was still relatively dry and huddled in the corner of the bed, looking at the scene before him that resembled a miniature waterfall, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Huh?
A leaking roof on a rainy night?
......
"Senior Sister... save me, why is the roof leaking..."
Just when Fang Xuan thought Ning Xian had already gone to sleep or simply didn't want to deal with a drunkard and troublemaker like him, the door was pushed open gently.
Ning Xian stood at the door, still wearing her simple, plain nightclothes.
On her cold face, her brow was slightly furrowed.
Her gaze swept over Fang Xuan, whose hair and clothes were half-soaked and looked quite pitiful.
Fang Xuan could only clutch his blanket, looking at her with wide, pleading eyes.
"Follow me." She turned and walked toward her own room.
Fang Xuan froze for a moment before reacting and quickly following after her.
.......
A little while later.
He was now sleeping in his senior sister's bed.
Their relationship had truly progressed by leaps and bounds.
Rate on N.U.
