When Ye Qiu returned to his wooden house.
Xiao Wu, who had finished bathing, was already sitting at the table in the hall.
With slender eyebrows, big, captivating eyes, and wet, flowing long hair, she looked like a doll. She was propping up her chin, staring at the door, waiting for Ye Qiu to return.
Hearing the movement outside, Xiao Wu immediately stood up. Her foot, which was about to step out, paused. Looking at the door, she pouted. "Ye Qiu, why did you take so long? I'm starving."
Ye Qiu rolled his eyes, looking at the little rabbit who had returned to her original state after a bath. He said curtly, "I went to the village entrance to deliver food to Tang San."
Thud!
Ye Qiu placed the two lunch boxes on the table and pushed one towards Xiao Wu.
"Here, dig in."
"Thank you, Ye Qiu!"
Xiao Wu thanked him softly and eagerly opened the food box.
In an instant, her face changed drastically, and she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"Ah—! Ye Qiu! How, how could this be?!"
"Ouch~"
"So noisy! Do you need to warm up your mouth before eating?!" Ye Qiu frowned, raised his hand, and tapped Xiao Wu's head. Only then did he look at the food box.
He saw a meaty rabbit leg inside the lunch box.
"Ye Qiu~ How can there be rabbit..."
Xiao Wu covered her head with both hands, her face showing distress and grievance.
"Isn't it just a rabbit leg? You've seen so many in the streets and alleys... Do you need to make such a fuss?" Ye Qiu gave Xiao Wu an annoyed look and pushed his portion in front of her. "Eat mine."
As Ye Qiu spoke, he opened his own lunch box.
Xiao Wu just glanced at it, and the grievance in her eyes intensified, even threatening to spill out little pearls. She couldn't help but wail, "Ah! Sister Xiao Wu doesn't want to eat these..."
"Hmm?"
Ye Qiu frowned and looked into the box, understanding dawning in his eyes. He saw that in addition to the rabbit leg, there was also a spicy rabbit head.
He shook his head helplessly. "Forget it, you'd better not eat. Just have two carrots instead."
Xiao Wu leaned her body on the table, her small face leaning towards Ye Qiu, looking at him with a wronged expression, pleading, "Ye Qiu, how about we throw away this food?"
"Throw it away? Wouldn't that be a waste? Wouldn't this rabbit have died for nothing?" Ye Qiu, who possessed the virtue of diligence and frugality, immediately frowned.
"But, but..."
Xiao Wu stammered, trotted to Ye Qiu's side, grabbed his arm, and said softly, "I, I'll compensate you."
Ye Qiu raised his eyes and gave Xiao Wu a sideways glance, completely unaffected by her approach. "Compensate me? You still owe me a lot of money now. How are you going to compensate me?"
"I, I can..."
Xiao Wu bit her pink lips lightly, looking at Ye Qiu's youthful face, hesitating.
"Alright, alright..."
Ye Qiu didn't want to say any more. Filling his stomach was the priority. He didn't even look up, but his hands were separating the rabbit meat. "This food can't be thrown away. I just won't eat this rabbit meat."
"Ah!"
Xiao Wu widened her large, round, crimson eyes in surprise, a strong sense of delight flashing within them.
Ye Qiu turned his head to look at Xiao Wu.
"Is this okay now?"
"Yes, yes!"
Xiao Wu nodded happily, pursing her red lips, and said charmingly and bashfully, "I'll compensate you now..."
"Compensate? How?"
Ye Qiu looked up, strangely eyeing this somewhat abnormal rabbit.
"Hmm?!"
Just as he looked up, Ye Qiu's eyes, like black pearls, trembled. A tender warmth and softness, seemingly with a hint of sweetness, landed on his lips.
The little rabbit in front of him was already blushing, her clear crimson eyes filled with emotion, her long eyelashes fluttering gently, her pink and white rabbit ears swaying. Her lips moved slightly, and her earlobes and neck became flushed.
Slap!
Ye Qiu snapped back to reality, raised his hand, and slapped Xiao Wu's face, then stood up and pushed her away.
"Ah!"
Xiao Wu exclaimed and retreated backward, staggering and almost sitting on the ground.
"Silly rabbit, what, what are you doing?!"
Ye Qiu's tender, youthful face couldn't help but feel a little hot. Active and passive were completely different feelings. He had never expected Xiao Wu to use this kind of compensation method, exchanging a rabbit for a rabbit!
"I, I thought you liked it like this..."
Xiao Wu tilted her head back, her eyes holding a hint of confusion and more shyness. She pursed her red lips and became submissive, fiddling with the hem of her clothes.
"Who said that? I think you like it! Otherwise, why would you do this when everything is fine?"
Ye Qiu wiped the corner of his mouth, looking at Xiao Wu in front of him with a strange expression. Even if he did like it, it couldn't be at this time. It was too childish and too... questionable!
"You, you're talking nonsense! I don't..." Hearing Ye Qiu's words, Xiao Wu immediately became agitated. As if her secret had been exposed, she was speechless, her face red. Biting her silver teeth, she said resentfully, "You clearly bullied me before... Hmph! Stupid Ye Qiu! If you don't like it, fine. I, I've already compensated you anyway!"
As her voice fell.
Xiao Wu huffed angrily and walked into the bedroom, which was separated from the hall by a single board.
It was a bit empty inside. The wet bed board she had made had already been moved out by Ye Qiu to dry, so she had to find a chair and sit down.
Holding her burning little face, her heart was filled with extreme resentment. She pouted and frowned, constantly cursing Ye Qiu in a low voice. She had made a great decision.
Thinking of Ye Qiu, Xiao Wu's crimson eyes dimmed slightly, and her red lips moved slightly. She didn't know what she was thinking, and there was a hint of worry in her eyes.
Was he disgusted with her?
Ye Qiu wiped his lips, watched Xiao Wu walk into the room, and sat down again. For some reason, a slight smile of satisfaction appeared on his face.
...
After a while.
Ye Qiu's lunch break was nearing its end.
Xiao Wu, sitting in the bedroom, rubbed her stomach. She was already feeling a bit hungry.
She looked around, stood up, and walked to the door.
She said shyly, "Ye Qiu, where did you put the carrots you brought back? I'm hungry..."
Ye Qiu raised his hand and pointed to the wall separating the hall and the bedroom. "They're hanging there. Get them yourself."
Xiao Wu looked at the cloth bag hanging on the wall, quickly took it down, took out the carrots from inside, and got some water from the water tank to wash them. Only then did she go back inside. As she passed by, her eyes glanced at Ye Qiu. Seeing that Ye Qiu was almost finished eating, she returned to the table and sat down again.
As soon as Xiao Wu sat down, Ye Qiu stood up and walked out the door, holding two lunch boxes in his hands. He had to wash them clean to return them.
Xiao Wu wrinkled her small face, pursed her red lips, and looked at Ye Qiu with confusion.
Seeing Ye Qiu leave, she retracted her gaze, held the carrots in both hands, and opened her small mouth slightly. Starting from the tip, she slowly put it into her mouth, biting with a crisp crunch.
As she bit, her eyes involuntarily looked towards the door.
When Ye Qiu returned after washing the lunch boxes, as soon as he entered the door, he found that Xiao Wu's eyes were a little evasive and her face was a little red.
"?" Ye Qiu looked at her strangely, sat back down at the table, and asked in confusion, "Why are you always looking at me? Is there something you want to tell me?"
"I'm not always looking at you... Don't be so narcissistic." Xiao Wu took small bites of the carrot, not looking up, and huffed twice.
Ye Qiu raised his eyebrows.
"Then there's something you want to tell me?!"
After waiting for a moment, there was only the crisp sound of Xiao Wu gnawing on the carrot. Ye Qiu rolled his eyes and tapped the table impatiently.
Thud, thud!
He said impatiently, "Are you going to say something or not? If you don't, I'm leaving."
"Ye Qiu... Will you not want me?" Xiao Wu lowered her head, gnawing on the carrot, her voice very low.