CHAPTER 546: 483 TIME FOR TWO PEOPLE

"From now on, I’ll call you Xiao Qi. Next, we’re heading to the bustling district. Anlin’s old city has an entire street dedicated to food. You’re used to the exquisite dishes at President Mansion, but now I’ll take you to taste some commoner’s delicacies."

Zhongli Wuzhi explained to Chinian.

Chinian nodded.

Snack street was always a place brimming with diversity.

For someone like Zhongli Wuzhi, such snack streets were seldom visited.

After all, the cleanliness of the food was of the utmost importance.

However...

Zhongli Wuzhi wasn’t particularly fussy.

It seemed like Chinian was witnessing such a scene for the first time. She might have seen such lively snack streets in books or movies before but setting foot into one was a first.

And it was in the capital of Country G.

For Chinian, this was definitely a rare experience.

The aroma of fried snacks was overpowering, and the savory scent of grilled seafood wafted through the air, involuntarily making one’s mouth water.

Chinian quietly swallowed her saliva, her eyes darting around behind her sunglasses.

At one barbecue shop, someone was hollering, at another, skewers were being hawked...

"Hold on to me, don’t get lost."

Zhongli Wuzhi cautioned Chinian, who subconsciously grabbed the hem of Zhongli Wuzhi’s clothes, tightly.

"Let’s have some grilled squid."

Without waiting for a response, Zhongli Wuzhi squeezed into the shop to buy some. Luckily for him, his height meant he didn’t need to push his way all the way in; a reach of his arm was sufficient.

Soon after, he came out with two skewers of fried squid.

He led Chinian to a corner of the street and handed her one of the skewers,

"Here."

Chinian gestured a "thank you," took the squid skewer, and seemed uncertain about how to start eating—or more precisely, unsure how to eat it elegantly. She subtly turned away, as though trying to hide the way she devoured her squid.

Zhongli Wuzhi saw her cautious manner and burst into laughter the next second.

Chinian turned to look at Zhongli Wuzhi and saw him bite right from the end of the skewer, pulling out half of the squid in one go with a yank of the stick.

Zhongli Wuzhi chewed with vigor, and just watching him made the squid’s fragrance palpable.

Chinian apparently felt she was being overly particular and copied Zhongli Wuzhi—biting off a piece and pulling at the stick, the squid entered her mouth, but...

Zhongli Wuzhi saw her mouth corners smeared with sauce and mocked her without reserve.

Chinian was both embarrassed and awkward, not understanding the focus of Zhongli Wuzhi’s laughter.

Was it because her eating manner was too unattractive?

Chinian couldn’t help but wonder.

What she didn’t know was that Zhongli Wuzhi pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her,

"Wipe your mouth; you’ve got sauce on it."

Only then did Chinian realize, as she quickly took the handkerchief and wiped her mouth, slightly embarrassed, she lifted her eyes to steal a glance at Zhongli Wuzhi—his skewer was already finished.

She pursed her lips, considering his unconcerned demeanor...and noticing the sauce on his mouth corners, yet he was completely unaware.

She laughed, and the laugh was triumphant, as if she was humming about Zhongli’s earlier mockery of her.

With a light swipe of his hand, Zhongli Wuzhi realized there was sauce on his lips and immediately took back the handkerchief from Chinian to clean it, turning it to a fresh side.

Although he avoided the spot she had used to wipe her face, the fact they shared the same handkerchief still quickened Chinian’s heartbeat.

"Let’s go,"

said Zhongli Wuzhi.

After finishing the squid skewers, they moved on to fried yogurt, coconut juice, grilled cold noodles, and so on...

Just strolling down this street took them nearly two hours.

Chinian walked off the street, holding her belly.

She leaned on one side to rest.

"Full?"

Zhongli Wuzhi asked.

Chinian quickly nodded her head.

Zhongli Wuzhi chuckled, "Your stomach really is tiny."

Chinian pouted, blushing with a tiny face.

"Let’s go, I’ll take you to visit Anlin’s underground spring. It’ll help digest the food."

Chinian nodded and followed Zhongli Wuzhi.

Zhongli Wuzhi didn’t go to drive; since the snack street wasn’t far from the spring, he rented a bicycle on the roadside.

"Do you know how to ride?"

Chinian looked at the two-wheeled bike and shook her head with a bit of embarrassment.

She seemed to think she was quite useless.

Zhongli Wuzhi smiled, "Come on, I’ll give you a ride."

Chinian sat on the rear seat of Zhongli Wuzhi’s bike, and he pedaled steadily along the road.

At the end of March, the essence of spring was spreading everywhere; the air was filled with the scent of spring flowers. This was the rare warm weather in the south of Country G.

It was precisely because of the pleasant weather that there were quite a few tourists at the sightseeing spots.

From beginning to end, Zhongli Wuzhi and Chinian were just like the most ordinary of tourists, not taking any VIP passages.

"Tired?"

The two stood side by side in the queue, waiting to enter the attraction.

Chinian was filled with joy and happiness, so how could she feel tired?

She shook her head.

Her eyes beneath the sunglasses crinkled in amusement.

Along the way, the hand gesture Chinian made the most was "thank you."

Apart from that, even if Chinian made gestures, it was not guaranteed that Zhongli Wuzhi would understand them clearly.

So, she just followed Zhongli Wuzhi all the way without offering many opinions.

Upon entering the attraction, Zhongli Wuzhi explained like a semi-knowing tour guide, quite casually, which made Chinian start to wonder if Zhongli Wuzhi truly understood the history of this spring...

But... these clearly weren’t important.

Chinian and Zhongli Wuzhi sat side by side on a bench, drinking water and resting.

Beneath the light brown sunglasses of Zhongli Wuzhi his fox-like eyes were inscrutable.

Meanwhile, Chinian sat beside him, stealthily observing Zhongli from her angle.

Unfortunately...

Zhongli Wuzhi didn’t understand sign language.

Unfortunate...

Without the translator sister, no, if the translator sister were here, she certainly wouldn’t be able to experience this time that belonged just to the two of them...

Thinking this, Chinian felt she was really shameless.

Even though she was a girl, even though she was a princess of the royal family, she was not reserved at all.

Zhongli Wuzhi...

If one seriously studies the history and culture of Country G, perhaps one could understand the profound meaning contained in the four characters "Zhongli Wuzhi."

"What are you thinking about?"

Originally, Chinian wanted to ask Zhongli Wuzhi this question, but now it was Zhongli Wuzhi who asked her.

He turned his head to look at her, his lips curling into a seductive arc.

Chinian pursed her lips, merely smiling.

Zhongli Wuzhi knew that even if she wanted to express something, he wouldn’t be able to understand.

With his hands braced on the stone bench, Zhongli Wuzhi looked straight ahead,

"You’ve never been like this before, without any airs, just being like an ordinary person, eating street food, visiting the busiest sights, right?"

Chinian nodded.

Zhongli Wuzhi still hooked one corner of his mouth, gently laughing as he asked,

"So, do you think that this ordinary life... might be happier than your life in the court as a member of the royal nobility?"