smile to heart

=====================

The night was getting darker, but the lights were still brightly lit in a certain room in the South Garden of Mu Mansion.

"Hey. I won't play tonight."

Qi Zhong spread the bamboo card in his hand on the table, leaned tiredly on the chair behind him, closed his eyes and sighed.

Shen Jishu was originally in high spirits and wanted to play another game, but seeing this scene, he suddenly felt aggrieved: "Brother Qi, what's wrong with you?"

"Annoying, annoying." He replied numbly.

Shen Jishu was a little puzzled, and asked with concern: "Why are you bothered?"

"It's just... hey, you won't understand even if you tell me." Qi Mo opened his eyes and gave up explaining again.

"Oh."

"Ji Shu, do you think that time really changes a person?"

Qi Zhong asked calmly.

Shen Jishu thought for a while, and said: "I don't know if it will change, but the saying that people's hearts can be seen over time is true..."

"It takes a long time to see people's hearts?" Qi Zhong repeated, lost in thought, "You mean we spend too little time together to understand each other?"

"Ah? Us?" Shen Jishu looked at him in confusion.

Qi Zhong blinked and concealed: "Ah, me, I said it casually, don't guess."

"Oh." Shen Jishu nodded, and when he looked at Qi Zhong, he caught a trace of shame on his face.

"Brother Qi, what's wrong with you?"

Qi Zhong shook his head, feeling powerless.

"Hey." Shen Jishu didn't do much consolation. In order to ease the embarrassment, he had to look at the plate of dim sum on the table. He was about to take a piece to eat, but before he stretched out his hand, he heard a command .

"Don't eat!"

Looking at Qi Zhong's sullen face, Shen Jishu carefully stretched out his paws, and said with an embarrassed smile: "Hey...Brother Qi, I'm hungry..."

"no!"

The opponent is still firm.

Shen Jishu was a little annoyed, and went out angrily: "Isn't it just a piece of pastry? If you don't give it to you, you won't give it to you. You are stingy."

The cursing sound went away, Qi Zhong was still staring at the plate of snacks in a daze, unknowingly fell into the memories of the evening...

At sunset, after finishing his dinner, he went back to the small courtyard to read a book to pass the time.

I thought that tonight would be the same as usual, boring and long, but after dark, a long-lost figure suddenly appeared outside the open door, standing quietly in front of the door when Qi Zhong was in a daze.

"Brother Qi..."

Mu Yun just came back from Jiugai Mountain, thinking about his injury, and deliberately detoured to condolences to him, but didn't want to bump into Qi Zhong in a state of distraction, so he called cautiously outside the house.

A familiar voice suddenly sounded in his ear, and Qi Zhong turned his head abruptly, speechless in surprise, but his eyes lit up with a bright light of joy.

"You, why are you here?" He got up quickly, without asking.

Mu Yun smiled softly: "Brother Qi, is the injury better?"

"...Okay, it's much better." Surprised that the other party came to visit him specially, Qi Mo's heart warmed up, and he hurriedly welcomed him into the room to sit for a while.

When Mu Yun took his seat, he happened to see the wooden box on the table, and said with some relief: "This herbal ointment is most effective for bruises. If Brother Qi runs out, let me know, and I will send you some more." .”

Hearing this, the smile on Qi Zhong's face froze, and his tone was dry: "You asked Mr. Mu to bring this ointment?"

Mu Yun nodded and hummed lightly.

"Oh." Qi Zhong let out a low snort, feeling ironic in his heart.

"So you all think the same?"

Mu Yun only asked Mu Xi to deliver the herbal medicine, but he didn't know that he had kidnapped Qi Zhong for clues. Now when he heard Qi Zhong's rhetorical question, he mistakenly thought that what he said was caring, so he hesitated for a while , he nodded lightly.

Qi Zhong blinked, quickly turned his face away, gritted his teeth lightly, slightly annoyed: So everything was done according to your wishes.

Mu Yun didn't know about it, but he also didn't know why the two of them had a good conversation at first, but why they suddenly turned cold. He was puzzled, thinking that he rushed here rashly and disturbed others' rest.

After contemplating it, he got up again and said goodbye, "Brother Qi, I have other business to do, so I won't bother you any more."

Hearing that he wanted to leave, Qi Zhong quickly regretted it and turned around: "Wait a minute."

Mu Yun stopped for a while, listening to his remaining words.

"Is there nothing else you want to ask me?"

After concentrating on recalling for a moment, Mu Yun mistakenly thought that Qi Zhong was asking about teaching him how to control the sword. He thought that he was still injured, so he should not be impatient. There is still time to fulfill this promise in the future. Confused reply: "No."

"Really?" Qi Zhong smiled coldly, secretly sighing hypocrisy.

Negotiating with Mu Xi that day, judging from the expression of the man when he left, it was clear that he was dissatisfied with what he said. Mu Yun must have found it today for clues, but now he hypocritically said no, it is really duplicity. duplicity.

A rhetorical question made Mu Yun hesitate again: Isn't it for practicing swords?

Thinking of the urgency of the case, he thought that Qi Zhong had taken the initiative and was willing to talk to him, so he looked happy and asked a question tentatively.

"Actually... there are."

"The case of Linglongxin, I've been thinking..."

"Oh. I see." Qi Zhong interrupted him, and sat back at the table lazily, with a feeling of emptiness in his heart.

"Then what do you want to ask, let's ask together tonight."

Mu Yun nodded gratefully, and turned around with a smile on his face: "Thank you Brother Qi for your cooperation."

Qi Zhong picked his fingers perfunctorily, with a casual demeanor, as if he would answer irrelevant questions.

Mu Yun didn't think much about it, but felt that there would be a breakthrough in the case, so he began to ask questions one by one.

"Brother Qi, did you find any other suspicious people on the day of the death?"

These words were similar to what Mu Xi asked, and Qi Zhong suddenly felt annoyed: Is that why you don't trust me?

He joked, "Guess?"

Mu Yun's expression froze slightly, and he chuckled lightly: "Brother Qi, can you stop joking for now?"

Qi Zhong bowed his head and hummed lightly: "No."

Mu Yunyin felt that he was in a bad mood, so he considered his words again, and hurriedly asked: "Before that happened, did you notice anything weird?"

"Hiss, it doesn't seem to be there, it seems to be..." Qi Zhong replied ambiguously, turned his head to look at Mu Yun who was listening carefully, smiled suddenly, and pretended to be surprised: "Ah! I remembered."

"When we passed by the forest, we heard a strange cry. When we followed the sound to find it, we found that it was..."

"What is it?" Mu Yun asked.

Qi Zhong smirked: "Are two cats in heat, or two male cats! Do you think this is strange?"

"Strange, strange." Mu Yun lowered his gaze, slightly disappointed.

Seeing him bowing his head at the end, Qi finally let out a bad breath, and said nonsense: "Hey, I can't say it's strange, what if they are true love?"

Mu Yun has a good temper and calmed down his emotions. After he finished talking and laughing, he asked softly: "Also, is there anything else?"

Qi Zhong was quite surprised: This kid actually retreated without knowing the difficulty?Don't you see that I'm playing tricks on him?

A strange sour feeling surged in his heart, Qi finally went against his will, still leaning back with a cold face, and said in a bad mood: "Hiss, I only drank a bowl of porridge tonight, I'm not full, I don't have the strength to think about it." gone."

He tilted his head back like a grandpa, closed his eyes, and obviously issued an order to evict the guest.

Mu Yun frowned, a little disappointed, and sighed lightly: "In this case, brother Qi, you should rest well, and excuse me first."

"Yeah." Qi Zhong agreed with his eyes closed, grinding his tongue against his teeth back and forth.Hearing the footsteps of the other party going out, the fingers in the sleeve curled up twice with emotion.

After Mu Yun went out, he patiently closed the doors and windows for him. Before leaving, he explained a few words to the servant at the courtyard gate before leaving in a hurry.

After walking for a while, Qi Zhong pulled his hair agitatedly, stood up, and yelled out of the room: "Don't you even know where you are wrong? I won't talk about it, hum..."

After complaining about the air, he slammed the door shut again. Just as he took off his shoes and was about to lie down on the bed, there was another knock on the door outside the house.

Qi Zhong grinned excitedly: Could it be that this idiot has become enlightened and came back to admit his mistake again?

"Who is it?" Thinking of this, he shouted loudly first.

The man slowly stood by the window, thinking that as long as the person outside the door replied that it was me, he would angrily say, "I'm asleep."Then he got out of the window to scare him.

Anyway, if he can give that person some punishment, the matter will be over.

Unexpectedly, the person outside the door replied cautiously: "Young Master Qi. The third young master just ordered me to go to the back kitchen to bring you some supper, and told you to hold your belly."

Hearing this, Qi Zhong stared in shock: What?This, this kid is really honest, what I just said casually, is he still so caring?

Surprised, a wave of annoyance also followed, Qi finally walked over to open the door.

"Squeak-"

After the door opened, the servant held a smiling face and was about to rush in, but was stopped by him with a cold face, and asked impatiently, "Then did he say anything else?"

"Oh, the third son also explained that if you have any dissatisfaction, you can talk to him and the eldest son."

"No, no?"

"Oh, he also said that if there is a place where Mu's residence is not well received, please bear with me, and he will definitely come to the door to apologize in the future..."

Qi Zhong felt sore, angry and regretful: Apologize?What are you apologizing for?This person is really stupid, I don't even know you, no wonder he is often deceived by people, he doesn't have a brain...

He pursed his lips, and the previous arrogance faded a lot: "Understood. Tell him for me, don't make an example."

"what?"

"Ah what. A lot of nonsense."

With a bang, the door was closed again.

The boy froze on the spot, not dull enough, Qi Zhong pushed open the door again, snatched the snack in his hand, and the door never opened again.

……

The night was getting deeper, and the night wind was blowing through the flowers and trees in the courtyard, and they were all over the ground.

Qi Zhong rubbed his sore eyes, stopped looking at the plate of sweet snacks, and got up to turn off the lights and go to bed.

"It's true to see people's hearts after a long time..."

Shen Jishu's unintentional reminder sounded in his ears again, Qi Zhong shook his head, and suddenly recalled Mu Yun's disappointed expression before leaving, which immediately made him feel completely sleepy, and the guilt in his heart gradually surged.

"Did I go too much today... After all, he is also a businessman. It seems abhorrent for me to embarrass him like this. Hey. Why don't you ask him tomorrow?"

After whispering for a while, Qi finally made a reassuring decision, then closed his eyes peacefully, and prepared to have a good night's sleep, and then go to solve his troubles tomorrow morning.