Chapter 480: I’m Not Agreeing to That!
“Starting today, move out.”
Tushan Xinhua spoke to Xiao Mo.
Xiao Mo and Tushan Jingci had grown up together.
Although they lived in the same courtyard in separate rooms, and although Tushan Xinhua knew that Xiao Mo was always extremely careful about propriety in daily life, in her view, no matter what, they were grown now. It truly was time to start observing the distinction between men and women.
At their age, if they had been born into an ordinary mortal household, they would already be married.
So one of the reasons Tushan Xinhua had come to see her daughter this time was to have Xiao Mo move out.
“If Xiao Mo moves out, where is he moving to?”
The moment Tushan Jingci heard that Xiao Mo was to leave, the color drained from her delicate little face.
“To the foot of the mountain,” Tushan Xinhua said. “When Jingci goes to class, Xiao Mo, you will still accompany her as before. But there is no longer any need for you to live here to look after her. Yueshi and the others can take care of that. This way, you will also have more time to cultivate.”
“Yes. I obey.”
Hearing Tushan Xinhua’s words, Xiao Mo cupped his hands in salute and did not refuse.
It was a perfectly reasonable request.
In fact, Xiao Mo felt that by the time Tushan Jingci had come of age, he should already have moved out.
Otherwise, even if he was only her book boy, it was still improper for him to go on living in the same courtyard as these young women.
He felt Madam Tushan must have noticed this long ago. It was only that she had chosen to bring it up now.
“Mother, I don’t think there’s any need for Xiao Mo to move out. It’s fine for him to stay here.”
Tushan Jingci spoke up at once. Naturally, she was unhappy about Xiao Mo moving away.
If Xiao Mo moved down to the foot of the mountain, then wouldn’t that mean she would no longer be able to see him the moment she stepped outside?
Wouldn’t that mean she could no longer sneak over at night while he was asleep and draw turtles on his face?
She absolutely did not want that!
“This is not a matter of whether you want it or not,” Tushan Xinhua said sternly. “You’re a young lady. Mortal girls your age are already married. Aren’t you concerned at all about your reputation? How are you supposed to marry in the future?”
“I—”
“That’s enough. It’s settled.” Tushan Xinhua waved a hand. “Xiao Mo, pack your things. Move out tomorrow evening. I’ve already prepared the courtyard for you.”
“Yes, Madam.” Xiao Mo bowed in acknowledgment.
“I’m never speaking to Mother again!”
Seeing that her mother had already made up her mind, Tushan Jingci’s pale pink eyes filled with tears. Wiping at them, she turned and ran out.
“Jingci!” Tushan Xinhua called after her, but in the end could only let out a sigh. “Sigh... that girl...”
“Bad person!”
“Big bad person!”
“You dumped me here at Cold Mountain Academy and hardly ever came to see me, and now you won’t even let Xiao Mo stay with me!”
“Sister Yueshi isn’t any fun. If Xiao Mo leaves, who am I supposed to play with?”
“What distinction between men and women? Xiao Mo and I are perfectly open and perfectly innocent. There’s nothing between us at all!”
At the summit of Reed Mountain,
after running out of the courtyard, Tushan Jingci ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) grabbed the stones around her and hurled them down the mountain one after another.
Her soft pink cheeks were puffed out like a pufferfish. She looked furious.
After nearly half an hour, just as the stones in her hands were flying faster and faster and her anger was growing stronger and stronger, the girl suddenly paused, her fox ears twitching lightly.
“Hmph!”
With a little snort, she turned her body sideways and angled her head away.
Xiao Mo, who had just arrived at the summit, smiled faintly. Strolling up, he brushed aside his blue robe and sat down beside her.
And as if she were sulking at him too, Tushan Jingci did not look at him even once.
“Madam has left,” Xiao Mo said.
“Madam asked me to tell you, Young Lady, that things in the demon-race world have been unstable lately and there are many matters in the clan that require her attention. She may not be able to come see you for some time. She hopes you will study seriously, cultivate well, and not do anything to make your teachers angry.”
“Hmph...” Tushan Jingci yanked a blade of grass out at her side. “She’s already gone, and she’s still trying to control me. Lately she comes and goes faster than ever.”
Hearing her complaint, Xiao Mo smiled. “Although Madam said she wasn’t off handling anything in particular, I think that everything she does is for your sake, Young Lady.”
“She does everything for my own good, but she never asks whether I like it or not.”
Tushan Jingci tossed another stone down the mountain. Then suddenly, her eyes lit up.
“Hey, Xiao Mo—since my mother’s already gone, and she won’t be back for a long time anyway, why don’t you just not move out?”
“No.”
Xiao Mo smiled and shook his head.
“Leaving aside whether Sister Yueshi would tell Madam or whether Madam would find out, I really should move. I shouldn’t keep living in that little courtyard. It does nothing for your reputation, Young Lady.”
“As Madam said, if some bad rumor were to spread in the future, how would you get married then?”
“Married and all that—I’ve never even thought about it.”
Tushan Jingci hugged her knees and looked up at the star-filled sky.
“I don’t want to get married. I think things are fine just the way they are now.”
“With you, and Sister Yueshi, and my awful mother—as long as you’re all with me, I’m happy.”
“Heh...” Xiao Mo laughed softly. “That’s only because you haven’t met someone you like yet, Young Lady. Once you do, you won’t think that way.”
“Someone I like...”
Tushan Jingci blinked slowly.
“Everyone says that we foxes testify to the Way through love, and that we’ll definitely meet someone we truly like. But what does it actually feel like to like someone?”
“Well...” Xiao Mo thought for a moment, then said, “Perhaps liking someone means that your heart is always thinking of them. You’ll always want to be with them. If you don’t see them for even a moment, your heart feels restless. You’d be willing to do anything for them. Compared to them, everything else in the world means nothing.”
Listening to Xiao Mo’s answer, the girl puckered her lips.
“Xiao Mo, why do you know so much? Don’t tell me you already have someone you like?”
“I only read it in books.”
Xiao Mo shook his head.
“As for whether I’ll ever have someone I like in the future, I don’t know. But I do know this—I will stay by your side for my whole life, and protect you.”
“Really?” the girl asked, looking at him.
“Really.” Xiao Mo nodded.
“I don’t believe you!” Tushan Jingci turned her little head away again, her pale pink fox eyes darting from side to side. “Unless you promise me one thing. Then I’ll believe you!”
“What thing?” Xiao Mo found it amusing too.
“In the future, the girl you like has to be prettier than me! Or at least just as pretty as I am!” Tushan Jingci said with a smile.
“As pretty as you, Young Lady?” Xiao Mo froze for a moment.
“That’s right...”
Beneath the starry sky, the girl’s eyes curved into crescents.
“If she isn’t even prettier than me, then what right does she have to be liked by you?”
“I’m absolutely not agreeing to that!”
Recommendation for a friend’s book — We Agreed to Experience Life, So How Did My Wife End Up Becoming Real?