Qiu Ling held onto his bun, his heart filled to the brim with happiness. Ah, this was too great! He had waited for this day so long and now, it had finally arrived! He could stroll through the capital city with his beloved and get all those tasty snacks that his Jing He had shared with that stupid child before. He had to make the most out of this!

Qiu Ling looked at the bun, pondering the situation. Comparing what they were doing right now with what had happened back then, he couldn’t help but feel that he was doing much better than that awful boy. What the two of them had done back then could at most be called two children taking advantage of their cuteness. This right now was obviously a mature man inviting his beloved for a romantic stroll through the city. It was a much bigger step in comparison!

Satisfied with this observation, Qiu Ling looked around and motioned at another stall, pulling Jing Yi with him. This time, what he got them was a piece of bean curd each.

Jing Yi looked at it with a complicated expression but still accepted it and went further down the street. Before he could say anything, Qiu Ling rushed to the side, returning with another bun with a different filling and stuffing it into Jing Yi’s hands with a bright smile on his face.

"… Thanks." Jing Yi didn’t know what else to say. Well, in fact, he wasn’t able to say anything at all. Because Qiu Ling had rushed off once again.

Jing Yi really wanted to stop him. Although he was happy that Qiu Ling treated him so well, he felt that this was going a little overboard. Wasn’t Qiu Ling his guest and not the other way around? So how come Qiu Ling was paying for all of this? It made him feel rather inadequate.

Even though that was what Jing Yi thought, he didn’t find an opportunity to say anything and the longer things went on, the happier Qiu Ling seemed to be, making Jing Yi feel even worse. If he said now that he didn’t want these things, wouldn’t he hurt his feelings? But he couldn’t let things go on either, ah!

Jing Yi’s expression became even more complicated but he finally had an idea. He reached out to tug at Qiu Ling’s sleeve. "Senior martial brother Qiu —"

"Just call me Qiu Ling." Needless to say, Qiu Ling beamed when he got Jing Yi’s attention, not bothering about the food stalls any longer. Well, he already had most of what he wanted anyway.

For the sake of his goal, Jing Yi gave in. "Qiu Ling, this is already quite a lot of food and it tastes best if it’s hot. Why don’t we go sit down somewhere and eat it first?"

Faced with the prospect of sitting together with his beloved, eating in a happy atmosphere, Qiu Ling was indeed immediately sold on the idea. He put an arm around Jing Yi’s waist and then jumped over to a roadside stall with a few seats to sit down where an old lady was selling noodles. "One bowl!" He definitely couldn’t forget the noodles!

Only when Jing Yi was put down on the bench and looked at the food in front of him, did he feel that something was odd. One bowl of noodles? That wasn’t what one would normally order but it somehow seemed familiar. When had he …

Jing Yi’s eyes widened and he suddenly thought of what his mother had said before: that Qiu Ling had actually been in the capital city before and had already seen him and fallen in love with him back then. That would explain this.

He looked at the food again, his expression complicated. He wasn’t wrong, was he? For each of them two buns, two baked cakes, a piece of bean curd, and four pieces of pickled plum. Then there were also three fried bing and a small bowl of noodles for them to share. Yes, this was exactly what he had shared with Shao Hai back then.

Just then, the owner brought over the bowl with noodles and then looked at the two people in a daze. How come there were two of them? She put the bowl down and then looked from one to the other. "Should I get you another pair of chopsticks?"

"No!" Qiu Ling tensed up and called out loudly, pulling the bowl into the middle of the table and hugging that pair of chopsticks to himself. He looked at her as if he was deathly afraid that she would do as she had just threatened and bring another pair.

The woman looked at him with an odd expression and then turned to Jing Yi who seemed clearly embarrassed. Well, at least she wasn’t the only one who found this behavior to be out of line. "Well, if you don’t want to, then you don’t have to take them." She gave a huff and then turned on her heel, stalking away.

Qiu Ling didn’t care at all. He happily motioned at his beloved to start eating, his gaze moving to the bowl with noodles every now and then. Ah, soon enough, he would also be able to share a bowl with him just like that stupid kid had done back then. And they would also use only one pair of chopsticks. And once again, it was true that they weren’t children. So this would have a completely different meaning than what Jing Yi and that awful boy had done back then. Ah, he was truly too blessed!

Jing Yi ate the buns in a daze, still wondering just how Qiu Ling had fallen in love with him. It certainly hadn’t been a shallow feeling if he even remembered so many details like what he had eaten with somebody else. But if that was the case … Why hadn’t he mentioned that when they met in the Yun Zou Sect? That would have been much better than just walking up to him and proposing, wouldn’t it? He was sure that his first impression of Qiu Ling would have been much better …

He glanced at Qiu Ling’s face, about to ask about it when he saw Qiu Ling’s downright stupid smile. Jing Yi sighed and looked away. Never mind. He didn’t need to ask. Obviously, this person had completely shut down when he had seen him at the Yun Zou Sect again and had just done whatever came into his mind. He just couldn’t be judged with common sense.