An Tong’s expression suddenly darkened a bit. He took off his jacket and draped it over Feng Guang’s shoulders. “Put this on for now.”
Feng Guang, already soaking wet, didn’t see much point in getting a dry jacket just to make it wet again.
She clutched the jacket, confused.
Meeting her clear gaze, An Tong coughed awkwardly before blurting out, “Turns out… it’s pink up top too.”
She froze for a few seconds, then followed his gaze downward. Her soaked white shirt had become transparent, revealing her pink bra underneath, complete with a strawberry pattern.
Feng Guang hurriedly gripped the jacket and wrapped herself up, flushed with embarrassment and anger. “You’re not allowed to look!”
But he had already memorized the sight, though An Tong was smart enough not to say that out loud.
When they returned to the camp and reunited with the others, Mu Tianze saw that An Tong was fine but Feng Guang had ended up a dripping mess. He seized the opportunity to tease her. “Xia Feng Guang, are you a pig? You went to find someone and turned yourself into a drenched rat. I’m seriously starting to doubt your intelligence.”
“Tianze,” before Feng Guang could snap back, An Tong spoke first. “I’m sure the Mu family taught you how to speak to others with respect.”
“Cousin?” Mu Tianze was puzzled. His cousin had never intervened when he targeted Feng Guang before.
Without looking at him, An Tong turned to Feng Guang and asked, “Did you bring a change of clothes? If not, you can wear mine.”
Both Mu Tianze and Fang Yaya were taken aback. Though An Tong seemed gentle, he had always been firm about boundaries. He never touched others’ belongings and certainly never allowed others to touch his—especially something as personal as clothing.
Feng Guang shook her head. “No need, I brought my clothes. I’ll just change in the tent.”
“Alright, be careful not to catch a cold.”
Feng Guang nodded and walked into the tent without looking back. She hadn’t even realized how out of character it was for An Tong, known for his outward warmth but inner coldness, to say something like that.
Although he had sensed this possibility earlier, actually seeing it left Mu Tianze feeling a bit uncomfortable. “Cousin, you and Xia Feng Guang, are you…?”
After all, Xia Feng Guang used to carry the title of his fiancée.
“Tianze, you and Yaya go have fun. I’ll boil some hot water.” An Tong moved to the side and took out some tools, always worried that Feng Guang might catch a cold. To him, she represented fragility.
Mu Tianze noticed that Fang Yaya had been unusually quiet. When he looked over, he saw her staring blankly at An Tong. With a sarcastic tone, he said, “Fang Yaya, don’t tell me you’ve got a crush on my cousin.”
“I… I don’t have a crush on Senior An! I just… I just see him as a brother.”
“If you don’t like him, then why are you staring at him?”
“I… I…” Fang Yaya couldn’t come up with an answer, so she changed the subject and asked, “What about you? You’ve been picking fights with Xia Feng Guang every time you see her lately. Do you like her or something?”
“Are you kidding? If I liked her, would I have broken off the engagement?” Mu Tianze’s voice grew louder, though there was an air of defensiveness to it.
Do they like the people they’re talking about?
Neither Fang Yaya nor Mu Tianze knew for sure. What they did know was that, until now, it had just been the three of them, forming a stable triangle. But the moment a fourth person—Xia Feng Guang—entered their world, the balance they had maintained started to shift.
Yes, these subtle emotions emerged because an outsider had intruded. And because of this outsider, An Tong would no longer share his gentleness with anyone else.