Chapter 26: Ji Jiangci Told Me to Come Over

"But aren't you tired doing this? Four hours, huh."

She finds even sitting for four hours tiring.

"Not tired at all," Yi Yang said proudly, lifting his head and puffing his chest. "We males have great stamina; not to mention four hours, standing for four days is no problem."

Ye Xi'an sighed; since he said that, what else could she say?

At that moment, an electronic female voice rang out in the carriage.

"First Ring is arriving; passengers, please disembark in order and avoid crowding."

Hearing the announcement, Ye Ling instantly opened his eyes, stood up without looking back, and walked out. Ji Jiangci and the other two released their grip, waiting for Ye Xi'an to go out first; they followed behind in case of an ambush.

"So this is First Ring?"

Ye Xi'an stepped onto the platform and saw towering skyscrapers reaching the clouds; between the buildings, layered tracks crisscrossed, and various aircraft zipped by in the sky.

Shops lined the streets densely, handsome men of all sorts stood at the entrances beckoning customers, and the occasional scent of roasted chicken drifted through, creating an indescribable bustling prosperity.

"Hmm, this is the outermost edge of First Ring," Ji Jiangci said, his eyes flickering slightly. He had dreamed since childhood of renting a place of his own in First Ring.

"Brother Ji! This!"

At some point, Yi Yang had already run far away and found a good spot to sell goods.

When Ye Xi'an arrived, she found only a simple wooden rack; there were several similar spots nearby, but all were already occupied.

It couldn't compare at all with the finely decorated fruit shop opposite; could anything sell there?

Ji Jiangci saw that Ye Xi'an was a bit disdainful of the stall; he too wanted to rent a shop on the street, since fruit sold there could be marked up several times.

He said gently, "This is set up especially for beastfolk who can't afford a shop; it costs nothing and provides a lifeline for beastfolk in the Free Zone and the slums."

"Take the fruit out, but don't take too much."

Ye Xi'an nodded, took some of the fruit from the space and placed it on the wooden board.

Then, four beastfolk gathered around the rack and sorted the fruit neatly.

Seeing the four of them bustling, Ye Xi'an felt embarrassed to be idle and asked, "What can I do?"

Yi Yang came over, pressed both hands on Ye Xi'an's shoulders, pushed her onto a wooden chair, and said earnestly, "Honey, you don't need to do anything; just being able to come with us is already hard work."

He reached out and smoothed Ye Xi'an's slightly disheveled hair. "We'll sell out quickly; if you're bored, you can lie down here and nap, but please don't run off."

Although no one dares to snatch a female in First Ring, his wife is so beautiful, it's better to be cautious.

After saying that, Yi Yang quickly planted a kiss on the side of Ye Xi'an's face and dashed to the stall to shout, moving so fast that Ye Xi'an couldn't even react.

Ye Xi'an, bewildered, touched the right side of her face where she had been kissed; after a while she finally realized what had happened, even feeling the lingering warmth, her face flushed bright red in an instant.

Her heart hammered, her head hot, she unconsciously bit her lower lip; Yi Yang, how could he just kiss someone so casually.

She stamped her foot in embarrassment, her ears turning bright red.

Bao Jing, who was holding blueberries to sell, saw Ye Xi'an looking dazed after Yi Yang's kiss, squinted dangerously, and the blueberries were crushed by the pressure.

"What are you doing?"

The customer, looking at the smashed blueberries, frowned displeased and waited for Bao Jing to give an explanation.

Bao Jing was in a bad mood and didn't want to engage, so he just stood silent, keeping an eye on Ye Xi'an's side. Eventually, Ji Jiangci apologized for him and gave a small box of blueberries as compensation, which satisfied the customer.

"What's wrong with you? If you don't want to work more, go sit over there and stop causing trouble here."

Ji Jiangci was planning to build a reputation here for future shop openings, so he couldn't let Bao Jing ruin his name.

Bao Jing tossed the crushed blueberries, saying, "You were the one who told me to sit over there."

After speaking, he rushed toward Ye Xi'an.

Ye Xi'an, bored, was counting the circles on her fingers when the world dimmed; looking up, she saw Bao Jing with a darkened face, head bowed, staring at her.

She had to admit that even with a dark face, he was still handsome; backlit, his already three-dimensional features became even more profound, and some skin blemishes were hidden in the shadows.

"You're not selling fruit; why did you come over?"

Bao Jing sat beside Ye Xi'an, his slender legs spread wide, torso leaning forward, arms resting on his knees.

He said casually, "Ji Jiangci sent me over."

"Huh? Why?"

"Wouldn't having one more person make sales faster?"

Bao Jing, feeling insecure, brushed his earlobe and said, "How would I know why he wanted me to come? Probably because there are enough people."

"What were you doing just now?"

When he came over, he saw Ye Xi'an staring at his hand; besides flesh, what was there to look at?

"I'm counting the circles, look," Ye Xi'an extended her index finger before Bao Jing. "The more circles on a finger, the more luck in the future; I have seven."

She then spread her palm: "And these three lines on the palm— the top one is the career line, the middle is the marriage line, the bottom is the life line. My life line is unusually long, meaning I'll live a long time."

Ye Xi'an slightly lifted her eyelids to gauge Bao Jing's reaction, but met his dim, indistinct eyes.

At that moment, their faces were only a fingertip apart; Ye Xi'an could even see each of Bao Jing's eyelashes clearly.

Their gazes met, and Bao Jing's ambiguous stare followed Ye Xi'an's cheek, lingering on the soft pink spot.

He didn't know what it felt like to kiss there.

In an instant, Ye Xi'an felt as if a beast were staring at her; she quickly pushed Bao Jing away: "What kind of look is that?"

Bao Jing, being pushed, leaned back following her force, but his eyes still fixed on Ye Xi'an's lips.

Ye Xi'an, uncomfortable under his stare, simply covered Bao Jing's eyes with her hand and said, "Don't look at me!"

Only his lower half of the face visible, Bao Jing pulled a malicious grin, his voice laced with laughter, "You're my wife; why can't I look at you?"

"Who's your wife!"

Ye Xi'an, hearing Bao Jing call her his wife, felt her ears flush shamefully beneath her pale violet hair.

It was strange; when Yi Yang called her wife she felt nothing, yet hearing Bao Jing call her wife made her feel such intense shame.

Bao Jing lifted his hand to cover Ye Xi'an's hand that was on his face, as if holding a rare treasure, unable to stop fondling and squeezing it.

He approached Ye Xi'an: "Wife, are your hands boneless? So soft."

Ye Xi'an quickly pulled her hand back, inexplicably a little angry; she felt that this Bao Jing was deliberately teasing her.