Xiao Nan spun his teacup on the table with an idle finger, “You said you’d visit me in my home, Yunfei. I’ve been waiting a long time and yet you haven’t come yet….”
“Ah….” Bai Yunfei looked embarrassed, “I….was a bit busy as of late and the matter slipped my mind. Please forgive me for my slight, big brother Xiao.”
“Haha, merely joking with you, Yunfei.” Xiao Nan slapped the table, “But I did speak with my wife about the matter about bringing home a ‘famous’ person to be our guest. She’s been asking me ever since about it, so why not come to my home for a dinner party, would you be interested in one sometime soon?”
“Of course—! Tomorrow would be fine with me, if tomorrow works for you, big brother Xiao.” Bai Yunfei smiled, though he was a little confused. For a friend like him, was there really a need for Xiao Nan himself to come and seek him out for an invitation to this ‘banquet’?
“It’s settled then. I’ll go home and tell my wife then. She’ll prepare a nice meal tomorrow at noon, we can have a nice drink then!”
……
On the way back home, Bai Yunfei was suddenly imposed a question on by Xiao Qi, “Yunfei, are you going to take Xinyun with you to brother Xiao’s house tomorrow?”
“Why do you ask?” Bai Yunfei asked as he tilted his head back, “She probably won’t want to go….she doesn’t know big brother Xiao after all, so staying with Tingting will probably be more likely.”
In truth, he did want Xinyun to come with him as his ‘plus one’ to Xiao Nan’s house, but that wasn’t very likely. Xinyun would be embarrassed to go, and Bai Yunfei wouldn’t be able to have Kou Tingting and Huangfu Rui come with him either. So in the end, he decided to go by himself and let Xinyun and the others up to their own devices.
He could have Zheng Kai bring them somewhere, there was no way Zheng Kai would do anything that’d besmirch his own honor anyways.
“In that case….” Xiao Qi chirped and tilted its head in deep thought, “I…. won’t go with you then. Brother Xiao’s house is in the academy, so there probably won’t be any danger. I’ll keep Xinyun and Tingting company and protect them from danger.”
“Eh??”
Bai Yunfei was surprised, he hadn’t thought Xiao Qi would have a reason like that.
That didn’t make sense….
He raised an eyebrow to give Xiao Qi a curious glance.
Why did he feel like Xiao Qi was looking a little weird?? Wasn’t this the first time Xiao Qi had said something like this before?
And didn’t Xiao Qi’s tone and look in his eyes look a little familiar to Bai Yunfei??
Bai Yunfei observed Xiao Qi for a moment longer before he realized just where he remembered this sight.
Zheng Kai had the same exact expression on his face!
Was the expression on his face not the same as the one Zheng Kai had whenever he spoke to Kou Tingting as of late? If there wasn’t a difference between Xiao Qi and Zheng Kai, then that meant the reason behind the two of them were the same….
In other words….
Flashing through the memories he had of Xiao Qi over the course of the past few days, Bai Yunfei quickly came to an ‘understanding’. At the same time, he was a little curious. “Hey, Xiao Qi. Do you want to stick with Xiao Bai?” He glanced over at the bird.
That was right! Over the course of the past few days, weren’t Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai constantly together? That was pretty likely since Bai Yunfei himself was stuck to the shoulder with Tang Xinyun, so it made sense that their soulbeasts were next to each other too. He hadn’t paid much attention before to this tidbit, but now that he looked back, the two birds looked like they were ‘stuck together’ like shadow and person.
“Yea. I promised Xiao Bai I’d take her to North Fifth Street to look at a show….” Xiao Qi nodded. He didn’t seem to be willing to hide his emotions or plans, or else he just didn’t bother to hide anything from Bai Yunfei.
Or perhaps he wasn’t even feeling ‘embarrassed’ about this at all….
“Damn, he’s even got a date at the theaters….”
Bai Yunfei felt flummoxed almost. Without Xiao Qi even needing to say anything, Bai Yunfei was able to clearly feel the excitement and happiness from Xiao Qi at the thought of this date. It was extremely familiar to Bai Yunfei, as he himself had the exact same emotions run through him when he was with Tang Xinyun for the past few days….
So! It was confirmed then…..Xiao Qi had fallen in love!
And it was with the soulbeast partner of Tang Xinyun.
Was this what people called a ‘soulmate’?
Wearily, Bai Yunfei stared at the oriole, “Xiao Qi, do you like Xiao Bai?”
“Like?” Xiao Qi cocked his head before nodding, “I do—Xiao Bai is really pretty! I feel happy playing with her, and I like being with her. I never had this feeling before when I played with Xiao Lan.”
What a truly naive child….
Bai Yunfei smothered a snicker. Perhaps Xiao Qi didn’t understand what the emotion called ‘love’ was? Or actually, wasn’t this the purest form of love there is?
“Xiao Qi, do you always want to be with Xiao Bai?”
“Ah?” Again, Xiao Qi cocked his head, though his response took a moment later to be said, “Don’t you want to be with Xinyun for your entire life?”
“Er….” Bai Yunfei couldn’t formulate a proper response to that sudden change of a topic, “What do you mean?”
“You and Xinyun are always together. I am your soulbeast partner, and Xiao Bai is Xinyun’s soulbeast partner. Of course we’ll always be together.”
“......”
What formidable logic!
But still….it wasn’t as if he was wrong either….
Bai Yunfei would definitely endorse it if Xiao Qi and Xiao Bai were always together. It might be a little early to be considering marriage for someone like Xiao Qi, but it wouldn’t do any harm if Bai Yunfei kept the topic in mind, would it?
Elated, Bai Yunfei patted Xiao Qi on the head, “Haha, no problem! You can always be with Xiao Bai, and protect Xinyun too.
“Chase after your fortune, I’ll support you with all my strength!!” He quipped.
Zheng Kai would’ve fallen to the ground and thrown a tantrum in protest if he heard that.
He was a ‘brother’ to Bai Yunfei, so why couldn’t he get this type of treatment and support in his chase!?
…………
The next morning.
In the instructor dormitories in the fifth year area of Tianhun Academy.
With how large the academy was, the dormitories was basically a city in itself with the instructors living well and freely. Everyone had their own ‘little villa’ almost.
As per the directions given to him by Xiao Nan, Bai Yunfei managed to make his way to Xiao Nan’s place, but not before asking several people for the way.
Xiao Nan’s place was relatively average with just two stories and a small courtyard in the back and front. Several flowers and grass grew in both courtyards for the rabbits to eat.
Since he didn’t bother to hide his strength, Bai Yunfei was greeted by Xiao Nan at the door before he could even knock.
“Big brother Xiao, please excuse my disturbance.” As he was led in, Bai Yunfei realized he had no gifts to bear and was immediately embarrassed.
“Haha, what disturbance? Yunfei, you’ve made me happy by just coming, come on in now—let’s talk inside.” Xiao Nan laughed and led him in.
“Xiao Jie, Yunfei’s here, come and greet him.”
Led by Xiao Nan, Bai Yunfei walked to an elegant drawing room before Xiao Nan called out to the room to the right. A clear-sounding voice called back in return before a figure came slowly into their room.
It was a young woman who looked to be twenty-six or twenty-seven around. She had a tall, but slender figure and was dressed like a very homely wife. An ovallish face and tender-white skin, her black hair accentuated her beautiful and refined appearance of being a daughter of a noble.
“Yunfei, this is my wife, Zhao Jie.” Xiao Nan introduced her as soon as she walked in.
“It’s nice to meet you, sister-in-law.” Bai Yunfei greeted her at once.
TL Note: When referring to the wife of a fellow brother, especially older, you call them ‘Saozi’.
Zhao Jie smiled. “Haha, so this is the Yunfei my Nan is always talking about? Please, come sit, I’ll pour you both some tea.”
Bai Yunfei watched as Xiao Nan pulled up a chair and took a seat with him, but Zhao Jie turned her head towards the interior of the house to speak, “Xiao Han, are you still in there? Why don’t you come on out?”
Bai Yunfei blinked—there was someone else here as well??
Who was it?