Destined Meeting

Chang Liuyun turned around in an annoyed mood. He locked eyes with the guy who had suddenly interrupted.

"No, we were here first, wait for the next patch of sugar figures if you really need a magpie."

While speaking, Chang Liuyun observed the other person.

The one who had suddenly appeared was obviously wealthy and most likely even the scion of some noble family.

How did Chang Liuyun know? It was easy, despite the other deliberately dressing in plain clothes, the fabrics and accessories he used were of undeniably high quality, exposing his identity without him knowing. The youth's skin and hair was also flawless, something uncommon even for better off commoners.

But this fact caused Chang Liuyun to hesitate whether to continue to pursue the matter or not. After all, nobody liked making enemies of rich and influental people.

"I'm sorry, but we can't stay for long..."

The youth explained, but didn't back down, instead making an offer to Chang Liuyun.

"How about you leave this sugar figure to us and in return, I'll give you the money to pay for your next order."

Chang Liuyun felt extremely dissatisfied hearing the wealthy scion's counteroffer.

What a rude person!

Did he take them for beggars?

The youth clearly didn't put them into his eyes.

Dissatisfied, Chang Liuyun grumbled in his mind and turned to look at Lei Mingxing to hear her opinion on the matter. The entire purpose of this purchase was to improve Lei Mingxing's mood after all, so he wanted her to have the last say.

After this glance, Chang Liuyun finally realized that something was wrong with Lei Mingxing.

He gently squeezed her hand with worry in his eyes, but Lei Mingxing's only response was a slight tremble.

There was no need to debate the sugar figure's matter anymore, Chang Liuyun opened his mouth, not sparing the rude fellow behind him even a glance.

"Alright."

Chang Liuyun begrudgingly agreed to the other's deal

"Great!"

The young man didn't care about Chang Liuyun's complicated mood at all, he just directly passed him by to pay the old stall owner. Keeping his word, he also gave the owner an additional 3 yuan for Chang Liuyun and Lei Mingxing's future order, before happily leaving to rejoin his companions.

As soon as he left, Lei Mingxing's tensed muscles slightly relaxed, but this just meant that she began to tighten her grip on Chang Liuyun's hand as if to hold on for dear life. Chang Liuyun didn't think that staying here would be of any help to Lei Mingxing and started leading her away from the stall, to a less crowded space.

"Hold on, you haven't gotten your sugar figure yet!"

The old stall owner exclaimed.

Chang Liuyun turned his head and was about to tell the owner not to worry about it, but the man was already walking over with a candy figure in hand.

"It's fine, you can gift the candy to someone else."

Waving his mostly free hand, if one forgot about the chicken skewers, Chang Liuyun motioned at the crowd of children who had been wide-eyedly watching the earlier exchange. After hearing his words, they became somewhat excited.

"No, you should take it, " the old man replied in a serious tone to Chang Liuyun, then he began addressing Lei Mingxing directly and his demeanor became much gentler, "I'm sorry that the shape you want isn't here anymore, but I hope you will still cheer up a bit."

With a smile, he presented the candy figure to Lei Mingxing.

Lei Mingxing raised her head. The first thing that appeared before her was a kind smiling face that for once didn't bring out a negative reaction inside of her.

She hesitated for a moment but finally reached out for the sugar figure. She lowered her gaze to see the candy's shape.

A delicate lotus flower bloomed on top of the wooden stick, soft light glistening through it.

She was stunned, but not long after, a quiet laugh escaped her clamped lips, tears rising to her eyes but not spilling. She carefully grasped the wooden stick and held it tightly to her chest.

The old man's smile widened, turning almost foolish, but exuding an immeasurable warmth. He happily left the pair and returned to his stall before any of the children could do anything foolish.

They still stood there for a second, Lei Mingxing treasuring the candy figure in her hand.

Chang Liuyun was really relieved. He had to admit Lin Mingxing's previous state actually scared him a bit, as he had no idea how to deal with it or what was even the matter with her. But now it had been solved by a single piece of candy.

There was no need to linger here anymore though, he lightly tugged Lei Mingxing's hand and they soon continued on their way. The skewers were cold now, but Chang Liuyun still ate them. There was no need to waste twenty yuan, was there?

After walking for a few minutes, in which Lei Mingxing didn't touch her candy in the slightest only glancing at it from time to time, and Chang Liuyun finished the last of the skewers while regretting ordering four of them, they reached the Mercenary Association.

The Mercenary Association's building was a gigantic compared to the other houses in town, maybe even bigger than the estate of the resident city lord. But that was to be expected, most of the residents here were related to mercenary work in some shape or form. No matter if they were mercenaries, merchants, smiths, innkeepers,...

Everything in this town was centered around mercenary work. There were almost no farmers among the citizens, most of the town's food was obtained through trade with other nearby towns and villages in exchange for resources the mercenary gathered in the Dark Spirit Woods.

This meant that the Mercenary Association was the pulsing heart of the town, the space here more crowded than anywhere else.

And it also caused Chang Liuyun and Lei Mingxing's current dilemma.

"Do you want to stay here and wait for me?"

Chang Liuyun asked Lei Mingxing, already knowing the answer.

"...Yes."

Lei Mingxing replied while staring at the sweaty and rowdy masses.

Chang Liuyun nodded, and after taking a deep breath, he dove into the crowd, almost immediately disappearing from Lei Mingxing's sight.

This left Lei Mingxing to stand around and quietly observe the crowd from the abandoned alley she was resting in.

Small theater:

Chang Liuyun: The candy worked wonders! Maybe I should pack some in case a situation like this happens again?

Author:...