- Date added
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July 4, 2021, 11:40 a.m.
- Description
- Beggars are among the ones who have not given up hope. Hands stretch toward her as He Xuan stalks through. Unfettered by her sharp glances, children, women, men...poverty is a great equalizer, and there is no one type of person that is immune from its effects. To prove that, around the next corner, sitting on a leg wrapped in bandaging, is the target of her dreadful walk through the Imperial City.
Shi Qingxuan, somehow, has not changed much in the past five years. His hair still curls, eyes are still bright, and somehow, despite the impossibility of his life improving, Shi Qingxuan has yet to break. As she approaches him, Shi Qingxuan folds down the hood on his head and smiles at her.
“Would it be strange to ask for spare coin?” he asks.
Instead of answering, He Xuan thrusts the xiaolong in his hand. Shi Qingxuan takes it, very carefully untucking the fragile arm from a makeshift sling. He uses enervated fingers to pull open the top, inhaling the steam that spills out.