As soon as Hong Bao was out of earshot, Jing Yi slowed down a little and gave Wu Ya a smile. “Hong Bao and you …”

Wu Ya faintly raised his brows and then couldn’t help but glance at Qiu Ling who looked a little unhappy. He couldn’t help but feel that he seemed to be intruding on the trip of two lovers. But then, how often did he get the chance to accompany Qiu Ling somewhere or to talk about his feelings for Hong Bao?

Thinking of that, he decided to just be selfish for once and continue to follow them. “Well, I met her a while ago but so far, nothing has happened. She doesn’t like me. I mean, have you seen how she reacted before? I was just trying to help but you could believe I have some kind of deadly disease with how she evaded me.”

Jing Yi continued to smile, feeling that Wu Ya was indeed having some troubles there but at least he knew about it. “You know, I actually don’t think it was like that. Maybe you were actually making things difficult for yourself.”

Wu Ya raised his brows, not quite understanding what he was trying to get at. “How so?” Was there some obvious thing about humans that he wasn’t getting? Because it sure seemed that way. He had tried so hard the last few weeks but Hong Bao didn’t seem to soften toward him at all. It made him think that he didn’t have a chance with her so he was almost ready to give up. Anyway, even though it was a pity, there was no use forcing it if she didn’t want him.

Jing Yi wasn’t completely sure how to explain what he had observed before. Anyway, he didn’t know Wu Ya very well. And to be honest, he probably couldn’t even be said to know Hong Bao very well. After all, they hadn’t seen each other in a long time and she had clearly changed a lot. Just because he believed that she felt somewhat similar to him at the time when he was trying to learn as much as possible, that didn’t mean that he was right. So maybe he shouldn’t try to give advice. But then, not saying anything wouldn’t help either.

He glanced at Qiu Ling and thought back to how the two of them had met back then. Qiu Ling had come on too strong and scared him off at first but later on, when he had dialed things back a bit, it actually hadn’t taken that long for him to fall in love.

As for what had convinced him … it had been how understanding Qiu Ling was of him and how he let him grow into himself. He had been impressed with the things that Qiu Ling knew and was able to do and he had been grateful that he was willing to teach a few of these things to him as well without holding anything back. That had made all the difference for him.

As for Hong Bao, she seemed to have found demon-hunting to be her passion. This was something that couldn’t be ignored when trying to woo her. At the very least, that was how he thought. And even though he didn’t know demon hunters very well, he had a rough idea of Hong Bao’s likely thought process. And then, there was also what Wu Ya had said before.

Thinking until there, Jing Yi finally found some inspiration on how to start. “You mentioned before that you fell in love with her more or less at first sight when you so how she wielded her weapon, didn’t you?”

Wu Ya once again nodded, an excited expression on his face. “Yes! I’ve always wanted a strong partner, somebody who can hold their own and who could practice with me. I didn’t think that a frail-looking woman like her would be able to do it but seeing her swing that guandao, I knew at once that she was the right one for me.”

Jing Yi smiled and then shook his head. “Well, since you’ve seen her like that, why were you trying to help her carry a tray? Clearly, she has the strength to do it herself. I know you didn’t mean anything bad by it but don’t treat her as if she was frail. I don’t think she’ll like that. I know I wouldn’t if I was in her situation.”

Wu Ya blinked his eyes, thinking back to the moment before, and had to admit that Jing Yi was right. “That was stupid of me, wasn’t it? Well, I guess if I were to examine my behavior closely, I’d have to find out that I’ve done similar things in the past few weeks.

“Do you think she will hold that against me?” To be honest, he wasn’t willing to give up just like that if there was still a chance. He had tried so hard. If things were really over before he got a chance, he would regret it for a long time. But he wasn’t sure if he could recover from this. After all, Hong Bao might indeed have taken this as disrespect. If he imagined that somebody would treat him like this … he wasn’t sure if he could forgive that. At the very least, he surely couldn’t do it in a short amount of time.

Jing Yi gave a hum, not completely sure how to answer that. “Well, I think she might if you do better from now on. Anyway, I’ve always known Hong Bao as a very … generous person. I don’t think she is somebody who would hold a grudge so you might as well give it a try.”

Wu Ya gave a hum, feeling that Jing Yi was right. Anyway, he couldn’t win anything if he didn’t at least try. So yes, he should make a few more attempts and see how it went. Then, maybe he would be lucky in the end. “Thank you for telling me. Honestly, I should’ve known myself but I really didn’t figure it out. If not for you mentioning it today, who knows how long it would have taken?

“Now, I have a fighting chance again. I’ll start doing better from now on.” Just thinking of it, there was a bright smile on his lips. Yes, this really wasn’t bad at all. In the future, things might turn for the better. Ah, it was all thanks to Qiu Ling’s fiance. As expected of his good friend’s son, he had chosen a very good partner.

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