Yu Dong stared at the broken wheel of the carriage and then the heavy rain that was literally flooding the streets of the town. Shops were boarded up and not one living being could be seen, if she tried she could have gone hitchhiking back home but ——
Just as the thought came into her head, she watched a wooden plaque fly off the top of a shop, three blocks away from her and swept past her with dangerously close proximity. She can get back home but the terms and conditions were that she was going to lose her head in the wake, walking back home in this drizzling rain would be the stupidest thing to do, thankfully she has already sent word at home that she will be late and Fang Chi along with Zhu Qian and kids should stay with the mers until she returned.
Now it looks like she wouldn't be able to return home at all, sighing she returned to the bar where she lit up the lamps that have been doused and went inside the office where she took off her clothes that have gone wet under the heavy rain. Once she was done peeling off her clothes, she placed them on her chair and let the water drop down before rummaging in the cardboard boxes to see if there was anything she could use to wear. But after looking for more than three minutes the only thing she found was a pair of old robes that was stuffed in the bottom of the box.
Most probably they were bought in case of an emergency since the mers would end dirtying their shirts while working in the kitchen and winery but were never used, in the end, they were left unforgotten in the bottom of the box.
Yu Dong rubbed the material though it was relatively coarser than the one she was used to, at least it was dry. Without any complaints, Yu Dong draped it over and tied the thin belt around her waist, it felt oddly weird to be wearing just a robe but at least she wasn't roaming in her bar naked.
She walked out of the room and headed to the bar where the lamps were flickering because of the lack of oil, she poured some in them before rummaging through the stock of alcohol and picked out something that would warm her up.
The bar did have a bathroom but it wasn't fitting for taking a bath and other rooms were just as useless when it came to a situation like this. In fact, she never actually imagined that there will a day when she will have to stay the night at the bar, all alone.
A bang resounded in the bar as the front door was pushed open, Yu Dong raised her head to tell the guy that the bar was closed but then the person who came walking in was none other than a very wet and dripping Xiao Hua.
This wasn't happening, all right?
" You are here?" Xiao Hua who was wringing the water out of his clothes looked at Yu Dong who was sitting on the table that was closest to the bar and frowned. " What are you doing here?"
However, Yu Dong just nodded her head and looked away as if she hasn't even seen him. " This must be hallucinations, I must be hallucinating, that's right…there is no way Xiao Hua will be here."
Xiao Hua, who has never been treated like that before frowned and said, " Hey what's the meaning of this?"
But Yu Dong simply snapped her eyes open and shrieked, " Shut up! You aren't really here all right?"
Xiao Hua: "?" Then who was standing in the middle of the bar with water dripping out of his body?
Yu Dong pinched the space between her brows as she tried to look anywhere but her office from where she could hear the sound of clothes rustling, the urge to just pluck her courage up and run out of the bar kept climbing her spine but then as soon a she looked out of the large window on the right.
In the veil of darkness and the roar of the storm, she could see many dangerous things flying around her and there, and because the roads of the town lacked potholes and sewers, they were now filled up to the point that Yu Dong can probably swim in it with ease.
Except that there will be a lot of hurdles that would be thrown at her.
Going out now would be dangerous but staying in here would be more dangerous. Confused she stayed seated battling the rationality that was telling her that swimming out on the road in this weather would be suicide.
It was then when the door to her office opened and footsteps came from behind, a bit frustrated by herself, Yu Dong looked away just as Xiao Hua came to stop in front of her. " Are you upset that I am here?"
" No," she refused at once, admitting that she was upset with him being alone with her would be like acquiescing that she was indeed affected by him, she couldn't do that not when he already had a faint inkling of what's going on in her head.
Xiao Hua squinted his eyes but didn't say anything, instead, he picked up the robe and carelessly sat on the chair, letting the slit in front of his robe show off his long and slender legs.
Yu Dong felt heat creep into her cheeks as she cleared her throat and said, " Cover is properly, how will you feel if I was to sit as carelessly as you?"
She expected him to cover up as she had expected him to just like her husbands who were too shy but Xiao Hua was a unique piece in himself, not only did he not cover up, he even leaned back languidly before looking at her with a sly smirk. " I don't know why don't you show me. Maybe I will be able to tell you about how I feel."
Yu Dong: "….." This flirty mer!
Pssh give me a few gifts and power stones! It motivates me to work hard!