Jade Chime

Strictly speaking, Lu Qingshi was not the one who caused Liu Mingyu's death in her previous life.

He had simply assessed the situation as usual, decided she could handle it, then turned away to pursue someone else.

After all, Liu Mingyu was strong. Super strong. Incredibly strong.

And Lu Qingshi's judgment was right most of the time.

He did come back that time.

Just a little too late.

Liu Mingyu used the last of her strength to curse him out, then breathed her last.

When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to the time when the two of them were still doing fine. No, doing terribly, dating.

Lu Qingshi took a slap square in the face and frowned. "What is it this time?"

Liu Mingyu thought it over.

After all those years together in her previous life, that dog owed her far too many debts to explain them all at once.

So she would start by breaking up with him.

Liu Mingyu: "We're over."

Lu Qingshi: "Oh."

Then he continued trailing after her.

Liu Mingyu: "?"

Lu Qingshi looked even more baffled. "Does breaking up mean I can't follow you?"

Liu Mingyu started running from the dog.

She changed boats, changed routes, ditched her mount, and headed south. At last, she settled in an unfamiliar waterside city, rented a courtyard, took on odd jobs, bought a heap of pretty but useless things, and lived a thoroughly pleasant life.

One day, after work, she opened the door...

The dog was here again!

Lu Qingshi had chased her for hundreds of miles and worn through several pairs of boots before finding her, yet he still drank her water with that dog's insufferably elegant air.

"You got back a little late today."

Liu Mingyu turned and ran.

Lu Qingshi couldn't smile anymore.

He had thought Liu Mingyu was once again angry over some rotten thing he had done, but this time he realized she truly wanted to leave.

Later, Lu Qingshi discovered something even more unpleasant:

Even if he couldn't find her, Liu Mingyu would be perfectly fine.

She could find a place to live, earn money, make friends, and go look at the strange things she liked, all by herself. She was doing just fine.

He was very unhappy!

When Lu Qingshi was unhappy, he wanted Liu Mingyu to have a bad time too.

So one night, Liu Mingyu came home, opened the courtyard gate, and watched her entire courtyard collapse from east to west, right before her eyes, with perfect rhythm.

Lu Qingshi had even prepared fireworks to celebrate.

Unfortunately, the fireworks were damp and only made one sound.

He sounded a little regretful. "What kind of lousy place did you pick? It's so damp even the fireworks got muffled."

Even worse, the beautiful blue-and-white glazed glass hill she had bought not long ago, loved dearly, and admired by the window every day was still inside the house!

She asked Lu Qingshi if he could at least have taken it out before demolishing her home.

Lu Qingshi: "Of course..."

Liu Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Qingshi: "Of course not."

He had even gone out of his way to move it to the middle of the main room.

"That side collapsed the best."

Liu Mingyu grabbed her spear and attacked.

The next day, the dog showed up again as if nothing had happened.

Liu Mingyu: "You just wrecked my house yesterday!"

Lu Qingshi: "Mm."

"And you still dare come here?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Liu Mingyu finally understood.

Just running from the dog wasn't enough.

The dog needed training too!

From then on, Lu Qingshi began a very novel chapter of his life.

Before, whenever he acted like a jerk, Liu Mingyu would hit him on the spot. Later, she learned to keep a ledger.

He'd wronged her three days ago? Three days later, she'd kick him into the river.

Lu Qingshi would crawl out of the water and ask why.

Liu Mingyu: "Figure it out yourself."

That night, he finally figured it out, then felt aggrieved. "Didn't you have fun with it afterward too?"

Liu Mingyu said righteously, "Having fun is one thing. Beating you is another."

Liu Mingyu reached across with her chopsticks and stole all the meat from his bowl.

His first reaction was, "Which debt is this?"

Liu Mingyu: "This one's not a debt. I'm hungry."

Sometimes, trying to guess what she was keeping score over, he would look through their old grievances himself. As he went, he might even report a forgotten offense to his creditor.

Liu Mingyu was astonished. "I forgot about that until you mentioned it."

Lu Qingshi: "..."

Later, Lu Qingshi had developed a conditioned reflex from all that training.

Liu Mingyu reached out, and Lu Qingshi covered his head.

But Liu Mingyu kissed him.

Lu Qingshi: ?

He tried to cuddle up to her, all clingy, and Liu Mingyu kicked him away.

Lu Qingshi: ?

Eventually, Lu Qingshi thought he had finally figured out the pattern.

Sometimes, when Liu Mingyu beat him out of nowhere, she would feed him a red date to comfort him.

But if she kissed him out of nowhere, he had to spend the next week anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop.

After getting beaten that day, Lu Qingshi happily stretched out in Liu Mingyu's room that night, puckering his lips and waiting for his wife's sweet kiss.

But...

His wife beat him up again.

Lu Qingshi: This can't be right?

Liu Mingyu sneered. Did you think I'd let you figure out the pattern?

So Lu Qingshi understood: a slap might be followed by a red date, but it might also be followed by another slap. A red date, however, was always followed by a slap.

But today Liu Mingyu kissed him twice. That wasn't right. What was going on? Was he going to suffer for the next month?

Nooo!

Wait, wife, listen to me. I still want the kisses. I just don't want to deal with the consequences.

So after the kisses, he was beaten up right away. At last, Lu Qingshi felt at ease. It was warm and comforting.

Of course, Liu Mingyu didn't only give him slaps, and of course, she wasn't using red dates as a tactic.

After all, this dog really was handsome!

If she liked him, she liked him. If she wanted to cuddle, she cuddled. If she wanted a kiss, she kissed him. If she wanted to sleep together, she did that too.

A kiss just didn't mean all his old debts were wiped clean.

As time went by, Lu Qingshi even started suspecting that every time she approached him on her own, she was up to something. He cleverly decided that from now on, he wouldn't accept red dates from this wicked woman!

One day, Liu Mingyu was tired from walking and leaned toward him, intending to rest against him.

His wife's sweet scent wafted over. Lu Qingshi was delighted, but said, "Don't lean on me. It's annoying."

He shoved his wife away with all his might.

It was a shame, but he wanted her to know he wasn't a dog she could cuddle whenever she pleased!

The peach blossom spirit beside them couldn't take it anymore. "He's absolutely thrilled!"

Lu Qingshi: "..."

The peach blossom spirit added, "You're thrilled even while glaring at me!"

Liu Mingyu laughed so hard she rolled onto the ground.

Lu Qingshi had another bad habit.

After Liu Mingyu ran off a few times, he had to see with his own eyes every day that she was still there.

So when she went to look at some spectacle in the middle of the night, he stayed up until then. When she went to the fish market before dawn, he came along before dawn. When she napped until dark and then cheerfully polished her spear in the middle of the night, he kept sitting in the courtyard, going over the accounts.

When Liu Mingyu noticed, she deliberately left early and came back late, to see how long the dog could stay awake.

After a few days of this, the two of them sat across from each other at a table.

Liu Mingyu yawned.

Lu Qingshi: "Sleepy?"

"No."

A moment later, Lu Qingshi's eyes stayed closed a little longer too.

Liu Mingyu immediately asked, "Sleepy?"

"No."

One table, two faces, four dark circles.

In the end, Liu Mingyu gave in first. "I'm done staying up."

"You started it."

"You didn't have to follow me."

Lu Qingshi: "Impossible."

Lu Qingshi was being a jerk again. Liu Mingyu beat him, but still wasn't satisfied, and the dog kept coming over every day to drink her tea. So she replaced the good tea leaves with tea dust and stems.

Lu Qingshi drank it elegantly, much to Liu Mingyu's astonishment.

Later, Liu Mingyu didn't run away for several days and even sincerely urged him to go home and rest early for once.

After observing for several days, Lu Qingshi finally believed her.

The next morning, when he woke up...

She had run off again!

All that remained on the table was a pot of yesterday's tea made from scraps.

Lu Qingshi sat down expressionlessly and took a sip.

His mouth was full of tea leaves.

There was no one around this time.

"Ptooey."

Then he got up and went after her.

Everyone in the tower knew their young master was a rising star, ruthless, and blessed with an excellent memory. He never dragged his feet.

Then Master Lu started pursuing Liu Mingyu.

Annoyed that she kept running away, he ordered his subordinates to report her whereabouts whenever they saw her.

When Liu Mingyu heard about it, she said, "He wants to know? Fine, give him detailed reports."

From then on, Master Lu's daily intelligence reports became:

Miss Liu bought two buns.

Then she bought another one.

She went to look at the ducks.

The ducks are fine.

Miss Liu is fine too.

She argued with someone for a bit, but didn't hit them.

She sat down.

Then got up again.

Later, Master Lu came back with two dark circles under his eyes.

He came back covered in mud.

He came back with leaves in his hair.

Everyone in the tower acted as if they hadn't noticed, while their respect for Miss Liu grew by the day. Anyone who could beat their master up like this was no ordinary person.

Lu Qingshi sat down and plucked the leaves from his head himself. "Continue."

His subordinate immediately opened the ledger. "The East Peace Wharf is raising its rates this year."

Whenever Miss Liu appeared, they all trembled.

After all, their master had caught plenty of people who were hard to catch.

He had always managed it before.

But this one...

Catching her wasn't enough.

Catching up to her wasn't enough either.

Whether Liu Mingyu was willing to stay was for her to say.

[Bold and playful, fiery and grudging, a radiant beauty who loves freely and leaves whenever she wants x A wicked, clingy, abandoned mad dog of a loser who bites when he's rejected]

[Liu Mingyu x Lu Qingshi]

A real couple in their past life, a real breakup in this one; running from the dog, training the dog, repeated reunions after long separations; happy ending.

Theme: What is lost may never return, so cherish the one before you.