Tian Li stood framed in the doorway, and Jin Shu had to blink twice. Her black hair was tied back in a ponytail with a blue ribbon, and she wore a white tank top cropped at her midriff with black, form-fitting shorts. If he hadn't been the one to teach her the design himself—well, technically Gold had—he might have thought she'd just stepped off Earth after a morning jog.

"Hello, Jin Shu," she greeted with a bright smile.

"Uhh…"

Words failed him. She was so stunning he completely froze.

"Cat got your tongue?" she teased.

"Cat? Where?!"

The shrill cry came not from him but from Ji Ji, who had already launched herself into the air, scanning the surroundings for the imaginary feline.

Tian Li's eyes widened as she caught sight of the golden chick. "Sooo cute!"

If she had the ability to fly, Jin Shu was certain she would have tried to snatch Ji Ji from the air for a hug—just as she had once attempted with Yin'er. Though, given how tiny Ji Ji was, he had no idea how such a hug would even work. She'd disappear into Tian Li's—

"Is that another one of your daughters?" Tian Li asked, cutting off his wandering thoughts.

His gaze flicked back to her outfit, then away quickly. "…Daughter? No. She's the daughter of a friend of the Grand Elder. I'm just… training her for a while."

Ji Ji swooped down and landed neatly on his shoulder. "I didn't see the cat. Do you know where it is, Jin Shu?"

"False alarm. There's no cat."

"Oh, phew!" She patted her chest with a wing, relieved.

"C–can I hold her?" Tian Li asked, staring intently at Ji Ji.

"Ask her," Jin Shu replied.

Tian Li clasped her hands together. "Little cutie, can big sister hold you?"

Ji Ji cocked her head, giving her a skeptical look. "I'm not 'little cutie.' I'm Ji Ji."

"Sorry, Ji Ji," Tian Li corrected herself quickly. "May I hold you, Ji Ji?"

Ji Ji turned to Jin Shu. "Is she a good person?"

He blinked, caught off guard by the question. "She's… my friend. So yes, she's a good person."

"Okay!" Ji Ji chirped and hopped into Tian Li's hands.

Tian Li squealed in delight, pressing the tiny chick against her cheek and rubbing her softly.

"Oh… so that's how you hug a baby chick," Jin Shu muttered under his breath.

Tian Li paused, blinking. "What?"

"Nothing. Talking to myself."

She nodded, going back to rubbing her cheek against Ji Ji. "You're sooo cuuute! So, so, so cute!"

After several seconds, Ji Ji finally started to squirm in irritation. She flapped her tiny wings against Tian Li's face, but it was useless. "Jin Shu, save me!" she squawked.

He could only shrug. "Sorry, can't help you."

"Noooo!! You liar! You said she was a good person!"

"She is," he said with a second shrug. "She just also happens to have a very strong obsession with cute animals."

"She's going to smother me to death!"

"You'll be fine… probably."

Several long minutes, filled with the tragic squawking of a "dying" bird, passed before Tian Li finally released Ji Ji. The little chick shot away, wobbling through the air like a drunk fighter pilot—crying as she went.

"You'll both pay for this!"

The threat might have carried weight if not for her pitiful, zig-zagging escape. Jin Shu and Tian Li chuckled at the sight.

"Yin'er, go make sure she's okay," he said. "Oh, but leave your robe here for Tian Li to fix."

"Her robe?"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Yeah, she ripped it in a fight," Jin Shu said, pointing to the long gash along Yin'er's side.

"Oh, if it's just that, you don't need me."

"What do you mean? I don't know how to sew."

"You don't need to. Watch."

Tian Li placed her palm against the tear. A soft glow of qi lit her hand, and when she pulled it away, the cut was gone, the fabric whole again.

"How did you do that?"

"Don't you remember? I can weave runes into clothing now."

He blinked, remembering his outburst at Li Xue and Tian Li's explanation. "Right… slipped my mind. So the clothes use qi to repair? Any other tricks?"

"Yes, look." She scooped Yin'er up and flipped open the robe's collar. "See? This is the repair rune. And here's a defensive one—it makes the silk as hard as steel. If she'd activated it, the robe wouldn't have torn at all."

Tian Li held Yin'er up to eye level. "Didn't I explain when I dressed you earlier?"

"I forgot…" Yin'er muttered, looking away shyly.

"That's fine. But only because you're so cute!" Tian Li leaned in to rub cheeks again—only this time Yin'er was ready and pushed her back with ease.

"Aww…" Tian Li pouted as Yin'er slipped from her grasp.

"I'm going to find Ji Ji!" Yin'er shouted, already halfway gone.

"So, what can I do for you?" Tian Li asked, turning back to Jin Shu. "Would you like a pair of these? They're really comfortable."

She spun lightly, showing off her black running shorts—tight, sleek, and leaving little to the imagination. Jin Shu froze, nose nearly bleeding, eyes glued to the explosive curves framed by the fabric.

"Like what you see?" she teased when he stayed silent too long.

He finally dragged his gaze up to meet hers. "I love what I see."

Her eyes widened. For a moment she thought he meant the shorts—then she realized. Color rushed to her cheeks, and she turned her head aside.

"Oh…"

"Do you feel the same?" he asked, just as bluntly as he had with Biyu earlier.

Her reaction wasn't calm like Biyu's at all.

"No, I don't!"

She spun, trying to slam the door—but Jin Shu caught it with his foot, wincing as it jarred against his toes. "Tian Li, wait—"

She tried to retreat further into the workshop, but he caught her wrist, holding it just tight enough to stop her from pulling away.

"You can't lie to me," he said softly. "I felt your emotions during my rebirth. I know you feel the same as I do."

Her struggles weakened, though she refused to look at him.

"You're afraid. So am I. More than you could ever know. But I love you, Tian Li—and I want us to spend our lives together."

"We barely even know each other!" she snapped.

"I know more than you think. I know how you light up when you see something cute. I know how you care for my daughter as if she were your own. I know what shadows from your past still linger… and how they've shaped you. I know that despite all of it, your heart beats differently when you're near me. Your feelings for me have long been hidden deep within your heart."

Her breath caught, and for a long moment she was silent. "…When?" she whispered.

"Since I began teaching you fashion," he said. "At first it was just curiosity, wasn't it? But little by little, that curiosity grew into something more. I felt it in the karmic bond between us. We're connected, Tian Li. Inseparable. You can't deny it anymore."

Her tears finally spilled over. She covered her face, shoulders trembling, before he pulled her gently against his chest.

"Why?" she sobbed into his robes. "Why did you have to come into my life?"

"Because I'm selfish," he whispered back. "I fell in love with you the moment I saw you. From then on, nothing could change that. You should know what my mother is like—when we set our hearts on something, we don't let go."

"I hate you!"

"No," he murmured, stroking her hair as she struck him with her fists, "you love me."

Her blows hurt—she forgot to hold back in her panic, but he didn't flinch. He accepted every one of them. It was the least he could do, for barging into her quiet life and turning it upside down.

When Tian Li finally calmed down, Jin Shu guided her deeper into the workshop. She was trembling, drained from letting her emotions pour out, so he gently sat her down.

But as he stepped into her main work area, he froze. His mother was already there, sitting comfortably at a table, sipping tea as though she owned the place. To make matters worse, she was dressed in the exact same outfit as Tian Li.

Sun Mei'er glanced up and smiled warmly. Setting her cup down, she mimicked his voice with startling accuracy:

"No, you love me," she said, giving him a big thumbs-up. "That was a good line."

Jin Shu's eyes twitched. "…What are you doing here?"

"I asked Tian Li to make us clothes that could be worn in the desert without being unbearable," Sun Mei'er explained, gesturing to her tank top and shorts. "This was her design."

"I see," he said after a pause, though he pinched the bridge of his nose. "But I'd suggest a different color for the top. If you sweat too much, the white fabric will become see-through."

"Oh, good point," Tian Li muttered, instantly shifting into her designer mode as if all her embarrassment had vanished. "What would be a better color? It has to reflect light so it doesn't get too hot under the sun… maybe a light blue?"