XueXiao Drabbles Collection

Raining Candies

“Daozhang, I haven’t seen you in a while! Come here, come here! I have something for you!”

Xiao XingChen’s mouth already open to say something, but the owner of this candy vendor already drags him. He smiles and let the older man leads him inside, have the sweet smell of the treat fills his nostril. Indeed, he hasn’t come in a while, as he was dealing with things outside the village and just returned last night. A-Qing and XueYang were still asleep when he left to do some groceries. He’s already planning to buy them something from this store anyway.

“Where have you been, Daozhang? Business as usual?” The shop owner asks again as he leads Xiao XingCheng to sit at one of the chairs. Xiao XingChen smiles and nods in response.

“Kind of. I was out of the village in the past few days.”

“Oohh… No wonder. I’ve been waiting for you to show up, Daozhang.”

“Hm? Is there something matter?”

“Nonono. Not that kind of matter. You see, when you weren’t around, one of my suppliers brought so many candies and sweets.”

“Business went smoothly, I assume?”

“Indeed it was! You’re one of my regular here, afterall.”

“Please, master. Albeit it’s true I visited almost every day, I only bought a couple of candies from you.”

“What are you talking about? A couple, or just one, a customer is still a customer. You came every day, of course I’m delighted!”

“If that’s the case, then I’m happy to hear. Today I also planned to buy a couple, Master. Do you have the usual?”

“I have! I have! For you, Daozhang, I’ll spare tons.”

Xiao XingChen wonders how to respond over such words. The more he declines, the more the owner will offer, so he said nothing and keeps the smile plastered on his face. The owner said something more, half of it he can follow, half of it he wonders what’s the topic about. He tried to match up as much as he can, honestly feeling at ease to know the village is still as lively as ever.

“Here, Daozhang.”

“Thank you--Hmm?” Xiao XingChen tilts his head, “Master, I only need a couple of candies.”

“Don’t worry, Daozhang. It’s on me.”

“But this many--”

“It’s my thanks for your help. Please accept it, Daozhang. Nothing will make me happier than to see my customer’s smile.”

Xiao XingChen really has no say in this matter, against the owner, as the older man always have the last words over him. The basket filled with candies already pushed into his hands. It’s too big for a treat, its normal costs must be much more than he can earn by himself. He knew, questioning is rude and will hurt the owner’s feeling.

“Thank you so much, Master. I will surely repay your kindness.”

“Just keep on being my loyal customer, Daozhang! Come again!”

Xiao XingChen smiles and bows for the last time, walks deeper to the bustling market a little faster. The sun feels high above his head. Soon both A-Qing and XueYang will wake up. Even though they surely know where he disappears to, he still doesn’t want to make them worried. Or make them follow him. Mostly the latter.

With a couple of baskets in hands full of ingredients, he left the market, choose a road which rarely used by normal civilian and hums lightly under his breath. The smells of candies are once again filling his nostril, brought by the strong gust of wind.

He stopped at the bridge, turned his head to where the horizon is widely spread. He doesn’t need eyes to see what kind of sight currently presented in front of him. The area might not be as pretty; the dried out stream beneath the bridge he is currently standing, smells of burnt out wood, humid air….

He moves slightly, was about to face the horizon properly. The bare movement, however, he miscalculated the distance between the hedge and the basket of candies, accidentally bumped it and the content falling to the dried stream beneath.

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When XueYang opened his eyes, he couldn’t feel Xiao XingChen’s presence around. Since the baskets they use to carry groceries are gone, he can pretty much guess where Xiao XingChen is. Beside him, A-Qing is still sleeping peacefully, cursing him in her sleep with a variety of words which makes his ears burned. His hand instinctively flicks her forehead as he gets up, hard enough to make her whines but not too hard to wake her.

After washing his face, he walks towards the market, randomly visits the vendors and stall lining on each side without buying any, watching the street performer with much boredom visible on his face. All the way, he doesn’t see any sign of Xiao XingChen around. Maybe the older man already left and returned to the house.

With a half-eaten apple in hand, he walks towards the deserted area he used to walks by. Because of the bad air around this place, common folks avoiding it as hard as they can. Thanks to Xiao XingChen purified this specific spot, not the negative energy is barely noticeable. Still, it will be along time before the villagers have the courage to start using this place. By that, XueYang doesn’t particularly complaining. He prefers things this way.

The dried stream has long dead. The ground is breaking apart for who knows how long, and the wind brought by the higher ground feels humid and uncomfortable. It’s really not a good place to hang around, but for XueYang, this kind of spot is like his natural playground. And to see someone else is inside his playground ahead of him, he would be lying if he said he doesn’t mind. He walks closer under the bridge, noticed the unwanted guest is not someone he’s not familiar with. Judging from the hands full of stuff to be carried, XueYang can guess half of it must be given to him for free. Well, it’s not harmful. In a way, it saves them a lot.

With a shrug, XueYang plans to call him, but when Xiao XingChen turns around and bumped one of the baskets, XueYang instinctively steps forward. His hand extends to catch whatever it is falling from the small basket. What he didn’t expect is, the sweets raining over him like rain. Many kinds, fell on top of his head, his shoulders, filling his hands, fell to the ground with many loud thuds. The unexpected treats stunned him on the spot, with hands filled by many kinds of candies.

“Is someone…”

Xiao XingChen’s voice trails off, as he noticed the person under the bridge is no other than XueYang. He smiles soon enough, stays on the bridge after putting down the rest of the baskets so he can lean forward.

“I’m sorry, can you pick them up?”

“What’s with this many candies? Which store did you rob?”

“It was given to me. Don’t forget to share with A-Qing, alright?”

XueYang hums and starts picking up the sweets scattered around him. There’s no way he will share with anyone, at least not at a fair amount. He knew Xiao XingChen is still staring at him, so he keeps on crouching down with head hung low.

Whether Xiao XingChen can see or not, there’s no way he will let the wide, happy smile plastered on his face witnessed by any soul alive.

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