Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts

The air around the dining table suddenly froze.

Everyone felt as if a thin layer of sweat had appeared on their foreheads.

No one dared to speak, only quietly eating the food on the table.

For a moment, they couldn’t tell whether Young Master Xu had said that on purpose or if he was just completely oblivious.

Zhu Cici had already made her feelings so obvious—there was no way he didn’t realize she had feelings for him, right?

Even though Zhu Cici had a good temper, how could she possibly be happy when he openly praised another woman right in front of her?

And in reality, that was exactly the case.

Zhu Cici was indeed someone with a very gentle disposition, rarely ever arguing with others.

Even when it came to academic discussions, she never tried to persuade others to see things her way.

But when she heard Xu Ming compliment another woman, she suddenly felt an empty void in her heart.

In her mind, she was already pouting, and there was even a faint itch in her teeth, as if she had the urge to bite him on the neck.

“Calm down, Cici! Calm down!”

Zhu Cici took a deep breath in her heart.

If she got angry now, wouldn’t that just make her look like a jealous woman?

Besides, Xu Ming never actually said he liked the princess.

That princess was merely his comrade-in-arms. There was nothing wrong with him complimenting her.

Maybe the “fondness” he spoke of was just the bond between friends?

After all, if Xu Ming had truly liked Princess Wu Yanhan, he would have accepted the imperial marriage decree back then.

Zhu Cici looked at Xu Ming, her eyes curving slightly as she smiled. She felt that she needed to confirm something.

“So, it seems Young Master Xu has quite a favorable impression of Her Highness the Princess?”

The moment Zhu Cici said this, Fang Yu and the others’ chopsticks trembled slightly.

From her tone, they could hear a trace of complaint and irritation.

They even wondered if, in the next moment, Cici would punch Xu Ming right in the chest—or maybe just grab a cup of wine and splash it straight onto his face!

Even someone as dense as Xu Ming could sense that something was off.

It seemed like what he had just said wasn’t very appropriate.

But he had only spoken the truth.

He wasn’t the type to deliberately belittle another woman just to please someone else—that would be even worse.

“After all, we’ve been through life and death together. That kind of camaraderie is different,” Xu Ming explained.

As he spoke, he even added, “And besides, Her Highness truly is valiant and exceptional. I doubt there are many men who wouldn’t admire her.”

Although Xu Ming put it in gentler words, he still made his admiration for Wu Yanhan quite clear.

He did have a favorable impression of Wu Yanhan.

Not to mention that during that hunting trip, he and Wu Yanhan had shared a rather deep exchange.

If that enchantress from the Western Regions didn’t count, then Wu Yanhan was probably the first woman he had truly interacted with on a deeper level and developed feelings for.

Xu Ming knew very well that saying this would hurt Zhu Cici.

He could tell that she had feelings for him.

But what he couldn’t quite figure out was whether Zhu Cici’s affection for him was genuine love—or just a lingering attachment from childhood.

Xu Ming suspected it was the latter.

Zhu Cici wasn’t in love with him as a person.

She was in love with the boy he used to be.

She was in love with the idea of “liking someone.”

Zhu Cici was quite stubborn by nature. Once she set her mind on something as a child, she would hold onto it even now.

That didn’t mean Xu Ming had no feelings for Zhu Cici at all.

Any normal man would have at least some level of interest in her.

He was a normal man, after all. When faced with a woman of breathtaking beauty, it was only natural to feel a bit moved.

But that kind of “liking” was mostly based on appearance.

It was a fleeting attraction—lust, not true affection.

That was why Xu Ming felt he had to consider Zhu Cici’s feelings.

She was still clinging to the past, reliving their childhood memories.

But the truth was, he had grown up.

So many years had passed—people changed.

Was he still the type of person Zhu Cici truly liked?

Xu Ming believed she needed to think about that carefully.

He felt it was best to show her his true self, rather than hiding or pretending just to win her heart.

There was no need to keep hurting her, nor to shatter the beautiful memories she held onto from their childhood.

To Xu Ming, the best approach now was to gradually let her see him as he truly was.

And when she finally realized that “childhood is long gone, and the Xu Ming of today is not the Xu Ming of the past,” she would naturally step away on her own.

By then, they would simply become ordinary friends.

Sitting next to Xu Ming, Yu Wen Xi was stunned by how bold he was—openly expressing admiration for another woman right in front of Zhu Cici.

He wanted to give him some kind of hint, to subtly warn him.

But before he could act, Miao Feng pulled him back.

Yu Wen Xi looked at Miao Feng in confusion, his eyes practically saying, “If Xu Ming keeps talking like this, those two are going to completely fall apart!”

Miao Feng understood his friend’s unspoken concern but simply shook his head.

The others also pretended not to hear anything and continued eating.

Zhu Cici pursed her lips slightly, her hands clenched tightly on her lap.

“If you truly had feelings for Her Highness the Princess, then why did you refuse that marriage proposal back then?”

She felt an aching pain in her heart—sour and bitter.

The “Butterfly Loves Flowers” poem you gave me at the banquet… I can understand if that was just part of the occasion, just fulfilling a duty.

But what about the poem you gave me on my birthday when we were children?

Wasn’t that your way of saying you wanted to marry me?

Otherwise, why would you have written that poem for me?

But now… now you’re saying you have feelings for another girl? And you’re saying it right in front of me?

Are you really telling me that I never meant anything to you?

Have you truly forgotten me after all these years?

Was our childhood nothing more than empty words to you?

Am I the only one who ever took it seriously…?