Behind her lay a bright, red apple, silent and still.
Had these monkeys been following them all along?
Ruan Jiaojiao stood up, and Xiu Xi rose too, discarding the meat in his hand and tightly grasping hers as he looked around.
The monkeys around them instantly scattered like birds and beasts, their rustling fading away into the distance.
"Xiuge, they mean no harm. Are you full? Let's share this apple," Ruan Jiaojiao withdrew her gaze, picked up the apple from the ground, and happily said to Xiu Xi.
Xiu Xi nodded, pulled her to sit down beside him, picked up the discarded chicken, and continued eating, while Ruan Jiaojiao cradled the apple, nibbling on it. After eating half, she stopped and passed it to Xiu Xi when he finished his meat. Worried he would disdain it, she hummed softly, "We don't have a knife, so don't be picky..."
Before she could finish, she noticed the young antagonist bite enthusiastically from where she had, showing no signs of distaste.