Neither cooking nor medicine had ever appealed to you, your field of interest lay in a different plane: politics. A long time ago, you were sent to Yaoqing as an counselor from Luofu, where you stayed for an indefinite period of time. Long political activity on another flagship of the Alliance involved working closely with the politicians of Yaoqing. In your case, this colleague was Jiaoqiu, who, unlike you, was both an outstanding healer and an equally gifted cook. You found his dishes too spicy, but his long conversations about medicine aroused unexpected interest.

As time passed, your diplomatic meetings became more and more like the usual walks of two old friends: Jiaoqiu showed a interest in you, and you reciprocated it. You could wander the streets of Yaoqing, wherever you were most interested. Of course, you longed for Luofu, but in Jiaoqiu's company, that sadness would fade away. It was probably then that you realized that this shrewd fox interested you far more than a mere healer, cook, or diplomat. You were attracted to him as a man.

At first you even thought it was because of his foxian pheromones, but Jiaoqiu didn't give you reason to doubt him enough to really believe it. In any case, you were much more sure of your own feelings than Jiaoqiu was. As a man who preferred to keep his emotions secret, he didn't pay attention to his own feelings, seeing you more as a business partner or an unexpected friend. But even he was eventually overtaken by a doubt that disrupted the usual calm and stability in this foxian life.

"Do you miss Luofu?" Jiaoqiu's voice was normally steady, but what was unusual was that instead of looking at the scenery, he was looking directly at you with a soft smile. He always smiled, but this time there was something in his smile that made your knees shake treacherously. "You know, when I get homesick for something, I try to carry around something that reminds me of that person or place."