honestly, if yi city proved anything, it’s just how much of xiao xingchen’s kindness and innocence was deliberate.
he knew the man staying with them was more than likely a criminal, he purposefully asked no questions, not even a name. he just accepted him because it’s what he felt was the right thing to do.
he knew a-qing was a thief and a liar and i would put money on him knowing she wasn’t blind - he told her to look for something to help, after all. but that was okay. she needed someone to look after her and he’d try his best.
sure, he didn’t know the world in the way most people did but he knew enough, saw and felt enough pain and cruelty and up until the very end, he still made a deliberate choice to be kind and gentle.










