“Mm, it’s delicious.” Si Qingyu chewed slowly and pushed his hand back. “You eat. There are still many more.”

“Mm.” Luo Shaoxuan nodded happily, his gaze inadvertently falling on the woman’s moving lips, as if they were tempting him with each movement.

Si Qingyu swallowed the food and was about to fill a bowl for herself when she noticed the young man staring at her intently from the corner of her eye. She turned her head in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Did she have something on the corner of her mouth? She raised her hand to wipe the corner of her mouth and was about to ask him.

However, she saw the young man silently bite into a dumpling, then put down his bowl and chopsticks, and lean his head towards her.

Luo Shaoxuan firmly pressed the back of the woman’s neck, his tongue parting her teeth and pushing the dumpling from his mouth into hers. He licked every part of her gums, forcefully sucking the saliva from her mouth.

Their mouths and tongues intertwined. No matter how much Si Qingyu tried to resist, she couldn’t push the young man away and could only let him have his way in her mouth.

It wasn’t until they had completely crushed and swallowed the dumpling that they parted.

Luo Shaoxuan’s beautiful eyes were filled with love as he stared at the traces of saliva at the corner of her mouth. He lowered his head again and licked it away.

“Alright.” Si Qingyu placed her hand on the young man’s face as he leaned in again, her breath unsteady as she pushed him away. “You’ve had enough kisses. Eat properly.”

Seeing that the woman wasn’t as aroused as he was, the young man pouted his red lips in dissatisfaction. He stretched out his long arms and pulled her entirely into his embrace.

Si Qingyu had just reached for the bowl of dumplings when she was suddenly caught off guard by his action, nearly spilling the bowl. She frowned in displeasure. “Shaoxuan, don’t cause trouble.”

Couldn’t he just let her eat the dumplings in peace?

But the young man refused to comply. Hearing her scold him, he held her even tighter, his entire body nestled against her back.

Every time, he was the only one who got aroused. Sometimes, he really felt that she didn’t love him at all and only reluctantly compromised because she couldn’t bear his pestering. The thought that this might be the case made his heart feel as if someone was squeezing it tightly.

It was both painful and unsettling.

The feeling of unease was like walking on the edge of an abyss. A simple word or look from her could send him into eternal damnation.

The uneasiness in his heart intensified. He desperately needed the woman’s promise and reassurance. Luo Shaoxuan held the woman tightly in front of him, his eyes slightly red at the corners. He rested his chin on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Ziliang…”

“Hmm?” Si Qingyu’s body shifted slightly. Being held so tightly by the young man made her a bit uncomfortable.

“You…” He wanted to ask if she loved him, but his lips kept parting and closing, unable to utter the question.

Luo Shaoxuan buried his face deep in the crook of the woman’s neck. He was so afraid that she would say something that would drive him mad, even more afraid that she would hesitate. In the end, the words that reached his lips weakened. “You… Will you ever abandon me in the future?”

It didn’t matter if she didn’t love him. As long as she could always be by his side, as long as they could be together for a lifetime, he would be content.

But why did his heart still ache so much?

Luo Shaoxuan held her even tighter, as if wanting to press her into his own body, trying to soothe the pain in his heart this way.

Since they had come here, he would ask such insecure questions from time to time. Si Qingyu didn’t know how to make him feel more at ease. In his embrace, she turned her body back to face him, cupping his jade-like delicate face with both hands. Her slender fingers gently wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes, rubbing and comforting him, coaxing in a soft voice, “Of course not. In the future, we will spend our days together, until we grow old.”

The words “until we grow old” could always uplift the young man’s mood. Luo Shaoxuan pursed his lips, his jade-like hands grasping the hands on his cheeks. He lowered his long eyelashes slightly and looked up at the woman’s tender face, murmuring something softly.

But his voice was too low, and Si Qingyu couldn’t hear him clearly. She couldn’t help but lean her ear closer to him, “What did you just say?”

The young man lowered his gaze, his cheeks starting to flush. His shy appearance was completely different from the domineering person who had kissed her earlier.

Si Qingyu suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, the young man slowly leaned closer to her ear, with a hint of shyness and ambiguity, “Later, I want to take a bath together with you…”

“……” She knew this had become his most passionate interest recently.

“Finish eating the dumplings first.” Si Qingyu picked up the bowl in front of him and fed him spoonful by spoonful.

Knowing that she had agreed, the young man sat there obediently, eating the dumplings she fed him without causing any more mischief.

However, his gaze on the woman was so intense that it seemed to burn her up.

In the slightly dim bathhouse, steam filled the air, making the entire room hazy and unclear. Only the gasps and moans echoing in the ears made one curious and eager to explore further.

In a large bathtub, the young man had the woman firmly pressed against the tub wall. The water surface rippled and surged like boiling water due to his intense movements.

Luo Shaoxuan held the woman tightly in his arms, turning over in the tub, switching positions. Both of them let out soft groans.

Luo Shaoxuan felt a wave of pleasure engulfing him. He bit his tongue and pressed his face against the side of the woman’s ear, slowly resuming his movements.

At this moment, his dark eyes were filled with pleasure and love, rippling with waves of enchantment. He gazed infatuatedly at the woman’s face, lost in the moment. Finally, unable to resist, he murmured in her ear, “Ziliang… Do you… Do you love me?”

He had asked it!

Luo Shaoxuan’s heartbeat seemed to stop for a few seconds, and his movements also halted. He held his breath, anxiously awaiting her answer.

At this point, Si Qingyu’s mind was already in a haze, and she could only respond instinctively, “Mmm…”

This ambiguous response made Luo Shaoxuan’s still heart suddenly pound wildly, as if it had been hit hard. The corners of his mouth curved up in a brilliant smile, a pure and radiant expression that had never appeared on his face before.

Like a shy young man who had received a confession from his beloved, he buried his flushed face in the crook of the woman’s neck, thrusting while expressing his love for her, “I… I love you too…”

I really love you so much…

Loving to the point of madness, to the point of insanity.

I can give you anything you want, as long as you love me too and don’t abandon me.

……

Si Qingyu discovered one thing: since the bath, the smile on the young man’s lips had never faded.

Moreover, he would glance at her from time to time and then shyly look away.

After being defeated countless times by his eager yet deliberately reserved demeanor, Si Qingyu sighed and put down the paper-cutting in her hand. She beckoned the young man in the corner of the room.

Luo Shaoxuan lightly bit his lower lip, suppressing the joy on his lips, and walked over to her side in a half-reluctant, half-lingering manner.

Si Qingyu pulled him down to sit beside her, her slender fingers helping him adjust his newly changed clothes, “Why are you hiding so far away?” In the past, wherever she was, he would stick to her as if they were inseparable.

He had just taken a bath, and suddenly he had become reserved.

Luo Shaoxuan lowered his gaze, his jade-like fingers tugging at his wide sleeves, not saying a word.

The pleasure in his body and mind made his heart still beat rapidly, and he was so happy that he wanted to roll in the snow.

She said she loved him.

At the thought of this, Luo Shaoxuan couldn’t help but smile secretly. He shyly raised his eyes to glance at the woman, his ear tips starting to burn.

“……” Si Qingyu looked at the secretly smiling young man with a strange gaze, unable to hold back her amusement, “What are you laughing at?”

The young man tightly pursed his lips, glanced at the paper-cutting on the table, and changed the subject, “What are you doing with these?”

Si Qingyu followed his gaze to the half-finished paper-cutting, picked up a completed one, and spread it out, “These paper-cuttings are meant to be pasted on the door.”

Luo Shaoxuan had heard about these things, but he wasn’t particularly curious. Seeing the woman cutting the red paper with a serious expression, he stared fixedly at her profile.

He kept staring until his eyes began to water with drowsiness, and he rubbed his watery eyes.

“Go and take a nap.” Si Qingyu touched the young man’s arm with the back of her hand.

Luo Shaoxuan nodded and moved the red paper from the table to the blanket, “You can cut them here.”

Hmm?

Si Qingyu looked at him in confusion.

Luo Shaoxuan didn’t explain why, but he sat down on the blanket and patted the spot beside him, “Sit here.”

As soon as Si Qingyu sat down, he couldn’t wait to lean against her and lie down, burying his face in her waist, sighing with satisfaction.

Seeing this, Si Qingyu couldn’t help but laugh and cry. She gently stroked his delicate face with the back of her hand until he fell asleep. Then, she carefully withdrew her hand and continued cutting the paper.

The young man in her arms seemed to be immersed in a beautiful dream, the smile on his lips both sweet and content.

In his dream, he saw his beloved constantly confessing her love for him in his ear.

So happy.

I love you too.