"...Fine." Xu Changâan lifted Yun Qian up in her astonished expression and placed her sideways on his lap, then wrapped his arms around Yun Qianâs small waist, finally warming his palm and gently placing it on her to warm her up.
Self-deception is the most unnecessary and laughable thing. Wanting to have a drink... is something that canât be concealed anyway.
Yun Qianâs tall figure didnât allow her to nestle like a little girl in his arms, so Yun Qian could only sit sideways, putting her weight on him.
"Miss, is this stable enough to sit like that?" Xu Changâan knew his actions were abrupt.
"Yes." Yun Qian was holding a teacup, savoring the taste of ginger tea as it brimmed over the rim, thinking that although ginger tea had a spicy taste, with her current good mood, she had an appetite for anything.
The water glistened, covering with some shallow patterned marks.
Xu Changâan looked at Yun Qianâs slightly smiling face, his heart moved, and his fingers twitched a bit.
"Whatâs wrong?" Yun Qian felt the hand resting on her midsection, and the ginger tea with brown sugar she was holding sent ripples. After blinking, she said, "Now... back to the room?"
Although Yun Qian was interested in the snowy scene, if Xu Changâan wanted to be intimate with her immediately, the latter would certainly be more important.
"Cough, cough-cough..."
Listening to Yun Qianâs unshielded words, Xu Changâan choked and inevitably shook.
The girl sitting on Xu Changâanâs lap let out a cry, "You mustnât..."
Too late, speaking up now was already too late.
When Xu Changâan came back to his senses, he saw the white porcelain bowl falling on Yun Qianâs red embroidered shoes, bouncing onto the ground, gently spinning.
A few drops of brown sugar water dripped from Yun Qianâs mouth corner, dyeing the fur of the snowy rabbit at the hem into a reddish-brown. One could feel the intense spicy ginger aroma even without intentionally breathing.
"I was drinking tea."
Yun Qian frowned, reached out and twisted her hem, making the originally pretty decoration dirty with the dripping ginger tea.
She lightly tapped Xu Changâanâs hand, and he immediately snapped back and released her from his grasp.
Yun Qian then got down from his lap.
This enjoyment didnât last long, and the sudden slight emptiness revealed longing in Xu Changâanâs eyes.
"Do you dislike my clothes that much?" Yun Qian took out a handkerchief to wipe the tea spills after overturning the bow, her expression calm, but her tone carried a hint of sulkiness: "Insistent on dirtying it."
"Miss, I was wrong." Xu Changâan apologized directly, and then used his Spiritual Power to remove the ginger tea stain for Yun Qian.
As Yun Qian sat back in the pavilion, Xu Changâan didnât take advantage of Yun Qian anymore, instead he took out a plate of candied fruits and placed them on the table for her to taste, as a kind of compensation.
Yun Qian sat beside Xu Changâan, picked up a piece of candied fruit and looked at him: "People from Chaoyun Sect often say you have a good Mental Realm, not easily startled... turns out they donât quite understand."
"It depends on who it is." Xu Changâan said, turning around to continue watching the snow.
"Indeed." Yun Qian swallowed the candied fruit, then frowned: "They also say you are a devoted person."
Having ginger tea first, then something sweet, was somewhat cloying.
"Miss, I..." Xu Changâan didnât know why Yun Qian was frowning, and was about to explain.
"Do you like snow?" Yun Qian interrupted Xu Changâan.
"I do." Xu Changâan answered honestly.
Though the snowy scene wasnât as beautiful as the maiden, he liked it too.
"Any more to say?" Yun Qian fed Xu Changâan a piece of candied fruit she had taken a bite of but didnât want to eat.
"No, nothing more." Xu Changâan slowly ate the candied fruit, then said, "Then I am indeed a philandering person."
This way, he could like both the snow and her.
When Xu Changâan said this, the corner of his eye twitched slightly.
In the end, reasoning with Miss Yun... is hard.
She may not have other skills, but sheâs certainly mastered the feminine skill of being unreasonable to perfection.
"Let me lean for a while." Yun Qian said.
Xu Changâan wouldnât refuse, and as Yun Qian leaned on his shoulder and yawned, the atmosphere gradually warmed.
"If Miss is tired, letâs go back," Xu Changâan suggested.
"Not tired, I want to build a snowman when the snow stops... Itâs just that I also like the current feeling." Yun Qian said, thinking the snow could last a bit longer.
She bumped her head against Xu Changâanâs shoulder, reaching out to tug the red string of the sachet hanging at his waist, pulling it out from his clothing folds and toying with it in her palm, feeling the warmth.
Xu Changâan didnât mind at all, inside it was indeed the strands of hair tied between him and Yun Qian.
Wait.
Taiwan doesnât have such a thing... but since dreams are inherently chaotic, Xu Changâan didnât dwell on it.
Surrounded by wind and snow, with a lovely wife by his side, yet under Yun Qianâs puzzled gaze, Xu Changâan took a piece of candied fruit and tossed it into the brazier.
The flame leaped high.
In an instant, the sugary glaze melted into the fire, the contained fragrance escaping, whisked by the wind into the snowflakes outside the pavilion, never to return.
Yun Qian was startled, only to see him tossing a second one.
The fire rose, beautifully.
After all, being Xu Changâanâs handmade candied fruits, even if burnt as firewood, they looked nice.
But thatâs not the problem.
In the past, Yun Qian didnât know what it meant to feel distressed, but now she did, as in the moment she was in a trance, Xu Changâan threw another one in.
"Stop burning them." As Xu Changâan picked up another candied fruit, Miss Yun grabbed his wrist and seriously said, "I only drank ginger tea, so I found the candied sweetness a bit cloying, itâs not that I donât like it."