Taking Advantage, Then Trying to Run - Chapter 7

The dishes soon arrived.

I put a large prawn in her bowl. “Here, try this. It’s their signature dish.”

Hai Yan stared at it and went rigid for two seconds.

I immediately sensed her helplessness. “What’s wrong? Don’t you know how to eat prawns?”

Her face flared red.

“I’ve… never had one.”

Her voice was barely audible.

Understanding, I picked up the prawn, peeled it in a few deft motions, and held it to her lips. “Here. Open wide.”

She instinctively leaned away. “Ji-Jiejie, I can do it myself…”

“I already peeled it for you, and you won’t even open your mouth.” I pouted, looking aggrieved.

Hai Yan closed her eyes.

With the grim resolve of someone marching to her death, she opened her mouth and took the prawn from my fingers.

So, so cute!

I didn’t need a mirror to know there were stars in my eyes.

How could this girl be so adorable? She was just like my Maomao!

Maomao used to carry food away in exactly the same way. Before taking it, she would stick out her tiny pink tongue and touch it first.

Hai Yan ate exactly like her!

Suppressing my wildly pounding heart, I peeled several more.

She hurried to stop me. “Jiejie, that’s enough. You don’t need to look after me. Please eat.”

I shot her a reproachful look. “Then peel one and show me. If you know how, I’ll stop serving you.”

She froze.

“I-I didn’t learn how…”

“Silly girl.” I picked up another prawn. “I’ll teach you.”

She watched my hands intently.

“First, twist off the head. It’s dirty inside, so we don’t eat it. Then this part—see? Lift it like this…”

I carefully demonstrated each step.

She watched from beginning to end, then took a prawn and copied me.

Peeling one wasn’t difficult. She got it right on her first try.

She was about to place the plump white meat in my bowl when I caught her wrist, lowered my head, and ate it straight from her fingers.

“Xiao Yan is so clever. You learned immediately—and peeled it so cleanly!”

She stared at me, eyes huge.

Then the tips of her ears turned red, followed swiftly by her neck.

I fought to keep the corners of my mouth down.

This girl was far, far, far too cute!

Hai Yan had a huge appetite.

She swept through most of the dishes on the table and polished off three bowls of rice.

I watched her eat in silence.

She ate with such relish that it sharpened my own appetite.

As I watched, I kept adding food to her bowl.

She wasn’t picky. Whatever I gave her, she ate.

She ate quickly but neatly, using her even teeth to strip every shred of meat from each bone without wasting a morsel.

“Xiao Yan, you’re so adorable,” I murmured, entranced before I realized I’d spoken aloud.

Hai Yan stopped dead. Even her puffed cheeks ceased moving mid-chew.

Coming to my senses, I hastily covered for myself. “Children who aren’t picky are the easiest to care for. I like youngsters who eat whatever they’re given.”

Only then did she resume chewing.

After lunch, I checked the time. “I’ll drive you back to the station.”

She waved both hands. “No need, Jiejie. I can take the bus.”

“Your face…”

Instead of arguing about the ride, I had suddenly noticed the scratches on her right cheek.

Until now, she’d kept her cap low. Between its shadow and the way she deliberately turned her right side away from me, I hadn’t realized how stark those two marks were.

She hurriedly turned aside. “It’s fine. They’ve already scabbed over.”

I turned her face back, removed her cap, and examined the two scratches closely.

I had put those marks on her face with my own hands.

They were marks I had left her.

*My* marks.

My thumb brushed lightly across the scabs, my gaze turning hazy.

As if bewitched, I leaned in and kissed one of them.

She recoiled in fright. “Jiejie, th-this…”

My smile was flawless. “A kiss makes the pain fly away. That’s how I comfort children. Well? Doesn’t it hurt less now?”

She covered the spot I’d kissed, her whole body as red as a boiled prawn.

I linked my arm through hers, my voice light. “All right, stop standing there in a daze. I’ll take you back.”