"You're back? You're not leaving again, are you?" Gu Xiaoxia propped up her bicycle, and that was the first thing she asked.
"I'm not leaving. The work in the mountains is finished. Now I'm going to have a good rest and enjoy our happy life." Li Long smiled. "Even if you chase me away, I'm staying."
"Hehe." Gu Xiaoxia beamed. She put down her bag and went to the bedroom to change, then said:
"I'll cook. What do you want for dinner?"
"I've already made dinner. I was just waiting for you." Smiling, Li Long took her hand and led her into the kitchen. "Cold noodles. I don't know if you like them."
"I do, I do. Cold noodles are just right in this heat." The smile never left Gu Xiaoxia's face, a smile full of happiness.
Li Long suddenly felt a little guilty. He had kept overlooking the fact that Gu Xiaoxia was only twenty. In later years, she would still have been too young to graduate from university, at an age to enjoy youth and love. Yet ever since marrying her, he had left her facing work and a life where they spent more time apart than together.
It wasn't fair.
They sat down, and Gu Xiaoxia first took his bowl and mixed in the vegetables. Once she was done, she pushed it toward Li Long.
"Eat. You probably didn't have time for a proper meal in the mountains, did you?"
Li Long actually wanted to say that he had eaten quite well in the mountains, but looking into Gu Xiaoxia's eyes, he smiled and said:
"That's true. Sometimes I just made do up there. But don't worry, I had plenty of meat. Look, I've put on weight again."
"You don't look fatter, though you do look a