A Cozy Chat

Just as the two were immersed in their tender moment, Shuyao's message once again broke the silence at an inopportune time.

Clearly, the little girl Aemeath's deliberately cryptic answer and immediately pressed for an answer:

How long is "a long time"?

[Online romance leading to real-life meeting? Or a former classmate?]

Even Lu Yan couldn't help but laugh. He looked at the question mark on the screen and shook his head helplessly, "This girl, she's still so curious. What are you going to tell her? You can't just tell her everything, can you?"

"I'm not telling her!"

Aemeath winked mischievously, her brows furrowed with girlish slyness. She wanted to keep this unique, time-spanning bond between her and Lu Yan a secret, carefully treasuring it in her heart.

She typed two words, then carefully selected one from her emoji list that best represented her current mood.

[Keep this confidential (✿◡‿◡)]

After sending the message, Aemeath didn't give Lu Shuyao a chance to ask any further questions.

She decisively and quickly typed out the final concluding remarks:

[Okay, I have to go now, I have things to do. I'll take you out to play when I have time, bye-bye.]

After pressing the send button, Aemeath immediately pressed the screen-off button on her phone.

The screen went black instantly, completely blocking out the countless question marks that Lu Shuyao might send.

Lu Yan looked down at Aemeath, but his mind was still on the four words she had just typed—"for a very long time."

"A-Yan, what are you daydreaming about?"

Seeing that he didn't react for a while, Aemeath stretched out her fair and delicate hand, waved it gently in front of him, and then lightly pinched his cheek.

Lu Yan snapped out of his daze, took Aemeath's little hand that was messing with his face, and gently kissed it, his eyes regaining their warmth.

"It's nothing," Lu Yan said in a low voice, tinged with tenderness. "Have you finished sending them?"

"All done!" Aemeath tossed her phone onto the table, then turned around and straddled Lu Yan's lap again.

She stretched out her arms and wrapped them tightly around Lu Yan's neck, pressing her cheek against the warm crook of his neck.

Lu Yan naturally put his arm around her waist and gently stroked her back with both hands.

He lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "You just told Shuyao you had something to do here. We've already planned everything for this afternoon, haven't we? Clothes bought, haircut, dinner all planned. Is there anything else important you need to do?"

Aemeath raised her head, her bright, star-like eyes sparkling with undisguised smiles and affection.

She tilted her head slightly and gently pecked Lu Yan's lips, her voice soft and sweet yet assertive.

"Of course I have something to do. The most important thing for me right now is to spend a sweet afternoon with my fiancé!"

The two embraced tightly in the quiet living room. The air conditioning circulated silently in the room, while their body temperatures rose as they overlapped, without uttering a single word.

After what seemed like an eternity of tenderness, the light outside the window gradually dimmed.

The originally intense and dazzling summer sunlight has now transformed into a gentle, warm orange sunset, which filters through the sheer curtains of the French windows and dapples the wooden floor of the living room.

Aemeath's stomach let out a very unpleasant, faint rumbling sound.

She poked her fluffy head out from Lu Yan's arms, rubbing her belly a little shyly. "A-Yan, I think I'm hungry."

Lu Yan chuckled softly, causing her to blush again.

He released her hand and gently flicked Aemeath's nose. "Let's go, let's prepare dinner. We had a big meal out for lunch today, what would you like to eat something home-style tonight?"

"I want to eat scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and also stir-fried shrimp!" Aemeath instantly perked up, leaping off the sofa and running to the kitchen in her pink fluffy slippers.

Lu Yan watched her cheerful figure as she walked away, his eyes filled with doting affection, and followed her at a leisurely pace.

In the kitchen, Aemeath had just taken ingredients out of the refrigerator and was about to grab the apron hanging on the wall.

Lu Yan had already taken off the apron with the cartoon bear printed on it before she could.

"Turn around," Lu Yan said softly.

Aemeath obediently turned around. Lu Yan wrapped the apron strap around her slender neck, then put his arms around her waist and tied a bow at her lower back.

As Lu Yan was tying the belt, his fingertips intentionally or unintentionally brushed against the soft flesh of her waist, causing Aemeath to shrink back sensitively.

"Stop fooling around, I'm going to cook." Aemeath turned her head and gave him a playful glare.

Lu Yan raised his hands innocently. "I'm not making a fuss. Since my dear wife is going to cook, I have to help out, right? Washing vegetables, chopping, handing plates—I'll do it all. I'll absolutely obey the chef's orders."

"That's more like it." Aemeath nodded in satisfaction, striking a pose like a master chef, and pointed to the tomatoes and shrimp in the sink. "Go on, A-Yan. Wash the tomatoes and devein the shrimp."

The kitchen was warmly lit and brightly lit. Water was flowing from the faucet. Lu Yan rolled up the cuffs of his white shirt, revealing the strong muscles in his forearms, and carefully washed the tomatoes.

Aemeath stood to the side, clumsily chopping scallions with a knife in her hand.

"A-Yan, do you think when we get old, we'll end up like this, spending ages every day debating what to eat for dinner?" Aemeath asked casually while chopping scallions.

Lu Yan placed the washed tomatoes on the cutting board, casually grabbed a kitchen paper towel to wipe his hands, and gently squeezed her shoulders. "Silly girl, what are you saying? How could cute Little Aemeath get old?"

"A metaphor! A metaphor! How can you be so unromantic? Shouldn't you have said you'd always be there for me even when we're old?" Aemeath gave a haughty snort, then handed the tomato to Lu Yan, "Here, cut it into pieces, the uniformly sized ones."

"Yes, ma'am." Lu Yan released his hand from massaging Aemeath, took the tomato, and began to cut it into pieces. "But, won't living too long cause problems?"

While frying eggs, Aemeath smiled and said, "Oh, it's alright. If it really doesn't work, I'll just log back into the system and change our information."

Aemeath's eyes lit up as she said this, her expression beaming with joy, "Wow~ Doesn't that mean we can get married several times over!"

Hearing Aemeath's words, Lu Yan laughed and said, "Why get married so many times? The first marriage is the most important."

"That's true." Aemeath smiled and scratched her cheek.