"Haha..." She avoided his piercing gaze with an awkward laugh and headed to the kitchen hurriedly.
The kitchen was wrecked entirely. The waste-bin was filled to the top with burnt food. It was worse than the time she first came to his house. The marble floor had flour spilled all over it and the counters didn't have a single empty space.
She stood outside the kitchen without making an attempt to take a step further. Her eyes were wandering around when she saw Ye Jie crouching beside her as he placed slippers near her feet.
This action made her heart skip another beat. He stood up with a faint smile saying, "Don't walk around bare-feet, you'll get cold." She nodded obediently wearing the slippers in her small feet.
The frown of worry was still visible on her face as she watched the kitchen's disorderly state. Ye Jie placed his hands on both her shoulders turning her body around to look at the dining table filled with covered food containers.
He pushed her to the dining table and made her take a seat uncovering the food containers. The delicious aroma of Steamed Dumplings, Scallion Pancakes, Chicken and green Veg Congee along with soy milk, eggs and pickles filled the air. The delicious aroma in the air was overwhelming.
"You made all of this?" She asked in bewilderment pointing at the dishes before her.
"Yes..." Of course, he made it but with the help of his maid. He tried for 2 hours to make it right but after several unsuccessful attempts, he decided to call the maid who lived in the Ye Residence.
"You made it for me?" She asked again pointing at herself this time.
"Yes... I made it for you."
"Why?"
"Uhm... You made a delicious breakfast for me yesterday. So, I wanted to repay you in the same way."
"Oh..." Before she could continue, she saw him shaking his head saying, "I can't believe that you just believed me. It's not to repay you. My beautiful but dense wife, this is to thank you."
She looked at him. "To thank me? For what?"
Ye Jie took her hand in his own. "For being here... With me... For accepting me... Even my past... For being weird..." She raised her brows. "For being this adorable." He touched the tip of her small nose."
He was silent for a while waiting for her to say something. Anything. But she didn't spoke. He sighed. "Dear Wife, Let's have a discussion."
Ye Jie felt her body stiffen at the word 'discussion'. "Let's not." She tried to get her hands out of his but he tightened his hold not letting her escape.
"Why?" He wasn't sure whether she'll answer or not but he couldn't stop the words from flowing out his mouth.
Xu Mey dropped the struggle and sat with a straight back looking at his tired face. She felt bad. He wasn't supposed to be making breakfast for her. And from the looks of the kitchen, she pretty much got the idea that he didn't know how to cook. She sighed audibly closing her eyes briefly.
"Whenever I had a discussion with someone, it always ended in my loss." His interest was piqued. "I was 5 when my father said to me: 'Let's have a discussion' and he told me that he got engaged to Fu Lan. I was 8 years old when the second discussion ended with: 'I'm sending you to boarding school' and the third one landed me in-" She stopped herself from revealing that part.
Ye Jie did see the change in her but didn't say it. "And the last discussion was: 'You're gonna marry into Ye Family.'" She managed to stir away the conversation. Her momentary slip of tongue was gonna land her in a big trouble. It was a secret she wanted to take to her grave.
"Then let's have a mutual talk," Ye Jie suggested lighting up the mood.
"About what?" She asked hesitantly.
"About you... Me... And most importantly, about us..."
"About us?"
"Yes... I realized a huge issue in our relationship. It's the fact that you don't like talking and I don't like talking myself. Both of us need a reason to start a conversation. Am I right?" He was looking expectantly at her.
"Yeah... I think so," She replied honestly.
"We don't have that understanding yet where without any words the one person would know about the other person's thoughts. But at this point, we don't need that kind of understanding. What we need is words." His face was unusually serious.
"Words?"
"That's right! We need words... Like I want to confess, I love you." Those words that could make a girl's heart beat like a drum had no effect on her.
"Have you gone crazy??? You don't even know me." Her tone was comical.