Evelyn rolled her eyes at Sheffield, completely disregarding what he had just said.
After breakfast, she was surprised to find that Sheffield had asked someone to send over two outfits for them. Only after they had put on their white down jackets did she realize that they were actually wearing matching outfits.
They looked almost identical, except for the difference in size.
Evelyn looked at his white sneakers and then at her own. They were wearing matching shoes too.
Sheffield tied his shoelaces and then took out a pair of pink earmuffs; a pink scarf; a pink face mask and a pair of pink gloves from a paper bag, and wrapped Evelyn from head to toe.
In the end, only Evelyn's eyes remained uncovered, while Sheffield didn't even have a scarf or a hat on.
She checked the bags out of curiosity and found that it was empty. There was nothing inside the bag for him.
She unwrapped the scarf from around her neck and said, "Here, take this!"
Sheffield stopped her and insisted, "Please, don't worry about me. I hardly wear a down jacket. This is enough for me. I'm not cold at all." In fact, with the down jacket on, he felt hot.
Even without it, the cold was never a problem to him. He was used to it. However, he wanted to keep Evelyn warm.
When Sheffield's firmness convinced her, Evelyn put the scarf around her neck and let him lead her out of Phoenix Resort.
After walking out of the resort, they turned a corner and walked to the path on the right where they had to take a few steps up a slight slope. No wonder he had prepared a pair of sneakers for each of them.
Evelyn glanced at the man to her side and asked, "Have you been here before?"
"Yes, I came here once with my friends. We camped here for a couple of days. But I discovered this spot first when I was passing by on one of my morning jogs here."
"Oh!"
After walking for about ten minutes, Evelyn came across a large area of maple trees. There were at least over a hundred of them—just as Sheffield had said.
Even the cold winds of winter couldn't make the trees shed all of their leaves. Although, there weren't as many leaves as there would be during late autumn; there were just enough for now. Clouds of red looked like the blushes of shy maids.
A gust of wind blew in and the fiery red leaves parted from the branches and swayed in the wind, finally landing on the snow.
The leaves that had fallen earlier had been partially covered with snow, while the new ones quietly lay on the layer of white, adding to the overall beauty of the scenery.
After casting a glance at Evelyn whose eyes were wide with amazement, he asked, "What do you think? Now do you believe me?"
Evelyn nodded and let go of his hand. She took off her face mask and walked forward slowly, feeling the softness of the snow under her feet. Her exuberant voice echoed throughout the maple forest. "Sheffield, this place is beautiful!"
"I told you so. Hey, don't forget I suggested this place!" Sheffield raised his chest and grinned proudly.
Evelyn laughed giddily. She even took out her phone and snapped photos of the wonderful sight.
Sheffield took pictures of her when she was busy taking pictures of the maple trees and the snow.
Evelyn seemed happy to be immersed in her little world of snow and red maple leaves.
However, in the man's eyes and in his world, there was only her.
Although she wanted to preserve the memories of this moment as best she could, Evelyn wasn't quite keen on taking pictures. Just after a few minutes, she put her phone away and turned around to ask him to walk with her, but she saw him less than three meters behind, sneakily taking pictures of her.
"Don't take any photos of me!" She immediately covered her face with both hands. Evelyn didn't like to be taken photos of.
Despite her protests, the picture of her standing in the snow came out beautifully.
He was so taken by her beauty that he couldn't help take photos of her every move.
After a while, Evelyn peeked through the gap in her fingers and found him still taking photos.
She ran towards him in an attempt to grab his cellphone. Sensing her intention, he dodged her and ran away. Not only did he run away from her, he also continued to snap pictures on the run.
Flustered and angry, Evelyn stomped on the snow, throwing tantrums like a spoiled child. "I will not talk to you anymore!"
To prevent him from taking another picture of her, she turned her back to him.
However, the more he looked at her, the cuter she was. He said, "Evelyn, I'll recite a poem for you. Will you please let me take some more photos?"
"No!" She refused, loud and clear!
"Okay, I will read you the poem first!" He cleared his throat and began, "Up the winding stone path on the mount, houses are seen shrouded in thick white clouds. Stopped the carriage to enjoy the beautiful view, for maple leaves are redder than February flowers!"
In fact, there was nothing wrong with reciting this poem at the moment because the maple leaves were indeed redder than the flowers in February.
However, when he recited it, he deliberately made "maple leaves" sound like "make love." Immediately, her cheeks flushed red.
Evelyn turned around and glared at him. "You've ruined this poem for me!"
Sheffield raised an eyebrow and feigned innocence.
"Did I? How so?" "You don't know? You can't connect everything with sex."
The seriousness in her expression amused him. He also put on a serious look as he patted his sleeves, and knelt down in front of her as what the ministers in court did in ancient times. "My apologies, my princess! Please grant instruction!"
'So, he wants to do role play?' Since Evelyn was in a good mood and nobody else was around, she decided to play along.
She straightened her back and looked down at the man in an elegant and dignified manner. "It's fine if you want me to instruct you. In the Qing Dynasty, when the ministers of the court met the emperor on official occasions, they would prostrate three times and kowtow nine times to show their respect for the emperor. Mr. Tang, would you like to show me the courtesy?" Evelyn carried such an extinguished presence that if she had worn a Royal gown, she would have looked like an empress or a dignified princess from ancient times.
'Prostrate three times and kowtow nine times?' Sheffield thought about it and said, "Let's say I'm a general in shining armor, who only needs to be on one knee according to the ceremony." He knelt down on his left knee, left hand on top of his leg and his right hand hanging down. "Little Tang at your service, my princess!"
Trying not to burst into laughter, Evelyn said, "You called yourself a general just a moment ago, but now you've turned into a eunuch. You're probably the first person in history to be demoted so quickly!"
Eventually when Evelyn calmed down, she found herself becoming childish as she had been with Sheffield for a long time. In fact, she was even participating in role play with him. It felt a bit silly.
'A eunuch?' The smile on his face froze. He got to his feet and walked up to her. "Evelyn, look at me. I don't look like a eunuch at all."
She winked at him naughtily, as she walked forward and said, "Really? Then why did you call yourself Little Tang?"
Evelyn had a good point. Indeed, he was the one who had referred to himself with that name. "Okay, but please, promise me that you won't tell anyone else about this!" He grasped her hand, pulling her into his arms and whispered into her ear, "Because I only want to be your Little Tang."