The hand that was covering her eyes slowly fell away.
Song Jia squinted her eyes and saw Xu Jinhai's sheepish expression. Seeing that she was glaring at him, he quickly rearranged her messy hair, combing his fingers through them and patting it down.
He even cupped her face and wiped the non-existent dirt on her cheek with his thumb, softly pinching the sides of her chin and wiggling the flesh between his fingers.
"Haha, our Jia was so cute, I couldn't help but pounce on her. That's right, do you want to taste what I cooked?"
He quickly strode over to the kitchen counter and just as quickly came back, feeding her a piece of cooked vegetable.
"Jia, it's tasty right?"
Receiving a pair of puppy eyes directed at her, Song Jia heaved a helpless sigh. Forget it, it was just a stolen kiss. Seeing him hanging his head while waiting for her response, she couldn't bear to scold him.
"It's tasty."
His eyes curved into crescents, and the pear vortex on both sides of his cheeks appeared. His lips curved into a smile, laughing happily with a 'haha': "My Jia is the best."
He looked so sweet and adorable that Song Jia felt grateful that she didn't scold him. Remembering her own resolution of making Xu Jinhai feel secure in their relationship, she raised herself on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to the underside of his jaw, briefly closing her eyes.
"I think Xu Jinhai is the best too."
When Song Jia opened her eyes, she saw that for a split second, his face became blank, wiped clean of all expression. His eyes became shuttered, the ice-blue flecks in his irises dimming like a candle snuffed out of its light.
His lips were pale.
Chalk-white pale.
Song Jia was alarmed. "Jinhai?"
He bent his head, and when he looked back at her, the devastated expression on his face was gone. He smiled and dropped a kiss on her forehead.
"It's nothing. Is Jia hungry? I'll finish cooking and we'll eat together, en?"
"Ah...of course. I'll prepare the table."
While they ate their breakfast, Song Jia studied Xu Jinhai's expression. However, she found no sign of his agitation from earlier. He smiled at her and fed her vegetables as usual, even reaching forward to tuck a stray lock of her hair behind her ear when it fell down while she was eating.
When they were washing the dishes, he playfully splashed her with a bit of water, causing Song Jia to retaliate and splash him back.
He intentionally splashed the water against her face so that it would be easy to wipe off later, not wanting her to catch a cold. As Song Jia was drying the dishes with a towel, he was also holding a towel and wiping her face.
Cupping her face and turning it from side to side to make sure she was perfectly dry, he busied himself by playing and stroking her hair while Song Jia finished drying off the dishes. The moment she was done, he took her hands and also wiped her palms dry.
"Jia, should we go outside for a date? I already eliminated all the rebellious forces on this planet, so it's safe to stay here for a while longer. We don't have to hurry back to Yujinxiang."
Song Jia pursed her lips. She had already lied to Yang Yimo and Mu Wan about a work emergency, so it wasn't as if she could just turn around and visit them again. She had also seen the best tourist spot in this city planet, so there was nowhere that she wanted to go.
As if he was reading her thoughts, Xu Jinhai added, "You didn't manage to visit the temples because they were closed down from the earthquake right? I could teleport the two of us inside."
"Isn't that illegal?"
"Why would it be illegal? Considering that they wanted me to be their ruler, everything on this land is already mine."
Hearing how he said those words in a calm and matter-of-fact way, as if it was a basic law that everybody should know, Song Jia was struck speechless. What a confident hooligan, ah. This grandma had lost all the energy to argue with you.
Of course, Song Jia was also curious how the temples would look like from the inside. Although she saw its interior several times while worshipping when she was young, it had been a long time ago. She was also nostalgic and wanted to recall memories of her childhood.
Xu Jinhai dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. "So is it a yes?"
He kissed her left cheek, then her right cheek. "It's a yes, right?"
Realizing that he was going to continue peppering her with kisses as long as she didn't answer, Song Jia hastily covered his mouth and quickly said, "Yes!"
Song Jia felt his lips stretch into a smile and press a soft kiss on her palm.
"Jia is going to a date with me, I'm very happy."
Song Jia smiled and lowered her hand.
"Well, if we're going on a date, I want to change my clothes first."
Song Jia went back to the bedroom. As soon as the door closed behind her, the expression on her face changed.
Song Jia strode towards the floor length mirror and leaned forward, studying her reflection.
Although it was small, and can even be barely called a cut, there was a small wound on her lips from when she had bitten them down earlier.
Because the wound was too small, she didn't even feel the sting.
Song Jia touched her lips with her fingertips, her expression becoming thoughtful.