Wei softly rested his palm on her cheek, his eyes not leaving her sight even for a moment. He didn't want to but it felt so long since he touched her that he couldn't stop himself.
The familiar warmth of her cheek brought relief to his heart because it proved that Lihua was indeed here with him. Sometimes, his heart would jump in his chest, thinking that it was all his dream and that Lihua was still stuck with Jiang Zhen.
His thumb caressed the trace of her cheek, and his fingers slowly clutched onto the back of her neck. With his fingers, he applied a slight pressure to pull her towards him. Her face inched closer and closer to him and with a final tug, Wei pressed his lips on hers.
He felt Lihua tremble and for a moment, he feared that she would pull away. But to his relief, she didn't. He slightly tilted his head and deepened the pressure. The tip of his tongue darted out to flick on her pink lips, making her shudder. It didn't stop there. He gently parted to invade and brushing across her teeth, he kissed her tongue with his that swirled and wrapped around hers.
When he heard a muffled moan from her, his teeth nipped onto her upper lip to ease the desire and heat coursing through his body. His lips remained attached to hers, and his tongue continued slurping all sides of her mouth. His breaths fanned her chin and jaw the longer they kissed.
Finally as he withdrew, he remained still just an inch away from her lips. He didn't let the distance between them increase and the warmth disappear. Seeing her lips moist with his saliva made a gulp pass through his throat. He pecked them again and placed feathery kisses on her chin.
At the same time, he was also anxious about Lihua's reaction to him kissing her out of the blue. They were not a married couple anymore. He was afraid that she would shake him off in anger and leave.
But to his surprise, what filled her expression was not anger or resentment. Instead, it lit up with shyness and embarrassment. A red hue formed on her cheeks. She lowered her gaze, unable to meet his eyes.
Now after the kiss, Wei was clueless about what to say.
Was he supposed to explain why he kissed her?
"The…"
Just hearing the first word from Wei made her jolt in her place.
"The…" Wei cleared his throat. "The porridge was tasty."
Lihua blinked. Wei felt like killing himself.
"I mean it was tasty…because you fed me."
Lihua blinked even more and then blushed. "T-that's silly. Mom made the porridge. I just brought it here…Why will it be tastier just because I brought it? It doesn't make any sense. It's not like I cooked it."
Lihua had no idea what she was babbling. She only knew that she wanted this embarrassment to fade away.
Wei furrowed his brows. "But it was tastier because you fed me. Whatever you do, it makes all things more beautiful," he commented with pride.
Lihua coughed hard. She felt like if someone asked Wei to keep praising her for his entire life, he would do so in a heartbeat without getting tired or running out of things to compliment on.
There was an awkward moment, and Lihua decided to pull back. But Wei held onto her. She held in her breath, thinking he would kiss her again. It made her heart pound in her chest.
Wei pursed his lips and contemplated upon his question. He wanted to ask but at the same time, he didn't want to ask and know her answer either.
"Lihua…"
"Y-Yes?"
"Will you…what are you…I mean…" he panicked and darted his gaze left and right to find the words.
Lihua coughed. Internally, she lacked tears to shed.
Does Wei think I am so dumb that I don't know what discharge means?
"Return means Jiang villa…"
"..."
Lihua now really couldn't understand why he was explaining such a simple thing to her for the third time.
"I know, Wei."
Wei stiffened and quickly nodded. "I see. Good. So I was asking if Mingshen tells me that I am ready to go back home…w-will you…"
He swallowed a gulp.
"Will you come to l-live with me?"
Lihua froze.
Wei quickly explained. "I mean live t-together like before. I know we have been divorced-"
Suddenly, Wei widened his eyes and realized a super important thing he should have asked her before taking out this whole topic.
"No! No, no! Forget about my last question!"
Lihua was taken aback. "Ah? I don't understand."
"I mean don't answer my question I asked just now. Before, I need to ask you something else."
Lihua was completely bewildered. "What is it?"
Wei pursed his lips. "I realized that I shouldn't have asked you about us living together because we are divorced."
She stiffened and hesitated. She clasped her hands together, unsure of what to say.
"First, I should ask you if you…" Once Wei's confidence deflated, thinking about the question he was going to ask. "If you will m-marry me again…"
Lihua stared at him blankly. "Huh?"
Wei now really wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it. He was lying in Mingshen's lab, all weak and helpless like a patient. Even if he wanted to propose to her, he hadn't thought it would be this way. He had decided that when he would fully recover, he would steel himself and ask Lihua to give him another chance and marry him again.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
But kissing Lihua just changed the direction of his plans and he suddenly felt like asking her to marry in the heat of the moment.
Wei quickly laid back on the bed and said, "I said nothing. I asked nothing. You heard nothing. It was all your dream."