Elope…
Su Qianci blushed. “I meant wet.”
“That was what I said.” Li Sicheng looked at her seriously.
She blushed even more. Did he say elope or wet? Although the pronunciation of those words was ambiguous in the local dialect, Li Sicheng spoke standard Mandarin and had passed the advanced test. In her previous lifetime, she had taken the same test to please him… Did she hear it wrong?
“Let’s go.” He handed her the two bags of food. “Protect them well.”
She took it and held it in her arms. He was wearing a long stand-up collar peacoat in deep gray and a suit underneath. He put up the umbrella and unbuttoned his peacoat, holding her waist and covering her body with it. Su Qianci froze and struggled a little. “What are you doing…”
“Going home.” She felt her cheeks were burning by Li Sicheng’s warm breath on her ear. He said in a deep voice, “Keep the food safe. We shall not keep grandpa waiting.” So, she was to keep the food safe, and he was to keep her safe? On that thought, her heart raced as he walked her down the stairs. Seeing her pink ear, he had a soft look on his face and wrapped her tighter with the coat. Neither of them spoke.
Su Qianci felt warm. Holding the food tight, she was not splattered by a single drop of water. When they were back in the car, she found that his back was drenched. Seeing him taking his peacoat off, she moved her lips but did not say anything. Her heart was warm as she saw the food and herself well protected by him. When they arrived at the old house, it was about 6 PM.
Li Sicheng went to the bedroom and changed. Su Qianci gave the meat jerky to grandpa. Captain Li was very pleased, smiling contently at her. She was a bit embarrassed and went to help Liu Sao make sweet dumplings. Liu Sao put all kinds of stuffing into the paste, sesame sauce, peanut butter, an egg yolk… Su Qianci’s job was to put the dumplings into boiling water and then remove them from the water when done.
Liu Sao passed the last plate of dumplings to Su Qianci and asked in a low voice, “You guys made up?”
Su Qianci saw her teasing smile and was reminded of her call. Nodding, she said, “Kind of.”
The ice was broken, right?
“At last. Captain Li has been worried about you guys recently. It’s great that you two have made up. I suppose Captain Li will ask you to stay here. I have your clothes ready.”
“Thank you, Liu Sao.”
“It’s all right. Look, the dumplings are ready. Remove them now in case they leak.”
Su Qianci checked the dumplings and removed them with a ladle. She counted the dumplings and broke them into several servings. Before she went out, she heard some noises. It sounded like people were fighting.
Startled, she ran out from the kitchen. She immediately saw Mrs. Tang yelling at Li Sicheng. “Li Sicheng, you son of a b*tch. Give my daughter back to me. Where did you take her?”
Mrs. Li looked very emotional. Her eyes bloodshot, and she stared at Li Sicheng like he was her enemy. He was sitting on a sofa with his legs crossed. Looking elegant and cold, he glanced at Mrs. Tang and asked, “Mrs. Tang, what do you mean?”