The Lover's Prattle

The Elegant Lunatic//4

— What was it like to be alive?

*****

It was Chinese New Year's Day[1].

[1] Usually between late January to late February.

Qingruo received red envelopes from her parents, but they would hold onto the money for her until she was older. Despite that, the little girl managed to wheedle out a hundred yuan(15USD) by utilizing her childish charms.

That evening, she bought a vibrant red rose for three yuan(45 cents USD) from a street vendor before meeting up with Xu Nianyang.

From her little cartoon-printed purse, she produced a small heap of crackers, candy, and the remaining ninety-seven yuan(13.5USD) and dumped it all onto his palm. As her head was lowered, the sunlight shone brilliantly on her black hair, and the wind gently caressed her twin braids.

The latter wasn't so kind to Xu Nianyang. Both of his hands were soon filled to the brim, and he had to close his fingers tightly around the money and treats to prevent the wind from blowing them away. Qingruo continued rummaging in her purse until she found the last piece of candy, then finally, she raised her head.

Her smile was as bright as the summer sun.

Xu Nianyang was wearing Mr. Xu's old work clothes. The shirt bore four big pockets, two of which Qingruo filled with the rest of the candy that his hands couldn't hold.

"Gege, the strawberry-flavored milk candy is super yummy!" she remarked softly, the sound of her small voice nearly drowned out by the rustling of candy wrappers.

She seemed to have a special fondness for strawberry-flavored things, he realized with sudden guilt. Every week, he would drink up all of her strawberry milk. It was on purpose, of course, but now he regretted it.

Her focus was still on his shirt as she continued to toss candy into his pockets. With some difficulty, he freed up one hand and stopped her. Her hand was cold.

After carefully storing the things in his other hand in a pocket, he took both of her hands into his and rubbed them together. Once her hands were warmed up, he immediately stuffed them into the woolen gloves hanging from her neck.

"Ruoruo, let's go to the park."

She looked at him and nodded. "Mhm."

Without another word, he began to walk, while Qingruo shifted her position and pulled their clasped hands into one of his lower shirt pockets. There was candy inside, and she took out two to munch on.

The added thickness of her gloves to her fingers made removing the candy wrapper difficult. She attempted twice before giving up, glaring and pouting.

Xu Nianyang's gaze never strayed from her. Giving her head a small pat, he reached out and laid his hand over hers. Gently, he guided her fingers, and once the candy was out, she picked it up and unhesitatingly sent it to his lips.

"Gege, aaah~"

However, though she hid it well, Xu Nianyang noticed that she was reluctant. Her throat bobbed almost imperceptibly, and her eyes just barely gave her away. Therefore, instead of opening his mouth, he took the candy onto his palm and leveled it with the bottom curve of her lips. Before she could reject, he said, "I'll eat the other one."

Immediately, she ducked her head and opened her mouth. He could feel her warm breath on his skin and the tip of her tongue brush against his palm as it swept down to take the treat.

A smile was present when she raised her head again. Smacking her lips, she looked back down and tackled the wrapper around the other piece of candy as Xu Nianyang lifted his hand and inspected the damp line her tongue had left on his palm.