Yan Qingsi had never specifically told her likes and dislikes to Yue Tingfeng before.
She did not seem to be a picky eater—so long as it was food, she would eat it.
Yue Tingfeng took a bite of the ice cream using the same spoon he had used to feed Yan Qingsi. It was mango-flavored, fresh and tangy… It was delicious.
“Don’t women like to eat this sort of thing?” he asked.
Yan Qingsi drank a gulp of the lemon-infused water. “We weren’t that close before. Why would I tell you I disliked it?”
Yan Qingsi never revealed much about herself, whether be it to strangers or people she could fully trust. She was constantly cautious toward the world. She was like a porcupine that constantly prickled. She would not let anyone understand her, and she would not understand anyone.
Also, Yan Qingsi was not a picky eater, but she did have her preferences.
It was just that she would not reveal her preferences to people she was not familiar with.
Humans only revealed their truest self in front of the people they trust and depend on the most.
It was like how plenty of people only threw their temper without reservations toward their parents.
That was why the moment she was able to tell Yue Tingfeng about her likes and dislikes also signified the moment she allowed Yue Tingfeng to understand her.
She was willing to divulge whatever she stowed away in her heart to Yue Tingfeng, bit by bit. However… she needed time. She could not simply rip off the shell she had constructed around her body, or else it would hurt her in the process.
She hoped that she could slowly show herself to Yue Tingfeng, bit by bit and hoped that she would be able to tell her secrets to him, whether small or big.
Yue Tingfeng scooched closer toward Yan Qingsi. “Does that mean that we’re familiar with each other now?”
“What do you think?” she retorted.
The last syllable was swallowed as their lips met.
Yue Tingfeng just had a bite of the ice cream, and he tasted faintly of mango and something sweet. That taste reminded her of her childhood when her mother would give her some loose change to buy herself a popsicle—a taste that she would remember forever.
Yan Qingsi hooked an arm around Yue Tingfeng’s neck and returned the kiss, taking all of him slowly.
They had kissed plenty of times before. However, this one was completely different from all the previous ones. Yan Qingsi felt like that sweet, sweet taste followed the flicker of Yue Tingfeng’s tongue and slowly wound its way into her heart.
For the first time in Yan Qingsi’s life, this… this kind of ice cream did not taste too bad at all.
This was probably the first time where she felt that that sickly sweet taste actually… made her happy, and it tasted vaguely of joy.
Yue Tingfeng pulled away from Yan Qingsi, the tip of his nose grazing the tip of Yan Qingsi’s nose. His thumb rubbed over her chin. “Yup. I feel very close to you,” he said, smiling.
Yan Qingsi lifted her chin and kissed the corner of Yue Tingfeng’s mouth. “I like… this taste.”
It was as though the entire room was filled with that light aroma of the mango. It swirled between breaths, rose and fell with each act of inhaling and exhaling. It permeated every pore until it seemed to burrow beneath the skin.
“I like it too.” Yue Tingfeng pecked Yan Qingsi’s lips.
He saw a matcha cake at the corner of his vision, as well as an assortment of other desserts. Should they try them all?
This taste testing lasted for another half an hour. When Yan Qingsi walked out of the private room, her lips were numb and swollen, and she had a slight lisp when she talked.
Yan Qingsi looked at Yue Tingfeng and shot him a glare.