“Huh?” Li Man was taken by surprise. Right after she asked her question, Li Mo had already quickly turned around and strode to the stool by the lower part of the stove.
What? Why had he run away? Feeling a sense of uncertainty, she picked up the item to take a closer look. It was a bracelet that was made of woven red strings. It looked quite nice.
But, why had he given this to her? Li Man’s heartbeat speed up, and her face slightly heated up too. She knew the intended significance that even a simple bracelet would have in this era.
This man was taciturn and calm. It must have taken him a lot of courage to give her something like this.
Li Man hesitated. She squeezed the bracelet in her palm a few times. She wasn’t sure what to do next.
By the lower part of the stove, Li Mo’s heart was beating like a drum. He picked up a bundle of dry straw and put into the stove, then he picked up the fire starter to light a fire. He tried several times, but he wasn’t able to get it to spark. These hands that were accustomed to doing this type of task, such as nimbly lighting a fire, were shaking uncontrollably.
So, he simply stopped and tightly held the fire starter in his hand instead. He quietly listened to the other person’s movements.
Since she hadn’t said anything, this meant that she had accepted his gift, right?
However, just as Li Mo was feeling increasingly hopeful, Li Man’s hesitant voice broke the silence in the kitchen. She walked to his side, handed the bracelet to him, and said, “This bracelet is quite pretty. Are you going to give this to someone?”
Li Mo raised his head and looked at her with a frozen silent expression.
Li Man hurriedly stuffed the bracelet into his hand. “Here, take this back.”
Right after these words were said, Li Man hurriedly turned around and wanted to leave. However, Li Mo was too anxious. His large hand that was holding the bracelet grabbed her small hand. “Wait.”
“Huh?” Li Man was unable to move. Her small face wrinkled.
Li Mo released her hand in panic. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.” Li Man shook her head. However, the back of her hand felt bursts of numbness. His hands were really strong. He had only lightly grabbed her hand, but it felt as if he had used iron pliers instead.
She had returned the bracelet, so she wanted to go back to kneading the dough for the soup, but to her surprise, Li Mo followed after her.
Their gazes met, and they both said, “You?”
The atmosphere couldn’t possibly feel more awkward than right now.
“You can speak first.” Li Man slightly shrugged. She tried to pretend to be relaxed, but her eyes subconsciously glanced towards the doorway. Please, someone come here, ah.
But, Li Mo didn’t say anything. Instead, he picked up her hand, and stuffed the bracelet back into her palm.
“This?” What did he want to do? Li Man felt as if that bracelet was like a strand of thorns that stabbed her hand. She hurriedly tried to return it.
Seeing that she wanted to refuse, Li Mo simply grabbed her little hand and put the bracelet directly onto her wrist. “This is for you. I requested this item from the Goddess. Once it’s on, you can’t take it off.”
“Ah?” Li Man was dumbfounded. She wanted to take off the bracelet, but she couldn’t figure out how to untie it. It had looked simple enough when Li Mo was tying it. But, once it was on her wrist, she wasn’t able to untie it. It was if this bracelet was tailor-made for her.
Seeing her like this, Li Mo didn’t get angry. Instead, he slightly smiled. “It’s getting late. Let’s prepare dinner. Second brother and the rest of them have already said they’re hungry.” After he finished speaking, he smiled as he looked at her again. Then, he went back to the lower part of the stove. This time, although his heart was still beating wildly, his motions in starting the fire were clearly calmer and steadier than before. It didn’t take long for the straw to ignite. He stuffed the rest of the straw into the stove and added some firewood. Soon after, there was a flourishing fire.