Steal a kiss (1)
Mu Mingtang looked at the familiar wine jars with watery eyes for a long time. Even though they were unmarked, she could still recognise them because they were the items that she and her deceased parents had buried together.
Mu Mingtang’s eyes became red as tears filled in, and she suddenly wanted to cry loudly. Seeing her teary eyes, Xie Xuanchen asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
Unable to speak, Mu Mingtang shook her head, and asked in a nasal tone, “H..how…did you find them?” She lowered her head and wiped away her tears.
“I can find anything if I want to”. With a soft smile, Xie Xuanchen replied, “Although Xiangyang was hit by war, the wine was safe since it was buried under the ground. It has been well preserved even though some people started to live in your home without being aware that wine was buried there. So I sent a person to find it and bring it here.”
“Of course, the intruders to your home were chased away. I repurchased the property and registered it under your name. It is currently being repaired, but when it is finished, I will take you there, okay?” Xie Xuanchen said casually.
Mu Mingtang, whose heart was filled with joy, sadness and gratitude, wiped the teardrops from her eyelashes, took a deep breath, and softly whispered, “Thank you.”
Xie Xuanchen reached out and caressed his wife’s head while saying, “Just say thank you to me if you want to. Why do you need to cry? Mingtang, don’t cry…”
“Why don’t you count to check how many jars are there in total?” Xie Xuanchen said to divert her attention from crying.
As expected, Mu Mingtang was taken away by Xie Xuanchen’s words. She counted them carefully and exclaimed in surprise, “Seventeen jars? How is it possible? My parents only buried twelve jars for me. There should have been thirteen jars, including the one we buried in the afternoon. How can there be seventeen jars of wine? You’re the one who did it, right? But I’ve only turned sixteen this year. Why did you bury the seventeenth jar?”
Xie Xuanchen helplessly sighed as he saw Mu Mingtang blurt out whatever came to her mind. He stared at her expectantly, without saying a single word. Mu Mingtang also looked at her husband for a while, and then it finally clicked to her. ‘Oh, it seems I have told him about my father’s words that he would not let me get married until at least seventeen jars were buried.’
It turned out that this was the case.
Mu Mingtang was really touched by Xie Xuanchen’s careful thoughts. He had paid close attention to almost every single word she had said, no matter how rough their life was. Even though she couldn’t remember it herself, Xie Xuanchen had kept it in his heart.
Mu Mingtang didn’t want to say anything because Xie Xuanchen had always thought of her as an indomitable figure. She was embarrassed to say that she had forgotten the meaning of the seventeenth jar, so she asked a silly question to change the direction of their conversation. “Is there really wine in these jars?” She pointed at the jars.
Xie Xuanchen answered in a half-hearted tone, “Maybe it’s just plain water.”
Mu Mingtang glared at him. “I’m asking you something serious.”
“It’s really water.” Xie Xuanchen also looked at Mu Mingtang with an honest expression, and said, “If you don’t believe me, open any of these jars and try it.”
Mu Mingtang had doubts, but she then realised that Xie Xuanchen was capable of doing anything crazy. After giving him a long, dubious look, she casually looked through the wine jars, chose one and gave it to one of the maids to open it.
Xie Xuanchen asked in surprise, “How do you know this jar is one of the jars that you buried with your parents?”
“Of course, I can recognise the things from my home.” Mu Mingtang pointed to some of the wine jars placed on the ground and said, “This is the wine jar we buried together this afternoon. These were prepared for me by my parents before, and the other ones look unfamiliar. Naturally, they were added by you.”
After opening the wine jar, a maid served its contents to Mu Mingtang and Xie Xuanchen in two wine glasses. After taking a sip, Mu Mingtang grimaced and angrily chided Xie Xuanchen, “It’s wine and not water. You lied to me.”
Xie Xuanchen clicked his tongue lightly as he said with a chuck