Zhu Jie ended up coughing profusely as her words fell into his ears. He stared at her disbelievingly. Holding her hand in his own, he dragged her saying, "Ru'er, I saw a very good tea house around here. Let me treat you to some pastries. We can talk in detail."
Ru was pleased seeing how his behavior took a 180-degree turn at the mere mention of this. She wasn't going to hide this from him anyway. So, why not just use it to her own advantage? He wasn't gonna let her go easily otherwise.
"Yes, let's go. I'm famished." She happily announced following him like an obedient child.
"When are you not hungry?" Zhu Jie retorted making her scowl displeasingly. He touseled her hair again and went on, "But who's complaining? I earned all my money just to feed this little brother of mine."
Ru was definitely in a better mood to hear this. She didn't even hesitate before ordering a variety of things for herself. And even after the order was delivered, her attention was solely on eating.
"Enough already! Tell me everything in detail." He grew impatient seeing her stuffed up face. Who said she ate elegantly?
Ru swallowed the cake in her mouth and wiped her face before turning to tell him in detail about her first awakening of love? Nah! There wasn't such a thing... Yet!
It took her barely three minutes to summarize everything about that kiss. For instance, going on like, "Took me off guard, cut me half-way. Damn it! I was talking and he cut me off. How rude is that!" Zhu Jie silently rolled his eyes at her exaggerations. And she perfectly, finished it off with, "Then he pulled away and said that he won't apologize for that. Like, seriously? How can someone be this shameless!" Saying that she turned to the servers and said, "Hey, can you get me another piece of that chocolate cake. Thank you!"
Zhu Jie rubbed his forehead as he was certainly speechless at her own shamelessness. Wasn't she the worst shameless person ever?
"Ru'er, my dearest brother, I didn't ask you how he did it. I asked how you felt." He emphasized to make his words get through her thick skull.
"How I felt?" She looked strangely at him while he nodded. "Well... His lips were soft. Yeah, definitely were."
Zhu Jie had the urge to bang her head against the table but he held in his urges and said, "I'm talking about your feelings. Like what did you feel in your heart?"
Ru tilted her head and blinked innocently at him while saying, "I felt nothing."
"What? Really?" He was beyond surprised now.
"I can't possibly lie to you." She replied honestly.
"You just did an hour ago." At his reminder, she looked a bit awkward but didn't drop her strong front. Now, this was called the height of being shameless. But obviously, she won't agree.
"That was different. I promise I felt nothing." She even raised her three fingers to show her sincerity as she continued, "My mind completely went numb and my heart... Well, that was beating a bit strangely. But nothing else."
He finally heaved a sigh of relief to know that there was at least some normal reaction. He slapped her head and said, "Really, nothing more?"
Ru thought for a minute to be sure. Naturally, she didn't want to upset the one sitting before her. "When I touched my lips earlier, they felt tingly. It was weird but nice?"
She even seemed uncertain of her own words. "Weird or nice? Choose one." He insisted on.
"Can I go with weirdly nice?" She offered, making him chuckle and Ru felt like this smile meant she had dodged a bullet. How troublesome! "Can I eat now?"
"Go ahead, my gluttonize Ru'er." She stuck her tongue out to him and continued to eat.
He felt a sense of relief washing down on him as he saw her eating heartily before him. It was her first experience in physical intimacy, he certainly had no high hopes from her side. But if that lover boy managed to make her ice-cold heart to beat abnormally, then he was certain that Ru won't be at a loss.
He rubbed her hair again lovingly and spoke in a calm tone, "Ru, don't make this into a huge issue. I told you earlier, life without feelings is much worse. Even heartbreaks are part of life and some pains are meant to concur. Don't hide again, okay?"
"If you're scared of hurting him then remember, love is not a burden. It's the silent support. If he has the courage to love you, he should also have the courage to fight alongside with you... And for you."