She gave him a humorous glare and took a new bowl to divide the food into small portions for him to eat bit by bit.
While Xia Zheng ate, he didn’t forget to scoop up a dumpling with his spoon to feed Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan’s face turned red, and she turned her head away, refusing to take it. It was unknown how much time had passed, but when she turned back, the stubborn spoon was still waiting in front of her. Lin Yuan felt a warmth in her heart, bit her lip, and ate the small dumpling from the spoon in one bite.
It wasn’t too hot, but it felt warm and sweet in her mouth.
Only then did Xia Zheng satisfactorily lift the corners of his lips and went back to eating his meal.
While chewing on the dumpling in her mouth, Lin Yuan noticed that this guy hadn’t dried his hair after his bath; strands of damp hair were sticking to his forehead, occasionally dropping water droplets.
This won’t do. Even though he’s a man, not as delicate as a woman, with the weather as it is, he might catch a cold if this continues.
"Why didn’t you dry your hair before coming out?"
After complaining, Lin Yuan quickly went inside and found the towel Xia Zheng used to dry off, which was already damp. With no other choice, she went back to her own room, grabbed her towel for drying her hair, and returned to gently dry his hair for him.
Xia Zheng originally wanted to say something manly, like "It’s fine, men aren’t afraid of anything," but when Lin Yuan’s hands gently dried his hair, the words he meant to say no longer wanted to come out.
Such gentle movements, the fragrant towel, all her scent, only a fool would refuse to have his hair dried.
Having someone dry your hair, especially your favorite woman, made Xia Zheng’s heart feel delighted, and the dumplings tasted even more delicious.
"All done." Seeing that his hair was more or less dry, Lin Yuan draped the towel over her arm, casually combed his hair with her hands, and reminded him, "You have to be more careful in the future, and you can’t come out with wet hair anymore. Especially at night, if you don’t dry your hair before sleeping, you’ll get a headache."
Swallowing the last bite of the dumpling, Xia Zheng hummed discontentedly, "It’s dried already?"
Lin Yuan took a seat on the chair opposite him, rolling her eyes, "Fast? My arm is almost numb from drying your hair."
Then she pointed to the bowls on the table, where not even a drop of soup remained, "You finished such a big bowl of dumplings. If I didn’t dry your hair, that would be really stupid."
Xia Zheng pouted and gazed at the delicate, fair hands of the woman in front of him, somewhat missing the tenderness he had just experienced.
"Alright, we’ve had a bath and a full meal, let’s hurry up and sleep. You’ve had a long day, so sleep well." Saying this, Lin Yuan stood up and began to tidy up the bowls and dishes.
Xia Zheng snatched the dishes from her hands and placed them on the table, "Let Lin Yi take care of this. You keep me company and chat."
"It’s late." Lin Yuan glanced toward the east room, where at some point, Lady Liu had already blown out the candle.
Xia Zheng certainly wouldn’t admit that it was because he missed her so much that he was longing for her company. Moreover, even if he did say it, he feared that the young lady would simply go into her room without a backward glance and ignore him.
Turning his eyeballs and rubbing his stomach, Xia Zheng put on a distressed expression, "Tsk, I ate too much just now. My stomach is so full that it hurts. If I go to sleep now, I’ll definitely have stomach pains. Dear Yuanyuan, can you just sit with me and chat for a while, please?"
With the conversation having reached this point, if Lin Yuan still didn’t understand, she wouldn’t be Lin Yuan. Seeing his poor act of pretending to have a stomachache, Lin Yuan was both annoyed and amused, but still, she pretended to nod and sat down with him.
The wash basin in the room hadn’t been put away, and the bowls and dishes in the main room hadn’t been tidied up. Xia Zheng had moved a small stool and sat with Lin Yuan in the courtyard.