"Red dates." He picked up another kind. Without needing to be told, she already opened her mouth, waiting for him to feed her. "These are peanuts."
The more she chewed, the more fragrant it became. She liked peanuts, and feeling a bit thirsty, she casually poured another pot. The liquid inside was dark purple. She tilted her head back and drank it all. It was sweet and sour, much mellower than the wine she had just drunk.
"This... this is really good." She drank three more cups, finding it smoother with each sip.
"These are longans." He raised an eyebrow slightly and fed a piece of longan pulp into her small mouth.
"Don't you want a drink too... this stuff is really good..." Feeling warm, she swayed her head gently from side to side, then tilted her head back to finish the contents of her cup, but her brow furrowed slightly. "Chang Tianci... you, you stop moving around." Her two small hands spontaneously cupped the man's face. She leaned in to look, giggling sweetly. "That's much, much better."
"You're drunk." It was sweet wine made from grapes, smooth on the palate but with a particularly strong kick.
"I'm not!" Drunks never admit, "I, I have good alcohol courage... good alcohol tolerance, I, I am a thousand cups un-drunk..."
"Yulan, you're drunk." He took the opportunity to kiss her fragrant cheek, calling out tentatively.
Her eyebrows shot up, and she pushed him away in confusion. "Who are you calling...?"
"Aren't you Yulan? Miss Yulan, the cousin of Lord Shang Shu, from Wengjiapu in the Northeast, I am calling you." The man's face was gentle and harmless, but his eyes revealed a cunning dominance.
Yes. She was Wen Yulan, a fictional identity.
She knew it perfectly well, but hearing him call her with such a tender tone, her heart twisted.
"I have a nickname, it's... Tiger Cub..." Her big eyes blinked, as if expecting something, her chest tight. "Can you... can you call me that... is that okay?" She didn't understand why, she just knew she didn't like him calling her by another unrelated name when he looked at her.
His majestic black eyes scrutinized her, scanning back and forth carefully. After a long while, a smile etched itself on his lips, and he softly called out, "Tiger Cub. You are my wife now."
She gazed steadily at the man's inscrutable face, vaguely, many lines slowly spread out, except that his voice was so pleasant, and his eyes were so bright.
"I... want to sleep..." No, no, she couldn't sleep, she came to find the Primordial Silver Pearl, but... but her eyelids were so heavy...
Dazed, her head fell onto his shoulder.
He gently pushed her away, quietly saying, "Tiger Cub, we still have one last dish to eat."
"Why—" As she spoke, a spoonful of lotus seed dew was fed into her mouth. She instinctively sucked on the sweet treat, and then her tongue darted out, l*****g and lingering on her red lips.
A rough, hoarse breath suddenly sounded, and his eyes darkened.
"This is a custom. Red dates, peanuts, longans, lotus seeds—if you eat them, you'll have a child soon."
Her whole body was hot, her limbs were soft and powerless, and her mind was not working well. She blinked her hazy eyes, "I didn't come here to have children early, I, I don't want... I, I..."
He understood and curled his lips, sweeping the girl into his arms.
"But I do."
Without hesitation, he walked towards the embroidered bed covered with mandarin duck brocade.