บท 77: REUNION (PART 1)

"Yes, Young Mistress!" Suzuka flustered and replied.

It looked like she needed some time. "…" Xue Lin didn't waste her time on her. She went downstairs and made her way to the dining room. Surprisingly, she found Ge Chen wearing an apron and had a frying pan and a wooden spud occupying his hands. He looked adorable

Xue Lin controlled her expression and said, "…You… are… cooking…"

"I know I cannot make up to you by my cooking but I still wanted to do something for you." Ge Chen spoke guiltily. He showed his utmost sincerity in front of her.

Xue Lin's tensed body relaxed a little. She told herself, 'You see that, Lin? He is trying his best to become a good husband. You have to try to be a good wife too. You can do it.' She sighed and said, "I'm looking forward to it. Let's eat together."

Ge Chen's expression finally became better but he couldn't delete the image of the pair of glowing eyes from his mind. He placed the dishes - beef steaks and vegies with gravy on top. With great interest, Xue Lin chopped the beef with the knife and took a piece of meat on her mouth. The tender, juicy meat melt inside her mouth.

"Umm…" She covered her mouth. It was absolutely delicious. She gave him a thumbs up.

Ge Chen smiled. He and Mu Liang learned cooking from the Head Cook of the Mu Family in Italy when they were training.

Xue Lin's awkwardness reduced by half after having dinner. The two of them went to the Dahlia flower garden for a walk. The moon started to show up after the cloud moved away. Numerous stars were glittering in the dark sky to show their presence.

While walking, Xue Lin took a deep breath and started speaking, "Listen, Chen, I'm s-"

"I'm sorry." Ge Chen interrupted and finished her sentence by apologizing to her first. "I know I told you that I would wait but I did something without your consent. I made you feel uncomfortable. It's my fault."

'You see? This is your chance to do something to tighten your relationship.' Xue Lin's conscience told herself. She responded with a formal apology, "I'm sorry too. You didn't touch me or did anything inappropriate. It was my fault for overreacting. But I cannot help it."

Ge Chen looked at her and asked, "Is it because you don't like men?" When he saw her in Paris and Italy, he didn't see anything abnormal about her. Now the more he spends time with her, the deeper he is learning about her.

Xue Lin denied his claim. "It's not about liking or hating and it not only about men. I don't trust people easily. You see, when you cannot trust your own family members whom you grow up with, how can you trust others when you know them only for a while."

"It must be hard for you." He empathized.

"I don't know if it's hard on me. I'm surviving. But when I went to Paris, I was living. Times with Xiao Lan, Xiao Yan Su, Xiao Ying were precious. The only reason I became close to them because they chose to force me to be with them or else it would be boring." She smiled recalling the time with her friends in Paris and Italy.

Ge Chen understood her problem. "So, you cannot approach others first."

"Yes, but I wasn't like this before. I don't know when I changed." She tried to remember her past. "Maybe when I was a teenager."

"Since that's how it is, I'll try to approach you first." Ge Chen turned to face her and held out his hand. "Do you care to take my hand?"

"Of course, it's nothing new." Xue Lin grabbed his hand. Her hand was soft and small compared to his.

"But we never intertwined our hands, did we?" Ge Chen slowly intertwined their hands and noticed her hand shaking slightly. He noticed her expression. She looked nervous. He smiled and said, "Whenever we are together, let's do this. I hope you will get used to it."

Xue Lin looked at their intertwined hands and breathed slowly. Soon, her hand wasn't shaking anymore. She opened and closed her fingers to see if she was feeling uncomfortable. But she wasn't. She was slowly getting used to it. She looked at her husband and said, "Yes, let's practice doing this every day." Saying that she swung their intertwined hands. She looked like a child who learned something new.

Ge Chen went to the main topic, "Do you know that your eyes glow in the dark when you get mad?"

Xue Lin stopped swinging their hands and looked at him blankly. "What are you talking about?"

Ge Chen frowned and mumbled to himself, "So, you didn't know. Of course, when you are angry you don't look at yourself, you look at the person you are angry with. But to think no one noticed it up until now it must be because no one saw it before."

Xue Lin pulled his hand toward her and asked, "What are you talking about? I'm not an animal. My eyes cannot glow. It's absurd!"

"You are right. Only the animal's eyes glow. A lot of animals, especially those who go out at night, have a special, reflective surface right behind their retinas. That light-reflecting surface, called the tapetum lucidum, helps animals see better in the dark. A large number of animals have the tapetum lucidum, including deer, dogs, cats, cattle, horses, and ferrets. Humans don't, and neither do some other primates. Squirrels, kangaroos, and pigs don't have the tapetum lucidum, either." Ge Chen already researched a little and telling her only what he knew.

He glanced straight at her and said, "As I said, humans don't have tapetum lucidum and so, you don't have it either. Did you have any eye operation in the past?" His gaze was steady. He was observing her every move. If she lied, he would find out immediately.