A warmth spread through Jiang Xia’s heart. ’She just wants to save the good stuff for me, but she has to come up with all these excuses.’
He lowered his head and took a shallow sip. The pomelo drink was sweet with a hint of sour. At fifty percent sweetness, it wasn’t cloying and had the flavor of a first love. It just felt like something was missing.
"It’s not sweet enough," he said, pursing his lips.
Lin Yanwan frowned, took the pomelo drink from him, and took a sip. "The sweetness is fine."
"It’s sweet enough for a first love, but I think the two of us could be a little sweeter," Jiang Xia said with a smile.
She turned to glance at the other people in the internet cafe. Every one of them was engrossed in their screen. So, she suddenly leaned in and gently bit his lower lip.
Jiang Xia’s breath hitched. Gazing at his wife’s blushing face up close, his heart began to race. ’Now *this* is an overdose of sweetness.’ He never expected his proud and aloof wife could be so seductive.
"Is it sweet enough now?" Lin Yanwan tucked her hair behind her ear and sat up straight, her face flushed. Her lips looked particularly glistening after the kiss.
"Actually, I wouldn’t mind if it were even sweeter. I can take it," Jiang Xia said, pressing his lips together as if still savoring their softness from a moment ago.
His wife might be proud and standoffish, but she always found unexpected ways to show her affection. And the thing was, he was a total sucker for it.
At the front counter, Chen Yao watched the surveillance feed and was forced to stomach their public display of affection. Just moments ago, Jiang Xia had solemnly promised her he would be mindful of his public image, and the second he got back to his wife, they started kissing, didn’t they?
’A man’s words are nothing but lies. You can’t trust them.’
She took a shallow breath, selected their two computer stations on her control terminal, clicked the service button, and began typing in the notification field.
"If you ask me, all those lewd videos online probably got leaked by accident from couples like you. Do you really think nobody can see you? This is a public place, there are cameras everywhere. Have some decency and watch yourselves!"
Seeing the scrolling text suddenly appear on her computer screen, Lin Yanwan’s delicate face instantly flushed red. She instinctively looked up for the cameras and found one in the corner directly in front of them, and another on the opposite wall.
In other words, their intimate moment had been captured in perfect clarity from two different angles.
The only person who could remotely control their computers was the cafe admin, which meant... Chen Yao had just been watching them kiss online? ’It’s like she was watching some X-rated movie,’ she thought. ’How creepy.’
"Ahem... I forgot to tell you about the cameras," Jiang Xia said, scratching his head in embarrassment. But how was he supposed to know his dear wife would be the one to initiate things? It was completely unexpected.
’So, you can’t really blame me for this,’ he reasoned.
Lin Yanwan shot him a glare. "From now on, I’m going to listen to music and watch a movie. Mr. Jiang, I’d appreciate it if you could keep your hands to yourself and not disturb me."
"As you command, wifey~" he chuckled. Then, they both turned to their own business.
The internet cafes of this era rarely had practical software like Photoshop or Flash installed on their servers, mostly just games. Jiang Xia couldn’t be bothered to download them, so he simply opened a web browser to check the online buzz surrounding Cat and Mouse.
After a bit of surfing, he found it was met with a flood of positive reviews. Countless people were eagerly awaiting the scheduled broadcast of Cat and Mouse each day, and all sorts of hilarious memes and reaction images were already popping up in major forums and QQ groups.
"Whatcha lookin’ at, handsome? Mind if I join you?" Lin Yanwan suddenly leaned her head over. It wasn’t that she actually wanted to watch a movie with him; she just wanted to talk.
"Cat and Mouse has its official premiere tomorrow, so I’m just checking the online buzz to get mentally prepared. It’s looking pretty good so far."
Jiang Xia scooted his chair closer to hers. "The Yu Du Children’s Channel has been running promos for nearly half a month, and they’ve really whetted the appetites of animation fans. Now, everyone’s just waiting for the premiere. If the ratings are high, our humble little company will finally take off."
"Don’t worry, it’ll be great!" Lin Yanwan took his hand and gave him a gentle smile.
She stole a glance at the camera. ’If Chen Yao is watching everything we’re doing right now, isn’t this the perfect chance to give her a little "warning"?’
Something along the lines of: ’This man is mine. Even if you have a crush on him, you’d better forget about him, and fast!’
’Of course, if she doesn’t have a crush on him, that’s even better.’
With that thought, Lin Yanwan put on her headphones and slowly leaned her head against Jiang Xia’s shoulder.
He playfully tapped her nose and teased, "And who was it that just told me not to disturb her?"
"I told *you* not to disturb *me*. I never said I wouldn’t disturb you," Lin Yanwan retorted, full of self-righteousness. "So what? I can’t lean on my boyfriend’s shoulder for a nap?"
"Of course you can. If you want, we could even go home right now, and I could hold you in my arms while you sleep in our bed." He turned to look at his wife’s exquisite face.
From this angle, his gaze traveled past her collar, where he could see a sliver of smooth, pale skin disappearing into the fabric of her alluring lingerie.
"No, I don’t! In your dreams!" Lin Yanwan shot back without a second thought.
She wasn’t that foolish. If she let Jiang Gouzi hold her while they slept, wouldn’t his straying paws wander all over her body? ’Even though he must have touched me thousands of times in our past life, there’s no way I’m letting him off that easy this time around.’
Jiang Xia just chuckled. ’She might not let me now, but there’ll be plenty of opportunities later.’
Two hours flew by. A glance at the time showed it was almost eleven in the morning. The walk from here to the gates of Nanshan Primary School would take just about the right amount of time.
When their time was up, the two logged off their computers. Lin Yanwan linked her arm through his, and as they passed the front counter, Jiang Xia made sure to say goodbye to Chen Yao.
"Hey, old deskmate, don’t work too hard. Yanwan and I are heading out."
Chen Yao nodded, her gaze lingering for a moment on their linked arms before she said flatly, "Take care, you two. Please come again."
Once they were outside the internet cafe, Lin Yanwan pinched Jiang Xia’s arm forcefully. "Isn’t it ’wifey’?" she asked with a grin. "Why did you suddenly call me by my name back there?"
Jiang Xia’s breath hitched.
"Uh... did I use your name? I could have sworn I called you wifey. You want to go back in so I can say it again in front of her?"
"Hmph! No need!"
Lin Yanwan pulled her hand away and quickened her pace. It seemed her decision not to let him hold her while she slept had been the right one after all.
’You can’t believe a single word that comes out of a man’s mouth.’
"Wifey, don’t walk so fast! Wait for meee~" Jiang Xia called out from behind her.
Her face flushed. He was so loud! Forget about the person back in the internet cafe; the Three-Body People from outer space could probably hear him.
"If you yell like that again, I’ll shut you up myself!" Lin Yanwan stopped and glared at him, her face a mixture of shame and annoyance. "Shameless! Go find your own wifey, whoever she is!"
"It’s you, silly~" Jiang Xia chuckled, reaching for her hand.
She put up a token struggle but couldn’t break free. Pouting, she said, "I am not. Where’s the marriage certificate? Show it to me."
"The one from our last life is probably buried in some ruins somewhere. I’ll get you a new one in this life in a couple of years."
"Just because you say you’ll get one doesn’t mean it’s happening. I haven’t even agreed yet."
"You mean you wouldn’t agree?"
"That depends on how *someone* behaves. If you don’t behave, I just might go dig up that divorce agreement~"
...
(One more Chapter to come)