Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

Wu Li stared intently at the girl before him: "Then will you stay by my side forever? Never leaving my side?"

"I......"

She paused.

Suppressing the bitterness in her heart, she forced a sweet smile.

"I will always be with you." Until the very end of the original text.

He looked at her quietly, without saying a word for a long time.

It took so long that Chai Xiaomi thought he was asleep with his eyes open before she saw him move his lips and give a faint smile that revealed no emotion.

His gaze lingered on her face.

The girl's clear eyes were bright and round, her gaze flowing like the first thaw of spring water, both pure and innocent.

She had been waiting for him in the room for so long that her hair had already been untied, and her black hair cascaded down like silk.

When it spread over her body, it felt like a thin, soft, and cool layer of silk. He especially loved her long hair, which, when it was damp with sweat, clung to her skin in a messy, alluring way like seaweed.

At this moment, her snow-white skin was flushed with a rosy blush, making her even more charming against the backdrop of her wedding dress.

Whether it's her cheeks, neck, collarbone, or ear tips, her eyes are all flushed with a rosy glow, so red it seems like it's about to seep out.

It was all from the kisses he gave me, starting from my toes and going all the way up, and it hasn't faded yet.

strangeness.

In the past, when I kissed her face all the way down to her earlobe, neck and collarbone, she would blush, but never as much as she did now.

Especially when he was about to kiss her thigh, her slender waist trembled and twisted uncontrollably like a willow branch in the wind, as if she wanted to escape, as if she was suffering some kind of torment. That's why she hurriedly kicked him away with her feet, her face flushed.

The force of his kick was quite heavy, though it wasn't a big deal for him.

However, when she hit or punched him, she only pretended to do it and never really put in any real effort.

This time, they were clearly pushed to the limit.

Suddenly, Wu Li reached out and grabbed the newly put-on red gauze bed curtains. With a "rip," a long strip of the curtains was torn off.

"What are you doing?" Chai Xiaomi asked in surprise.

Before she could react, she felt a red haze covering her vision, but her vision was not obstructed. Everything in sight was shrouded in a reddish hue, and even the candlelight in the room became ambiguous.

Wu Li tied a loose knot behind her head with the red ribbon, then stood up and took a few steps back.

While she was still in a daze, when she looked up again, that tall figure was approaching the bedside once more.

It's just a little different from before.

Even through the red veil, she could still see that black totems were silently spreading across the boy's slender neck, outlining eerie patterns on his pale skin, so clear they were almost blinding.

Chai Xiaomi's heart skipped a beat.

My vision was blurred, but my other senses became exceptionally sharp.

She could feel his breath sinking down, landing in a place she dared not imagine!

"Lili..."

She stared in disbelief, her toes curling up in a panic, wanting to escape and kick him away, but her legs were locked in place by him. He seemed glued to her, and she couldn't move him no matter what she did.

Her slender fingers sank deep into the blanket, clenching into a crumpled ball.

The bed curtains swayed slightly as the girl's body trembled.

Wu Li slightly lifted her eyelashes and saw that the skin around her face was turning red at a visible speed, and even her breathing became uncontrollable and rapid.

Beneath the red gauze strip, the corners of her almond-shaped eyes were already glistening with tears.

You're crying already?

He was only giving it a light peck just now, if...

A dark glint flashed in the boy's eyes, but the corners of his lips curved into a smile, as if he had discovered some incredible secret.

This led to them going even further.

The deliberate provocation caused the water droplets to finally condense into beads, which rolled down from between the red gauze curtains.

The already delicate young girl completely collapsed.

Scattered into pieces, scattered into strands, scattered into something that his fingertips could not hold back, yet he insisted on holding back.

"...Lili, you're such a scoundrel."

"Yes, that's me." His voice was low and husky, his response confident and assertive, as if deliberately intensifying as he continued to appreciate her reaction.

Like teasing a candle flame that's about to go out, afraid it will go out, yet unable to resist getting closer and closer.

The candle wick trembled slightly, and the light and shadow flickered.

The red candles in the room suddenly dimmed, not extinguished, but their glow softened, as if they were melting into the night.

Something is quietly melting away.

It was unclear whether it was candle wax slowly dripping down the candle or something else.

All that could be heard were the sounds of heavy and faint breathing, rising and falling, entwined in the light and shadow.

*

When Chai Xiaomi saw Ouyang Rui again, she was startled.

The young man who was so energetic and carefree not long ago now has a layer of bluish-gray stubble on his chin and a dark, unyielding bruise under his eyes.

Although he was still wearing his brocade robes, they couldn't hide the listlessness that emanated from his very bones, making him look somewhat disheveled.

He glanced down at the jade pendant in the wooden box in Chai Xiaomi's hand, and forced a bitter smile: "Mi'er..."

"Just call me Xiaomi." Chai Xiaomi quickly interrupted him. She clearly felt a chilling gaze creeping up from some corner, licking her back like a snake's tongue.

She knew that Wu Li was hiding in some secluded corner, observing secretly.

Ouyang Rui paused for a moment, then his wry smile deepened: "Xiaomi, you can keep this hair ornament; you don't need to return it to me."

Chai Xiaomi pushed the wooden box forward: "No, we agreed that this was just a deposit, and we would return it to you once your nightmare was over. Now that you've recovered, this thing should be returned to its rightful owner."

Wu Li specially retrieved this hairpin from Luoxingyuan so that she wouldn't owe Ouyang Rui any favors or have any entanglements with him.

Ouyang Rui's gaze fell on the silver fish tassel earring hanging from the end of the hairpin in her hair.

It's clearly just a patchwork, not even a proper hair ornament.

But she wore it on her head every day, and loved it dearly. And the other earring, he remembered clearly, was hanging on Wu Li's left ear.

He still doesn't understand where he went wrong.

In terms of family background, talent, and demeanor, how was he not outstanding? That Miao boy was merely somewhat handsome. Sometimes he even preferred to believe that Wu Li had used a shady love potion to win Xiao Mi's love; this thought was much easier to accept than the idea that "she truly loved him."

But what's the use of thinking about this now? I heard they'll be leaving Thousand Mist Town soon.

No matter how much he loved Xiaomi, he could never leave his hometown and travel to the ends of the earth for her. His original plan was to marry her in a grand ceremony and have her stay in Qianwu Town to live with him.

Unexpectedly, although a grand wedding was held, it was organized by someone else.

Ouyang Rui lowered his gaze: "I heard you got married to Wu Li a few days ago. I'm sorry, I was busy taking care of my father and didn't have time to congratulate you. Consider this hairpin a gift from me as a friend."

After a pause, he finally couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Mi, I just want to ask one question: compared to him, where exactly am I lacking?"

Chai Xiaomi didn't want to hurt his feelings, but since he had asked, she wasn't going to let it go.

She said calmly, "Ouyang Rui, you may be somewhat attracted to me, but more than that, you are driven by a desire to conquer me."

"Because you've never lacked anything since you were little, you can get whatever you want. Take this hairpin, for example. It's a rare treasure for ordinary people, but you can easily find one in your storeroom. To you, I'm probably like an object you can't have. The more you can't have me, the more you crave me. If you actually got me, once the novelty wore off, I'd probably just leave me gathering dust in a corner."

She paused, looked up at him, and said in a calm and even tone, stating a fact.

"But my husband is different."

"He has never gained anything in his life, so whatever he holds in his hands, he cherishes and protects it as if it were his life, for fear of losing or hurting it. He values ​​me more than anything else in the world."

As soon as she finished speaking, she didn't look at Ouyang Rui's expression anymore, but simply pressed the wooden box closer to his chest.

"Please keep the hairpin. No need for a gift, we appreciate your blessings."