He lifts up his head slightly after hearing that voice, and there it is—tears start rolling down from his eyes uncontrollably. He immediately hugs me tightly, as if the moment he loosens his grip, I'll disappear.
"Where were you, little bunny, hm?" he asks me while crying.
"Yuan, why are you crying? I was just inside the escape room, you know that," I say, trying to calm him.
"But why did you take so long to come out?" he asks between his sobs.
"Yuan, I was just stuck in the puzzle. You know I went inside the wrong door, so reaching the right path took time. There's nothing to worry about," I say.
"No… no… it is," he says, still crying.
"Yuan, what happened?" I ask.
He buries his forehead on my shoulder and says, "Promise me… promise me that you'll never ever go inside an escape room again. Ever. Promise me."
"Okay, okay, I promise. I'll never go to any escape room again. Now it's fine," I say, trying to calm him.
"I have very few people in my life. I don't have many, and I don't want to lose them. And you are one among those few," he says.
I break the hug, cup his face with both my hands, and say, "Yuan, didn't I tell you that you are a crybaby? And see, here it is—you're crying again. You proved me right in less than 24 hours. So impressive."
"You started teasing me again, hm?" he asks with a small smile.
"Yes. At least my illogical teasing makes you smile a little, so it's all worth it. Look, Yuan, your smile is the most precious gift in this world to me. Don't spoil it. And also, you really don't look good when you don't smile—you just look rough and tough," I say while laughing.
"You pretty liar. I know you like me in every way, so stop fooling me. I know even if I wake up in the morning without changing or freshening up, you still admire me," he says.
"Oh, so much confidence. Isn't that overconfidence?" I ask.
"No, not confidence in myself. I have confidence in you. I know how wholeheartedly you loved me, how helplessly you loved me. So stop lying," he says.
I smile shyly and say, "Okay, now wipe your face. I didn't bring you here to cry, otherwise everyone will say I have such a crybaby boyfriend," and I wipe his tears with both my hands.
He giggles.
"Why are you giggling? Is there any joke?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "No, just… these tiny hands wiping my tears. So cute."
"Shut up, Yuan. Let's go now. Our next destination is a restaurant," I say.
He nods.
We enter the restaurant for our meal, where we order yang zhou chao fan (Yangzhou fried rice), xiao long bao (steamed soup dumplings), liang ban huang gua (cold cucumber salad), ba bao fan (sweet sticky rice dessert), ji rou chao fan (chicken fried rice), and xiang jian ji xiong rou (pan-seared chicken breast).
"And make everything a little spicy," I tell the waiter.
"Okay, ma'am. Xiexie for your order. You'll get it in 10 minutes," he says and leaves.
Yuan keeps looking at me.
"What happened? Did I order too much?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "No."
"Then why are you staring at me like that?" I ask.
"Can't I stare at my girl? Is that a crime?" he asks.
"Yes, it is. It just became a crime today in Shanghai," I say.
Our order arrives. I take out my phone and click pictures of the food before eating.
"Now I'll show these to Wang Ruoxi. She'll definitely get jealous," I say.
After clicking the photos, I grab my chopsticks. "Now we can eat."
"Childish," he murmurs.
"Did you say something?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "No. Did you hear anything?"
"No," I say while eating.
"Then I didn't say anything," he replies.
"Why do you always say this? I never get it," I say.
He doesn't reply. He eats quietly and then says, "Hey, don't eat this one. It's a bit spicy. You can't handle it."
"Mmm, so caring, boyfriend. Just now I said I can't handle spicy food, and you already noted it down. Quite impressive, Yuan. Trust me, I'm totally impressed," I say, raising both thumbs.
"Do I really need to impress you? You were impressed with me long before we even met," he says confidently.
I don't reply and focus on my food.
He never leaves a chance to make me blush, I murmur to myself...