"Your highness, this is Chonglin, a local who has been living in this town for 60 years. Grandpa will help us go through the forest," Hu Jingguo pronounced.
Chonglin greeted both the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess. "It is my pleasure that I can be useful to the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess. I have been living here for 60 years and know the forest route as I used to pick the herbs from there," Chonglin proclaimed.
"Will you be able to walk? The forest is dense and if anything happens, then you know the consequences," asserted Sheng Li.
"Your highness, please trust this old man. I might be old by age, but my body is still strong," Chonglin replied. Sheng Li hummed and told him to explain the route. Chonglin nodded and explained the entire route to the Crown Prince.
"We will leave this place in the early morning. Wang Hao, take him with you. Stay here for today," Sheng Li told Chonglin, who agreed to that. General Wang and General Xiao walked out of the room along with Chonglin while Hu Jingguo stayed there.
"Are you sure he can be trusted?" Sheng Li asked Hu Jingguo.
"Your highness, the Generals and I were told by many locals the name of this grandpa who knows the forest route. I know the day's event has scared you but trust me that grandpa will help us cross the forest," Hu Jingguo pronounced and lifted his head.
Sheng Li gave a nod to him. "Crown Princess, may I know how your hand is?" Hu Jingguo queried.
"Pain has gone. Thank you," Ying Lili replied and passed a tiny smile to her friend. A loud sound of thunder was heard by them.
"Your highness, rain is going to fall. Do you remember we used to play in the rain? It was so much fun," Hu Jingguo told Ying Lili who smiled recalling her childhood days.
"I remember. Mother used to scold me so much every time I played in the rain," Ying Lili stated. The smile from her lips faded, and sadness surrounded her. Sheng Li glared at Hu Jingguo and dismissed him from there. Sheng Li went towards the door and locked it.
"Because you could have fallen sick, your mother scolded you!" Ying Lili heard Sheng Li who lifted her eyes to look at him. She hummed at him and went to the bed. "Do you like to play in the rain?" Ying Lili asked Sheng Li who refused immediately.
"It irritates me," Sheng Li replied and sat on the chair around the table. He checked the map once again and checked the points that were told by Chonglin for the forest route.
"Rain gives you a romantic feeling," Ying Lili said, grabbing the attention of Sheng Li. "Isn't it?" Ying Lili asked, looking at Sheng Li.
"I do not know. It is my first time hearing this, but it does not mean that I will try it. We have to leave tomorrow and I do not want you to fall sick on the journey," Sheng Li affirmed.
"Who wants to get romantic with you? I was just saying in general. I know you do not like all this," Ying Lili yanked at him. Ying Lili had picked the fruit bowl, which had cherries in her hand from the bedside table, and started eating them. Her words provoked Sheng Li, and he stood up from the chair.
"You think I'm not romantic?" Sheng Li asked as he sat beside Ying Lili who hummed and tasted the cherry. Sheng Li chuckled at how easily Ying Lili said that. "Then teach me how to get romantic with my wife?" Sheng Li requested. Ying Lili threw the seed of cherry in the other bowl and gazed at Sheng Li.
"What? You act strange sometimes," Ying Lili stated and brought a cherry closer to her lips. "Romance is not learned. It comes when you love someone. Do you have to love me?" Ying Lili asked him and put the cherry in her mouth. The rain started pouring down. The sound of it hitting the roof was soothing, which brought a smile to Ying Lili's lips.
She kept eating cherries and asked Sheng Li if he wanted to eat when she realized how intense Sheng Li's gaze was on her. She felt her cheeks getting hotter by that intense gaze. "Aren't you feeling that it's getting hot here? Could you please open that window there?" Ying Lili asked and put the last cherry in her mouth when she felt Sheng Li's hand on her cheek.
"But I know how to flutter your heart." Sheng Li's thumb caressed Ying Lili's cheek. "I know how to make your heart race crazily." Sheng Li had come closer to her, leaving an infinitesimal distance between their faces. Ying Lili gradually chewed the cherry in her mouth and gulped it.
Ying Lili found how Sheng Li's gaze was boring through her soul, which was making her nervous in a strange way. "Did I say something wrong?" Ying Lili wondered when her lips felt the touch of Sheng Li's lips.
As Sheng Li parted his lips from her, he whispered, "Your lips are tasting like a cherry. It makes me want to…" he paused and observed Ying Lili's reaction.
"W-why did you pause?" Ying Lili asked with a stutter.
"… eat them up." Ying Lili's cheeks flushed red upon hearing that. Oppositely, Sheng Li did not wait for Ying Lili's response this time and captured her lips. The way he was kissing her, making her vulnerable for those kisses and at the same time filled her with euphoric feelings.
When he bit her lower lip, she moaned and immediately opened her eyes. She never did this! She looked at Sheng Li whose eyes were still closed, lost in those kisses. Another moan left out of her mouth when Sheng Li licked her lower lip which he had bitten a second ago. She had lost her guard and Sheng Li took the chance to enter her mouth.
Her mind was blasting off from the pleasure that was building inside her. And she lost it completely when Sheng Li's tongue touched hers. Savoring the taste of the insides of Ying Lili's mouth, Sheng Li gently pulled away as the two needed air after that heated kiss. Their breaths were hitting against each other's lips.
She felt Sheng Li's cheek on hers as she was pulled closer by Sheng Li for a hug. "That was sweet," she heard him whisper in her ear.