His words, his tone, surprised Yurong. She looked up at him but didn’t find a forced smile on his face. Instead, she saw genuine sincerity, which made her a bit puzzled.

"After almost a year of being together, living together, it’s significant for me to be able to lie next to you..." Li Yan held her tightly. "It’s already rare and cherished by me. I don’t have to have it that way; last night... it was because I wasn’t in a good mood, and I didn’t expect you to come upstairs. Your hand wandering made me misunderstand, which is why I ended up disrespecting you."

Yurong shook her head hard, tears welling up in her eyes. Just talking about cherishing made her feel deeply about treasuring both parents and loved ones. Listening to Li Yan say he cherished their time together moved her deeply because she had always been nervous and hadn’t appreciated it. His later words were an explanation out of respect for her, but she felt it was quite courteous!

She didn’t want to hear courteous words from him; between spouses, the more polite you are, the more distant you become. Affection dries up when you’re too courteous; some joy, some quarrels make it real.

"I... didn’t feel disrespected... If you need, I can help you first..." Yurong said, and her hand moved under the blanket.

Li Yan grasped her hand, holding it tenderly: "Fool, I’m not a lust-driven beast who can’t control himself. I didn’t mean to hurt you out of anger. What I said was sincere. I admit, lying beside you, I’m inevitably tempted by you. But I can still control my desires, maybe just taking a small advantage. I believe that one day, when we are both satisfied, we’ll naturally be together."

She quickly shook her head, saying, "It’s okay..."

A husband can’t make love to his wife, and touching or a small caress is taking advantage? Is this even marriage? She always felt such respect was instead a kind of estrangement. She used to passively accept his flirtations, but now she felt those moments of intimacy were worth savoring and reminiscing.

"Don’t worry, I won’t abandon you. I will make sure you become the grandmother of my grandchildren, even when we’re old, I’ll hold you like this as we sleep."

Listening to his words, Yurong felt her eyes blur, thinking that if she could grow old slowly with him like this, it was worth it. She recalled a song:

The most romantic thing I can think of

Is growing old with you

Collecting bits of laughter along the way

To slowly talk about while sitting on a rocking chair

The most romantic thing I can think of

Is growing old with you

Until we’re too old to go anywhere

You still treat me like your precious treasure

"Can we be together... grow old slowly?" Yurong murmured, her eyes already wet. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Li Yan kissed her lightly and said solemnly, "Of course we can!"

"Will you still love me when I become a haggard old woman?"

"Of course I will. Even as a haggard old woman, you’ll be the most beautiful one! By then, don’t mind my growing plump."

"What about when I’m old and my face is full of wrinkles?" Yurong asked dreamily again.

Li Yan smiled and said, "I’ll always be with you. By then, I’ll be relieved, no need to worry about handsome guys stealing you away. Any handsome old man who comes along, I’ll knock him down one by one!"

"..."

"The most romantic thing I can think of is growing old with you, collecting bits of laughter along the way, to slowly talk about while sitting on a rocking chair... The most romantic thing I can think of is growing old with you. Until we’re too old to go anywhere, you still treat me like your precious treasure..."

Listening to her recite this like a poem, Li Yan thought for a moment and joined in: "I’m afraid I won’t make it in time, I want to hold you. Until I feel your wrinkles have the trace of time. Until I feel the trace of snow on your hairline, until my vision becomes blurry, until I can’t breathe anymore, let us be inseparably together... Even if I could give up the whole world, at least there’s you, worth cherishing. I’m afraid time passes too quickly, not enough to see you clearly; I’m afraid time slows, worrying day and night about losing you. I wish we could turn gray overnight and never part."

"I wish we could turn gray overnight and never part..." Yurong stared at him blankly and repeated the phrase.

"So... are we singing a duet tonight?" Li Yan coughed dryly.

"..." Yurong was speechless, feeling like laughing. This guy is always like this; when someone is slightly moved, he starts making you laugh!

With his interruption, her emotional sentiment dissipated significantly. She blinked a few times, letting the moist glint of tears become less noticeable. She sniffed, turned over, facing away from him: "I’m not talking nonsense with you anymore; it’s decided this way. I’m going to sleep."

"Of course, we’ll sleep together!" Li Yan tossed her magazine on the bedside table, turned off the light, and naturally embraced her from behind as they spooned.

Feeling his arms, his warmth, Yurong could finally relax a little. He wasn’t trying to be polite or distant; they could still maintain these intimate days!

She began to learn to appreciate, closing her eyes to savor the feeling of falling asleep in his arms.

"Have you watched the premiere? Tomorrow I’ll..."

While savoring the feeling of falling asleep together, Yurong suddenly heard him speak. She didn’t listen properly and mistook one of the tones, thinking he said: Have you watched a hand-______? Tomorrow I’ll show you a hand-______...

She furrowed her brow immediately and blurted out, "You’re disgusting!"

Li Yan was baffled: "Our movie is called ’Springtime Leaked,’ but it’s not a pornographic film, so how is it disgusting? There’s no rating system in our country; pornographic films can’t even pass censorship."

"..." Realizing it was ’premiere,’ Yurong couldn’t help but feel embarrassed; luckily, the lights were already off. She immediately shut up, pretending to be dead and not responding... (To be continued. To find out what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com for more Chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)