The engagement ceremony had not yet begun. Outside Tinghu Waterside Pavilion, cold rain slanted through the air as Cen Shu handed Gu Jinyi a cup of hot tea.
"Your lipstick looks lovely today."
"Thank you."
Cen Shu took the tea she had left and ran his thumb over the lipstick mark on the rim. "May I kiss you?"
*
On a winter morning, Cen Shu got up and went around to the other side of the bed to fetch his dressing gown, only to find that Gu Jinyi was lying on one of its sleeves.
"Sorry, did I wake you?"
"It's all right. Could you pour me a glass of water?"
Gu Jinyi drank from his hand. The water dampened the corner of her lips, and Cen Shu took out a handkerchief to wipe it away for her.
She smiled. "Thank you."
He nodded. "You're welcome."
*
After they married, the two of them kept up a rate of three or four times a week. When Cen Shu began unbuttoning her for the fifth time that week, Gu Jinyi looked a little confused. "We've already done it four times this week."
"Sorry, I must have miscounted."
His hands did not stop, and he remained impeccably courteous as he spoke:
"Would you mind one more time this week?"
Theme: A story for every taste
