"What’s the matter?" Ye Fei asked instinctively.
Liu Yiru’s face turned red, but she didn’t respond. Seeing her blush, Ye Fei assumed she needed to use the restroom. Reluctantly, he released his arm from around her waist and said, "Then hurry back."
"Okay," Liu Yiru replied, lowering her head and walking away quickly, without even waiting for Xiao Fang.
After waiting at the spot for about five minutes, Ye Fei realized that Liu Yiru wasn’t coming back anytime soon. It seemed he could take the opportunity to do something else. He instructed Xiao Fang to wait there and quickly returned to the clay figurine craftsman.
Seeing Ye Fei, the craftsman was taken aback and asked, "Young man, are you looking for your girlfriend?"
"Huh? How did you know I was looking for her?" Ye Fei was puzzled. How could he have known that he wasn’t with Liu Yiru just now?
"Ah, no, I just saw that you weren’t together and thought you might have gotten separated," the craftsman quickly covered, realizing he had slipped up. "But don’t worry, this street is very safe. She’ll be fine."
The craftsman’s words made sense, and Ye Fei didn’t think much of it. He smiled and said, "Actually, I wanted to ask if you could make a figurine as lifelike as before without someone posing for it?"
"Of course, as long as I’ve seen it, I can make it," the craftsman replied, picking up the Zhang Fei figurine he had made earlier.
"I didn’t have a real person to look at for this one, either."
"Fair enough," Ye Fei smiled and asked him to make another figurine of him and Liu Yiru, specifying his request.
The craftsman paused for a moment upon hearing Ye Fei’s demand but quickly got to work. Soon, the new figurine was complete. It was still a portrait of Ye Fei and Liu Yiru, but this time, the two were depicted kissing.
After finishing, the craftsman didn’t immediately hand the figurine to Ye Fei. Instead, he hesitated and asked, "Young man, forgive my curiosity, but why do you want a figurine like this? You two seem very close. If you often do this, what’s the point of having a figurine?"
Ye Fei smiled bitterly. "We don’t often do this. Right now, she only lets me hold her waist. I’ve never even kissed her. And even this much is the result of years of pursuing her."
"I see. Well, your girlfriend seems to care about you a lot. If you’re more bold, you might make some progress," the craftsman said, his words implying something more. "But don’t rush things. Good girls like your girlfriend are rare these days. You should cherish her."
"I know. Even without you saying it, I’ll treat her well for a lifetime," Ye Fei replied, smiling as he took the figurine from the craftsman and paid the same price as before.
"But thank you anyway!"
Watching Ye Fei leave, the craftsman shook his head and chuckled.
"What a unique young couple. They clearly want to take things further but are too shy to do so, resorting to a figurine as a memento. Well, at least I got three sales out of it."
Ye Fei, who had already walked away, didn’t hear the craftsman’s words. He soon returned to where Liu Yiru was waiting.
When she saw him approaching from a distance, she didn’t ask any questions but walked up to him and linked her arm through his. She became even quieter than before, with a faint blush lingering on her stunning face.
For Ye Fei, however, this was pure bliss. Although holding Liu Yiru earlier had been thrilling, he hadn’t been able to touch any sensitive areas.
At that moment, he had thought that if he wanted to change their relationship completely, he would need to create more intimacy to gradually alter her perception of him—from a son who needed protection to a strong man who could shield her from the world. He just hadn’t found the right opportunity yet.
Now, with his arm nestled in hers, Ye Fei felt his chance had come.
Using the natural swinging motion of walking, he let his arm gently brush against the enticing fullness of her chest.
Although their clothes were thick, it was enough to satisfy him.
Liu Yiru seemed to sense something and her nearly perfect face turned even redder. However, she didn’t let go of Ye Fei’s arm; instead, she held it tighter, pressing his arm fully into the deep valley between her breasts.
For the rest of the evening, Xiao Fang took them to a few more interesting places, but both Ye Fei and Liu Yiru were too preoccupied to find anything particularly fascinating.
By a little after nine in the evening, they returned to the hotel.
Upon arrival, Xiao Fang took her leave. Although Ye Fei knew the hotel covered her tour guide fee, he still gave her a generous tip, sending her off with a pleasant surprise.
After grabbing a quick bite in the hotel’s first-floor restaurant, the two of them went upstairs. Their rooms were directly opposite each other, even closer than their bedrooms at home, so there was no sense of unfamiliarity.
After wishing each other goodnight at the door, the mother and son each returned to their rooms.
Liu Yiru sat down by the bed, turned on the bedside lamp, and took out the figurine of the two of them embracing from her small bag. She gazed at it for a while, a happy smile appearing on her face.
After glancing nervously towards the door, she took out another figurine from her bag.
If Ye Fei had been there, he would have been extremely surprised, because the second figurine Liu Yiru took out was astonishingly similar to the one he had specially requested from the craftsman, only more vivid.
It even perfectly captured the extremely happy expression on Liu Yiru’s face as she was kissed by Ye Fei.
Placing the figurine on the bedside table, Liu Yiru rested her rounded chin on her hands, which were folded on the table. She looked at the statue that embodied her truest feelings, her face flushing with a mixture of happiness and shyness.
Now, she could be one hundred percent certain of her feelings. She had truly fallen in love with him, a man she absolutely should not love.
Otherwise, the pretend couple act wouldn’t have excited and delighted her so much. She wouldn’t have instinctively gone to the craftsman to order that figurine or fantasized about the feeling of his real kiss.
However, this heavy burden of love could only be silently borne by her alone. She couldn’t even tell him, because such a love would never be accepted by society. Even if she didn’t care, she couldn’t ruin his life because of it.
What would his future be like? Liu Yiru couldn’t help but fantasize about her son’s development.
Would he regain his strength, achieve great things, and easily dominate the Southeast Triangle and beyond? Would he then return, marry Lin Ling, and start a family?
At this thought, Liu Yiru’s heart ached.
By then, she would probably be old.
What would she do?
Take care of his and Lin Ling’s children while he continued to build his career?
It seemed like a normal and happy ending, didn’t it?
So why did her heart hurt so much?
With a soft sigh, Liu Yiru lay down and forced herself to stop thinking about things that caused her pain. She shifted her focus to the next day’s journey.
At the speed they were traveling, they would reach the foot of Changbai Mountain tomorrow. She wondered if there was really Bingling Grass there. She hoped there was, because only that could restore Ye Fei.
Regain his strength? Liu Yiru’s heart jolted.
Perhaps because the sense of happiness she had felt today had been so intense, she had actually forgotten the most important thing. He must be in great discomfort right now, she thought. Dongfang Ruolan had said that she needed to "treat" him every day.
Last night, she had been distracted because he seemed fine, but this morning, his complexion had clearly been off. Today, she absolutely had to help him.
With this thought, Liu Yiru quickly sat up.
After a brief moment of hesitation, she got up and walked out the door, heading towards Ye Fei’s room across the hall. She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. She had just decided to bury this inappropriate affection deep within her heart, yet now she had no choice but to confront the very thing she least wanted to face.
When she arrived at Ye Fei’s door, Liu Yiru was about to knock, but to her surprise, the door was unlocked. She simply turned the handle, and the door opened. She walked straight in.
"Ah!" The sight before her made Liu Yiru gasp in shock.
There, lying on the bed, was Ye Fei, wearing only a pair of shorts that he had pushed down to his knees. His right hand was gripping and moving rapidly the very thing that had made her heart race.
Ye Fei, "not expecting" Liu Yiru to enter so suddenly, was also taken aback. He didn’t have time to pull up his shorts and hastily covered himself with both hands.
However, he couldn’t completely conceal it, and a purplish-red head protruded from the side of his hand.
"Mom, I..." Ye Fei was extremely "flustered," beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he nervously watched Liu Yiru’s expression.
Seeing it again, Liu Yiru’s mindset was completely different from before. After all, she had personally experienced its power at noon yesterday. She couldn’t remain calm now. Her eyes instinctively fixed on it tightly.
After a while, she took a deep breath, sat down beside Ye Fei on the bed, and asked, "Is it very uncomfortable?"
"It’s swollen and very uncomfortable. Only this way can make it a little better," Ye Fei nodded, speaking with great shame. "Mom, I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be doing this."
Ye Fei’s nervousness, however, eased Liu Yiru. She smiled gently and said, "There’s no need to be so tense. Your Auntie Dongfang has told me everything about your condition. Mom understands that this is normal for you, so I won’t blame you."
"Mom, thank you!" Ye Fei said, genuinely touched. He truly was moved because he saw once again the meticulous care in his mother’s eyes.
"Silly child, why are you saying these things to mom?" Liu Yiru smiled and patted Ye Fei’s head, adding, "But in the future, it’s best not to do this. After all, it’s not a good habit."
"I understand," Ye Fei nodded, though a flicker of pain crossed his face.
"What’s wrong? Is it still very uncomfortable?" Liu Yiru asked, her concern evident.
Ye Fei nodded slightly. "Yeah, it feels like it’s about to explode."
"Well..." Liu Yiru’s face flushed with a deep blush, but she finally said, "Let mom help you, okay?"
"How can you help?" Ye Fei pretended not to understand.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.
Having made up her mind, Liu Yiru decided to be completely open. "Just like what you were doing just now."