Emma felt like she was developing a violent streak; she never knew this man had such a childish side to him.
Next time, she must record this side of him and let everyone see what their aloof business magnate is really like in private.
Just as Emma was about to take a deep breath, Jason's laughter stopped.
He turned his head again, this time with seriousness filling his eyes: "This is the first time I've picked you up right outside your office."
To avoid any suspicions, even when Jason drove Emma to work, he would stop the car a block away.
Indeed, this was the first time he had openly asked the driver to park right under her building to wait for her.
Emma was taken aback; she hadn't expected such an unexpected answer.
She reached out and gently hugged his neck: "I'm sorry."
"Hmm, I've been wronged," Jason said indifferently.
...
Emma felt she couldn't argue with that statement. She suddenly realized she could be quite the scoundrel.
*
However, to Emma's surprise, the car didn't head straight home but instead arrived at a shopping mall, not one of those filled with luxury brands like Henglong or Guojin, but one that Emma used to frequent.
Before, when Jason was on a business trip, Emma would occasionally be invited out by Hua Zheng to go shopping on weekends.
Both being recent graduates, Emma had worked part-time jobs throughout college and had various scholarships, so even with the cost of her grandmother's nursing home, she had managed to save tens of thousands of dollars.
Hua Zheng, on the other hand, was a spendthrift; her salary was never enough, and her monthly rent was still paid by her parents.
Fortunately, she was an only child, and her parents doted on her.
Thus, like many young women, she spent her monthly salary on eating, drinking, and buying clothes.
"Why did you think of coming here?" Emma asked with a smile as they entered the mall.
Jason turned to look at her: "Don't you like it here?"
He had heard Emma mention this place several times, so he assumed she particularly enjoyed shopping here.
Emma was bewildered; this mall was indeed decent, especially the food places on the seventh and eighth floors, where lines formed at every door, whether it was a weekend or a weekday.
Emma smiled, not denying it, and repeated her question: "Then why did you think of coming here?"
"I wanted to go on a date with you," Jason said indifferently.
To walk around in the crowd without worrying about others' gazes, to have an open and casual date.
Emma didn't say anything but reached out and took his arm.
Let them have a natural and comfortable date like this.
Instead of taking the elevator, they used the escalator to go up floor by floor.
Before reaching the upper floors, Jason asked: "Is there anything you want to eat?"
Emma just smiled without answering until they reached the seventh floor. The mall was oval-shaped, so as soon as they got upstairs, they could see the situation at the entrances of many shops from left to right.
At this moment, almost every shop had people sitting on stools outside, either leisurely playing with their phones or chatting.
Jason rarely went shopping like this and had never seen such a scene because he wouldn't waste too much time on meals, and there was always Tang Mian to make reservations for him at any restaurant he wanted to go to.
Thus, he had never experienced waiting in line for an hour just to have a meal.
"Do we have to wait in line?" Jason now realized that some things were not as he had imagined.
Emma held back her laughter and nodded.
They all had to wait in line.
However, Emma comforted him: "It's okay, we can get a number first and then go for a walk. This way, we save time and won't be bored waiting around."
So in the end, they chose a small hot pot restaurant, the kind where each person has their own individual hot pot.
When she took the number from the waiter and scanned the QR code on it with her phone, Jason glanced down and asked, "Is this a queue reminder applet?"
Emma nodded, amusedly looking at him and said, "You've never used it before, have you?"
Jason looked at the teasing on her face and replied nonchalantly, "I have Tang Mian."
Emma was utterly shocked by Jason's blatant mention of another man in front of her, his wife. It was simply asking for a lesson. However, Emma managed to suppress this emotion, deciding to discuss it later at home. So she took Jason's hand and strolled through the mall. On the seventh floor, there happened to be an arcade with a whole row of claw machines lined up against the wall, filled with various plush toys.
Although Emma originally had no interest in these games, Jason stopped her. "Do you want one?" Jason slightly lifted his chin towards the direction of the claw machines.
Emma looked at the young couples there and chuckled, "Are you going to get me a plush toy?"
Jason nodded.
Seeing him in such a rare leisurely mood, and since she had never played these games before because she didn't know how to and always felt like the money would be wasted, Emma decided to give it a try. No guy had ever won her a plush toy before because her first love was Jason. She had never associated Jason with claw machines before; it just seemed too mismatched. Especially at this moment, with him wearing a camel overcoat and a suit underneath, he looked formal and elegant. Since he entered the mall, he didn't seem like a shopper but more like someone inspecting the mall.
"How about this one?" Jason finally stopped in front of a machine with only one plush toy.
The toy was as tall as 1.5 meters and so big that it required a whole person to hold it.
It was a scissor claw machine, not the usual kind that picks up the toy with a claw, but one that cuts the string with scissors to drop the toy.
Emma thought that the larger the toy, the higher the difficulty. Jason seemed like someone who had never played before.
She whispered, "Why don't we pick another one?"
"Why?" Jason asked her.
Emma: "The larger the toy, the higher the difficulty. You don't have to challenge such a difficult one for your first time. Why don't we go to that machine?"
Emma pointed to a claw machine with smaller toys next to them.
Before they could decide, another couple came over. The girl held the boy's arm and said, "I want this big toy."
"Someone is playing with it, and when they're done, I'll cut it for you," the boy said patiently.
The girl worriedly said, "They won't take this big toy away, will they?"
The boy confidently said, "No, these claw machines are very difficult. Most people can't cut it. Later, I'll show you my skills."
Of course, the boy was just trying to show off in front of his girlfriend.
But Emma snorted coldly at the comment that most people couldn't cut it. Was Jason most people?
Emma's temper flared up, and her competitive spirit reached its peak.
Emma decided, "Honey, you should cut this one for me."
Jason looked at her tightly pursed lips and felt a surge in his heart. Her competitive and cute look was too much.
The next second, Emma put the coins in.
Jason slowly controlled the machine, and Emma's eyes were also tightly staring. The couple next to them also stopped chatting and started watching.
Until the scissors got closer, the girl behind said, "Why do I think he's going to cut it?"
"It's impossible, definitely not..." The boy's last word hadn't come out when the string in the machine suddenly broke.
Jason had cut it.
Even Emma jumped up at this moment, hugging his waist and also feeling incredulously shouting, "You really cut it."
When the staff brought the toy to Jason, he turned and handed it to Emma.
But after going out the door, he looked at the huge toy that almost blocked her and asked, "Shall I help you carry it?"
Emma shook her head behind the doll, "No need."
Then she looked at him seriously and said, "This is your medal of honor."
Jason looked at her amusingly.
Until Emma said very calmly, "Because it proves that my husband is the best at cutting dolls in this mall."
This tone, no matter how you listen to it, is proud.
"Have you ever played a claw machine before?" Emma asked, still curious as she sat in the hot pot restaurant.
This was a small pot hot pot place; Jason wasn't a fan of large communal hot pots, so Emma would always choose this type to accommodate his preferences.
Jason had already taken off his coat and placed it on the chair, where the waiter had covered it with a dust cover.
"No," Jason replied.
Emma had guessed as much, but she still thought he was incredibly skilled. The claw machine with large dolls was particularly challenging. Often, even if the scissors aligned with the string, it wouldn't cut.
Many people would spend dozens of coins without managing to cut a single doll.
Jason, being a first-timer, had managed it in one try.
Emma stared at his fingers resting on the table, from the plump and smooth nails to the slightly protruding knuckles on the back of his hand.
Such a beautiful pair of hands, could they have some kind of buff?
Emma couldn't help but press on: "So how did you manage to cut it?"
Jason, who was washing the cups with hot water, handed a cleaned one to Emma and slightly lifted his eyelids: "Should I say it was a lucky accident, do you believe that?"
Emma turned her head to look at the large doll sitting obediently on the chair beside her. Was it that easy to stumble upon?
When their hot pots were served, Emma had a medium-spicy red soup in front of her, while Jason had a clear soup base. Emma shook her head and said, "Your soup looks too bland."
"One should not make hasty judgments about certain things," Jason spoke calmly.
Emma didn't think much of it; although she was from the south, she loved spicy food. When she and Hua Zheng went out for hot pot, they would order a clear soup base symbolically, but in the end, they would stick to the spicy pot.
Jason looked at her directly: "You have to taste it for yourself."
"..."
Emma was a bit dazed; she found Jason's behavior too adept, a casual remark could flirt with her, making her feel like a complete novice, left with only blushing and a racing heart.
But who was Emma? The one thing she knew the least in her life was how to admit defeat.
She felt she had shown enough shyness for one day; if this continued, the brand that was 'Emma' would be tarnished.
So instead of lowering her eyes this time, she looked back: "How should I taste it?"
As she spoke, her tongue inadvertently pushed out and licked her lips.
Jason, who was about to pour water from the pot, paused at her ambiguous question. When his dark eyes looked over, Emma was looking back at him.
The decoration of the hot pot restaurant had a certain small bourgeoisie sentiment, with the overhead lights not being bright white but rather an ambiguous and soft yellow, casting on her ivory skin.
Beauty lies in the skin and in the bones.
Emma enjoyed this meal quite comfortably. Previously, when dining with Jason, she would worry about being recognized or someone secretly taking their photo and uploading it online.
Now that they were public, she felt no psychological burden.
It even made Emma feel as if she had been worrying about nothing before.
Around eight-thirty when they finished dinner, Jason called the waiter to pay the bill and asked her, "Is there anything else you want to play?"
Emma thought for a moment, play what?
Watch a movie?
Go to a KTV? Or hit the bar for a while.
But looking at Jason, she was left with only one thought: "I want to go home."
"Okay, let's go home," Jason nodded, put on his coat, reached out and took Emma's hand.
The driver was already waiting outside with the car, and once they got in, it smoothly headed towards home. While Jason was checking his emails, he suddenly felt a slight weight on his shoulder.
When he turned his head gently, he caught sight of Emma, fast asleep against his shoulder. She had truly exerted herself that day, and after having a full meal, she couldn't resist the drowsiness any longer and fell asleep on his shoulder.
She didn't wake up until they reached their home.
After the driver, Old Xu, parked the car and glanced back, Jason didn't speak but instead sent a text message. Shortly after, Old Xu received it, instructing him to go back first.
The car could stay parked outside.
Old Xu nodded and smiled at him, gently opened the door, got out, and left.
Jason took the time to reply to work emails and occasionally messaged Tang Mian, not keeping track of how much time had passed until Emma finally opened her eyes.
When she opened her eyes, it was pitch black in front of her, with only a faint light coming from the side.
"Are we home?" she asked.
Jason: "Just arrived."
Emma rubbed her eyes, her voice still thick with sleep: "Why didn't you wake me up?"
Jason didn't answer that question but instead reached out and rubbed her earlobe: "If you're tired, go home and rest."
So they got out of the car. Originally, Jason had walked around the front of the car to get into the driver's seat. But as soon as he opened the car door, Emma suddenly reached out and tugged at the edge of his coat, her two delicate fingers holding it.
Jason looked back at her, puzzled.
Until Emma whispered: "Do you think we're missing something?"
"What?"
His voice had just risen when his body was gently bumped, his back hitting the edge of the open car door, which was a bit hard, causing a slight pain in his lower back.
But at that moment, he couldn't care less about that, because Emma had grabbed the sides of his open coat and leaned up to kiss him.
She was a bit too forceful, even pressing their noses together when their lips met.
Jason had already relaxed with a light laugh, preparing to receive her kiss, but the next second the soft touch on his lips was gone. When he opened his eyes, Emma had returned to her original position.
Under the dark night, her eyes shimmered with a watery brightness.
Seeing him looking at her, Emma suddenly smiled at him: "Alright, I'm home now, you should go back too."
"..."
Was she putting on a show?
Emma also realized today that they not only lacked an ordinary and sweet date, but they had also never experienced the feeling of lovers parting reluctantly at the doorstep.
Emma even seriously waved at him: "Thank you for driving me back, you should go now."
For a moment, Jason was almost convinced by her superb acting and wanted to clap for her.
So the next moment, he reached out and pulled her into his arms, turning at the same time so that Emma was pressed against the rear car door. Their bodies were tightly pressed together, and he lowered his head, first kissing her nose: "A kiss between lovers when parting is not like that."
Emma was slightly startled, then raised her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly when she lifted her eyelids.
Jason lowered his head at that second.
His lips pressed against hers, and his tongue unceremoniously probed into her mouth, entwining with her tongue. The originally cold moon above seemed to be shrouded in a layer of charm amidst the ambiguous and lingering sounds of their kiss.
Emma's hands were originally against his chest, but at this moment, she couldn't make any rejecting moves.
He teased her tongue and lips, extremely gentle and lingering, to the point that the air in her mouth seemed to be sucked away, and her brain, due to the gradual lack of oxygen, had already stopped the instinct to think.
Until Emma's legs felt weak and she couldn't hold on, trying to push him away, Jason still pressed her tightly against the car door.
"Jason..." Emma finally managed to squeeze his name out of the gap.
Jason listened to her voice, soft to the point of pleading, and then finally, contentedly, he released her slightly, whispering in her ear, the hot breath falling on her earlobe.
"This is how our kisses should be."
Under Emma's silent gaze, Jason patted her shoulder, and he would park the car in the yard. So Emma went in first and walked to the steps of the house.
She didn't go upstairs but stood there waiting.
When Jason pulled the car in and got out, he saw her standing gracefully under the night sky.
Jason walked over slowly and smiled, "What's up now?"
"I wanted to wait for you to enter together," Emma looked at him and said with a gentle smile.
For a moment, Jason felt a warmth in his heart.
Often, when two people are together, it seems that their intelligence can be halved, and things they would never disdain to do become enjoyable.
Just like how they never understood why elementary school students would hold hands to go to the bathroom together.
Now, Emma stood at the doorstep, only a step away from home, insisting on waiting for Jason to enter together.
Perhaps this is the naivety between two people in love.
After entering, Emma was indeed tired and decided to take a shower first. However, Jason didn't rush to wash up but went to the bathroom first, as he had some work to handle at ten o'clock in the evening.
When Emma came out of the bathroom, she saw several WeChat message notifications on her phone.
She opened them and found that they were voice messages from Hua Zhen.
Hua Zhen: "Emma, you actually went to have hot pot today."
This sentence made Emma pause, especially when Hua Zhen added an envious emoji below.
Emma replied to her: "How did you know?"
In a short while, Hua Zhen sent her a link, which she opened and found was shared from Weibo. After opening it through Weibo, she saw that it was a marketing account that had photographed her and Jason having hot pot, and her carrying a large doll from the claw machine.
"Tell me quickly, her doll must have been bought, it's impossible to get from a claw machine."
"As far as I know, this doll should be from a claw machine, but I thought no one could actually get one."
"I think they are so sweet. Look at Jason's expression as he looks at her, so gentle, staring at his wife the whole time."
"I'm envious now, there really is such a thing as Cinderella in this world. Of course, the premise is that you have such top-tier beauty."
Emma looked at the comments on Weibo, occasionally there were one or two sour comments that they must be putting on a show, going out in public to eat such affordable hot pot and playing with such childish things.
It must be a show.
However, this comment was also severely criticized, no matter what, most netizens still hold a blessing attitude.
Jason didn't come back until after eleven o'clock. When he came back, Emma was still browsing the web.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, seeing her so focused.
Emma lifted the tablet towards him: "I was caught shopping with you."
"Let me see." Jason frowned.
He never liked to be exposed in the media, but the development of new media is too fast, as long as you have a smartphone, anyone can become a whistleblower.
Jason: "I'll let Tang Mian handle it as soon as possible."
Emma said helplessly upon hearing this: "Tang Mian might be asleep by now, forget it. Besides, you look so handsome in these photos."
Jason glanced at the photos, where he was standing in a dark coat in the bright mall, particularly eye-catching.
Moreover, he was very tall, with a clear height difference with Emma, who was 1.7 meters tall.
"It takes skill to take an ugly photo of me," Jason said indifferently.
"..."
Emma looked at him casually: "Jason, I think you've changed."
You've become too.
Fortunately, Jason didn't talk to her much and went to the bathroom to take a shower. After he came out and got into bed, his phone on the bedside table rang.
It was actually Zhong Lan who called.
Zhong Lan had gone abroad these days, probably due to the time difference.
As soon as Jason answered the phone, he heard Zhong Lan's joyful voice on the other end: "Son, congratulations, you are now a person with an official status."
Jason laughed, with a bit of helplessness.
Before he could speak, Zhong Lan interrupted him impatiently: "So when are you planning to have the wedding?"
"We haven't considered it for the moment..." Jason wanted to say that they hadn't thought about it yet and needed to discuss it with Emma.
But Zhong Lan interrupted him in surprise
Zhong Lan had been accompanying Huo Zhenzhong on a business trip in the United States for the past few days. She had caught a slight cold last night and took some medicine, so she slept in until after nine in the morning. To her surprise, her phone was buzzing non-stop.
Messages flooded her WeChat, from friends she regularly chatted with to those she rarely heard from—they were all inquiring about Jason's sudden marriage.
It was only then that Zhong Lan became aware of the situation back home. After dealing with these trivial matters, she remembered to call Jason.
Due to the silence in the room, Zhong Lan's voice carried through the phone, loud enough for Emma to overhear.
Both she and Jason heard the words "scumbag" almost simultaneously.
Even Jason was momentarily stunned before he burst into laughter, asking, "What are you talking about?"
"Isn't it? I'm thinking about you. If you two don't have a wedding soon, people might think it's Jing Xi who doesn't want a wedding. They might even think of me as one of those wicked mothers-in-law."
At that moment, Zhong Lan felt as if she had just come to her senses. She had been so focused on teasing her son that she hadn't realized she would be implicated in this matter as well.
The media loved stories about ordinary girls marrying into wealthy families and being mistreated by their mothers-in-law.
Moreover, when she was in Hong Kong, she had many acquaintances whose children and nephews liked to date actresses from the entertainment industry. They had no shortage of complaints when they gathered.
Such secrets of the wealthy were the favorites of Hong Kong tabloids.
Zhong Lan said indignantly, "No way, you must have a wedding as soon as possible. Even for the sake of my reputation, you must do it quickly."
Although she had indeed been dissatisfied with Emma in the past, she had never opposed their wedding.
Zhong Lan felt she refused to take the blame.
Jason felt that if they continued this conversation, it would become unclear, so he said helplessly, "Mom, it's already past eleven at night back home, we need to rest, and we have to work tomorrow."
Fortunately, Zhong Lan also knew that their rest was important and didn't say more, hanging up the phone quickly.
However, Jason couldn't help but smile wryly when he heard her mention the word "wedding" just before hanging up.
After he put down his phone and turned to look at Emma, he asked, "Did you hear all that?"
Emma smiled lightly at him, "I'll follow your lead."
Her attitude was not the same as before, when she was hesitant. Jason had mentioned it to her before, but when she showed a slight frown, he would change the subject.
This was the first time her attitude was so clear.
Jason said without hesitation, "Next year, how about next year?"
A wedding is a huge project, requiring the early invitation of guests, the selection of the venue, and various tedious matters. Even the choice of wedding favors is very particular.
He didn't want to rush into it and leave any regrets.
It would be better to prepare slowly and make everything perfect.
Emma looked at his serious expression and nodded, "Okay, next year."
Winter had already arrived quietly, and the word "next year" was not far away.