Wax… Candles?

Ruan Tang stared in shock as she pushed Xu Lai away, annoyed. "What kind of person do you take me for? Even for an old married couple, playing with things like that is going too far!"

Xu Lai was stunned.

He said cautiously, "We're just having a candlelight dinner. That shouldn't be too much, right?"

Ruan Tang: ???

Confused, she asked, "A candlelight dinner? Then why did you say 'candles'?"

"...Well, if I hadn't said candles, should I have just said 'dinner'?"

"..."

Ruan Tang paused, considering his point. It seemed to make sense.

Wait a minute... Does that mean I got the wrong idea?

At that moment, Ruan Tang wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. It was far more embarrassing than the time she'd fainted in the haunted house.

"Honey, what were you thinking just now? Could it be..."

Xu Lai looked at her with a strange expression.

When he went to pick up Yiyi, he had deliberately bought the candles. After all, the main course tonight was charcoal-grilled steak. He imagined adding a row of candles, turning off the lights to set the mood, and then lying by the hot spring pool to watch the stars and moon together. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

"I didn't! It wasn't me! You're talking nonsense!" Ruan Tang shot back with a swift triple denial.

Xu Lai's lips suddenly curled into a soft laugh. "Mhmm, I understand."

Seeing him smile like that, Ruan Tang blushed and started pummeling him with her fists. "You jerk, stop laughing! You're just doing this to bully me!"

"Alright, alright, it's all my fault."

Xu Lai didn't resist, letting Ruan Tang vent her frustrated embarrassment.

After ten minutes of this, Xu Lai looked at Ruan Tang, who was exhausted and glistening with sweat. Having remained silent the entire time, he now said with great exaggeration, "Oww, that hurts so much! Honey, please spare me."

"..."

Ruan Tang was so angry she almost fainted. This man was infuriating, mocking her like that…

Just as she clenched her fists for another round, Xu Lai suddenly lowered his head and kissed her thin red lips.

The touch was light, as brief as a dragonfly skimming water.

Ruan Tang froze.

All her negative emotions vanished. Instead, she felt as if she were lying on soft clouds, basking in the warmth of the sun. The sensation was so wonderful that, for a moment, Ruan Tang completely forgot about hitting him.

"Good girl, go take our daughter for a bath. I'll go prepare dinner," Xu Lai said softly, ruffling Ruan Tang's hair.

"Hmm," Ruan Tang unconsciously responded.

Only when she was heading to the bathroom with a towel did her expression suddenly darken.

Wait a minute—the way Xu Lai just patted my head… wasn't it the exact same way he pats our daughter, Yiyi? I treat you like a boyfriend, and you're coddling me like a child?

Ruan Tang rolled her eyes and mentally filed away this 'grudge' in her little black book.

「Dusk descended.」

The bright moon shone high in the sky, and stars speckled the inky night.

In the courtyard, nearly a hundred candles had been arranged. On the table, surrounded by the flickering candlelight, lay an abundance of delicious dishes and a bottle of red wine that had been left to breathe.

Xu Yiyi and Ruan Tang sat together.

Xu Lai smiled. "The food is served. Let's eat!"

"Daddy, aren't we waiting for Auntie?" Yiyi said sweetly. "She hasn't come back yet."

"Ruan Lan has evening classes."

"Oh, okay."

Xu Yiyi didn't hesitate any longer. She picked up her knife and fork and started on her steak, but finding them awkward, she soon switched to chopsticks.

Ruan Tang cut the steak on her own plate, then placed the pieces in front of Yiyi. "Here, eat this."

"Thank you, Mommy," Xu Yiyi said.

Ruan Tang rested her chin on her hand, looking from her daughter to Xu Lai, an incredibly gentle smile on her face.

Under the moonlight and by the glow of the candles, the ones before her were the people she held dearest in her heart.

Ruan Tang's mood was inexplicably wonderful. Her eyes curved into crescents as she savored the delicious food and admired the view, occasionally clinking glasses with Xu Lai to take a small sip of red wine.

The red wine was specially crafted. It had no astringency at all, and upon entering the mouth, it released a subtle yet exceptionally unique fragrance.

Xu Yiyi was an exceptionally smart child. Her big eyes twinkled as she quickly finished her meal and hopped down from her stool. "I'm full! Daddy, Mommy, take your time."

"Our daughter is making room for us," Xu Lai said with a wry smile.

A lovely blush, born from the wine, colored Ruan Tang's cheeks as she gazed at the moon. "The scenery tonight is truly beautiful," she murmured.

The moonlight, the starry sky, and the distant lights of countless homes composed a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

"There's something even more beautiful."

Xu Lai snapped his fingers. With a soft chime, Ruan Tang saw a meteor streak across the distant horizon.

She was about to close her eyes to make a wish when she saw countless more streaks of light shooting across the night sky. It was… a meteor shower!

The meteor shower lasted for a full hour. Ruan Tang watched, completely mesmerized, until Xu Lai spoke at just the right moment, "If you want to make a wish, you'd better be quick. This is the last one."

Ruan Tang quickly closed her eyes, pressing her hands together.

A moment later, she opened her eyes and turned to Xu Lai. "Aren't you going to make a wish?"

"I already did."

"What did you wish for?" Ruan Tang asked curiously.

"I wished for you and Yiyi to live for a million years."

"Pfft!" Ruan Tang let out a delicate laugh. "That wish is too much. The meteor won't grant it."

"If it doesn't, I'll smash it and find another way."

After a pause, Xu Lai asked, "What about your wish?"

Ruan Tang blinked. "It's a secret," she said. "A wish won't come true if you say it out loud."

Xu Lai didn't speak.

Won't come true? He stared at the fading trail of the last meteor and fell silent. He would make her wish come true. No matter the cost.

***

Although Mount Haitang was by the sea, Haitang Court was sheltered from strong winds. Only a gentle breeze blew through, and it wasn't as cold as other places along the coast.

Having had her fill of food and wine, Ruan Tang sat in her chair wearing just a thin nightgown. "It would be nice if there was some music," she mused.

"What kind of music would you like to hear?" Xu Lai asked. "Classical, modern, pop, or perhaps… something from a more exotic instrument?"

"An instrument from where?" Ruan Tang asked, surprised.

Xu Lai didn't answer. He took a thirty-centimeter-long instrument that resembled a jade flute from his Storage Space. It was a unique instrument from a small tribe on the fringes of the Immortal Domain. In their tongue, it was known by a name that translated to 'Thirteen Resonances,' which on Earth would simply be called a thirteen-holed jade flute.

During his early years traveling the Immortal Domain, Xu Lai had been fortunate enough to hear it played once, and in exchange for a Supreme Emperor's token, he had obtained this very jade flute.

Xu Lai sat on the edge of the hot spring pool, his legs dangling in the air with the vast sea stretching out below.

He took a deep breath and, under Ruan Tang's expectant gaze, began to play.

After listening for less than a minute, Ruan Tang's expression slowly filled with astonishment. Xu Lai could actually play, and... he was incredibly good!

She couldn't help but sit down next to him, slowly closing her eyes.

One minute.

Three minutes.

Ten minutes.

Ruan Tang remained immersed in the gentle, soothing rhythm. The flute's melody was resonant, as if it were telling the story of a person's life.

From obscurity,

To the first glimmers of talent.

From the peak of invincibility,

To a return to the ordinary.

Listening, she found her eyes inexplicably growing moist. For some reason, the story Xu Lai once told to lull her and Yiyi to sleep—the one about Venerable Qingfeng—surfaced in her mind.

Ruan Tang opened her eyes.

Gazing at Xu Lai, bathed in moonlight as he played the jade flute, she found herself growing entranced.

Just what has this man been through to be able to play a melody that sounds so serene on the surface, yet is filled with such turbulence and a boundless, hidden loneliness? You asked me what I wished for earlier, and I didn't tell you. My wish… it was for you…

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