Because I Cannot Hurt You

Zhiyuan frowned and pulled the plate back towards him. "Xinyi don't be stubborn. It isn't good for you to eat it if it's not cooked well."

"I know what's good for me and what's not," she said as she pulled the plate back again. "I don't want to waste your cooking, especially when you have prepared it for the first time! So hand it back."

Just like that, they were playing push and pull with the poor plate stuck in between their game. Once Xinyi would pull the plate, then the next time, Zhiyuan would.

"Give it here!" Xinyi whined. "Why are you taking my plate away?"

"No way!" Zhiyuan protested heavily.

He gritted his teeth. The last thing he wanted was for her to fall sick because of him. The date was supposed to be romantic, not where she coughed in sickness because of his food. It would be the worst if she had to be admitted to a hospital.

"Xinyi. I won't let you eat it and that is final," his voice was stern and unyielding.

Xinyi stared at him, feeling agonized and wronged. Her brows furrowed in dissatisfaction. "Alright then." 

She left her grasp over the plate and got up from her seat. She began to walk away, making Zhiyuan shocked. "Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Huh?"

He quickly followed her and pulled her back. "Back home but why?"

Xinyi shook off her wrist and looked away. "Why not? You brought me here for dinner, but you are leaving me hungry."

His mouth twitched. "I am not leaving you hungry. I said the chef will prepare another dish for you."

She glared at him. "And I said that I want to eat the curry cooked by you only. I have decided that it will be my dinner tonight. I don't want anything else. So doesn't that mean that you are leaving me hungry?"

"..."

He didn't know how to retort to that. For the first time, he saw her this stubborn and for what? A bad curry that tastes horrible.

"Xinyi, I cannot let you eat something that can make you sick," he tried to placate his angry wife, trying to sound logical.

"I will not get sick. It's just a little flavor problem. Not like it is inedible. But it's okay. You don't want me to eat it, so I won't. I will head back."

Even though he was saying this for her own good, she made him feel as if he was doing some blasphemy.

Why is my first date like this? First, I failed in cooking and now my wife is threatening to leave, he sobbed.

Zhiyuan thought for a long time and he combed his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Alright…"

Xinyi beamed and nodded hard. "Good."

"But! You won't eat everything! Just a portion-"

"I will eat everything because that is my dinner. Wouldn't I be left unsatisfied and hungry then?"

You…

Zhiyuan grumbled. "I kind of forgot to taste it because I was so nervous. I was just happy to know that it looked like curry so in that excitement…."

Xinyi softly chuckled at first, but then she couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Zhiyuan you...are so cute."

He pursed his lips.

Do men really like being called cute?

He sighed in defeat. It was his first date, and he didn't want it to get over even before it started. 

They went back and Xinyi happily chomped onto the food. Maybe because she knew that Zhiyuan painstakingly made it for her, she didn't feel any proportion problem now.

After the dinner got over that seemingly only Xinyi enjoyed, they got up. Xinyi was mesmerized to see the city view from the terrace. The night view of the city shining with all the lights on felt as if the city looked like some huge necklace, spread across the far land. It glittered like gold with the flickering lights.

Zhiyuan was lost in a trance as he watched her slender figure leaning against the railing, watching the city view with a bright smile on her face. With his feet light on the ground, he walked and stepped behind her. 

"Zhiyuan. The view is so beautiful!"

A doting smile etched on his lips. He held her shoulder and made her turn to face him. "Indeed. But there is something else that would look even more beautiful."

"What?"

Zhiyuan stared at her and without breaking his eye contact, he slowly took out a small box from his pocket. Xinyi curiously looked at it. He opened it anst immediately, the ring's brilliance caught her off guard. The beautiful gleam of the diamond almost blinded her.

"T-this…"

She looked at him in utter shock as she saw a ring out of nowhere.

"For you."

She stuttered. "M-me?"

Zhiyuan smiled and took out the ring from the box. He gently held her left hand and gazed at the wedding band that was currently put on her ring finger. He thought about it and took off the old wedding ring. Then he held the new special ring and smoothly slipped in her finger.

Xinyi trembled and looked at the ring in a daze. On her delicate finger, the ring looked just as dainty.

"Xinyi…" his deep gentle voice suddenly felt a lot nearer. She raised her head and found that the distance between them was even lesser now. Her breath got stuck in her throat, and her heart raced faster.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in his embrace. She froze. 

"Zh-Zhiyuan…"

Zhiyuan's deep gaze was focused on her small face that was flushed in a mixture of shyness, hesitation and shock. The redness from the tip of her ears extended all the way up to her neck. He saw her lips mildly tremor and her eyelashes slightly tremble. He lifted her chin with his thumb and pressed his forehead on hers. His warm breath gently fanned on her cheeks as he felt his heart pound in his chest too.

"Xinyi. This is your real wedding ring."