The place An Sheng had chosen was indeed a picturesque haven of green hills and clear waters. In particular, behind the mountain was a vast stretch of lush, verdant grassland that A Mei fell in love with at first sight. She insisted on going over.
An Sheng had always indulged her. He immediately dismissed all the attendants, then took A Mei’s little hand and strolled with her through the mountain, chatting and laughing as they slowly made their way forward.
When they arrived, the two of them sat down on the ground, feeling the faint coolness of the grass seep into their bodies. A Mei narrowed her eyes and sighed contentedly. “This is wonderful.”
At first, A Mei sat leaning against An Sheng’s shoulder. She had been born into poverty and had never been fussy about such things. Later, seeing how lush, soft, and clean the grass was, she simply lay down on it.
She even rolled around a few times.
Seeing A Mei playing like a carefree child, An Sheng couldn’t help chuckling. “My dear wife, how does it feel to have the sky for a canopy and the earth for a mat?”
A Mei opened her eyes and blinked at him before flashing a radiant smile. “It feels pretty good, actually. Husband, you should lie down and try it too.”
An Sheng’s lips curved into a smile. The next moment, he stretched out and lay flat on his back. His entire body assumed a rare, languidly relaxed posture. He exhaled softly and slowly spoke. “Mm. It really is quite nice.”
A Mei smiled sweetly. “I told you so.”
As she spoke, A Mei rolled over and snuggled up against An Sheng. The next moment, An Sheng wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his embrace.
A Mei’s happy sigh reached his ears.
“Husband, A Mei is really happy.”
Hearing this, An Sheng turned onto his side and propped himself up on one arm. Lying there on the grass, he looked down at A Mei with a smile. “That’s enough to make you happy? My wife is certainly easy to satisfy.”
A Mei shot him a sidelong glance, then habitually traced circles over his chest with one finger. “As long as I have my husband with me, A Mei feels happy and content. Hmph. What, are you saying you’re not happy?”
The half-pouting, half-complaining look in her eyes was simply too adorable. An Sheng couldn’t resist reaching out to stroke her cheek, slowly caressing her fair, smooth skin.
“Happy, of course I’m happy. But your husband isn’t satisfied. If I could be with my wife every moment of every day, then I would be satisfied.”
His words melted sweetly into A Mei’s heart. Her eyes glimmered, and the delight in her expression could not be concealed, no matter how hard she tried. Feeling a little bashful, she could only speak in a coy voice.
“Oh, Husband. To say something like that is a little greedy, don’t you think?”
An Sheng gave a low chuckle, then stared fixedly at A Mei. His gaze was deep and carried a strange brightness. Beyond his burning love was an obsessive greed and a frenzied, primal desire.
“Being greedy is exactly right. I told you before, didn’t I? When it comes to my wife, I’m never satisfied. I truly wish I could devour you whole, until your blood and bones became one with mine.”
The words were domineering, mad, and almost bloodthirsty. More than anything, they revealed a strange and chilling possessiveness.
Had anyone else heard them, they would surely have trembled in terror and fled for their lives.
But A Mei was the one exception.
At that moment, she wrapped her arms around An Sheng, her strength slight but her embrace tight, as though she wanted to bury her entire body inside his. Her soft voice came from against his chest.
“All right, all right. Aren’t A Mei and Husband already one now?”
An Sheng’s heart softened at once.
He hugged her back. “Good girl.”
Then the soft body in his arms wriggled once, then again, as though she were acting coquettishly. He vaguely heard her murmur:
“You smell so good.”
An Sheng laughed, his expression full of indulgent affection. He loosened his arms, revealing A Mei’s little face, and lowered his head to kiss her.
But the next moment, something soft and tender blocked his nose.
To be precise, A Mei had somehow plucked a handful of grass and was now holding it beneath An Sheng’s nose.
An Sheng: …
While An Sheng remained speechless, A Mei excitedly held up the handful of green grass and said, “Husband, smell this. The grass is not only soft and tender, it also has a lovely fragrance. And it really is excellent fodder for sheep.”
After a long silence, An Sheng finally gritted out, “Fodder?”
“Mm-hmm. You didn’t know that, Husband? When A Mei was little, my family raised a lamb. Back then, I used to lead it all over the mountains, searching for grass for it to eat. Grass like this is the very best.”
Speaking of her childhood, A Mei’s eyes flickered, shining with the light of memory. Once she began reminiscing, the words simply poured out of her.
“Thinking back, life was poor in those days, but it really was carefree. The children from the village and I would climb mountains and trees together, tend the sheep together, and catch insects and dragonflies. In summer, there was a little stream at the entrance to the village, and we would all go wade and play in the water. We even competed to see who could catch the most little fish and crabs.”
“We were all so playful. Every time, we stayed until our parents called out for us to come home after dark. Whenever Mother came looking for me, I was always soaking wet and would get lectured for quite a while.”
At that point, An Sheng suddenly spoke.
“Brother Shuanzi was among those childhood companions of yours, wasn’t he?”
A Mei froze for a moment. After thinking back briefly, she nodded instinctively and answered honestly, “Yes.”
An Sheng let out a cold laugh. His narrow eyes narrowed further, and his expression was both smiling and not smiling. His voice turned dark and ominous.
“So you and Brother Shuanzi even bathed together in that stream.”
A Mei: …
A Mei: ?
A Mei: !
Once she realized what he was implying, A Mei’s eyes widened in shock and outrage.
“Husband! What nonsense are you talking about? We weren’t bathing together! A whole group of children were playing in the stream, all right?”
“Wait, why are you bringing up Brother Shuanzi? What does he have to do with anything? When did I ever mention Brother Shuanzi? Husband, you—you mean… Mmph!”
An Sheng fiercely sealed her moist, pouty red lips. The next instant, his urgent, feverish kiss left A Mei struggling for breath.
At last, the kiss ended. A Mei, finally able to breathe again, panted hurriedly. Both embarrassed and annoyed, she pushed at An Sheng’s chest and huffed angrily between breaths.
“Husband! If you keep saying things like that, A Mei is really going to be angry!”
But An Sheng was utterly unreasonable, and what he said next was astonishing.
“No. Whenever I think about how I wasn’t there with you when you were young, I feel unbearably jealous and frustrated. So you’ll have to let me make up for it. There’s a stream deep in these mountains. I want to bathe with you there too.”
A Mei: …
The air seemed to fall completely silent.
At last, the woman’s voice rang out through the surrounding mountains in exasperation.
“I already told you—it was playing in the water, not bathing! A whole group of children were playing in the water!”
“Then I want to play in the water with my wife too.”
“No.”
“Then you could play with Brother Shuanzi, but you can’t play with me? Could it be that, in your eyes, I’m not even as good as Brother Shuanzi?”
A Mei: …
