Chapter 14: Cold Food (Part 1)

                      

In the spring season, slanting wind and drizzle fell across the landscape. The land on both sides of the road had once been fertile fields, but war was endless. Farmers had abandoned their homes and fled, leaving the pastoral lands barren. The fields were choked with weeds—sparse and wild. Among the tangled growth, a few stalks of mustard flowers bloomed, presumably from seeds scattered during last year's harvest, now sprouting again this spring. The drizzle watered the yellow flowers, and they swayed with a kind of melancholy grace.

The riders who heralded orders galloped all the way, waving flags and coursing from front to back in the marching queue, sending signals for the whole army to pause, sit down, rest and eat. The Zhenxi Army had always maintained extremely strict military discipline—even with barren fields stretching on both sides of the road, not a single soldier stepped into the abandoned land. Instead, everyone dismounted and sat on the ridges beside the road, pulling out the dry rations from their bags and chewing them in the face of the dense drizzle.

Lao Bao caught a mantis in the grass on the side of the road, carefully tore off both its thighs, and popped them in his mouth, chewing with obvious relish. Qian Youdao saw him enjoying the meal so much that he asked for advice on how to catch mantises. Soon Zhang Youren and Qian Youdao were arguing again—one insisting that crickets were delicious, the other maintaining that mantis was superior. The debate was indistinguishable.

Li Ni leaned against his horse and had just gnawed two mouthfuls of dry rations when suddenly a sentry came to report—more than ten miles ahead, a group of soldiers and horses were approaching from the east.

Pei Yuan frowned. "Couldn't it be that Sun Jing sent another force from Hejian?"

Li Ni shook his head. "If the Hejian troops come out, the Cui family's Victorious Army will definitely block them."

Pei Yuan snorted and said nothing. The situation had grown increasingly precarious. Sun Jing, desperate and cunning, had somehow obtained a child of the same age as the crown prince. He'd trumpeted that he'd welcomed back the crown prince, then immediately enthroned this child as emperor, issuing edicts to the world in the name of the new emperor and denouncing Li Ni and others as rebels.

Li Ni had issued his own proclamation claiming that the crown prince had long been rescued from the capital by General Han Chang of the Cloud Cloak, and that Sun Jing's crown prince was a fake. Not only that, but his father King Liang had also been rescued long ago. With no worries remaining, he would do his utmost to serve the rightful king and recover Western Changjing as soon as possible.

The world had erupted in uproar. While they were still arguing, King Liang, who'd been recuperating in Caizhou, was suddenly elevated to the throne by Li Jun and Li Lao. Li Ni had been shocked and angry, but Pei Zhan of Caizhou had sent a secret letter quickly, persuading Li Ni that at this time, instead of letting Sun Jing deceive the world in the name of a false crown prince, it was better to seize legitimacy for themselves.

Because the Pei father and son were loyal, with Pei Zhan guarding King Liang in Caizhou, Li Ni found it inconvenient to say anything more. He'd immediately sent a quick reply asking Pei Zhan to pay closer attention, while he himself raised troops north to Liangshan Pass to prevent trouble. Sure enough, Sun Jing had heard that King Liang had been rescued and ascended the throne in Caizhou. He'd been so angry that one Buddha was born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven. While issuing an edict in the name of his new emperor refuting King Liang as a usurper, he'd personally led his army out of Western Changjing, menacing and fierce, on a crusade against Li Ni and other so-called "rebels."

Just when Li Ni and Sun Jing's vanguard general Meng Zhu were fighting head-on, Cui Yi had led a brigade south, and Cui Lin had taken advantage of Li Ni's attack on Meng Zhu—with the north bank of the Huai River left empty—to occupy Shouzhou, an important town on the Huai River. Leading the Victorious Army, he'd crossed the Huai River and taken over Luzhou.

Sun Jing's confidant general Duan Yan was originally from Huainan and knew the terrain intimately. He'd personally led thousands of elite soldiers from Huainan, marching day and night in a thousand-mile raid. Taking advantage of the spring rain and fog, relying on terrain and local knowledge, he'd passed right under the noses of the Cui family's Victorious Army, crossed the Huai River safely, and circled around to the city of Caizhou.

Although Li Ni worried about Li Zhao's safety, he knew that Pei Zhan was strong and the city of Caizhou was well-fortified—it could be defended. Duan Yan's move was originally meant to lure Li Ni back to help, but Li Ni refused to take the bait and continued fighting Meng Zhu directly. Duan Yan had gritted his teeth and ordered more than twenty thousand elite troops to cross the Huai River, intending to besiege Caizhou.

Li Ni hadn't yet decided what to do when Li Ma in Caizhou City had long since panicked. He'd not only forced Pei Zhan to write a letter to Li Ni requesting help, but had also issued edicts in the name of the Son of Heaven to Cui Yi in Luzhou, ordering him to quickly go to Caizhou to save the emperor. But these edicts had been like stones sinking into the sea.

Finally, forced by helplessness, Li Ma had sent someone to ask Cui Yi directly. Cui Yi had only pretended not to know, saying: "The Son of Heaven has long been killed by Sun Jing, that rebellious thief. Where did this emperor's edict come from?" The meaning of his words was clear—he didn't recognize King Liang Li Ma's succession to the throne. Not only did he ignore the crisis in Caizhou, but he'd also taken advantage of the fact that some of Sun Jing's troops were stopped by Li Ni at Liangshan Pass, and some were rushing to besiege Caizhou. Cui Yi had led the Victorious Army and taken the entire Huainan region without much effort.

Therefore, when it came to the Cui family's Victorious Army, Pei Yuan couldn't help but complain: "It is said that they're loyalists serving the king. Where are they serving the king? I think Cui Yi wants to take the opportunity to establish himself as king."

Li Ni couldn't help but sigh. He hadn't seen Cui Yi with his own eyes and didn't know what his character was like. But which of the veterans of the dynasty was easy to get along with? Needless to say, Sun Jing was formidable. But so was Cui Yi, who commanded one of the most elite forces in the dynasty and had raised a son like Cui Lin—talented in every way.

While speaking, another sentry reported. It wasn't Sun Jing's men and horses marching ahead—looking at the banner, it should be the Victorious Army. The other party had also scouted that there was a large force of soldiers and horses here. When they discovered it was the Zhenxi Army, they no longer hesitated. The brigade walked calmly toward them, sending a fast horse ahead to make contact first. After all, the two armies were nominally friendly forces—both divisions serving the rightful king.

It was Chen Xing who came. When he saw Li Ni, he too was surprised, stepping forward to bow with cupped hands. "I have seen His Highness the Imperial Grandson." Because the Cui family never recognized Li Zhao's succession, Chen Xing still called him His Highness the Imperial Grandson when he saw Li Ni.

When Li Ni saw it was him, he couldn't help but be stunned. Immediately a joy bloomed in his heart, and he asked, "Did you march here with your young master?"

"No, the young master is still in Luzhou." Chen Xing replied formally. "I returned to the Eastern Capital with the captain and accompanied Young Master Cui Li, marching here."

Li Ni had vaguely guessed that Ah Ying might be in this team, but when he heard Chen Xing confirm that she was not far away, he was immediately ecstatic.

Since parting at Luo River, he'd been separated from her for more than five months. Young lovers—not seeing each other for a day was like three autumns. Not to mention they hadn't seen each other for half a year. Though there had been occasional letters, how could they resist lovesickness?

At the moment, without thinking, he turned and mounted his horse. He'd just ridden forward two steps when suddenly he remembered something, turned back to Pei Yuan and said, "I'll go up and take a look first."

Before Pei Yuan could speak, he'd already spurred his horse forward and gone straight east.

He'd only run for about a mile when he could already vaguely hear the sound of hooves like torrential rain drawing closer and closer. He pulled his horse to a stop, listening intently. Suddenly more than ten horses emerged from the mountains and forests. The first one was Ah Ying.

She wore the colors of the army, dusty from travel, the drizzle dampening her temples. But her eyes were crystal bright. As soon as she saw him, she reined in her horse. A smile kept spreading from the corners of her mouth, perhaps because she'd galloped too fast and used so much strength—a little blush rose from her cheeks. The two of them looked at each other, both having a thousand words, but not knowing where to start for a moment.

However, when Xiao Hei saw Xiaobai, he could no longer restrain himself. As if having fun in the moment, no matter how Li Ni tightened the reins, Xiao Hei rushed straight up, about to bite Xiaobai's neck. Xiaobai hurriedly turned to avoid him, and the two horses chased and nipped in circles. But the people on the horses had no intention of paying attention.

He was happy in his heart and looked at her. After not seeing her for several months, she seemed to have lost a little weight again—perhaps because she was on horseback and he couldn't see clearly. But her complexion was still good, and her clothes were slightly damp from the drizzle, which made her blue-black hair and bright eyes and white teeth seem even more vivid.

He obviously had much to say to her, but in the end he just said, "Why don't you even wear an oil coat?"

She pursed her lips and smiled. "You don't wear an oil coat either."

The rain was too light. The spring rain was continuous, like cow hair, like fine needles, gradually dampening clothes. He'd always thought the oil coat was stuffy, but at this moment he regretted it deeply. If he'd known he would meet her, he should have worn the oil coat—then he could take it off and let her wear it.

Before such a thought was finished, the brigade of the Victorious Army had already caught up, and the brigade of the Zhenxi Army gradually followed.

When the two armies met, all those polite courtesies belonged to Pei Yuan and Cui Li and others. The Zhenxi Army had originally been marching westward, and the Victorious Army was also going west. The two armies traveled dozens of miles on the same road. When dusk came, fortunately the rain stopped, so they staggered their camps three or four miles apart and set up together.

After finishing setting up camp, Ah Ying took off her wet clothes, changed into neat garments, dried her hair, thought about it, said something to Peach, then quietly left the camp.

Although the two armies had camped together, there was a huge pond between them. In late spring, the pond was full of spring grass and calamus. Patches of tender green aquatic plants floated on the water—the new young leaves of water plants.

She stood alone by the pond for a while. The twilight became thicker and heavier. The surroundings darkened. There were no stars and no moon in the sky. She hesitated in her heart. At this moment, she suddenly heard hurried sounds of horse's hooves. She wanted to look back, but suddenly felt like a gust of wind behind her. Her waist tightened—she'd already been embraced by someone. Then her body lightened. She was lifted up and placed on the saddle in front of him.

Xiao Hei let out a long neighing sound, trying his utmost to restrain his hooves. It was dark in the night—fortunately Xiao Hei was clever. Otherwise this rush was too fast, and he would have carried both of them straight into the pond. In the dark night, some unknown insect rustled in the grass. His arms were like iron, still around her waist. She complained, "Suddenly rushed over. You startled me."

He laughed softly behind her, his breath warm on the top of her hair. He was still much taller than her. Although her stature was considered tall among girls, after a few months he seemed to have grown taller again. He tightened his arms, hugged her closer, and sighed contentedly in her ear.

She turned her face away, wanting to say something to him. Not wanting him to bow his head to say something to her at the same moment, she turned like this—his lips just brushed her cheeks. The soft and hot touch stunned both of them.

Xiao Hei lowered his head quietly, eating the new grass by the pond.

The dark clouds in the sky gradually dispersed, revealing hazy starlight.

The two people on the horse looked at each other for an unknown amount of time. Finally she laughed softly, turned around and stretched out her hand, putting her arms around his neck.

The scorching kiss finally fell on her lips.

In the pond, water plants dotted the surface, tender leaves rolling. Though it was late spring, the weather was warm. There was already a small yellow flower blooming among the water plants.

After some time, she tidied up her hair and complained to him: "How can you bite someone? Tomorrow there's a tooth mark. How can I see people?"

He laughed, pointed to the corners of his lips, and said, "Why don't you bite it back, so that I don't have to see anyone tomorrow either."

She pushed him indignantly, jumped off her horse, and walked to the pond. Seeing the little water lily, she reached out to pick it.

"If you fall, I won't catch you." Even saying this, he came over, put his arm around her waist, and moved her behind him. Then he stretched out his arm, picked off the little water lily in the water, and carefully inserted it into her hair at her temple.

Xiao Hei, his letter rein loose, gradually walked away eating grass in the hazy starlight.

The two people by the pond sat side by side, whispering.

She asked how he'd rescued King Liang Li Zhao. He said the situation at that time had been truly thrilling, but fortunately everything had been thought through carefully.

He thanked her again for the medicine she'd sent. She snorted and said, "You kept saying you wanted to fake your death. I knew you must use this medicine to save your father."

He said, "Ah Yuan was worried, afraid that you wouldn't give the medicine, or that you'd give fake medicine. But you only gave one pill, so Ah Yuan was so anxious he scratched his ears and cheeks."

She smiled. "You believed me like that?"

He said, "Since the Taiqing Palace, I don't think you will lie to me."

He'd blurted out the three words "Taiqing Palace." Her face couldn't help but heat up. She thought of the gossip in his letter, and her heart felt very sweet. He also thought of the peach blossom petals that bore the imprint of the rouge on her lips, and he couldn't help but shake with longing. He hugged her waist and leaned over to kiss her.

She chuckled, pressed her finger to his lips, and asked, "Where are those petals?"

He said, "I put them away and brought them with me, but the spring was very humid, and gradually those petals melted away. There are no more."

Seeing his annoyed and frustrated expression, she raised her face, pecked him lightly on the lips, and said, "Then next time I will give you something more reliable."

He laughed and whispered, "Nothing compares to you being right in front of me."

With such sweet words, she just glanced at him with mock annoyance and said, "I didn't lie to you, but I don't think everyone in the world is willing to believe that what Sun Jing set up is a false crown prince."

He couldn't help but smile bitterly. Li Zhao had ascended the throne as emperor, but the Cui family refused to recognize this emperor—so she was joking about this. But the real crown prince had long been guarded by Han Chang and hidden among the people, safe and sound. This was what he'd come to understand after he could communicate with the former Crown Princess Xiao. If it weren't for this, Xiao wouldn't have dealt with Sun Jing so calmly. But he didn't want to say these words to her—after all, it concerned the crown prince.

He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Why did you come back from Luzhou alone?"

"Where is 'alone'? I'm obviously following Young Master Li, leading ten thousand men." She also glanced at him. "What about you, Your Highness? Why did you take your men and horses to the west?"

"You just called me Seventeen Lang," he complained. "Now you call me Your Highness."

She said with a smile, "There are some things you don't want to say, and I don't want to say them either, so don't ask."

He took out a cloth bag from his chest and handed it to her. She opened it—there was another layer of fine white cotton paper inside. When she opened it again, she suddenly smelled a sweet fragrance. What he'd carefully wrapped was actually a pack of pine nut candy.

She picked up a piece of candy and put it in her mouth, feeling it extremely sweet.

She asked happily, "Where did you get this from?"

"Passing by Xuzhou, I heard that Xuzhou produces good candy. Thinking that you love sweets, I bought a pack and kept it with me. But I didn't expect to not see you again for so long." He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

It had been a long time. More than five months. From autumn to winter, from winter to spring.

He reached out and hugged her, whispering, "I really miss you."

She smiled sweetly and reached out to hug him. The two of them snuggled quietly for a moment.

The dew gradually fell, soaking their clothes.

She said, "It's time to go back."

He sighed. She said, "See you tomorrow. I still have business to tell you tomorrow."

It really wasn't appropriate to discuss anything serious tonight. His heart shook, and he said, "That's fine, but tomorrow night, you will come out to see me again, right?"

She smiled slightly. "Then let's talk about it when we finish talking about business during the day."

It wasn't until the next day that he knew what she meant by "business"—it turned out she was asking to borrow the road and pass the South Pass.

The two armies met in broad daylight, in his central army tent. Cui Li came to see him in person. Cui Li couldn't compare to Cui Lin. He couldn't hide a kind of arrogance between his eyebrows, saying, "Since we are friendly armies, I hope Your Highness will give us convenience."

The Cui family didn't recognize Li Zhao as emperor. At this time they were asking Li Ni for permission, so Cui Li didn't call Li Ni emperor's grandson, but only vaguely called him Your Highness.

Li Ni didn't take it seriously and said with a smile, "Since we are friendly armies, it is natural to give convenience." But as soon as the conversation changed, he proposed that the Victorious Army in Luzhou should go north to outflank the Duan Yan troops who were besieging Caizhou.

Cui Li couldn't hold his temper and said, "Your Highness, this is unreasonable. Our army is far away in Luzhou and has not been able to recuperate. How can we be expected to gallop thousands of miles to outflank Duan Yan?"

Li Ni nodded. "Since you're in Luzhou—if it weren't for my Zhenxi Army defeating Meng Zhu, how could the Victorious Army have passed through Shouzhou? Not to mention Luzhou. The reason why our Zhenxi Army stood still and let the Victorious Army cross the Huai River calmly was precisely because the Victorious Army was also a division serving the king—actually a friendly army. Since the Victorious Army is also serving the king, isn't it only natural to cooperate with our Zhenxi Army to repel Sun Jing's troops? What is unreasonable about this?"

Cui Li was choked, thinking bitterly. Obviously Li Ni had been fighting Meng Zhu with all his might at that time, had no time to take care of anything else, and couldn't even manage Caizhou being besieged—so he'd had no spare strength to interfere with their Victorious Army. The trouble was that he was at a disadvantage regarding titles. Who made this world originally surnamed Li? Regardless of whether King Liang had ascended the throne or not, this Li Ni was the grandson of the late emperor. The Cui family had to admit that Li Ni was the commander of the king's forces in legitimate title. Logically, the Victorious Army should obey his assignments.

The tent was quiet for a while. The atmosphere grew very awkward.

In the end, it was Captain He who stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, if South Pass is handed over to the Zhenxi Army as agreed, and Your Highness agrees, the Victorious Army can borrow the road." Just as when the South Pass was guarded by the Victorious Army, the Victorious Army had also let the Zhenxi Army pass.

Li Ni couldn't bear to force her too much. But at this moment this was serious military business. He just smiled slightly and said, "Captain He, we are all friendly forces. In this case, when the situation is urgent, friendly troops rushing to help is always right."

At that moment, he ordered someone to bring the map and pointed out the terrain to everyone.

"If the Victorious Army sends troops from Luzhou, we will go down to Xiangzhou from South Pass and attack from both sides. We can defeat Duan Yan in one fell swoop."

Cui Li couldn't help but glance at Captain He. She concentrated slightly and said, "I need to think about it."

When evening came, Li Ni tidied himself up. This time he didn't ride a horse. He went straight out of the camp, waited for a while in the field next to the camp of the Victorious Army, and finally saw her leading Xiaobai and coming over.

He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Unexpectedly, as soon as they met, she raised her hand and shot a crossbow arrow at him. He was quick-witted and reached out to catch the crossbow arrow in his hand, smiling. "Even if you are annoyed, don't want my life as soon as you meet."

She snorted. "If I want your life, I won't be alone at this time."

He asked, "Why do you have to ambush three hundred people here?"

She thought for a while. "I'm afraid three hundred people are not enough. There should always be seven or eight hundred people. And if you want to carry strong bows, you have to quench the arrows with poison."

He smiled bitterly. "You really think highly of me."

She said, "Your Highness has great ability. If I want to kill Your Highness, I must go all out."

He sighed, looked at the crossbow arrow in his hand, and said, "Since you have this attempt, then I have to take you hostage before I can get out." Then he added, "Use you as bait, detain Cui Li, coerce your young master, and force him to send troops to outflank Duan Yan."

The two talked nonsense and put aside their official business. She took off the saddle, let Xiaobai go to graze, and lay down on the saddle to watch the stars in the sky shine. He also lay down with his arm as a pillow next to her, casually taking a piece of thatch in his mouth, chewing the soft and tender stem for a while. Suddenly he asked her, "Have you ever thought about it—if there is no war in the future, what do you plan to do?"

She said, "I don't know. Maybe go home and farm."

"I think about it a lot." He turned over and sat up, looked at her face for a while with his arms propped up, and said, "We won't fight anymore. We are already married. We'll give birth to ten or eight children. Every day I'll teach the children to practice martial arts, and you'll teach the children to read."

She snorted. "You do think a lot."

He disagreed. "Then don't you want to marry me?"

"I don't want to." She said, "I am the young master's maid, and I have to be loyal to my duties and plan for the Cui family."

The words came to his lips, but he held back after all.

On such a night, he shouldn't say anything disappointing.

He pointed to the stars in the sky and showed her. "When you are at Laolan Pass, this star will be very low. So low that you can reach out and touch it."

She also tried to reach out. So low that it seemed she could reach out and touch the stars—how beautiful that would be.

The two lay quietly for a while. She suddenly asked, "Why didn't you ride out today?"

He said, "Yesterday you walked back. It was too hard. And it was inconvenient for me to send you outside the camp, so I could only put you down from a distance." He paused. "I thought you would definitely ride out today. Xiao Hei always likes to bully Xiaobai when he sees him, so I didn't ride out."

She half-covered the corners of her mouth with her sleeves, hiding her smile. This person was as careful as silk, quite good at thinking about others.

He hesitated for a while, finally plucking up courage. "Hey..."

"What?"

He was embarrassed to speak up. After a while, he said, "I promise I won't bite you..."

She rolled over, instantly withdrew about ten feet away, waved her hand and said, "No. I have to go back."

She ran out seven or eight steps. When she looked back, he hadn't chased her. He just sat there dejectedly, looking pitiful.

She softened, thought for a while, turned around and took two steps toward him, saying, "Don't mess around. I'll sit with you for a while and say a few words."

When she came closer, he still looked dejected. She couldn't bear it, squatted down in front of him, and was about to take his hand to comfort him. But she didn't expect him to turn over and jump up like a leopard, throwing her down on the grass.

With such a rapid pounce, he'd actually remembered to hold the back of her head with his hand, lest it hurt when her head hit the ground. She complained in her heart and felt annoyed sweetly. But he kept his promise and never bit her again. However, the kiss was so deep, so lingering, and so indulgent.

If she'd known, she shouldn't have pitied him. He was such a cunning person. She knew his belly full of schemes was all waiting for her.

She thought this in her heart. But he complained while kissing, dissatisfied, "What are you thinking? You are not attentive."

She couldn't help but laugh and reached out to touch his temples. His hair was thick, tied tightly with his white jade hairpin stuck in it. She closed her eyes slightly, intoxicated by the kiss.

In the spring, the weather was warm. The two armies went west for two more days and were already close to Bianzhou. But the Victorious Army had not agreed to the mutual outflanking strategy. Pei Yuan was not in a hurry. After all, if the Victorious Army wanted to borrow the road through South Pass, it had to solve the siege of Caizhou first. The further west they went, the closer to South Pass—the more the Victorious Army had to make a decision as soon as possible.

On this day, Cui Li suddenly sent someone very politely to the central army to invite him, saying there were important matters to discuss.

Li Ni and Pei Yuan looked at each other and agreed crisply. The two armies walked together, almost connected from end to end, so riding fast horses, in just a moment they arrived at the location of the central army of the Victorious Army. On the way, they found an open place in the wilderness. Cui Li had brought only more than ten personal guards to stand there waiting. Of course, Ah Ying and Taozi were also among them.

Li Ni and Pei Yuan dismounted and politely bowed. Cui Li said, "Captain He has something to report to Your Highness."

Seeing that Cui Li had invited him so solemnly, Li Ni nodded. "Please, Captain He, make it clear."

At that moment, she stepped forward and said, "What Your Highness is worried about is that Duan Yan led his army to besiege Caizhou, which troubles Your Highness." She paused. "Today, I have a strategy. If I can solve Duan Yan's situation, I hope Your Highness will allow the Victorious Army to pass through South Pass."

He nodded and said in a deep voice, "Tell me."

At that moment, she took out the map, unfolded it before everyone, and used stones and grass leaves placed on the map to compare troop strength. She explained in detail, one by one. Everyone pondered for a moment. They all felt this strategy was feasible. Li Ni said, "If you can follow this to defeat Duan Yan, then the matter of the Victorious Army borrowing the road through South Pass can be agreed."

She seemed to have expected it. "Then thank Your Highness first."

When they met in the evening, he couldn't help but complain. "You planned this for your young master?"

She was eating cakes—Li Ni had brought her two freshly branded Hu cakes with honey, wrapped in tender mulberry leaves and brought to her while still hot. But she didn't appreciate it at all. While eating the cake, she said, "Anyway, you just want to solve the siege of Caizhou. Don't you have to let my young master lead troops out of Luzhou? I solved Duan Yan for you. What are you dissatisfied with?"

He snorted, still looking very displeased. She glanced at him again. While eating the cake, she said, "Didn't we agree that we won't talk about business at night?"

He was still sullen.

She tore off a corner of the cake and handed it to his mouth. "Do you taste if it's sweet or not?"

He'd originally thought—the cake he baked, he knew how much honey was on it. Naturally it was sweet. But since she was like this, of course he was still very happy. He opened his mouth to wait for her to feed him a taste. But she didn't feed him the cake. Instead, she stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.

That's about right.

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