The handsome young man silently escorted the sweet girl into his sleek passenger car, making sure she was comfortably seated. He felt a profound sense of relief that he had chosen to drive his luxury sedan today instead of his usual rugged military jeep. It truly felt like a stroke of divine fate. Under normal circumstances, he vastly preferred to drive his jeep, but today, for some inexplicable reason, he had decided to take out this other car that he rarely ever used. And then, by pure chance, he had run straight into his beloved.
He mentally encouraged himself, gathering his courage to bring her out for the afternoon. This was officially the very first time they were going out anywhere completely alone together, just the two of them. It was nothing like the last time they had spent time together, back when Feng Yue was tag-along company with them.
"Where exactly are we going?" A sweet, melodious voice suddenly asked him from the passenger seat.
"We are going out on a proper date." Long Hui answered his beloved smoothly, keeping his eyes on the road.
Yu Qi was completely stunned into silence the moment she heard his direct answer. A beautiful, vibrant blush instantly appeared on her fair cheeks. Her racing heartbeat, which had just barely calmed down from earlier, instantly began to increase in speed all over again.
A date? Thinking about the word, Yu Qi realised this was actually going to be her very first official date in her span of two entire lifetimes. In her past life, she had never once gone out on a real date. Not even a single time.
Yu Qi bitterly remembered that whenever that ungrateful bastard had asked her to go out with him in her past life, he had always brought that manipulative bitch along with them too. Yeah, the ugly truth of the matter was most likely like this. They wanted to go out on romantic dates together, but it would look highly suspicious if the public caught the two of them alone. So, the innocent Yu Qi was simply dragged along to act as their convenient shield.
"Don't worry, I promise I will not bring you to any kind of suspicious or dangerous place. We are simply going somewhere that you should thoroughly enjoy." Long Hui said, teasing Yu Qi gently when he noticed that her posture was a little bit tense.
He had absolutely no idea that Yu Qi was currently lost in the dark, painful memories of her tragic past life.
"Somewhere that I will like?" Yu Qi asked, a little confused as she snapped out of her thoughts.
"Yes. Just wait and see, okay?" Long Hui said, his voice dripping with affection.
"Okay then." Yu Qi replied softly, using the quiet time during the drive to calm her fluttering heart.
They remained on the road for about half an hour, driving deep into an area that was a little remote and peaceful. Soon, she spotted a massive, beautifully structured greenhouse looming in the distance. Long Hui steered the car toward it, arriving at the entrance.
"I heard from Old Man Feng that you recently built a custom greenhouse of your own in the town near the lake. I brought you all the way out here today so you could take a proper look at how a professional one operates. They also happen to sell a wide variety of rare seeds here." Long Hui explained to her as he killed the engine.
Yu Qi seemed genuinely surprised as Long Hui explained the thoughtful reasoning behind his destination choice. She had already drafted a few basic blueprints on how to arrange her own greenhouse, but she knew it would be vastly better if she could visually inspect a fully functioning, professional establishment.
As for purchasing new seeds, she did not think too much about that part. She remembered that Bo Ya had previously mentioned he possessed countless rare and mystical seeds inside her space. Well, regardless of that, she figured it certainly would not do any harm if she bought a few local varieties here to plant.
"Thank you so much." Yu Qi said in a genuinely happy tone.
She felt incredibly touched and happy that Long Hui had spent so much time thinking about her personal interests. She turned her head and beamed a bright, beautiful smile directly at him.
When Long Hui saw his beloved smiling so incredibly sweetly at him, he felt that every ounce of his effort was entirely worth it. He had spent a great deal of time subtly interrogating Feng Yue about Yu Qi's likes and dislikes whenever he was training her in martial arts. In fact, just to bribe Feng Yue into giving him information, he had intentionally reduced the brutal amount of daily training he forced her to endure. Looking at Yu Qi's joyful face right now, he was exceptionally glad that his bribery had paid off so beautifully.
They entered the grand facility together hand-in-hand. The local workers inside the building were visibly surprised to see a young couple entering the greenhouse. Not to mention, an exceptionally handsome and breathtakingly beautiful one at that.
"Welcome to the Forest Greenhouse, everyone. We currently house about 10 thousand unique species of plants, including exotic flowers, organic fruits, and even rare wild plants. Please feel free to look around at your own pace. We also offer several interactive gardening activities today if you would like to try them." A polite worker came forward and greeted them warmly.
"Thank you very much. We will simply take a look around the facility first." Yu Qi thanked the worker politely.
She was instantly filled with excitement upon seeing the massive greenhouse bursting with vibrant plant life. She could see quite a few weird and unique plants that she had never encountered before. In her sheer excitement, she completely forgot about the handsome man standing right beside her. Moving purely on instinct, she reached out and tightly grabbed the hand closest to her. The exact second she felt the rough texture of his masculine skin, she gasped and quickly released her grip.
Long Hui was visually shocked when he suddenly felt Yu Qi boldly grab his hand. A wave of pure happiness washed over his chest. However, that wonderful feeling did not last very long, as Yu Qi quickly released his hand out of sheer embarrassment. She looked thoroughly mortified. A tiny, deep crimson blush appeared on her cheeks, making her look a hundred times cuter in his eyes.
Long Hui took a deep breath, encouraging himself to be bold. He confidently reached back out, firmly entwined his fingers with Yu Qi's, and began to walk forward. He could feel that her small hand was incredibly soft and delicate. He looked down at Yu Qi, noticing that her face was turning redder by the second. Her obvious shyness made him want to tease her even more.
Long Hui leaned his head down, getting right next to her ear, and whispered smoothly, "Hey... look around at the beautiful plants, dear. Don't just stare down at the floor."
Yu Qi felt completely flustered. Well, truth be told, she was actually quite happy when Long Hui took the initiative to firmly grab her hand again. When his warm breath whispered against her ear, she automatically looked up at him. He was currently wearing a devastatingly handsome smile that was practically designed to seduce her. She quickly turned her face away, her heart hammering against her ribs, and desperately started to look at the surrounding plants to distract herself.
Meanwhile, the single male worker who was quietly following a short distance behind them felt like he had just been forcefully fed a massive bowl of dog food. He felt incredibly envious and single as he watched the gorgeous couple openly flirting in front of him. He suddenly missed his own wife terribly and wished he could go home right now.
Eventually, as they continued their walk, Yu Qi became entirely comfortable with the feeling of Long Hui's hand holding hers. Soon, Yu Qi was the one happily leading the way through the aisles, and Long Hui simply followed his beloved wherever she wanted to go. Yu Qi frequently asked highly intelligent questions about the plants to the guiding worker. Whenever she needed to physically touch some leaves or examine a stem, she would temporarily release her hand from Long Hui's grasp. But the very millisecond she finished touching them, Long Hui would smoothly and possessively grab her hand right back.
Long Hui was genuinely ecstatic with this major step forward in their relationship. He could actively feel that he was making massive progress in properly wooing Yu Qi. He watched as Yu Qi became more and more comfortable with his physical touch and his presence. The crucial first step in breaking the ice between them was a resounding success, and his greenhouse date plan had worked out even better than he had hoped.
***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko***