Xiu Mei almost spewed out the food she was eating when she heard Brother Lee’s words. She even almost cursed and was barely able to stop herself from uttering it. After covering her mouth with her hand, her other hand immediately reached for the glass of water.

  She consumed it rather quickly, even making a loud noise as she placed the glass on the table. Her fl.u.s.tered self was too obvious to be hidden from Lee Yu An.

  Her widened eyes never left Lee Yu An’s face, as she saw his lips slightly curl up from amus.e.m.e.nt after watching her reactions. Seeing that she was being made fun of, Xiu Mei couldn’t help but pout in annoyance at him.

  "You’re so mean, Brother Lee." She complained.

  "I’m not."

  "You are. You’re teasing me."

  "Ooh…… you’re quick." Lee Yu An flashed a grin. On the other hand, Xiu Mei got even more annoyed hearing him admitting his intention.

  "You’re too obvious!"

  "I wasn’t even trying to hide it though." He spoke as a matter-of-factly. He even flashed a triumphant smile, making Xiu Mei even more irritated.

  She dropped her fist on the table to express her annoyance as she glared hard at him. It was completely useless though, after all, how was Xiu Mei gonna try to scare a soldier who already faced countless life and deaths? She was just basically at the tip of the iceberg when compared to those, no, not even the tip of the iceberg rather.

  "You…… Are you too bored in the army that you even went all the way here just to tease me?!"

  Lee Yu An didn’t respond, yet Xiu Mei understood his response from the teasing smile that never left his face.

  "You-!!"

  "But honestly, you’re in a secret relationship, aren’t you?" Xiu Mei was about to explode at Lee Yu An when he interjected her with his words.

  Xiu Mei buffered for a few seconds before his words registered in her mind.

  Her? In a secret relationship? With whom?

  Confusion crossed in her face that Lee Yu An immediately gave her an idea what he was talking about.

  "You’re reaction from my words about marriage awhile ago," Lee Yu An twisted the chopsticks in his hands before continuing as he lowered his gaze to stare at his food. "You reacted like it was a secret that wasn’t supposed to be known by anyone hence, you were to dumbstruck on how to react after telling you that you were planning on getting married."

  Xiu Mei blinked. Inwardly, her mind was already cursing the fast wit of Lee Yu An. Damn this first love, why is he so sharp?!

  "……I wasn’t." Xiu Mei quickly denied his accusations. Lee Yu An’s brow raised in question, as he signaled her to continue where was he wrong.

  After all, years of training in the military combined with his experience in the field, he could quickly differentiate a person lying in front of him or not.

  In Xiu Mei’s case, she was definitely trying to lie to him and looking for a way out and change topic.

  "Just like you said, I’m too busy to date. I don’t even have time to meet new people." More like, I’m meeting a lot of people I’m disgusted with recently. Was what Xiu Mei really wanted to add.

  "Hmmm,……" He hummed in acknowledgement, yet he didn’t really believe her explanation.

  Inside his mind, Lee Yu An was already plotting on how he was going to investigate this secret of Xiu Mei that she was desperately trying to hide yet splendidly failed. He was very sure that it had to do something with romantic relationsh.i.p.s, or else why would Xiu Mei react strongly to his teasing awhile ago?

  An innocent person would not react that big when he/she is accused with that kind of statement.

  Lee Yu An continued on his thoughts. Seems like Xiu Min’s and Xiu Mo Ruo’s vacation leave would be finally consumed this year, huh. Their dearest little sister is finally dating someone, and she’s even hiding it from her family.

  Lee Yu An can already imagine the reaction of those two siscon brothers. Those two are the prime example of people who would definitely go until the ends of the earth to hunt a person who would dare to hit on their younger sister.

  Lee Yu An stared at the figure of Xiu Mei whose head is currently lowered as she savored the taste of the dishes she was eating. His mind conjured up the image of the little Xiu Mei he first me many years ago, and this image overlapped with the a.d.u.l.t Xiu Mei that was in front of him.

  He suddenly realized how fast everything had been for the past few years. The little girl that usually clung onto him is now a strong independent woman, who grew out of her parents’ shell and bravely face the harsh world.

  "Brother Lee, won’t you come back again next week?" Little Xiu Mei tugged the shirt of teen Lee Yu An who was carrying the little girl on his lap. He was reading aloud the famous fairytale that children usually loved yet, the little girl’s attention wasn’t even on the story but was on him.

  Seeing that round chubby face staring at him with full of hope, Lee Yu An couldn’t even bare to say no to her request. His hand automatically went to her cheek as he lightly pinched it.

  With a gentle smile on his face, he spoke. "Of course, I’ll play with you again."

  "Brother Lee is really the best!" The little girl cheered as she raised her hands to hug him. Her small arms tried their best to cling onto his neck but failed. So Lee Yu An hugged Xiu Mei’s small body and cradled it.

  Lee Yu An felt even more nostalgic. Ah, how time passed by too fast.

  Lee Yu An’s gaze lingered on Xiu Mei’s figure once more before he finally dived in into his food. His hand temporarily paused when another memory flashed in him before he quickly shrugged it off.

  A teenager and a little girl was sitting by the lake with a fishing line resting just beside them.

  "Should we make a grilled fish later after catching one?" The teenager asked the little girl. The little girl vigorously nodded at his suggestion.

  "I’ll cook it for Brother Lee!"

  Lee Yu An couldn’t help but to smile at her innocent words. "Really? Can princess even cook?"

  "Yes! Xiu Mei can cook!" The little girl even made the gesture of putting her hands on her chest, like she was swearing that she can cook. "Xiu Mei will learn so I can cook for Brother Lee when I grow up!"

  "Will you really still cook for me when you grow up? What if you don’t remember Brother Lee anymore by that time?"

  The little girl shook her head as she quickly opposed that idea.

  "I won’t! Because when I grow up, I’ll marry Brother Lee!" Little Xiu Mei said, as she flashed a smile, making her missing front tooth be revealed in front of the teen Lee Yu An.