Ning Anmiao was stunned for a few seconds, her eyes falling on the crystal shrimp dumplings on the plate on the table.
Each crystal shrimp dumpling was crystal - clear, and one could faintly see the shrimps wrapped inside the dumpling skin. The bright red color was extremely tempting.
Ning Anmiao subconsciously swallowed her saliva.
"You're hungry, aren't you?" Lu Yan knew exactly what was going on at a glance. He raised the corners of his lips. "It's my first time making them. Try some?"
First time?
Ning Anmiao couldn't help but take a few more glances.
If it was really his first time, then it had to be said that Lu Yan had quite a talent for cooking.
Some people were just born with gifts from God and could excel in all aspects.
She didn't say much. She just pulled out a chair and sat down, then picked up a crystal dumpling with her chopsticks.
The moment she bit into it, the soup and the shrimp rushed into her mouth together.
It was so delicious that she almost bit her tongue off.
Lu Yan asked, "Is it delicious?"
From her expression, Lu Yan had already guessed the answer, but he still wanted to hear Miao Miao's approval with his own ears.
"Not bad," Ning Anmiao said in a deliberately cold tone, but then quickly picked up the second and third dumplings.
Lu Yan pursed his lips and smiled faintly. He watched her for a while, as if admiring a painting.
She was still the same as before. When she ate something she liked, she would be very happy, and her whole body would radiate a sense of happiness.
But somehow, when she was halfway through the dumplings, she suddenly stopped. She buried her head very low, and her shoulders trembled slightly.
Lu Yan thought the dumplings weren't cooked properly. He leaned in to take a look and found that there was a small pool of wetness beside the plate.
"Miao Miao, are you crying?" He finally realized something was wrong. He immediately walked over, lifted her chin, and saw a pair of wet eyes.
Although they were clearly a man's eyes, Lu Yan could clearly read the fragility and sadness in them.
The darkness in Lu Yan's eyes deepened. His throat rolled a few times, and his eyebrows knitted tightly. "Is it so bad? If you don't want to eat, don't."
Look, it was so bad that she was crying.
Ning Anmiao was amused by his words. She raised her hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes. "No, it's actually very delicious."
"Then why are you crying?" Lu Yan stared into her eyes, leaving her nowhere to hide her gaze. "Did it taste so good that you cried?"
Even if Ning Anmiao answered like this, he wouldn't believe it.
Ning Anmiao propped her chin on her hand. She knew Lu Yan was trying to make her happy. She smiled politely and glanced down at the remaining dumplings on the plate.
"When I was a child, when I couldn't memorize my books and my father beat my palm, my mother would make shrimp dumplings for me to eat."
This was the first time Ning Anmiao had voluntarily told Lu Yan about her childhood.
Although Ning Zhijing doted on his daughter, he was always strict and serious on matters of principle.
And Ning's mother was a gentle and delicate mother, often protecting her daughter.
"You just spoil her," Ning Zhijing sighed deeply.
Although he often frowned and blamed Ning's mother, he would also stop in time and not continue to scold her.
When Ning Anmiao wasn't looking, he would carefully ask, "Was I too harsh on Miao Miao just now? Please check her palm for me tonight to see if it's swollen?"
She didn't understand when she was a child, but when she grew up, she finally knew.
It turned out that her strict father also loved her very much.
Pulling back from the memories, she looked at the dumplings on the table full of memories, and tears couldn't help but fall again.
"Lu Yan, I want to go home," she said.
Lu Yan's breath caught in his throat. He lowered his eyes slightly.
He looked at Ning Anmiao's red - rimmed eyes. For a moment, his chest felt so stuffy that he couldn't say a single word.
He had long known that this day would come.
Miao Miao was a free bird. One day, she would want to fly back, fly back to her own world.
This place of his was just a temporary resting place for her.
Because he knew this day would come, he had always been trying to restrain his feelings, just so that when she regretted it, he could let go easily.
But he had to admit that on the day when Miao Miao proposed a divorce, he had agreed very readily.
And his heart had ached just as readily.
"Do you regret marrying me?" The moment he asked the question, he felt a bit regretful, but he also wanted to hear her answer.
Ning Anmiao lowered her eyes and didn't respond for a moment.
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Lu Yan asked again, "Miao Miao?"
Ning Anmiao originally wanted to say "yes" immediately, but then she remembered what Lu Yan had said in the office this afternoon, and she stopped.
"Marrying you is the most impulsive thing I've ever done in my life."
Others might not understand the meaning of this sentence, but Ning Anmiao knew exactly what it meant.
Since she met Lu Yan, she had never seen him lose control.
Everything about him was well - planned. He was just like the angry words she had thrown out when she was angry, a "perfect artificial intelligence", without the slightest mistake.
But he had married her, Ning Anmiao, a woman who had been driven out of the Ning family and had no background.
With Lu Yan's status, he really should have married a woman like Jiang Qiwei, who could help him in his career, so as to achieve a win - win situation.
But he didn't.
"I... I don't know," Ning Anmiao suddenly shrank back and answered very hesitantly. "I'm suddenly sleepy. I'll go rest first."
She immediately got up and tried to escape, but Lu Yan grabbed her hand and pressed her back onto the chair.
"Miao Miao, I need your answer," Lu Yan narrowed his eyes, not giving her a chance to escape.
He knew in his heart that only Miao Miao's answer could help him make a decision.
Even artificial intelligence could have loopholes.
The more precise the instrument, the more likely it was to collapse completely because of a small, unremarked loophole.
When it came to being with Miao Miao, he wasn't sure what was the right thing to do. He needed her to give him an optimal solution.
And he would be responsible for executing it.
Execute it coldly and unfeelingly.
He just needed one answer from her.
The shrimp dumplings on the table had gotten a bit cold. The remaining ones were stuck together, looking neither beautiful nor appetizing.
The atmosphere was so stalemated.
Ning Anmiao was silent for a moment. She sat on the chair and thought for a while, then slowly began to speak.
"I've never regretted it."
"Lu Yan, I've never regretted marrying you."
The moment he heard the answer, Lu Yan narrowed his eyes. For no reason, he felt a bit moist in his eyes. A little bit of joy spread from his chest to his whole body.
From the moment he heard the answer, the cells in his whole body seemed to come back to life and start functioning again, making his breathing smoother.
Before he could say anything, Ning Anmiao spoke again.
"It's true that I don't regret marrying you, but..."
Ning Anmiao gritted her teeth before finally saying the last sentence.
"We're not suited, Lu Yan."