Chapter 84: From Now On, I’ll Peel Your Prawns for You
When Alina heard Wilson's words, she panicked. "Why do you ask this all of a sudden?"
She had always been worried about this problem too. Alina was afraid that she would fall in love with Wilson accidentally. He was too desirable and excellent! Most importantly, he was always there when she needed him. Alina was concerned that she would not be able to control her feelings if they were together for a long time.
"You completed a jigsaw puzzle for Ken previously, right?" Wilson looked meaningfully at Alina. His eyes were like a deep abyss, pulling her into its depths.
Alina turned away awkwardly. She didn't want to lie, so she nodded and replied, "Yes."
Wilson was displeased when he heard Alina's answer. He suddenly let go of her hand and went into the shop again. He pointed to another puzzle and asked the shop assistant in an impatient tone, "Is this two thousand pieces?"
When the shop assistant nodded, Wilson continued, "I'm getting this jigsaw puzzle."
Then he handed his credit card to the clerk. "There's no password for this card!"
When Wilson let go of her hand, Alina suddenly felt insecure. She walked quickly to the shop to find Wilson. As she walked in, the shop assistant had already swiped Wilsons card. Wilson came up to her with two bags in his hands.
Alina looked at Wilson in confusion.
Wilson reached out and gripped Alina's hand more tightly than before.
"Wilson?" Alina called Wilson's name gently. He had always been calm, but now his mood seemed a little unstable. A moment ago, he was fine, but why did his face turn downcast in such a short time? Was it because she dodged his question just now?
She bit her lower lip and confessed the truth. "S*umbag, you are an attractive man. Furthermore, you treat me so nice. Whenever I'm in danger, you would appear in time and save me. To be honest, I am very worried that I will fall in love with you! However, that is not our original intention, isn't it?"
Wilson saw Alina's bright eyes were grave and serious. He couldn't help but be moved by her sincere words. It turned out that his feelings weren't one-sided. Was that so?
He suddenly pulled Alina into his embrace and whispered in her ear, "Alina, feel free to fall in love with me! You can do that without any worries! I promise to be by your side for the rest of your life." Alina was stunned and deeply moved by Wilson's declaration as well. He pledged to be the only man for her.
At that moment, Alina felt like trying her best to support Wilson and stand alongside him, shoulder to shoulder, although this may seem like a joke to many people. Alina replied gently, "Okay."
Then, she wrapped her arms around his waist and whispered back, "I will try to fall in love with you!"
Wilson held Alina in his arms for a long time, he was unwilling to let go. Wilson longed for her touch and loved hugging her. It was obvious now that he liked her!
Alina couldn't move as she was held tightly by Wilson. Looking at the pedestrians coming and going, she coughed awkwardly. "S*umbag, let me go. Everyone is watching."
"Okay, let's go back and continue what we were doing!" Wilson smiled and gently let go of Alina. After that, he interlocked his fingers with hers naturally.
Alina's cheeks blushed red with embarrassment.
As they walked away hand in hand, Wilson gestured to the bags in his hand. He turned to Alina and asked expectantly, "When you have time, can you solve this jigsaw puzzle for me?" Alina's heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that he was depressed because of the jigsaw puzzle she did for Ken? Was that possible?
"Yes." She nodded with a smile.
How could a jigsaw puzzle be sufficient to repay all the help and care that Wilson had done for her?
The corners of Wilson's lips curled up into a smile, he looked like a boy who had just discovered the thrills of love.
He held Alina's hand tightly and said, "Let's go and have a meal first. I'll help you with the puzzle later!"
Alina refused immediately. "No, I'll do it myself. As this is a gift, it would lose its sincerity if someone else were to help." "Well, I'll keep you company then!" Wilson responded, chuckling.
Alina nodded with a sweet smile in return.
They went to the same restaurant nearby Wilson's apartment and sat side by side at the same window seat in the hall.
While waiting for the dishes to arrive, Wilson held Alina's hand tightly. Alina took out the jigsaw puzzle from its bag and carefully analyzed the colours of the landscape painting.
Alina studied landscape design at university and had a background in arts, so she was more sensitive to the difference in colours as compared to ordinary people. She also solved a few jigsaw puzzles before, thus she had prior experience.
She noted down the main colours of the jigsaw puzzle so that she could solve it much faster later.
A puzzle of two thousand pieces was not twice as difficult as compared to a puzzle of one thousand pieces, in actual fact, the difficulty was multiplied by ten-fold.
Looking at Alina scrutinizing the puzzle seriously, Wilson's smile grew wider.
He reached out with his other hand and stroked Alina's hair. It was soft and silky.
Wilson couldn't help but praise her. "Your hair quality is really good. I like it!"
Alina smiled at his compliment. "Well, I'm proud of my hair too."
"Have you ever dyed your hair? I thought girls liked to dye their hair in different colours," Wilson asked curiously.
She shook her head. "No, I haven't dyed my hair. I prefer having natural hair colour. I have only permed my hair as it was originally straight."
"I prefer natural hair colour as well!" Wilson agreed and said, "However, now your hair is just shoulder length. In my opinion, you will look more beautiful with long hair."
Alina said half-jokingly, "It's okay, my hair will grow longer if I don't cut it. It grows really quickly."
She thought that if Wilson had opened his heart to her, why couldn't she try to love him?
"Yes, you should grow your hair until this length!" Wilson carefully put his hand on Alina's back to show her the length.
Alina smiled again and teased him, "But that's not even near my waist! Would it be long enough for you?"
Wilson chuckled. "I can't wait that long. Once your hair has grown longer, we will hold a grand wedding as evidence of our love. I want women all over the world to be jealous and admire you."
He gestured to a position on Alina's back. It was about an inch longer than her current shoulder-length hair.
Alina's heart skipped a beat. Her hair would be able to grow to that length in another three months.
She did not wish for a lavish wedding, but she was moved by Wilson's desire to plan a wedding for her. In addition, she was even more touched by Wilson's declaration of their love.
Since Wilson thought that they were in love, she could try to love him in return! Ken would definitely become a distant memory. Although she couldn't move on completely right now, she had to make an effort to put the painful past behind her.
Alina lifted up her head from the jigsaw puzzle and stared at Wilson seriously. "S*umbag, I'm sure you know that I don't need a lavish wedding!"
Wilson nodded and fixed his gaze on her. "Yes, I know! But I want to shower you with good things!"
"Thank you, Wilson!" Alina's eyes were moist as she thanked him. "Thank you for your love, S*umbag!" Wilson reached out and ruffled Alina's hair, his tone affectionate. "Silly girl!"
"You're stupid too!" Alina pouted. "Only a fool would choose to marry me!" Tears welled up in her eyes. Wilson quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe her tears. "Didn't you tell me that you hated crying? Don't cry!" "Alright." Alina's voice was choked with emotion.
She used to be independent and emotionless because no one loved her, no one would take pity on her. She had no choice but to stay strong. However, the reason she became emotional so easily nowadays was that she could finally let her guard down in front of Wilson and show her true feelings without hiding them.
If it were possible, no one would want to live behind a facade, putting on a strong front for others!
When the food was served, Wilson inspected the dishes on the table and asked Alina, "Besides orange juice, prawns, and vegetables, what else do you like to eat?"
He noticed Alina had the tendency to order similar dishes from the previous meals they had together.
Alina was surprised by Wilson's attentiveness. She thought for a moment and replied, "I'm actually not picky about food, but I prefer these dishes."
"Okay." Wilson nodded. He peeled a prawn for Alina and placed it on her plate. "Prawns have high protein so you should eat more of them. From now on, I'll peel all of your prawns for you!"
Alina couldn't help but pause when she heard his words. She looked up and her eyes met Wilson's affectionate gaze. At that moment, she could feel her heart thumping wildly in her chest, sending ripples of shock waves through her body.
The memories of her childhood resurfaced in her mind and Alina's eyes turned red. She couldn't stop the tears from running down her cheeks.
When Alina's father was still alive, they would have prawns every week even though their family wasn't rich.
Her dad would peel the prawns for her and say to her fondly, "Alina, come and eat the prawns that I peeled for you. They are high in protein so you should eat more of them. In this way, you will grow up to be beautiful and smart!"
Alina would always reply with a smile, her eyes shining brightly. "Even if I don't eat prawns, I will be smart and beautiful. This is because I take after you!"
Alina's father snorted. "Who wouldn't want to be more beautiful anyway? Here, eat more. From now on, Daddy will peel your prawns for you."
When Wilson saw the tears on Alina's cheeks, he quickly wiped them away with a tissue. "Why are you crying again?"
Alina sniffed and tried to hold back her tears. "I miss my father so much!"
Wilson's heart ached at the sight. He reached out and patted Alina on the shoulder, comforting her in a gentle voice, "There, there. Don't cry. Your father would be reassured to know that you are living a comfortable life. I will try my best to give you happiness."
"Yes." Alina nodded in agreement.
Wilson continued peeling the prawns for her, one after another.
With every bite, Alina could feel the warmth in her chest grow a little more.
When she finished the prawns, not only her hunger was satisfied, but her heart was full of happiness.
After a hearty meal, their relationship improved significantly. The interactions between Alina and Wilson became more natural and loving.
Holding hands, they walked back from the restaurant to the apartment. They chatted and laughed along the way. Alina also became more talkative.
She asked Wilson out of curiosity, "Scumbag, which instruments did you learn?"
"I learnt the piano, saxophone, and the Chinese zither." When Wilson mentioned that he learnt the zither, he felt a little embarrassed and quickly explained himself. "When I was younger, Nancy tricked me into learning the zither. She provoked me by saying that I wouldn't be able to play the zither, so I chose to learn it out of spite!"
Alina laughed loudly at this anecdote and said teasingly, "If I have the chance, I would like to hear you play the zither for me!"
"Alright!" Wilson agreed with a serious expression.
Alina didn't want to carry the joke too far, so she changed the topic. "Which foreign languages did you choose to learn?"
Wilson raised his eyebrows. "I learnt English and Spanish. My father advised me to take these two languages as they are the most widely spoken languages in the world. It turned out to be the correct choice as they are very useful and practical."
In fact, Wilson chose to learn five foreign languages, including French, German, and Thai. He had a knack for learning languages and could pick them up easily. However, Wilson kept this to himself in case Alina felt inferior, so he told her that he had only learnt English and Spanish.
"I see." Alina nodded.
Wilson turned to Alina and asked her some questions about herself. "It's rare for women to be interested in buildings and construction. Why did you choose to study landscape design?" ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐