He snickered before walking over to tidy my clothes up, pretending as if nothing had happened. He then solemnly promised, "Right then, I'll remind you loudly next time. We were recognized. It's not an eye-opening experience for you..."
"You!" My face flushed red with anger. Remind me loudly? That was clearly a public execution!
"Alright, let's go." Hendrix fixed his belt and held onto my face to kiss me on my forehead. With that, he led me to the stairs and said, "If we're any later, we won't even be able to leave through the back door."
All I could do at the moment was to suppress my anger and follow him out of the building.
The good news was that we came out early enough before the crowd discovered the backdoor. After making our way through the crowd and veering through a few alleyways, Hendrix and I managed to blend into the crowd and successfully make our escape.
We watched a fire-breathing juggler perform and saw a vendor selling candied haws passing by, so I begged Hendrix to buy it for me.
In the past, when I watched soap operas to pass the time, I could feel the joy when the main characters shared the same stick of candied haws. Right then as we both had a stick of candied haws in hand, I could taste the best flavor in the world.
A long while later I would remember how the candied haws I had that night was the best I ever had, and that all other candied haws eaten after that never quite matched up to it. In the end, I discovered what conquered the taste buds were more than just the food itself. It included the state of mind and the environment at the present moment. There were not many occasions like this in a lifetime.
Hendrix teased me, saying, "Outsiders might think that I'm not feeding you if you say that."
"Isn't that what you do!" I remained defiant with my mouth stuffed.
Hendrix could not help but laugh bitterly, "Yes, I'm the meanest husband in the world who doesn't even let you eat."
"That's right. You're the meanest!" I stuck my tongue out at him, and after taking advantage of him, I kept enjoying my Candied Haws while walking forward.
Perhaps the heavens also pitied Hendrix as they avenged him shortly after, when a child rushed out of the alley and crashed into me, causing me to nearly fall over. Fortunately, Hendrix ran up to hold me in time, so I managed to avoid the embarrassment.
"Everything okay?" Hendrix nervously scanned me from head to toe. After he was sure that I was alright, he put on a solemn expression and reprimanded me in a low voice, "In the future, make sure you interlock your fingers with me when you're in a crowd!"
I stuck my tongue out at him and did not take him seriously. Then, I went to help the child up. A trampling accident was inevitable in a crowd. Concerned, I asked, "Are you alright, kid?"
I noticed the girl was gorgeous as she stood up. She must not be wearing a mask as her parents were worried that they might lose her in an unrecognizable crowd.
Kidnappers were always out to sabotage peace and cause chaos.
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