A Graduation Gift

It felt like Rufus was burning into her skin. Part of her felt so shy that she wanted to tear herself apart from his embrace, but that only made him clutch her tighter and tighter.

"Rufus.." Cassandra said softly. "The dinner is ready, I have to arrange the table..."

Rufus gently planted his soft lips on hers before she could go any further. The fusing of their mouths, the feeling of his hands moving all over her back ignited a kind of electricity in her body. She moaned and exhaled with pleasure, only wanting him more. She let herself flow for just a few seconds, before saying, "Rufus...Stop... Please...It's time for dinner. It took me so long to make all those dishes. You wouldn't want to eat them all cold, would you?" Cassandra brought herself to say despite the fire she felt in the pit of her stomach.

After leaving the Tang Group, she had hurried back simply so she could cook dinner for Rufus, which was something she had always wanted to do. For her, cooking for her beloved and waiting for him to come back home after a day's hard work was the real happiness in life.

With his face buried in her neck, he let out a small chuckle and finally pulled himself back. Well, he thought he could wait a bit after sensing her embarrassment. They had the whole night to themselves.

At dinner, they sat face-to-face, with dozens of appetizing dishes on the table between them.

"I don't think Chinese food goes very well with red wine. I have here a pot of traditional yellow wine that my granny left me. Do you want to try it?"

Before Rufus could even say yes, Cassandra already picked up a porcelain cup, filling it up fully. As the pure, amber colour liquid flowed out of the beautiful, antique crock, a lovely, intoxicating aroma greeted them.

"It tastes great, but this kind of yellow wine really has a kick to it. Just try a little first, you might get drunk pretty easily," she said, putting down the crock and pouring herself a cup of tea. "Cheers! With the wine and the tea, let's toast for my resignation from the Tang Group today!"

Cassandra announced gleefully, raising her cup and waiting for Rufus to clink it. Rufus was torn between smiling and weeping at her words.

"I never knew one could be so happy losing their jobs, you know," he said, amused.

And then he raised his cup, clinking it with hers. They looked deep into each other's eyes as they sipped from their cups.

The amazement escaped Rufus's face the moment the cup touched his lips. Pleasantly surprised by its flavor, he took a good look at the liquid. Now, it looked orange-red to him, even clearer in the white porcelain cup. Although it looked fairly transparent, the taste of it was quite dense and as rich as the smell that lingered in the air. Even the aftertaste had the perfect balance of acidity, sweetness and a slight bitterness.

This was the first time he had had yellow wine. It was unlike anything he'd drank before, as if it had things to express and stories to tell.

"This wine tastes really rich! It seems so special. Tell me more about it," he urged, reaching for her hand.

Judging by the antique pot and its traditional flavor, he guessed it had a deep historic background.

However, Cassandra's face fell at the question. A look of sorrow came across her beautiful eyes.

"It has another name—Maiden Rose," she said slowly after a while. "I was brought up by my granny, who was in fact my mother's wet nurse. She was a southerner, and followed the tradition of burying a pot of this kind wine under the ground if a girl is born into the family. The wine is to be kept underground till the day the girl is married," she recalled. "This pot was prepared for me when I was born...but Granny passed away before I got married..."

with a sense of suppressed sadness. Her granny's smiling

she had cried her heart out and had gone to find comfort in the cottage where she had grown up with her granny. It was then that she found this pot of Maiden Rose kept under her granny's bed. A yellowing, decrepit tag hung from it, with her date of birth written on it.

beloved granny flooding her head. Granny was the only person she

off her wet cheeks, to keep the pot, as a token of her granny's

it out four years ago when she married Lionel, but there was no affection involved in that marriage whatsoever. Her heart never allowed herself to present the wine to anyone, or to ever open and drink from it.

kept looking at her face, touched by what she had just told him. He hadn't expected that the story behind the wine

attached to her parents. For all he knew, her parents, Vernon and Edith loved Cassandra's sister, Cloris, much more. No wonder, for her, the granny who prepared this pot of Maiden Rose held much more importance than her own real

she

asked in a

died while they were still young. She treated my mother like her own daughter, and of course the love was mutual. We buried her ashes in the cemetery that's located in the suburbs of the city, where we thought she would've liked to

answered, no longer holding back her tear. She truly loved her granny

throat, as if to gauge whether he

thank her granny for taking good care of Cassandra. And for another, he wanted to know more about Cassandra's deep

couldn't figure out why Cassandra's parents sent her away. She was completely healthy, without any disease or defect, certainly no burden to the

her tears, Cassandra

"How about we forget all these sad things and enjoy all these dishes I've made

she served him small portions of everything on the table. The sheer thought of him liking any of it filled her with

the dishes,

good at cooking as they had all kinds of

I've always dreamt of preparing a table full of delicious dishes for

her chin cupped in her hands. There was innocence in her clear eyes.

of himself. Her beautiful plump lips were

and walked to her side. Breathing heavily, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the sofa, looking deep into her eyes. Cassandra let out a small cry of surprise as he flung her on the sofa, but her

a sweet and enchanting smell into the air as the two were lost in each other,

Rufus asked her if she wanted to visit the cemetery. Cassandra was overwhelmed by how much he cared. They decided to

granny, smiling wholeheartedly. Just looking at the picture, she looked like a warm and beautiful person, inside out. Rufus stared at the photo for quite a while before finally

mother had been the closest person to him, the same way Cassandra's granny had been to her. Now, both of these women were granted eternal rest, leaving him and Cassandra to

bless the two of them with peace and

had regained courage to face the bad things in life. While they were leaving the cemetery, she suggested

Cassandra felt this heaviness all the way home. She couldn't imagine how her

had wanted to ask him to stay in the car and wait for her, but it seemed like he had already decided to go in

said, "I'm here with you,"