Chapter 294: Zheng Yuntong. I Like You, And I Want You To Be My Girlfriend.

It really did make one feel somewhat vain and prideful after being confessed to.

“Your senior is not bad at all. There are probably a lot of people out there that have a crush on him. Why didn’t you accept?” Shen Zongyi’s tone grew warmer as he spoke.

The sudden change between warm and cold tones made Zheng Yuntong feel a bit lightheaded. It felt like she had caught a bad cold.

“How did you know I rejected him?” Zheng Yuntong asked in surprised.

“Why else would you use such lousy excuses to leave? When I called you, you looked so happy that I thought you had just escaped from jail.” Shen Zongyi recalled her reaction and was immediately relieved. The corner of his mouth started to show traces of a smile.

“You saw the whole thing, huh.” Zheng Yuntong said in a low voice. “I have no feelings for him. If I would, it would’ve emerged when we were in university. A lot of my female course mates were into him back then since he was quite popular in school. Being the handsome president of the student council, it was easy for him to attract suitors. At the time, I was the secretary of the student council, and he took real good care of me. I admired him, but it’s not like I was in love with him. It’s the kind of admiration that one has for an outstanding individual. I’ve never thought of getting together with him or anything like that, so it shocked me that he suddenly confessed his feelings.”

“Since he’s so great, why don’t you just give it a shot?” Shen Zongyi’s voice sounded distant, so one could not guess what he was thinking about.

Zheng Yuntong saw this and assumed that Shen Zongyi was encouraging her. It was as if he had no such feelings for her at all, so could Lin Chu and Xu Moyan have been mistaken this whole time?

In the end, was she just imagining that her love had been reciprocated?

As she thought about these things, her mood darkened. She vowed had vowed to Guan Zexi earlier that she would maintain these feelings of love for him, but at this moment, her emotions no longer seemed as strong as she had initially thought. She had thought that she would be able to keep this secret love of hers, even if he did not end up with her and eventually married someone else and started a family. She would only be ready to give him up once he had a family of his own, and there was no longer a place for her in his heart.

Nevertheless, all things easier said than done. At the end of the day, when it was time for action, her heart was filled with anguish.

She lifted her hand, no longer caring about her image, and began to rub her aching chest. It had become so unbearable that it longer mattered that Shen Zongyi was still present. She could not help herself even if her actions were not entirely appropriate.

“On the surface, he may look good to outsiders. He was very popular in school, and even though we haven’t seen each other in a long time, I’m aware that he has achieved many things, making him young and promising. However, none of these matter to me. His personality is just too overbearing, and he doesn’t like it if others disobey him. Even though he was the one that confessed to me, it seemed as though I did not have the option to refuse him. I saw how upset he was when I rejected him. For a moment, rather than feeling sad about the rejection, he was actually more triggered at the fact that he failed. This type of person is not suitable for me. I’m actually quite disgusted by it, so it’s impossible for me to accept him.”

As he listened to Zheng Yuntong, Shen Zongyi began thinking about something else as a thoughtful expression spread across his face.

Once he regained his senses, he noticed that her hands were rubbing her chest. His gaze locked onto her posture as his breathing quickened.

Immediately after, he began to stare intensely at her wrist.

Unable to deal with her hand that was still pressed up against her chest, he suddenly reached out to grab her hand and pull her closer to him. His fingertips lightly brushed against Xu Moyan’s chest, making her body shiver and cheeks turn crimson.

Shen Zongyi cleared his throat and felt somewhat uncomfortable about the little mishap. He wanted to apologize but thought that it might be better if he pretended not to know so as to avoid both parties being embarrassed.

When his gaze fell back to her wrist, his previous thoughts and embarrassment were all set aside.

“Did this happen after he grabbed onto it?” Shen Zongyi frowned and asked in a deep tone.

Zheng Yuntong was still baffled by the whole situation. The part of her hand that Shen Zongyi was holding on to with his palm started to burn hot. They were in the middle of a vast street, and people were walking past them. If someone they knew were to spot them, it would be no good.

Just now, she seemed to have spotted a colleague from the finance department walk by but was unsure if the girl had saw them too.

Hearing Shen Zongyi’s words, she finally noticed that her wrist had been bruised by Guan Zexi. He did put pressure on it, and she did feel uncomfortable at the time, but even though it felt sore, she was not aware that it would be this badly injured.

She frowned and used her other hand to touch the bruise before immediately wincing as she speedily retracted her hand.

“Are you dumb? You knew that it’s injured, yet you’re still touching it!” Shen Zongyi said sternly. He looked at the bruise on his wrist and sneered. “Is this what he meant when he said he liked you? Refusing to let go when you don’t accept him and hurting you in this way. I’m afraid he barely even looked at it.”

Zheng Yuntong was surprisingly unafraid of Shen Zongyi’s fury. Her heart started to beat faster and she felt a certain sweetness wrap her up. Rather than fear, she felt a sense of reliance on him instead.

She blushed as she whispered, “It’s alright.”

Shen Zongyi snorted at her, “Are you defending him?”

“I’m not.” Zheng Yuntong quickly shook her head. “I don’t even like him. So, I won’t be sad even if I am injured because of him. I don’t feel angry either. Maybe since I don’t care about it anyway since I’ll never meet up with him in the future, and cut probably cut all relations with him in the future.”

“You’re unexpectedly lenient.” Shen Zongyi twitched his lips as he sneered at her.

Zheng Yuntong pursed her lips and said nothing. She knew that Shen Zongyi was angry because she had gotten injured and was murmuring injustice for her, but could he not say something more helpful to coax her since he clearly wanted to do something that would be beneficial for her?

He obviously felt bad for her, but he was still mocking her. What on earth?

Suddenly, Zheng Yuntong’s ears twitched as she thought, ‘He felt bad for her?’

A moment of enlightenment occurred in her heart; was this is all because Shen Zongyi felt bad for her?

Zheng Yuntong could not hold her grin, yet still pretended to be ignorant. “It’s just a bruise, why are you acting like this?”

Perhaps her pretense was too fake, because it soon made Shen Zongyi grin as well. He looked like he was half-smiling as he asked, “Don’t you know?”

“What don’t I know?” Zheng Yuntong’s eyes started to roll to one side.

“I had the impression that since you’ve asked me in that way, you’ve actually tested some theories out yourself, and know exactly why.” Shen Zongyi softened his tone. His voice became softer and huskier, as well as low. It was as if a warm ray of sun had drifted into her heart in the midst of the cold wind.

She was mesmerized by his soft gaze. The gentleness of his words that carried a bright tone made Zheng Yuntong’s heart flutter. She forgot that Shen Zongyi was still holding her hand and also did not notice that his thumb was gently rubbing against the back of her hand. His actions were quite intimate.

“I don’t know anything; I’m stupid and insensitive. If the other person doesn’t make it clear, I’ll never be able to guess it. Moreover, even if I tried to guess it, I’ll not know if I’ve guessed correctly.” Zheng Yuntong lowered her head and murmured, ”

I’m not a ringworm in your stomach.

How am I supposed to know what you’re actually thinking?”

“It’s my fault. I didn’t make it clear.” Shen Zongyi’s deep and low voice contained traces of a smile that was extraordinarily warm. He pulled the hand that he was holding onto to the side as he stepped closer to her, leaving only a half-foot distance between the two of them.

Upon feeling his approach, Zheng Yuntong’s heart skipped a beat. Her heart started racing, akin to a girl that had their first awakening of love. It was beating so fast that it felt like it was going to pop out of her chest at any moment.

She felt a little breathless after catching scent of the fragrance emanating from him. It had become more distinct from the bitingly cold wind.

“I’m not close with anyone from the company because I’ve set a boundary between us. Other than President Wei, the person I talk to the most is you.” Shen Zongyi said softly.

Zheng Yuntong could not lift her head up. Her face stared at the ground, but she could feel his breath blowing against the top of her head as he spoke.

At this moment, he had his head lowered as well.

“Especially female colleagues – other than you, did you notice me talking casually to any other girls? I rarely even hang out for official matters, whilst only the managers from each department contact me. Even then, I don’t often concern myself with them, and I don’t pay any attention to them.” Shen Zongyi had his head lowered so much that he could only see the forehead of the little lady in front of him.

She had also lowered her head and was still refusing to look up at him.

Shen Zongyi could not help but chuckle. At this moment, the two of them were standing so close that it was almost as if she was being held in his arms.

Initially, he wanted to take his time. He knew that she was quite clueless and had no interest in anyone else in that regard. Even though there were quite a lot of female colleagues that were interested in him in the company, he had given her so many opportunities, yet she had never taken advantage of them.

This was why he had a sense of crisis today after seeing her meet up with her senior today.

As it turned out, even if the little lady had no interest in anyone, other people still noticed her. There were probably a lot of these types of people lurking in the corner that he was not aware of.

It was fortunate that the person that came to confess at noon today was someone that had a lousy personality, so he was not someone that could get through to her. However, he might not be so fortunate in the future.

“I’ve always treated you quite differently this whole time, and I thought you’d be able to sense it,” Shen Zongyi chuckled lightly. Just his laugh was able to warm Zheng Yuntong up in the cold weather as she trembled. “I’m not sure if it’s because I was not obvious enough, or that you’re just really slow.”

Zheng Yuntong had her head lowered as she quietly puffed out her cheeks.

She listened as Shen Zongyi said in an earnest and serious tone, “Zheng Yuntong. I like you, and I want you to be my girlfriend. I’m guessing that you’ll probably ask me why, but to be honest, I don’t know either. My first impression was at that moment in Hai Nan when you stumbled into my room and saw me changing clothes. You abruptly exited while blushing, all thumbs and looking foolish.

“Whenever you stumbled upon me after that, you always looked nervous, as if I would just eat you up. The more you acted this way, the closer I wanted to get to you. Once I got closer to you, I noticed how interesting and how smart you actually are. You’re stupidly cute most of the time, yet you’re also really one-track minded. Afterward, you seemed to open up to me, and you’re unlike anyone else that would normally only approach me with ulterior motives. Your always approached me calmly and without any hidden intention, as if you were approaching a friend. It made it easier for me to get along with you. Nevertheless, it was a little bit annoying because you were never viewing me as a good potential partner despite the fact that I was already doing this to you. Sometimes when I meet your gaze that seems to constantly be juggling a stream of never-ending distracting thoughts, I feel somewhat frustrated.”

An idiom in Chinese, meaning to know what a person is thinking as if one were actually inside another person’s body, i.e. a mind reader.