Chapter 187: Be gentle
“Are you feeling wronged?” Jin Shi Yue lowered his head slightly and asked by her ear.
“No,” Lian Li looked straight ahead at the koi in the lake, replying to him, “There’s nothing to feel wronged about.”
Jin Shi Yue chuckled softly, then lowered his head and rested it on her shoulder: “Are you angry with me?”
“I’m not angry.” Lian Li’s mind was in a mess, but she still calmly raised her hand to push his head away.
She was just pondering the documents and information Pei Qingji had shown her.
If Zhong Yingyi was indeed her mother, had she forgotten them, father and daughter, or was she deliberately pretending not to recognize them, acting like a stranger?
If Zhong Yingyi wasn’t her mother, then what about the bracelet? The jade pendant left by Old Madam Zhong before her death, she wouldn’t have given it away casually.
Lian Li personally leaned towards the latter. If it was the former, and Zhong Yingyi was now married with children and had a legal husband, then what was Lian Jingcheng, an object of an extramarital affair?
After leaving the Western Restaurant, Lian Li was preoccupied and her thoughts were in disarray.
She was irritable and depressed because of her mother’s situation, yet she could still calmly deal with Chen Shifei.
Lian Li sprinkled the last bit of fish food, clapped her hands, and stood up. The man behind her took the opportunity to rest his chin on her head.
The sudden weight made Lian Li instinctively struggle, but before she could move, she heard his lazy voice.
“You don’t welcome me back?”
Jin Shi Yue reached out his arms and embraced her from behind.
The man’s large palm rested on her waist. Lian Li instinctively grabbed his hand and said, “I do.”
Some people are naturally emotionally detached, while others are emotionally weak due to acquired circumstances.
Lian Li belonged to the latter. Most of her emotions were consumed by her parents, leaving her with no extra energy or feelings for others, and she was habitually indifferent.
“How much do you welcome me?” Jin Shi Yue pressed.
Lian Li thought for a moment: “Just so-so.”
He left last night and returned tonight. She barely realized he was gone before he was back.
Jin Shi Yue lowered his head and nuzzled her ear. Lian Li leaned back against his chest, trembling slightly from the comfort of his warmth.
He was very warm, hot and solid.
Lian Li turned around in his arms, stepped back slightly, creating some distance between them: “Have you eaten dinner?”
“No.” Jin Shi Yue had rushed back to Xi Shang Yuan directly after getting off the plane. Let alone dinner, he hadn’t even had a sip of water.
Only then did Lian Li examine him. His dark shirt and trousers were exquisitely tailored and made of fine fabric. The top two buttons of his collar were undone, and his handsome, stern face was tinged with a hint of roguishness.
Apart from when she made him disheveled, Lian Li had never seen Jin Shi Yue in a mess. His expensive clothes were always spotless.
A noble young master raised in a prominent family, even when rushing back to see his girlfriend without a moment’s rest, showed no signs of travel weariness.
“Then you should eat first, don’t go hungry.” As Lian Li finished speaking, she proactively reached out to hold his hand and led him towards the restaurant.
The summer sky darkened late. At this hour, the sky wasn’t a pitch-black ink, but a deep, dark blue.
The warm white light from the garden illuminated their figures. Their two shadows, cast on the ground, held hands, clinging tightly together as if they were meant to be.
Lian Li instructed the auntie to prepare a few simple dishes according to Jin Shi Yue’s taste.
Second Young Master Jin was probably seeing someone use the word “simple” to describe his meal for the first time.
Jin Shi Yue stood with his arms crossed, leaning lazily against the wall, listening intently as Lian Li precisely described his dining habits, and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
His diet was bland, and he didn’t eat any seasonings like scallions, garlic, cilantro, or ginger.
Lian Li found it easy to remember. After all, she doubted she would ever encounter another man so strangely picky about food.
Lian Li had already eaten dinner, so she didn’t ask the auntie to prepare a portion for her. However, Jin Shi Yue insisted she accompany him for the meal. She pondered for a moment, then, holding a plate of cut fruit, sat obediently beside him.
Jin Shi Yue felt she was too far away. He cupped her chair’s armrest and pulled her, chair and all, closer.
Lian Li was slightly surprised: “What are you doing?”
“Cultivating feelings with my girlfriend,” Jin Shi Yue said seriously, with a straight face.
We’re eating, what feelings are we cultivating?
Lian Li glanced at his chiseled profile and let him be: “You should eat first, or the food will get cold.”
Although Jin Shi Yue hadn’t reached the point of needing to hold her while eating, it was Lian Li’s first time watching someone eat, and it was both pleasing to the eye and quite peculiar.
After she went abroad, if they didn’t break up, she would likely be in a long-distance relationship with Jin Shi Yue.
Based on Shang Lingyu’s gossip case summaries, long-distance relationships due to time differences were more severe than those due to geographical distance.
Given Jin Shi Yue’s status, he could go abroad in an instant. However, due to his identity and background, he couldn’t stay abroad for extended periods.
Those in high positions who held political power and controlled major secrets could not reside abroad for long.
However, Jin Shi Yue had already left the Military Region. As long as he didn’t emigrate abroad, no one would dare to interfere with him or prevent him from going abroad.
Lian Li suddenly remembered Chen Shifei’s words.
Would she marry Jin Shi Yue?
Probably not.
Most idol dramas label the initial attraction driven by hormones as love. But is that truly love?
Lian Li had a good impression of Jin Shi Yue; she liked him, but that liking probably hadn’t reached the level of love yet.
Although she didn’t understand what love truly was, love at least meant not being able to leave the other person, just like Lian Jingcheng couldn’t leave her mother.
To live through days that felt like years in pain and sorrow after losing a beloved.
And Lian Li could leave Jin Shi Yue. If he broke up with her, she would let go and wouldn’t cling to him.
Lian Li suppressed her curiosity about the relationship between Jin Shi Yue and Chen Shifei’s mother and son, and stopped overthinking.
She focused her mind on her own matters.
The Red Jade Pendant, the Zhong Family, Zhong Yingyi.
Little Lian Li searching for her mother remained an unsolved mystery.
…
Evening, the study room.
Jin Shi Yue lifted Lian Li onto the desk. She had just showered and was soft and fragrant, as if enveloped in an alluring mist.
Whether it was because he touched a sensitive spot or because the biting was too intense, she let out a cry, holding Jin Shi Yue’s head against her chest.
“Be gentler,” Lian Li pinched his shoulder.
Jin Shi Yue looked up at her, a hint of a smile in his eyes.
“Is this gentle enough?” he asked, his tone carrying a hint of indulgence, “My delicate Miss.”
“Delicate Miss” – these six words inexplicably reminded her of her conversation with Chen Shifei today, which then led her to think about going abroad and separating from Jin Shi Yue.
Lian Li lost her focus in this situation for the first time.
Jin Shi Yue looked up at her, his long fingers reaching forward, and asked displeasedly, “Who are you spacing out thinking about?”
Lian Li trembled and denied his words: “No one.”
A dark glint flashed in Jin Shi Yue’s eyes, and he asked again, “How was today?”
“Today… everything was fine.”
Lian Li met his gaze for two seconds, then raised her arms to hug his neck and offered her lips.
Jin Shi Yue, however, uncharacteristically turned his head to avoid her kiss. Her lips brushed past his thin lips and landed on his cheek.
“What’s wrong?” Lian Li asked, confused.
Jin Shi Yue’s deep eyes stared at her unblinkingly: “Lian Li, what are you afraid of?”
It’s the end of the month, and Hongxiu’s monthly votes are double.
I’m here to ask for votes, thank you~
