Chapter 194: Hold on tight, don’t lose me
Jin Shi Yue’s gaze, those lazy black eyes, fixed on her. “Are you full?”
“I’m full.”
Lian Li wanted to ask him, ‘Aren’t you full?’, but before she could speak, Jin Shi Yue gripped her waist, lifted her into the air, and gave her a serious weigh-in before setting her back down on the ground.
Although the restaurant wasn’t crowded at this hour, there were still passersby. In broad daylight, Lian Li felt quite uncomfortable. “What are you doing?”
“Just weighing you to see if you’re full,” Jin Shi Yue said.
Lian Li found it speechless yet somewhat amusing. Her eyes curved slightly, and she broke into a smile. “Who weighs themselves with their bare hands?”
Jin Shi Yue ruffled her head, his eyelids drooping slightly. He said lazily, “Didn’t you say I wasn’t human?”
“No,” Lian Li was about to deny it when she suddenly remembered Chen Shifei’s implication that she wasn’t good enough for him, and that she had twisted it to say he wasn’t human.
She changed the subject, turning her attention back to him. “So, whatever I say goes? When did you become so agreeable?”
“A boyfriend as agreeable as me is hard to find,” Jin Shi Yue readily replied, reaching out to his girlfriend, who was ready to be independent. “Hold on tight, don’t lose me.”
Lian Li smiled brightly and took his hand. “If I lost you, wouldn’t you find your way back on your own?”
“So bold?” Jin Shi Yue’s long fingers slipped between hers, gripping them tightly. “You’re sure I can’t live without you, aren’t you.”
Even from a distance, Jin Yan Ting could see their intimate figures pressed close together in the rearview mirror.
He averted his gaze and looked at the empty seat beside him, lost in thought for a moment.
How he wished she would walk with him, just like before. Whether by chance or if he had gone to pick her up, she would always be sitting in the back seat with him.
Now, he could only watch helplessly as she walked away hand-in-hand with another man. And that man was none other than his own full brother.
Although the two brothers didn’t interact much on a daily basis, they were always united on important matters.
If the person Lian Li was with wasn’t Jin Shi Yue, Jin Yan Ting would have had many ways to make them break up. But it had to be Jin Shi Yue.
Jin Yan Ting understood Jin Shi Yue.
Jin Shi Yue, who appeared indifferent, casual, and unconcerned, was actually more passionate and relentless than anyone else.
He was serious about Lian Li.
The Maybach drove past an intersection, and they were completely out of sight. Jin Yan Ting took out a share transfer agreement and a property sale agreement from his folder.
The name of the shareholder in the listed new energy group was ‘Lian Li’, and the owner of the villa near the United States school was also ‘Lian Li’.
If he had directly transferred money or a check to Lian Li, she might have accepted it, but she would never have used it.
The villa was close to the school, quiet, and convenient. Lian Li was sensible and knew that living in the villa would make her life much easier, so she wouldn’t pretend to be coy and refuse. The shares in the new energy group would be managed by professional managers, yielding at least fifty million in dividends annually. Lian Li had great talent in finance and understood the trend of new energy, so she wouldn’t transfer them for the time being.
Jin Yan Ting wasn’t sure if he still had the standing to give Lian Li these things.
As her brother of ten years?
Impossible.
Jin Yan Ting knew his motives for preparing these were impure.
He liked Lian Li.
Everything he gave her carried his unspoken affection.
Now that she had someone she liked, he couldn’t give her things so carelessly as he did before.
Both Jin Shi Yue and Jin Yan Ting were straightforward people.
The former liked Lian Li and would express it directly to her, without beating around the bush.
The latter liked Lian Li and would not overstep boundaries by using their sibling relationship.
Jin Yan Ting lowered his gaze, looking thoughtfully at the pen in his hand – a New Year gift from Lian Li.
In the past, he had always thought that Lian Li, like him, didn’t need love.
Born at the pinnacle of power in the Jin Family, possessing unattainable fame, fortune, and power, he had everything and didn’t need love.
Lian Li had lost her mother at a young age, and her father passed away when she was twelve. She had very little, and love was too extravagant. She didn’t need such a luxury; she only needed to be herself and walk her own path in life.
In this current era, where materialism reigns supreme, it seemed more noble to choose power and money over love. True feelings and love were just like that; Jin Yan Ting had thought so too.
But only when one truly falls in love with someone does one realize how precious love is.
Jin Yan Ting closed his eyes, leaning back against the dark brown leather seat, his mind replaying the image of Lian Li standing with Jin Shi Yue, holding hands intimately.
Lian Li had told him twice that she liked Jin Shi Yue in front of him.
Before, because Lian Li was too rational and sensible, rarely expressing her emotions, Jin Yan Ting had found her a psychologist. However, even three top psychologists had declared themselves helpless.
Lian Li had built a fortress around her heart, and no one could break through the barriers and move her.
How much must one like someone to make Lian Li, who never spoke of love or liking, say it so decisively and firmly?
When did she and Jin Shi Yue start?
In less than a year, it was more intense than their ten years of feelings.
Lian Li said, “The feelings between us aren’t measured by time, but by feeling.”
Feeling… Did she have no feelings for him?
Jin Yan Ting couldn’t help but wonder.
And the cello, she didn’t like the cello?
During this period, Jin Yan Ting was busy with work, and his schedule didn’t align with Lian Li’s. Or rather, knowing Lian Li was with Jin Shi Yue, he deliberately became busier to avoid seeing them.
When he encountered them by chance just now, Jin Yan Ting couldn’t help but recall what he saw and heard on graduation day.
After pondering for a while, he sent Lian Li a WeChat message.
【Don’t like the cello? 】
When Lian Li received Jin Yan Ting’s message, she had just gotten out of the car. She took out her mobile phone, glanced at it, and looked up at Jin Shi Yue.
“Did you tell Yan Ting that I don’t like the cello?”
Jin Shi Yue got out of the driver’s seat, walked around the front of the car, leaned against the car door next to her, his long legs bent and resting on the ground, arms crossed. “Can’t I say it?”
The garage light was dim. He was very tall, and he had to lower his head slightly to look at her. The stray hairs on his forehead and his long, thick eyelashes obscured his dark eyes, making it impossible to discern his emotions.
“You can,” Lian Li replied, then lowered her eyes to her phone, her fingertip quickly tapping the screen, clearly replying to the message.
Jin Shi Yue hooked his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “Chatting with Jin Yan Ting?”
Lian Li stood between his legs, looking up at him, mimicking his earlier tone. “Can’t I chat?”
“You can,” Jin Shi Yue curved his lips, smiling casually. “Your learning ability is quite strong.”
Lian Li lowered her head and continued typing her message.
Jin Shi Yue lowered his head, his forehead resting on her shoulder, and glanced at her phone screen, his tone unreadable. “Do you message him often?”
“Not often,” Lian Li said. “Yan Ting is busy with work and doesn’t have time to look at his phone. I message Assistant He more often.”
Jin Shi Yue let out a dismissive scoff. “Did you come up with that excuse yourself, or did he tell you to say it?”
Lian Li paused. “Isn’t that the case?”
Mother is in the next chapter.
