Chapter 212: If I Absolutely Must Have You
In the restroom, Lian Li finished vomiting and felt much better. She stood by the washbasin, feeling a bit weak, and cupped water in her hands to wash her face.
Footsteps approached from behind her. She looked up and saw Jin Shi Yue in the mirror picking up a face towel and reaching out to turn her around.
Her face was damp with water, her skin clear and fair. Her long eyelashes were adorned with glistening moisture, and her eye sockets were wet, unsure if it was from the discomfort of vomiting or water getting into her eyes.
Jin Shi Yue’s movements and voice were as calm and gentle as ever: “Do you still feel like vomiting?”
Lian Li looked at the noble and handsome man. His brows were serene, like the calm before a storm.
She shook her head.
After Jin Shi Yue finished wiping her face, he hung the towel aside, reached out, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Then, he bent down and scooped her up horizontally.
Lian Li wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her cheek on his broad shoulder. Her voice was hoarse and unconvincing: “I’m fine. It’s probably just that my emotions have been fluctuating a lot lately, and traveling by plane and car to a new place has made me a bit unaccustomed.”
She paused, then added another reason: “Doesn’t everyone say the stomach is an organ of emotion?”
The clothes on the man were perfectly ironed. Even after she rubbed against them a few times, they remained unwrinkled, just as his expression was placid.
When Lian Li felt unwell, Jin Shi Yue would usually try to cheer her up. He was rarely silent with her, so Lian Li could guess that his silence indicated a serious matter.
As for why it was serious, Lian Li didn’t quite understand.
She had just vomited a little.
There was no need to make a fuss.
This hotel’s presidential suite was a duplex, with a spiral staircase connecting the floors. Jin Shi Yue, with his tall stature and long legs, quickly carried her to the bedroom on the second floor.
Lian Li lay on the bed, and her stomach suddenly cramped, making her frown in discomfort and clutch her abdomen.
Jin Shi Yue sat at the head of the bed, helped her sit up, and poured her a glass of warm water.
Lian Li leaned into his embrace and drank a few sips of the warm water from his hand, only then feeling slightly better.
“I’m fine,” she said, looking at him and repeating herself.
Jin Shi Yue placed his large palm on her lower abdomen and asked in a low voice, “Is there anywhere else that feels uncomfortable?”
“No.”
Lian Li turned her head and unexpectedly saw his rare gentle expression. She paused for a moment, then suddenly had an epiphany: “You don’t think I’m pregnant, do you?”
The thick curtains of the floor-to-ceiling window were drawn open, and the sunlight from outside streamed into the room, illuminating the carpeted floor.
Jin Shi Yue’s dark, tousled hair naturally fell above his brow bone. His eyes were cast down, his long, thick lashes obscuring his gaze, making it impossible to discern his exact emotions.
Hearing Lian Li’s words, he lifted his eyelids and his gaze fell upon her pair of luminous, almond-shaped eyes. He looked at her for a few seconds with an unreadable expression before speaking, “You don’t want it?”
He was so perceptive; he could accurately guess her thoughts from just a single sentence.
The two of them always took excellent safety precautions. Although condoms weren’t 100% safe, such a low-probability event was unlikely to happen to them, given their cautious approach.
What Jin Shi Yue was asking wasn’t whether she wanted a child, but whether she had any intention of taking their relationship a step further.
Excluding their first encounter as children, Lian Li had known him for nearly a year and had been together for about half a year. She knew she liked him now, but it still felt too soon.
“I haven’t considered it.”
Lian Li spoke the truth: “I’m going abroad at the end of August. Pregnancy would disrupt my plans. I don’t want anything to delay my studies, not even…” you.
She didn’t say the last three words, believing Jin Shi Yue would understand.
“Relationships need to be maintained. While I’m away, what will happen between us is still unknown. I don’t want to jump to conclusions too early,” Lian Li said calmly. “Neither of us is someone who readily makes definitive statements about the future or speaks empty words. If the outcome isn’t satisfactory, and we can’t guarantee the child will live in a complete and healthy family, bringing them into the world for our own selfish desires would be cruel to them.”
For people like them, love occupied a very small portion of their lives.
Lian Li knew how much her past experiences had influenced her, for better or worse.
She liked Jin Shi Yue and wouldn’t pathetically believe she wasn’t good enough for him. However, if they truly reached a point of separation, she wouldn’t make any effort to hold on.
When Ji Tan left without a word, Lian Jingcheng chased her all the way to the Capital City, but never found any news about her until his death.
Although Jin Shi Yue wasn’t Ji Tan, and Lian Li wasn’t Lian Jingcheng, people’s hearts were fickle. He could change, and so could she.
Nothing in the world was eternal; everything would eventually disappear.
Including feelings.
…Especially feelings.
She didn’t even bother to coax him; her words were cruel and realistic.
The sweetness of this period, her opening up to him, her willingness to enter his world, all seemed like an illusory dream.
Jin Shi Yue gazed at her, his pupils extremely dark: “Am I someone you can discard at any time?”
Lian Li could see he was unhappy, but she still chose to express her true thoughts: “Jin Shi Yue, neither of us is someone who fantasizes about romantic love stories, nor do we get carried away emotionally and say we can’t live without each other…”
Jin Shi Yue’s eyes turned cold, and he cut her off: “What if I can’t live without you?”
Lian Li frowned at his words: “Can’t we just date properly?”
The two of them locked eyes, neither willing to back down. Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Li Ye returned with a family doctor.
Perhaps considering Lian Li was a girl, a female doctor had been brought.
Jin Shi Yue moved away from the head of the bed and sat on the sofa by the bedside. His posture seemed as relaxed and languidly aloof as usual, his expression indifferent, and he looked out the window with a lack of interest.
When they departed from Shanghai, the weather had seemed clear, but now the sunlight felt particularly glaring.
Li Ye vaguely sensed the subtle shift in the couple’s dynamic and didn’t dare to pry, standing rigidly by the door.
With the Second Young Master in the room, Miss Lian would be fine.
The doctor took Lian Li’s temperature, checked her blood pressure and heart rate, inquired about her physical condition, and asked when her last menstruation was.
When Lian Li mentioned her period, she glanced at the indifferent man beside her. He didn’t even look at her, which infuriated her.
The atmosphere between the two of them was truly bizarre; the doctor didn’t know who to give the prescription and medical advice to.
Tell the patient? What was the family member for?
Tell the family member? That aloof man’s aura was so strong and intimidating that she didn’t dare to speak to him directly.
Her condition was similar to what Lian Li had described: emotional fluctuations, fatigue from travel, and the impending menstruation had made her body somewhat weak, leading to vomiting.
It had nothing to do with pregnancy.
Even though their relationship had plummeted to sub-zero temperatures upon landing, Lian Li still didn’t regret asking Jin Shi Yue to come to Taipei with her.
She calmly said to the doctor: “Just give me the medicine, and also…”
Before Lian Li could finish speaking, Jin Shi Yue’s indifferent voice cut in: “Am I dead to you?”
