Chapter 99: Then Try Liking Me
Seeing this, Jin Shi Yue grabbed Lian Li’s slender neck and forced her to turn her face to meet his gaze.
He asked again, “You really don’t want to know the answer?”
Lian Li understood his meaning and refused, “No.”
Jin Shi Yue: “What if I insist on telling you?”
The man’s pupils were dark, and there was no trace of his usual lazy smile in his eyes; he was simply looking at her with quiet focus.
Lian Li’s apricot eyes were moist and bright, her gaze fixed on Jin Shi Yue, their eyes meeting and entangled.
Jin Shi Yue looked directly into her eyes, “Listen carefully, I’ll only say the answer once.”
Lian Li’s heart trembled under his stare, and she quickly reached out to cover his mouth, “Don’t say it!”
As she made this move, surprise flashed in both their eyes.
The man’s lips pressed against her palm, the touch warm and unusual, as if a faint current flowed from her palm all the way to her heart.
The girl’s hand was still cool and soft, but it bore an unusual raised mark.
Before Lian Li could withdraw her hand, Jin Shi Yue beat her to it, his large hand grasping hers.
He pried open her slender, clean fingers and, under the light of the overhead lamp, clearly saw the mark on her hand—a small scar that had only recently scabbed over.
Lian Li caught the emotion in Jin Shi Yue’s eyes and tried to pull her hand away with force, but it was futile.
Her strength was like a drop in the ocean to him.
The injury on her hand was from accidentally cutting herself while practicing the piano today.
It wasn’t the first time Lian Li had been injured, nor would it be the last; she didn’t take it too seriously, casually wiping away the blood with a tissue and not bothering to stop it.
Why would a man from the military region like Jin Shi Yue care so much about minor injuries?
“When will you stop getting hurt?” Jin Shi Yue regained a bit of his usual laziness, his tone laced with a hint of helplessness.
“Mind your own business,” Lian Li coolly withdrew her hand from his large palm.
Seeing her like this, Jin Shi Yue smiled, “Getting feisty.”
It wasn’t easy to make the current Lian Li throw a tantrum.
Jin Shi Yue naturally understood what her tantrum signified. He tightened his grip on the back of her head, preventing her from retreating.
He lowered his head and gently nuzzled Lian Li’s nose with his own, a tender and intimate gesture that softened the heart.
The winter night outside was cold and biting, while the living room inside was sealed and silent, the air conditioning warm, but it couldn’t compare to the scorching male presence.
Lian Li stared at Jin Shi Yue, her eyes unblinking, her pupils slowly shifting, remaining silent.
She didn’t want to know if he liked her.
But Jin Shi Yue insisted on telling Lian Li. He gently pinched her earlobe, tilted his head, and brought his thin lips close to her ear, asking in a voice only they could hear, word by word, “You know I like you, don’t you?”
As he finished speaking, he shifted his gaze to meet hers.
Panic flickered in her heart, Lian Li’s scalp tingled, and she furrowed her delicate brows, turning her head to avoid his gaze.
“I don’t know.”
Jin Shi Yue’s gaze remained fixed on her, “You really don’t know?”
Lian Li’s expression was unchanged, “I don’t know.”
After watching her for two seconds, Jin Shi Yue said, “Then you know now.”
“So what if I know?” Lian Li said dismissively, “Anyone can like anyone.”
“Is that so?” Jin Shi Yue narrowed his long, slender eyes, his voice melodious and seductive, as if tempting her, “Then try liking me.”
Lian Li: “…”
Lian Li didn’t understand how he could say such a thing. She tilted her head up to look at him, as if to say: You’re seriously ill.
The palm holding the back of her neck had strong, slender, and powerful fingers; it could easily snap her neck, yet she still fearlessly cursed him with her eyes.
“I’ve told you countless times, the person I like is…”
Lian Li stopped mid-sentence as the grip on her neck suddenly loosened; he had let go of her.
Lian Li looked at Jin Shi Yue, bewildered.
The next second, he lifted her chin, “Jin Shi Yue will only like Lian Li.”
The man’s voice was deep, with an inexplicable solemnity, like an oath.
—Anyone can like anyone, but Jin Shi Yue will only like Lian Li.
Lian Li was suddenly startled, her breath catching for a moment, then her heart pounded as if it would burst from her chest and leap between them.
Her mind was filled with only two words besides ‘He’s really crazy!’:
Liar.
He had just said ‘I’ll only say the answer once,’ and now he had said he liked her twice.
Lian Li said leisurely, “Don’t be so certain about the future, be careful of getting slapped in the face.”
She didn’t believe words like ‘only,’ ‘forever,’ or ‘future’ that painted grand illusions.
Jin Shi Yue raised an eyebrow at her words, “Then how are you so sure you only like Jin Yan Ting?”
Rarely did they speak their hearts to each other, and their hearts seemed to ache with a strange fullness because of a certain glance, a certain word, a certain action.
It was a peculiar feeling, an unprecedented touch, and it was somewhat addictive.
They stood there looking at each other, motionless for a long time.
The wind and snow raged, snowflakes pattering against the glass window, forming a thin layer of frost, blurring the view outside.
Lian Li blinked her long, curled eyelashes, the mist in her eyes dissipating, leaving only clarity and brightness.
His voice was laced with a smile, as if he were joking, but for someone like Jin Shi Yue, it shouldn’t be.
The Second Young Master Jin was notoriously unruly in the Beijing Circle, arrogant and unrestrained.
If he wanted to deceive someone, he wouldn’t need to go to such lengths.
Logically, Lian Li never thought Jin Shi Yue would like her. But emotions were more about sensibility, and she couldn’t refute it.
Lian Li did not question Jin Shi Yue’s liking for her.
Similarly, she did not question her liking for Jin Yan Ting.
A familiar hormonal scent suddenly approached, and Lian Li snapped back to reality, her eyes meeting the man’s rapidly enlarging handsome face.
He kissed her wantonly, and Lian Li suddenly turned her head, his thin lips brushing past her rosy lips and landing on her cheek.
“Our country has progressed to achieve gender equality, freedom of dating, and freedom of marriage,” Lian Li clenched her mobile phone, her voice as gentle and calm as ever.
Jin Shi Yue stood up straight, his hands casually in his pockets, and looked down at her, “We are not equal.”
Lian Li thought he was referring to their family backgrounds and was about to readily agree, “You’re right.”
Unexpectedly, Jin Shi Yue’s lips curved into a slight smile, “You slept with me, I’m the victim.”
When Lian Li was lost in thought, her gaze would involuntarily drift downwards, but before she could devise a countermeasure, Jin Shi Yue suddenly said, “What, you’re thinking about my thing?”
Lian Li suddenly realized, her ears burning, and she hastily averted her gaze.
What nonsense was he spouting!
Before Lian Li could become flustered, Jin Shi Yue reached out and pulled her into his arms, his large hand cupping her head and pressing it into his chest.
Lian Li pushed him with both hands, “I don’t covet your body.”
“Stubborn,” Jin Shi Yue’s voice was lazy.
“You’ve been here for so long and haven’t even offered me a glass of water. Junior Sister, you don’t spend money on men, nor do you give them water?”
He didn’t even consider what he had done since entering the house; how could she have had time to offer him water?
Lian Li looked up at him from within his embrace, and Jin Shi Yue happened to lower his head, his lips covering hers.
The kiss that had gone awry moments ago was now back on track.
Lian Li lost her guard, her defenses breached, and was passionately kissed by Jin Shi Yue without pause.
A “thump-thump-thump” sound echoed in her ears. Lian Li thought it was the sound of her own frantic heartbeat, but…
The next second, Xue Shufan’s hearty laughter came through, “Lili, open the door!”
Lian Li froze.
Jin Shi Yue lightly sucked her soft lips, his voice slightly hoarse, “Tell her you’re asleep.”
Lian Li couldn’t bother with him kissing her, her breath unsteady, “But I’m not asleep.”
Jin Shi Yue, amused and exasperated, gently pinched her cheek, “You only lie to me, right?”
