Chapter 428 - 209: That Night, Li Zhi Didn’t Leave
Chapter 428: Chapter 209: That Night, Li Zhi Didn’t Leave
She was the irreplaceable treasure Shen Yuan hid in the deepest recesses of his heart, one he held in his palm with an almost clumsy reverence.
She was the reason for his self-control—that lingering warmth on his fingertips he clung to every time they had to let go at her doorstep or on a campus path, when all he wanted was to keep holding her hand or pull her into an embrace.
She was the wellspring of his motivation; her soft "mhm" could light up his entire world, and a single coquettish plea could make him abandon all his principles in an instant.
More than that, she was the reason he willingly endured the overwhelming fatigue that followed using Concentration, all so he could catch up to her and stand proudly by her side.
She was Li Zhi.
It was precisely because he cherished her so deeply, because he was certain of the weight and permanence of his feelings, and because he knew she was the only one for him...
...that his thirty-five-year-old self, when faced with immense temptation and anticipation, had chosen absolute restraint.
Now, the eighteen-year-old Shen Yuan gazed at the girl before him—a girl he knew down to his very bones. He saw the cute dab of foam on the tip of her nose, and a clear realization pierced through time and space.
’If I really had the chance, I would do the same.’
’It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, or that I couldn’t. It was because I took it too seriously, because I cared too much.’
A smile of resignation flashed across Shen Yuan’s face.
Whether he was eighteen or thirty-five, Shen Yuan figured he was pretty useless in moments like this.
He could already picture that night: his future self holding his breath, deliberately retreating to a corner of the sofa.
He would then spend the whole night listening to his own heart pound like thunder, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling until Li Zhi’s steady breathing told him she had fallen sound asleep.
While Shen Yuan was lost in thought, he failed to notice that the conversation at the table had gradually died down.
The discussion about the future continued at the table, but a subtle silence began to spread from their corner, like a crack forming on the surface of ice.
He Zhiyu was in the middle of chewing some meat, her bright eyes habitually darting between Shen Yuan and Li Zhi. Suddenly, she froze, forgetting to even chew the food that had her cheeks puffed out.
The young woman tilted her head in confusion for a moment, then the light in her wide eyes suddenly flared!
Like a searchlight locking onto hidden treasure!
He Zhiyu’s odd behavior was like a signal.
Zhuo Peipei, who was sitting next to her and talking with Ah Jie, casually followed He Zhiyu’s frozen gaze. The instant her eyes landed on Shen Yuan, it was as if someone had hit pause.
Immediately after, the corners of Zhuo Peipei’s mouth began to curl up into an irrepressible grin.
Chen Mingyu, sitting across from Zhuo Peipei, noticed the shift in atmosphere at almost the same time.
Chen Mingyu turned to look at Shen Yuan, then gave Yang Ze an exaggerated nudge with his elbow.
Ah Jie also noticed his friends’ strange behavior and followed their line of sight.
The discussion about the passage of time at the table faded away without anyone realizing it.
A powerful and peculiar field of attraction formed with Shen Yuan at its center.
At that moment, nearly everyone’s gaze was focused on the young man lost in his own thoughts.
His head was tilted slightly, his eyes fixed on Li Zhi beside him.
He watched her with such focused, undisguised intensity that it seemed the entire world had faded away, leaving only the sight of her cheeks, slightly puffed as she took small bites of her ice cream.
That profound gaze, filled with a tenderness even Shen Yuan himself was unaware of, was laid bare for all to see.
Li Zhi, who had been completely absorbed in her struggle with the ice cream, suddenly realized that everyone was staring at Shen Yuan beside her.
The girl subconsciously turned toward Shen Yuan. Just as the word "idiot" was about to leave her mouth, she froze.
Unconsciously, her fingers tightened around the ice cream spoon.
Meeting Shen Yuan’s gentle gaze, Li Zhi’s long eyelashes fluttered in a flustered panic.
"Wh-what are you looking at!"
Li Zhi’s voice was as faint as a buzzing mosquito, laced with the embarrassed annoyance of being caught.
She quickly bowed her head, trying to hide her burning cheeks, but Shen Yuan’s gaze felt like it was branded onto her skin, making her even more flustered.
In her distress, she stealthily extended a boot-clad foot under the table and gave Shen Yuan’s shin a gentle kick.
"Hm?"
A jolt of pain in his leg snapped Shen Yuan back to his senses.
Li Zhi’s shy, flustered expression and her coquettish warning were like a gust of sweet wind, instantly pulling him back from his profound introspection and the shock from the system.
He blinked. The Li Zhi before him had bright red cheeks, her pouty anger making her look impossibly charming.
Shen Yuan naturally saw Ah Jie and the others staring, but at that moment, he had no intention of dealing with them.
Under the table, Shen Yuan stealthily reached out and took Li Zhi’s hand. He then looked at the ice cream beside her.
"Didn’t we agree to get a large one to share? How did you manage to sneak so many bites already?"
Li Zhi immediately shot back, "What do you mean, sneak? I was eating it right out in the open! You never said you wanted any. If you had, you think I wouldn’t have shared?"
The amusement in Shen Yuan’s eyes deepened as he suddenly leaned in close. "Well, I want some now. Are you going to share?"
Li Zhi subconsciously shielded the ice cream with her hands.
"Th-there’s only a little bit left!"
"Then what should we do?" Shen Yuan put on an expression that said he wouldn’t back down until he got a bite.
But just then, Ah Jie, who was sitting across from them, suddenly spoke up.
"Yuan! I’ll buy you your own! I’m begging you! Spare the child!"
Ah Jie really couldn’t take it anymore.
The whole table had been eating and chatting, just commenting on how fast time flies.
The next thing he knew, these two childhood sweethearts were getting all lovey-dovey.
Yeah, how long had it been for the rest of them?
At most, from the start of their first year of high school until now.
But these two? How long had *they* known each other!
Did they even know what "childhood sweethearts" meant?!
It had been eighteen years for them, ever since they were learning to babble.
And in the eyes of Ah Jie and the others, they had definitely seen the changes in Shen Yuan and Li Zhi over the past few months.
The changes were huge.
Shen Yuan, that "wild dog," had even managed to score a 650.
But from Shen Yuan’s perspective, he could see another seventeen years.
Seventeen years in which the two of them had spent no time together.
Seventeen years in which Li Zhi was all alone.
’Time really does fly. Seventeen years, gone in the blink of an eye.’