Chapter 472 - 219: A World for Two, Part 2
Chapter 472: Chapter 219: A World for Two, Part 2
"This kid..."
Old Li’s deep voice held an unconcealable amusement and understanding. He pulled his gaze from the door and let it fall on his wife’s face.
Their eyes met, and in each other’s gaze, they clearly saw a reflection of a shared, unspoken indulgence, along with a hint of that indescribable feeling that "a daughter, once grown, won’t stay home for long."
Xu Chan found her husband’s gaze rather amusing. She reached out and gently patted Old Li’s knee. "Alright, alright. And you were just pretending to be so serious a moment ago."
Her tone was gentle. "Just let her be. Aren’t all kids like this at her age?"
Old Li didn’t say anything else, merely turning his gaze back to the television screen. But the corners of his mouth kept uncontrollably creeping upward, and he finally chuckled under his breath, "Tsk, the older she gets, the worse she is at hiding things..."
His tone was clearly tinged with the helplessness of someone who’s been through it all and the anticipation of seeing a flower come into bloom.
「Outside the door.」
Li Zhi practically stumbled out of her apartment, and the cold winter night air instantly enveloped her burning cheeks and ears.
The beautiful girl’s heart hammered in her chest like a drum, threatening to knock her unconscious.
She stood frozen for a few seconds, her breathing calming slightly, before she realized she was still wearing her fuzzy house slippers.
A gust of frigid wind blew in from an open window in the stairwell, brushing past her ankles. The bone-chilling cold, however, also served to clear her head.
The winter night’s chill and the sight of Shen Yuan’s door, just a stone’s throw away, finally pulled her thoughts back to reality.
’...Forget it...’
With a resigned sigh, she pulled her down jacket tighter and, in her slippers, practically tiptoed as she dashed across the short public corridor.
Her slippers made soft slapping sounds on the cold concrete floor, which were startlingly clear in the silent stairwell. Each sound seemed to land in time with her heartbeat.
It felt as if she were rushing toward a long-awaited secret, and at the same time, stepping into a heart-pounding "trap."
Finally, she was standing before Shen Yuan’s door.
The dark security door was shut tight.
She stood before the door, her left hand unconsciously clenching the edge of her down jacket’s pocket, her cold fingertips brushing against the smooth surface of her phone.
Her other hand was raised slightly, hovering less than ten centimeters above the doorbell.
All she had to do was press that button, and the door would open.
Behind that door was the dork who was making her heart race.
Behind that door was Shen Yuan, who was waiting for her.
She took a deep breath of the freezing air, as if trying to use the cold to extinguish the fire on her cheeks and inject herself with a final dose of courage.
Her hovering hand finally moved with determination, pressing down on the small doorbell button.
The doorbell suddenly rang, its sharp chime shattering the breathless silence in Shen Yuan’s apartment.
On the couch, Shen Yuan shot up as if by reflex!
"She’s here!"
Shen Yuan felt his heart leap into his throat, as if yanked by an invisible string, and it began to pound so hard he thought it would shatter his ribs.
The anticipation that had been building since dinner was now fully ignited by the sound of the bell.
He hastily looked down, instinctively tugging at the hem of his shirt and quickly smoothing his bangs, as if a second or two of grooming could make him look more presentable.
As his hand rested on the cold metal doorknob, Shen Yuan took a deep breath, as if trying to quell his racing heart, then pulled open the door that separated the two worlds, inside and out.
The cold night air eagerly swirled into the entryway in a small gust, cooling Shen Yuan’s face slightly and extinguishing some of his nervousness.
Outside the door stood Li Zhi.
The girl was bundled in a long down jacket, its hem nearly reaching her ankles, which made her figure seem even taller and more slender.
At the same time, their eyes met.
Li Zhi, of course, saw him behind the door as well.
’Clearly, Shen Yuan put just as much effort into preparing for tonight as I did.’
’The usually casually dressed guy actually made an effort to look handsome today.’
The air froze.
She could clearly see the light that suddenly exploded in the depths of Shen Yuan’s pupils, a light so scorching it almost set her own burning cheeks ablaze.
"..."
Shen Yuan’s throat felt like it was blocked. The "You’re here?" or "Come on in" that he had rehearsed eight hundred times and thought he could say naturally was stuck in his throat, unable to form a single syllable.
He even forgot to step aside, just standing there in the doorway like a fool, his hand still gripping the cold doorknob.
Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan. ’This dork... he’s just staring!’
The beautiful girl shot Shen Yuan an exasperated look. "Did you ask me to come over just so I could stand in your doorway?"
Only then did Shen Yuan snap back to his senses, hurriedly stepping aside to let Li Zhi in.
"Come in, it’s cold outside."
"Oh, so you *do* know it’s cold!"
Li Zhi huffed at Shen Yuan before stepping into his apartment.
The heat wasn’t on inside, so while it wasn’t as cold as outdoors, it wasn’t warm either.
Li Zhi’s gaze casually swept over the entryway, then quickly scanned the quiet living room.
No shoes, no sounds.
A thought suddenly surfaced. ’Where are Aunt Zhang and Uncle Shen?’
The girl tilted her head slightly, her voice holding a barely perceptible, probing quality as the end of her sentence liltingly rose:
"Hm? Shen Yuan... where are your parents? Are they not home?"
"Oh, them? They said they went out to spend some quality time together!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Shen Yuan belatedly realized what he had just said.
But Li Zhi’s reaction was even faster!
"Hm?!"
The instant the phrase "quality time together" drifted into her ears, Li Zhi’s clear eyes shot wide open, her pupils constricting slightly.