Chapter 477 - 220: Li Zhi, I Like You
Chapter 477: Chapter 220: Li Zhi, I Like You
Almost by instinct, the hand that Shen Yuan had been holding tightly in his palm was no longer passive.
Feeling the heat and dampness of his palm, and the trembling he so clearly transmitted, Li Zhi’s fingers suddenly curled and tightened in return.
Her slender, pale fingertips instantly dug in, gripping his sweaty hand just as tightly.
She didn’t even realize how much force she was using, only that she instinctively needed to hold on to something.
It was as if only through their tightly clasped hands could they draw a sliver of oxygen from the suffocating tension, the feeling of a storm about to break.
Their eyes met.
The heat rising from the heater, tinged with the sweet scent of peaches, was so thick it was suffocating.
Shen Yuan took a deep breath, the sound sharp in the silence, as if trying to calm a frantic hawk in his chest.
His gaze was searing, no longer evasive.
Shen Yuan’s eyes locked on to Li Zhi’s—those clear, bright eyes that now held his reflection, brimming with shock and anticipation.
For a moment, a thousand fragments of thought flashed through Shen Yuan’s mind, only to shatter and collapse, focusing into the gaze of the person before him.
Just as Li Zhi felt she was about to melt under the prolonged silence and his intensely focused gaze, Shen Yuan finally spoke.
"Li Zhi..."
The last syllable of her name trembled slightly on his lips.
Then, the words that had been caught in his throat, brewing for countless days and nights, rehearsed a thousand times even in his dreams, were finally spoken. He said them with the solemn, point-of-no-return courage and all the raw sincerity a young man could possess.
"I like you."
"Will you be my girlfriend?"
His searing gaze, the hand gripping hers so tightly his knuckles had turned white, and those three simple words that weighed more than a mountain—all of it laid his heart bare, holding nothing back.
The moment the words left his lips, an absolute silence fell over the room.
Li Zhi’s eyes clearly reflected Shen Yuan’s tense, earnest face.
He held his breath, waiting.
She forgot to breathe, forgot to move, able only to gaze at him in a daze, as if to etch this very moment, along with his "I like you," deep into her mind.
After a moment of silence, a single tear escaped without warning from the reddened corner of Li Zhi’s eye. It caught the soft light of the room as it rolled down her pale cheek.
"You idiot, Shen Yuan..."
Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan, tears falling from her eyes like pearls from a broken string.
Shen Yuan hurriedly raised a hand to wipe them away, but Li Zhi grabbed his sleeve.
She sniffled, forcing down a sob.
"I...!"
She nodded, revealing her own feelings through her sobs. "I like you, too."
The tension in Shen Yuan’s body instantly evaporated, replaced by an unprecedented wave of joy that flooded his heart like a warm spring.
He reached for Li Zhi, his hand trembling, acting almost on pure instinct.
Li Zhi let out a small cry, the sound thick with unshed tears, before he pulled her into his arms.
The moment her soft body met his chest, the scent of peaches and the dampness of her tears washed over him.
Shen Yuan’s arms wrapped tightly around her slender shoulders, his chin resting against her trembling temple. He could feel the profound weight and reality of this long-overdue embrace.
He could even feel his own heart pounding in his chest, its frantic rhythm mingling with her ragged breaths.
"Sob..."
Li Zhi buried her face in his soft sweater, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
She finally let herself cry, her muffled, tear-choked voice emerging from his chest in a jumble of complaints and embarrassed indignation.
"You idiot... you idiot, Shen Yuan! Sob... Wh-why did you have to be so sudden?! I wasn’t prepared at all... You made me... You made me..."
She balled her hands into small, weak fists and beat them against his chest—less a protest and more an emotional release.
"Who... who just blurts it out like that! You scared me to death! You big idiot!!"
Her tears soaked the front of Shen Yuan’s sweater, leaving a hot, damp patch.
Listening to the accusations of the girl in his arms, accusations full of hurt and lingering fear, his heart ached, yet he couldn’t help but smile. Deep down, he felt as if his heart was steeped in honey.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry..."
Shen Yuan’s voice was low and gentle, with an almost imperceptible tremor. He tightened his arms around her, as if trying to absorb all her bewilderment and tears into himself, to soothe the shock of his sudden confession with his embrace.
He tilted his head until his nose almost brushed the crown of her head, greedily inhaling her sweet scent. His voice was as soft as a sigh.
"I’m sorry, Li Zhi. I just really couldn’t wait any longer."
A lump formed in Shen Yuan’s throat. He looked down at the girl in his arms and gently brushed a finger across the wet corner of her eye, his voice low and sincere.
"Ever since the monthly exam results came out, I’ve been waiting for this day."
He paused, his chest rising and falling slightly, as if about to pour out everything he’d been holding in. "I had originally planned to say it during the New Year’s countdown. I wanted it to be perfect, to have that sense of ceremony..."
"But... but just now, that was the only thing in my head."
"Hmph!"
Li Zhi’s lips formed a small pout. She lifted her head slightly from his chest and glared at him through blurry, tear-filled eyes. Her voice was thick with congestion and hoarse from crying, yet a note of hurt and playful accusation came through clearly.
"Th-then why didn’t you say it sooner?! Why wait until now! You idiot! Did you really think I was going to say no?!"