Chapter 489 - 222: Li Zhi: I Never Said I Couldn’t Kiss You (4)
Chapter 489: Chapter 222: Li Zhi: I Never Said I Couldn’t Kiss You (4)
But he thought better of it.
"Alright, then I’ll take you home."
Li Zhi nodded gently. "Let’s go."
Shen Yuan grunted in agreement and reluctantly let her go, watching as Li Zhi gracefully rose from the bed.
He got up as well, watching her bend over to pick up the long down jacket she had tossed on a chair.
Li Zhi deftly slipped on the down jacket and pulled the cold zipper all the way up to her neck.
With a sharp ZZZIP, the meticulously coordinated outfit underneath—especially those long, breathtakingly sculpted legs encased in thick, black tights—was once again hidden away beneath the bulky shell.
Beneath the lights, Shen Yuan’s gaze instinctively followed her legs as they were swallowed by the hem of the heavy down jacket, watching until they disappeared completely beneath the dark fabric.
A sharp, distinct pang of regret shot through him. He even swallowed unconsciously.
’Those smooth lines and that soft, matte black, so perfectly outlined by the warm light... all hidden away. What a criminal waste.’
For a moment, this sense of loss even overshadowed the sorrow of their impending separation.
Having just zipped up her jacket, Li Zhi looked up and met Shen Yuan’s gaze, which was practically glued to her legs.
Her clear eyes narrowed, a knowing ’I knew it’ glinting in them, mixed with undisguised disdain.
Her crisp voice, laced with utter contempt, shattered his facade. "Hmph! You dumbass, Shen Yuan! Look at you! You’re not reluctant to see *me* go, are you? You’re reluctant to see these legs go! Right, Selaan?"
As she spoke, Li Zhi even glanced down and gave the hem of her jacket a tug, making sure she was covered up even more securely.
"I..."
Shen Yuan’s face instantly flushed crimson. Flustered at being called out, his eyes shot to the ceiling as his voice lost some of its conviction.
Just as Shen Yuan was so embarrassed he didn’t know how to defend himself, the disdain on Li Zhi’s face vanished like mist in the wind, replaced by a different expression.
It was a mixture of cunning, triumph, and a subtle hint of provocation.
She strode over to Shen Yuan until the tips of her feet were almost touching his slippers.
In the warm air of the room, she tilted her head back slightly, Shen Yuan’s flustered face clearly reflected in her eyes.
The light cast a warm glow on the lingering blush of her delicate features as Li Zhi’s lips curved into a wicked little smile.
Her voice dropped, becoming soft and light, like a honey-dipped feather tickling his ear.
"Hey, boyfriend..."
She paused intentionally, watching with satisfaction as his Adam’s apple bobbed at the unexpectedly intimate term.
Her eyes meaningfully darted down to her own tightly covered legs before returning to Shen Yuan’s dazed expression, a foxy little grin playing on her lips.
"You wanna look?"
Li Zhi drew out the words, her voice full of sweet-talking allure and insinuation.
"Then—"
She paused again, deliberately, before slowly letting out the final phrase, a sly glint dancing in her eyes:
"—we’ll have to see how you perform."
Before he could react, she spun around gracefully. The hem of her dark down jacket sliced through the air in a clean arc, making a soft SWISH.
Exuding an air of total victory, she flitted away like a sly, weightless butterfly, her slippers padding briskly toward the kittens.
THUMP!
Shen Yuan felt as if a red-hot branding iron had been plunged into his brain.
Li Zhi’s airy words, "we’ll have to see how you perform," combined with her sly, tempting smile, exploded in his mind.
Blood rushed to his head.
"See how I perform? ... W-what kind of performance?! Li Bao?!"
Shen Yuan’s mind went completely blank.
He stared blankly at her as she seriously said goodbye to the kittens, his mind already beginning to reason uncontrollably.
’I have to perform well to see her legs?’
’Performance? What kind of performance?’
’For Li Bao, her standard for my "performance" has always been tied to my grades!’
’Does that mean... if I perform even better... I can touch them?!’
HOLY SHIT!!
A strange jolt of electricity shot up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
But his expression quickly turned complicated.
’My adorable, tsundere childhood sweetheart, Li Bao, is galloping full-speed toward becoming a "bad girl," and there’s no reining her in!!’
’This isn’t some sweet game of love!’
’This is a blatant "academic performance review"!’
’This is just a meticulously designed, ever-tightening... grand, overt scheme to "force him to improve"!!’
Shen Yuan stood by the bed. The heater blasted warm air, but it couldn’t dispel the heat from his face or the storm raging in his heart.
He raised a hand and roughly wiped his face.
"...Hiss!"
Even though he was being completely played, Shen Yuan had to admit, he loved it.
Shen Yuan’s gaze on Li Zhi was complicated.
’Li Bao really knew how to play the game!’
"San Geng, Naonao, Mommy is going home! You have to be good and listen to Daddy at home, okay?"
Li Zhi said a solemn goodbye to San Geng and Naonao, ruffling the tops of their heads one by one with her fingertips.
She straightened up and jutted her chin at Shen Yuan, signaling that it was really time for her to leave.
Shen Yuan suppressed the myriad thoughts and the intense reluctance churning within him. He took a deep breath and nodded.
He tiptoed to the closed bedroom door. Instead of opening it right away, he pressed his ear against the wood, holding his breath and listening intently for any sounds from outside.
Beyond the door, the living room was silent.
Once he was sure it was safe, Shen Yuan carefully, and with extreme slowness, turned the doorknob, pulling the door open just a crack—only wide enough to peek through.