Chapter 490 - 222: Li Zhi: You Never Said I Couldn’t Kiss You
Chapter 490: Chapter 222: Li Zhi: You Never Said I Couldn’t Kiss You
The living room was quiet, lit only by the soft glow of a small night light. There was no sign of his parents.
Clearly, they had long since returned to their bedroom to enjoy their time alone.
Shen Yuan’s anxious heart finally settled.
He turned and gave an "OK" sign to Li Zhi, who was right behind him, silently mouthing the words, "Coast is clear. Let’s go."
Li Zhi nodded, pulling her long down jacket tighter around herself and making sure she was completely bundled up.
Shen Yuan stepped aside to clear the doorway, and Li Zhi, as nimble as a kitten, quickly and silently slipped out the door.
Li Zhi glanced back at Shen Yuan, her eyes urging him to hurry.
Shen Yuan got the message and quickly followed her.
The two of them tiptoed quickly across the quiet living room, taking each step with extreme care, terrified of waking Old Shen and Zhang Yuyan in the bedroom.
San Geng poked its little head out of Shen Yuan’s room, its big eyes wide with confusion as it watched the two humans acting so furtively.
Shen Yuan turned and shot San Geng a glare. The cat immediately retracted its head, and Shen Yuan ran back to shut his bedroom door.
’The last thing I need is to come out here and chase a cat down later.’
They finally managed to sneak to the entryway.
Shen Yuan cautiously pulled open the front door, and an icy night wind immediately rushed in.
The two of them hurried out. It wasn’t until the lock made an incredibly faint CLICK as it engaged that they both let out a long sigh of relief, their tense shoulders slumping instantly.
The motion-sensor light in the hallway flickered on, casting a cold, white glow over them.
Shen Yuan and Li Zhi stood in the shared corridor between their apartments, staring at each other.
Recalling their highly stressful maneuvering moments ago, and contrasting it with the relief of having survived the "ordeal," they were overcome with a feeling that was both absurd and hilarious.
Shen Yuan couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle, one filled with a kind of self-deprecating resignation.
He rubbed his face, looked at Li Zhi beside him with her flushed cheeks, and said with a playful, raised eyebrow:
"Tsk, Li Bao, don’t you think the way we were acting just now... made us look like a couple of thieves?"
He pointed at his own closed front door, then pointed at Li Zhi’s equally closed front door.
Hearing these words, the corners of Li Zhi’s mouth couldn’t help but curve upwards.
She pressed her lips together, but ultimately failed to suppress her amusement and let out a little snort of laughter.
A bright smile bloomed on her face, carrying a hint of shyness, but also the same sense of relief and acknowledgement.
She shot Shen Yuan a mock-reproachful glare and aimed a light, playful kick at him.
"Pfft! You’re the thief! A clumsy, pervy one at that!"
The girl’s clear voice echoed in the quiet hallway. It lacked its usual testiness, instead carrying a soft, coquettish charm that came from her amusement.
"Try any more ’funny business’ again, and I’ll kick you with my high heels, so watch out!"
"Oh, high heels? You mean you’ll wear that pair I bought for you?"
"Get lost! Get lost! You asshole, Shen Yuan! Are you asking for a beating?"
The two of them exchanged words in hushed voices.
Shen Yuan’s gaze softened as he looked at her door, and he urged her, "Okay, okay, you should get inside. It’s cold out here."
’I can’t bear to see her freezing out here,’ he thought, especially when he pictured the view that was currently hidden beneath her puffy down jacket...
’Ahem. What am I thinking?’
"Hmph. Fine, I’m going back in,"
Li Zhi grumbled, turning to pull the keys from her jacket pocket. With practiced ease, she went to unlock her front door.
Just as Li Zhi’s hand closed around the doorknob to open the door, her fingers paused on the cold metal.
She suddenly spun around, unconsciously pulling her sleeves down over her hands.
She looked up at Shen Yuan, who was still standing there watching her. The light caught in her eyes, revealing a glimmer that was both mischievous and shy.
"Hey, you asshole..."
The young woman’s voice seemed to float on the cold night air. "Leaving just like that? No goodbye hug or something?"
Her voice trailed off into a near-whisper, and under the light, her earlobes, pink from the cold, looked like half-ripe cherries.
Inside her cotton slippers, her toes curled, scraping an almost imperceptible arc on the cold concrete floor.
The corridor was suddenly plunged into silence.
Shen Yuan’s breath hitched sharply.
At that moment, standing under the cold white light with her face tilted slightly upward, Li Zhi looked like a night-blooming cereus blossoming quietly in the moonlight.
Without hesitation, Shen Yuan strode towards Li Zhi.
The soft scrape of his cotton slippers on the floor was exceptionally clear in the silent corridor.
One step, two steps...
His outstretched arms, still carrying residual warmth from inside, wrapped around her with undeniable force, pulling the slender, down-jacket-clad figure before him into an embrace.
His chin brushed against the cool crown of her head, and the sweet scent of peaches instantly overwhelmed his senses.
As his palm, separated by the thick down jacket, came to rest on the small of her back, Shen Yuan could clearly feel the girl in his arms tense up for an instant before suddenly relaxing.
Their breaths mingled, and the skin on the side of his neck felt seared by the warmth of her exhale.
The down jacket rustled under the pressure of their tight embrace, and beneath the cold fabric, her heart suddenly began to beat faster.
The cold air of the winter night seemed to be blocked out by this embrace, and even the cold white light in the hallway seemed a bit softer.
Li Zhi was held fast in his blazing embrace, unable to move, her face buried in the crook of his neck.
"You asshole, you’re hugging too tight... I can’t breathe..."
Hearing Li Zhi’s voice, Shen Yuan slightly loosened his grip.
After a brief moment of silence, Li Zhi tilted her head up slightly.
Her face, still flushed with warmth, carried a hint of a blush. Her bright eyes, glistening under the light as if covered in a layer of mist, clearly reflected Shen Yuan’s own face.
The young woman’s lips parted slightly. Her voice, soft and carrying the slightly nasal tone of someone ready for bed, was a quiet thing, yet it hammered against his heart like a drum: