Chapter 590 - 241: The Silly Boy at Li Zhi’s Doorstep (Part 3)
Chapter 590: Chapter 241: The Silly Boy at Li Zhi’s Doorstep (Part 3)
The awkwardness and stunned confusion from the scolding strangely dissipated when he met her beautiful eyes, which were a mixture of shame and indignation.
He suddenly broke into a grin, revealing a set of perfectly straight, white teeth. His smile held a hint of resigned acceptance, yet it also concealed a mischievous glint.
Shen Yuan suddenly reached out and hugged Li Zhi.
The arm wrapped around her waist tightened slightly, pulling her closer into his embrace.
Shen Yuan leaned in slightly, drawing near her indignant little face.
His breath, cool yet scorching, washed over the tip of her nose. He pitched his voice extremely low, speaking slowly in a tone that was both coaxing and a little rascally:
"Zhizhi..."
Shen Yuan looked as if he were soothing a bristling little animal, but his gaze was locked onto her blushing face, his voice low and husky.
"Since it’s already come to this, and we’ve already been totally embarrassed..."
"Then how about..."
His lips drew even closer to her cheek, so close he could almost feel the incredible heat radiating from her skin. The corner of his mouth curved with a bewitching, wicked charm.
"...we go for a walk together?"
Li Zhi was so shocked by his matter-of-fact suggestion that she froze in his arms!
Her eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe her ears, and she stared up at Shen Yuan’s face with its slightly wicked smile.
The words ’Come on, come on’ were practically written all over his face.
’His nerve... did that cold wind just now inflate it or something?!’
Li Zhi felt a rush of blood to her head!
’This is... Give him an inch, and he’ll take a mile!!’
’Has he forgotten who’s sitting inside? My grandparents, my parents, and all those cousins who love nothing more than to watch a good show and stir up trouble...’
The aftershocks from her grandfather’s shout of "silly boy" were still ringing in the air. She could practically imagine the atmosphere of gossip burning white-hot inside the house!
If anyone tried to tell her no one was peeking right now, Li Zhi would be the first to call them a liar.
’And in a situation like this, he actually wants to whisk me away?!’
’What’s the difference between this and leading a newly captured animal straight out the zoo gates? Is he afraid people won’t know that this little prize was snatched away by him, Shen Yuan?!’
A colossal wave of mortification mixed with incredulous astonishment crashed over Li Zhi, drowning her completely.
She felt like her face wasn’t just hot anymore—it was about to catch fire!
Even the part of her waist encircled by his arm instinctively tried to squirm free from the incriminating embrace!
’This guy... What kind of idiot-brand brain does he have?’
’How does he dare?!’
Li Zhi looked up at Shen Yuan, poking him hard in the chest with her finger.
"Where’s your brain! Where’s your brain!"
"Do you have any idea what time this is? Huh? What’s the situation right now?"
"It’s New Year’s Eve! I’m supposed to be at home! You—if you want to go out, just go by yourself!"
Li Zhi glared at Shen Yuan, the blush on her cheeks spreading all the way to the tips of her ears and down her neck, which was also flushed pink.
Just as Shen Yuan was about to say something else,
Li Zhi shot a wary glance toward her front gate.
The next second, as if she’d made up her mind, she leaned forward slightly and muttered something extremely quietly in his ear:
"Hmph... We’ll set off fireworks tonight!"
Shen Yuan froze for a second, his eyes instantly lighting up. He was just about to ask for confirmation, "Zhiz..."
Before he could get the word out, Li Zhi—as if terrified that anyone in the yard or behind a window would spot anything amiss—shot another nervous glance toward her front door and hurriedly added one more indistinct word:
"Good."
That one word, "Good," was so brief and soft it was almost an indistinct puff of air, carrying a slight tremor that betrayed her shyness despite her forced composure.
The moment it left her lips, she was so mortified by the word she had just blurted out that her ears felt hot enough to fry an egg.
Like a startled rabbit, she forcefully wrenched herself free from Shen Yuan’s arm, which had already loosened its grip around her waist.
"Hurry up and go! Idiot!"
With a low growl, Li Zhi spun around and practically flew back to her courtyard gate, her feet barely touching the ground. She slammed the gate shut with a loud BANG.
Leaving Shen Yuan standing alone outside the cold courtyard wall.
Several seconds passed before he belatedly raised a hand, the pad of his finger slowly tracing the edge of the ear her soft, breathy whisper had just brushed against.
Shen Yuan stared at the tightly shut gate, an uncontrollable grin spreading across his face, growing wider and wider.
At first, it was a silent laugh that shook his whole chest, but then he finally let out a low chuckle.
"Alright. Good."
A moment later, Shen Yuan finally managed to suppress his elation. He tightened his collar and turned to walk toward his own courtyard.
Just as he pushed open his gate, he ran right into Yang Yishui, who was cracking sunflower seeds by the door.
"Well, well—"
The moment she saw Shen Yuan, Yang Yishui’s voice took on a teasing, singsong tone. She raised an eyebrow, her eyes sweeping up and down her younger cousin, who was practically radiating joy.
His Eldest Female Cousin’s voice was dripping with mockery. "Well now, look who’s decided to stroll back. Was the view nice over in Li Zhi’s direction?"
She pointedly jutted her chin toward Li Zhi’s house, her meaning unmistakable.
The smile on Shen Yuan’s face vanished almost completely, but he couldn’t hide the sparkle in his eyes.
He couldn’t be bothered to pretend, simply giving her a blatant eye-roll.
"Hmph. None of your business."
Shen Yuan muttered grumpily, squeezing past her to dart inside. His pace had quickened noticeably, a clear sign he couldn’t be bothered to deal with her.
Yang Yishui watched his retreating back, which looked for all the world like he was fleeing in disgrace. She folded her arms and scoffed, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. The little brat actually knows how to be embarrassed? Hey, bring me out a handful of seeds!"
"Zhao Yueyang! Get to it!"
"But..."
The younger male cousin walked out with a miserable scowl on his face.
"Here, sunflower seeds."
Yang Yishui took the seeds. "Smile."
The younger cousin forced a smile that was more painful to look at than tears.