Chapter 18 "If you like me, stop talking nonsense, okay?" "Just kiss me..."

He casually uttered a sentence, and everyone turned to look.

With so many eyes staring at her, Jiang Chuyu felt her scalp tingle instantly.

He glanced under the table with feigned surprise, "Hey, it really is loose. Thanks for reminding me, senior."

For some reason, when she said that, she seemed to see a mischievous smile in Gu Zeming's eyes. Just as she was about to look closely, she realized that he actually had no expression and looked quite serious and innocent.

It was as if I was just kindly reminding her.

If she remembered correctly, it was him who stepped on it, right?

Jiang Chuyu couldn't tell whether he did it intentionally or unintentionally, nor did she have time to dwell on it.

He pulled his foot back, shook his loose shoelace, and was about to bend down when Li Sen said, "Sit still, I'll help you."

Jiang Chuyu gently bit her cheek, without refusing.

Li Sen bent down and tied a pretty bow for her.

"Alright." He straightened up.

Jiang Chuyu handed him a wet wipe, "Wipe your hands."

Li Sen's lips curled into a very slight smile.

Their hands briefly touched and then parted, their understanding as tacit as that of an old married couple.

A quiet and eerie atmosphere fell over the dinner table.

Jiang Chuyu turned her head and looked up, only to find Gu Zeming staring at her expressionlessly.

A storm was brewing in his dark eyes, but his face was as still as a grave.

Jiang Chuyu's heart skipped a beat.

Afraid that others might notice something amiss, she smiled slightly at him, lowered her eyelids, and continued her battle with the white rice.

Li Sen wiped his hands clean and asked Gu Zeming again, "Do you have a girl you like? Do you want me to introduce you to one?"

Gu Zeming looked down at the food on his plate, picking and choosing with little interest.

"No, no need."

He speaks bluntly and decisively, leaving absolutely no room for maneuver.

Fu Yilin, standing to the side, became anxious and, disregarding her composure, blurted out, "Gu Zeming, do you remember me? We met at the movie theater last night. My name is Fu Yilin."

"Sorry, I don't recall."

"..."

One sentence killed all possibilities.

So cold.

That's too much.

Jiang Chu ate her meal without tasting it.

She recalled that when she had asked Gu Zeming if he knew her name, he had also coldly replied that he didn't know.

Jiang Chuyu really couldn't understand how someone could have such a hot chest and such a cold mouth.

Someone should kiss his mouth raw!

Jiang Chuyu gazed at the white rice, her thoughts wandering.

Fu Yilin's voice rang in her ears again: "It's okay, from today onwards, we're considered acquaintances."

Wow, Miss is indeed courageous.

Lin Yun and Cai Yan were thoroughly enjoying the gossip up close, silently praising Fu Yilin in their hearts and eagerly anticipating Gu Zeming's reaction.

Just then, the phone on the table started vibrating.

Gu Zeming glanced down and casually tapped the answer button with his index finger.

Liang Shu's loud voice made everyone at the dinner table prick up their ears.

"Holy crap, buddy, do you know Fu Yilin, the daughter of the furniture factory boss? You two are trending on social media right now, go check it out!"

"I don't know him."

He gave a concise reply and then hung up the phone.

Everyone at the table except him was dumbfounded.

Jiang Chuyu couldn't remember how that meal ended, only that Li Sen and Fu Yilin looked particularly grim when they left.

On their way back to the dormitory, Lin Yun and Cai Yan were still lamenting Gu Zeming's ruthlessness.

"The school heartthrob is not gentle at all, not gentlemanly at all, and not chivalrous at all." Lin Yun used three parallel sentences to criticize him.

Caiyan chimed in, "Compared to Senior Brother Lisen, the difference is really striking."

His temperament meant that he couldn't make everyone feel comfortable. He was aloof but also aggressive, sharp-edged, and occasionally shrewd. Many people liked and admired him, but there were also people who disliked him.

If he has already given a hint, and the other person either doesn't understand or pretends not to, he will become unusually indifferent.

Lin Yun and Caiyan felt sorry for Fu Yilin, but at the same time, they thought Gu Zeming was very charismatic. They could see his flaws, but they had to admit that he was excellent and had great personal charm.

"So annoying!" Lin Yun said, "I really hope that one day I'll see him fall hard into a woman's clutches!"

Caiyan shook her head and said, "This is just as far-fetched as asking Jiang Chuyu to reform herself."

Jiang Chuyu, who was walking behind and was inexplicably caught in the crossfire, was speechless.

"You can criticize him all you want, but can you please not drag me into it?" Jiang Chuyu said, feeling wronged. "I've always been very serious when I'm in a relationship, and I always explain the reasons clearly when we break up. What did I do wrong?"

Lin Yun glanced at her: "Who told you to like Gu Zeming and even covet his body?"

"..."

When did simply liking someone become a sin?

This world is so hard to navigate.

*

Gu Zeming stayed on the trending topics list for a day, and the popularity finally subsided when he was removed from the list.

The rumors about him and Fu Yilin went from being the focus of everyone's attention to becoming a chaotic mess with all sorts of fake gossip.

Some say that Gu Zeming and Fu Yilin are secretly dating, but haven't made it public. Others speculate that CEO Fu dislikes Gu Zeming's humble background and fears he might marry into the Fu family and live off their wealth, so she has explicitly forbidden Fu Yilin from associating with him.

In short, the rumors were so bizarre and mysterious that the students from both schools were so overwhelmed with gossip that they were almost sick of it.

But the truth is that Fu Yilin seems to have fallen in love with the food in the A University cafeteria. She comes to eat there every few days and always sits around Gu Zeming.

After a while, even the professors at the aerospace institute would gossip with Gu Zeming in private, smiling: "How are things going with you and that girl from the neighboring school?"

After hearing this, Gu Zeming only said one sentence: "We didn't talk, and we don't know each other. If there are any similar incidents in the future, we will treat them as fraud."

Later, when that statement got out and reached Jiang Chuyu's dormitory, the matter between Gu Zeming and Fu Yilin had already completely subsided.

Shi Qing is quite sentimental and inevitably gets sentimental: "That's how relationships are. When you love to the point of losing yourself, it becomes an obsession. No wonder Fu Yilin is infatuated with him. Sometimes, when you meet someone who is too amazing and doesn't belong to you, it really takes a long time to break free from it."

Regarding this matter, Lin Yun had always sided with Fu Yilin. Upon hearing this, she huffed and puffed, "It's all Gu Zeming's fault for being blind. What's wrong with Fu Yilin? If he really dated a girlfriend like Jiang Chuyu, he would behave himself."

What about her?

Lin Yun had previously encouraged her to seduce Gu Zeming, so why did she change her mind so quickly?

Jiang Chuyu silently turned over in bed, but swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

Lin Yun: "From now on, everyone in our dorm should avoid each other and have less contact with Gu Zeming. Let's not fight for him, let him see that we girls have backbone too! And you, Jiang Chuyu, stop thinking about him. Li Sen is just as good!"

Of course she knew that Li Sen was also very good.

Strangely, she only felt admiration and respect for Li Sen, without any personal desire. But when she saw Gu Zeming, she felt an urge to devour him.

Moreover, Lin Yun is too domineering.

Luckily, her secret kiss with Gu Zeming last night didn't come to light, otherwise the dorm would probably have exploded.

Adhering to the principle of "better to avoid trouble than to cause trouble," Jiang Chuyu covered herself with the blanket and pretended to be dead.

A few days passed in a daze.

On Thursday, Jiang Shan called her to ask if she needed anything added to the apartment.

Jiang Chuyu asked in confusion, "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

Jiang Shan: "I don't know what triggered your brother recently, but he insists on building muscle. I'm planning to buy him dumbbells and some exercise equipment. If you need anything, you can tell me, and I'll have someone send it over."

Jiang Chuyu thought of something interesting.

"May I have a piano?"

Jiang Shan: "Okay, Mom will buy it for you."

As long as she doesn't do anything that would disgrace the family, Jiang Shan is happy to spend money and "invest" in her. But in return, Jiang Shan will also give her some tasks.

"By the way, how are things going with you and Li Sen?"

Jiang Chuyu's eyelids twitched, and she began to tense up, her voice dry: "It's fine."

"Oh, Mom has a client's child who's coming back to China in a few days for a birthday party. Why don't you and Li Sen go and have some fun? Young people should make more friends. If possible, confirm your relationship as soon as possible. He's quite popular among the rich kids."

This means that if she doesn't take action soon, someone else will.

Jiang Chuyu gripped her phone tightly, her fingertips turning white.

Many thoughts flashed through her mind, but in the end, she only uttered two words.

"OK."

Whether she liked it or not, she would complete any task Jiang Shan assigned her with the same seriousness as she would a job.

On Saturday, Jiang Shan had the piano moved directly to her apartment and placed in the living room.

Jiang Chuyu couldn't play the piano. When she tried pressing the keys, the sound she made was like noise.

Jiang Lekai sarcastically remarked, "She has absolutely no sense of elegance and is full of flaws."

His mouth was like it was coated with poison; he wouldn't speak to her properly unless he was being sarcastic or sarcastic.

"What is elegance, is this?" Jiang Chuyu raised her head and puffed out her chest, pressing her fingers haphazardly, looking rather a bit carried away.

Jiang Lekai suspected she was trying to disgust him, and he became even angrier. "Do you even know how to play? 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,' such a simple piece, and you only got five notes right..."

"Isn't this how all beginners are? No one is born knowing how to play the piano." Jiang Chuyu smiled, her hands were clumsy but her expression was one of ease.

Gu Zeming sat on the sofa, watching the siblings argue. Later, after listening to her play the piano for a while, he couldn't stand it anymore.

To the average person, her piano playing might just be a bit of unpleasant noise, but to those in the know, it's like being slowly tortured to death.

Gu Zeming put down his French book and walked behind her.

The music stopped briefly.

Jiang Chuyu's fingertips hovered between black and white, hesitating, when suddenly the back of her hand was pressed down.

"Wrong."

Gu Zeming stood behind her, leaned slightly forward, placed his palm on the back of her hand, moved it to the correct position, and pressed down with just the right amount of force, guiding her knuckles to press the piano keys.

"It's here."

Warm breath brushed past my ear, sending a slight shiver down my spine.

The sound of the piano drifted out from between the overlapping fingers.

Jiang Chuyu looked up.

The shadows of the two figures were reflected on the black piano lid.

Gu Zeming lowered his head slightly, his chin almost touching the top of her head, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, and his warm palm covered the back of her hand.

At first glance, this pose really does look like an embrace.

Jiang Lekai couldn't stand their friendliness and got so angry that he jumped up and down, and simply went back inside to lift weights.

After playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," Jiang Chuyu stared at Gu Zeming's well-defined fingers, her voice hoarse: "Senior, could you teach me to play 'Spring Dream' next time?"

Gu Zeming withdrew his hand. "You should learn to read sheet music first."

Jiang Chuyu: "..."

Well, what a heartless man.

Because of that lesson, for the next two days, Jiang Chuyu's attention was completely drawn to Gu Zeming's fingers, and she completely forgot about Lin Yun's words. When she accompanied Jiang Lekai to learn French, she would even praise his fingers in her notebook.

Initially, Yang Xiuling encouraged her to record her feelings and thoughts when she had an episode, saying that this would help her process negative emotions, record the patterns of her emotional fluctuations, and relieve anxiety. That's how she developed the habit of keeping an episode journal.

But ever since she met Gu Zeming, her notebook has gradually been filled with Gu Zeming's descriptions, including his voice, Adam's apple, fingers, and abs. Before she knew it, she had written many pages.

Jiang Chuyu closed her notebook, propped her chin up with one hand, and stared listlessly at the man lecturing Jiang Lekai.

While Jiang Lekai was copying words, she suddenly asked Gu Zeming in French, "Senior, I've learned how to read sheet music. When will you teach me to play the piano again?"

Gu Zeming glanced at her with a surprised expression and replied in French, "Come to the apartment next Friday after school."

Jiang Chuyu looked troubled: "I have an appointment that day."

Gu Zeming raised an eyebrow: "Where to?"

Jiang Chuyu pondered for a moment, but ultimately said nothing.

Jiang Shan's decision to have her and Li Sen attend the party together was most likely an intentional move to solidify their relationship on that day. At that point, she would not only be Jiang Shan's "daughter" but also Li Sen's "girlfriend," and all her behavior during their relationship would have to conform to the image of a wealthy heiress, refraining from anything that would disgrace the family or violate morals.

Back then, let alone having Gu Zeming teach her to play the piano, she had to restrain herself even from looking at him.

Although she liked Gu Zeming and coveted his body, he was simply too poor. She knew perfectly well which was more important, money or him.

Jiang Chuyu slumped dejectedly onto the table.

Sunlight streamed obliquely through the gauze curtains into the study, casting dappled patterns of light on the desk.

Her head rested on the edge of the light spot, and her cheeks were slightly illuminated.

She lay there for a short while, then drowsiness overcame her, and she drifted off to sleep listening to Gu Zeming's voice.

Gu Zeming stared at her for a good ten seconds, then lowered his voice and continued lecturing.

After talking for more than ten minutes, her phone screen lit up, followed by a ding-dong from the living room doorbell.

The deliveryman stood at the door and shouted loudly, "Is Ms. Jiang Chuyu home? Please accept my package."

The taro in the river remained completely still.

Gu Zeming sighed and gestured to Jiang Lekai: "Go sign for a package for your sister."

Jiang Lekai pursed his lips, got up and walked to the living room.

The study became quiet.

Gu Zeming looked at the sleeping person.

She didn't know what she was dreaming about, and she mumbled something as she changed her sleeping position.

The notebook that had been pressed under her face fell to the ground with a thud.

Gu Zeming frowned, walked over, and bent down.

When his fingertips touched the notebook, he glanced at the words inside casually, then paused, and the corners of his lips curved into a barely perceptible smile.

I picked up the notebook and flipped through a few pages with great interest.

At this moment, Jiang Lekai returned with an invitation.

Gu Zeming took it, glanced at the address and time, and casually placed it on Jiang Chuyu's table.

Jiang Lekai rubbed his nose and said to him, "Teacher, I made plans to play tennis with my classmates this afternoon, and I've already told my mom."

Gu Zeming glanced at the time and nodded: "Go ahead."

Jiang Lekai changed into sportswear, slung his tennis bag over his shoulder, and went out. Only the two of them remained in the apartment.

At around six o'clock in the evening, the room was completely silent.

Gu Zeming pulled up a chair and sat down at Jiang Chuyu's table, tugging at his shirt collar.

...

Jiang Chuyu woke up naturally, opened her eyes, and suddenly noticed something was wrong.

A smooth fabric clung tightly to her eyelids, obscuring her vision.

She instinctively reached out to touch it, only to find it was a tie.

What happened?

Jiang Chuyu's breathing became labored, her whole body tense, and her mind a jumbled mess.

She forced herself to calm down and soon sensed someone sitting in the chair opposite her, staring intently at her.

"Awake?" A deep, familiar male voice asked.

It's Gu Zeming!

"Senior?" Jiang Chuyu's voice trembled as she tried to loosen the tie in front of her.

A silk tie was tied in a tight knot at the back of her head, gently rubbing against her hair as it was pulled.

Gu Zeming coldly stopped her: "You'd better not move."

Jiang Chuyu paused.

Because she is blind, her sense of smell and hearing are exceptionally keen.

The soft sound of turning pages filled the air.

She almost immediately reached out to touch the table.

The notebook that should have been on the table is gone!

Jiang Chuyu froze, her heart pounding violently in her chest.

Gu Zeming observed her expression while slowly flipping through his notes, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"You like me?"

His voice was calm and even, but Jiang Chuyu was on the verge of tears.

"No... I..." She blushed suddenly and stammered, trying to defend herself.

Gu Zeming chuckled softly, interrupting her.

"Isn't it you...?"

"Want to kiss my Adam's apple?"

"You want to kiss my lips raw?"

"Still want to sleep with me?"

Jiang Chuyu couldn't believe that those heart-pounding words had come out of his mouth.

She felt a sudden heart attack, instantly losing all her strength and ability, and slumped into the chair.

“I remember telling you that I would definitely punish anyone who offends me.” Gu Zeming closed his notebook and stood up.

Jiang Chuyu could feel his presence suddenly approaching.

He stopped in front of her, his warm fingertips gently stroking her cheek, as if admiring a precious collectible.

Jiang Chuyu turned her head away, making a final, desperate struggle.

"I don't understand what I did to offend you. Is it a crime to like you?"

"Do you know what it means to like someone?" His fingers slid from her cheek to the side of her neck, gently caressing her.

Jiang Chuyu got goosebumps. Reason told her to cut her losses, but every cell in her body was excited by his touch.

Jiang Chuyu stubbornly replied, "Of course I understand. It's written in my notes that I like it."

"Oh?" Gu Zeming pinched her chin, his eyes darkening, his lips almost touching her earlobe. "Then show me."

Jiang Chuyu was stunned.

How can I do something if I like someone? He's clearly making things difficult for me on purpose!

She looked somewhat bewildered.

Gu Zeming observed her for a while, then asked in a hoarse voice, "Do you know how to kiss?"

Jiang Chuyu nodded slightly.

She's been in relationships before, how could she not?

And he clearly saw it before...

Gu Zeming rubbed her lips together, released her, and sat back on the table, his dark eyes staring directly at her.

"Come and kiss me yourself."

Jiang Chuyu was stunned, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.

It seems he won't be satisfied until he teaches her a lesson today.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Chuyu regained a sliver of reason and began to bargain with him: "Could you help me loosen my tie first?"

"That's it." He refused ruthlessly.

Jiang Chuyu stood still.

Gu Zeming reminded her, "Your brother is going out to play ball, we only have one hour."

Jiang Chuyu bit her lip, hesitated for a long time, then stood up and groped her way forward.

Gu Zeming remained silent, gazing intently at her expression.

Jiang Chuyu's cheeks flushed, and her hands groped aimlessly in the air. After a long while, she finally touched his chest and stopped.

The temperature of my palm suddenly turned hot.

He gazed intently at her, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, his breathing heavy.

Jiang Chuyu's eyelashes trembled upon hearing this, and her legs went weak.

"I'll kiss you now, can you let me go? Don't tell anyone about this?" She negotiated with him, clinging to the last shred of her sanity.

Gu Zeming lowered his eyes to stare at her wet, red lips, his eyes filled with darkness. He grabbed her wrist, pulled her into his arms, and turned his head to bite her ear.

"If you like me, stop talking nonsense, okay?"