So much so that every day and night afterward, Xu Muyao would recall that resolute look in her eyes, shining brightly, which was the redemption he craved.

"I understand, but I can't agree to this. Let's find something else," Xu Muyao said calmly.

"Why? You...you must like me, right? I can feel how you take care of me all the time..."

"You've misunderstood. I'm only taking care of you because you're Director Ye's niece. He's been kind to me, and being nice to you is just a way of repaying that favor. That's all."

Jiang Ye's heart was clenched tightly.

Almost the instant his words fell, her bright eyes filled with tears.

She stubbornly raised her head and looked him straight in the eye. "You're lying... Do you dare to look me in the eye and say what you just said again?"

Xu Muyao's hands, hanging by his sides, tightened slightly. He tried his best to calm his emotions, closed his eyes and exhaled. When he opened them again, his eyes were slightly dark, but his tone softened involuntarily.

"I'm 36, and you're only 21."

He couldn't get over his own conscience; the age gap was too big, and deep down he felt like a beast.

"He's only fifteen years older, I don't mind."

"I mind! I mind a lot, do you understand?!" Xu Muyao interrupted her with a fierce look on his face.

"And another thing, do you like someone so easily? If I were a person with ulterior motives today, you would definitely be the one who suffers!"

Jiang's throat tightened, and her chin trembled slightly.

Not at all casual, she was not casual at all! She had liked him for many, many years, so long that the years had blurred the moment when she first fell in love with him in her memory.

"You're not a bad person, you're a people's hero, you're my favorite nameless brother..."

Jiang Ye's voice grew softer and softer, and her head drooped lower and lower.

"Do you really know me? You say you like me so easily! Do you like me for my old military uniform, or for me, this old man who's fifteen years older than you, old enough to be your uncle? Hmm?"

Xu Muyao kept a straight face and deliberately spoke in a way that was as harsh as a knife.

...