Wen Zhixia stared at his face. Based on that face alone, it was hard for her to say she felt nothing, but she remained rational.

She said, "I don't want to lie to you. It's perfectly normal for me to be attracted to beautiful things."

Shen Jiachen smiled shyly. Why did Wen Zhixia suddenly praise his good looks when they were talking?

Before his smile could fade, he heard Wen Zhixia say, "But I'll take home anything that's pretty or exciting."

Shen Jiachen looked at her, and Wen Zhixia asked doubtfully, "Besides, senior, all things considered, we've only met a few times, and we've hardly spent any time together. You don't understand me, and I don't understand you."

“I also wanted to start as friends with you.” Shen Jiachen said a little awkwardly, “But you’re too smart, you saw right through me.”

"...It's hard to see through, isn't it?" Wen Zhixia couldn't help but mutter.

A colleague who worked the day shift once said that Shen Jiachen coming to the store three times a month was considered frequent, but it seems that after she met Shen Jiachen, he started coming to the store every night, just ordering a drink and a cake, and sometimes he would sit there all night, but he didn't actually touch anything.

Wen Zhixia has received many confessions of love, and it would be a lie to say that she couldn't tell. However, Shen Jiachen is the only suitor who is different.

“Senior, with your qualifications, it would be easy for you to find someone with any qualifications. Why is it me?” Wen Zhixia looked at him.

"Who can really explain what it means to like someone?" Shen Jiachen lowered his eyes. "Others are other people, but Wen Zhixia only has you."

He took a slow, deep breath, then raised his eyes and looked at Wen Zhixia very seriously: "I know that whatever I say sounds like sweet talk. But I'm telling you sincerely, I've never been in a relationship before, nor have I ever been entangled with anyone else. You are the first girl I've ever liked."

“If it were me, I would also find these words absurd, but I’m serious. Getting to know each other takes time. Can you give me that time?” Shen Jiachen said, “If after getting to know each other you still don’t trust or accept me, I promise I will never bother you, okay?”

Wen Zhixia picked up her cup again, took a slow sip of water under Shen Jiachen's gaze, and then put the cup down: "I'm very busy every day, I have to go to class and do part-time jobs, I'm sorry, I don't have time for you."

"You just need to give me this opportunity." Shen Jiachen smiled, his eyes crinkling. "You don't need to set aside time for me; I'll figure it out myself."

Wen Zhixia looked at Shen Jiachen, but didn't answer his question. She simply said, "Let's eat."

Shen Jiachen hummed in agreement, picked up his chopsticks, and prepared to eat the frog again.

Wen Zhixia said, "If you can't eat it, then don't eat it."

"It's edible." Shen Jiachen took a breath: "I wasn't prepared."

Now he's mentally prepared; even if it's a knife, he's willing to try it if Wen Zhixia likes it.

The frog had cooled down a bit in the bowl and wasn't as hot as it had been at first, making it more palatable.

Wen Zhixia watched Shen Jiachen silently eating the frog and felt a strange emotion in her heart. He clearly knew that she was doing it on purpose, so why did she still do it?

She really wasn't sure about Shen Jiachen anymore.

The meal was relatively "relaxed." Wen Zhixia paid the bill, and Shen Jiachen didn't try to take it from her. After all, giving and receiving would create more opportunities, wouldn't it?

He walked to the car and opened the passenger door: "I'll take you back to school."

Wen Zhixia shook her head: "No need, I can just walk through this alley, it's very close."

Halfway through the meal, Shen Jiachen's phone kept ringing. When asked why, he just said it was something unimportant from the company, but why would he make so many calls about something unimportant?

Wen Zhixia said, "You should go back to the company soon. They've been urging you to come back."

Shen Jiachen took a deep breath. His phone would call about every ten minutes, and although he had put it on silent, Wen Zhixia still noticed.

Some things really needed to be dealt with as soon as possible, so he didn't insist: "Okay, I'll go now. I'll treat you to a meal next time you're free, okay?"

Before Wen Zhixia could refuse, he quickly said, "You treated me to dinner today, so I should return the favor and treat you to a meal too."

Understanding Shen Jiachen's meaning, Wen Zhixia simply smiled and said, "Let's talk about it next time."

Shen Jiachen raised his hand, waved, and then asked cautiously, "Now that you've arrived... could you send me a message to confirm your safety?"

"Okay," Wen Zhixia said, "You should go now."

Shen Jiachen beamed with joy: "See you again, Zhixia!"

"See you later, school..."

Before she could finish her last word, Shen Jiachen said, "Just call me Jiachen."

Wen Zhixia paused, then said, "See you later, Jiachen."

Then, looking at Shen Jiachen's incredibly bright smile, was it really necessary for him to be so happy?

Wen Zhixia lowered her eyes, gently kicked a small stone beside her with her toe, and then walked towards the school.

She crossed the road, but couldn't help looking back one last time. Shen Jiachen was still standing there, watching her turn around and waving with a smile.

Wen Zhixia withdrew her gaze, turned around, and quickly left.

After watching Wen Zhixia disappear from sight, Shen Jiachen got into his car. He didn't forget to turn on the car music, fasten his seatbelt, and then drove back to Shen's Corporation.

When he returned to his office, Shen Fang was already waiting for him, with fine tea laid out on the coffee table in front of him.

He saw Shen Jiachen return, snorted, and continued sipping his tea.

Shen Jiachen walked over and sat on the other side of the sofa. He asked, "What do you want?"

Shen Fang put down his teacup and said, "Good news. Let's talk about your marriage with Mingxue."

Shen Jiachen pushed up his glasses: "I will not agree to a marriage alliance. Give up."

Shen Fang didn't care about his refusal at all: "Achen, I know that kids your age want to pursue true love, but true love is worthless in the face of interests. A marriage alliance with the Yu family is beneficial to us in every way. Their overseas development is so good. If our two families get married, the company's overseas development in the next twenty years will be better than you can imagine."

Just thinking about it makes me happy. He may not be capable, but his son is very capable. Shen Fang crossed his legs and said, "Moreover, you and Mingxue are childhood sweethearts and know each other very well. It's like double happiness."

“I said, no.” Shen Jiachen looked at Shen Fang: “Putting everything else aside, have you forgotten something?”

Shen Fang smiled and said, "What could I possibly forget?"

Shen Jiachen looked at Shen Fang, his tone unchanged: "I stayed for Jia Zhou, not for the Shen family, and certainly not for you. You can't decide my marriage, and you have no way to decide it. Stop pretending to be a loving father in front of me all the time, okay?"