Chapter 20 Can You Love Me?

Li Ji assured her that he had quit smoking.

Apart from occasionally biting a cigarette to relieve the greasiness without lighting it, he really stopped smoking, and even his usually hoarse and low voice became much clearer.

But he switched to drinking.

Sheng Zhao probably didn't sleep well that night. After tossing and turning for a long time, he decided to go downstairs to drink a bottle of cold Coke.

Drinking an ice-cold Coke in the middle of the night is the best.

Sheng Zhao thought in a daze.

As soon as she walked downstairs, she smelled a strong smell of alcohol. Li Ji was sitting on a chair, supporting his head with one hand and holding a can of beer in the other, shaking it gently.

As if he saw Sheng Zhao going downstairs, he paused, raised his eyes and looked at Sheng Zhao lazily.

Li Ji's hair slightly covered his dark eyebrows and eyes, and his lower lip was soaked with wine, with a faint red glow. There was no light on in the kitchen where he was, and he could only be seen half buried in the darkness through the corridor light that Sheng Zhao had just turned on.

In the dim darkness, his phone was refreshing messages, the ding-dong sound was irritating.

It was probably a bitter smile, he slightly raised the corners of his lips and his voice was hoarse.

"I'm sorry to bother you again."

Sheng Zhao walked over to him, hooked his slightly damp hair with her fingertips and put it behind his head, feeling the smell of alcohol coming towards her. There was not much expression on her face, but her eyes moved to the phone on the table that kept sending messages.

——

"You're rich now, but your dad is almost dead. You little bitch, if I hadn't seen the news on my phone, would you have kept it a secret from your dad until he died?!"

"I originally thought you were hooking up with a nice woman, but you turned out to be a star. You even hid it from your father because you were afraid I'd give you a share of my money?"

"Give me a million, I need medical treatment. You're a big star, so you should have this little money, right? Don't be shameless, little bitch, reply quickly. I sold my body to raise you, so what's wrong with asking for some money? You acted so noble and let your father sell himself alone. You grew up with the money I earned from selling my body, so what's wrong with asking you for some money?"

"You're really pissing me off! Hurry up and send me the money! Otherwise, I'll post a video online accusing you of becoming rich and leaving your seriously ill father behind!"

"Bitch, slut, you've become rich and you don't recognize your father, right? Hurry up and reply!"

…

The rest of the words were unbearable to read.

Sheng Zhao frowned slightly. Li Ji took a sip of wine and smiled. His red lips opened slightly, revealing his sharp canine teeth. His eyes were narrowed viciously, as if observing Sheng Zhao's expression.

But unfortunately, Sheng Zhao had no other expression except for frowning slightly.

Instead, he put his fingertips into Li Ji's wine glass, stirred it, licked his fingertips, frowned, and stuck out his tongue, "...It's so bitter."

Li Ji pursed his lips and paused.

He seemed to be at a loss for words, and after a pause, he began to speak again, "...I've caused you trouble."

"Yeah?"

Sheng Zhao opened the refrigerator and picked up a can of Coke, then sat down at the table, lowered his head to open the can, took a sip of the Coke before speaking.

"Your affairs are never troublesome."

Hearing this, Li Ji sneered and said softly, "What a pity, I am a trouble myself." He stroked the wine glass with his fingertips, his voice hoarse and slightly confused.

"Sometimes I wish he would just die."

"—It's better to be an orphan than to be raised by him."

Li Ji's voice was a little fierce and self-deprecating, as if seeing Sheng Zhao was so calm, he also lay lazily on the table, his brows half-closed with fatigue, and under the smell of alcohol, there was a strong charm and beauty.

Fierce, gorgeous, cold - words that are completely incompatible with one person are cleverly integrated into Li Ji, and even his own existence is difficult to describe.

Just like Sheng Zhao had no desire to possess him, but was still satisfied because he could always have a star that could be perfect as long as it was polished.

Li Ji put down the wine in his hand. His face was flushed and he had lost his mind because of the alcohol. He slightly curved his eyes and raised the corners of his lips, stretched out his hand to Sheng Zhao, his voice was hoarse but the ending tone was elongated with charm.

"So how are you going to save me this time? My dear lady—"

"...Just throw me away and let me rot—"

His voice was hoarse, and in the end he just gave up and even laughed.

He became a drunkard.

Sheng Zhao tilted his head back and gulped down the Coke, then put the cold can of Coke on Li Ji's forehead, looking at him with satisfaction as he was stunned by the coldness.

The cold cola can and the steam against his forehead gave him a moment of clarity, but then made him smile bitterly.

Sheng Zhao sat on the table, her feet in slippers shaking restlessly. She lowered her head and looked at Li Ji who was sitting on the chair with his head raised. She moved closer to him and their noses touched slightly. The strong smell of alcohol hit her face, making her a little drunk.

Her eyes sparkled under the refraction of the distant lights, and her clear black pupils flashed with light. Sheng Zhao's breath also hit his face, making Li Ji regain his sanity, and his Adam's apple and chest tremble unconsciously.

She said, “I said it’s okay and it’s okay.”

"Believe me."

She said so.

Li Ji paused, he just looked at Sheng Zhao's eyes slightly infatuatedly, as if whispering softly, or as if speaking casually.

"Then kiss me."

"Huh?" Sheng Zhao was stunned for a moment.

She looked down at Li Ji in confusion. His shirt had two buttons open as usual, revealing the cleavage of his chest and his Adam's apple. His beautiful skin looked as if it was painted with honey under the dim light. From Sheng Zhao's angle, she could even see his smooth and well-defined abdominal muscles through the opening of his collar.

He just raised his head, frowned slightly, but his eyes were narrowed because of the thick smell of alcohol, and his Adam's apple was trembling slightly.

It seemed as if he thought Sheng Zhao didn't hear it.

He spoke to Sheng Zhao in a hoarse voice again.

"Then kiss me."

Sheng Zhao paused, as if confused by his request, but lowered his head and kissed his lower lip without hesitation.

There was a strong smell of alcohol on her lips, slightly blurring her emotions.

"...Can you love me?"

Li Ji asked in a low voice, his eyes slightly hazy and sleepy, as if her words of assurance made him feel at ease, and then sleepiness came over him.

Sheng Zhao watched him sober up and then fall asleep on the table in a daze. He lowered his head to look at his sleeping profile, and a tear fell from the tip of his tall nose and dripped onto the table.

But his facial features were really superior. He was sleeping on his side, with a few tears on his nose and in the corners of his eyes, which made his proud and handsome face look broken.

Sheng Zhao thought about what he said before waking up, paused, and said, "No."

Her voice was plain but as clear and bright as ever, that of a young girl.

In fact, her brother also said such words to her. Because his feelings were discovered, he knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, begging her in a low voice, asking her if she could love him.

He said, you know very well that we are not related by blood.

He said, you know I love you.

You know very well that we have been together since we were young.

But in Sheng Zhao's eyes, she only hopes that the people around her will play their corresponding roles and behave themselves, that's all.

She took out her cell phone and took a look. Sheng Cehan, who was blocked as usual, was carefully sending her a message that she couldn't read.

——

"Zhao Zhao, the weather is cold, remember to wear more clothes."

"Zhao Zhao, when can you come back? I've learned to cook some new dishes, I'm sure you'll like them."

"Zhao Zhao..."

"Zhao Zhao..."

Sheng Zhao could even see how cautiously he typed and how he expected her to reply.

Sheng Zhao only hopes that Sheng Cehan is his brother and can play the role of brother for the rest of his life.

So she read his message for the first time and replied with an emoticon of a kitten meowing and saying "OK".

It took almost a minute to read, and the dialog box on the other side continued to say "Input..." for half a day before carefully sending out a sentence, "Zhao Zhao, it's so late, aren't you still asleep?"

Sheng Zhao lowered his eyes and glanced at the sleeping Li Ji, and replied, "Because I have something to do, I didn't sleep, and you didn't sleep either."

Across from him, Sheng Cehan paused, his fingertips stroking the laptop keyboard, and replied, "I'm still looking at the documents. Brother wants to lighten Zhao Zhao's burden."

He looked a little tired, with his eyes slightly lowered and his lips pursed.

The fingertips tapped out lightly, 'I want to see you.'

He paused and quickly deleted it, staring intently at the dialog box between the two, trying to hear any other words from Sheng Zhao.

But no, she sent an emoticon that said "go to bed early" and simply ended the topic, leaving Sheng Cehan alone staring at the dialog box for a long time before finally lowering his eyes.

He actually couldn't help but guess what Sheng Zhao was doing.

It's rare for her to reply to his message so late. Is she doing something with that man?

That man is dissolute and has no manners - will his Zhao Zhao be seduced by him?

At that time, he really wanted to throw a card to the man and ask him to leave his Zhao Zhao, just like in the TV series.

But he can't.

Because he knew that if he did this, the only one who would leave would be Sheng Cehan himself.

Sheng Zhao doesn't like people who lack sense of propriety, nor does she like things that go against her wishes.

Sheng Cehan closed his eyes to hide the emotions in them.

——————

The next day, Sheng Zhao ate the breakfast made by Li Ji in a daze, and asked Li Ji while biting a sandwich if he remembered what happened last night.

Li Ji was strangely silent for a moment, put the fried egg in Sheng Zhao's bowl, and said casually, "I forgot, I don't remember, what happened?"

But it was Sheng Zhao who clearly carried him to his room in the middle of the night yesterday, and he fell asleep in a daze without even taking off his clothes. When he woke up in the morning, he had a sore back and a severe headache.

It seems that he even denied Sheng Zhao the fact that he was drinking.

Sheng Zhao paused, swallowed the fried egg, nodded, and said softly, "You clearly remember it but you pretend to be stupid. How bad."

Li Ji paused, his face darkening for a moment, but the tips of his ears turned red. He snatched the sandwich from Sheng Zhao's hand and whispered, "Even eating can't stop your mouth."

Then he took a bite, without caring at all that Sheng Zhao had just taken a bite.

Sheng Zhao looked at his empty hands and realized that this was the first time his food had been taken away from him.

She was a little sluggish when she woke up in the morning, then slowly slumped over the table, not getting up, repeating over and over again, "I hate you."

"I hate you."

"I hate you."

Li Ji paused, and seeing her like this, he tried to save her somewhat reluctantly, "I'll give you my share, please stop hating me."

“…I hate you.”

Li Ji silently pushed the fried eggs and sandwich on his plate to Sheng Zhao, but Sheng Zhao lowered his head and didn't look at him, just muttering, I hate you.

He seemed a little overwhelmed, thinking that Sheng Zhao was angry. His voice was hoarse and he spoke cautiously, "Don't hate me... I'll come back early tonight and make you your favorite food."

He was very busy today and had just told Sheng Zhao that he didn't have time to cook for her in the evening so he asked her to order takeout.

"good."

Sheng Zhao suddenly sat up in an instant, agreed very neatly, picked up the sandwich from Li Ji's plate and took a bite, squinting his eyes in satisfaction, without any trace of his previous expression.

Li Ji was stunned for a moment, wanting to say something, but he leaned against the wall, sneered and sighed.