Chapter 150 "I don't like you anymore."

With a loud "thump," Xia Mian's heart pounded wildly, unable to believe what she had just heard.

Zhou Pingchuan realized he liked him...

How did he know?

No, I can't admit it. Admitting it will only plunge me into an even deeper abyss of pain. Xia Mian feigned composure: "Third Master, I do have feelings for you, otherwise I wouldn't have taken the initiative to propose marriage. But I don't know if I did something that made you misunderstand. My feelings for you are more admiration than anything else."

Zhou Pingchuan didn't respond at all, his expression calm: "Let's eat first."

Because of his leg disability, he has some difficulty squatting, and Xia Mian has almost never seen him squat.

But now, Zhou Pingchuan put the ever-present antler staff aside, half-squatted down, picked up the tray from the ground, supported himself as he stood up, and laboriously delivered it to him step by step.

Xia Mian's carefully constructed defenses faltered for a moment: "...Thank you, Third Master."

Zhou Pingchuan didn't say anything; this time, he was truly leaving.

Xia Mian had no appetite. After returning to his room, he threw the tray onto the table. All his strength seemed to be drained away with this action, and he could barely stand up by supporting himself on the edge of the table with both hands.

He couldn't understand how Zhou Pingchuan had seen through him; he shouldn't have let anything slip. Their usual interactions made it quite obvious, but Zhou Pingchuan, being a typical straight man, didn't respond and was completely oblivious to romance.

Moreover... what did Zhou Pingchuan want to talk to him about?

Judging from his attitude, Zhou Pingchuan is quite mild-mannered and shouldn't be so angry as to divorce him or kick him out of the Zhou family.

Do you want to politely persuade him to leave?

Warn him not to have unrealistic fantasies.

Or perhaps they discover his ulterior motives and are preparing to sign a supplementary prenuptial agreement?

Or... is it possible...? A thought flashed through Xia Mian's mind, but she immediately dismissed it.

Given Zhou Pingchuan's wealth and status, he must have met many socialites and nobles over the years. If he had any intention of dating or getting married, he would have been married long ago. How could it be his turn?

Although he has an advantage in appearance and a charming personality, in wealthy families, the most important thing is that the families are of equal social standing.

It must be because he focused all his energy on work and kept putting it off until now. He couldn't put it off any longer, so Zhou Pingchuan found someone who was unloved by his parents, had little connection with the Xia family, and was easy to manipulate.

In conclusion, the probability that Zhou Pingchuan also likes him is less than one percent.

So stop being delusional, Xia Mian thought to herself, cursing herself inwardly.

However, this coincided with his thoughts, and Xia Mian found some comfort in her suffering, finally regaining her appetite and beginning to enjoy the dinner carefully prepared by Chef Chen.

Soon, the delicious food revitalized him, and Xia Mian decided to stop being passive and take the initiative to find Zhou Pingchuan herself.

Having made up his mind, he stormed into the study and stood in front of the door, encouraging himself: Don't be afraid of him, he's just a two-dimensional character. You, with your God's-eye view, are the best. Go for it!

Having mentally prepared himself, he reached out his hand—but before he could knock, the door opened by itself.

The paper doll came out.

Zhou Pingchuan must have had something urgent to deal with. After leaving the gym, he didn't change out of his loungewear; he only took off his coat, still wearing his black shirt and wool trousers underneath.

I don't know who picked out this shirt for him; the material is too soft and not crisp enough. But soft material does have its advantages: it's skin-friendly and breathable, thin and... sheer.

As the year draws to a close, the heating in the north is at its hottest, with the average indoor temperature reaching 25 or 26 degrees Celsius. The paper-thin adult must be feeling a bit hot, as the top three buttons of his shirt are undone, exposing a large area of ​​his collarbone and chest. Under the thin gauze covering him, the strong muscles of his waist and abdomen are also faintly visible.

Xia Mian unconsciously scanned him from head to toe several times, then swallowed hard.

Zhou Pingchuan seemed oblivious to his lapse in composure and asked, "Finished eating?"

“Uh… I’m done eating,” Xia Mian shook her head, quickly clearing her mind of all the nonsense and regaining her composure. “Let’s start talking.”

“Are you in such a hurry that you won’t even come inside?” Zhou Pingchuan seemed to be accommodating him. “If you are in a hurry, we can talk in the hallway.”

Xia Mian: "...No need for that, let's go in."

Zhou Pingchuan did as he was told and turned to the side. Xia Mian walked past him, sniffed carefully, and made a new discovery.

Zhou Pingchuan switched to cologne!

It has a stronger flavor than the one he usually uses, less ascetic, and more mature and sexy.

Could it be that it got it from some minor celebrity again?

Although she knew the possibility was slim, Xia Mian was still a little unhappy: "Speak, what do you want to talk about? If it's still about me liking you, then I'll reiterate once again, it's all a misunderstanding. I've never coveted you or any of the value attached to you, so you can rest assured."

“Really not?” Zhou Pingchuan said, “but you’ve been looking at me the whole time.”

"You're dressed like this just for show!" Xia Mian argued. "Besides, you're always walking around in front of me, I can't avoid you at all, I can't just walk with my head down, can I?"

“Okay, my bad, I overthought it. You’ve never coveted me,” Zhou Pingchuan admitted his mistake quickly, “but I don’t believe you’ve never coveted the value attached to me, because I think I’ve seen the word ATM before.”

Xia Mian almost wanted to curse.

When did you find out?

Fortunately, Xia Mian was one step ahead and had already changed Zhou Pingchuan's nickname a couple of days ago.

He took out his phone, opened the WeChat chat interface, and shoved it in front of the other person: "Hey, no, you've got the wrong person!"

After saying that, he realized he had made a foolish mistake. Zhou Pingchuan hadn't mentioned that those three words were a WeChat nickname, so he had essentially confessed without being asked. He quickly tried to save face: "I used that nickname, but I changed it not long after. Sorry."

He thought Zhou Pingchuan would just laugh it off, but to his surprise, the other man's expression suddenly turned cold: "When did you change it?"

"I don't remember."

“I’ll ask you one more time,” Zhou Pingchuan said coldly, “when was it changed?”

Xia Mian was baffled: "I already said, no..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Pingchuan lunged forward and grabbed Xia Mian's wrist, which was holding her phone.

On the chat interface, a simple "Z" made him feel irritable.

Not changing the contact name and using the nickname in chat always gives people a cold feeling. Usually, people add a nickname to their contacts if they know each other. It makes it easier to search for people, and nicknames can also be used for joking around among friends.

Xia Mian's behavior seemed to completely deny the time they had spent together, and it was more like... directly restoring their relationship to its very beginning.

Or to put it bluntly, Xia Mian let him roam free.

“The last time,” Zhou Pingchuan said, a chill running down his spine, “when was it changed?”

Xia Mian could sense his anger, but couldn't understand what he was angry about, and became a little angry herself: "A few days ago, right? What, can't I even make my own decisions about WeChat?"

"So you decided to start distancing yourself from me a few days ago?"

As expected of the head of a conglomerate, his logic is exceptionally smooth. Xia Mian suddenly felt that this back-and-forth evasiveness was quite boring.

He met Zhou Pingchuan's gaze fearlessly: "Okay, I admit it, I did have feelings for you. But I've let it go now, WeChat is proof of that. I don't like you anymore."