Chapter 42 Love Letter: Even if I like you, it's not okay?
Zhou Yu froze. At this moment, the emotions that had been piling up in her heart for a long time were suppressed to the limit and suddenly found a small outlet, surging out wildly and almost drowning her.
From liking his voice to liking him as a person, it was so easy and so natural. She loved his soul, and the love from the inside out transitioned naturally, making it hard to ignore.
She never considered developing a relationship with him beyond friendship. What used to frighten her was herself, but now it was him who frightened her.
She can face her own heart with equanimity, but she cannot face Chen Jingchi like this with equanimity.
She gripped Chen Jingchi's shirt tightly. The principles she used to use to make judgments were completely ineffective with him. The frantic tug-of-war between emotion and reason was pushing her to the brink of collapse.
She dared not agree to him, she could not agree to him.
"Chen Jingchi." She called his name, her voice low, almost ingratiating, "If we're friends, I can be good to you too."
She deliberately omitted the word "only" from his words.
Just be nice to him.
Chen Jingchi pressed his hand against her chin, forcing her to look up at him.
Meeting his unfathomable gaze, Zhou Yu felt even more panicked. Lying to him was far too difficult; she couldn't even fool herself, so how could she possibly fool him?
He wouldn't let her look away; just as she showed any sign of avoiding his gaze, he forced her to look back. His voice became low and husky: "Can friends hug and kiss you?"
Zhou Yu had no room for rebuttal; no one else could do it, only he could, and she couldn't deny his specialness.
"You're not drunk this time." The hand behind her head touched her cheek, his thumb pressing heavily against her lower lip. Chen Jingchi leaned closer and asked, "Can I kiss you?"
At that moment, Zhou Yu's heart began to pound violently, almost bursting out of his chest.
No matter how much sincerity she had, Zhou Yu couldn't remain indifferent to his intimate contact. He was an addictive poison; she knew she shouldn't touch him again, but she couldn't quit or forget him. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, her heartbeat would remind her time and time again that liking him was the bravest and proudest thing she had ever done.
The fingers on her lips moved away, foreshadowing what was about to happen. As he pressed down on her, she grabbed his hand tightly and turned her head away. A kiss landed on her cheek, and Chen Jingchi saw the redness in her eyes.
"No..." Her breathing became very loud, her voice was shrouded in a gasp, she was frightened by his behavior just now.
She was clearly scared, but her cheeks flushed pink, and even the roots of her ears turned bright red.
Just like the night he got drunk and got close to her from behind.
Chen Jingchi reached out to touch her cheek; the spot where he had just kissed her was burning hot to his fingertips, burning hot to his heart.
Zhou Yu knew that if things continued like this, she would eventually let him succeed because of her lack of resolve. She changed her approach and asked in a trembling voice, "Aren't you afraid that your fans will stop supporting you if they find out you're in a relationship? Dating won't do you any good right now."
The vast majority of his fans are young women. However, just as water can carry a boat, it can also capsize it; it's not uncommon for celebrities to lose a large number of fans and suffer a decline in reputation due to dating scandals. Chen Jingchi has finally reached this point, his career is on the rise, and getting caught up in a dating scandal will only bring him harm.
Upon hearing this, Chen Jingchi merely chuckled indifferently: "Zhou Yu, didn't you tell me to be myself?"
Zhou Yu was speechless for a moment.
"If they stop being fans because of this, it means they don't like my songs," Chen Jingchi said. "What provides them with emotional value is my work, not me as a person."
Every word he said left Zhou Yu speechless.
Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Chen Jingchi knew he had gone too far. He tried his best to restrain himself and finally let her go.
"I'm sorry my actions weren't sincere and scared you." His voice seemed to have regained its composure as he calmly announced, "From now on, I will seriously pursue you."
Zhou Yu's eyes widened, completely unprepared for this outcome. She didn't know how to persuade him to give up; his genuine shyness had undoubtedly boosted his confidence.
Seeing her hesitate, Chen Jingchi's gaze softened, and he asked, "Will you stay with me?"
He deliberately said that to give her a way out, but Zhou Yu silently gripped the keychain in her hand, pushed him away, and left.
As she stood at the doorway, her cheeks gradually cooled. Zhou Yu looked down at the jade gourd in her palm, thinking about the birthday surprise her friends had prepared for her that night, and she couldn't quite describe the feeling in her heart.
As long as she still cares about him, this is an unsolvable problem.
After a long while, she knocked on the door. There were hurried footsteps inside. Tan Bei, wearing pajamas, opened the door and smiled at her: "You're back."
"Hmm." Zhou Yu entered the room and saw her smiling, so he simply took the initiative to confess, "He gave me this."
Tan Bei picked up the keychain from her hand and looked at it: "Wow, what a beautiful piece of jade."
Zhou, concerned about the item's value, asked, "Do you know roughly how much this is worth?"
"I don't really know much about this," Tan Bei said, handing the keychain back to her. "You'd have to ask a professional."
Zhou Yu didn't have any connections with experts in jade, so he thought Liu Xianya might know something and planned to show her when he returned to Xianhai.
"You've been gone for a long time," Tan Bei chuckled. "Didn't we talk about anything else?"
Zhou Yu thought of the kiss Chen Jingchi had left on her cheek and was momentarily lost in thought, unsure whether she should tell her about it. Meeting her bright, expectant eyes, she finally softened and told the truth: "He said he wanted to pursue me."
"Ah?!" Tan Bei beamed with joy. "That's great! I'm so glad you didn't agree to him right away."
Zhou asked in confusion, "Why?"
“Otherwise, wouldn’t that be too easy on him?” Tan Bei said, putting her arm around her. “I’m really curious about what it would be like for someone like Chen Jingchi to pursue a girl.”
That wasn't what Zhou Yu cared about. She didn't know how to dissuade Chen Jingchi from his whim, and what she feared most was knowing she shouldn't, yet being unable to resist falling for him.
After all, she had already suffered several times when her mind was unwilling but her body gave a very honest response.
After Tan Bei finished speaking, seeing that she didn't react, her expression softened, and she asked softly, "Why do you look a little unhappy?"
Zhou Yu looked at her, unsure how to begin.
"Don't you want to be with the person you like?" Tan Bei asked.
Zhou Yu remained silent for a moment before saying, "We're not a good match."
“But you’ve never even dated, how do you know it’s not a good match?” Tan Bei thought she was just feeling insecure, so she encouraged her, “Don’t imagine it as dating a celebrity. Offstage, he’s just an ordinary person.”
Zhou Yu smiled gently and asked, "Do you think he likes me?"
“How could you doubt this?” Tan Bei said. “Why would he pursue you if he didn’t like you? He even hugged you in front of all of us tonight.”
After saying that, Tan Bei remembered something and added, "Oh right, he also ordered the birthday cake. We didn't even know it was your birthday today."
Zhou Yu felt a tightness in her chest. She couldn't bear to listen any longer and nodded casually, "I understand. I'll go take a shower first."
Tan Bei watched her retreating figure, scratching her head in confusion.
More than half an hour later, Zhou Yu dried his hair and walked to the bedside. Suddenly, Tan Bei opened her mouth wide and exclaimed, "Holy crap!"
"What's wrong?" she asked as she climbed into bed.
"Quick, check Weibo!!" Tan Bei said, handing over her phone without even giving her a chance to pick it up. "Chen Jingchi just posted it!"
One minute ago.
@Chen Jingchi: Thank you everyone for your concern. I will continue to work hard next time.
The only regret is that today is her birthday, and I couldn't be on the podium to wish her a happy birthday.
Last time, Yang asked me on the show who the first person I thought of when "Migratory Birds" won an award and stood on the podium would be. I didn't dare say then, but I thought of her @ZhouYu.
Zhou Yu stared at the last name he tagged, utterly astonished.
Has Chen Jingchi gone mad?!
Is this what he meant by "seriously pursuing you"?
Fans in the comments section were stunned by his sudden post; the comment control measures disappeared, and the top comments were just as shocked as she was.
What's going on? Is this a confession?
No way, it's probably just thanking a friend.
Is it just a birthday greeting? Why does it feel a bit strange?
They've collaborated on so many songs, they're really good friends, don't spread rumors.
[Is this a confession? Don't fool yourselves!]
[Blessings, blessings. I can accept it if it's her.]
Zhou Yu looked at the comments section, which had jumped to 50,000 in a single update, and dared not look any further. He quickly returned the phone to Tan Bei and took the charging phone from the bedside table.
Send a message to Chen Jingchi: 【What are you doing?!】
Messages kept popping up in the six-person group chat.
Zhuo Wencheng: [Huh? Huh???]
Zhan Li: [Brother Chi, be brave!]
Xu Yue: [You're deliberately causing trouble while my brother Du Heng is asleep, aren't you? [doge]]
Zhuo Wencheng: [I'm suddenly a little worried, I hope everything will be alright when the plane lands tomorrow.]
Zhan Li: [That's not quite right, his fans aren't that crazy.]
Tan Bei was still in shock: "Chen Jingchi is planning to publicly pursue you, he never intended to hide it."
Zhou Yu waited for a long time but he didn't reply. If it weren't so late, she would have rushed to him and asked if he had drunk too much water in his head while taking a shower.
How is this any different from going public with a relationship?
Although fans are indeed less concerned about a singer's relationship status than regular fans, he has only just begun to make a name for himself. Zhou Yu is worried that this matter might become a ticking time bomb, which could be exploited by someone with ulterior motives at some point. On the other hand, he is also afraid that he might be dragged down by him.
After all, the incident with the news article last semester was still fresh in Zhou Yu's mind, and he was very afraid of repeating the same mistake and having those negative comments affect him.
In the early hours of the morning, this Weibo post quickly went viral, and the hashtag #ChenJingchiIsThinkingOfHer# also climbed to the bottom of the trending topics list.
A few minutes later, Chen Jingchi finally replied to her.
Chen: [Zhou Yu, don't be afraid]
Chen: [They'll find out sooner or later.]
Zhou wanted to reassure him to think things through, but his two messages shut her down. She closed the input box, exited the chat, and her mind was a mess.
He clearly knew the potential consequences, yet he still did it anyway. I really don't know whether to praise his courage or call him reckless.
Tan Bei was still happy for her, and hugged her, saying, "Baby, don't worry, Chen Jingchi has a public relations team, he definitely won't let you be affected."
"I know, thank you."
Zhou wanted to hug her back, feeling much more at ease because of her words, but he still couldn't fall asleep because he was preoccupied with his own thoughts.
*
The next day at noon, Zhan Li asked in the group chat if everyone had packed up and were ready to catch their flight.
With the concert approaching, they didn't linger here and had to hurry back to rehearse.
As Zhou Yu emerged from her room, she immediately spotted Chen Jingchi standing in the hallway. He had changed back into his casual clothes, wearing a black baseball cap that obscured most of his face, clearly indicating that he was waiting for her.
He walked towards her.
She had absolutely no idea how to face him.
Even though the corridor was covered with thick carpet and footsteps were inaudible, Zhou Yu could still feel his footsteps echoing in her ears. Chen Jingchi took her suitcase and said, "They've gone downstairs."
Zhou Yu wanted to say that she didn't need help and reached out to take it back, but unexpectedly touched his hand. She pulled back as if she had been burned, which made him chuckle.
Just as I was about to speak, Tan Bei came out from behind, pushing her suitcase: "I'm ready! Let's go!"
In the elevator, Tan Bei looked at Zhou Yu, who was standing a good distance away from Chen Jingchi, and couldn't help but want to laugh, but she had to hold it back.
Zhou seemed to be deliberately avoiding suspicion, but every friend who saw the two of them couldn't help but tease them a bit.
"Hey? Dear Yue-ge, who was the first person you thought of when you woke up today?" Zhuo Wencheng asked Xu Yue in a cheeky tone.
Xu Yue pretended to be deep in thought: "I was thinking about my brother Du Heng. Why hasn't he been able to get a car yet after calling for so long?"
“What does he have to think about? Ask me!” Zhan Li interrupted.
Zhuo Wencheng quickly moved the water bottle in front of him and asked, "Who's the first person you think of?"
Before Zhan Li could speak, Tan Bei slapped him on the back, her voice loud: "Who else do you dare to think about? Don't say another word!"
Zhan Li quickly smiled and hugged her, saying, "I was wrong."
Zhou Yu was silenced by their words, but Chen Jingchi remained unmoved and enjoyed listening to them. He glanced at Zhou Yu and reached out to smooth down a few strands of hair that were sticking up by her ear.
When his fingertips accidentally brushed against her earlobe, Zhou Yu flinched slightly. Knowing he was doing it on purpose, she didn't distance herself, not wanting him to lose face in front of his friends.
Du Heng finally managed to hail a taxi and had lunch in the airport lounge after arriving. Zhou Yu observed Du Heng's behavior closely and found that he was no different from usual, seemingly unaffected by Chen Jingchi's late-night outburst.
That shouldn't be the case. Could they be in cahoots?
Du Heng booked business class for them. Chen Jingchi's seat happened to be in the same row as Zhou Yu and Tan Bei, right next to her on the right, separated by an aisle.
Shortly after the plane took off, a boy walked up to Chen Jingchi and stopped next to him, asking in a surprised tone, "Hey, are you Chen Jingchi?"
Tan Bei had just picked out a movie and put it on the TV in front of her when she heard the noise. She leaned over and whispered, "Wow, she can recognize that? What kind of sharp eyes do she have?"
Zhou Yu also secretly looked to the right.
After boarding the plane, Chen Jingchi put on a mask, but the boy recognized him just by his figure.
He nodded, declined the boy's request for a photo, citing inconvenience, but said he could sign an autograph instead.
While waiting for his autograph, the boy lowered his voice and asked curiously, "Bro, did you really start dating after posting that on Weibo last night?"
When Zhou Yu saw Chen Jingchi raise his head and glance at her with a clear purpose, her heart skipped a beat the instant their eyes met, and she quickly looked away.
His answer was quite clear: "Let's see if she agrees."
Tan Bei covered her mouth along with the boy, and excitedly shook Zhou Yu's hand. The boy quickly said, "I'll keep it a secret, good luck, bro!"
Zhou Yu dared not look at him anymore, turned to Tan Bei, and grabbed her hand: "You're so excited."
"I'm totally shipping them!" Tan Bei said with envy. "Damn, it's our first time pursuing a girl, so why is Chen Jingchi so much better than Zhan Li?"
After she finished speaking, she leaned close to Zhou Yu's ear and said with a smile, "I guess you probably won't be able to hold on for much longer."
Zhou Yu lowered his head and remained silent, afraid that her words might come true, and also afraid that his rationality would ultimately be defeated by his impulse.
A moment later, she picked up her phone and sent a private message to Du Heng.
Zhou Yu: [Brother, aren't you going to do anything about him?]
Zhou Yu: [Are the artists in your company allowed to date freely?]
Du Hengren was sitting next to Chen Jingchi and replied immediately after seeing the message.
Du Heng: [Haven't you already witnessed how stubborn he is?]
Du Heng: [Do you think I can control him?]
Du Heng: [He listens to you more.]
With the last path blocked, Zhou Yu lost all strength and means, took off his blindfold, put it on, and took a nap.
Zhou Yu had no idea how long he had slept when a commotion arose around him. He had just woken up from his nap and was still not fully conscious when his eye mask was suddenly pulled down.
The light was a bit too bright, and the person kindly reached out to shield her from it. A familiar voice came from beside her: "Zhou Yu, you've gotten off the plane."
She suddenly woke up, opened her eyes and saw Chen Jingchi standing beside her, but Tan Bei and the others were nowhere to be seen.
She was sleeping quite soundly when Chen Jingchi held her shoulders and helped her sit up, taking her bag with him.
As Zhou Yu disembarked at the back of the group, she became somewhat distracted and almost missed a step. Chen Jingchi quickly caught her and took her right hand without saying a word.
Zhou tried to pull back but failed. He was led forward by him, and she felt suffocated.
The plane landed in Xianhai. Everyone else had to transfer to another plane to go back to Jiangbei, but Zhou Yu wanted to go home. Chen Jingchi was going to see her off.
Not knowing if it would take up his time, Zhou asked, "Do you have enough time?"
“There’s still time.” Chen Jingchi stopped beside her, his eyes staring intently at her from under the brim of his hat. “We’ll have to wait more than half a month to meet again.”
He was saying he was reluctant to part.
At that moment, Zhou Yu wished he could be a little slower and not have understood the hidden meaning in his words.
Therefore, they will not experience similar emotions as him.
Even though they hadn't seen each other for a long time before, Zhou Yu couldn't understand why human emotions changed so strangely and were so easily influenced, making it difficult to pretend not to care.
She followed him forward with her head down. Chen Jingchi took her suitcase and escorted her to the security checkpoint in the arrival hall before finally letting go of her hand.
Handing her the suitcase and bag, Chen Jingchi stood in front of her, his gaze lingering on her face for a long time before speaking: "Let me know when you get home."
Zhou Yu exchanged a glance with him, and after thinking about it all the way, she couldn't help but whisper, "Don't post anything about me on Weibo anymore, it's not good for you."
“Zhou Yu.” Chen Jingchi stared at her, his eyes filled with a seriousness he had never seen before. “My relationship is aboveboard and respectable. It won’t affect my music or my work.”
He asked with a sigh, "Even liking you isn't allowed?"
When Zhou Yucai first heard him say he liked her, he suddenly realized that she had lost miserably in this competition with him.
Her vision blurred, and she hurriedly lowered her head to hide her wet eyes.
Chen Jingchi raised his hand and touched her face, his thumb gently stroking the spot where he had kissed her the night before. After only a second or two, he withdrew his hand with extreme restraint.
"Let's go, I'll watch you leave."
-----------------------
Author's note: Thank you for the nutrient solution, everyone!!
Reader "彤彤266" added 2 units of nutrient solution to the irrigation water.
Reader "keyee" added 1 unit of nutrient solution to the water.
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