Jiang Chuting seemed lost in thought and didn't reply until Shao Jun's figure disappeared. When he turned around, he found Lin Zhi staring at him intently.
Jiang Chuting hadn't heard clearly at all, and asked, "Lin Zhi, what did you ask me just now?"
Lin Zhi didn't speak. At this moment, Huang Yu saw them and came over to greet them. When he learned that they were about to leave, he naturally tried to persuade them to stay. However, Jiang Chuting said that he had other things to do, so Huang Yu didn't insist.
If it weren't for Jiang Chuting, Yin Ziqiu probably wouldn't have realized his mistake until he killed Wanwan. Huang Yu may be frivolous, but he's definitely very grateful to them.
He said sincerely, "I will definitely come again when I have time. Putting aside everything else, I will certainly treat you to the best food and drinks. The Huang family will always welcome you."
Jiang Chuting nodded slightly, pondered for a moment, and then asked Huang Yu, "May I ask, Young Master Huang, where does the young master come from?"
Lin Zhi stared at him intently, her eyes wide. He actually dared to ask? He was becoming increasingly brazen. Did he perhaps prefer someone so gentle and weak?
Huang Yu, observing Lin Zhi's ever-changing expression, did not answer. Instead, he asked Jiang Chuting in a low voice, "Didn't you notice that the person next to you is looking like they want to eat you alive?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Chuting turned to look at Lin Zhi, meeting his undisguised anger. A strange feeling welled up inside him. This child should know that he was asking the young master about something, so why was he still angry?
Jiang Chuting suppressed his confusion and looked at Huang Yu again. Under his gaze, Huang Yu replied, "Young Master, your family has fallen on hard times. You were forcibly sold to a brothel, but I found you and redeemed you. You've been in the Huang family for less than a year."
"A brothel..." Jiang Chuting continued, asking Huang Yu, "Has he been feeling unwell recently? Or has he been experiencing abdominal pain?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhicai, who was blinded by jealousy, understood his intention and his expression softened slightly.
"No, he himself has some medical knowledge, but I haven't heard him say it, so I guess he doesn't." Huang Yu glanced at Lin Zhi out of the corner of his eye and asked Jiang Chuting, "What's wrong? Are you really interested in him? But you two..." He stopped there at the right moment and didn't continue.
Jiang Chuting shook her head and said, "I saw him in the garden with Lin Zhi earlier. He seemed to be feeling unwell and looked very pale. I only asked him about it when I saw him leaving just now."
Huang Yu was taken aback, glancing in the direction Shao Jun had left before whispering, "Is he feeling unwell? I never heard him mention it." Could it be that when he said he couldn't serve him anymore, there really was something wrong with his health?
Jiang Chuting and Lin Zhi finally went to say goodbye to Master Huang. Master Huang bowed and thanked them profusely. Unable to persuade them to stay, he gave them two small jars of peach blossom wine, which Lin Zhi loved, and personally saw them off at the mansion.
After leaving the Huang residence, Lin Zhi carried a wine jar in one hand and pulled Jiang Chuting to the street with the other. In a short while, they encountered several wedding processions, and there were joyful music playing everywhere.
The number of people getting married in the last few days is probably more than in the previous year.
The two even made a special trip to Susu's house. They arrived at the perfect time; the area in front of the house was bustling with activity. The bride was getting into the bridal sedan chair, and the child was being carried by someone. Susu's mother was so happy that she kept wiping away tears.
It seems that the father of this child is also a man who values his life. Su Su had only given birth not long ago and her body had not yet recovered, yet she was in a hurry to get married.
However, for now, this should be considered a relatively good result.
After the group had gone far away, Jiang Chuting and Lin Zhi turned and left.
Finally, they could be alone together again. Lin Zhi asked Jiang Chuting with a radiant smile, "Chu Ran, where do we go next?"
"Let's continue to wander around and take a look." After walking a while, Jiang Chuting hesitated for a moment before saying, "By the way, Lin Zhi, I have something to do. I need to go back in about ten days." Counting the days, it's almost Senior Brother Chonghua's birthday, and he has to rush back to the Nine Heavens no matter what.
Lin Zhi's heart sank when she heard this. "What? You're leaving again?!"
Jiang Chuting remained silent. For some reason, she felt extremely guilty and uneasy, and tried to explain, "It's the birthday of a very important family member of mine; I can't not go back."
Whenever they're leaving, they always say they have important family matters to attend to; they never seem to come up with a better excuse. Lin Zhi pleaded, "Wouldn't it be better to take me back with you?"
Jiang Chuting hesitated, "It's not that I'm unwilling to agree, it's just that our family situation is special... there are many inconveniences."
Knowing he wouldn't agree, Lin Zhi lost his smile, looking dejected, and stopped speaking. After a long while, he lowered his eyes to conceal the turmoil within them.
He was fed up with being apart all the time. He didn't want to count down the days until he came anymore, nor did he want to get jealous and upset over the slightest thing, while this person knew nothing about it.
Their relationship progressed rapidly during their time away from home, and he felt the time was right.
After leaving Jian'an, the two passed through a village in the evening, found a farmer's house, and paid to stay there for the night.
After nightfall, Lin Zhi refused to stay in her room to sleep and insisted on drinking and stargazing with Jiang Chuting on the low rooftop.
The night was cool and still, the moonlight was bright and clear, and sparse stars were scattered across the dark blue night sky.
Lin Zhi was extremely depressed, drinking heavily until he was already slightly drunk. His nose was slightly red, and he mumbled, "Chu Ran, do you remember? You used to take me to the rooftop to see the stars. The sky was full of stars, so beautiful and enchanting, but..."
His eyes were hazy, and he stretched out a hand as if touching the stars in the night sky, but when he pulled his hand back, there was nothing there; it was all an illusion.
Lin Zhi's tone suddenly turned sad, "But it's so far away, just like you, Chu Ran. You're right beside me, but I can't touch you. This kind of beauty can only stay in front of me briefly each time, and I can't grasp it even if I want to. If we're to meet again, I can only wait, wait endlessly. I really don't want to do this anymore."
His words startled Jiang Chuting, who turned to look at him.
Lin Zhiye turned around, and their eyes met.
Lin Zhi seemed to be neither drunk nor sober, quietly gazing back at him with her beautiful eyes. There seemed to be an indescribable emotion flowing in her eyes, unrestrained and so deep and intense.
Jiang Chuting's heart suddenly raced, and that strange palpitation spread again. She suddenly found it difficult to continue looking at him and quickly looked away.
Jiang Chuting opened his mouth and said, "I'll come to see you at Xiangsi Xiaozhu after I finish what I'm doing." He felt that Lin Zhi was making him uneasy today.
"Yeah, I knew you'd say that." Lin Zhi spoke with a thick nasal tone, not looking at him, and tilted his head back to take another gulp of wine.
"Lin Zhi, drink less." Jiang Chuting was worried that he would get drunk again like last time, so she took the wine jar from his hands.
"I'm quite well-behaved when I'm drunk, aren't I? What are you afraid of?"
Jiang Chuting didn't speak, but Lin Zhichang exhaled a breath of alcohol and said, "Alright, you drink a little and then I'll drink some."
Jiang Chuting drank some of the remaining half jar before returning it to him. The two of them finished the jar of wine by themselves, then looked at the stars for most of the night before returning to their rooms, both reeking of alcohol.
Jiang Chuting had a decent alcohol tolerance, but the peach blossom wine had a strong aftereffect. After drinking it, his head was spinning, and he couldn't think too much about the jumbled thoughts in his mind. He fell asleep soon after lying down on the bed.
The dim light of the oil lamp flickered inside the room. He didn't know how much time had passed when he suddenly opened his eyes with alarm and found Lin Zhi's face extremely close to his, so close that if he moved even a little closer, their lips would touch.
Moreover, Lin Zhi was awake with her eyes open, and her body was slightly propped up, so it was impossible that she accidentally rolled over and got so close while sleeping.
The two faced each other. Jiang Chuting looked into his dark, unfathomable eyes, her heart pounding wildly, filled with doubt and uncertainty.
After being discovered, Lin Zhi's expression remained normal, and he moved his body back slightly: "You're awake."
Jiang Chuting asked calmly, "What's wrong?"
Lin Zhi pursed her lips before saying in a hoarse voice, "My mouth is dry and I can't sleep."
Jiang Chuting remained silent for a moment, and the air around him seemed to have an unusual flow.
Jiang Chuting said in a low voice, "This is what happens when you drink too much. Lie down, I'll go get you some water."
He threw off the covers and got out of bed. There was a rough porcelain teapot on the wooden table in the room. Jiang Chuting absentmindedly picked it up and poured water into a cup. Suddenly, he heard Lin Zhi say behind him, "Chu Ran, the water is overflowing."
Jiang Chuting snapped out of her daze, changed to a different teacup, poured more than half a cup, and brought it to him by the bedside.
Lin Zhi sat up next to him, drinking and staring at him. Jiang Chuting felt uncomfortable all over, but he didn't deliberately look away.
After Lin Zhi finished drinking in a few gulps, she tentatively asked, "Chu Ran, what's wrong? You look so serious, are you angry with me?"
Jiang Chuting took the cup and smiled at him. "Why do you think I'd be angry?"
Lin Zhi ran her fingers back and forth slightly across the blanket, observing his expression as she whispered, "Because I woke you up in the middle of the night."
Jiang Chuting shook her head. "How could I be? I woke up on my own. I'm not angry with you." She paused, then softened her tone and said, "But I was a little startled to find you so close when I woke up. Lin Zhi, don't do that next time. Just wake me up if you want some water."
Lin Zhi suddenly stopped what she was doing and stared at him intently.
Jiang Chuting naturally turned around, put the cup back, blew out the oil lamp, got back into bed, and said to Lin Zhidao, "Alright, go to sleep."
Lin Zhi did not respond.
After a while, he lay down. Jiang Chuting turned over intentionally or unintentionally, her eyes wide open and her back to him. Her chest felt like it was boiling water, and she could no longer maintain a calm expression.
He is indeed slower to react to matters of the heart than others, but he's not so stupid as to not know what Lin Zhi was trying to do even when they were almost kissing.
Jiang Chuting couldn't help but recall the time when Lin Zhi got drunk at the Huang residence and the two of them kissed. Perhaps, he had done it on purpose that time.
No junior would simply like a senior to the point of wanting to kiss their lips.
Therefore, there is only one possibility, a possibility that is hard for him to believe.
It was even more unbelievable to him than Xiao Jiu's confession back then.
Lin Zhi fell for him.
Jiang Chuting had always known that Lin Zhi harbored a special affection and possessiveness towards "Chu Ran" because of their childhood experiences. However, due to Lin Zhi's dislike of him, he assumed that Lin Zhi abhorred relationships between men. Therefore, even though he often felt something was amiss, he never thought much of it before.
But now, looking back, I realize that everything seems to have a traceable pattern.
Lin Zhi acted intimately towards him, always longed to see him, insisted on sleeping with him, and liked to say and ask ambiguous questions. At the Huang residence, Lin Zhi even said in front of him that as long as he was with the person he loved, offspring were not important. And what she said while drinking tonight... and the love bean bracelet she gave him.
This is clearly an expression of admiration for someone.
Love beans, love and longing—how could Lin Zhi not understand the meaning behind giving them away? His thoughts had always been so obvious and bold, he just had never said them aloud.
It turned out that he was wrong. Lin Zhi didn't hate things between men; she simply hated "Jiang Chuting".
But Chu Ran is Jiang Chuting.
The person Lin Zhisuo is attracted to and the person he dislikes are the same person.
Lin Zhi is Zi Que's child.
Jiang Chuting's breathing became slightly rapid, her mind in turmoil, and she forcefully closed her eyes.
This is all utterly absurd.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
