Chapter 48 Then I'll wait for you
Huo Yanzhi abruptly stopped.
He looked up, his gaze passing through the traffic and landing on the bright lights of the 24-hour convenience store across the street.
Ruan Yao was standing at the door, holding a steaming cup of oden in her hands, chewing something in her mouth, her cheeks bulging.
She seemed a little surprised to see him, blinked her doe-like eyes, swallowed the fish ball in her mouth, and then waved to him again.
"Hi."
Huo Yanzhi just stood there, looking at her.
Looking at her beautiful white dress, her cheeks slightly flushed from the heat, and her innocent expression.
He was still clutching his phone tightly in his hand, the screen lit up, displaying Qin Feng's name.
His bloody imaginings of kidnapping, murder, and dumping corpses were instantly shattered by the bouncy fish ball in her mouth.
The world's clamor fell silent at that moment.
Huo Yanzhi slowly, step by step, crossed the road and walked up to her.
Ruan Yao felt a little uneasy under his gaze.
He didn't say a word, just stared straight at her with an expression she had never seen before, as if he was angry, or something else entirely.
Ruan Yao felt uneasy under his gaze and couldn't help but take a half step back, her back pressed against the cold glass door of the convenience store.
"You...you didn't leave, did you?"
Huo Yanzhi finally spoke, his voice slightly hoarse from the sprint and emotional turmoil.
"Weren't you going to a birthday party?"
“I…” Ruan Yao’s eyes darted around, and she said in a low voice, feeling a little guilty, “I remembered the date wrong.”
She lowered her head, poked the squid balls in the cup with a bamboo skewer, and didn't dare to look at his reaction.
Huo Yanzhi looks terrifying.
Why don't you go home?
The tone of his voice held a storm about to break out of control, making Ruan Yao almost drop the bamboo skewer in her hand.
She was hungry.
During that meal at the Huo family's house, she was completely focused on him; even a single, indifferent profile of his made her lose her appetite. Later, when he rejected her in the car, she felt empty and sad, and her stomach felt even emptier.
When people are sad, they want to eat something warm.
"I'm hungry." Ruan Yao lowered her head, her voice soft but with a hint of self-righteousness.
Huo Yanzhi looked at her.
Looking at her cheeks, slightly flushed from the heat, at her clear yet stubborn eyes, at her clearly afraid yet still trying to hold on.
He said, "You're afraid of me."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Yao nodded subconsciously, then quickly shook her head.
I'm both afraid and unafraid.
I'm afraid of his cold, fierce demeanor, but not of him as a person.
She stirred the contents of the cup with a bamboo skewer, then suddenly looked up and stared straight at him.
"And you? Why are you back?"
Are you worried about me?
Huo Yanzhi did not answer.
He looked at her, at the tiny, cautious hope that had rekindled in her eyes.
The rage and fear that had almost consumed his reason slowly subsided under her gaze, leaving only endless sighs.
He raised his hand, unbuttoned his suit jacket, took it off, and draped it over her shoulders again.
"I'll take you home."
His voice returned to its usual deep and steady tone.
The car restarted and drove towards the Ruan family's house.
The carriage was very quiet.
Ruan Yao leaned back in her chair, wrapped in his coat. The emptiness she had felt earlier seemed to be filled by the warmth of that coat.
Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and she fell asleep without realizing it.
The black Bentley slowly came to a stop in front of the Ruan family villa.
Huo Yanzhi didn't turn off the engine. He turned his head and looked at the girl sleeping soundly in the passenger seat.
The streetlights shone through the car window, casting a soft glow on her peaceful sleeping face. Her long eyelashes cast quiet silhouettes beneath her eyes, and her lips were slightly pouting. Her sleeping face was both adorable and completely unguarded.
Huo Yanzhi's gaze traced her outline inch by inch.
The panic I felt when I couldn't find her on the bar street, the feeling of my heart being ripped out, still lingers in my mind.
In the instant his rationality crumbled, an incredibly clear thought flashed through his mind.
If something happens to her, his rebirth will be meaningless.
If she dies...
He slowly, very slowly reached out his hand, reaching towards the face that had captivated him.
He wanted to touch her to confirm that she was real, warm, and alive.
His fingertips trembled slightly as he was about to touch her delicate skin.
Just then, the girl's eyelashes twitched, and she slowly opened her eyes.
The misty moisture in her eyes dissipated, and she was still a little dazed when she met Huo Yanzhi's gaze, which he hadn't had time to look away from.
"Are you home?"
Huo Yanzhi's fingers twitched slightly, but he casually withdrew them and placed them back on the steering wheel.
"Um."
Ruan Yao unbuckled her seatbelt. The car was so quiet that she could clearly hear her own heartbeat.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked, her voice nasal.
"I was just about to call out." His answer remained as calm as ever.
Ruan Yao was silent for a moment, then turned her head and carefully examined his profile.
"Huo Yanzhi," she suddenly spoke, "you're clearly worried about me, aren't you?"
Apart from the slight hum of the engine, there was no other sound in the carriage.
The man remained silent, and that silence itself was a form of acquiescence.
She saw his Adam's apple move up and down.
A subtle sweetness welled up in Ruan Yao's heart, mixed with a hint of grievance.
She pulled her coat tighter, wrapping herself up even more tightly.
"You reject me, yet you worry about me."
She looked at him and spoke clearly, word by word.
"You make me feel that you actually like me, you just won't admit it."
Huo Yanzhi finally turned his head and looked at her.
The girl's eyes shone brightly in the darkness, like pools of clear water reflecting his image.
There were no questions, only an overwhelming sense of confusion and sadness.
"I didn't mean that," he said, his tone not harsh, but with a hint of suppressed emotion.
"Then what do you mean?" Ruan Yao pressed. "You said you have no plans to settle down for the time being. Are you telling me that we're impossible?"
"yes."
Huo Yanzhi squeezed out a single syllable from his throat.
Ruan Yao slowly lowered her head, her slender fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.
After a long while, she finally raised her head again. Her face no longer showed any disappointment; instead, she gave a very faint smile.
"I've arrived. Thank you for bringing me back."
She reached out to open the car door.
Just as his heart sank little by little with her movements, Ruan Yao stopped, turned her head, and looked at him again.
In the dimly lit carriage, her eyes shone with an astonishing light.
“You mean ‘temporarily’, right?” she asked.
Before Huo Yanzhi could answer, Ruan Yao smiled at him, her bright and radiant smile like fireworks suddenly bursting in the night, dazzling him for a moment.
"It's okay," she said softly, without a trace of disappointment.
"Then I'll wait for you."
"We'll wait until you change your mind, until you decide you want to settle down."
After saying that, she didn't wait for his reaction and decisively pushed open the car door and got out of the car.
Good night, Huo Yanzhi.
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