Chapter 85
Shi Mingyue leaned softly against the wall, her knees still trembling slightly.
She looked up, her eyes still brimming with a layer of lingering moisture, yet gleaming with a faint light.
She was like a jasmine flower blooming after the rain, with a touch of timid madness.
"Can you treat me like you did just now...?" Shi Mingyue's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, yet it stubbornly pierced Yun Zhan's ears.
"Yun Zhan, I like it when you're a little assertive with me..."
She was shy, but she still mustered up her courage and used the crumpled clothes on the ground to cover her half-naked chest, leaving herself a last bit of modesty.
Yun Zhan raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice: "Why?"
Shi Mingyue bit her lip, her eyelashes fluttering: "I like it when you take the initiative... I want to see you lose control for me. Yun Zhan, you've been so restrained before..."
Shi Mingyue paused, tears rolling down her cheeks, but she smiled contentedly: "Before, I always thought I wasn't charming enough to... make you like me."
That slight grievance was hidden in the last syllable, as light as a feather, yet it swept heavily across Yun Zhan's heart.
She suddenly bent down, her fingertips brushing against the corner of Shi Mingyue's moist eyes.
"It's not that I'm not charming, it's that I've never been in a relationship and I don't know how to express my feelings."
"I see..."
Shi Mingyue looked dazed. She sat up, and the clothes that had been covering her slipped off her back, revealing her bare skin on the ground.
She sat on Yun Zhan's lap, her fingertips tracing his cheek, her eyes filled with longing and love: "Actually, I knew a long time ago that I'm your type, right, Yun Zhan?"
Just as Yun Zhan was about to speak, Shi Mingyue covered his lips with her palm.
Shi Mingyue kissed her cheek and continued, "After I realized I liked you, I started fantasizing about spending every night with you, even if I was alone in my room..."
Shi Mingyue's collarbone glistened with fine sweat in the warm light, like it was covered with a layer of soft glaze.
She placed her palm on Yun Zhan's cheek, her fingertips gently tracing along his brow bone, her movements as light as if afraid of breaking something.
“Yun Zhan…”
Shi Mingyue's voice was low and husky, yet filled with a sweet, indulgent tone, "Even if you are a fox demon, I will keep all your secrets."
She paused, her eyelashes drooping: "Even if you're the kind of cunning fox in the book... it doesn't matter, I don't mind."
Yun Zhan tilted his head slightly, his lips almost touching the tip of her nose, their breaths mingling.
Shi Mingyue paused, her eyelashes drooping to conceal the almost drowning light in her eyes. Her lips pressed close to Yun Zhan's earlobe, her breath hot: "Later, when you got close to Pei Yanxi, I started to plan. Even if you were cold to me, I would break the ice and win your favor again."
Yun Zhan suddenly became curious and asked in a low voice from a very close distance, "What if I have no feelings and am as indifferent as before?"
Shi Mingyue paused for a moment, her fingertips lingering on Yun Zhan's lips. After a few seconds of serious thought, she smiled and said, "Then I'll keep being nice to you until you soften your heart."
Yun Zhan paused, a rare look of astonishment flashing across his eyes.
In fact, when Yun Zhan first met Shi Mingyue, he always regarded her as a high-class flower nurtured by upper-class etiquette, elegant and self-possessed.
Such people should be able to walk away from love at any time, unlike the person in front of me who treats love as such an important belief and is even willing to humble themselves to the dust.
"Actually, I still don't quite understand."
Yun Zhan spoke in a low voice, his tone tinged with confusion: "I think that with your upbringing, perhaps you shouldn't be like this..."
"Shouldn't you be more humble?"
Shi Mingyue smiled slightly, a smile like spring water brushing against thin ice, gentle yet concealing sharp edges.
She raised her hand, her fingertips lightly tracing the tail of Yun Zhan's eyebrow, the movement as gentle as if she were confirming the ownership of something.
"Because you are mine."
"Yun Zhan, you are mine."
Shi Mingyue's tone remained gentle, but a barely perceptible hint of possessiveness surfaced in her eyes: "I will not allow... the person I love to like someone else."
"If you fall in love with someone else, it will be a heavy blow to me. I might... never be able to muster the courage to love someone again."
She presented her pure and sincere heart to Yun Zhan, determined to love only him.
Yun Zhan's breath hitched, but Shi Mingyue moved even closer, her lips almost touching her earlobe: "Even if you are cold and heartless, I don't mind. I will keep going. I have thought that this affection might be too difficult to maintain, but if I really have to choose, I will still be willing to be good to you."
She paused, her voice as soft as a sigh, yet it landed heavily on Yun Zhan's heart: "My feelings for you have never been about 'should or shouldn't,' but rather 'willing or unwilling.'"
Shi Mingyue stared at Yun Zhan's dazed eyes, then suddenly grasped her wrist and guided it to her neck. Her skin was warm, and her pulse was pounding rapidly under her fingertips.
"Yun Zhan, I love you so much, don't you ever feel..."
Shi Mingyue's voice was low and husky, yet carried an almost coquettish stubbornness: "You think you can manipulate me like this?"
Yun Zhan was startled by this sudden action and hurriedly tried to pull his hand back: "How could this be? I never thought of that."
Shi Mingyue refused to let go, instead gripping her fingers even tighter, a stubborn and infatuated light burning in her eyes: "You can do it... Yun Zhan, I'm willing."
Shi Mingyue firmly grasped Yun Zhan's hand, slowly sliding it down his neck. Her voice was as soft as a feather, yet it struck a chord deep within: "I have never felt inferior, because I know that you will eventually belong to me, and become mine."
As soon as she finished speaking, she leaned closer and gently swept her tongue across Yun Zhan's neck, sending a slight shiver through him.
Then, her lips pressed against Yun Zhan's neck, her breath hot, her voice low and almost a whisper: "You must love me, Yun Zhan. I love you, and you must love me too, okay?"
At that moment, Yun Zhan felt his heart pounding out of control, as if it were being tightly gripped by an invisible hand.
She had never seen Shi Mingyue like this before: assertive, obsessed, yet with an unwavering devotion.
Like moths drawn to a flame, or believers offering sacrifices.
...
evening
Guests arrived at Mingyue Manor; Shi Ke's trusted confidant, who had been stationed abroad, had returned.
As night deepened, the corridor lights came on one by one.
Yun Zhan followed half a step behind Shi Mingyue, the tips of his ears still flushed. The previous romance seemed to have been abruptly cut off, and now only his heart was pounding wildly in his chest.
The butler opened the door to the reception room, and the lights shone brightly.
Shi Mingyue nodded slightly and walked calmly to the second seat, her back straight and her shoulders neatly defined.
The white shirt gleamed warmly under the light, and the top button at the collar was fastened tightly, making the neck appear long and straight.
After Yun Zhan sat down, his gaze fell on Shi Mingyue.
Shi Mingyue sat next to her, her shoulders and back not slumped when she sat down, her legs naturally crossed, her hands lightly resting on her knees, yet she did not appear stiff. Every gesture and every glance exuded the nobility and composure of a young lady from a prominent family.
"Ms. Shi, this is the latest trend in the overseas market. Please take a look."
The manager bowed and handed over the documents.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work."
Shi Mingyue took it, her eyelashes casting a soft shadow under the lamp, a perfectly polite smile on her lips, her speech clear and her voice not loud, yet enough to quiet the entire room.
The light brushed past her chin and fell at Yun Zhan's feet, like a silent spotlight.
Yun Zhan stared blankly, his heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly looked away.
But she couldn't help but glance back at him. That dignified and upright figure was completely different from the one she had been whispering sweet nothings to in the room that afternoon, with reddened eyes.
One is like spring water kissed by moonlight, the other is like winter snow sealed by etiquette.
Both of them belong to Yun Zhan.
This realization made Yun Zhan's ears burn even hotter. He could only take a deep breath to suppress the pounding in his chest and look up at the conference table, only to meet Shi Mingyue's gaze.
The man gave her a very slight smile, reached out, and quietly took Yun Zhan's hand under the table.
Under the lights, that smile was gentle and restrained, like pressing the softest switch on Yun Zhan's heart.
Yun Zhan was a little shy. Afraid that being seen would affect Shi Mingyue's image, she quietly withdrew her hand.
While Shi Mingyue continued her conversation with the manager, Yun Zhan's gaze shifted to the teacup.
As the tea steamed, Yun Zhan's fingertips barely touched the cup before he recoiled slightly, hissing as he frowned.
While Shi Mingyue was talking to the manager, she caught a glimpse of Yun Zhan's fingertips trembling slightly out of the corner of her eye, and the slight redness from the burn instantly magnified in her eyes.
She barely had time to think before her words came to an abrupt halt.
The next instant, Shi Mingyue completely enveloped the still reddened hand in her palm.
"Did you get burned?"
Shi Mingyue's voice was very low, but it couldn't hide her urgency. She lowered her eyes and looked at Yun Zhan's fingertips over and over, and only relaxed her brow after confirming that there were no red marks.
Under the lamplight, the tips of Yun Zhan's ears were tinged with an almost imperceptible pale pink.
The manager, having witnessed their interaction, couldn't help but remark, "Miss Shi's fiancée is truly a stunning beauty."
Before he came, he had heard that the Shi family's daughter was already engaged. When he entered the door, Miss Shi personally introduced the girl.
Now, seeing with her own eyes the barely concealed nervousness Shi Mingyue felt towards Yun Zhan, she understood the situation.
Miss Shi... really likes this girl.
Shi Mingyue raised her eyes, a graceful smile returning to her lips, but her fingers still clung to Yun Zhan: "Yes."
Shi Mingyue said calmly, "I'll have to trouble you to come and support us at the engagement banquet."
The words "fiancée" and "show your support" firmly establish Yun Zhan's identity.
He also turned all her carefulness tonight into public pampering.
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