He just didn't dare to gamble. He was always cautious in his actions, but at this moment he hesitated, wanting to trust Xu Zhuohua.
Normally, if it were anyone else, Chen Hede would have already fired the gun.
"I have a good relationship with Xiao Wuxin. What he does is what I want to do, but I just haven't had the opportunity."
"Xiao Wuxin?" Chen Hede stroked the jade ring on his finger, his gaze instantly turning into two beams of cold light, his pupils like black holes, sucking everything around him into his eyes.
“Miss Xu, you always manage to give me quite a shock. To be honest, if you were a man, I might believe these words, but…”
“But I am a woman, and a young lady from a secluded family, yet everything I do far exceeds everyone’s expectations.”
Xu Zhuohua interrupted, continuing, "You think my behavior and knowledge are not what a woman should have, is that right?"
Chen Hede's fingers hovered in mid-air. He lowered his eyes and stared at the winding tea stains on the ground. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly. The fleeting doubt in his eyes was like a ripple in a cold pool, which was quickly covered by his impassive mask.
However, the wariness hidden in his eyes did not dissipate. He repeatedly pondered the other party's promise in his heart, wondering if there was a deeper scheme hidden behind this compromise.
"Indeed, I thought I knew you very well, but you always manage to surprise me. To be honest, even with Young Marshal Cheng, I saw through him in no time, but with you, I seem to never be able to see through you."
Xu Zhuohua smiled slightly. "Nonsense, if you could see through me, you'd be a god!"
"I had a lot of experience before I went to Xinhai City, but you didn't spend much time with me."
Chen Hede's tall figure cast a shadow, his slightly drooping eyelashes casting fine shadows, with the sharpness of a hunter examining his prey.
“I’m really curious,” his warm breath brushed against the throbbing pulse in her neck, his voice carrying the scent of aged liquor as it flowed into her ear, “what exactly did you go through before you came to Xinhai City?”
The frail figure that cowered behind Cheng Muyun in my memory overlapped and then separated from the woman with a sharp edge hidden in her eyes at this moment.
"I remember, the first time I met you, you clearly had no feelings for Cheng Muyun at all, like a little girl he had forcibly taken away." The last syllable was drawn out, with a knowing and playful tone.
Xu Zhuohua first met Chen Hede on her first night in Xinhai City. At that time, she was indeed terrified by Cheng Muyun.
"We were betrothed as children. If I don't go with him, who else can I go with?"
Chen Hede's lips curled up, and his gaze toward Xu Zhuohua held a hint of ambiguity. "But I feel that Miss Xu has always been the freest. Only if you choose Cheng Muyun can he have you. If you don't choose him, no one can have you."
Xu Zhuohua was stunned.
Chen Hede continued, "You give me the feeling that you'd rather die than live in dishonor. Cheng Muyun wasn't a choice you had no other option for, nor was it a compromise. Am I right?"
Xu Zhuohua's lips twitched. If anyone knew her best, it was definitely Chen Hede.
They're practically like best friends.
Xu Zhuohua's eyes lit up, and she said, "You know what? Sometimes I really wonder why I didn't meet you in the nunnery?"
You understand me so well, and the things you do are in line with my thoughts. You are undoubtedly a good person.
Xu Zhuohua wondered if she could take a different path if she woke up in the nunnery and met Chen Hede instead of Cheng Muyun.
But life has no "what ifs," and time cannot be turned back.
Chen Hede was a little puzzled, "A nunnery?"
Xu Zhuohua waved her hand, "It's nothing, I was just saying."
Suddenly remembering his true purpose, he asked, "By the way, what do you think of my idea?"
Chen Hede lowered his eyelids, his fingertips repeatedly rubbing the dark patterns on the clothes, as if trying to trace the warp and weft of the fabric to reveal the lines of memory.
His profile was shrouded in varying shades of shadow, and after a long while, he slowly exhaled: "Whether it's to protect Cheng Muyun or to clarify the relationship between the Eastern Southern Route and arms, it's a good idea."
He suddenly raised his head, his gaze sharp as a blade tempered by cold, yet softening into gentle warmth when he met Xu Zhuohua's wary expression.
“Anyway, you’re the young master of the Xu family now,” he said, his long fingers tapping the table lightly, making a rhythmic sound, “you should also start your own group of people.”
His voice carried the earnest advice of an elder brother: "In turbulent times, having a few more arms is always better than drifting alone in the storm. In case you need to do something behind everyone's back in the future, it will be much easier."
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