When Sheng Jiaoyang opened her eyes, she was startled because Shen Zhining was still looking at her.She was momentarily stunned before she finally reacted.
"Morning, Zhining.”
“It"s not morning anymore, it"s already nine o"clock.”
“It"s already so late?” Sheng Jiaoyang remembered that the crew had planned to head out at eight and so she tried to get up. Yet, Shen Zhining prevented her from moving.
“I already greeted them and told them to go on ahead.”
Sheng Jiaoyang was relieved and laid back down onto the pillow. While she was still sleeping, she seemed to have heard Shen Zhining"s voice. He must"ve contacted them then.
Knowing that they weren"t in a rush anymore, she laid back down satisfactorily and let out a yawn.
“Still tired?”
“Lately I"ve been very tired.”
He raised his hand and covered her eyes. “Then continue sleeping.”
When she felt the touch of his hand, she closed her eyes as well. However, when she closed her eyes, she realized she wasn"t sleepy at all. Her eyelashes brushed back and forth across his palm.
Shen Zhining removed his hand, and looked into her eyes. “Don"t want to sleep now?”
With a handsome man beside me, how could I possibly fall asleep?
She shocked herself with those thoughts. Sheepishly, she looked at Shen Zhining and noticed the dark eye bags underneath his eyes. She couldn"t help but ask out of curiosity, “Did you not sleep well?”
“I didn"t sleep.”
“Ah!?” Sheng Jiaoyang was bewildered, “Why?”
Shen Zhining looked at her, “I remembered a lot of things that happened in the past.”
“The past?”
Her blinking eyes were different from the past. Right now, the bewildered look she had on her face only served to make her seem like an adorable air-head.
Shen Zhining couldn"t help but reach out and pinch her cheek. “Why were you avoiding me back then?”
“When was that?” Sheng Jiaoyang pretended to be confused.
“What do you think?”
“When did I hide from you? How come I wasn"t aware of it?” Sheng Jiaoyang"s face revealed no guilt.
Her acting skills have gotten a lot better. Shen Zhining"s eyes flashed for a moment. Then, with a flip of his body, he was now pressing down on top of her. “Is that so?” His voice had a dangerous edge in it as he quipped back.
“Otherwise… Zhining, why don"t you remind me?” She carefully extended one finger out.
“If I remind you, then I have to collect some interest first.”
“What interest?” She blinked.
The corner of Shen Zhining"s mouth curled into the faintest hint of a smile. “Kiss me.”
“…”
Sheng Jiaoyang covered her mouth and spoke in a m.u.f.fled tone, “I haven"t brushed my teeth yet, I"m afraid you might be ga.s.sed out by me.”
“I don"t mind.”
“But I mind.”
Shen Zhining"s eyebrows curved up and then spoke in a magnanimous tone, “Then don"t forget about this debt, you have to pay it back once we return.”
What? That"s how things play out? Sheng Jiaoyang was shocked as she stared at him.
“When you went to the Aureate Manor and heard that I had returned, you pretended to be sick and went into your room to hide from me.” He finally reminded her of the exact details.
“I really didn"t feel good back then, I was on my period.”
“What a coincidence.” He spoke in a light joking manner, “Every time I asked, you were always on it.”
What could she do about it if her period wanted to come? Sheng Jiaoyang still kept on smiling away.
Shen Zhining didn"t keep hounding her on this topic and brought up something else. “There was a banquet once, you obviously saw me but you lowered your head and walked away. How are you going to explain that?”
“I just suddenly remembered that there was something I forgot to do.”
Sheng Jiaoyang seemed to be satisfied by her own response, feeling as if it was completely flawless. She looked at Shen Zhining with great self-satisfaction; wanting to see what else he could possibly say.
Shen Zhining kept staring intensely at her before eventually replying, “You"ve changed a lot in these few years. When you were young, you would have never lied to me.”
When she was young… Those were her dark days! Sheng Jiaoyang"s mouth twitched, she didn"t want to be reminded of the time that she stuck closely behind Shen Zhining and acted like an annoying gnat.
“If I was still the same person back then, I wouldn"t be alive today.” If she had kept being the carefree girl she was when she was young, she would"ve long become a pile of bones. After her mother died and Liang Xiaohui and her daughter were brought back home, she experienced way too many things. It wasn"t until she finally entered that private aristocratic school that she managed to adapt.
Shen Zhining was silent, a hint of pain apparent in his eyes. “Why didn"t you stay in the Aureate Manor that year?”
He was talking about the time when Sheng Jiaoyang was ten years old and had been brought abroad by Grandfather Yang. Back then, Grandfather Yang had been thinking of leaving her with him in the Aureate Manor.
“Grandfather was the one who took me away. He mentioned this a few months ago. Initially, he wanted me to stay in the Aureate Manor but Grandfather Shen wasn"t too happy about it because of my heart condition.” Sheng Jiaoyang spoke in a very calm voice.
Shen Zhining felt his heart clench in pain. He also only found out about her hereditary heart disease after Aunty Yang had pa.s.sed away. They had lived together for two years, yet he never knew about this matter. During that time, in his eyes, Sheng Jiaoyang was just like a princess living in an ivory tower without a thing to worry about. She had her parents" love and a happy life so he had always wanted to make her cry. Unfortunately, he didn"t know that triggering her emotionally could cause her illness to erupt.
When Grandfather Yang had brought her to the Aureate Manor, he had been undergoing the most severe training his grandfather created. By the time he had returned to the Manor, she was already gone. His grandfather had said that she had wanted to leave of her own accord.
So it turned out that wasn"t the case.
“Actually, it was a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, I wouldn"t be the person that I am today.” Sheng Jiaoyang tried to console him when she saw the deep pain on his face.
Her optimistic side hasn"t changed at all. Shen Zhining tossed aside the sudden depressed emotions and asked, “Then why did you hide from me?”
After turning around in circles, they finally returned to the beginning.
Sheng Jiaoyang knew that if she didn"t speak the truth, he wouldn"t stop bothering her.
“Because I was afraid you would bully me like how you used to.”
“You were afraid of me?”
She stared at him and nodded after a while. In her eyes, the previous Shen Zhining was on the same level as an evil Demon King. As a child, he was just a little cold and liked to make her cry. But when she saw him again, he didn"t treat lives as anything and was just like a bloodthirsty emotionless person. In comparison, his younger self was no match. She truly loved her health, so why would she ever dare to get closer to him?
“Because when you were young, I would bully you?” he repeated.
“Is this still not enough?” Sheng Jiaoyang pouted.
“Have you seen me bully any other girls before?”
Sheng Jiaoyang was momentarily stunned, she truly hadn"t.
“I bullied you because I liked you.”
“What kind of reasoning is that?! You even have a reason for bullying me?!” Sheng Jiaoyang muttered in a pouting manner.
Shen Zhining lowered his head and let his nose touch hers, their eyes so close even a fist wouldn"t fit in the s.p.a.ce in-between. He then spoke in a deep tone, “I want to "bully" you right now.”
Sheng Jiaoyang was caught off guard. He really meant what he said.
He just said that he bullied her because he liked her, and now he is saying that he wants to bully her. That means, he"s implying that he likes her.
Only someone like him would confess like this.
Her long eyelashes swayed back and forth and her face felt a bit hot.
“I mm…” She had just opened her mouth to speak when he kissed her, preventing her from speaking.
She used her free hand to push him away. Yet, he used his left hand to entwine his fingers with hers, and then pressed down her hand on the pillow. Then, he continued tasting his appetizer.
By the time he stopped kissing her, a line of glistening saliva was drawn from between their lips, and her body was weak and powerless.
However, she still held onto some of her rationality and hurriedly blurted, “We should hurry and head out. Otherwise, we"ll arrive late to C City and then we will miss the high speed rail to H City.”
The weather report had indicated that it would continue raining for a while, so Cen Jin and Gu Zhou had decided that they would film the parts still unfilmed at a shed. In any case, they had already tread all the places they needed to tread. If they were still lacking the background, they could fill it in later.
Shen Zhining flipped back onto his original spot and licked his lips. In an unsatisfied voice, he said, “You go wash up first.”
Sheng Jiaoyang quickly got up. But then, she remembered another matter and lowered her head. OMG! She was still wearing the see-through nightgown w.a.n.g Wei had given to her.
She hurriedly covered her chests with her hands and glanced over at Shen Zhining. Although nothing could be glimpsed from his deep gaze, his face carried a meaningful smile. She bit her lips and didn"t even need to look at the mirror to know that her face was red; she could feel it.
“Did you specially prepare this for me?” There was a teasing tone within his voice.
“Of course not, it was w.a.n.g Wei who gave it to me of her own accord. You…you"re not allowed to look!” She quickly turned to the other side and fiercely flung the bed cover over Shen Zhining"s head. Taking advantage of the situation, she slipped out of bed, hopped in her shoes as she ran into the bathroom.
Shen Zhining laughed as he pushed the blankets out of the way. He saw the see-through nightgown clad, nearly naked silhouette das.h.i.+ng into the bathroom. His gaze darkened and felt a bit of pity in his heart.
When they left the hotel, w.a.n.g Wei stood there to send them off.
“Jiaojiao, when you have some good news, you have to tell me!” w.a.n.g Wei clasped her hands around Sheng Jiaoyang"s as she said a few more parting words.
“Of course, you stay at home and rest properly. Recently the weather hasn"t been good, you have to be a bit more careful when it"s raining. Be careful not to slip.” Sheng Jiaoyang stood next to the car door as she replied.
w.a.n.g Wei seemed reluctant to part. “I don"t know when we"ll see each other again.”
“After you give birth to your baby, you guys can come to H City, if I don"t have any work, we can meet up.”
“Alright, then when the time comes, Jiaojiao, you have to let us stay with you!”
“Of course. You should go back now.”
“I"ll watch you guys leave.” w.a.n.g Wei retreated to the side and watched as Sheng Jiaoyang got into the car and sat down.
Sheng Jiaoyang let down the car window and waved at w.a.n.g Wei.
“She"s someone you met when you attended the supermodel compet.i.tion?” Shen Zhining asked.
“Yep, a very fun person with a very pure heart.” Sheng Jiaoyang closed the car window and turned her gaze from the window to the interior of the car.
She creased her eyebrows. “But her husband doesn"t seem very sincere towards her.”
“Everyone has their own way of doing things. You shouldn"t let this bother you too much.” Shen Zhining covered her hand with his.
“That"s true.” Sheng Jiaoyang smiled.Previous ChapterNext Chapter