Chapter 45: Give Me a Straight Answer

Outside the window, a torrential downpour began, accompanied by rolling thunder that echoed across the night sky.

In an instant, Ji Shuyi was overwhelmed by an endless sense of fear. She panicked and got out of bed, turning on all the lights, but the brightness could only slightly alleviate her anxiety.

She was terrified of such stormy nights with lightning and thunder. It was an uncontrollable, oppressive fear. When she was little, her mother divorced her father on a stormy night just like this. Her mother had coaxed her to sleep, but quietly left after she had fallen asleep. After her mother left, it rained for a whole week. At that time, the small girl endured one rainy night after another with the fear of her mother leaving.

Since then, every time there was a thunderstorm, an uncontrollable fear would rise within her, enough to engulf her.

If she were at home, she could get up and ask a servant to keep her company while watching TV or doing other things to pass the time. But now, in a foreign country, she could only wrap herself tightly in the blanket, praying for the storm to end quickly.

She even began to regret not drinking more wine that night, so she could have slept soundly through the thunder until dawn.

But tonight’s rain seemed to be deliberately antagonizing her, showing no signs of calming down for a long time.

Only now did Ji Shuyi realize that amidst her apprehension, she couldn’t help but think of Jiang Cheng over and over again. This thought, like her fear of thunder and lightning, was uncontrollable…

But…

“I can’t look for him…” Ji Shuyi muttered to herself under the blanket, “He’ll think I’m being dramatic, won’t he…”

After all, when she was in school, she had overheard others secretly saying she was ‘a true rich family’s daughter. Afraid of thunder, acting all weak as if she is so delicate. How phony, just trying to provoke a man’s desire to protect her.’

Ji Shuyi tugged at the corners of her lips, not wanting him to think she was being dramatic.

Suddenly remembering there was wine in the room, she hurriedly threw off the blanket and got out of bed. She went to the wine cabinet, grabbed a bottle at random, opened it, and took two big gulps, wanting to embolden herself with alcohol, or to become fearless in her drunkenness.

“Cough… so spicy.”

Wuu… This wine didn’t taste good. She spat the second sip directly into the trash can because it choked her.

Just as she put down the wine glass, a thunderclap suddenly boomed, scaring Ji Shuyi stiff and wide-eyed. After taking a few deep breaths, she finally couldn’t help but call Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng answered the phone in a split second.

The moment the call connected, Ji Shuyi’s voice, for no reason, carried a hint of grievance as she softly called out, “Jiang Cheng~.”

It was the first time Jiang Cheng had heard someone call his name so beautifully, and the tone tinged with grievance made him feel distressed. He anxiously asked, “I’m here, what’s wrong?”

Hearing his voice, Ji Shuyi seemed to be less afraid instantly. She hesitated shyly for a few seconds before softly saying, “I’m a little scared.”

Jiang Cheng’s voice was also infected, becoming more gentle than ever before:

“Don’t be afraid. Come open the door. I’m at your door.”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but smile, happy to be the support she thought of when she was afraid.

“Ah?” Ji Shuyi asked in surprise, “You’re at the door?”

Unable to believe it, she quickly ran towards the door.

As soon as the door opened, before she could even see the person standing at the door clearly, she was pulled into his arms. At the same time, a familiar voice rang in her ears:

“Call me earlier if you’re scared in the future. Any time is fine.”

His voice was low and powerful. At that moment, it seemed that all the thunder and lightning had disappeared, shattering her apprehension and giving her more peace of mind than she had expected.

Only then did Ji Shuyi look up from his chest. Before she could speak, she saw Jiang Cheng, who was looking down at her, suddenly frowning and asking, “Did you drink in the room?”

The question made Ji Shuyi purse her lips in embarrassment, unsure how to say that she had been drinking to embolden herself.

Through her eyes, Jiang Cheng seemed to guess her unspoken thoughts, especially when he tilted his head and saw that she was barefoot. He hurriedly reached out to pick her up and walked towards the bed, then raised his eyebrows with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile and asked, “Drinking to embolden yourself?”

Being picked up by him, Ji Shuyi didn’t resist at all. She even naturally put her arms around his shoulders. However, she was embarrassed by his question and hurriedly tried to deny it, “Of course not!”

Because now that she had recovered from her fear, she felt that this behavior was so silly and idiotic.

She absolutely couldn’t admit it!

However, Jiang Cheng completely ignored her clumsy denial and smiled, “Aren’t you silly?”

Ji Shuyi: “(????ω????)?”

Jiang Cheng took in her expression, and the corners of his lips unconsciously curved.

After putting Ji Shuyi back on the bed, Jiang Cheng casually pulled a chair and sat down by the bed, looking at her and saying, “Go to sleep. I’ll sit here and watch over you.”

Ji Shuyi looked at Jiang Cheng sitting in the chair and blurted out, “What about you? Are you going to sit here and sleep?”

“What else?” Jiang Cheng casually raised his eyebrows. “I don’t have the status to sleep next to you.”

Ji Shuyi: “……”.

She immediately blinked her eyes in an evasive manner, changing the subject, “When did you get to my door?”

“I came over as soon as the thunder started.” Jiang Cheng said casually, “I was afraid you’d be scared alone, but I also thought maybe you wouldn’t be afraid, and knocking on the door in the middle of the night would only wake you up. So, I just waited at the door for a while.”

Ji Shuyi listened, her eyelashes fluttering in a daze. He seemed to be getting more and more considerate, always inadvertently doing things that moved her.

“Jiang Cheng.” Lying in the blanket, Ji Shuyi suddenly called out with a smile.

Jiang Cheng looked at her face, which was flushed as if stained with alcohol, and asked with some concern, “What’s wrong?”

Ji Shuyi smiled, her eyes glistening, and said, “I’m increasingly realizing that you’re a little good.”

Jiang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, smiled happily, and deliberately said, “Then do you want to be my girlfriend? I’m even better to my girlfriend.”

This time, Ji Shuyi didn’t avoid it with silence but replied, “I’ll consider it.”

Although she still hadn’t agreed, at least she had responded. Jiang Cheng’s mood instantly brightened:

“Okay, you consider it. Now, go to sleep.”

The heavy rain was still falling outside the window, but Ji Shuyi didn’t seem to hear it. She felt dizzy and sleepy, and pulled up the blanket to go to sleep. The blanket was warm, and the last gulp of wine she had drunk seemed to be kicking in, making her head feel a little floaty. All she could think about were bits and pieces about Jiang Cheng.

From when they first met;

From when they despised each other to their current ambiguous state;

And the words Chen Xingyi had said, like a movie playing in a loop in her mind…

In the end, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She looked at the person guarding the bedside with her gradually blurred eyes and suddenly called out to him again:

“Jiang Cheng.”

Looking at the person lying in the blanket with only a small head exposed, Jiang Cheng hurriedly asked, “I’m here, what’s wrong?”

Ji Shuyi looked at him and blinked dazedly, “Can I look at you?”

Jiang Cheng was surprised and confused, “Look at what?”

“Just…” Ji Shuyi puffed up her cheeks and said seriously, “Want to look at your body.”

“???!!!!” Jiang Cheng was so astonished that he thought he had misheard, “What?”

Instead, Ji Shuyi repeated with a nonchalant expression, “I want to look at your body.”

Chen Xingyi said he had suffered many injuries, and she wanted to see if those injuries were deep and if they still hurt…

However, she was rejected by Jiang Cheng, “You can’t!”

He felt that the little girl was drunk, and he was afraid that looking at him would lead to physical intimacy due to the influence of alcohol. If he couldn’t control himself and did something, she might regret it and get angry when she sobered up.

“I’ll just take a look.” Ji Shuyi acted like a spoiled child, stubbornly pulling his sleeve, “Just one look, okay?”

Jiang Cheng looked at the hand pulling his sleeve and wondered, “Why do you suddenly want to look at my body so eagerly?”

Suddenly, he remembered the time when she and Lu Zhixia had discussed whether he was ‘capable’ or not, and he helplessly raised his eyebrows, saying:

“What’s the matter? Is the reason you haven’t agreed to my confession because you’re afraid I’m not good enough? You just said you’d consider it, and now you’re so eager to look at my body to consider it?”

As he spoke, he suddenly got up from the chair, leaned towards the girl sitting on the bed, bent over, supported himself on either side of her with his hands, and looked intently into her eyes, saying:

“Okay, where do you want to look? Unbutton it yourself. If you still can’t decide after looking…”

His gaze suddenly became fiery and suggestive, slowly falling on the girl’s red lips. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his voice was tinged with a restrained hoarseness:

“I can let you feel it too.”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but lower his head and get closer to her