Chapter 1734: Nighttime, Difficult to Please, Fluttering Heart

"What’s wrong?" Yan Chi asked softly.

"Just now..." Jiang Ruan’s mind was full of the intimate scene between that couple, forgetting she had stumbled into someone else’s arms. She glanced around, "People seem to have left, just now..."

Even at her age, Jiang Ruan had watched some adult films with her roommates. But encountering it in reality, she still felt a bit awkward, breathing a little fast. It was probably too quiet around, so she kept her voice very low.

Yan Chi had to bend down to listen clearly to what she was saying.

"There was a couple over there, did you see them? They were..."

Jiang Ruan noticed no one was around and turned to explain to Yan Chi.

As she turned...

She didn’t expect Yan Chi to be bent over, and unexpectedly—

Their eyes met.

The tip of her nose gently brushed past his chin.

He felt hot, while Jiang Ruan...

Felt ticklish.

Yan Chi probably didn’t expect something like this either, but before he could react, a certain little girl leaned her body back a bit, putting some distance between them, making him feel a bit strange inside.

"What were they doing just now?" Yan Chi followed up on her previous words, asking softly.

His features were too perfect, the night made him seem even more dangerous and aggressive.

Perhaps he had just chewed a piece of gum; when he spoke, there was a subtle, refreshing minty scent. It was supposed to be invigorating, but it only made her dizzier.

"They were..." Jiang Ruan could hardly bring herself to describe such things.

"Hmm?" Yan Chi lowered his voice even more.

"It’s nothing." Jiang Ruan smiled sheepishly, "Let’s go."

"Do you really not like me?"

Jiang Ruan was stunned for a moment, not like him? How did it get to this topic?

"You seem very reluctant to be associated with me. Outside earlier, you stayed far away from me, and you deliberately chose such a path, afraid of being discovered, right?"

"..." Jiang Ruan could hardly admit it, bowing her head in silence.

"Being with me makes you uncomfortable?" Yan Chi leaned closer, his voice deep.

Jiang Ruan never knew that a voice could resonate with her heart when it reached a certain depth.

It was too quiet around, his eyes were too deep, and her heartbeat...

Was too chaotic!

He suddenly leaned in; they were already close, just now pulled apart by Jiang Ruan, but his closeness now made her chest inexplicably heave violently...

"Thump, thump—"

The distant sound of waves crashed against her heart, vigorously beating.

"No, being with you doesn’t make me uncomfortable." Jiang Ruan was usually not afraid of things, but somehow, she felt a bit timid now.

She pursed her lips slightly.

The distance between Yan Chi and her was so close, he could clearly see her little lip-pursing action.

His eyes darkened, Adam’s apple moving.

For some reason, it felt dry and itchy.

A strange unfamiliar emotion brimmed inside, Yan Chi also experiencing such an out-of-control emotion for the first time, his expression tightened, lips pursed, making his features seem even harsher.

Jiang Ruan was also observing him. She had explained, so why did he seem even angrier?

"I really don’t feel uncomfortable, it’s just you’re too famous at the university, and I just want to quietly finish my college life, I..."

If Jiang Ruan stayed in Beijing, with her father’s temperament, fear on the first day of enrollment, the whole school would know her father is Jiang Chengsi. She just wanted to be quiet and live like a normal student.

"So I don’t dislike you, it’s just..."

Jiang Ruan felt there was no need to spell it out, Yan Chi should understand, but she just looked up at him.

His expression seemed colder.

Jiang Ruan inexplicably remembered when she was a child:

This person is really hard to please.

Actually, Yan Chi wasn’t angry; he just hadn’t encountered this kind of uncontrolled emotion before, like when she crashed into him earlier, his heart pounded fiercely...

He felt uneasy.

What’s more, watching her earnest explaining at this moment, an impulse grew in his heart.

Wanting to...

Pat her head.

He felt this kind of behavior was too presumptuous, not appropriate, so he had to endure it. It’s not easy to control emotions.

Moreover, some emotions come like crashing waves, surging tremendously.

Like an enduring wildfire, unable to be extinguished by wind, rekindled more fiercely.

Yan Chi just calmed his guilty heart, preparing to speak, suggesting to send her back to the dormitory. Unexpectedly, her next words made his heartbeat chaotic again...

Jiang Ruan knew her behavior could hurt people.

Yan Chi had taken her to eat and even let her taste Litchi Wine, couldn’t just make him angry.

So she hesitated and tentatively called out:

"Yan... brother."

Her voice trembled softly, tender and delicate, extremely coquettish and soft.

With the sweet taste of Litchi Wine.

Instantly—

It softened half of his body.

Yan Chi’s previously calm heartbeat instantly surged, throbbing fiercely, his throat moved, feeling like it was on fire. ℯ

A single "brother"...

Scalded his heart, making it feel numb and tingly.

"Are you really angry?" Jiang Ruan tested the waters by speaking.

Yan Chi took a breath, "No."

"Really?"

"Let’s go, I’ll walk you back to the dorm." Yan Chi said and took the lead, with Jiang Ruan trailing along.

Yan Chi didn’t escort her to the dormitory entrance; he watched her go in from nearby, then turned and left, returned to the car, opened the window, with the wind blowing in from all directions, and in his heart, it seemed like that single word "brother" burned a big hole inside.

The cool breeze blew in, breath unsteady, heartbeat incessant.

**

Returning to the dormitory, Jiang Ruan was immediately asked by her roommate why her face was so red, if she had been drinking.

"Just a little, there’s a place with delicious Litchi Wine, we’ll go next time." Jiang Ruan smiled.

"Jiang Xiaoruan, who did you go out with so late?"

"Just a senior."

The roommate was about to ’interrogate’ her when Jiang Ruan’s phone vibrated, a call from home, she went to take the call, and the roommate let it go, but later as she washed up and lay in bed, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

The day’s events surfaced bit by bit, and Yan Chi’s face couldn’t seem to leave her mind.

He wouldn’t really be mad, would he?

Jiang Ruan actually enjoyed being with Yan Chi, though he seemed hard to approach, he was actually quite good, considerate, and unlike her dad, he was a man of few words, low-key.

Actually, her actions today were so obvious, anyone could notice it, he was just being kind, treating her to a meal, and she, it’s like she couldn’t wait to be eight feet away from him, if this happened to her, she’d feel really hurt as well.

And when they parted today, he kept a stern face the whole time.

She even called him brother, and he was still like that, still angry?

Really hard to please.

...

Meanwhile, Yan Chi went to the swimming pool in the middle of the night, feeling like he needed the water to calm the heat inside.

Even a rabbit doesn’t eat grass near its burrow, let alone the daughter of a family friend.

A single "brother" had him feeling so moved, he might just have lost his mind.

The swimming pool should have closed long ago, but because Yan Chi often came by, the owner let him in through a backdoor. After a couple of laps and a simple rinse, he entered the changing room, opened his locker, and saw his phone was lit up, a new message.

The contact still labeled as [Junior]:

"[You’ve already paid for two meals, I’ll treat you next time when you’re free.]"

Yan Chi’s throat moved slightly, his once calm heartbeat trembled twice again.

Jiang Ruan sat cross-legged on the bed, waiting for his reply.

If he agreed, it would mean he wasn’t angry.

She quickly received a reply, a simple word, "[Okay.]"

Jiang Ruan smiled, sending him a cute emoticon.

Yan Chi just chuckled lowly, placed the phone aside, and began changing clothes...

This time, you asked me out!