After a Contract Marriage with a Cold and Older Person - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: He Likes Me!

Ji Wenxu thought to himself that if Song Tingyun wouldn’t say, he would go home tomorrow and ask Grandpa.

But setting that aside until tomorrow, he only wanted to confirm one thing now.

Seeing that Song Tingyun was willing to talk to him properly, he said, “Can you not be mad at me anymore?”

“I know I have a reckless temper. Grandpa always says I have a short fuse. When I’m with friends, they also tend to tolerate me,” Ji Wenxu’s tone was very crestfallen. He continued, “So sometimes I don’t realize I’ve done something wrong, because they instinctively indulge me after I do.”

“I truly apologize for those actions towards you, but I genuinely didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Song Tingyun looked at him with slight shock. He hadn’t expected Ji Wenxu to say such a sincere thing.

However, he wasn’t essentially angry at Ji Wenxu; he was merely teaching him how to conduct himself.

Now that Ji Wenxu had said so much, Song Tingyun felt it would be overly affected if he remained angry.

So he nodded, “I’m not angry anymore.”

Ji Wenxu immediately asked eagerly, “Then can I still like you? Can I still pursue you?”

Song Tingyun adjusted his glasses and asked, “Do you still remember the contents of our agreement?”

Of course, Ji Wenxu remembered, but he didn’t want to admit it.

If he had known this situation would arise, he would never have established so many clauses back then.

Of course, regret was useless now.

“Then what should I do? I can’t control my own feelings! No one in this world can control the emotion of liking someone!” Ji Wenxu looked quite distressed.

“Yes, they can.”

“What ‘yes, they can’?” Song Tingyun’s sudden remark made Ji Wenxu slightly confused.

Song Tingyun didn’t elaborate much, only saying these things could be discussed later.

“Then do you agree to me pursuing you?” Ji Wenxu quickly followed up.

Song Tingyun stood still, his expression calm: “You don’t need to pursue me.”

“Is it because your heart belongs to someone else, so you’ll never like me?” Ji Wenxu felt like his heart had shattered into pieces.

Song Tingyun didn’t want to explain too much at once, only saying, “If you want to know who is in my heart, you should go back and ask your grandfather.”

Of course, Ji Wenxu would go back. Not only would he go back, but he would also thoroughly investigate that person. He wanted to see what was so great about this person that Song Tingyun would like him.

“Of course I’ll go back.”

Seeing his resolute expression, Song Tingyun chuckled softly, turned, and went back to his room.

At this moment, Ji Wenxu was like a frustrated puppy left by Song Tingyun.

He walked to the stairwell, looked at Xiao Fu, who was squatting nearby with a gloomy look, then bent down, picked him up, and said, “I’m finished.”

Why finished?

Because he had fallen in love with someone who might never love him back.

But his nature wouldn’t let him stop there.

He would definitely find a way to make Song Tingyun fall in love with him.

After all, Song Tingyun only said he didn’t need to pursue him, not that he couldn’t pursue him.

But suddenly, he thought of the agreement again.

He still remembered the contents of the agreement clearly.

Song Tingyun had also occasionally mentioned divorce before. What if they divorced later?

With this unsettling fear of gain and loss, he spent the entire night in anxiety. Early the next morning, after waking up and preparing Song Tingyun’s breakfast, he drove back to his family’s old house.

…

Because he had told his grandfather the night before that he would return, Ji Shuyi didn’t go fishing with his friends today.

He waited for Ji Wenxu in the villa for a while.

Ji Shuyi initially thought Ji Wenxu would return with Song Tingyun, but only Ji Wenxu got out of the car when the door opened.

He slowly walked up to Ji Wenxu and asked, “Why did you come back alone? Did you argue with Tingyun?”

Ji Wenxu quickly denied it, saying he would never argue with Song Tingyun.

He only came to ask about something in Song Tingyun’s past.

Ji Shuyi didn’t say much more, turning and walking into the villa, saying, “Come inside and ask.”

Ji Wenxu tossed the car key to the housekeeper, then followed his grandfather into the villa.

Ji Shuyi didn’t live with Ji Wenxu’s parents.

The large old house was only inhabited by him and a few servants who attended to him.

After sitting on the sofa, Ji Shuyi gestured for the maid to make two cups of tea.

Ji Wenxu didn’t immediately ask what he wanted to know, starting instead by asking about Ji Shuyi’s health.

“Grandpa, how’s your health recently?”

Ji Shuyi took a sip of tea, his tone broad-minded: “Very good. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“It’s you I’m concerned about. You texted me so late yesterday saying you were coming back, and today you’re back without Tingyun. What’s going on with you two?” Ji Shuyi was an experienced man and seemed to see through things immediately.

Ji Wenxu picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and then said, “We didn’t argue, I just feel there’s a mysterious barrier between us.”

“You two are connected by an arranged marriage after all. It’s normal to have a slight barrier so soon after marriage. You’ll resolve it slowly later,” Ji Shuyi said patiently.

Ji Wenxu actually didn’t want to ask about Song Tingyun’s past.

He was afraid that he truly wasn’t as good as the other person.

After all, that was the person such an excellent Song Tingyun would like.

But he felt restless inside.

It seemed he wouldn’t stop until he knew who it was.

“Grandpa, I want to ask you about something from Song Tingyun’s past.”

Ji Shuyi looked at him: “Our family and the Song family had interactions years ago. If you ask me about his recent years, I probably won’t know.”

Ji Wenxu: “He said you know.”

Ji Shuyi: “Then tell me about it.”

“It’s about the funeral of Song Tingyun’s parents that year,” Ji Wenxu organized his thoughts. “He told me that he was being harassed by those so-called relatives at the time, and then someone stood up and helped him. Do you know who that person was?”

Ji Shuyi looked at him with an expression that said, “What exactly are you asking?” “You don’t know?”

“How old was I then, sixteen? How would I know?” Ji Wenxu felt inexplicable.

Grandpa sighed deeply, “I thought you knew what you did.”

“What do you mean?” Ji Wenxu felt like everyone around him was speaking in riddles.

Ji Shuyi patted his shoulder, “That person was you!”

“At that time, we only went to pay our respects out of a past collaborative relationship. I never expected you to step forward and help that child. It was because of that incident that we later had some cooperative dealings with the Song family.”

“Your reaction now makes me curious. How could you forget this?” Ji Shuyi had always assumed Ji Wenxu remembered this, which was why he agreed to the arranged marriage so easily. After all, they knew each other before.

“I don’t remember at all! I remember attending a funeral, but why don’t I remember speaking up for Song Tingyun? He’s so good-looking. If I had helped him, I would definitely remember his face,” Ji Wenxu insisted confidently, never doubting his own memory.

“Are you arguing with me now?” Ji Shuyi simply took out his phone, flipped through it for a long time, and finally handed it to Ji Wenxu. “Look at this. Is this you?”

It was a blurry photo, but the person inside was still recognizable.

The main subject of the photo was indeed Ji Wenxu himself.

He was standing in front of a person kneeling on the ground, arms crossed, saying something to someone in the distance.

His expression was very fierce.

“See clearly now, is this you?” Ji Shuyi observed Ji Wenxu’s expression.

Ji Wenxu seemed to vaguely recall that scene, but he still had no memory of Song Tingyun’s face.

Even if Song Tingyun’s appearance had changed over the years, it shouldn’t have changed that drastically from his twenty-year-old self, should it?

“This is me, but where is Song Tingyun?” Ji Wenxu held the phone out toward Ji Shuyi.

So Ji Shuyi pointed to the person kneeling behind Ji Wenxu in the photo and said, “Isn’t this him?”

Ji Wenxu’s eyes widened instantly.

He had thought the Song Tingyun of that time and the Song Tingyun of now would have big differences, but he hadn’t expected the difference to be so huge.

The Song Tingyun in the photo was wearing a stiff suit, his hair was relatively long, he wore a pair of thick, black-rimmed glasses, and his fringe covered his eyes. Only the lower part of his face was visible. His demeanor was not good.

He was thin and small, looking very frail. Ji Wenxu could not connect the two people in his mind.

“You’re saying this is Song Tingyun?” Ji Wenxu asked in disbelief.

“Do you think this old man would lie to you at a time like this?” Ji Shuyi took the phone back.

Thinking of the thick black-rimmed glasses worn by the person in the photo, Ji Wenxu immediately thought of the glasses he had seen in the drawer of Song Tingyun’s room.

Closer to the back of the drawer, there was indeed a pair of glasses in that style.

“It really was him!” Ji Wenxu’s past memories flooded back.

He had indeed stood up for someone else, but he completely forgot who that person was. Now he recalled that he had gone to a family named Song at the time.

“It was me, it was me, it turned out to be me!” Ji Wenxu’s tone became increasingly excited and enthusiastic. He abruptly stood up from the sofa.

“Thank you, Grandpa. I understand completely now.” Ji Wenxu recalled what Song Tingyun had told him last night.

Song Tingyun said that the person he liked was the one who had helped him at the funeral that year.

And he was that person.

No wonder Song Tingyun said he didn’t need to pursue him. It wasn’t because he wouldn’t like him, but because he already liked him!

Thinking of this, Ji Wenxu almost jumped up with excitement.

He couldn’t stay here for another moment. He only wanted to rush home to find Song Tingyun.

So he hurriedly said goodbye to Ji Shuyi: “Goodbye, Grandpa! I’ll bring Tingyun back to see you next time. Thank you for telling me this!”

He ran to the entrance to change his shoes, then took the car key from the housekeeper, ran to the garage to drive the car out, and then left the place.

Ji Wenxu was incredibly excited right now.

He had only one thought in his mind: Song Tingyun likes me.

So from the very beginning of their marriage, Song Tingyun had liked him.

No wonder Song Tingyun agreed to the arranged marriage with him.

It was because he liked him!

Yes!! Song Tingyun likes him!!

Ji Wenxu realized he was the biggest fool of all.

He now desperately wanted to rush home to confess his feelings to Song Tingyun.

It seemed fate was on his side. The drive back from the old house had an almost continuous green light. There were hardly any other cars on the road. He floored the gas and quickly arrived home.

“Song Tingyun! Song Tingyun!! Tingyun!” After opening the door and returning home, he continuously called out Song Tingyun’s name while still in the entrance hall. He didn’t even have time to change his shoes and ran up the stairs with loud thumping steps.

Meanwhile, in the study.

Song Tingyun was quietly waiting for him to come find him.