After A Secret Marriage Agreement With A Rival Omega - Chapter 72

Chapter 72

◎ “I am a wooden tree.” ◎

Sheng Ruxi was stunned for a moment. She quickly came to her senses and chuckled, “Bite me back? You’re asking me to reward you.”

Jian Jixing’s thoughts were exposed, but she wasn’t embarrassed. She calmly looked at her: “Is that not allowed?”

Sheng Ruxi scoffed: “I didn’t even accept your gift. You still want me to reward you? No way.”

“Then what do you want?”

“You have to give me something that no one else has, something that only I know about. I…” Sheng Ruxi raised her eyebrows. “I’ll consider it.”

“Let me think,” Jian Jixing pondered. She conveniently pushed the lychee mousse that Sheng Ruxi had looked at a few times toward her. “Can you give me a hint?”

Jian Jixing was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to guess Sheng Ruxi’s thoughts and would give her something she didn’t like.

The mousse was sweet and fresh. The scent of lychee filled her nostrils. Sheng Ruxi took a couple of sips, and an idea came to her mind.

“I want to ask you a question.”

Jian Jixing paused and said helplessly: “The same one? I’ve already answered that one for you.”

“A different one.”

“Go ahead.”

Sheng Ruxi stirred the creamy mousse with her fork and swallowed the sweetness on her tongue: “Do you really like me?”

Jian Jixing was slightly taken aback.

She was prepared for Sheng Ruxi to ask another difficult question to challenge her, but she didn’t expect it to be a question like this.

For Jian Jixing, this was an extremely easy question to answer.

She nodded without any hesitation, and Sheng Ruxi’s second question followed: “And why? Even if you tell me that there’s no reason to like someone, I still want one.”

Sheng Ruxi’s eyes were filled with curiosity and brightness.

Even though she never doubted Jian Jixing’s sincerity toward her in their interactions, she still couldn’t avoid this question about feelings.

She was very curious and genuinely wanted to know.

“If I had to find a reason, I think it’s our differences,” Jian Jixing said. “It’s the difference between us.”

This was an answer Sheng Ruxi had not expected at all: “Shouldn’t it be easier to like people who are similar to you?”

Jian Jixing smiled: “I don’t know about others, but for me, it is. Since junior high, I’ve known that you and I are completely different.”

“Outside of school, you know my mother was very strict with me. My growth trajectory since childhood has been strictly disciplined. Before I saw you, I didn’t know I had such a bad side to me.”

Sheng Ruxi quietly retorted: “…That’s not bad. It’s just that your nature is a bit mischievous.”

She only retorted because she saw that Jian Jixing’s tone wasn’t at all teasing. She couldn’t stand Jian Jixing belittling herself even a little.

Jian Jixing looked at her with a smile: “My mother taught me to be even-tempered with my emotions, to be unreadable, and not to let anyone understand what I was thinking. But you were different. Your family was harmonious, and everything you thought was written on your face. At first, I liked seeing the exasperated look in your eyes after being teased.”

She was so lively and had a kind of vitality that Jian Jixing envied. Sheng Ruxi was like a sharp saw that completely shattered Jian Jixing’s shell.

Looking back, Sheng Ruxi from junior high school still had a rare and precious innocence. Because she was pure, she was very infectious.

She made her realize that there was another possibility when interacting with people.

It was just that they were too young at the time and didn’t know what that teasing and liveliness meant. They were foolishly at odds with each other for so many years.

Jian Jixing thought that tonight was a good time. She said naturally: “So, at that time, I was just teasing you. I never wanted to pursue Chu Wu.”

“You… never?”

“Never,” Jian Jixing raised her eyebrows. “But later, everyone thought I liked Chu Wu, which saved me a lot of trouble, so I didn’t bother to clarify.”

Sheng Ruxi forgot everything and only remembered: “But you confessed to Wu Wu. She rejected you, and Wu Wu went abroad because she rejected you—”

When this was mentioned, Jian Jixing wanted to laugh.

“Who was it who kept spreading rumors in your ear back then? I just went to the rooftop with her, and it turned into a confession,” Jian Jixing said. “You ran over in a hurry and said you wanted to confess, and you told me to hurry up.”

At that time, Jian Jixing knew that Chu Wu was going abroad to study. The two of them were just on the rooftop discussing where to have a farewell party for Chu Wu after graduation.

Who knew that Sheng Ruxi would hear the rumors and run over?

She wanted to be the first to confess, but she was a well-behaved person. When she saw that Jian Jixing was already in front of Chu Wu, she loudly told Jian Jixing to hurry up.

She looked like she was scolding Jian Jixing for being ahead of her even in confessing, and Jian Jixing naturally did as Sheng Ruxi wished.

At that time, Yan Fuzheng had gone to another city to participate in a competition. Following behind Sheng Ruxi were three other classmates who were also making a fuss, urging Sheng Ruxi to hurry up.

Sheng Ruxi was annoyed and told Jian Jixing to hurry up.

If someone had been a little more observant, they would have noticed that Jian Jixing and Chu Wu’s expressions were completely wrong. Chu Wu herself was completely flustered by this situation. When she heard Jian Jixing’s half-smiling question about getting together, her face turned red with anxiety.

And Sheng Ruxi’s expression was as entertaining as it was tonight, sitting across from her.

Sheng Ruxi stopped eating. Her eyes widened as she stared at her. They were full of disbelief: “Jian Jixing, so you never liked alpha.”

It was a wonder that she had been treating Jian Jixing as a love rival for so many years!

She really thought so at the time… After all, Chu Wu had also rejected her without exception. Sheng Ruxi was a little happy in her disappointment.

Since they were both rejected, she felt that she and Jian Jixing were on the same starting line again.

If that was the case, Jian Jixing had been focused on teasing her for so many years.

Sheng Ruxi was both annoyed and amused.

She hadn’t been a part of Jian Jixing’s life before, and her impression of Jian Jixing since she met her was that she was always a bit of a slacker. As an adult, she was also into extreme sports. If Jian Jixing hadn’t told her, she really wouldn’t have known that she also played a part in these changes.

Sheng Ruxi was angry, but she wasn’t as angry as she thought she would be. It was because Chu Wu was right. At that time, her pursuit of Chu Wu was more of a fit of pique with Jian Jixing.

“This is the secret you wanted to tell me?” Sheng Ruxi didn’t expect that a conversation with Jian Jixing would make her understand her own heart. “I don’t accept it. I want another one.”

“I’ve already answered two of your questions,” Jian Jixing didn’t fall for it. “I’ll take you back after you finish eating.”

Sheng Ruxi wouldn’t agree: “Then why did you fly to see Wu Wu later and stay with her for a week?”

“Her later research institute was one that I invested in. Is it possible that it was just business?” Jian Jixing’s topic changed. “It turns out you were so concerned about my whereabouts before.”

Sheng Ruxi choked. She felt guilty about being caught: “Who was concerned about you? You were so conspicuous over there, and you just happened to be photographed. I just happened to see it.”

Jian Jixing nodded: “Is that so?”

Under her thoughtful gaze, Sheng Ruxi had the illusion that her thoughts were completely seen through. She stood up: “I’m full.”

Jian Jixing followed her. When they got to the car, she realized that the bouquet of flowers had wilted a little and was still on the passenger seat. Sheng Ruxi hadn’t gone to get them yet, so Jian Jixing picked them up and put them in the back seat.

Sheng Ruxi was confused: “Why are you taking the flowers away?”

“They’re not fresh anymore. If you like them, I’ll get you new ones,” Jian Jixing raised her eyebrows. Seeing Sheng Ruxi get in, she naturally went forward to help her buckle her seatbelt.

Sheng Ruxi suddenly remembered that she hadn’t seen the box anywhere in the car: “What about the ring?”

“If you don’t like it, I won’t give it to you.”

For a moment, Sheng Ruxi understood that what Jian Jixing meant by “won’t give it to you” wasn’t that she didn’t take it.

She curled her fingers as if the coldness of the ring was still on her skin. Sheng Ruxi didn’t expect Jian Jixing to be so decisive. A colored gemstone ring was expensive, but it wasn’t much to Jian Jixing.

It wasn’t to Sheng Ruxi either.

She pursed her lips and couldn’t help but grip the seatbelt tightly, not saying a word. Jian Jixing drove toward the hotel.

As night fell, the bustling and colorful lights outside the film and television city flashed by the car window. When they stopped at the last traffic light, Jian Jixing turned her head to look at Sheng Ruxi.

She saw that Sheng Ruxi’s head and body were slightly turned toward the car door. From a psychological and behavioral perspective, this was a physical manifestation of Sheng Ruxi’s resistance to getting close to her.

Jian Jixing reached out her hand. Just as it was in mid-air, Sheng Ruxi suddenly turned her head.

Jian Jixing’s movement didn’t stop. She saw that Sheng Ruxi had no intention of avoiding her, and she just reached out and touched the tip of Sheng Ruxi’s nose, as if teasing an arrogant long-haired cat.

“Sheng Ruxi.”

Jian Jixing just slowly said Sheng Ruxi’s name. The tenderness in her voice and on her tongue made Sheng Ruxi feel as if she and Jian Jixing had just finished an intimate moment.

But Jian Jixing couldn’t say the rest of her sentence. The red light had already turned green.

Sheng Ruxi’s heart was instantly stirred and slowly rose into the air, being constantly touched and scratched, making all her senses follow Jian Jixing’s every breath.

Until the car stopped in the underground parking lot, neither of them got out.

Sheng Ruxi finally couldn’t hold back. When her hand reached for the seatbelt to unbuckle it, Jian Jixing’s hand quickly reached out again, covering her hand and gently pressing down.

The force wasn’t heavy, but her palm was scorching hot, instantly spreading like a spark to all her fingers, making her unable to break free.

“Sheng Ruxi,” Jian Jixing repeated again. She put away the nonchalant expression on her face. “I seem to have a hard time understanding what you’re thinking.”

Sheng Ruxi said: “No, you often see through what I’m thinking.” But it was always at the wrong time. Sometimes she understood, and sometimes she didn’t.

Sheng Ruxi paused and looked down at Jian Jixing’s hand: “Why are you doing this again?”

“I’m the one who buckled it on, so of course I’m the one who’s going to unbuckle it.”

Jian Jixing’s hand moved away from Sheng Ruxi’s, but the heat kept climbing to her body and her cheeks.

The seatbelt was unbuckled, but Jian Jixing’s eyes were like a mesmerizing vortex, holding her firmly in the passenger seat.

One wrong move, and she would fall into an abyss.

Jian Jixing leaned forward, actively closing the distance.

For a moment, Sheng Ruxi thought Jian Jixing would kiss her.

But Jian Jixing didn’t. She just focused on looking at Sheng Ruxi’s eyes. The emotions in her eyes made her seem so affectionate and cherished that she couldn’t even bear to touch her.

“Sheng Ruxi, I’ve recently started to feel like I’m a tree, a wooden tree,” Jian Jixing sighed. She really wanted to be a parasite in Sheng Ruxi’s stomach to see what she was truly thinking.

Sheng Ruxi: “…Then what am I?”

Jian Jixing’s scent, when she spoke, faintly wafted onto Sheng Ruxi’s cheek.

“You are the rain that can drench this tree, a delicate rain,” Jian Jixing’s tone was serious, but she smiled nonchalantly. “You’re drenching me completely, but I still want to catch you. So, where should I start to understand you?”