After Flirting with the God-Tier Beautiful Tycoon - Chapter 52.1

“Shen Xiaojiang, I’m really not jealous. It’s just…” Chen Yi turned her head. Her nose brushed against Shen Xiaojiang’s their lips were separated by the tiniest of distances.

Under the dim yellow light, Shen Xiaojiang gazed into Chen Yi’s eyes and lowered her voice: “Just what?”

Chen Yi remained silent.

The wind whistled softly in their ears, cooling two restless hearts. In the distance, the occasional meow of a cat and the sound of bicycle tires rolling over the pavement could be heard.

“It’s just…” Chen Yi’s warm breath hovered before her, her light, cool fragrance permeating the air, yet her tone remained devoid of emotion. “There are always so many people around you. It’s always so lively. You smile at me, but you smile at them too. You are gentle with me, but you are gentle with them too. If what you give me is the same as what you give everyone else, then I don’t want it.”

Shen Xiaojiang’s expression froze.

A second later, she burst into a smile.

Chen Yi herself hadn’t expected that one day she would say something so sentimental. She and Shen Xiaojiang weren’t “defined” as anything to each other yet, they shouldn’t be bound by such things. But Chen Yi felt compelled to say it anyway.

Just as she was about to turn away, Shen Xiaojiang’s kiss pressed against hers.

It was warm and moist, a tingling sensation from the lips spreading throughout her entire body.

“Auntie…” Shen Xiaojiang broke the kiss, resting her forehead against Chen Yi’s. “You know better than I do that a smile is just an expression, not an emotion. Gentleness is just an attitude, not a feeling.”

Chen Yi’s heart raced, her breathing becoming erratic.

“Me smiling at them doesn’t mean I am ‘gentle’ with them. I told you my gentleness is reserved for you alone.”

Chen Yi’s eyes widened, and her hand, joined with Shen Xiaojiang’s, tightened unconsciously. She didn’t know what to say, she only gave a very, very soft “Mm” in response.

The moonlight stretched their shadows, making their embrace under the streetlamp feel endless.

Back inside, Shen Lanxin had finished clearing the dishes and was walking back to the living room.

“Sent Ruirui off?” she asked.

Chen Yi answered for Shen Xiaojiang, “Yes, she’s a very cute child.”

“Oh?” Shen Lanxin wiped the water from her hands and beckoned to Chen Yi. “Let me tell you, when Shen Xiaojiang was that age, she was even cuter not that I’m saying my cousin’s granddaughter isn’t cute, of course.”

Chen Yi smiled and walked over to sit beside Shen Lanxin.

“Where is it? Oh, found it.” Shen Lanxin pulled out a photo album and placed it on her lap to flip through.

Shen Xiaojiang had been fiddling with the “Fu” character sticker on the door outside for a while before coming in. She saw Chen Yi and Shen Lanxin sitting together, laughing and talking while looking through her album.

Oh no. The “dark history” photos.

“Oh, Mom! What are you doing? Why do you show everyone my embarrassing childhood photos?” Shen Xiaojiang walked over, her face flushed with bashfulness.

She felt her childhood photos were all silly, especially those where she was making peace signs. Doing it with one hand was bad enough, but doing it with both hands was… truly foolish.

Chen Yi already thought she was a bit silly, if she saw these, that impression would only be reinforced.

Just as Shen Xiaojiang was about to snatch the album away, she heard Chen Yi laugh.

“She was very beautiful even as a child,” Chen Yi said.

Shen Xiaojiang’s hand hovered in mid-air. After hesitating for two seconds, she pulled it back. If Chen Yi wanted to see them, let her see them. What else could she do but indulge her?

Shen Xiaojiang sat down close to Chen Yi, resting her chin on Chen Yi’s shoulder so she could see her own “ugly photos.”

She had to admit, she loved this posture. She knew Chen Yi’s most sensitive spot was her ears; sitting like this put her right next to them. A gentle brush against them would provoke an adorable, charming reaction it was too much fun.

Suddenly, Shen Xiaojiang felt Chen Yi’s shoulder flinch. It even trembled a few times.

She looked up. In the photo, a young girl in a dress with pigtails had a red “8” sticker on her forehead. Her hands were pressed together as she closed her eyes to make a wish over a cake.

“Auntie, is this Shen Xiaojiang too?” Chen Yi’s finger pressed hard against the photo, her fingertip turning white.

Shen Lanxin nodded with a smile. “Yes, that was her eighth birthday. We bought her a big cake.”

“Are there… more photos like this?” Chen Yi’s voice began to tremble.

Shen Lanxin flipped further; there were four or five more.

In these photos, the child’s smile was bright and radiant, but her eyes were either closed or squinted. Chen Yi felt a sense of familiarity, yet also a sense of strangeness.

After all, it was something from over ten years ago. It had been dark and raining back then. Chen Yi couldn’t be certain that the little girl looked exactly like this. She tried to find clues in the eyes, but unfortunately, she couldn’t see them clearly. None of the photos showed the child looking straight ahead.

Looking at photos from other ages, they didn’t seem to match as well. Chen Yi fell into a state of confusion.

Shen Xiaojiang could only see Chen Yi’s profile, she didn’t know what was wrong. She wrapped her arms around Chen Yi’s waist and asked softly, “Are you feeling unwell?”

Chen Yi tightly gripped the corner of the album, looked down at the hands encircling her, and composed herself. She said softly, “It’s nothing.”

Shen Xiaojiang poked Chen Yi’s stomach playfully. “Clearly, it’s something.”

Chen Yi looked at Shen Lanxin and asked somewhat nervously, “Auntie, did you and your husband ever take Shen Xiaojiang to Nancheng? When she was little?”

Shen Lanxin shook her head. She and Shen’s father had never taken her to Nancheng.

“Haishi is surrounded by the sea on three sides. Transportation wasn’t convenient back then, so traveling out wasn’t easy. If we were to go somewhere, we wouldn’t have gone as far as Nancheng,” Shen Lanxin explained earnestly.

Chen Yi believed her. After all, there was no reason to lie about such a thing.

After chatting for a while longer, Shen Xiaojiang and Chen Yi returned to the bedroom.

Shen Lanxin spent a moment admiring her precious daughter’s photos again.

“Wife, why aren’t you in bed yet?” Shen’s father draped a shawl over her shoulders.

Shen Lanxin smiled. “Our girl was really cute when she was little.”

“She was,” he agreed. “She was cutest around seven or eight. Oh, look, here’s a photo, it was also taken on her eighth birthday.”

As he spoke, he picked up a photo frame from the TV cabinet.

Shen Lanxin walked over. “Oh, that’s right! There’s this one too. Shen Xiaojiang’s classmate just asked if there were more photos from that time, and I completely forgot about this one.”

In the photo, the girl in the dress with pigtails was holding a strawberry lollipop. She was looking directly at the camera, her bright eyes wide open, her smile clear and pure.