Why is This Clingy Snow Leopard Acting So Innocent? - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Confirmation—I Think I Like You

“Su Wen.”

“Su Wen?”

After being nudged gently twice, Su Wen snapped back to reality. The focus of the meeting had shifted to him at some point.

He quickly withdrew his gaze from Yun Shu, forcing himself to stop thinking about things that were, for now, somewhat ethereal. He looked over and asked, “What is it?”

Song Nan asked, “Have you decided?”

Su Wen looked at him in confusion, genuinely not following the conversation. “Decided what?”

For a moment, the entire meeting room fell silent.

The three people sitting opposite him simultaneously wore expressions of awkwardness. Song Nan cleared his throat and whispered a reminder:

“What we asked you before—would you be willing to serve as the promotional ambassador for our Mountain God Festival?”

Su Wen froze. His eyes swept across the room and quickly retracted. Everyone in the meeting room was watching him.

Most were strangers, aside from Song Nan, Yun Shu, and the two staff members who had invited him earlier.

Because of his lapse in etiquette just now, he felt cornered.

The atmosphere grew awkward. Yun Shu unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and handed it to him.

Su Wen took it and took a performative sip, buying time to figure out what to say.

“How about this,” he decided to stall. “I’ll discuss it with my manager first and give you an answer in a couple of days.”

As he started to stand up to leave, the girl behind him—who seemed to be the head of event planning—stood up. “We were really hoping for a definitive answer.”

Su Wen paused, turned back, and looked at her, enunciating each word: “Normally,”

“A tourism ambassador or a promotional ambassador needs to coordinate with my manager two to three months in advance.”

“We would need to negotiate a specific compensation structure with the company and sign a formal legal contract.”

“However,” he slowly sat back down, “I don’t seem to have received any notification about this from my agency.”

He had previously considered participating privately, perhaps just filming a few videos for them. But now it seemed they wanted to go through official channels and make him a full “ambassador.”

The people opposite him exchanged glances, clearly having failed to consider this procedural reality.

In fact, the plans for the Mountain God Festival had been finalized before Su Wen even arrived. Inviting him had been an impromptu idea.

The girl who had stood up was a “college student village official” named Ke Ning. She had just graduated and was only twenty-two or three, younger than Su Wen. These past few days, she had been so dizzy with work that she had completely forgotten to research the protocols for inviting celebrities. She had focused entirely on how much tourist traffic Su Wen could bring to the village.

She stood frozen, her face a mask of nervous guilt and helplessness.

Su Wen smiled and offered a comforting tone. “Of course, I don’t mean to blame you.”

“I just want to clarify a point that has been overlooked from the start.”

Ke Ning steadied herself and sat back down, regaining her professional focus. “Please, go on.”

“I want to ask: as your promotional ambassador, in what capacity would I be participating? As a tourist? Or as a member of your staff?”

She blinked, then replied quickly, “We would like to re-confirm the details based on this event and then discuss it with you, while simultaneously handling the follow-up coordination. Would that be acceptable?”

“Certainly.”

She thought about her phrasing for a moment before asking cautiously, “If we can provide a plan that satisfies you, would the likelihood of you becoming our ambassador be higher?”

It was the kind of question a young person just entering the workforce would ask. Someone behind her lightly tugged at her sleeve, but she didn’t catch the hint.

Su Wen was always lenient with newcomers. He smiled. “That depends on what plan you can offer. But…”

He pulled out his phone and checked the date: the 21st. The Mountain God Festival was about three weeks away. “You’ll need to hurry.”

Ke Ning was now full of confidence. “Understood!”

…

As they stepped out of the village committee gates after the meeting, Su Wen turned toward Yun Shu. Before he could speak, a female voice called out from behind.

They turned back to see the village official, Ke Ning, running toward them with a somewhat awkward smile.

She looked at Yun Shu. “Could you wait a moment, Yun Shu? I have something to discuss with you.”

Yun Shu blinked and instinctively looked at Su Wen.

Su Wen was a bit baffled. “Why are you looking at me?”

“Oh?” A mysterious smile played on Ke Ning’s lips as she turned to Su Wen. “Wen-ge, can I borrow Yun Shu for a minute?”

Su Wen shrugged and returned the smile. “Of course.”

The two didn’t go far, talking near the edge of the courtyard. Their voices weren’t loud, and with everyone else leaving the meeting, the surrounding chatter made it impossible to overhear even with ears pricked.

Bored, Su Wen leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, waiting.

In the distance, Yun Shu kept his head down, listening patiently to the girl. It didn’t look like they were talking about work; they even started laughing as they spoke.

What’s so funny about work? Su Wen thought. Why is he laughing like that?

After a few moments of this seemingly meaningless laughter, Yun Shu nodded, apparently agreeing to something. Then the conversation ended, and he looked up toward Su Wen.

Caught in a sudden gaze, Su Wen looked away awkwardly for a moment before looking back to nod a polite goodbye to Ke Ning.

Before leaving, Song Nan came over to remind them that tomorrow, Lin Zhihuan would return from the rescue center, and they would switch shifts with the second team to go up the mountain.

These were minor details. During the days they weren’t on the mountain, aside from basic household visits, it was almost like a break.

As the light faded, they had to be careful of the potholed dirt road to avoid tripping or stepping on frozen animal droppings.

After a few steps, Su Wen, who had been silent, spoke up. His voice carried a trace of sourness he hadn’t noticed himself: “What were you two talking about? You looked so happy.”

Yun Shu was wearing a mask, leaving only his eyes visible. In the dim evening light, he tilted his head to steal a glance at the man beside him.

It was meant to be a secret glance, but Su Wen seemed to have eyes on the top of his head. He turned back. “Don’t just stare. Say something.”

Caught red-handed, Yun Shu didn’t look embarrassed. Instead, he looked at Su Wen openly.

In the darkness, only he could see Su Wen’s eyes clearly—incomparable, like the stars he had gazed at countless times in the night sky.

He remembered the kiss that had made his whole body weak, the sensation of his soul floating in mid-air. He shivered with the desire to be closer, to touch the depths of the other man.

Just the thought made his heart hammer against his ribs until he almost stopped breathing.

Yun Shu reached up to clutch his chest. As Su Wen repeated, “Why aren’t you talking?”, Yun Shu pressed down on the heart that felt like it wanted to burst out of his body.

“She… she begged me to convince you to join the Mountain God Festival.”

Su Wen thought for a moment and looked forward. It made sense; Ke Ning and Yun Shu didn’t seem close, so there wasn’t much else to talk about.

“And…”

Su Wen: “…And what?”

“She said,” Yun Shu stared at the tip of Su Wen’s ear, trying to see if it had changed color, “that you would only agree if I was the one to ask.”

He spoke cautiously, testing the waters, yet his tone carried a strange hint of certainty.

“Oh?” Contrary to expectation, Su Wen remained calm. He pushed open the gate to their courtyard, turned around, and looked at Yun Shu with a ghost of a smile. “And how do you plan to convince me?”

However, Yun Shu didn’t seem to have any intention of “convincing” him. “If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.”

“Hmm…” Su Wen was surprised. “Why?”

Yun Shu shrugged. “I don’t want to force you to do things you don’t like.”

“Haha… actually, I don’t hate it,” Su Wen said, taking off his mask. His expression was playful as they stood by the door. “But I want to hear how you planned to convince me.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t even need their formal plan. If you asked, I might just say yes.”

Yun Shu’s face flushed again, though it was hard to tell against his darker skin. He set down the things in his hands and removed his hat and mask before speaking. “The Mountain God Festival is very interesting…”

“It only happens once a year. You can get close to the deity and make a wish. It’s more effective than wishing in a temple.”

“Is that all?”

“Also,” he continued, “I looked at Ke Ning’s plan. You wouldn’t have to say anything you don’t want to. You could just be a tourist praying for your own blessings.”

Su Wen took two steps toward him, closing the distance. He looked up into Yun Shu’s eyes, meeting his gaze directly. “Those are all their reasons. I want to hear yours. How would you convince me?”

Yun Shu instinctively took a step back, leaning against the wall. His whole body felt hot.

“I…”

“I want to go with you…”

He lowered his eyes, unable to look at Su Wen.

Su Wen curled his lips into a smile. He reached out and gently pinched Yun Shu’s burning earlobe. This time, Yun Shu didn’t pull away.

They were so close they could clearly hear each other’s quickening breath.

Su Wen stared at him for a long time—at his downcast, trembling eyelashes, at his lips which were slightly chapped from nervousness.

Su Wen’s mind was clear now. He had a sharp awareness of his own actions. He felt he had to confirm at least one thing today.

So, he leaned in, reached out, and cupped the back of Yun Shu’s head. At the moment his heart beat the fastest, he kissed him without a word of warning.

Just as he had thought—he was sober, he knew what he was doing, and he knew exactly whom he was kissing.

The question he had wanted to confirm since their first kiss was now fully validated.

Su Wen pulled back from his lips, but his hand remained behind Yun Shu’s head.

Their hearts were so close that while he heard his own heartbeat, he could clearly feel the other man’s heart thudding against his own body.

Su Wen’s hand unconsciously brushed through Yun Shu’s hair. After a long silence, he said in a husky voice:

“Yun Shu…”

“What should I do?”

“I think I like you.”