Chapter 16 - Were the fruits really washed for me?

The scorching air was sultry and unbearable. Qin Yao strode into the living room and sat down on the sofa, even through the sweltering temperatures a cold aura could be felt exuding from his body. The servant saw that there was a guest and he knew that it was the little young master of the Qin family, so he didn't dare to ignore him. He hastily hurried over to ask him what he wanted to drink.

Qin Yao didn't seem to hear him, his dark gaze was heavy and there was a hint of gloominess and loneliness within his blank expression.

From the living room, he couldn’t hear the conversation between Zhong Youyou and Shi Zhitang from the entrance of the villa.

But when he raised his eyes, he could clearly see that there was barely any distance between the two of them. He didn't know what they said, but he saw Youyou tucking her hair at the back of her ears, and there was also an obvious curve at the corners of her mouth.

"……"

Youyou has never been like this in front of him before.

The possessiveness within Qin Yao's heart overwhelmed him. He subconsciously stood up and wanted to walk over there, wanting to unreasonably interrupt the contact between the two. He did this many times before and it was because of this that he made Youyou more disgusted......

Qin Yao took a deep breath and tried his best to contain the impenetrable jealousy in his heart.

He unbuttoned the collar a little dryly.

……

*

Zhong Youyou did smile, but it was more like a sneer. She crossed her arms and looked at Shi Zhitang's eyes a little mockingly: "Meng Shixuan is not at home, come another day."

Did these two not have enough of seeing each other at school and so they wanted to disgust her by coming all the way to this house?

Shi Zhitang's eyes fell on Zhong Youyou's face in front of him and his heart palpitated for a moment.

When Zhong Youyou moved here three years ago, he was surprised when he first saw her. The timid little girl sitting in the corner sneakily looked at him, but did not dare to come forward to speak. That was a totally different beauty from the pampered, gentle and generous Meng Shixuan who lived in comfort.

At that time, Zhong Youyou seemed to be on the verge of blooming, but was covered in thorns. She was a nervous and helpless flower bud, and treated everything around herself carefully as if she was still destitute, making people feel pity for no reason.

It's a pity that that version of Zhong Youyou was fleeting.

Afterwards, every time he saw her, she became more rebellious and vulgar. Not only did her personality become unreasonable and annoying, but she started to ruin her appearance with her messy makeup. Her face was always heavy with eyeshadow and thick eyelashes, to the point where sometimes he couldn't see her face clearly.

Of course, after she turned herself into that ghastly image, many of the Zhong family’s guests would not give her a second glance at all.

But now...

He saw the clean Zhong Youyou again, standing in front of him like this. Her clean and fair face was coated with a dazzling sunlight, and it was hard for him to look away.

The sight of her beauty would cause people to become speechless.

Shi Zhitang’s mood was complicated. In the most difficult time in his last life, Meng Shixuan broke off their engagement without hesitation. Instead, Zhong Youyou didn't care about how he had hurt her before and helped him when he needed it. His heart was not made of stone. Even if he still has no intimate feelings for Zhong Youyou, he was still moved...

And now, Zhong Youyou, who has regained her luster and light, had caused his mind to go blank for a moment, and his heart skipped a beat.

After he regained his composure, he remembered his purpose for coming here and said, "I'm here to find you. I have something to talk about."

Zhong Youyou was taken aback for a moment, then frowned.

——If Shi Zhitang had a bit of a heart, he shouldn't have appeared in front of the original owner. He knew that the original owner likes him to death, and he always gives the original owner hope. Sometimes showing indifference, sometimes showing a little warmth. Doesn't he know that the more he was like this, the more the original owner was unable to give up her crush?

It would have been better to be completely cold-blooded and ruthless, and to tell the original owner to stop thinking about it.

She snorted, put down her arms, slid her hands into her pockets, and leaned on the door. She looked outwardly casual but her attitude became more and more aloof, and she said coldly, "Talk? What’s there to talk about between us?

"...Youyou, why are you....." The words Shi Zhitang prepared earlier suddenly got stuck in his throat, and he looked at Zhong Youyou with bewilderment.

When Zhong Youyou stood in front of him, she had always been humble and delighted. If he just gave her a longer than usual glance, Zhong Youyou would be happy all day long —— he was also used to a Zhong Youyou who was always chasing after him. But what happened to Zhong Youyou today? Her eyes were so cold to the point that he couldn’t find a single trace of love.

Or was she angry because he spoke up for Meng Shixuan not long ago?

Shi Zhitang thought that he had found the reason, so he sighed and said in a somewhat indulgent tone: "Don't be like this, I just want to have a good talk with you. If you don't like Meng Shixuan, I will interact with her less in the future, okay?"

His eyes were sincere and his words were serious.

After experiencing the things in his previous life, he is now tired of seeing Meng Shixuan. In the past few days, what lingered in his mind were the small details when he stayed with Zhong Youyou in his previous life. In his previous life, he had only regarded Zhong Youyou as his younger sister and didn’t have many chances to interact with her, but he held a good opinion of Zhong Youyou.

If Zhong Youyou still likes him in this life, then he will definitely treat Zhong Youyou well. In the past few days, he was waiting for Zhong Youyou to take the initiative to look for him. After all, Zhong Youyou always used to find excuses to go to his class or wander near his home, wanting to see him some more.

But in the past few days, Zhong Youyou has never appeared in front of him, as if she had never thought of him.

He called Zhong Youyou, but Zhong Youyou didn't answer either.

He was a little panicked and had a bad feeling in his heart, so he took the initiative to visit today.

It was only after he had experienced his last life that he realized that he was too indecisive and hesitant when making a decision, which led to the final result. He was also responsible for Zhong Youyou falling into such an end. Therefore, although he had prepared a lot of words today, what he said just now was extremely direct, which was tantamount to a confession…..

He knew that Zhong Youyou would show shocked and surprised eyes, and wouldn't believe it was true. He couldn't help but smile slightly and very softly, waiting to tell Zhong Youyou that this is all true…..

"Are you serious?" Zhong Youyou was indeed shocked, but she was not even a little bit happy! She was simply speechless. Shi Zhitang was always happily together with Meng Shixuan, but why the heck did he suddenly turn around and look for her? Does he have nothing else to do?

Shi Zhitang said softly: "Serious."

"......No, what is it that gives you confidence, thinking that I was willing to keep being a spare tire for you?" Zhong Youyou was so startled that she didn’t know which way was North.

spare tire - fallback guy or girl

"..." Shi Zhitang's ears buzzed, he couldn't understand what Zhong Youyou was saying.

Hasn't she always liked him?

He said with some difficulty: "What do you mean?"

Zhong Youyou smiled and simply spelled it out for him, "It means that now, the spare tire is not willing to continue being one. Can you understand that?"

Shi Zhitang appeared as if he whacked on the head with a stick, and his mind was spinning for a long time, unable to think.

He stood there motionless, like he had been dropped into a pool of ice. He couldn’t tell if Zhong Youyou was just saying this out of anger, but Zhong Youyou had never treated him with such a cold attitude.

......He suddenly felt as if he was unable to breathe. He had never felt that way until after being treated with such indifference by Zhong Youyou.

"Youyou, why are you suddenly....."

Before he could finish his words, he suddenly heard a "dong" coming from the living room of the villa. A heavy object fell and the sky shook, and several servants cried out in shock, "Young Master Qin, what happened to you?!"

"Qin Yao is here too?" Shi Zhitang's expression changed.

But Zhong Youyou was taken aback and hurried inside as if didn’t give a second thought about him.

*

Zhong Youyou ran over. Water was splashed all over the floor and the fruit bowl had broken into two. Qin Yao's lips were dry and peeling, and his mind seemed to be a bit fuzzy. She was taken aback, and quickly helped him up and reached out to touch his forehead.

So hot!

This is so hot that it’s over forty degrees!

When did you start to have a fever? Didn’t you drive over just now? And how could you even speak?

Zhong Youyou hurriedly grabbed his two arms, trying to drag him up.

But Qin Yao was too heavy, she didn't pull him up, so she leaned on him, and Shi Zhitang, who was chasing after her, happened to see this. Shi Zhitang's face turned dark and he spoke to the servants next to him: "What are you doing in a daze, why aren’t you helping?"

The servants didn't dare to get close, but they had no choice but to help Zhong Youyou lift Qin Yao up and send him to Zhong Youyou's room upstairs.

Zhong Youyou touched Qin Yao's forehead again and found that it didn't seem to be as hot as before, but it was still pouring with sweat for some reason.

She said: "Bring over some ice cubes and towels."

The servants nodded and went out. After going out, they looked at each other. They have heard of the little young master of the Qin family for a long time, but they have never seen him. After seeing him, he was indeed as crazy as the rumors said!

He just soundlessly poured a cup of hot water and wiped the boiling water on his forehead. In this hot weather, how could he keep his forehead from getting hot? Immediately afterwards, they were dumbfounded and before they could react, they saw the Qin family’s little young master suddenly faint——

It wasn’t them who said it, but only Zhong Youyou would believe that this strong and tall man would faint the moment he decided to.

*

Zhong Youyou closed the door, sat down by the bed, and asked, "Did you catch a cold? Why didn't you tell me earlier? I'm sorry to call you over when you’re sick."

Qin Yao opened his eyes, then lowered them. He pursed his lips, not saying a word. The tall one leaned back on the small bed, and with the addition of his pale lips, he looked very pitiful.

"……"

Zhong Youyou suddenly felt embarrassed to reproach him, and berated herself instead. What was she talking for so long with Shi Zhitang for?

She said: "Then what should I do? How about you rest first and we don’t move today? I will look for you another day?"

Qin Yao's expression suddenly changed. Just when he was about to speak, he saw Zhong Youyou look over and hurriedly lowered his head, and said dully, "If you want to move, let’s move. Maybe I’ll be fine after I sweat."

"Are you sure?" Zhong Youyou doubtfully asked.

At that moment the servant brought the ice cubes and towels over. She carefully wrapped the ice cubes with the towel, pushed Qin Yao down with one hand, and pressed the ice cubes on his forehead with the other hand.

She didn’t know if it was her illusion, but after only putting it on for two short minutes, the temperature on Qin Yao’s forehead dropped quickly…...

She felt confused. She touched her forehead, and then touched Qin Yao's forehead, only to find that the temperature of Qin Yao's forehead was lower than her own. What's going on? She quickly removed the ice cubes.

"Why aren’t you burning up anymore?"

Qin Yao also seemed somewhat innocently surprised and blinked: "Maybe your ice cube method was quite helpful?"

"……"

Zhong Youyou was speechless for a bit, then she pulled him up from the bed: "Do you still have any strength?"

Qin Yao was afraid that she would really not move today, so he hurriedly got out of bed, rolled up his sleeves, deliberately exposing his pale and capable arms, circled around Zhong Youyou, and lightly picked up her luggage: "What do you think? "

Zhong Youyou touched Qin Yao's forehead again, and after making sure that he really did not have a fever, she lowered her hands. She carried the two lightest bags and followed him downstairs, moving the things to the trunk of his car.

*

The two went up and down the stairs twice, completely tossing Shi Zhitang to the back of their minds, not noticing that Shi Zhitang sat downcast in the living room for a while. Seeing that Zhong Youyou still hadn't come down, he left in a complicated mood......

At this time, everything was loaded into the car. Zhong Youyou just got into the passenger seat and suddenly remembered something.

"I'll go get the fruit, I washed it for you specially, so it's a pity not to eat it."

"Was it really washed for me?" Qin Yao, who was fastening her seat belt, suddenly became startled and was in disbelief.

"Yeah." Zhong Youyou glanced at him: "If I didn’t wash it for you, then who did I wash it for? I only have an appointment with you and I didn't know that Shi Zhitang would drop by so suddenly."

After she said that, she jumped out of the car and went to the refrigerator to put the washed cherries in a small bag. The weather was too hot and she could eat them in the car later. Before leaving, she glanced at the villa, feeling very happy.

So when he jumped into the car, she was still humming.

Seeing Qin Yao still frozen, she urged: "What are you in a daze for? Drive."

Qin Yao stared at her, but repeated: "It was really washed for me?"

"That's right." Zhong Youyou opened the fruit box and picked a few fresh, red and tender cherries, with clean and crystal clear droplets on them. She stuffed one into Qin Yao's mouth, urging: "Hurry up, it's too sunny."

When her fingertips touched Qin Yao's lips, Qin Yao suddenly stiffened.

After taking the cherry into his mouth, he started chewing, and slowly, after a long while, he eased from his stiffness.

That kind of feeling is tantamount to having fallen into the darkness, and when he was planning to reluctantly accept it, she suddenly threw down a life-saving straw.

——She really washed it for him, really washed it for him! Was it also possible that she put on makeup for him?

Qin Yao was like a child who was suddenly rewarded. He was so surprised that he couldn't find where north, south, east, or west was. He was ecstatic, and his heart thumped and thumped.

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The author has something to say:

Qin Yao: So happy

Zhong Youyou: Not promising

Translator's notes

Blu: I read your comments!! Thank you guys for being so kind <3 (*´∀`*)