"You mean to say that Uncle and Aunt thought I was your girlfriend?!" Her delicate face was filled with anxiety, "I should go explain to them!"

In her panic, she hadn’t noticed that the teasing smile on Yan Yichen’s face had vanished, replaced by a dark expression.

Her wrist was grasped, held in the man’s large palm, and his tall body pressed her petite frame against the door.

Yan Yichen’s voice was still unhurried, "Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding is there?"

"The misunderstanding that I’m your girlfriend..." Jian Yixue murmured, repeating the words as a flash of understanding crossed her mind.

Could it be that... he really thinks she’s his girlfriend?

"Hehe." Yan Yichen chuckled twice, his deep emotions enigmatic and unreadable.

Jian Yixue habitually looked down at her toes, avoiding what she didn’t want to face—her usual style.

Yan Yichen knew her personality well. His fingertips traced from her hair to her fair neck, the warm and dry touch making Jian Yixue shrink back a bit.

"Don’t..." she whispered, and Yan Yichen asked knowingly, "Don’t what?"

"You know exactly what I’m talking about!" Jian Yixue asked in shy frustration.

Yan Yichen curled his lips in self-mockery, "I’d rather not know."

Perhaps living heartlessly is a blessing from heaven.

He understood things too clearly since childhood, and instead, it made him unhappy.

Just like now, he wished he understood nothing, only selfishly wanting to possess the little woman before him.

But he couldn’t.

"Xiaoxue, what do you see me as?" Yan Yichen asked with a deep voice, a hint of loneliness in his profound eyes.

Jian Yixue hesitated for a long time but couldn’t bring herself to answer.

If a man is willing to run around for you, willing to stand up for you, willing to shelter you from the storm, to care for and spoil you, what is it if not love?

"I’m sorry." Jian Yixue lifted her small face, "I can’t answer you."

Yan Yichen bitterly smiled, "I understand."

He released Jian Yixue, "Get some rest. Call me if you need anything."

As Jian Yixue watched him speak with a smile, in reality, there was a distinct trait to differentiate when his smile was genuine or not.

When truly happy, his eyes curved in a smile, otherwise, he smiled with composed calmness, subtly revealing a distant warmth.

Right now... he didn’t seem very happy.

For some reason, she suddenly felt a bit sorry for this man, even though she knew a strong and cunning person like Yan Yichen didn’t need her sympathy.

Yan Yichen had just placed his hand on the doorknob when he felt a gentle force from behind.

He turned slightly to see Jian Yixue’s delicate hand cautiously poking at his back.

"You once said, if there were a hundred steps between us, you’d walk 99, and I just needed to take one. Does that still count?"

Jian Yixue felt like she had summoned all her life’s courage to ask this question!

Yan Yichen’s Adam’s apple moved as he hoarsely replied, "It counts, it counts forever."

Jian Yixue’s face flushed red like a cooked shrimp, "You applied to Haiyu University, right?"

"Yes."

"Wait for me at Haiyu University, by this time next year, I’ll come find you."

With that said, Jian Yixue pushed the delighted Yan Yichen out, shut the door, locked it, and covered her face.

What on earth had she just said! Ｏ(≧口≦)Ｏ