Standing Next To You-Chapter 292: In ten years?

Bei Sangyun was taken aback by his response. "...You really think I would do something like that to you?" she asked, her tone a mix of surprise and amusement.

Fei Chuan turned his head away, his face burning with embarrassment. Why wouldn’t he think that? What other reason could there be for her to bring it along?

"Hey, I kissed you and held your hand because you’re adorable. But that kind of... hardcore thing? I can’t do that with the current you. Maybe in ten years, I might consider it. So don’t worry about it," Bei Sangyun reassured him with a playful grin.

Fei Chuan blinked in confusion. Did he have ten years? No, wait, that wasn’t the point!

She said he was adorable, and that’s why she kissed him – no, that wasn’t the point either!

Fei Chuan concealed the various emotions swirling in his heart and asked again, "...Then how come you had something like that in your bag?" If it wasn’t Bei Sangyun’s, then whose was it?

"It must have been my personal maid who slipped that into my bag. She probably thought I couldn’t control myself and might attack you. Her worries are unfounded, but I still have my conscience," Bei Sangyun explained.

Though Fei Chuan sensed something was off about her explanation, everything she said made sense. Bei Sangyun did have an aggressive and eccentric personality, which even made him suspect she had ulterior motives for this trip.

Fortunately, it was all just a misunderstanding.

...But why did he feel a twinge of disappointment?

Fei Chuan was embarrassed by his own thoughts and feelings. It seemed he had been overthinking things.

"Anyway, now that we’ve cleared it up, you won’t avoid looking at me anymore, right?"

"I wasn’t really avoiding you," Fei Chuan defended in a soft voice. It was just difficult to meet her gaze while thoughts of shameless things clouded his mind.

Bei Sangyun regained her spirits after clearing up the misunderstanding. Fei Chuan was very sensitive and conservative at this age, so she had to be careful around him sometimes. She tightened the robe around her, feeling a bit regretful.

What conscience? She didn’t have that kind of conscience.

In fact, she had even prepared a seductive pair of swimsuits to entice the young Fei Chuan. It was better to trick the young, naive, innocent teenager than the adult Fei Chuan, who seemed experienced and a Casanova.

She didn’t know what the latter’s type would be, but the competition in the future would be fierce. It was better to capture his attention now.

Too bad she’d have to wait ten years before popping someone’s cherry.

...

In another pool, Lin Sunji stared at the couple not far away from them who were keeping a sufficient distance from each other. She couldn’t help but notice something was off.

"Hey, aren’t those two dating?" Lin Sunji asked the person floating on the water.

With how the couple acted lovey-dovey at school—feeding each other and sticking together all day—there was no way they were not a couple. But then, sometimes, she felt that these two kept a certain distance and didn’t cross each other’s boundaries, very unlike a typical couple. This made her confused.

Zhong Cheng stopped floating and swam towards Lin Sunji. "They haven’t started dating yet."

Lin Sunji was speechless. "Why? Didn’t Bei Sangyun say they had kissed and held each other’s hands? They clearly like each other, so why haven’t they started dating yet?"

Anyone who couldn’t see the affection between those two would be blind.

Zhong Cheng leaned on the poolside and sighed, feeling pity for his boss. "Brother-in-law isn’t sure yet. Boss has come on too strongly. Sometimes being overbearing can have the opposite effect. Anyway, since brother-in-law likes her, it’s only a matter of time."

Lin Sunji was surprised inside, but she didn’t let it show on her face. She hadn’t expected it was Bei Sangyun who was pursuing Fei Chuan.

Fei Chuan was indeed handsome, and many people fell for his looks and temperament, but the Bei Sangyun she knew wouldn’t fall for something like that so easily. Otherwise, she would have fallen in love with Richard.

So what else did she see in Fei Chuan that she was obsessed with?

Lin Sunji fell into deep thought, feeling that this was something she could use to get hold of Bei Sangyun’s weakness and turn the tables around.

A wave of warm water suddenly splashed on her face, waking her up from her thoughts.

"I can hear your gears turning. Stop scheming. Didn’t you say you want to catch a big fish on your own? This is my first lesson to you, student, so listen well."

Lin Sunji disliked the water being splashed on her face, but she endured it. "What?"

"Did you see how I made brother-in-law jump into the pool when he doesn’t like soaking in hot springs?"

Lin Sunji had indeed been watching. "You provoked him."

"Exactly. Brother-in-law had to feel threatened so he could act bravely to face his feelings—"

Lin Sunji raised her hand. "What does this have to do with the lesson? Can you skip forward?"

Zhong Cheng was full of nonsense. She didn’t think Fei Chuan felt threatened by a mere Zhong Cheng. It was just that Fei Chuan seemed to hate the idea that Bei Sangyun was in the same pool with Zhong Cheng or perhaps with any other human being.

Zhong Cheng ’tsk’ed, clearly not finished with his self-congratulatory speech. "Fine. Do you know why I did that?"

"Why?" Lin Sunji asked with a roll of her eyes.

"It’s to make Boss happy. Boss is sad that Brother-in-law isn’t joining, so I have to sacrifice myself for their happiness. Didn’t I do something amazing?"

Lin Sunji: "...." Her hand was itching to smack this man’s head. She was seriously waiting for an advice but it was actually nonsense.

As if to confirm her conjecture, Zhong Cheng smugly continued with his ’excellent methods’. "Lesson number one: Make sure your boss is happy for you to have a happy and peaceful life."

Lin Sunji: "...."

After a moment, she pushed Zhong Cheng out of the pool with all her might. "Leave, you scammer!"

******

(A/n: Don’t worry guys, it won’t take ten years. *wink*)