When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 190: Scarier Than Ghosts

After she finished speaking, she felt ashamed of herself.

To be afraid of ghosts, of all things.

Pei Yan didn’t ask for the reason; he just gave a nonchalant smile, nodded, and agreed.

He seated her at the edge of the bed and found a hairdryer to dry her hair.

His palm was warm and dry. It felt comforting on her scalp, that sensation of comfort mixed with the faint scent of cypress from his clothes soon had her feeling drowsy.

The girl fell asleep with her head resting on his chest. Pei Yan looked down, kissed the top of her head, and the fragrance of the young girl enveloped his nostrils.

"I’ve really fallen into your hands in this lifetime, Princess."

A slight smile curled at the corner of his lips as he lifted her into bed, tucked her in, and left only a wall lamp on before leaving.

Pei Yan lay in bed, and as soon as he closed his eyes, he saw the image of the girl emerging from the bathroom in his shirt.

Love unattained, desire constantly suppressed, tortured him to the point of insomnia.

He tossed and turned until the early hours, finally grabbing his hair in frustration and rising restlessly.

He dressed again, sat up, took the laptop beside him, turned on the compiler, and barely managed to focus.

In the deep of night, a barely perceptible knock sounded from outside. Had he not been awake, he would not have heard it.

Pei Yan pushed back his chair and walked over.

He opened the door and saw the girl standing outside, eyes downcast.

He sighed, "Why haven’t you gone to sleep yet?"

Jiang Shuyao found it hard to speak, "I’ve been trying so hard not to think about it, but Aunt Fu..." She had hesitated for a long time before coming over. She didn’t want to disturb his rest in the middle of the night and had knocked gently, not expecting him to be awake.

Upon hearing the name Aunt Fu, Pei Yan cursed under his breath.

He pulled her inside and slammed the door shut.

Outside the window, the night breeze rustled the leaves, making a sound like whispers, and the entire villa was eerily silent.

Pei Yan looked down at her, "Aunt Fu died a natural death. You said you believe in science, so why fear such things?"

She was really dead.

Jiang Shuyao felt utterly helpless, looking up into his dark pupils, "Can I just stay in your room, please? I won’t talk or disturb you. You sleep, I’ll just..."

His breathing grew heavier, "Damn it, you’re driving me crazy." He pinned her against the door, his voice was a low growl, "Do you have any idea how tempting you are?"

His hand gripped her slender waist, he was moved.

Inventing stories to scare her, just so she’d stay in his room, only to see himself acting like a whimpering coward in the cinema room.

He dared not imagine how an adult film, not even started, would make him lose control. If a living person were to lie beside him, and if he did not consume her, what kind of man would he be?

In the past at hotels, they had slept under separate blankets, not disturbing one another.

But this was his villa, his territory. What was there to fear?

Tonight, Pei Yan realized that sometimes he was truly a hypocrite and a beast.

The girl looked as if she was about to cry under the light.

Her face flushed with shame, becoming increasingly enticing.

What ghosts to fear? After tonight, she would know that he, as a man, was more terrifying than any ghost.

On a cold winter night, the room was full of warmth.

Pei Yan’s breath was ragged as he reached up to turn off the wall lamp and darkness engulfed them completely.

He did not touch the clothes on her body.

In the endless darkness of the night, he held her quivering, delicate hand...

Pei Yan’s twentieth birthday was wonderful for him.

But for Jiang Shuyao, it was especially terrifying.

Aunt Fu had accompanied her for countless nights thereafter, even in a four-person dorm room where, after lights out, she often stared at the ceiling, her hair standing on end.

Every time she reached this thought, the scene would shift, thrusting her into another scenario of shame.

She admitted that, in some respects, she was pathetically ignorant.

At three in the morning, Pei Yan wrapped her in his own blanket. The sharp features on his face softened as he looked at her gently, "Go to sleep, I’ll stay right here without leaving."

Jiang Shuyao stared at the ceiling emotionlessly and burst out with two words, "Go away."

He didn’t get angry but patiently picked up a chair and placed it by the bed, "What’s wrong, not afraid of ghosts anymore?"

Now, she was terrified at the mention of it.

Jiang Shuyao pulled the quilt over her eyes, and where he couldn’t see, her eyes brimmed red with restraint.

Shameless...

Pei Yan leaned back lazily in the chair, clearly without any intention of sleeping, feeling guilty, he simply stayed up to watch her sleep.

All night, the girl slept fitfully, still muttering about Aunt Fu, and he firmly slapped himself, took off his shoes, and held her, along with the quilt, in his arms.

It wasn’t until late into the night when she finally fell into a deep sleep that he managed to get some shut-eye himself.

The next day, while someone still appeared fresh and alert, she went downstairs with swollen eyes for breakfast, not wishing to spare him even a sidelong glance.

Without thinking, she looked up and noticed that the chef had changed.

Upon making the connection, Jiang Shuyao sharply stepped on his foot.

Devil.

Facing the girl’s silent indictment, Pei Yan slowly swallowed a bite of sandwich, his gaze held a smile, "Princess, how’s breakfast?"

"...."

Servants bustled about in the yard, yet the dining room was immersed in a cold atmosphere.

After returning to school, Jiang Shuyao switched to autopilot mode, attending classes and dedicating all her remaining time to art lessons, leaving the Devil to stew on his own for a whole half month.

Half a month was Pei Yan’s utmost limit.

He recently took on an e-commerce furniture website project, a traditional business running for over a decade, where the owner wanted to attempt a transformation into an O2O model amidst the current internet trend.

In the early phase of the project, the client requested to see the front-end design first and, upon passing the inspection, they would pay thirty percent of the contracted fee within three days.

The men at the base scratched their heads through several all-nighters, only to have the furniture company reject their work over a dozen times.

What did a dozen rejections imply?

For someone less patient, they might even terminate the contract.

Jiang Xubai was losing hair in frustration, his forehead breaking out badly, guzzling down a bottle of water after dinner, then walked over to Boss Pei’s workstation.

He sat down on a chair, ready for a thorough conversation.

"This is the eighth version of the design, what are your thoughts?"

The methodical sound of keyboard clicks didn’t break due to this.

The dense rhythm of the typing only made the base seem quieter.

Pei Yan slouched in his chair, his posture lax and casual.

If the boss lady were around, she’d command him to sit up straight and then thoughtfully prop a cushion at his back.

Ah, what are these two playing at?

The entire base had only one art student, why persist with this?

Jiang Xubai mentally complained endlessly but maintained a composed face, "I think, mainly you’ve got to cajole a girl. If that fails, just be generous, buy a bag or some perfume, and you’re guaranteed to solve the problem in one shot, no issues left."

How bizarre.

The normally aloof Jiang God always looked somewhat helpless and defeated in front of Boss Pei.

The senior students in year three couldn’t help but smirk, their mouths twitching as they tried not to laugh.

However, given that the project and their livelihoods were at stake, they stifled their laughter and pricked up their ears to listen.

To listen to what the boss ultimately planned.

After a while, when Jiang Xubai had talked himself hoarse, he finally managed to halt the typing.

Pei Yan stretched out his long legs and shrugged his shoulders before asking the chatterbox next to him, "What’s the date today?"

The date, seriously? 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

See, such an irrelevant topic.

Jiang Xubai pulled out his phone to check, "The twenty-eighth."

The boss fell into deep thought.

Such a mysterious contemplation that he nearly dozed off.

Pei Yan was thinking, he’d never patiently endured for so long before, a whole half month – was the Princess intent on playing him to death?