Dream of the Red Chamber: Starting with winning over Daiyu's favorability

Deng Zechen was completely confused. What was all this about?

However, as long as you are willing to communicate, that's fine.

Although he was unsure of the situation, Deng Zechen still answered Lin Daiyu's questions one by one:

"I am indeed busy with my own things every day, but it's not that I don't care about you. It's that you don't see me, not that I don't go to see you."

As soon as he said it, Deng Zechen realized that his words were a bit too blunt for people of this era, but since he had already said them, he might as well say them all at once, so as to save the two of them from guessing.

[Lin Daiyu's favorability: 50/100]

Deng Zechen's heart began to race when he saw the message that suddenly popped up.

"Secondly, I'm already overwhelmed with the prefectural examination, so how can I care about whether other people are considerate or not?"

What others do or think is none of my business.

If you're angry with me about this, I'm truly innocent!

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 57/100

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 52/100

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 54/100

Lin Daiyu gently turned her head to look elsewhere, unwilling to face Deng Zechen, whose gaze was now burning with intensity.

Deng Zechen saw that the favorability rating he hadn't felt in a long time was now gradually rising, and his heart was pounding. He couldn't tell if it was because of the attribute point reward he was about to receive, or something else entirely.

I felt my heart racing and my body gradually getting hot, the heat almost reaching my neck.

My mind went blank, and that burning sensation instantly surged from the top of my head.

The room was getting hotter and hotter, and Deng Zechen felt his palms starting to sweat.

His hands and feet started to tremble slightly, but he tried his best to keep it from showing.

Finding that Lin Daiyu didn't want to look at him, Deng Zechen quickly went around to the back of the desk and took out a small, exquisite box from the drawer.

He presented the box to Lin Daiyu with an almost reverent attitude, forcing Lin Daiyu to focus her gaze on the box.

Deng Zechen held the box with his left hand, making it level with Lin Daiyu's line of sight so that she could see it clearly, and gently opened it with his right hand.

Lin Daiyu's pupils contracted slightly when she saw what was in the box, and she was speechless.

As the box was opened, a sweet and highly penetrating fragrance wafted out.

Inside is a sachet made by Lin Daiyu herself, with exquisite and meticulous stitches; even without looking at the patterns, one can tell that she put a lot of effort into it.

The owner of the sachet may have often taken it out to play with it, and upon closer inspection, there are some signs of wear and tear, but it is still well preserved.

"I'm not a careful person, and I'm always worried about damaging it when I'm out and about, which is why I keep it carefully at home."

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 60/100

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 62/100

Lin Daiyu remained silent, but the increasing favorability rating indicated that she was in a good mood.

"Can you smell this fragrance? Do you know what I put in it?"

Lin Daiyu's lips moved, but in the end she didn't say anything, she just shook her head.

Deng Zechen didn't insist that Lin Daiyu guess, and directly revealed the answer: "It contains cloves and a little borneol."

Under Lin Daiyu's watchful gaze, Deng Zechen carefully took out the sachet, seemingly murmuring to himself:

"After planting a small study, I hope to be close to the recluse."

The room was quiet, and these words, like a cool breeze in early summer, slowly drifted into Lin Daiyu's heart.

Deng Zechen stopped talking and just watched Lin Daiyu's reaction quietly.

At this moment, Deng Zechen was at least two heads taller than Lin Daiyu. Lin Daiyu lowered her eyes slightly, making it impossible to see her expression, but her earlobes gradually turned red.

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 74/100

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 69/100

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 73/100

……

Perhaps having finally prepared herself mentally, Lin Daiyu finally raised her head and looked earnestly at Deng Zechen:

"Since you understand all this, why don't you take the initiative and explain things to me... to my father sooner?"

Deng Zechen's eyes widened slightly, a look of confusion on his face. "Take the initiative?"

Am I not proactive enough?

And why should I take the initiative to go to your father? What should I say to him?

Can he give me attribute points?

This question caught Lin Daiyu's eye, and she instantly realized that Deng Zechen had misunderstood her.

Embarrassed and annoyed, Lin Daiyu gritted her teeth and continued in a defiant tone:

"My father is going back to Beijing to report on his work next year. You and I are about the same age. Does this mean we have to keep going like this forever?"

Do you expect me to tell you something like this?

I've never heard of a woman bringing up such a thing before.

I know you value the imperial examinations, but I'm not some ignorant fool. Would I hold you back?

Upon hearing this, even the slow-witted Deng Zechen understood, and immediately stammered:

"Ah...this...so fast?"

This isn't right!

Even with Xiangling's affection level at 90, I didn't realize she had such intentions. Did you trigger the ultimate storyline with your affection level just at 73?

Lin Daiyu's expression froze, then slowly faded, and her voice took on a coldness and disappointment:

"You...don't want to? Have I misunderstood?"

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 72/100

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 71/100

His favorability rating was starting to drop, but Deng Zechen couldn't care less about that at the moment. "That's not what I meant."

After hesitating for a moment, Deng Zechen finally revealed his truest thoughts:

"I am currently just a commoner, but the Lin family has been marquises for generations, and Uncle Lin is currently enjoying great favor from the emperor."

At this moment, I'm afraid I'm not good enough for you...

Lin Daiyu interrupted him, saying, "I don't care about those things. How can these inanimate objects compare to someone who understands your heart?"

"But I care, so please listen to me first." Deng Zechen could tell that Lin Daiyu wanted to say something more.

"I know that in your eyes we're already at the age where we can talk about marriage, but I don't think so."

Because I think you only have this thought right now because you haven't met enough people yet, so you think that someone you like is your soulmate.

Deng Zechen thought of Lin Daiyu from "Dream of the Red Chamber," who, because she was raised in the Rongguo Mansion, only had the one eligible man she met, Jia Baoyu.

And because of the influence of the environment, they thought they couldn't live without the other person, and in the end they exhausted everything.

"I hope I can climb higher, so that I'm not always the one looking up at them from below."

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 73/100

"I hope I can marry you with a more respectable status. I don't want you to just blindly choose someone you don't dislike."

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 77/100

Lin Daiyu calmed down at this moment and understood Deng Zechen's intentions. She felt lightheaded and unable to settle down.

These were things she had never thought of before, after all, her parents hadn't had much contact before they got married, but after marriage, the two were very loving.

Moreover, after his mother passed away, his father's hair turned half white overnight, but no matter how others tried to persuade him, he never intended to remarry.

Therefore, Lin Daiyu felt that marrying Deng Zechen was not bad, at least she could be like her parents.

"I understand what you mean, but my thoughts won't change, none of that matters."

I'm willing to wait for you, until you feel you've reached a high enough position, until you feel you're respectable enough.

If you tell me now that we feel the same way about each other, I will wait for you.

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 81/100

[Reward obtained: Memory +2]