Hunt her

Yunzhao County in late summer seemed to have entered autumn early. The evening breeze was cool and chilly, making Shen Yi shiver.

A bright living room.

A narrow black leather sofa.

The two, each lost in their own thoughts, sat on either side.

Shen Yi casually fiddled with his phone, trying to hide his inner emotions.

Aunt Chen said he is now someone she trusts, but he doesn't dare to believe it, afraid that he is just being delusional again, afraid that he will be hit with another blow.

Yan Xu: "You—"

Shen Yi: "You..."

The two spoke in unison, and simultaneously turned to look at each other.

Shen Yi looked up and gestured, "You go first."

Yan Xu nervously picked at her fingernails, hesitated for a few seconds, and then asked, "Was the wooden hairpin you gave me before made from raw materials bought from Yunniang's handmade shop?"

Actually, she wanted to ask Shen Yi if he had driven to another city specifically to buy some trivial trinkets just for her.

Shen Yi was surprised; how did she know?

He didn't intend to tell anyone about it.

After all, it sounds stupid that he drove for hours late at night just to buy craft materials.

He scratched his head, glancing at her expression out of the corner of his eye: "Well... buying online means waiting a few days for the delivery, so I went to pick it up myself."

He was so eager to give her the hairpin that any waiting was agonizing for him.

An expected answer.

Faced with his feelings, Yan Xu felt somewhat at a loss. She had only ever felt this kind of unconditional and silent kindness from her maternal grandfather and Xiao Jingxing.

Besides the two of them, Shen Yi was the third person.

"Thank you." It seemed she didn't know what else to say besides thank you, "but I've never given you anything or helped you with anything."

I feel like I'm constantly bothering him.

If she hadn't gone to Yunniang to have a hairpin made this time, she might never have known that Shen Yi had done all this for her.

Shen Yi leaned down slightly and looked up to see her guilty expression: "If you really want to thank me, then don't send me away in the future."

Yan Xu didn't understand why he insisted on staying by her side: "Why? You would be better off in Kuncheng. Even if you stayed in Yunzhao County, I couldn't give you anything."

Whether it's the emotional value of being friends or the practicalities of being husband and wife.

On the contrary, Shen Yi has been helping her and healing her psychological trauma.

He cooked for her, celebrated the Torch Festival with her, and helped her deal with the troubles in Yunzhao County...

He was so good to her that she wondered why he stayed by her side.

Suddenly, I realized that it wasn't such a bad thing that she knew I had personally bought the craft materials.

At least now that he had leverage in negotiations, Shen Yi felt much more at ease.

He put his hands behind his head, looked up at the ceiling, and asked gently, "Want to know why?"

Yan Xu nodded solemnly: "Yes."

Shen Yi, resting his head on his arm, turned his head and looked tenderly at her exquisitely perfect face. After a moment, he looked up at the ceiling.

Shen Yi slowly spoke: "I like you."

Upon hearing the word "like," Yan Xu's brain went blank for a moment, as if what he had just heard was a hallucination caused by tinnitus.

She wasn't sure if she'd misheard: "What did you say?"

How could he possibly like her?

Who would like someone who is emotionally unstable, comes from a broken family, and is extremely deprived of love? He's not stupid.

Shen Yi could tell from her tone that she didn't believe her.

That's right. They had a whirlwind marriage, a business partnership, so how could they possibly have feelings for each other?

He didn't know if it was Aunt Chen's words that gave him courage today, or if he was afraid that one day she would suddenly leave and never come back.

He didn't want his unspoken feelings to become a regret.

Shen Yi raised his cheekbones and confessed his true feelings: "I said I like you, Yan Xu. Because I like you, I am willing to do things that I would never have done before. Because I like you, I am willing to take care of your food, clothing, and shelter, even if you don't appreciate it at all. I like you so much that I am afraid that what I do will become a psychological burden for you, so I have to do it secretly."

At this moment, every word he uttered entered Yan Xu's ears like a wordless book, his brain completely frozen and unable to function.

The same question kept repeating in my mind: "How could you like me...?"

If you like someone who is extremely lacking in affection, even that affection will be questioned by the other person.

This is Yan Xu, who yearns for love but is helpless and doesn't believe that love will come.

Shen Yi sighed softly: "But it's good. Seeing that you can eat normally, live a normal life, and have normal joys, sorrows, and emotional fluctuations makes me feel that all the rejections I suffered before were nothing."

It takes time for her to go from rejection to gradual acceptance.

Fortunately, he persevered through the process, and so did she.

The intense and sincere emotions presented to Yan Xu made her feel like a coward, unable to face them.

She lowered her head, a wave of inferiority and fear washing over her again: "But I've never done anything for you, how could you like me? What is it about me that's worthy of your affection?"

Prolonged self-doubt prevented Yan Xu from telling herself that she deserved to be loved.

Shen Yi smiled faintly: "Look at you, you don't even know how good you are."

Before Yan Xu could even process what he had said, Shen Yi got up and walked towards the door.

Yan Xu's gaze followed his movements, and he said, "I've moved to the apartment across from yours. Come find me if you need anything."

Actually, he bought the house across the street at a high price and has been living in this one-bedroom rental apartment. Yan Xu will kick him out sooner or later.

Rather than being forced to wait for that day to come, it's better to arrange my own accommodation so I can be closer to her.

Hearing that he was moving out, Yan Xu felt a void in his heart: "Oh."

Shen Yi: "If you miss me, you can come find me. I live in a two-bedroom apartment."

Yan Xu was in low spirits: "Oh..."

It gives the feeling of a little white rabbit abandoned by its owner and homeless.

Shen Yi suddenly regretted suggesting moving out; he should have just waited for her to kick him out.

Seeing Yan Xu's unhappy expression, he couldn't bear to leave.

The door was already half open when Shen Yi closed it again, and Yan Xu looked up at him in surprise.

Shen Yi thought for a moment and said, "I suddenly remembered that I haven't finished unpacking my things yet. I'll stay here for one more night and sleep in the house across the street tomorrow night."

A hint of a smile finally appeared in Yan Xu's eyes: "Mm."

She got up and jogged back to her bedroom. The moment she closed the door, her face turned completely red, as if a red switch had been flipped.

Yan Xu had been confessed to by many people before, but those people were just attracted to her because she was pretty, and they confessed to her hoping she would agree.

These men are all shrewd; they think if she agrees, they'll consider it a bonus; if she doesn't, they'll consider it as if they never confessed their feelings.

But Shen Yi is different...