Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 344: Wanting Yet Hesitant

The 2014 Chinese New Year fell on January 31st. Zhou Yuwen, taking Liu Shuo and the others with him, was busy until the 25th before finally finishing all their work. Afterward, they packed up a bit and prepared to head home.Quite a few people were heading home this time. Including Liu Shuo, Zhou Yuwen, as well as Su Qing and Li Shiqi, there were four of them in total.

Zheng Yanyan had already taken an airplane back alone on the 20th. She had wanted to stay a few more days to keep Zhou Yuwen company, but her parents were rushing her too fiercely. Logically, final exams had ended on the 15th, meaning she was already five days late. Mother Zheng, who deeply missed her daughter, became genuinely anxious and started complaining, "Zheng Yanyan, have you completely lost yourself having fun out there?! It is almost Chinese New Year, and you still are not coming back?"

"Do your father and I need to go to Jinling and drag you back?!"

Hearing Mother Zheng say this, Zheng Yanyan finally felt a twinge of guilt and quickly replied, "No, please don't! I will head back immediately."

For the two days before Zheng Yanyan returned home, Zhou Yuwen stayed by her side.

Zheng Yanyan was intent on reconciling with Zhou Yuwen. To achieve this, she used every trick in the book, even specially buying two battle robes for him to tear apart. However, Zhou Yuwen always just asked, "Isn't it perfectly fine to maintain our current relationship?"

Why was it absolutely necessary to be officially together?

Having no other choice, Zheng Yanyan conceded, "Alright then."

"But after I go home, you are not allowed to look for other women. You can only love me!"

Zhou Yuwen chuckled softly and replied, "Haven't I always loved you?"

"Hmph."

Later, Zheng Yanyan took the initiative and straddled Zhou Yuwen. In truth, they had already gone at it seven times that night, and even she was feeling completely drained. Yet, she was determined to grind an iron rod into a needle. People said that once it was ground into a needle, a man would lose all his desires. That way, Zhou Yuwen wouldn't have the energy to think about any other women.

However, the final result was that when she boarded the airplane the next day, she walked with a very strange gait.

After Zheng Yanyan left, Su Qing assumed her opportunity had arrived, taking the initiative to go to the big flat and throw herself into his arms.

Unfortunately, Zhou Yuwen was not staying at the big flat at the moment. He mentioned that since it was the end of the semester, he would be staying in the dormitory for a couple of days.

"Zhou Yuwen, how could you do this! You moved back to the dormitory the moment Zheng Yanyan left?" Su Qing felt incredibly wronged.

Zhou Yuwen replied, "I have always stayed in the dormitory, alright? The big flat was for Zheng Yanyan to stay in, didn't you know that?"

Su Qing pouted and told Zhou Yuwen over the phone call to come out and sleep with her.

"I want you to hold me."

Zhou Yuwen pointed out what time it was and told her to stop causing such a fuss.

"But I am already here!"

Speaking of Zhou Yuwen and Su Qing, their married life in the past had been quite adventurous. Su Qing coming to find Zhou Yuwen late at night might have looked conservative on the outside, but underneath, she was only wearing a black, hollowed-out lingerie set. Moreover, she was wearing high heels and glasses.

Tonight, she wanted to conquer Zhou Yuwen completely.

It was just a pity that someone else was occupying Zhou Yuwen's time.

Listening to Su Qing acting spoiled over the phone call, Zhou Yuwen could not help but let out a wry smile. He said there was simply no helping it.

"Why don't you just stay over there for now? There is no one there anyway, I will give you the passcode."

"Zhou Yuwen, you!" Su Qing was so furious she could die. Did she want the big flat? She wanted the person inside the big flat!

Sadly, Zhou Yuwen did not show up.

Zhou Yuwen truly had no time to keep Su Qing company. Zheng Yanyan might have left, but Lu Lin, Tao Tian, and Qu Jing were all still around.

He spent one day each accompanying Tao Tian and Qu Jing, after which they went home.

Lu Lin stayed behind at the university, so he accompanied her for two days.

With only one day left, under Su Qing's relentless pestering...

Zhou Yuwen finally agreed, saying, "Alright, alright, fine. I will go stay at your place tonight!"

Su Qing was thrilled. She specially bought premium body wash, bathed with scented candles, and slipped into a solid-colored slip nightgown, waiting eagerly for Zhou Yuwen to return.

Finally, she heard the sound of the door opening.

Su Qing was already anticipating a return to their sweet married life with Zhou Yuwen tonight.

"Ah!"

When she saw Li Shiqi standing in the living room looking completely simple and innocent...

Su Qing was nearly scared to death.

She hurriedly hid behind the wall, her face flushing bright red.

She demanded, "Zhou Yuwen, why is she here!?"

Zhou Yuwen, still holding onto Li Shiqi's luggage, replied, "What kind of question is that? Her university locked down their campus, so of course I brought her back here to stay. It is perfect that you are here, the two of you can keep each other company."

'That is not what I meant!' Su Qing was absolutely furious. She had prepared so much for this evening.

Yet she never expected Zhou Yuwen to bring another living, breathing person back with him.

Zhou Yuwen asked, "Then what did you mean?!"

"You!"

Su Qing was speechless. She felt that being reborn was worse than never having experienced rebirth at all.

If she had not been reborn, at least she could have had some post-divorce closure sex with Zhou Yuwen. But ever since her rebirth, other than that one time, Zhou Yuwen had never properly laid a finger on her!

By this time, Li Shiqi had already been busy working at the company for four or five days. Su Qing had a rough understanding of her and could confirm that Li Shiqi and Zhou Yuwen did not have any improper relationship. It was purely Zhou Yuwen being kind-hearted, allowing her to come and help out.

She had heard that in her previous life, she was a diplomat or something similar.

Alright, that counted as a high-ranking official.

Su Qing did not oppose Zhou Yuwen building his own connections, and she was even willing to help him manage those connections.

But Zhou Yuwen, you should at least know the difference between insiders and outsiders!

On such an important day for the two of us, you just bring someone else back.

"Tell me, Zhou Yuwen, is it that you just don't want to do 'that' with me?"

Li Shiqi was still carrying her backpack, standing in the living room looking completely lost.

Li Shiqi had worked as a private tutor before, so she had seen lavishly decorated homes.

However, she had never seen a big flat with such minimalist and elegant decor like Zhou Yuwen's.

She looked around, admiring the beautiful house, moving with the cautiousness of an honest child visiting someone else's home.

"Don't want to do what?" Zhou Yuwen feigned ignorance as he looked at Su Qing, who had dragged him straight into the bedroom and pinned him against the wall.

"Exactly 'that'!"

"Just say whatever is on your mind. I really hate how you women always make me guess riddles, alright?!"

Su Qing's face flushed red, and she immediately spat out the words: "Make love!"

Zhou Yuwen nodded, "Oh, so you meant that."

"Not at all."

"Then you..."

"It was purely a coincidence. Her university locked down. I couldn't exactly take her to stay at a hotel, right? Besides, how many times have we already been together? Waiting a few more days won't hurt. Since you are the older sister here, act a bit more graciously," Zhou Yuwen said.

Su Qing stared directly at Zhou Yuwen without uttering a single word.

Hmph!

She hated Zhou Yuwen!

But when she walked back out to face Li Shiqi, Su Qing was as pleasant and friendly as ever.

Li Shiqi was quite sensible, asking, "Am I disturbing you two?"

"No,"

"Of course not."

Zhou Yuwen stated, "She is just my younger sister."

Su Qing turned her head and glared at Zhou Yuwen.

Zhou Yuwen patted Su Qing on the shoulder. "Right, little sister?"

"Right! Big brother!"

That "brother" was spoken through gritted teeth.

Li Shiqi could now be considered a shared connection between Zhou Yuwen and Su Qing.

Because they were both reborn persons, after all, when Su Qing had sought out Zhou Yuwen that day, he had laid all his cards on the table.

Then Su Qing, being a complete jealous person, inevitably interrogated Zhou Yuwen about whether he had feelings for the girl.

Zhou Yuwen replied that he certainly did not.

"Even if I did, it wouldn't be until much later. Think about it. Her future career is so bright. If I mess with her now, wouldn't I be ruining her prospects? Do you think being a diplomat is that easy? Even given a second chance at life, neither of us could necessarily pull it off."

Those words were genuinely the truth.

However, hearing Zhou Yuwen say this, Su Qing felt deeply delighted inside. She muttered to herself, "It is a rare day when you are actually rational."

"I have always been rational, alright!"

Therefore, on this final night, they all managed to get along quite harmoniously.

Zhou Yuwen stayed in the master bedroom alone, while Su Qing took Li Shiqi to stay in the second bedroom.

Su Qing treated Li Shiqi with great warmth. Being two months older than her, she constantly called her "Sister Shiqi" affectionately and even gave her own pajamas for Li Shiqi to wear.

It was Li Shiqi's first time staying in such a luxurious house.

Everything felt utterly surreal.

That night, Su Qing and Li Shiqi lay in bed chatting.

Li Shiqi mentioned that she knew Su Qing from high school. "You knew me?"

It was perfectly normal for Su Qing to know Li Shiqi, as Li Shiqi had been ranked first in the entire school at the time. However, the fact that Li Shiqi knew Su Qing came as a bit of a surprise.

Although Su Qing's studying was reasonably good, it certainly could not compare to Li Shiqi's.

Su Qing felt quite flattered.

Li Shiqi simply nodded, agreeing that she had seen her around. She remarked that Su Qing was very beautiful.

Su Qing loved it when others praised her beauty. Hearing this made her secretly delighted, and she replied, "You are very beautiful too."

The two of them lay in the second bedroom's bed in their pajamas.

The lights had long since been turned off.

The room was pitch black and extraordinarily quiet.

Li Shiqi suddenly asked Su Qing, "When exactly did you and Zhou Yuwen start dating?"

Li Shiqi had heard that Su Qing and Zhou Yuwen had been together since high school.

But why did she have absolutely no recollection of it?

She didn't even remember Su Qing ever coming to their classroom to look for Zhou Yuwen.

"Uh."

The whole story about their high school romance was just something Su Qing had made up casually. Now that Li Shiqi was asking about it, Su Qing had no choice but to continue weaving the lie.

Meanwhile, Li Shiqi listened intently, her heart filled with envy.

After all, this was what youth was supposed to be.

A youth she would never be able to experience.

Su Qing noticed the pain hidden in Li Shiqi's heart. She embraced Li Shiqi and comforted her, "You will also find someone who truly loves you in the future."

Li Shiqi stared up at the ceiling in silence.

Zhou Yuwen had indeed been thoroughly exhausted over the past few days, so he didn't want to do anything tonight. He just wanted to sleep alone and get some proper rest.

He hadn't checked his phone for a little while.

Suddenly, several WeChat messages popped up on his screen.

"Why were you avoiding me when we got off work today?"

"The monk can run away, but can he take the temple with him?"

"Zhou Yuwen, I am latching onto you now!"

Seeing the messages sent by Jiang Xinyi, Zhou Yuwen instantly felt a headache coming on. Come on, Sister Xinyi, could you please be a bit more reasonable?!

You are twenty-five years old, aren't you ashamed? Chasing after a 'little puppy' like me?

"I don't care about that~" Jiang Xinyi tossed her head up, looking rather adorable.

Alright, Zhou Yuwen was developing a headache.

Time jumped back to the night of Jiang Xinyi's confession.

Jiang Xinyi's sudden confession had indeed given Zhou Yuwen a massive fright.

If one claimed that Zhou Yuwen was completely oblivious, that would obviously be a lie.

Zhou Yuwen enjoyed this feeling of being more than friends but not quite lovers.

Remaining as friends with Jiang Xinyi was the perfect balance.

But becoming lovers would just be too troublesome.

It was not an issue of age.

Rather, the connections between the two of them were simply far too complicated.

You Changjin was his counselor, after all. If they kept things in the dark, maybe it would have been acceptable, but the problem was she wanted to drag it out into the open!

The most crucial point was that Jiang Xinyi's family background was incredibly wealthy.

Once they actually started dating...

She wouldn't be nearly as easy to placate as Zheng Yanyan.

Another important point was that Zhou Yuwen didn't want his romantic relationships tangling up with family matters.

He was far too familiar with Liu Jing now.

The moment he started dating Jiang Xinyi, Liu Jing would absolutely start viewing him straight away as her son-in-law.

So this was truly not an ideal situation.

The night Jiang Xinyi confessed to Zhou Yuwen, he had been genuinely stunned, resorting to playing the fool. "What? Sister Xinyi, you like me?"

"You really like me? How come I never noticed anything at all! I mean, what is there even to like about me?" Zhou Yuwen pretended to be completely clueless.

In response, Jiang Xinyi simply scoffed coldly, "Hmph, Zhou Yuwen, drop the act. You couldn't tell?"

"I truly couldn't tell." Zhou Yuwen hurriedly waved his hands.

"Then what about now!" Jiang Xinyi stared directly into Zhou Yuwen's eyes, demanding an answer.

"What about now?"

"Now that I have confessed!"

"Oh."

"What is that supposed to mean, 'oh'!" Jiang Xinyi grew anxious. She thought to herself that in all her years of living, this was her very first confession, yet Zhou Yuwen was giving her such a lackluster reaction. He should at least give a proper response.

"A response? What kind of response? Jiang Xinyi, you don't actually intend to date me, do you?" Zhou Yuwen asked with an amused laugh.

"Are you rejecting me because you think I'm too old?" Jiang Xinyi demanded.

"No," Zhou Yuwen hastily waved his hands.

"Then why can't we?" Jiang Xinyi tilted her small head up and asked.

Her expression was undoubtedly adorable, but Zhou Yuwen continued waving his hands in refusal. It was inappropriate, genuinely inappropriate.

Jiang Xinyi pressed on, asking how exactly it was inappropriate.

"If you don't give me a clear explanation today, I am not going to let you leave!"

Zhou Yuwen started to bring up the matter regarding You Changjin.

Jiang Xinyi countered, "Things between You Changjin and I have been over for a long time. If you don't believe me, I will make a phone call to him right now and ask him directly for you."

As she spoke, Jiang Xinyi pulled out her phone to make the call.

Zhou Yuwen immediately stopped her, saying, "Wait, wait, don't."

"Sister Xinyi, it's late at night. Let's not disturb the man." Zhou Yuwen snatched the phone away from her.

Jiang Xinyi pressed, "Then what other reasons do you have? Keep talking."

"If you resent me for being older, just say it straight."

"It truly isn't an issue with age."

For a moment, Zhou Yuwen genuinely felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

If it was just about having a casual fling, Zhou Yuwen would have absolutely no objections.

But dealing with the willful and unruly woman right in front of him, getting into an actual romantic relationship...

Zhou Yuwen genuinely wanted no part of it.

They hadn't even started dating yet, and she was already throwing a tantrum at him, spouting things like 'even if I don't say it, you should understand.'

What would happen if they actually dated?

He truly dreaded to think about it.

Furthermore, what was it that Jiang Xinyi had just said?

She had declared that she would be jealous if Zhou Yuwen treated other girls well!

Yet in the places where she couldn't see, Zhou Yuwen frequently treated other girls exceptionally well.

Zhou Yuwen both wanted to maintain his current connection with Jiang Xinyi...

...and had zero desire to officially establish a relationship.

Thus, he was caught in an incredibly difficult predicament!

The heater was running inside the car.

"Why is it suddenly so hot in this car? I am practically sweating. Should I turn the heater down a bit?" Zhou Yuwen muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

This was the first time Jiang Xinyi had seen Zhou Yuwen look this nervous.

For a brief moment, she found it genuinely amusing.

She pouted slightly. "Do whatever you want."

He turned down the heater a notch.

Was there anything else left to be said?

Zhou Yuwen insisted, "We are truly not suited for each other."

"Then tell me, exactly which part of us isn't suited."

"It's not that we aren't suited, it's just that I haven't been looking to date anyone lately. Your sudden confession caught me completely off guard! Sister Xinyi, I have always looked up to you as an older sister, yet you suddenly confessed to me. I just... I can't quite accept it all at once."