Chapter 399 - Ruan Yang, You Can't Overdo It. You Have To Be Responsible.

li shaobin let go of her with discomfort. ruan yang wiped her moist lips and felt as though she still wasn’t fully sober from her intoxication. after a very long time, she found her voice. “li shaobin, what are you doing? are you mad?”

li shaobin didn’t think he was mad. he thought it was more like he was under a spell. his body wasn’t under his command. he told himself this person used to be with xin ziao. who was xin ziao? his arch-nemesis. but he couldn’t control himself and for some reason, he kissed her. it wasn’t his fault. he didn’t want this to happen either; it was all her fault for smiling so beautifully at him. “i was kissing you. couldn’t you tell? so only you’re allowed to force a kiss on me but i can’t do the same?”

ruan yang stared wide-eyed at him. “i kissed you previously for your own good.”

li shaobin pressed his lips together. he blinked and said, “i don’t care. anyway, you forced a kiss on me, and it wasn’t only once.”

ruan yang’s face heated up quickly. who could tell her? did she really force a kiss on him before?

“that was in the past. i… i lost my memory,” she said dryly.

“i don’t care,” li shaobin repeated. “besides, you kept seducing me for no reason, treated me to western food, and even insisted on lighting a candle when we were eating. you kept saying that i’m dashing and nice. you made me feel all weird because you kept seducing me.”

“i… it was because…” no matter how well ruan yang spoke, she started to stutter too. she had to organize her thoughts.

“you what?” li shaobin interrupted her and said, “i know i’m good-looking and nice. if you like me, i won’t blame you. i can also… try to accept you. after all, i don’t have a girlfriend now and you don’t have a boyfriend either.” he might be able to let bygones be bygones.

his last two lines weren’t articulated clearly and after saying that, his face heated up too.

ruan yang turned hoarse. “i forced a kiss on you previously because i wanted to help you get back some face in front of luo xiru. i treated you to western food because i wanted to have some. i lit the candle because i thought it was very romantic and i wanted to give it a try. i praised you for being handsome and nice because i felt you weren’t bad and i was afraid that the words spoken by luo xiru and the woman tonight would hurt your feelings and make you lose confidence.”

“so you don’t like me at all?” li shaobin felt a heavy blow to his chest. it had been wishful thinking on his part. he was angry. “if you don’t like me, why did you keep provoking me, why did you keep seducing me? ruan yang, you can’t overdo it; you need to act responsibly.”

ruan yang wanted to vomit blood. “yes, you’re right. a person has to be responsible but i didn’t think that you liked me. it’s possible to have a platonic friendship between a man and a woman, just like how you’re friends with changqing and duoyao. you should know that. i know your friends are all married or in a relationship and you want to have a girlfriend, so you tried working things out with luo xiru. from what i saw, you didn’t seem to like that female cop a lot. you just wanted to be in a relationship. after things failed between the two of you, we happened to get a little closer, but you can’t think that we have to be in a relationship because of that. we shouldn’t be together just for the sake of being in a relationship or getting married. there must be a feeling of attraction and love between two people to get together.”

li shaobin was stunned by her words. he had already guessed what he felt for luo xiru. it didn’t seem to be love. he just felt she was a little more interesting than other women. when he found out she was a spy, he felt humiliated and angry but not much sadness. however, he did like someone in the past, so he wasn’t that foolish to not know the heart-racing feeling of liking someone. when he was with ruan yang, it felt totally different from when he was with luo xiru.

he frowned with annoyance and pressed his lips together without saying a word.

“alright, it’s getting late. let’s go.” ruan yang picked up her bag. she wanted to leave this place as soon as possible right now.

however, after she put on her coat, she realized that li shaobin was still sitting on the table like a glum child, refusing to move.

she felt guilty. li shaobin suddenly turned his head and said, “ruan yang, i watched your movies at home yesterday. i watched them for the entire night without sleeping because i wanted to see you. even if i couldn’t see you face to face, watching your movies worked too. tell me—what is this if it’s not attraction?”

ruan yang was stunned. she felt as though there was cement blocking her heart.

at this time, it seemed that she could only admit that he had really fallen for her.

li shaobin continued to say unhappily, “at first, we did have a few interactions, but i didn’t think of it that way. ever since you lost your memory, you really kept seducing me. tell me—if, for a change, a man kept telling you gently that you’re beautiful, that you’re nice, and that you’re thoughtful, wouldn’t you start having certain thoughts?”

ruan yang was speechless once again. she stroked her nose. now that he put it that way, she seemed to have caused a misunderstanding. “then what do you want? you… you like me but i don’t.”

that was a really hurtful sentence. ruan yang knew it too. after she said that, she saw li shaobin’s bright eyes dimming. she felt really bad but she had no choice.

“you… great.” li shaobin felt that he had gone back to the days in his high school years when he first confessed to his crush but was told that she liked xin ziao. that feeling was just like being kicked into the horizon.

he glared at her and swung the door shut angrily.

ruan yang watched the door of the suite banging shut and felt regretful. should she have not been so straightforward? this misunderstanding might’ve really been because of her. she could’ve been more subtle about it. after all, shaobin was still a very nice person.

she sighed and walked out. when she went down to pay the bill, the cashier said young master li had already paid.

she was stunned. she didn’t think that li shaobin would still think about paying. this person was quite generous. when she quarreled with her boyfriend in high school, he would also leave just like that—who would think of footing the bill?

when she walked out of the clubhouse, li shaobin, who was standing by the staircase smoking, turned back and glanced at her.

ruan yang was shocked once again. she asked softly, “didn’t you leave already?”

“i wanted to leave but it’s not really appropriate to leave a public figure like you in this kind of place.” li shaobin pouted. “i’ll see you off until you get into a cab.”

“… alright.” ruan yang looked at him and felt even worse.

this person was actually really nice.

after she got into a cab, she wound the window down and said to him, “go back early and rest.”

“i’m guessing i won’t be able to get any rest,” li shaobin suddenly said gloomily. “i’ll go back and continue watching your movies. you really filmed too little movies; otherwise, i wouldn’t need to rewatch them.”

ruan yang felt her heart skip a beat. it was more touching for a handsome man to say that so pitifully than to hear the words “i like you” or “i love you”. she was also a normal woman and inside, she was merely 18 years old. it would be impossible for her to have no reaction to what he said. for a split moment, she also wanted to give things a try. however, when the thought flashed past her mind, she thought of her eight years of lost memories and didn’t dare to act hastily. “li shaobin, don’t be like this. actually, i might not be in northern city in the future. i’ve left the entertainment industry and i did have intentions of going back to guangdong in a few days’ time. oh right, you can tell the caretaker you hired to stop coming over. i’ve already fully recovered anyway. after i go back to guangdong, i don’t know when i’ll come back.”

“you’re going back to guangdong?” li shaobin was hurt once again.

“yeah. i miss my parents. although i heard i fell out with them and they stopped contacting me, i still want to go back and seek their forgiveness,” ruan yang said. “if they’re willing to forgive me, i’ll move in. after all, i have more memories of being there.”

li shaobin stared blankly at her. after a very long while, he suddenly recalled that if she were to go back, her parents would definitely talk about xin ziao.

“alright, goodbye. i hope there will be a chance for us to meet again.” ruan yang sighed and the car drove off.

li shaobin regained his senses and called changqing quickly, telling her about ruan yang’s decision to return to guangdong.

when changqing learned the news, she became nervous. she quickly hung up and wanted to call ruan yang, but song chuyi snatched her phone away and hung up.

“what are you doing?” changqing glared at him unhappily.

“don’t call her.” song chuyi hugged her. “are you going to make sure ruan yang never returns to her parents? that’s impossible. no matter how big the conflict between her and her parents is, they’re still family. besides, she came back from overseas this time mainly because her father was hospitalized. her parents aren’t getting any younger. when illness is in the picture, that could mean any day could be their last chance to meet.”

changqing was in despair. “i know, but her parents will definitely mention xin ziao.”

“so be it. she’s already lost her memory. even if someone mentioned him, she would just think that she was once in a relationship with someone like that.” song chuyi stroked her head. “if you don’t want her to remember any bad memories, you have to cut her off from the outside world. besides, i believe ruan yang could handle it even if she remembers.”

changqing frowned. she couldn’t help but admit that song chuyi made sense.

“alright, stop thinking about it. come, let your husband kiss you properly. we haven’t gone horse-riding in a very long time.” song chuyi carried her and put her on the bed as he bit her lips naughtily. “shall we ride tonight?”

changqing covered his mouth shyly. song chuyi held her little hand and kissed it. “are you riding or am i riding?”

“annoying.” changqing couldn’t listen on. she pounced on him to beat him and she easily pounced on top of song chuyi. he curled his lips up and laughed softly. “looks like you’re the one riding.”