Su Qinghe had guessed that Jiang Che might bring this up, but she never expected him to ask so directly.
She could feel his breathing close to her. All the excuses and evasions she had prepared were already at the tip of her tongue, yet when it came time to speak, she hesitated.
Truthfully, she didn’t want to hide anything from Jiang Che. She didn’t want to lie to him.
But if she admitted it outright, would he reject her immediately?
And even if she didn’t admit it, with the way she had been acting these past two days, anyone who wasn’t a fool could see it.
Inside her heart, two little voices were fighting fiercely.
One voice told her not to be impulsive, that it was better to hide her feelings. At least that way, she could stay by Jiang Che’s side a little longer.
The other voice urged her to be brave. If she didn’t pierce this thin layer between them, Jiang Che would eventually belong to another woman. Was she really willing to accept that?
Jiang Che had been watching the girl in front of him the entire time. He clearly saw her earlobes slowly turning pink. She was obviously shy.
Even though he already knew the answer, he wanted to hear it from her own lips.
He was patient. If Su Qinghe didn’t speak, he would wait, giving her enough time to gather her courage.
After a moment, Su Qinghe took a deep breath and buried her flushed face into the pillow. Her voice was muffled, but it carried unusual firmness.
“Mm… I like you.”
Even knowing she might not be worthy of him, even knowing this could be a one-sided love with no outcome, she still wanted him to know.
There was nothing shameful about loving someone.
“Alright. As long as you admit it.”
Confirming that Su Qinghe liked him was only the first step. Jiang Che’s tone grew slightly more serious.
“Since you like me, I need to be honest with you.”
“I can’t agree to be your boyfriend right now.”
Su Qinghe didn’t seem surprised at all.
She slowly lifted her head. Her eyes looked hollow and unfocused, and her pale lips forced out a faint, strained smile.
So she was rejected after all?
That made sense. She had never been worthy of him. The care he showed her was probably just concern between friends.
She had been deluding herself.
As she thought this, clear tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, dropping onto her arm and soaking the fabric.
“Don’t cry yet. Let me finish.”
The moment he saw her tears, Jiang Che felt a headache coming on. He quickly reached out and gently patted her head to comfort her.
“I’m not refusing because you’re not good enough. On the contrary, you’re very good. So good that if I nodded right now, I’d feel like a complete jerk.”
He sighed and sat back in his chair. “You know I just completely ended things with Lin Wanwan.”
“Even though we were never officially together, and I don’t like her anymore, the effort I put in over the past two years was real. Everyone around me knows that.”
“So think about it. If I chose to be with you right now, how would people see you?”
“If I got together with you at this moment, it would be irresponsible. It would be treating you like a tool to heal my wounds. I’m no saint, but I can’t do something that shameless.”
Su Qinghe blinked in confusion. Did that mean he wasn’t rejecting her?
“So, Su Qinghe.”
Seeing that her tears had finally stopped, Jiang Che let out a quiet sigh of relief and softened his tone. “Can you give me some time? I can’t make you a promise immediately, and I can’t instantly switch roles and start liking you. That would be disrespectful and unfair to you.”
Su Qinghe bit her lower lip. She felt both disappointed and touched.
Disappointed that he hadn’t accepted her right away. Touched that he treated her with equality and respect instead of playing with her feelings.
“Actually…” She sniffed and said awkwardly, “I can leave on my own. I don’t want to make things difficult for you…”
“If I tell you to take back your feelings right now, could you do it?” Jiang Che asked with a faint smile.
Su Qinghe froze for a second, then shook her head desperately. Tears began pouring down again.
She couldn’t take them back.
From the moment he carried her out of that dark alley, her heart had stopped belonging to her.
“Exactly.”
Jiang Che spread his hands. “Since you can’t take it back, I don’t have the right to force you not to like me. But I really can’t respond to you right now. So we need a compromise.”
Su Qinghe didn’t speak. Her hands twisted together as if she were making a very difficult decision.
After several seconds, she suddenly straightened her back and faced him with a serious expression.
“Jiang Che, you don’t have to accept me. You can even make me wait.”
“But—”
She paused. Despite her soft and delicate face, a stubborn determination shone through. “You can’t take away my right to like you. I want to treat you well. I want to stick to you. That’s my business.”
“So I’ve decided. Even if you think I’m a burden, even if you truly can’t like me, I’ll still stick to you. I’ll stick to you for the rest of my life.”
Jiang Che was momentarily stunned. Seeing her act fierce despite clearly lacking confidence made him want to laugh.
So when a little white rabbit was pushed to the edge, it really would bite.
He looked at her, half amused and half helpless. Was this really the same Su Qinghe who used to be timid and barely dared to speak loudly?
It seemed Bai Yuning had taught her more than just how to act cute. She had filled her head with quite a few crooked ideas too.
Still, it seemed to be working. For once, Bai Yuning had done something decent.
Jiang Che stood up, walked to the bedside in two steps, and ruffled her fluffy hair firmly.
“Alright, Su Qinghe. You’ve grown some courage, huh? Daring to talk back to me now?”
Su Qinghe shrank her neck slightly but didn’t dodge. Instead, she leaned into his palm. “I wasn’t talking back…”
“I just don’t want to leave you. I really like you, Jiang Che. I like you so much…”
Jiang Che found himself addicted to patting her head. With the girl in his arms clinging to him and acting cute nonstop, his heart softened completely.
“I know you like me. I’m just saying we both need to give each other some time.”
“You give me time to clear out my heart properly. I’ll give you time to recover your body, and also to think carefully about whether your feelings for me come from love or simply gratitude. You need to figure that out.”
“During this time, I won’t reject your kindness. I’ll treat you well too, and I’ll try to like you.”
“After all, if I really missed out on a girl as silly and well-behaved as you, I’d probably regret it for the rest of my life.”
Su Qinghe suddenly lifted her head. A spark of light instantly lit up her once-empty eyes.
“R-Really?”
“Would I get candy for lying to you?” Jiang Che flicked her forehead lightly. “The way we are now… let’s call it an ambiguous phase.”
“If one day I feel ready, or you feel I’m not worth waiting for, then we’ll talk things through clearly. So, are you brave enough to take this gamble?”
Without a second of hesitation, Su Qinghe answered, “I am!”
The moment her words fell, she bounced up from the bed like a small cannonball and threw herself straight into Jiang Che’s arms.
“Mm!”
Jiang Che let out a muffled groan from the impact and had to take two steps back before he could barely steady himself.