Cen Zhinning really had terrible luck. The moment she stepped out of the dessert shop, she saw Jiang Jingmian and Mu Chenchuan leaning against the corner wall smoking.
Jiang Jingmian stood sideways to her, a slender cigarette between his fingers. Amid the curling smoke, the refined contours of his profile were faintly blurred.
Mu Chenchuan stood beside him, tall and upright, exuding a cold and imposing aura, chattering nonstop about something.
The instant she withdrew her foot, Jiang Jingmian seemed to sense something and glanced in her direction.
Startled, she turned and ran back, nearly stumbling as she rushed into the dessert shop again.
She had just been about to find somewhere to hide when she saw this scene.
Cen Zhinning stared at Jin Yihan in disbelief, as though she didn’t recognize him at all.
“What are you doing?”
She knew Jin Yihan had a bad temper, but this was the first time he had laid hands on someone in front of her.
Jin Yihan pressed his lips together.
“He touched you!”
She didn’t understand.
“And that’s the reason?”
“I told you before—you’re mine!”
“So I’m not even allowed to have contact with the opposite sex?”
Jin Yihan’s expression turned grim.
“If that’s what you think, then I have nothing to say.”
Huh? Why did that sound so familiar?
【Host, steady yourself! Jin Yihan’s possessiveness is skyrocketing!】
Damn it, this moody man.
Cen Zhinning pursed her lips and decided to strike first.
“Jin Yihan, you don’t trust me!”
Her small mouth trembled, her beautiful brows knitted together, her eyes reddening.
“I’ve liked you for so long, and you still don’t trust me. Every day you’re suspicious, thinking I’m involved with other men. If that’s the case, we might as well break up.”
The air froze instantly.
Jin Yihan looked at her in silence. After a long while, he sighed and walked toward her step by step.
“Break up? Who gave you the right to break up unilaterally?”
His voice was flat, but Cen Zhinning could clearly feel the pressure emanating from him.
“Then what? The way you’re acting makes me feel none of your love. All you want is to control me.”
And he’d just thrown away a million like that. What a spendthrift!
Jin Yihan’s gaze grew deeper, a dangerous aura radiating from him as he spoke unhurriedly,
“From the moment you piqued my interest, you lost the qualification to bring up a breakup. Understand?”
Cen Zhinning swallowed nervously.
“But a relationship without trust is like a pile of loose sand.”
Jin Yihan finally resumed his cool, noble demeanor and reached for her hand lightly.
“I don’t distrust you.”
Without a sound, she clasped her hands behind her back.
“You’re lying. You just suspected that I had feelings for that salesperson.”
Caught at the heart of it, Jin Yihan’s expression stiffened slightly.
Cen Zhinning’s tone turned heavily sarcastic. Tears fell like beads from a broken string.
“I love you so much, and you twist my intentions and misunderstand me. You always think I’m entangled with other men. You don’t love me at all.”
Her tears poured down even more fiercely.
“If you loved me, you wouldn’t doubt me.”
Jin Yihan fell silent. Her string of accusations and tears had caught him off guard.
Seeing her slightly trembling shoulders, he felt inexplicably irritated. He couldn’t help pulling her into his arms, locking her tightly against his chest.
“Alright, stop it. I won’t do it again.”
【Ding! Possessiveness has dropped to 20%. Host, you scared this system to death—woohoo, we’re almost done攻略!】
Cen Zhinning blinked and forced her tears back.
Sure enough, what Jin Yihan feared most was a woman’s tears.
“Then you’re not allowed to be so suspicious anymore.”
Jin Yihan kissed the top of her head.
“Okay.”
He gently brushed over her reddened eyes.
“A brother of mine just returned to the country. He’s holding a welcome-back banquet nearby. Want to come meet him?”
Cen Zhinning’s heart tightened. She looked up at him and asked cautiously,
“The same brother who just called you?”
Jin Yihan nodded.
“Mm. They said they want to meet my girlfriend. Let that bunch of bumpkins see what a true beauty looks like.”
Cen Zhinning’s head buzzed. She forced an extremely regretful and annoyed expression onto her face.
“Ah, my makeup is ruined right now. It’s not suitable for meeting people.”
“It’s fine. Even without makeup, my wife is one of a kind.”
“……”
She pursed her lips and rubbed her nose.
“But I’m not feeling very well. I think I’m catching a cold. My head’s spinning. How about next time?”
Jin Yihan looked at her quietly, as though he had already seen through her excuses.
“That’s fine. My friend studied medicine abroad. I’ll have him take a look.”
The smile on Cen Zhinning’s face stiffened more and more. She didn’t know why Jin Yihan was being so insistent about this. Irritated, her tone became much firmer.
“I don’t want to go today. Can’t we do it another day? Why does it have to be today?”
Jin Yihan’s gaze turned cold.
“Give me a legitimate reason.”
“Not wanting to go is reason enough. Why do I need a reason? What right do you have to force me to do something I’m unwilling to do? Do I not even have this bit of personal freedom? Your control is way too overbearing!”
Jin Yihan let out a cold laugh.
“Control? Cen Zhinning, you never ask about my affairs. You show little interest in the people around me. You don’t care about my social circle at all.”
His voice carried a chill.
“So to you, everything about me is meaningless, isn’t it?”
The atmosphere instantly grew tense. The topic had shifted so suddenly that Cen Zhinning couldn’t keep up.
Good grief—Jin Yihan had misunderstood her refusal to meet Mu Chenchuan and Jiang Jingmian as not caring about him? She feigned confusion.
“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
Jin Yihan stared at her intently, his tone tinged with obsession and distortion.
“You’ve never wanted to integrate into my world. You don’t want to understand anything about me. What kind of feelings do you even have for me?”
Cen Zhinning was completely dumbfounded. Where was all this coming from?
“What other feelings could I possibly have for you?”
Suppressing his anger, Jin Yihan seemed to laugh out of fury, his tone gradually intensifying.
“The facts prove that from beginning to end, you’ve treated our relationship as a game!”
Cen Zhinning was speechless. This guy was so sensitive.
“Just because I refused to meet your brother, you think I’m playing with you?”
“Isn’t that so? I’m not stupid! The feeling you give me is one of conquest and curiosity—like you’re completing some kind of mission!”
Cen Zhinning’s heart pounded wildly. He had guessed so accurately. Feeling guilty, she retorted weakly,
“You… you’re talking nonsense!”
Jin Yihan fixed his eyes on hers and said forcefully, word by word,
“Then prove it to me. Prove that in your heart, I am there completely and entirely…”
How… how was she supposed to prove that?
Had she really been that perfunctory toward him?
And someone like Jin Yihan—a powerful man of influence—could also feel insecure about gains and losses?
No. This wasn’t insecurity. It was suspicion and distrust.
A man like him was used to holding everything in his hands, nitpicking every detail, unable to tolerate even the slightest hint of insincerity.
He needed her body and heart to belong entirely to him. That was why he had seen through her thoughts and always harbored doubts about her.
Seeing that Jin Yihan was about to sink into anger and twisted emotions, Cen Zhinning gradually calmed down.
Her shoulders slumped slightly. The anxious expression she’d worn earlier shifted into one of deep grievance and hurt at being misunderstood.
She looked up at Jin Yihan, her eyes filled with disappointment and sorrow.
“So in your heart, this is the kind of person I am?”