Wen Xi: “You’re a soldier?”
Fu Yi nodded and continued trying to sell himself to her.
“Marrying me would make it a military marriage, so there’d be legal protection. But my character is an even stronger guarantee than the system itself.”
Hearing this, Wen Xi was once again speechless and almost rolled her eyes.
This inexplicable man really had a talent for getting on her nerves. Even when Lin An had done something that outrageous, she had never felt the urge to roll her eyes. Yet this man had managed to provoke that reaction twice in a row.
Since he clearly wouldn’t accept a polite rejection, she would have to be blunt.
There was no helping it. She was determined to accomplish great things and build a career for herself. A man would only interfere with her plans.
Wen Xi stepped closer. Instead of taking the chair beside Fu Yi, she simply stood there and looked down at him.
“I have no intention of finding a husband.”
“I admit that I respect and admire the greatness of soldiers, but I have my own plans for my life. Becoming a military wife isn’t one of them.”
Had Wen Xi’s blunt rejection hurt Fu Yi?
Honestly, a little.
But only a little.
Because what occupied far more of his mind were the two words “husband” that had just come from her lips.
The moment he heard them, his fingers tightened around the fabric of his trousers. His back teeth clenched for an instant before he finally managed to suppress the excitement surging through him.
Wen Xi, however, noticed none of it.
She thought that after being this straightforward, the man should finally understand that there was no point pursuing her.
She never expected him to do something even more unexpected.
The tall man in formal attire suddenly stood up straight and gave her a crisp military salute.
“Thank you for recognizing and respecting soldiers.”
People always said that a serious man was the most attractive.
But no one had ever said that a man giving a military salute was the most devastatingly handsome.
Some people really did get to enjoy all the good things in life.
Wen Xi was caught completely off guard by his looks. A faint blush spread across her earlobes.
His masculine presence seemed to cover her entire face, throwing her heartbeat slightly out of rhythm.
Fortunately, Fu Yi’s next words brought her back to her senses just in time and rescued her from the embarrassment of being completely dazzled by him.
“Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Fu Yi. I’m from Ping City.”
Fu Yi’s hand was large, his fingers long and slender, his nails neatly trimmed. At a glance, it looked warm, safe, and incredibly comfortable to hold.
But Wen Xi didn’t take his hand.
She merely gave it a light, fleeting touch before quickly withdrawing.
It was polite enough not to be rude, but not enough to give Fu Yi the impression that she had accepted him.
Fu Yi withdrew his hand and looked at the beautiful, radiant woman before him. The vague image buried in his mind gradually became clearer.
He didn’t mind Wen Xi’s resistance at this moment.
He firmly believed that he and Wen Xi were destined to be together.
He would use sincere actions to draw closer to her and make her accept him.
Standing close enough now, Wen Xi could see the certainty in Fu Yi’s eyes. She couldn’t help asking,
“Mr. Fu, have we met before?”
If they had never met, it simply made no sense that Fu Yi would continue pursuing her after being rejected so many times.
But if they had met before, she had absolutely no memory of him.
Fu Yi wasn’t surprised by her question at all. It seemed that no matter what Wen Xi asked, he considered it perfectly reasonable.
His gaze fell on the tiny mole on the bridge of Wen Xi’s nose. After remaining silent for several seconds, he finally answered,
“No.”
Wen Xi believed him.
She had never even considered that Fu Yi might be lying.
As for Fu Yi, he had already made up his mind. He would not use their past to bind Wen Xi to him. The man he was now had grown up, and he could rely on the person he had become to win Wen Xi’s love all over again.
Wen Xi asked another question.
“You have a crush on me?”
This time, Fu Yi honestly shook his head.
No. What he had felt wasn’t a secret crush. It had been love at first sight when they were children—and he had even confessed his feelings to her, and she had accepted them.
“No.”
Wen Xi let out a small breath of relief.
She looked away, then took several steps back and sat down in the chair opposite him. Her right hand idly wound a strand of her long hair around her finger as she casually asked,
“Then why do you want to get engaged to me?”
The next second, the strand of hair she had been lazily twirling nearly cost her several strands when it caught around her fingers.
“Because I fell in love with you at first sight.”
Fu Yi said it with complete composure, without the slightest hint of embarrassment at being attracted to her appearance.
His handsome, almost breathtaking face remained calm and utterly unruffled.
As far as Fu Yi was concerned, he was simply telling the truth, so there was nothing for him to be ashamed of.
However, because he never took his eyes off Wen Xi, he naturally noticed the slight pain that flashed between her brows when her fingers caught in her hair.
He reminded her,
“Be careful when you play with your hair.”
After a brief pause, Fu Yi continued,
“I fell in love with you at first sight, Miss Wen. I believe I can make you happy. I think we’re very well suited to fall in love with each other.”
“As for the restrictions that come with a military marriage, you don’t need to worry. I’ll be the one to wear the shackles. I won’t restrict your life. I only want to be part of it, to accompany you as we grow together.”
Wen Xi didn’t respond.
She simply stopped twirling her hair around her finger, her pupils widening again and again in disbelief.
What?
She had already rejected him so directly, yet Fu Yi was still planning to grow alongside her?
What did he mean by saying that they were “well suited to fall in love”?
They weren’t matching pieces of a puzzle that could fit together perfectly.
Besides, the man standing before her was a genuine product of the 1960s. Yet he could say so many embarrassingly romantic things with such a straight face, without even the slightest trace of shame…
Wen Xi lowered her eyes and ordered her brain to calm down as quickly as possible.
After two seconds, she looked up at Fu Yi again. The confusion in her eyes was unmistakable.
To be honest, Fu Yi had excellent qualities in every respect.
Wen Xi’s gaze landed on his face. After three seconds, it slowly drifted downward.
She couldn’t help it. She genuinely couldn’t find a single flaw in him. Even plastic surgery couldn’t produce a face that handsome.
His prominent, sexy Adam’s apple.
His firm yet fair skin.
His strong, well-proportioned chest.
His broad back that radiated an overwhelming sense of security.
…She still couldn’t find anything wrong with him.
Her gaze moved lower.
His unusually long legs were mostly hidden beneath his loose-fitting trousers, but even so, she could still make out the beautiful lines of his muscles.
…
Wen Xi fell silent.
Her delicate brows furrowed slightly. Her expression shifted several times, and her lips pressed into a thin line.
Fu Yi silently closed his mouth and began overthinking.
Wen Xi’s gaze had lingered a little longer around his legs just now.
Was she dissatisfied because his muscles were too firm?
Or did she dislike the color of his trousers today?
Or perhaps she didn’t like the style of his shoes?
As a soldier, Fu Yi had never paid much attention to his clothes or appearance.
The reason he had shown up dressed like this today was because he had sought advice from the veteran soldiers.
He preferred his military uniform and training clothes to formal attire. Wearing a suit like this made him feel somewhat restrained.
But then he remembered what the veterans had told him. Their wives had praised them more than once for looking incredibly handsome in formal wear, saying that it was enough to make people’s eyes light up.
Could it be that Wen Xi simply had different tastes from those military wives?
Meanwhile, Wen Xi finally finished thinking.
She looked at Fu Yi, finding it increasingly difficult to say the words of rejection that had been on the tip of her tongue.
But in the end, she still said them.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Fu. I don’t think we’re very compatible.”
Fu Yi’s expression didn’t change. He still appeared completely calm and composed.
Only someone who knew him well would have noticed the disappointment hidden in his eyes.
Fu Yi looked at Wen Xi, trying to find even the slightest trace on her face that suggested she cared about him.
But he was disappointed.
Wen Xi wasn’t someone who easily changed her mind.
Fu Yi respected her decision, so he nodded and stopped trying to sell himself to her.
He stood and took two steps toward Wen Xi. From where he stood, he could see the fatigue hidden beneath her eyes.
So he simply left her with one sentence.
“If you ever change your mind, you can contact me anytime.”
Then he politely took his leave.
But was Fu Yi really going to disappear from her life after this?
[Important note: Fu Yi is the male lead of this novel! He is also the most captivating man in the story! He has the clinginess, sense of destiny, responsibility, and mission that make him so compelling! Fu Yi absolutely will not disappear just like this. He and the female lead, Wen Xi, will help each other achieve greatness and stand hand in hand at the very peak of their lives!]