The meal was ready quickly. Everyone had their own thoughts, and the atmosphere felt strange.
Fortunately, Li Wenyue was a socially adept person who knew how to liven things up. In the end, the meal was enjoyable for all, hosts and guests alike.
Li Hanting had originally planned to help wash the dishes, but Yin Jianguo sent him out along with Yin Li.
The stairwell was narrow, so they walked one behind the other, neither speaking.
Yin Li followed behind, standing on the slightly higher step, able to see the back of Li Hanting’s head.
“Hey, Li Hanting… about today… sorry for dragging you into this.” Yin Li felt a little awkward. The situation had already turned out completely different from what she had expected. The most innocent person in all of this was Li Hanting, who had been pulled in against his will—and he had also helped her father.
Yin Li felt like she owed him a lot.
As the two stepped out of the courtyard, a few neighbors glanced their way. They had often been together before, but never this conspicuously.
Although free love was encouraged nowadays, people still loved to gossip.
The evening breeze carried away the lingering heat, bringing a hint of coolness. Children chased each other around, and the scent of cooking drifted from every household.
They walked under a large tree, the dim yellow streetlights stretching their shadows long.
Seeing that Li Hanting was walking with his head down in silence, Yin Li assumed he was still upset. She quickly took two small running steps to catch up and looked up at him. “Are you angry with me? I can explain.”
Only then did Li Hanting stop. He smelled of White Cat dish soap—the kind Aunt Li had brought back from out of town. Most people used baking soda or warm rice water to wash dishes.
The scent suited him. Yin Li remembered that the first time she met him, she had noticed that even though he looked rough and intimidating, he was very clean.
Now he looked down at her, and Yin Li’s heart unexpectedly quickened for a moment. “It’s complicated. It’s just that… I really need a romantic relationship right now… Ah, how do I explain this to you?”
She couldn’t tell him everything, so her words came out a bit jumbled. “It’s just… you know how my family is. I can’t disappoint Aunt Li… I can’t get too close to my brother…”
“So,” Li Hanting furrowed his brow, stopped walking, and turned to face her, “you and your brother?”
“Ah? No, no!” Yin Li quickly denied it, but there was also a hint of embarrassment—the kind that comes from being found out but not wanting to admit it. “What are you talking about! He’s my brother!”
She felt guilty.
Of course Yin Li felt guilty, because in that long, drawn-out dream, she had been hopelessly and uncontrollably in love with Zhao Xiujie, unable to hide her feelings.
“I see,” Li Hanting said, withdrawing his gaze and continuing to walk leisurely ahead. “Then… do you like me?”
“Ah?” Yin Li hadn’t expected him to be so direct. Her instinct was to deny it again, but she found herself unable to say the words. “Th-This is…”
If she said she didn’t like him, wouldn’t that hurt his feelings? But if she said she did, how would this end?
“I know,” he said, his voice low, carrying an indescribable loneliness. “How could someone like you ever like someone like me?”
I’m terrible. Yin Li was alarmed. She couldn’t just let that slide. “That’s not true! Don’t think like that.”
“The truth is, you only ate with me and spent time with me because you felt sorry for me, right? I’m not like your brother—good family, able to study abroad.” He continued.
Yin Li wasn’t some kind of bodhisattva. There was no way she would hang out with someone just because she pitied them. If that were the case, there were plenty of pitiable people in Anfeng.
She suddenly realized that she really had grown close to Li Hanting. It wasn’t just because he cooked well. It was because he made her feel like no matter what she did, he could handle it, he would understand…
“Don’t say that,” Yin Li said, kicking at the fallen leaves on the ground. “You’re not inferior to anyone.”
In the dream, there hadn’t been much information about Li Hanting. She vaguely remembered that he had ended up going far away later on.
Yin Li didn’t know what he would go on to do, but she felt he wasn’t the type to be content staying in a small place like Anfeng.
As they walked further, the number of people gradually thinned out. Most had gone home for dinner.
Li Hanting was the first to stop, standing beneath a large tree with a massive canopy. This time, he turned fully to face her. “Really?”
“Really.” Yin Li spoke from the heart.
“Then when you said you like me—was that real too?”
Before she could even steady herself, Li Hanting asked.
His expression was so serious. His pupils seemed impossibly dark. Yin Li tilted her head up, looking at him, unable to answer for a long moment.
“Li Li, I’m not like your brother. I don’t like being played with.” Li Hanting raised his hand and used the pad of his palm to cup her face, leaving her no way to avoid his gaze.
Yin Li felt flustered. She found him a little frightening in that moment, yet strangely, her face grew warm. She couldn’t control where her eyes went—they happened to land on his Adam’s apple.
It was very prominent, bobbing up and down as he spoke…
“I’m not playing with you. Why do you keep making it sound worse and worse?” Her cheeks were squished by his hand. She shook her head to break free, not wanting to seem weak, so she snapped back, “Anyway, thank you for today. I’ll make it up to you later!”
“Later? You’ll string me along first, then once you get to university, you’ll just toss me aside, is that it?” Li Hanting narrowed his eyes.
Yin Li realized that his gaze had pinned her in place. She couldn’t move.
“I’m not that kind of person!” Yin Li glared at him. “It’s just… just…”
A flicker of confusion passed through her eyes. “Anyway… what do you really think? I’ll explain everything to my dad.”
Li Hanting chuckled softly. “What will you say? That you don’t like me? That you like someone else?”
“I never said I didn’t like you!” The words tumbled out of Yin Li’s mouth before she could stop them. She immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. Why is my mouth faster than my brain? She didn’t even know why she had said that.
Then she saw Li Hanting smile softly, his chest vibrating with a low laugh. Just as she thought he was taking it as a joke, his smile suddenly faded. He leaned down, closing the distance between them.
“Yin Li, since you say you like me, you should know—I don’t just treat anyone well for no reason. Especially not a woman. I like you. I’m good to you because I want to be with you someday. If—”
He paused, his gaze turning intense.
“If you think you can treat me like some other man—string me along, use me, and then throw me away—I won’t let you off easily.”
His expression was more serious than she had ever seen it. His already rough, sharp features now carried an indescribable stubbornness.
“If you ever think you can just toss me aside like some plaything, then you’d better be ready to face the consequences. I don’t think… you want to find out what I would do to you…”
His voice was still incredibly gentle, but a chill crept up Yin Li’s spine.
After a long moment of thought, Yin Li extended her fingertip and gently hooked it around his sleeve. “Why are you so mean? I know… you’re actually a good person.”
“Good person?” Li Hanting looked at her soft, gentle expression, then suddenly pulled her into his arms and found her lips.