Gu Huaiye knew that Shi Shuyi had listed all those rules not because she genuinely wanted to date him, but simply because she hoped to make him give up.
But the word “give up” had never been in Gu Huaiye’s dictionary.
If she dared ask, he’d dare pluck even the stars from the sky and place them before her.
Shi Shuyi sat upright again in the passenger seat, her tone businesslike and distant.
“President Gu, you agreed to my conditions awfully quickly. I hope you’ll keep your word. If you break even one of them, we’ll part on good terms.”
“No problem.”
He answered without hesitation, then pressed the accelerator again and turned the wheel, heading toward S University.
The city streets glittered with lights in the night as they sped past.
A faint, inscrutable smile lingered at the corner of Gu Huaiye’s mouth. From time to time, his gaze drifted to the girl beside him.
She kept her head turned toward the window, offering him only a clear, delicate profile—
A smooth forehead, a pert nose, long, curled lashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyes. Her features were so perfectly defined they seemed carefully drawn.
The car was quiet, yet an elusive tension stirred between them.
Having suddenly acquired a girlfriend in name, Gu Huaiye felt as though something had lightly touched a long-dormant corner of his heart.
He couldn’t say exactly what it was.
But it didn’t feel bad.
The car drew near the gates of S University.
With one hand on the wheel, Gu Huaiye glanced at the quiet profile beside him and suddenly found he didn’t want to part just yet.
His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Since you’re my girlfriend now, why don’t you come back to my place tonight? I’ll have someone bring you back tomorrow morning.”
Hearing the obvious implication in his words, Shi Shuyi instinctively clutched her seat belt and turned her face away, avoiding his overly direct gaze.
“I… need some time to get used to being your ‘girlfriend.’”
Her voice was soft, but her resolve was gentle and firm. “Besides, I don’t want to move that fast.”
Gu Huaiye hadn’t really meant to do anything.
But for some reason, he’d simply wanted her to stay.
Looking at her face so close to his and those eyes of hers, always clear as glass, he felt an uncontrolled heat surge through him.
His gaze darkened, but in the end, he said nothing and kept driving toward the campus.
The air seemed taut with an invisible thread.
Only when the car stopped at the entrance did Shi Shuyi hesitantly turn to him.
“Are you… angry? You promised you wouldn’t force me. If you can’t keep that promise, then maybe we should…” End things.
Before she could say the last words, Gu Huaiye continued driving into the campus and cut her off calmly.
“Give me directions. I’ll drop you at your dorm.”
“Turn left at the end of the road up ahead, then turn right at the top of the slope.”
Shi Shuyi gave him directions quietly, then glanced down at her phone. It was one in the morning.
The campus was silent and deserted.
She was also glad S University had no curfew. No matter how late it got, she could still return to her dorm.
The car slowed, then finally stopped outside her dormitory.
Gu Huaiye swiftly unfastened his seat belt and got out.
Shi Shuyi had just released her seat belt when she heard the car door open. The man’s tall figure was already looming over her.
He bent and leaned into the car.
Before Shi Shuyi could react, the seatback suddenly tilted backward.
Gu Huaiye braced one knee against the edge of the seat, trapping her in the cramped space. His deep-set eyes looked especially commanding in the dim light.
“Baby, a kiss isn’t asking too much, is it?”
His voice was low and husky, his gaze fixed on her lips.
Shi Shuyi instinctively raised a hand and pressed her palm against his approaching mouth.
Gu Huaiye immediately caught the fragrance from her palm—a sweet hint of jasmine.
“Hmm?”
“Your girl-friend,” he said, drawing out each syllable. “Can’t let me do anything? Not even kiss you?”
Her lashes fluttered. Her eyes were flustered, but she still gathered her courage and met his gaze.
“I… I’m not saying you can’t.”
“But I want to ask you something first.”
Gu Huaiye raised an eyebrow, inviting her to go on.
“There are lots of girls around you. You chose me as your girlfriend because… you like me, even just a little?”
Gu Huaiye’s thoughts raced.
Like her?
Probably, a little.
Everyone appreciates beauty.
She was beautiful.
But the main reason was that he needed a “girlfriend” right now—and Shi Shuyi was the most suitable choice, the one he wanted most.
Gu Huaiye lowered his head and met her shining eyes, filled with innocence and expectation.
He heard his own voice, low and sure.
“Of course.”
A scatter of light immediately bloomed in the girl’s eyes.
She lifted her chin slightly and said shyly, “Then close your eyes and answer one more question.”
Gu Huaiye obligingly shut his eyes.
The next second, he felt her warm breath draw near. Her soft lips brushed his upper lip as lightly as a feather.
A fresh, sweet fruit fragrance slipped into his senses, accompanied by her breathy whisper.
“Then… what flavor is my lipstick?”
Gu Huaiye’s eyes flew open. His deep, dark gaze fixed on the girl before him, whose ears had turned completely red.
She was so inexperienced, yet insisted on acting as if she knew exactly what she was doing, teasing him.
Innocent, and bold!
It was enough to make him lose control.
He gave her no more chance to take the lead. One hand closed around the back of her neck, and with unmistakable force, he kissed her deeply.
“Mmph…”
Shi Shuyi instinctively tried to push his shoulder away, but he caught her wrist even faster and pinned it firmly against the seat.
All her tentative, awkward probing was swallowed up by the scorching kiss.
Gu Huaiye kissed with practiced skill and an aggressiveness that left no room for escape.
At first, it was a deep kiss with a hint of punishment, taking her breath away.
Then his burning lips moved slowly, from her slightly swollen lips, along her cheek and toward her sensitive ear.
He took her small earlobe between his lips and, in a breathy rasp at her ear, declared:
“Now your lipstick tastes like me.”
Shi Shuyi shuddered, her neck shrinking back involuntarily.
Faced with his overwhelming strength and skill, her affected teasing crumbled in an instant, leaving only her true inexperience and panic.
Her long lashes trembled violently like startled butterfly wings.
“I… I really have to go back.”
Her voice came out so soft it was almost a whimper.
At last, Gu Huaiye straightened and regarded her at his leisure.
The contrast before him pleased him—
A young woman who’d meant to play the temptress, only to be turned back into a trembling little white rabbit by his own hand.
That complete sense of control gave his desire to conquer her a satisfaction unlike anything he’d felt before.
In a fluster, Shi Shuyi straightened her rumpled collar, opened the door, and got out. Her legs still felt a little weak.
But Gu Huaiye didn’t seem satisfied yet.
He took a long stride and trapped her once more between himself and the cold car body.
He leaned close to her flushed face and leisurely dropped a bombshell.
“By the way, didn’t you say Fu Shiyan was your role model?”
“Tomorrow, I’ll take you to meet him.”
Shi Shuyi looked up abruptly, unable to believe her ears.
“R-really?”
Gu Huaiye caught the flash of delight in her eyes, and his gaze darkened.
“You seem… especially happy?”
“No,” Shi Shuyi said, instinctively avoiding his scrutinizing gaze. “It’s just… a bit sudden.”
Her automatic defense doused the heat hormones had kindled in Gu Huaiye like a basin of cold water.
His reason quickly returned, and his tone regained its usual distance and air of control.
“Fu Shiyan is my younger sister’s boyfriend. I’m hosting a dinner tomorrow night. You’ll come with me.”
“Oh?”
Shi Shuyi froze, unable to make sense of the connection.
“Don’t want to?”
“No…” She furrowed her brow slightly, choosing her words carefully. “I can go. It’s just…”
But Gu Huaiye didn’t give her time to hesitate. He cut straight in.
“I’ll pick you up at school tomorrow afternoon.”
Shi Shuyi looked at his expression, which made it clear he’d already decided everything, and finally just nodded.
“All right. I’ll head up, then.”
Gu Huaiye lifted his arm from the car roof to make room for her, then leaned back against the car door.
Shi Shuyi had only taken two steps when his voice followed her from behind.
“Remember, your heart can hold no one but me.”
She stopped abruptly and turned around, defiant and stubborn.
“Wasn’t President Gu so generous before? You even said you were willing to be my ‘second boyfriend.’”
“Heh.”
Gu Huaiye’s smoky sigh melted into the night.
“That was before we had a name for what we were. Now we do. Who could still be that generous?”
This man could reel off sweet talk as easily as breathing.
Shi Shuyi felt her cheeks grow warm and turned to leave. “I’m not talking to you anymore!”
Her voice carried a hint of embarrassment and annoyance, but her steps quickened without her meaning to. She was almost running by the time she disappeared through the dormitory entrance.
Gu Huaiye stayed where he was, silently watching until she vanished into the darkness.
He bent one leg and lounged against the car. With a click, he lit a cigarette.
Looking up, he saw light spilling from a second-floor window. Only then did he leisurely stub out his cigarette and get into the car.
The engine growled, breaking the silence of the night as he drove off campus.
Shi Shuyi stepped into the shadows of the dormitory building. The easy expression on her face vanished at once, and a thoughtful look flickered in her eyes.
This scene had indeed happened in the original story:
Fu Shiyan had come to S City on a business trip, and Gu Huaiye, as his host, had held a dinner to welcome him.
But in the book, Gu Huaiye had attended alone.
Could this be the butterfly effect she’d caused?
Still… this was a good thing.
Shi Shuyi’s lips curved.
She’d get close to the male and female leads sooner than she’d expected.
The perfect, devoted male lead, the innocent, doted-on female lead, and the womanizing, heartless male supporting character—
She raised her eyes slightly, her gaze calm and sharp.
They all needed to be shattered: the male lead’s perfection, the female lead’s innocence, and the male supporting character’s heartlessness.