Chapter 17
Not sure if it was because he spoke too loudly or because his words were too hard to accept, Sang Zhi clearly looked shocked, frozen in place without moving.
Both of them stopped in their tracks.
The silence made the atmosphere awkward.
Fu Zhengchu stared at her eyes, gradually avoiding eye contact, and his ears turned crimson. He touched his head, trying to appear calm, and asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Sang Zhi let out an “Ah” sound, feeling a bit unsure of how to respond.
She had received confessions before, but they were usually in the form of letters placed in her drawer or through text messages. This face-to-face confession was a first, especially one that was so bold.
”Hey,” Sang Zhi just assumed his hypothetical to be true and suddenly became curious, “Do you still remember the time you knocked out one of my teeth?”
”…” Fu Zhengchu deeply regretted that incident, but he had indeed done it. At the moment, he could only try to justify himself, “That was so many years ago, and my finger was also broken at the time, right?”
Sang Zhi wasn’t one to hold grudges. “That’s true.”
Fu Zhengchu breathed a sigh of relief and perked up his ears, anticipating her next words.
Sang Zhi had no idea how to be “gentle” with her response and straightforwardly said, “In that case, you better not like me. I don’t like guys younger than me.”
Fu Zhengchu paused and got angry, “Isn’t that age discrimination?”
”…”
”You should say something I can change,” Fu Zhengchu demanded.
Sang Zhi thought for a moment and replied, “I like good-looking guys.”
”…” Fu Zhengchu took a deep breath and pointed at her with his finger. “Except for you, no one has ever said I’m ugly. Are you targeting me? Did you add an ugly filter to me?”
”It’s just…” Sang Zhi said calmly, “Everyone has different tastes in aesthetics.”
Fu Zhengchu felt very wronged. “Am I supposed to get plastic surgery then?!”
”I didn’t mean that,” Sang Zhi felt a bit hurt by his shouting and stammered, “That’s why I told you not to like me, right?”
”Forget it.” Fu Zhengchu gave up on the conversation. “Just pretend I didn’t say anything.”
Seeing his bad mood, Sang Zhi began to regret if she had gone too far with her words and nervously asked, “What do you like about me then?”
Fu Zhengchu glanced at her and gave a superficial answer, “You’re good-looking.”
Sang Zhi: “Oh.”
Fu Zhengchu: “Is that all you have to say?”
Sang Zhi: “Well, I can’t really argue with that.”
”…”
The two of them were still standing in front of the escalator on the third floor.
Suddenly, Fu Zhengchu felt heavy-hearted and stared at her for a while before asking, “Is it because you don’t want to start a relationship early?”
Sang Zhi nodded: “That’s part of the reason.”
”And the other part is because you think I’m too young and ugly,” Fu Zhengchu felt more and more unwilling as he spoke. He forcefully pursed his lips, and his eyes began to redden, “Sang Zhi, today is my birthday. Can’t you reject me another day?”
”…” Sang Zhi was bewildered. “Are you crying?”
”I’m not crying!” Fu Zhengchu felt embarrassed, turned his head, and rubbed his eyes. When he was about to say something, he suddenly noticed someone behind them.
Fu Zhengchu met that person’s gaze.
They stared at each other for a few seconds.
Fu Zhengchu’s tears gradually disappeared, and he inexplicably felt that the person in front of him seemed familiar.
But he couldn’t remember where he had seen him before.
Sensing Fu Zhengchu’s silence, Sang Zhi looked at him suspiciously and followed his gaze to the person behind them. She was startled to see the figure of Duan Jiaxu.
She didn’t know how long he had been standing behind them.
Seeing both of them looking at him, Duan Jiaxu lifted his eyebrows playfully and said, “Am I interrupting something?”
”…”
Fu Zhengchu immediately remembered who this person was.
Sang Zhi’s older brother.
The last time Fu Zhengchu had seen him was in the office when Sang Zhi’s parents were called.
Thinking about what he had just said, Fu Zhengchu straightened his back, bowed deeply, and appeared guilty as if caught red-handed. “Hello, Sang Zhi’s brother!”
Duan Jiaxu responded with an “Mhm.”
Fu Zhengchu hurriedly ran to the other side and said, “Goodbye, Sang Zhi’s brother!”
”…”
It was strange; although he hadn’t done anything wrong, Sang Zhi suddenly felt as if she had done something shameful too. After a brief moment of contemplation, she decided to take the initiative, “Brother, were you eavesdropping?”
Duan Jiaxu lowered his gaze and looked at her, “Yes.”
”…”
He blatantly admitted it, causing Sang Zhi to hold back whatever she was going to say next. She was taken aback, unsure of what to say, so she stayed silent and continued walking.
Duan Jiaxu followed behind her leisurely. “It seems that Little Sang Zhi has quite a charm, huh?”
”…”
Peek-Aboo 
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