— "Did you accept it?"
Hearing the urgent question of the youth, Zhang Man froze, and after a moment guessed that he was probably talking about the matter of Qin Shuai.
Her heart caved in fast at this moment.
His eyes were red, his hair was disheveled, his tone carried the usual panic and impatience, and he came rushing forward regardless of the situation, losing his composure and calmness, just to ask her this question.
Zhang Man thought of the youth who stood in front of the school and blocked her in her previous life and how similar his reddened eyes and painful expression were at this time.
Her heart ached, but with a touch of warmth and sweetness that did not belong to the winter night.
He eventually took her to heart, as he had in his previous life.
Emotions came pouring out like a spring—Zhang Man took a deep breath and her fingertips began to tremble.
She laughed softly, her voice soft as moonlight in the dimly lit field.
"No, I don't like him."
These few words were like heavenly music to the young man in front of her.
It turned out that she didn't accept it. This girl who would only cry and act like a baby at him didn't become someone else's.
A certain string taut inside the youth, at this moment suddenly loosened, the blood frozen in his body flows again and he can hear his heart beating enthusiastically in his chest cavity.
—Like a rebirth after the robbery.
Fate has not abandoned him once again, as it did when he was seven years old.
However, even though the deadly threat was gone, the pain in his heart was not relieved in any way.
In this instant, the youth, who was usually cold to the core, suddenly realized how greedy he was.
He wants so much more than that.
On the dim steps with a little cold wind, he quietly gazed at the girl in front of him, the nerves beating in the corner of his forehead and the intense pain in his heart, told him the only answer behind all the questions.
It finally dawned on him at this moment.
All he ever wanted was her.
That's why every time he saw her, his heart itched. When she's sad it's twice as hard, and when she's bullied, he starts to go crazy.
He wanted to hold her in his arms at every moment.
He figured out that the kind of heart-bursting pain that he had never experienced before was fondness. He unknowingly had someone living in his heart—the petite girl standing in front of him.
He likes her.
He finally understood that the feeling of liking someone is pain. Whenever he saw her, there would be a dull pain somewhere in his heart.
But humans are just strange, the more pain, the more they want to touch.
As a result, the youth who never hoped for illusory feelings suddenly wanted to hit this wall with his flesh and blood.
He wanted her to like him too, even if just a little.
— "If you don't like him, then, do you like me?"
The youth's low voice rang out unexpectedly, breaking the silence of the pale night.
Zhang Man looked into his eyes, his eyes that carry unbearable pain and depression.
His cautious look at her and his hoarse voice carried a strong restraint, so much that even his breathing stopped.
Zhang Man froze completely.
He actually asked her if she liked him.
Her heart is beating violently while her brain goes blank.
She was obviously ready to confess her love to him tomorrow, but today he asked so bluntly that her brain instantly got stuck.
She wanted to tell him that she had always, always liked him, that he was her favorite person in the world but her mouth was completely disobedient.
People are sometimes like this, the more eager they are, the more difficult it is to speak, and what shows up is a brief silence.
However, such silence is fatal to the youth who is going crazy in front of her.
The pain inside him, in this instant, reached its peak as he greedily stared at the girl in front of him, at her fair face, and at her watery eyes.
He felt as if he was on the verge of numbness from the pain.
She isn't saying anything... Is it because she doesn't like me?
In that case, what should I do? How...can I relieve such pain?
And yet, even if his legs feel like it will crumple the next moment... In front of her, he is willing to put down all his pride, and self-respect.
If once doesn't work, then do it twice.
The youth took a deep breath, moved a little closer, tried to lighten his breathing and gently put his hand on the young girl's shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes.
His voice is filled with unbearable compromise and uncontrollable pain.
— "Zhang Man, if you don't like him, like me, okay, hmm?"
His voice was hoarse and his breathing, with a bit of a thick nasal sound, already had a careful pleading in his tone.
"...I will be very good to you in the future, so please like me, okay?"
Zhang Man had already red eyes, the sourness in her throat made her unable to speak, but for a long while found that she actually did not need to speak.
She was now standing on the steps, almost as tall as he was so she could easily hug him tighter by taking a slight step forward.
And so she did.
She flung herself hard into the youth's arms, hugging his back tightly and resting her head on his shoulder, her involuntary spurt of tears wetting the collar of his school uniform.
Unlike those previous hugs, there is no more excuse or reason for it except for the joy in her heart, she hugged the youth she had loved for two lifetimes.
Li Wei's body instantly tightened the moment she held him tight.
The warmth of her chest made it possible for his violently fluctuating emotions to gradually begin to relax.
Zhang Man leaned close to his ear, her voice, like her whole person, was shaking slightly from too much excitement.
"I've always liked you, Li Wei. I've liked you for a long, long time."
So long that this love has sunk into her bones and blood and become a part of her life.
Long after he left in the previous life, she went to so many places but regardless of where she was, what people she met, every time she thought of him, a certain part of her heart began to ache.
So long that when she saw him again in this life, she desperately wanted to hold him tight and never let go.
Zhang Man remembered the love letter that the youth placed on her desk in the previous life.
He had asked her in a letter if she could stay with him forever.
And at this moment, while holding him in her arms, she can finally give her reply, saying it tenderly but firmly in his ear.
"From now on, I will always be with you forever."
Not only to him that she is embracing now, but also to the one who waited desperately for a long time in his previous life, but did not receive an answer.
She finished and looked at the earlobe of the youth in front of her.
His earlobes look great, not too thin or thick, perfectly shaped, with a blood-red mole on top, looking sexy and seductive.
It's hard to control yourself when you're in love.
She came up and kissed the youth's near earlobe, and opened her mouth to bite the bright red mole.
The body she was holding shuddered hard.
She clearly saw that the tips of the youth's ears began to glow red, and that ambiguous redness traveled all the way to the neck.
Then he also tightened his arms around her, with much more force than she had, as if he wanted to rub her whole body into his arms.
His voice was full with unspeakable ecstasy as he recited her name over and over again, unable to say anything meaningful: "Zhang Man, Zhang Man..."
......
The embrace continued for an unknown length of time and after that intense emotion was over and calmed down, the two of them were actually a little nervous and shy, so they never spoke.
But the youth still held her tight.
Afraid that she was tired of standing, he also wrapped his arm around her waist to let her lean completely in his arms.
The pain in the heart seems to be cathartic only through a tighter and tighter embrace and all they have now is each other.
The faint lights on the field didn't reach them, and the two hid in the shadows, the darkness around them making their breaths burn a little.
The noisy background sounds of the teaching area seemed far, far away. The two could hear each other's breathing clearly, even their heartbeats, which seemed to be getting faster and faster, communicated through their tightly pressed chests as the frequency became consistent.
Both are nervous.
Zhang Man quietly hugged the youth's sturdy waist, the tip of her heart shivered, and was filled with tenderness and joy. At this time in her previous life, she and Li Wei were still just a nodding acquaintance and later had those misunderstandings and missed each other completely. In the end, she even lost him forever.
But now, from now on, the youth whose ears were red in her embrace was hers.
He's her boyfriend.
Her heart began to burn at the thought of these three words.
Zhang Man remembered what the youth just said. He said he would be very good to her in the future. She hugged him tightly and thought to herself, it is she who will be very, very good to him. Let him remember at all times, in this world, there is a person who loves him so much.
She wanted him to have something to hold on to.
At that moment, a loud bell came from the other side of the school building, a 15-minute warm-up call before the start of the evening study period.
Zhang Man's face began to burn slightly. Surprisingly, it was so late and that means that they had just embraced for at least 20 minutes or so.
She let go of the hands holding him, gently pushed the youth and did not expect his strength to be great. Her push did not even move him.
She raised her head, looked at the side of the youth's face, and spoke with a little stutter: "Li...L-Li Wei, th-there are still another 15 minutes of class, l-let's go back, shall we?"
Unexpectedly, the youth shook his head, and did not let go of her hand and hugged her waist to hold her tighter, he even rubbed his face on her cheek.
"Let's skip class today and not go back, okay? I want to hold you like this all night."
His voice was muffled and his eyes weren't looking at her. She didn't know what he was thinking.
He suddenly looked like a child at this time and his usual calmness and sanity were thrown away somewhere.
Zhang Man smiled: "No, today the class teacher is sitting in class, if I'm not there, he will call my mother. Uncle Xu had a hard time asking her out today. You don't want to disturb their date do you?"
The youth neither spoke nor moved, his heart still reluctant.
As if to avoid her question, he buried his face sideways on her neck and his long, wet, hot breath made her skin itch, and she was too embarrassed to move her head.
Zhang Man's cheeks were hot, not daring to look at him and coaxed him in a low voice: "Li Wei, I am already your girlfriend. We have a long time ahead of us."
Translator's Note:
Important things must be said three times...
Congratulations Li Wei and Zhang Man!
Congratulations Li Wei and Zhang Man!
Congratulations Li Wei and Zhang Man!