“Has Ningning grown tired of being with Brother recently, so you want to push me away as soon as possible?”
To Ruan Ning, Gu Yicheng’s question was practically a death trap. The kind where if she answered badly, she would die a miserable death.
Even at this moment, although the person opposite her still had a smile on his lips, Ruan Ning could feel a suffocating pressure from his tone.
Generally, the more he smiled like this, the more terrifying what happened next would be.
“No, no… How could that be possible! I’m the one who’s afraid Brother will get tired of staying with me every day and dislike me.” Ruan Ning was crying inside, but her mouth answered very quickly. Her desire to survive was especially strong, and she did not dare waste even a second.
Gu Yicheng raised an eyebrow and said nothing, clearly looking as if he did not believe her.
Ruan Ning’s expression turned awkward. “Aren’t I just showing concern for Brother’s lifelong happiness as your younger sister?! Brother, think about it. You’re already twenty-two. Have you really never thought about finding a girlfriend sooner or something?”
In order to dispel that terrifying thought that kept flashing through her mind from time to time, Ruan Ning had already decided to push on stubbornly and continue asking, even if she had to force herself. Since she had already started, and had already said things she should and should not have said, there was no turning back. She might as well ask everything directly, so she could completely put that idea to rest.
Otherwise, that terrifying guess would remain stuck in her heart, neither up nor down, making her unable to feel at ease. She would not be able to act naturally around Gu Yicheng either.
But in response to the question Ruan Ning had asked only after nervously building up her courage for so long, Gu Yicheng merely glanced at her calmly and stingily gave her two words.
“No rush.”
You’re not in a rush, but I am!! If you don’t find a girlfriend, I’ll keep overthinking things. Living every day in fear and anxiety like this is really miserable.
Was this what people meant by “the emperor isn’t anxious, but the eunuch is”?
Ruan Ning looked dejected, but she did not dare show her true emotions.
However, how could the expression on the young girl’s face escape the man’s eyes? He chuckled lightly, his gaze deep. “I’m not interested in her. You’d better not overthink things either.”
Ruan Ning knew what he was talking about, but she felt she could still make another effort. She continued dryly, “Actually, I think that sister who came over just now was really quite pretty…”
As she spoke, her voice suddenly disappeared.
Gu Yicheng took a few slow steps forward. Under his impossible-to-ignore presence, Ruan Ning unconsciously retreated several steps, until a sudden pain came from her back. It turned out there was a tree behind her, and her back had accidentally hit the trunk.
At this point, there was nowhere left for her to retreat. She could only stop.
Gu Yicheng also stopped, only a few steps away from her.
“My Ningning… is much prettier than her,” Gu Yicheng said in a hoarse voice.
When the man said this, his gaze remained fixed on her from beginning to end.
Ruan Ning felt uncomfortable under his stare, as though her entire person had become transparent in his eyes. Her gaze began to drift uncertainly, and she gave two dry laughs. “Haha, really? Why don’t I feel that way…”
She was wrong! She really was wrong!! She should not have been so impatient just now and directly asked when he was going to find her a sister-in-law. Even more so, she should not have asked a second time after asking once. The moment she noticed something was wrong, she should have stopped in time.
Why did people insist on understanding everything? Wasn’t it better to live a little muddled in this world?! She could have simply pretended she had seen nothing.
…Why did it feel like she was currently pushing herself into a pit of fire?
From the man’s gaze and expression, Ruan Ning seemed to faintly touch upon a trace of the truth. The guess in her heart was becoming clearer and clearer. If she had just followed his words and asked one more question, she would have received the answer she wanted.
But at this moment, Ruan Ning shamefully retreated.
She did not want to know anything anymore.
Gu Yicheng took another two steps forward and braced one hand against the tree trunk. If someone were standing beside the two of them and looking from the side, it would seem as if Ruan Ning were lying in his arms.
Ruan Ning looked at the man getting closer and closer to her. Her heart suddenly started beating a little fast. Don’t misunderstand—it was not because she was moved. She was scared, okay!
Help!! What was he trying to do?
No. Please, don’t look at her with that kind of gaze anymore. She was really afraid.
Ruan Ning wished she could turn blind at this moment. That way, she would not be able to see the tenderness in Gu Yicheng’s eyes, nor that other emotion she could not understand.
Ruan Ning was so nervous that her body went stiff. Her long lashes kept blinking, like a fluttering butterfly.
Gu Yicheng stretched out his slender fingers. Just as they were about to approach her fair, jade-like cheek, his eyes deepened. In the end, his hand still changed direction and removed a fallen leaf that the wind had blown into her hair.
When Ruan Ning saw that Gu Yicheng had only taken down that leaf for her, her expression clearly relaxed a lot.
However, because she had been too nervous just now, her black-and-white eyes were still damp, like a frightened little animal.
Gu Yicheng casually threw away the leaf, then took the opportunity to touch her hair and rub it several times. He slightly lowered his eyes, suppressing the little craving that had risen in his heart, and slowed his voice as he said, “The others are almost done over there. We should head back too.”
Ruan Ning felt that the way he looked at her now made her even more flustered than before.
She did not even hear clearly what he said. She only heard that she could finally escape this suffering, so she nodded like a pounding pestle, almost ready to send him off with tears of gratitude.
She was simply too grateful to every single person in the team.
**
…Even Zhou Yu had failed.
Seeing this, the middle-aged man became extremely dispirited. It seemed there really was no hope left of seeking protection.
Zhou Yu also felt a strong sense of defeat from what had just happened. That man truly had not had even the slightest kind of interest in her.
She could not help lowering her head and secretly glancing at her full chest. Clearly, her assets were not small, so why had that person not shown even the slightest emotional fluctuation just now? He had even chased her away in such a cold, hard, and utterly unromantic manner.
Could it be that his heart already belonged to someone?
Zhou Yu found an excuse for her failure. Yes, that must be it. That man must already have someone in his heart. That was why he could not see anyone else. Otherwise, how could he be indifferent to a great beauty like her throwing herself at him?
But… who exactly was the person he held in his heart?
Zhou Yu had looked around over there just now. It seemed that apart from the man’s younger sister, there were no other young women in the team. It was also possible that she simply had not seen them.
“Zhou Yu, don’t blame yourself too much. You did your best in this matter.”
Zhou Yu was lost in thought. Hearing the captain’s comforting words, she smiled awkwardly. Of course, she had not told anyone what had happened over there. She only said that the other side had still rejected their proposal.
However, everyone in the team had seen Zhou Yu go over full of confidence, only to come back in disgrace just like Zhao Junru. Anyone with eyes could guess what had happened.
Now some ability users had already started whispering behind her back. As for the ordinary people, they naturally did not dare act out of line. Even if they had thoughts in their hearts, they could only pretend they knew nothing. Usually, they barely dared to speak much, let alone at a time like this.
Zhou Yu was not deaf. Of course she heard the discussions around her, and she heard them very clearly. Among these ability users, some were women who envied and disliked her for various reasons. Others were men who were neither handsome nor strong in ability, so she had looked down on them and rejected them. These people had long resented her. Now that they had finally caught an opportunity, it would be strange if they did not say a few words.
But let them laugh if they wanted. She did not care anyway. This time, it was only because she had failed to latch onto that ability user over there. If she really had succeeded, even if they were given several times more courage, they would not dare say such things in front of her.
They were truly a bunch of cowards.
…
Since they could not fight for the chance to travel together, they could only follow far behind this team.
A wise man submitted to circumstances. The middle-aged man also did not intend to try a third time. They had already gone over again and again to disturb them. If they truly angered the other side, that would be bad.
Their team could no longer withstand the wrath of a powerful team.
Earlier, the middle-aged man had seen that when they followed behind, this team had not said anything, so he had thought they would be easy to talk to. If they only needed to take them along for part of the journey, they could gain quite a lot of supplies for free. They should not have refused. That was why he had sent someone over.
Otherwise, he might not have sent people to negotiate so quickly. After all, annexation between teams was a common occurrence. For the sake of his team, he did not dare take risks.
Once a team showed weakness, it would easily be targeted by other teams. There were no small number of people who would take advantage of someone else’s misfortune.
After resting for a short while, the team over there set off again.
The middle-aged man also quickly gathered his own team and followed behind them.
However, he did not dare move even one step closer. Just like before, he maintained a safe distance of about a hundred metres, so the team ahead would not misunderstand and think they had malicious intentions in following them.
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