He looked at Lian Li’s expression and found that although Lian Li’s lips were pursed and his face was somewhat pale, he was still looking straight at him, his gaze never wavering.
Yun Huizhou didn’t need Lian Li to answer; he was already certain.
Thus, before Lian Li could speak, he continued, “Alright, I understand.”
Lian Li looked at him, his mouth opening and then closing again as he waited for what would come next.
To his surprise, Yun Huizhou did not directly state his choice—whether he was rejecting him, accepting him, or needed time to consider. Instead, he began to speak of past events.
“Do you remember, outside Shanyun Town, when I asked if you had seen my book?”
Lian Li didn’t know what he intended to say, but Yun Huizhou’s hand had not let go of his wrist. This brought a great deal of peace to Lian Li’s heart, making him feel that the outcome might not be so terrible.
So, he nodded and replied, “I remember.”
“Mhm, that’s good.” Yun Huizhou pulled a book from his robes and held it out before Lian Li. “It’s this one. It wasn’t lost.”
Lian Li looked at the book. There were no characters written on the cover, which immediately made him think of the Spring Palace pictures he had taken from the Book Pavilion.
He reached out toward the book, wanting to know what was inside and if it was indeed what he suspected.
Yun Huizhou gave him the book, but before Lian Li could flip it open, he hesitated.
Seeing him like this, Yun Huizhou didn’t tell him to open it. Instead, he continued his previous thought. “This book was given to me by Jin Manjue in Linjiu City.”
Lian Li looked up at Yun Huizhou and asked, “Jin Manjue? When did he give it to you?”
“When we went to see him to change the rankings,” Yun Huizhou said. “He gave us a small chest and a small box, didn’t he? At the time, I told you that one contained gold beads and gold leaves, and the other contained silver notes.”
“Actually, I lied to you. The small box contained this book.”
“The night you woke up suddenly, I happened to be looking at this book.”
Memories of that night slowly surfaced in Lian Li’s mind. Yes, Yun Huizhou had been very strange then, and even stranger the next day.
“That night, I slept very restlessly.” At this point, Yun Huizhou suddenly turned his head away, appearing somewhat embarrassed. “As for the specifics of how I was restless… don’t ask.”
“Okay,” Lian Li replied exceptionally obediently. “I won’t ask.”
Yun Huizhou was amused by his response. He tightened his grip on Lian Li’s hand slightly, pulling the two of them a bit closer.
He stared into Lian Li’s eyes. “In truth, I should have realized my own feelings back then. But Brother Zhao once said he felt I might spend my entire life with nothing but my blade. I used to agree with him, and I even thought he was complimenting me.”
“But I only realize now that he was probably saying I was slow.”
“Actually, there were signs even earlier than that.”
“I didn’t hate Su Jun for no reason. And that Young Master Wang in Linjiu City… at the time, he was only a hair’s breadth away from death.”
The more Lian Li listened, the wider his eyes grew, until finally, even his eyebrows seemed ready to fly off his face.
He simply could not believe what he was hearing.
Even less could he believe the meaning hidden within Yun Huizhou’s words.
He felt that his head must have been damaged by the East Island Master earlier today, causing him to hallucinate. Otherwise, why would he see Yun Huizhou coming out to walk with him at night and saying such things?
If his reading comprehension was fine and his IQ hadn’t plummeted…
These words of Yun Huizhou’s were no different from a confession.
He was just short of saying the words “I like you” directly.
Lian Li’s heart beat so fast it felt as though it would leap out of his chest.
He slapped a hand over his chest, afraid that if Yun Huizhou actually said those words, his heart really would jump out. He needed a moment to compose himself.
He raised his other hand to stop Yun Huizhou from continuing, his voice trembling as he said, “Wait a moment…”
Yun Huizhou indeed stopped, his deep eyes watching him.
Yun Huizhou didn’t think Lian Li was being resistant; otherwise, he wouldn’t be standing there so obediently letting him hold his hand, nor would he have listened to so much.
He saw Lian Li with one hand over his heart and the other raised in a “stop” gesture. His expression was quite cute, looking as if he had been struck by tens of thousands of taels of gold.
He waited quietly to hear what Lian Li was going to say.
Lian Li took several deep breaths before he could speak again. “Let me… let me catch my breath…”
After saying this, he paused for a long time, then suddenly gave his own cheek a sharp pinch.
He was so fast that Yun Huizhou didn’t have time to stop him.
By the time he caught Lian Li’s hand to pull it away, Lian Li’s cheek had already been pinched hard enough to leave red marks.
“You…? There’s no need to be so heavy-handed when pinching yourself.” Yun Huizhou simply couldn’t understand this sudden act of pinching himself.
However, Lian Li didn’t seem to react to the pain. He muttered in a low voice, “It hurts! It’s not a dream!”
In an instant, he broke into a wide grin, his eyes crinkling into slits.
Seeing him like this, Yun Huizhou didn’t know what to say. He was a bit annoyed, a bit pained, and found it quite funny.
He was just about to speak, to finish what he had to say and tell Lian Li that he liked him.
But before the words could leave his mouth, he saw Lian Li suddenly leap up and pounce on him.
Lian Li’s movement was so sudden that it gave Yun Huizhou a genuine fright, but he reacted quickly, reaching out to catch and hold him.
He was even forced back a step by the momentum of Lian Li’s impact.
He held Lian Li and adjusted his weight, saying, “You—”
He had barely uttered a single syllable when he felt Lian Li cup his face with both hands and plant a loud kiss right on his cheek.
Yun Huizhou was instantly stunned by the kiss.
Wait a minute!
This wasn’t right!
He was the one who had brought this into the open! He was the one taking the initiative!
Looking at this boy’s previous reactions, he clearly hadn’t figured things out yet and was still agonizing over it!
He had realized his feelings before Lian Li did! Logically, the initiative should belong to him!
How did Lian Li beat him to it?
This was different from what he had envisioned.
His original plan was that after he finished speaking, he would take Lian Li’s hand, solemnly tell him that he liked him, and then ask if Lian Li felt the same.
Then, this boy would be so moved and happy that he would burst into tears, unable to even speak, only able to cover his mouth and nod frantically. Then, he would gently hold him and comfort him.
Finally, he would be the one to take the lead and kiss him.
He remembered that was how it was written in Lian Li’s storybooks.
Something was wrong!
This kid wasn’t following the script.
