CHAPTER 216: CHAPTER 216: DO YOU LIKE ME?

Thinking she was going to meet Cheng Zhiyan, she hadn’t really eaten much all day.

"What do you want to eat? I’ll take you," Gu Jin Yan stopped the car and turned to look at her.

"Forget it. We’re almost home. I’ll eat after I get back!" Helian Xi felt a stir in her heart but ultimately decided to give up.

"Come on! Tell me, and I’ll take you to eat," Gu Jin Yan could tell from her expression that she had something in mind.

"I actually really want to eat Third Brother’s little wontons. You don’t know, his little wontons are so delicious. I’ve had our chef make them, but the taste was never quite right," Helian Xi said this and even swallowed a bit.

"I better just take you home! Can you pick something easier?" Going to eat at Third Brother Huo’s place, he didn’t have the audacity for that.

Second Brother just happened to be in the hospital, or else they would have had to find another doctor today.

But since Helian Xi was their cousin, naturally, he wouldn’t refuse her.

"How about I take you to Third Brother’s place?" Gu Jin Yan thought, at worst, he just wouldn’t eat anything himself.

"Let’s forget it, unless Little Zhi Liao is going home today. You don’t know; Third Brother looks gentle on the surface, but he’s devious to the core. If I went over, he wouldn’t exactly deny me food. But, haha..."

Little Zhi Liao is still the clever one, able to handle Third Brother.

"If you trust me, I can take you to a restaurant." Gu Jin Yan didn’t dare to gossip about Huo Jin Cheng with her; she could do that as a cousin, but he didn’t have that freedom.

"I trust you." Helian Xi naturally trusted Gu Jin Yan. She knew many good places to eat because Gu Jin Yan had taken her there.

"Alright." Gu Jin Yan was satisfied with that answer.

--

Lu Xingzhi and Han Chengran had finished eating and were about to leave when Han Chengran suddenly pulled out a delicately wrapped box.

"Xingzhi, this... I stumbled upon it by chance, and, um... I just thought it suited you well," Han Chengran was so nervous he could barely speak.

He had carefully chosen this gift for a long time, always wanting to give it to Lu Xingzhi.

"Thank you! But I can’t accept it." Lu Xingzhi handed the gift back to him.

"It’s not anything valuable, just a small token of my appreciation. Thanks for tutoring me back then, although I didn’t end up retaking my exams, you really taught me well," Han Chengran said sincerely and became even more nervous.

"You already paid me for tutoring, really there’s no need for this," Lu Xingzhi insisted. Back then, she’d only ever accepted one gift from Huo Jin Cheng when they first met.

"Xingzhi, I..." Han Chengran wanted to say, I like you, can you be my girlfriend?

But when the words were about to come out, he couldn’t say it.

If it were about something else, or someone else, he wouldn’t be this timid at all.

But, facing Lu Xingzhi, he liked her back then, but he also knew she needed to focus on her studies. She had always been top of the class, and school leaders and teachers valued her greatly. She was expected to be at least the top in the city.

Even if he liked her, he had to bury it deep, and he even dealt with some of those guys who harassed her.

He just didn’t want to affect her.

"What do you want to say?"

"I... I want... I..." Han Chengran hesitated for a long time, still unable to say it.

Seeing him like this, hesitant to speak, Lu Xingzhi tentatively asked, "Do you like me?"