Chapter 10: May I Pursue You?
His laugh made Zheng Shuyi regret.
If she knew this was coming, she would have asked, “Do you have a problem with me”,at least with that she could receive a straightforward "yes" or "no" answer.
Now he was just standing there laughing; anyone in her position would feel embarrassed.
Shi Yan walked forward and leaned closer.
"What made you think that I wanted to see you?"
Zheng Shuyi looked up confidently and threw the question back, "Then why did you reject my draft three times?"
Her tone was steady and arrogant. She didn't plan these words ahead of time, but now that she said it, the words made perfect logical sense.
Right? My draft is so good that even the professional chief editor can't find any flaws in it.
Yet you rejected it three times? Is there any other reason besides that you wanted to see me?
However, Shi Yan just replied lightly, "I'm not satisfied"
"Not satisfied? How?"
As the wind blew, Zheng Shuyi wrapped her scarf tighter as she said quickly while looking up at him, "Tell me what I need to change, and I'll correct all of them. At one point, you'll be satisfied."
She stared at Shi Yan continued confidently.
Unfortunately, Shi Yan didn't buy it.
He smiled, didn't want to argue with her, and started to walk away.
Zheng Shuyi took a deep breath of the cold air to refresh herself, then she grabbed Shi Yan's wrist.
When Shi Yan turned his head, the streetlight reflected brightly off from her eyes.
"Otherwise, I can only assume you did want to see me."
"…"
After being speechless for a while, Shi Yan turned around while continuing to look at Zheng Shuyi's face. Then, he took out his hand and rose it slowly.
Zheng Shuyi's hand froze in the air.
Crap.
Just when Zheng Shuyi was about to find herself an excuse to go back home, the person in front of him suddenly said, "Then follow me."
Zheng Shuyi was dumbfounded for a moment, and Shi Yan had already turned around to walk towards the elevator.
She couldn't hold back her triumph smile behind Shi Yan's back as she was followed him.
Along the way, Shi Yan didn't speak.
Zheng Shuyi didn't make any sounds either, carefully trying to maintain this peaceful moment.
She knew clearly that she was just making trouble for herself, but she wasn't sure whether the person in front of her fell in love for her yet or was just fooling her around.
If she said a few more words, maybe this balance would be broken.
When the elevator door reopened, Shi Yan walked straight out.
This is the top floor, and he was the only residence. Up here, it was quiet, which even made their gentle footsteps seem too loud to match the surroundings.
After Shi Yan pressed his finger on the fingerprint scanner, the door opened automatically.
The hallways were wide and clean. Shi Yan took big steps and headed straight to a table in the living room. He stopped and hooked his index finger toward Zheng Shuyi to tell her to come here.
"Sit here and edit."
"…"
Zheng Shuyi was a bit speechless.
Do you really think I came here to edit my draft?
Unwillingly, she walked over, took out her laptop, and sat down.
While starting up her laptop, Zheng Shuyi took a glance at Shi Yan.
After settling her down, it was as if she didn't exist at all anymore. Shi Yan answered a phone call, while talking quietly, he took off his jacket, walked up to a row of dark cabinets, and took out a glass.
When he turned around, Zheng Shuyi's expression immediately changed, showing a shy look in her eyes.
Unfortunately, Shi Yan didn't pay attention to her at all.
Walking toward the wine cabinet, he held the phone in one hand and the glass in the other.
Zheng Shuyi: "…"
It seemed that when every man returned home, no matter how organized he may look, he would start to get messy.
Not knowing when, Zheng Shuyi noticed that Shi Yan unbuttoned the top button in his shirt and loosened his collar.
He casually placed the glass on the table, picked up the decanter, and hung up the call while pouring himself some wine.
The moment he picked up the glass, he looked toward Zheng Shuyi, and asked, "Would you like some water?"
Because his series of actions were way too casual, Zheng Shuyi was almost certain that he had already forgotten her existence.
After hearing the sudden question, Zheng Shuyi looked up and nodded.
"I want to drink what you are drinking."
"This is wine."
Zheng Shuyi had bright dark eyes, a delicate eye shape, and an affectionate expression. She often took advantage of the beauty of her eye.
She nodded and looked up at Shi Yan's eyes, "I know."
Shi Yan didn't reply and poured her a glass.
When the wine glass was placed in front of her, it made a crisp sound on the tabletop.
Zheng Shuyi smiled slightly upon hearing the sound.
However, before she was even able to fully smile, Shi Yan had already walked away.
Zheng Shuyi muttered silently to herself and took a sip.
The second she tasted it, Zheng Shuyi knew that its alcohol content was pretty high.
But she knew how much wine she could handle.
Depending on the situation, she could accommodate herself to resist the alcohol or get drunk with just one drink.
The draft was already pulled up, meaning it was time for her to start.
Shi Yan sat down by the window, turned on a floor lamp, and went back into his chair, slowly enjoying the night scene.
A few minutes later, a ringtone broke the silence.
Shi Yan's voice wasn't loud, but Zheng Shuyi could still hear clearly.
After picking it up, he said while flipping through a book, "No need."
The call was from Qin Shiyue.
A friend of hers went to Hungary a while ago and she specifically asked them to bring back two bottles of century-old wine from an auction.
Now, it just came off the plane, and Qin Shiyue went to pick up the wine. She was eagerly trying to give them to Shi Yan to make him pleased.
"What?"
Qin Shiyue asked something.
Shi Yan raised his hand and looked out the windows in front of him.
He could clearly see through the reflection that Zheng Shuyi wasn't looking at her laptop; she was looking at him.
"No."
Shi Yan's tone was relaxed, the "no" didn't sound like it was because of some important business to do.
Qin Shiyue blinked and asked carefully, "What's the matter? Hiding a girl in your house?"
"It's work-related." Shi Yan looked away from the window and looked into the wine in his glass. "Anything else?"
This was obviously a sign that he was done taking and wanted to hang up.
"Then when will you finish? I'll bring it to you."
"No need."
After that, he hung up.
Qin Shiyue stood there listening to the beeping dumbfoundedly for a long time.
The lights outside the window and the traffic under the night sky looked like an animated painting.
The room was quiet, and the lighting was perfect. The only sound in the room was from the soft clicks of the keyboard typing.
After a while, a soft voice came from behind him, "Mr. Shi, I finished editing, can you take a look?"
Shi Yan didn't even get to stand up. All he did was turn around and Zheng Shuyi was had already walked over with her laptop.
Her thin, long legs formed an appealing curvature, but her smile on her face looked as innocent as ever.
Shi Yan didn't say anything. Zheng Shuyi squatted down beside him and held the laptop up.
Shi Yan took over the laptop with one hand and placed it on the small table beside him as he scrolled the draft with his finger.
When he was reading the draft, he noticed from the side of his eye that Zheng Shuyi hadn't stood up yet. She was still squatting there looking at him curiously.
Looking at it from his angle, it looked as if she was resting her chin on his lap.
Shi Yan raised his eyebrows, and the words "hiding a girl in your house" popped back into his head.
The draft had more than three thousand words, yet it only took him less than three minutes to finish.
The clock on the wall pointed to eight o'clock, and the sky was completely dark already.
Shi Yan took a glance at the dark clouds outside the window. It looked like it was about to rain.
Maybe fate intended Zheng Shuyi to stay here for a bit longer.
"How is it?"
Zheng Shuyi looked at him with hopes in her eyes.
"Too wordy."
While replying, Shi Yan handed the laptop back.
Zheng Shuyi: "…"
Fine.
Zheng Shuyi sat back in her chair and started to edit again.
This time, she was trying really hard.
Why are there so many requirements? What's wrong with my draft?
While she was typing, Shi Yan placed his legs on the leg stool, and under the dim light, he closed his eyes for a nap.
The shadow of the plants swayed gently on the ground, and the sound of keyboard tapping filled the entire room. Sometimes quick, sometimes slow.
Together with the sound of the wind, it was quite a magnificent harmony.
Shi Yan's nap lasted for more than half an hour until Zheng Shuyi came again with her laptop.
When Shi Yan opened his eyes, he glanced at his watch.
"I condensed it by a lot," said Zheng Shuyi, "are there any more problems?"
Shi Yan pointed to the laptop and said, "This isn't resembling what I said."
"Then what is it that you're trying to say?"
Shi Yan looked up. "Figure it out yourself."
"…"
"Or else won't it be me who is writing the draft?"
"…"
While spending more than half an hour trying to figure out what that sentence meant, Zheng Shuyi unconsciously finished the glass of wine beside her.
When she took the laptop to Shi Yan again, her face was a little red.
Shi Yan took the laptop and his eyes looked at the lower right corner to see what time it was first.
It was already very late.
Half a minute later.
"It's good."
Zheng Shuyi, whose draft had been rejected so many times, wasn't expecting this, "Really?"
Shi Yan raised his eyes to look over, and a smell of wine rushed into his nose.
"Is there really nowhere else that I need to change?" Zheng Shuyi tried her best to remain calm and smiled sweetly, but she really wanted to beat this man in front of her up, "I can change more if you want. It's okay…"
"Oh?" Shi Yan didn't move, he looked down at her, "It's okay?
"Staying at another man's house for so long, will your boyfriend be okay with it?"
Zheng Shuyi's smile slowly disappeared. Her eyes dropped and she whispered, "I don't have a boyfriend anymore."
Shi Yan raised his eyebrows.
Seeing that he didn't seem to believe her, Zheng Shuyi added, "Really, after that night after I met you, I broke up with him."
"…"
When she said this, she was afraid that he wouldn't understand her real meaning, and specified that it was "after the night I met you".
Either way, she was telling the truth. It would be up to Shi Yan how he decides to interrupt her words.
Shi Yan didn't reply immediately. He looked at her for a few seconds.
"So?"
So?
Zheng Shuyi didn't expect him to ask that.
The after-effects of the wine were slowly kicking in. Not only did her body feel hot, her brain felt like it was burning too.
Zheng Shuyi looked at him and asked carefully as she gently pulled on his sleeves.
"Then, may I pursue you?"
After saying this, Zheng Shuyi stared at Shi Yan closely, studying his expressions.
But Shi Yan's expression didn't seem to change at all.
After a moment of silence, he replied in a calm voice, "If I say no, will you give up?"
Zheng Shuyi replied immediately, "No."
"Then why are you even asking?"