Accidental Love

Marquez once said that "when a woman decides to sleep with a man, there is no wall she will not scale, no fortress she will not destroy, no moral consideration she will not ignore at its very root: there is no God worth worrying about"1(quote from a famous romance novel "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel García Márquez

Was Zheng Shuyi facing the iron wall, or the sea of fire, or the wrath of God?

No! It was just a tiny rejection from him.

So, no problem at all.

She closed her eyes and inhaled. Readjusting her state of mind, and walked outside.

Opening the changing room's door, she stood in front of the vast plains. The grass swung freely in the light wind, and several horses were leisurely fiddling around.

Zheng Shuyi buttoned her outfit and looked up. The clouds already started to fade away as the sun had already fallen below the horizon, thousands of rays formed the skyglow.

Under the golden sky, Shi Yan stood next to a red-brown horse. His black knight suit emitted a sense of tension, and the horse's fur was groomed to shine like satin2a smooth, glossy fabric.

The calming scene was just like a harmonious painting, holding still in ideal shapes and colors.

Zheng Shuyi couldn't take her eyes off from this view.

"All done?" Guan Xiangcheng walked over with a horse. One of his arms was leaning against the horse's saddle, and he was looking at Zheng Shuyi, "It fits well on you."

After saying so, he patted the horse and waved at Shi Yan.

The three of them were not far away, so Shi Yan saw everything.

He quickly loosened the horse reins and walked toward them.

As he got close, Guan Xiangcheng said, "This horse is the most obedient of them all. Shi Yan will teach you how to ride it."

Huh?

Zheng Shuyi immediately looked towards Shi Yan.

He stopped walking and was quietly fixing his white gloves.

Guan Xiangcheng turned and left after he finished talking. Soon, Zheng Shuyi heard the sound of a horse galloping.

Shi Yan put on his gloves as he walked closer to the horse, but he just silently stood there smoothing the horse's mane without a sign of moving.

In fact, while they were chatting before, Zheng Shuyi had already figured out the relationship between Shi Yan and Guan Xiangcheng.

They weren't relatives, but Guan Xiangcheng and Shi Yan's father must be good friends. So today, Shi Yan came here to spend some time with him.

From the fact that a person as busy as Shi Yan was willing to take so much time out of his day to be with him, it was obvious how important he was to Shi Yan.

It was not out of kinship but more out of respect, so in this situation, he wouldn't do anything out of place.

Zheng Shuyi coughed slightly.

Shi Yan looked up.

"Mr. Shi," Zheng Shuyi nervously smiled and looked at Shi Yan, "Can you please teach me?"

"Sure."

For some reason, his tone gave Zheng Shuyi an insecure feeling.

Maybe it was just an illusion.

Zheng Shuyi did some thinking herself. What's the worse thing that he could do to me? Feed me to the horses?

So, she smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Shi."

Shi Yan raised his hand and made an inviting gesture.

Zheng Shuyi was not a wimp. She exercised a lot to keep her body in-shape and danced for many years as well. So getting on a horse was not a hard task for her.

The equestrian pants she was wearing were soft and comfortable. After she got on the horse, she swung her hair back and clutched onto the saddle while looking down at Shi Yan.

Shi Yan held the rein in his hand, glanced at her, and took a step to the back.

Zheng Shuyi blinked and thought, shouldn't he be leading the horse in the front?

Why is he walking to the back?

Before she figured out what was going on, a warm surged of heat came behind her. Then the saddle sank, and the horse leaped forward.

Because of the sudden movement, Zheng Shuyi leaned back and hit a person's chest.

At that instant, the air seemed to stop flowing.

Zheng Shuyi's upper body was completely motionless, but she could still clearly sense that her body was enveloped by Shi Yan's breathing.

Shi Yan stretched out his hand to grab the rein and wrapped Zheng Shuyi in both of his arms.

Zheng Shuyi: "…"

What kind of teaching style was this?

Shi Yan seemed to have felt Zheng Shuyi's stiffness.

"What's wrong?"

His voice was quiet, but Zheng Shuyi still heard a hint of sarcasm.

Her nervousness must have been exposed, and it would be meaningless for her to hide it.

"Nothing," said Zheng Shuyi while she gritted her teeth, "It's just that this is my first time, so I'm a bit nervous."

Shi Yan simply replied "mhm".

However, Zheng Shuyi felt a chill down her back.

Why does every word from him is making her feel that something is not right?

Under Shi Yan's control, the horse started walking slowly.

The final lights of the sunset sprinkled on the horse and reflected off a beautiful glow.

Shi Yan was not in a rush, and he didn't speak much. The horse just calmly walked.

Zheng Shuyi felt that her breathing was getting shorter and warmer. As the horse walked, her head would occasionally bump into Shi Yan's chin.

Zheng Shuyi's sense of insecurity was still there.

Although she had only spent a few hours with Shi Yan, she could tell that he wasn't the kind of person that would do something like this.

Just as she was thinking about it, Guan Xiangcheng, who had already ridden far away, waved back to the two of them, telling them to move faster.

Before Zheng Shuyi had time to respond, the horse under her suddenly shook and started to gallop.

"Ah!" She let out a terrified scream and grasped the saddle as if her life depended on it.

The horse was really fast. The saddle that she was sitting on bumped up and down, making her feel like her legs were about to fall off. Before long, she was already feeling dizzy.

To add on to her suffering, Shi Yan seemed to have expected this, and he purposefully held his arms a certain distance away from Zheng Shuyi, enough that after every bump she would have the feeling of almost falling off the horse.

"Slow down!" She yelled, clutching on the saddle tightly, "Slow down! Slow down!"

Shi Yan pretended that he didn't hear her and made the horse gallop faster and faster.

Damn it! I knew that he's up to something!

The horse was also getting more and more excited. As it jumped over railings, it would sometimes make a sharp turn. With every turn it made, Zheng Shuyi could see more and more stars in front of her eyes.

—— ——

"Can you please slow down!"

"Is this horse crazy? Slow down!"

After a few laps, Zheng Shuyi couldn't even count how many times she screamed. It got to the point that her throat felt painful, and her hair was messed up by the wind.

Half of her life was gone already, but Shi Yan was still as calm as always.

Seeing another railing in front of it, the horse dashed right toward it at maximum speed. Zheng Shuyi felt her body was separating, and her heart was hanging up in her throat3That choky feeling in the throat which arises from fear, conscious guilt, shyness, etc..

"Please slow down~" She grabbed the back of Shi Yan's hand and cried as she begged him, "Please, please, please slow down."

He sensed a sudden warmth in his palm, as Shi Yan immediately lowered his head and met with Zheng Shuyi's pale face. Her face was whiter than the pearl earrings she was wearing. There were even traces of tear on her eyelashes.

Zheng Shuyi didn't notice Shi Yan's glace from behind. All she knew was that if this continued, she would become a human fountain and show Shi Yan what she had for lunch.

Just as she could feel her stomach twisting, the rein in front of her suddenly tightened.

——The horse stopped the sprint.

The force of momentum was so great that Zheng Shuyi crouched forward and was about roll off the horse. Suddenly, her collar was tightly grabbed onto by the man behind her.

The whirling wind beside her ear stopped, the galloping horse slowed down, and the sunlight even seemed softer.

Zheng Shuyi double-checked. Yes, she was being held.

She was not hugged nor grabbed onto, just held by her collar.

However, Zheng Shuyi didn't have the spare time to think about how ridiculous she looked at that moment. As soon as the horse slowed to a walking pace, she immediately rolled off without caring how embarrassing it was. The second that her feet landed on solid ground, she felt she was finally back alive.

Shi Yan sat on the horse and looked at her from above as she was taking a couple of steps back. He was playing around with the reins in his hand.

"Do you want to keep learning?"

"No, no more." Zheng Shuyi's eyes were fighting to stay open. She said while running her fingers across her hairline, "That's enough of an experience."

Not far away, Guan Xiangcheng stopped and looked over.

Shi Yan let out another mhm, and rode the horse toward Guan Xiangcheng.

He looked kind and gentle, nowhere close to someone who would do such a thing just then.

Zheng Shuyi stared at his back, unable to calm down.

She tried to mentally settle herself for the third time.

——After a few minutes, her attempt failed.

Bad, this person is just bad!

What Marquez said was not necessarily true, at least she couldn't even cross over the saddle in front of her.

I'm not playing anymore, bye-bye~

At the same time, the two of them in the distance were chatting about something, and Guan Xiangcheng looked over at her while shaking his head, smiling.

Then, if Zheng Shuyi saw it right, Shi Yan also smiled.

A faint smile.

She wanted to roll her eyes, but she just took a few more steps back.

After that, Shi Yan continued to accompany Guan Xiangcheng, and the two of them never came to her again.

• 1(quote from a famous romance novel "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel García Márquez
• 2a smooth, glossy fabric
• 3That choky feeling in the throat which arises from fear, conscious guilt, shyness, etc.