Lin Jianqing had just taken a sip of soup when he nearly choked.
He immediately put down the bowl and turned his head to cough a few times.
The smile in Shen Huaixue’s eyes instantly surfaced.
“That big of a reaction?”
Lin Jianqing grabbed a tissue and wiped his mouth. The tips of his ears were already turning red.
“Why did you suddenly ask that?”
“Eating and chatting.”
“Who asks that kind of question so abruptly?”
“Me.”
It was a bit far-fetched, but for Shen Huaixue, it was surprisingly reasonable. The rules set by Shen Huaixue always served only Shen Huaixue herself.
Lin Jianqing took a moment to recover before saying, “None.”
Shen Huaixue raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Never had one?”
“No.”
“Really?”
Lin Jianqing frowned.
“Why would I lie to you about that?”
Shen Huaixue lightly swirled her chopsticks, her gaze landing on his face with obvious amusement.
“I’m just a bit surprised. A gentle young man like you never being pursued?”
Lin Jianqing’s expression turned helpless.
“Someone pursuing me doesn’t mean I have to date them.”
“Oh.” Shen Huaixue dragged the word out. “So someone did pursue you.”
Lin Jianqing: “…”
He knew this woman’s questions always had traps.
“You tricked me?”
“You slipped up all on your own.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You just said, ‘Someone pursuing me doesn’t mean I have to date them.’”
“That was an example.”
“Examples usually come from real-life experience.”
Lin Jianqing put down his chopsticks and looked at her seriously.
“Shen Huaixue, do you have nothing better to do?”
Shen Huaixue’s smile deepened.
“When it comes to you, I actually have plenty of nothing to do.”
He realized Shen Huaixue really liked saying ambiguous things like that. They sounded like teasing, yet seemed to carry some other meaning.
But if he actually pressed for an answer, she’d definitely put on an innocent face and claim she was just joking.
She was a little sly. Lin Jianqing picked up his chopsticks again and decided to ignore her. But Shen Huaixue clearly wasn’t ready to drop the topic.
“So, who pursued you?”
“I forgot.”
“Forgot that quickly?”
“People who aren’t important aren’t worth remembering. Besides, there were quite a few.”
Shen Huaixue looked at him, as if she’d finally heard a satisfactory answer.
“Not bad.”
“What’s not bad?”
“People who aren’t important should be forgotten.”
Lin Jianqing felt that sentence coming from Shen Huaixue’s mouth sounded weird. He shot her a wary glance.
“What are you trying to say now?”
Shen Huaixue rested her chin on her hand, her smile gentle.
“I just think you have good self-awareness.”
“Self-awareness about what?”
“Knowing who isn’t important.”
Lin Jianqing paused for a few seconds. ‘What does that mean?’
“Then, do you think you’re important to me?” The question slipped out almost involuntarily. After saying it, even Lin Jianqing was startled.
Shen Huaixue also paused briefly. The restaurant fell silent for two seconds.
Lin Jianqing immediately realized the sentence sounded a bit off. He was about to backtrack when Shen Huaixue already laughed. She slowly leaned back into her chair, and a familiar, playful look resurfaced in her eyes.
“Lin Jianqing.”
Lin Jianqing didn’t dare to answer.
“Are you asking me to guess?” Shen Huaixue’s expression turned cold, and a faint murderous intent welled up from her gaze.
“No.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“No… no other meaning.”
“Oh.” Shen Huaixue nodded.
“Then I should be pretty important in your heart, right?”
As she finished speaking, that murderous look swept over him like two venomous snakes.
“Yes… quite important. No, extremely important.” Lin Jianqing immediately pledged his loyalty.
“Even though you said that against your will, I’ll let you pass.”
Lin Jianqing felt he’d lost another round. He now deeply regretted his loose tongue.
Shen Huaixue looked at the reddening tips of his ears, as if her mood had completely improved.
The earlier irritation about the Lin couple and the accident was diluted by this person’s flustered reaction. At least for this moment, she didn’t want to think about those things.
She only wanted to keep teasing him.
“Lin Jianqing.”
“What now?”
“When people confessed to you before, were you this easy to blush?”
“I wasn’t blushing.”
“Your ears are red.”
“It’s hot.”
“The AC is at 22 degrees.”
“I have a sensitive constitution…” ‘Hey hey hey, I’ve used that excuse way too many times already!’
Shen Huaixue laughed.
“That constitution of yours is quite dedicated—only flares up in front of me.”
Lin Jianqing took a deep breath. He decided that no matter what, he would never use the “sensitive constitution” excuse again.
Too embarrassing!
Shen Huaixue picked up a piece of fish and slowly placed it in her own bowl.
“What about your first kiss?”
Lin Jianqing froze completely. He looked up at her in disbelief.
“Why are you asking that?”
“Continuing to eat and chat.”
“That’s not normal conversation territory.”
“It is in my book.”
“Then your book has serious problems.”
Shen Huaixue smiled, her eyes curving slightly.
“So, is it still there or not?”
Lin Jianqing lowered his head to drink water.
“No comment.”
“Then it’s not.”
“How did you reach that conclusion?”
“If it was, you would’ve directly said yes and put on an ‘What’s so important about that?’ expression to try and prove you’re calm.” Shen Huaixue then mimicked the way Lin Jianqing usually defended himself.
“But you refused to answer and started drinking water.”
She leaned forward slightly, a wicked smile in her eyes.
“Lin Jianqing, are you still a virgin?”
Pfft—This time Lin Jianqing really almost choked on his water. He covered his mouth and coughed several times, his face turning red.
Shen Huaixue sat across from him, laughing without an ounce of guilt.
“Can you not say that while I’m drinking water?” Lin Jianqing was starting to lose it.
“Then don’t drink water while I’m asking crucial questions.”
“Is that a crucial question?”
“It’s very crucial to me.”
“Crucial how? And the jump in topics is way too big, hey!”
Shen Huaixue looked at him, the corners of her lips lifting slightly.
“I need to find out if the pretty boy I’m keeping is first-hand goods.” After she said that, a triumphant grin spread across her face.
Lin Jianqing: “What pretty boy!?”
He knew it—this woman never had anything decent to say.
“I’m not a pretty boy…”
“You are now.”
“The contract doesn’t say that. The relationship between you and me…”
“Relationship? What kind? Need me to add a clause?”
“In your dreams!”
Shen Huaixue watched him finally start to get ruffled, and her mood grew even better.
She found that the more Lin Jianqing was teased, the more vivid he became.
Compared to the pale, tense, about-to-collapse look he had at the start, this Lin Jianqing who argued, blushed, and glared at her was much more pleasing to the eye—and more tempting to bully.
When that thought crossed her mind, Shen Huaixue didn’t even immediately explain it away with “white moonlight substitute.”
She just simply found it fun. Fun enough to want this meal to last a little longer.
She had already clearly investigated Lin Jianqing’s past. The questions she was asking now were nothing more than toying with him.
“Then let me change the question. What type do you like?”
Lin Jianqing was already numb.
“Anyone human will do.”
Shen Huaixue paused, then laughed out loud.
“That low of a bar?”
“To keep you from digging further.”
Shen Huaixue propped her face on her hand, as if seriously thinking.
“Do you think that’ll work? Let me guess: the gentle type?”
Lin Jianqing kept his head down and ate.
“No.”
“The lively type?”
“No.”
“The mature type?”
“No.”
“The caring type?”
“No.”
“The rich type?”
Lin Jianqing’s movements paused. He looked up at Shen Huaixue. She was smiling at him, clearly doing it on purpose.
Lin Jianqing was silent for a moment, then said seriously, “At least not someone like you.”
Shen Huaixue raised an eyebrow.
“Like me in what way?”
“Bad personality.”
“Mm.”
“Likes to threaten people.”
“Continue.”
“Arrogant.”
“Anything else?”
“Loves to tease people.”
The smile in Shen Huaixue’s eyes grew stronger.
“So you admit I’m teasing you?”
Lin Jianqing: “…”
He immediately lowered his head and ate, pretending not to hear.
Shen Huaixue watched him bury his face in his food and gave a soft laugh.
“Lin Jianqing, I realize you’re really bad at chatting.”
“I wasn’t here to chat with you in the first place.”
“Then what were you here for?”
“To eat.”
“Just to eat?”
‘Comes to my house to eat and still acts righteous, doesn’t give any emotional value at all.’ Shen Huaixue thought to herself.