Bella's head snapped up, her eyes filled with shock. "What did you say? Go to your place?"
"This old district isn't safe. None of the statistics in the report are a joke."
Ye Jinzhi looked at her, his gaze darkening a fraction as if suppressing some emotion.
"Since I've seen it," he paused, "I won't let you live there anymore."
"No," Bella said, biting her lip.
"Is that so?" Ye Jinzhi raised an eyebrow. "Student Bella, you seem to have forgotten that the first lesson a teacher teaches a student is usually obedience."
Looking at the exceedingly handsome face before her, Bella felt for the first time that this might have been a setup from the very beginning.
Could it be that the very first time he recognized her, he had already planned to abduct her back to his place?
"I have the right to refuse." Bella rejected him cleanly and decisively, stepping back to put some distance between them.
Ye Jinzhi seemed to have anticipated this answer.
He wasn't angry; he merely withdrew his hand slowly, his fingertips tapping lightly and rhythmically against the tabletop.
The sound wasn't loud, but hearing it made Bella's heart tighten.
"Refuse?" he repeated in a low voice, the end of the word tilting up, his tone unreadable.
"I'm living perfectly fine right now. I don't need you worrying about me," Bella stared back at him stubbornly. "Besides, we're just... ordinary classmates. We aren't at the point of living together."
"Ordinary classmates?"
Ye Jinzhi let out a soft chuckle and slowly stood up.
He walked around the stone table, stopped beside Bella, leaned in slightly, and grasped her wrist.
"Bella, it seems you really have forgotten. A Doll doesn't have the right to say 'no' to her master."
His warm breath brushed past Bella's ear, his voice so low that only the two of them could hear it.
"Are you going to force me?"
Bella was upset. Hearing his unquestionable command, she stood up abruptly.
She postured as if she was about to walk out, her eyes turning uncontrollably red, her voice even carrying a hint of a sob:
"Ye Jinzhi, you said... you would listen to me about everything."
As soon as these words were spoken, Ye Jinzhi, who had just been calm and relentlessly pressing forward, instantly froze in place.
Meeting her glistening eyes, whatever composure and calmness remained in his gaze completely vanished.
Ye Jinzhi's heart tightened as if viciously pierced by a sharp blade. The threats he had prepared and the tactics to make her submit obediently all misfired in this instant.
"Bella..." After a long time, he finally called her name in a low voice.
As he spoke, Ye Jinzhi's tone unconsciously softened. "I'm just worried about you."
Of course he remembered those words.
That was the power he had personally handed to her, and now it had become the cage trapping him.
Bella stood with her back to him, not turning around.
She raised a hand and quickly wiped the corner of her eye, her slight frame trembling faintly, looking as if she had suffered a tremendous grievance.
Was Bella really crying?
Not at all. Although her eyes were a little red, she wasn't at the point of shedding tears.
Who doesn't know how to put on an act?
"Bella..." he lowered his voice.
The hint of command in his tone had completely dissipated, leaving only a rare concession.
He moved a half-step forward, reaching his hand out mid-air before pulling it back.
"Don't cry." Ye Jinzhi's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice husky and tinged with helplessness. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have pushed you. Don't cry, okay?"
Bella still didn't respond, only letting her shoulders give another gentle tremble. In her mind, she was secretly counting down.
Sure enough, the very next second, Ye Jinzhi completely surrendered.
"I take back what I just said." He stepped to her side, carefully observing her expression, his tone coaxing. "You don't have to live at my place, is that okay? As long as you're happy, you can live wherever you want. Just don't be mad at me anymore, hm?"
"Really?"
Hearing this, Bella's heart bloomed with joy, but outwardly, she maintained her aggrieved facade.
She slowly turned around, deliberately sniffing, and looked at him with red eyes, her voice still a bit hoarse.
"Yes," he replied helplessly.
"However," his tone shifted, and his expression grew serious. "It's fine if you don't live at my place, but you have to move somewhere else. The urban village you're living in right now is too chaotic, and you've seen the crime statistics yourself. It's truly not safe."
Bella pursed her lips, just about to retort, but Ye Jinzhi cut her off first.
"This isn't forcing you, Bella," he sighed. "For your own safety, move to a neighborhood with better security. I'll handle the rent and the paperwork, alright?"
Bella twisted the hem of her shirt, keeping her head down so he wouldn't see the smile in her eyes.
She deliberately kept her head bowed, pretending to think for a long time before muttering softly:
"Then... it has to be close to the school, and you can't be mean to me like you were just now."
Seeing her give in, Ye Jinzhi's suspended heart finally settled, and the corners of his lips unconsciously curved up:
"Alright, I was wrong earlier. As long as you're willing to move, I'll agree to whatever conditions you have."
After that, the two reached an agreement, and Ye Jinzhi escorted her home.
"Go on up, I'll watch you."
"I'm going up then. You... be careful on your way back too."
"Mhm, see you tomorrow."
"Bye-bye."
Bella nodded, turned, and jogged briskly up the stairs.
It wasn't until he saw Bella poke her head out from the balcony window that Ye Jinzhi waved his hand and withdrew his gaze.
He didn't leave immediately; instead, he took a walk around the neighborhood.
Pulling out his phone, he made a call, his tone returning to its usual coldness:
"The apartment I had you look at before, get the contract ready tomorrow. Yes, sign it directly."
Hanging up the phone, Ye Jinzhi walked back to the bottom of the building and looked up at the window shining with light.
Since his Doll refused to live in his territory, he would personally build a place for her where no outsider was allowed to interfere.
Bella pushed open the door to her apartment and was a bit surprised to see the person on the sofa.
"Sister Jing, you're back today?"
Bella asked casually as she bent down to change her shoes.
Shen Wenjing was curled up on the sofa playing on her phone. Hearing the noise, she abruptly sat up straight. Seeing it was Bella, a flash of surprise quickly crossed her eyes.
"Bella? Why are you still here...?" Her voice rose a few pitches.
Bella paused her movements, looking at her in bafflement:
"Where else would I be? This is my home."
Realizing she had slipped up, Shen Wenjing quickly forced a couple of dry laughs to cover it up, but her gaze was evasive, not daring to meet Bella's eyes directly:
"Nothing, I mean... I thought you... uh, I just..."
"Sister Jing, why are you acting so weird today?" Bella eyed her suspiciously.
Seeing her guilty expression, Bella sat down next to her. "Sister Jing, you're hiding something from me," she said with absolute certainty.
Sure enough, a look of astonishment flashed across Shen Wenjing's face, and her hand gripping the phone unconsciously tightened.
"And, it's something about me," Bella added, tilting her head.
Shen Wenjing looked at the beautiful and innocent smiling face before her, those bright, clear eyes full of trust, which only deepened the guilt in her heart.
She hesitated for quite a while before finally, as if throwing caution to the wind, she tossed her phone onto the sofa and asked in a hushed tone:
"Um... Bella, while I was away from home these past few days, Ye Jinzhi didn't do anything to you, did he?"
