The conversation between Lu Nanxun and Ji Liuyue naturally hadn’t escaped Xu Jinsi’s notice.
But he said nothing.
It was only when Ji Liuyue, Wang Aitian, Cen Yu, Ji Xizhou, and Lu Nanxun were getting ready to head out to buy supplies that he invited her on a date in front of everyone.
The hand holding the car keys trembled slightly. Even the usually mild-mannered and polished Dr. Lu regarded Xu Jinsi with a hint of displeasure.
Why say it now, of all times?
It was simply too much!
What shameless audacity!
Ji Xizhou also found himself siding with Lu Nanxun for once. He sneered, “We’re just about to head out shopping. Isn’t it a little inappropriate to ask her out now?”
“Shopping doesn’t require this many people. You can all go,” Xu Jinsi replied with a smile, a sharp glint flashing through his amber eyes.
After a pause, he added, “As for my date with Yueyue, that’s between the two of us.”
Normally, given his personality, he would never use such a clingy pet name as Yueyue.
But the female guests—Wang Aitian and the others—had all been calling her that affectionately. Lu Nanxun had also changed the way he addressed her, and the newcomer, Ji Xizhou, was doing the same.
By comparison, “Liuyue” sounded rather distant coming from him.
Xu Jinsi had long since intended to change the way he addressed her. This was the perfect opportunity to stake his claim in front of everyone!
Lu Nanxun glanced at Liuyue.
Without showing the slightest emotion, he said, “I remember the rules said that the person being asked out is allowed to refuse.”
Xu Jinsi wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. He simply turned to Ji Liuyue with a bright smile.
“So, are you going to refuse?”
What arrogance.
Men.
Ji Liuyue narrowed her eyes. Her strategy these past few days had been to send signals to Lu Nanxun while deliberately snubbing Xu Jinsi.
After all, Xu Jinsi seemed careless and lazy, as though nothing mattered to him. In reality, however, his emotional defenses ran deep. The more accommodating someone was toward him, the less interested he became.
Only something special could catch his attention.
At present, Xu Jinsi’s curiosity about her outweighed his feelings.
So Ji Liuyue curved her lips into an apologetic smile and said, “We already made plans to go to the supermarket. How about we set another time for our date?”
Xu Jinsi froze.
He hadn’t expected that answer. Nor had he expected to feel the mocking gazes of his rivals, Lu Nanxun and Ji Xizhou, fixed on him.
For a moment, frustration and humiliation surged through him.
His voice caught as he asked, “What if I don’t change the time?”
Ji Liuyue glanced at the people around them.
They all went outside first, leaving the two of them some privacy.
Ji Xizhou still seemed intent on saying something, but Lu Nanxun grabbed him and pulled him away.
“At a time like this, she has the right to make her own decision. There’s no need to say anything else.”
In the entryway, Ji Liuyue continued putting on her shoes at an unhurried pace while Xu Jinsi stood in front of her, staring straight at her with his amber eyes.
Waiting for her answer.
Only after she had finished changing her shoes did she straighten her back and smile faintly.
“I’m heading out.”
Xu Jinsi instinctively reached for her arm. His hand had barely lifted when he realized how impulsive the gesture was and stopped himself, forcing himself to calm down.
“So this means you’re rejecting me?”
Unwilling to accept it, he pressed on. “Why?”
Ji Liuyue looked at him with an almost amused smile and countered, “I already told you. You can ask me out at another time. Why did you have to do it right when I was leaving with them?”
Of course, it was because this was the only way to completely snuff out the arrogance of his two rivals!
He wanted them both to see clearly that Yueyue liked him.
But Xu Jinsi had been far too confident. Only now did he realize that perhaps he wasn’t special to her at all. He hadn’t even received her heart-flutter text last night.
Could it be… that Ji Liuyue liked someone else?
Xu Jinsi didn’t dare think any further. He was afraid the answer would be one he didn’t want to hear.
That was why he had invited her so forcefully in front of everyone. He wanted her to give him a definite answer.
He knew he might have gone too far.
But Xu Jinsi had always done whatever he pleased. Ever since he was young, he had acted entirely according to his own feelings. He did whatever he wanted, while people he disliked didn’t even receive a glance from him.
Seeing that Xu Jinsi remained silent, Ji Liuyue reached for the doorknob, preparing to leave.
At last, he couldn’t hold back.
He strode forward and blocked her path. Clearly unwilling to let her go, he nevertheless stubbornly said, “Ji Liuyue, do you know what it means to reject my invitation?”
“What does it mean?” Liuyue looked at him, her eyes curving into a smile. She wasn’t frightened in the slightest.
“My feelings for you can be given to you, but they can also be taken back,” Xu Jinsi said in a low voice.
But the moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them.
He was afraid she would answer, “Fine. Then take them back.”
That wasn’t what he wanted at all. He didn’t want to push her away. He only wanted to become more important to her.
At the very least, more important than Lu Nanxun and Ji Xizhou.
Xu Jinsi had always lacked a sense of security. He wanted her preference and attention.
That was why he kept saying things he didn’t truly mean.
The corners of Ji Liuyue’s lips lifted. She asked in return, “So are you telling me that you want to take back your feelings?”
Xu Jinsi’s heart immediately began to panic.
He hurriedly shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.”
But Ji Liuyue no longer left room for ambiguity. She said bluntly, “Xu Jinsi, thank you for liking me. But I’ve chosen to reject your invitation just now. I’m not going on a date with you.”
“I have my own pace. I already agreed yesterday to go to the supermarket with someone else, and the invitation you made today disrupted my plans. I don’t like having my sense of order disturbed.”
“Liking someone means respecting them. But I didn’t see any respect from you. All I saw was possessiveness and a desire to control me.”
“So if you want to take back feelings like that, then please do.”
Her reasoning was clear, and she hadn’t been intimidated in the slightest by Xu Jinsi’s attitude. Even as she spoke, she continued smiling faintly.
But her eyes had become completely devoid of emotion, cold as still water.
Xu Jinsi panicked even more, utterly flustered and at a loss. He wished he could slap himself several times over.
He cursed himself inwardly for blurting out such foolish words.
All he could do was make his position clear. “Now that I’ve given you my feelings, I won’t take them back!”
Ji Liuyue had already opened the door. She took two steps forward without stopping and said coolly, “That’s your business.”
With that, she left him with only her departing back.
Xu Jinsi stood rooted to the spot, filled with regret. That morning, he had still been laughing at Ji Xizhou. He never would have imagined that he would be the one to make a fool of himself.
His heart was filled with remorse and anxiety. He was terrified that this argument had pushed Liuyue into the arms of one of his rivals.
The system’s voice rang in Ji Liuyue’s ear.
Xu Jinsi’s affection level has increased again.
It has risen from 75% to 80%.
Sure enough, one couldn’t always indulge men. Sometimes, they had to be put through a little emotional torment. Making them anxious and uncertain was the only way to make them care more.
This argument had been part of Liuyue’s plan from the beginning.
“Liuyue… y-you’re here?”
Wang Aitian hadn’t expected Yueyue to actually reject Xu Jinsi and continue going to the supermarket with them.
She was both surprised and caught off guard.
Ji Liuyue smiled at her. Her gaze swept over Lu Nanxun and Ji Xizhou before she said vaguely, “Let’s go.”
