Sept nuits de neige

Chapitre 39

Nineteen tried to maintain a smile, but her eyes were already welling up with tears: "Yun Tan... do you...?" She wanted to ask him if he liked Gu Yan, but the question stuck on the tip of her tongue and she couldn't get it out.

Tears could no longer be held back and streamed down her face.

Unlike before when she was so angry with Xu Ziqing that she burst into tears, Tang Shijiu kept wiping her eyes with her sleeve, but found that the tears just wouldn't stop.

Shen Yun was taken aback at first, but then he understood what was going on, and a smile appeared on his lips and in his eyes.

"Nineteen... Why are you asking this?"

"I don't want you to see her, I don't want you to see her alone." Tang Shijiu bit her lip, managing to utter a sentence with difficulty, "I know... I know you must like her too. You're all the same... the same..."

He seemed to want to hold that crimson figure in his arms and comfort her, but when he reached out his hand, it was fiercely dodged.

"Don't touch me! If you... like her, then don't touch me."

Shen Yun sighed helplessly: "Nineteen, what are you thinking? How could I possibly like her?"

Tang Shijiu realized she was being unreasonable and tried her best to smile: "I'm sorry... I didn't know. I just didn't want to see you two alone together. I'm scared, so scared that she'll take you away too. I know it's wrong, but I just hate her and don't want to see her. I even regret that I shouldn't have saved her when she went up the mountain!"

A hint of unease flickered in her misty eyes as she bit her lip. "Yun Tan, am I a bad woman? They all say I'm bad, they all say she's good... Do you also think I'm bad?"

He stood up and reached out to touch her hair: "No, you're not bad, it's normal to think that way."

"Could you please... not see her alone anymore?" She lowered her eyes and hesitated for a long time.

"No," Shen Yun said in a low voice. "I'm sorry, Nineteen, I can't."

She looked up in astonishment, her heart suddenly feeling empty.

"Nineteen, what am I to you? I am nobody, so why can't I see other women?" He deliberately twisted her words, implying that Gu Yan was another woman.

His gaze fixed on her, suddenly becoming intense, and Tang Shijiu suddenly felt at a loss.

Shen Yuntan slowly squatted down, reached out to hold her shoulder, and whispered, "If I were someone to you, I would never go to see people you don't like. Nineteen... could I..."

His heart was pounding, and his tongue seemed to have a mind of its own, uttering uncontrollable words. Because of his face, Shen Yun had never...

He had said "I like you" before, but even when facing Tang Weiqi, he remained aloof and never revealed his feelings. Yet now, he couldn't let go; he was afraid that Shijiu would leave.

Tang Shijiu stood there, stunned, feeling his hand brush against her face, his breath getting closer and closer.

"Nineteen... If I am someone you like, and you say you don't want me to see someone, then I definitely won't go."

Chapter Twenty-Five: Tying the Hair

Shen Yuntan's face drew closer and closer. His thick, dark eyebrows, straight nose, and bright eyes seemed to possess a kind of magic, drawing her in. Tang Shijiu felt her face growing hotter and hotter. She had never felt so flustered, unsure of what to do with her hands.

"Nineteen, don't you like me?" He played with her long hair that fell over her shoulders, his voice seductive.

"I like...no...I..." Nineteen's eyes were unfocused, her mind a mess, and she didn't know whether she liked it or not. If she said she liked it, it seemed like she was missing something, but if she said she didn't like it, she couldn't let go of it.

Shen Yuntan let out a soft sigh, stood up, and ruffled her hair: "It's a pity my martial arts skills aren't good enough, and I don't have enough money. When I have money and my martial arts skills are good enough, I'll come back to ask you!"

"No...it's not about martial arts." She saw a hint of disappointment in his eyes and, for some reason, hurriedly explained, "It's not about the quality of martial arts, you're a good person, that's more valuable than martial arts. Look at Tian Shu and that man in white that day, their martial arts are very good, but they are too ruthless and don't care about human lives."

She offered a nonsensical explanation, mistakenly believing he was insecure, but the disappointment in Shen Yuntan's eyes deepened: "Nineteen, you really are a child."

Tang Shijiu lowered his eyes: "Yun Tan, I'm sorry. I didn't know..."

Shen Yun chuckled: "You should have said, 'I'm sorry, you're a good person.' Or, 'I've always thought of you as an older brother.'"

Tang Shijiu was speechless: "Aren't you a good person? Besides, how dare you, a pretty face with no substance, ask to be my brother?"

Shen Yun pinched her nose: "No, I always thought these two sentences were classic lines for girls to reject people."

Nineteen raised an eyebrow: "You've been rejected by a lot of people?"

He gently brushed his hair aside: "I've heard many stories of other people being rejected. I never thought it would happen to me today."

Although he was smiling, Nineteen could still see the loneliness in his eyes. That loneliness was like some unsightly dust scattered on the silk, and she wanted to raise her hand to brush it away.

"Yun Tan, I don't dislike you... I just don't know." Her voice grew softer and softer, becoming somewhat incoherent.

He couldn't bear to pressure her any further and said, "No rush, Nineteen, we have plenty of time."

Tears welled up in Tang Shijiu's eyes for some reason: "Yun Tan, don't be sad. How about I drink with you?"

Shen Yun laughed heartily: "Of course, it's your treat."

After drinking this wine, Tang Shijiu learned two things.

The first thing to do is not to talk to Shen Yun about drinking.

The second thing is that I'm actually not a very good drinker.

One jar, two jars, three jars. With each jar Tang Shijiu drank, he looked expectantly at Shen Yuntan, hoping he would crawl under the table for the next sip.

Go. However, in the end, Shen Yuntan in front of me became one, two, and three.

All three Shen Yuntans had beautiful eyebrows and eyes, and upturned corners of their mouths.

None of the three Shen Yuntans fell; it was Tang Shijiu who fell.

After drinking this wine, Shen Yuntan also understood two things.

The first thing is that Tang Shijiu looks even better when she's drunk than when she's sober.

Secondly, beautiful roses often have thorns.