179: Chapter 179 I Want a Formal Confession

It was quiet again for about a dozen seconds.

Lu Li sat on the sofa, not knowing whether to move or just sit there.

In the end, Shen Qingxue made the first move.

She lowered the hand covering her forehead, raised her head, and glanced at him.

"...Aren't your hands sore?"

She spoke, her tone bland, but her ending notes carried a trace of subtle helplessness.

Only then did Lu Li withdraw his hand, touch the bridge of his nose, and give a dry cough.

"Are you alright? I just now... really didn't mean it."

"I know."

Shen Qingxue averted her gaze, her voice muffled.

"If you had meant it, I should already be lying in the hospital right now."

Lu Li's mouth twitched, wanting to retort, but he found that he really didn't have anything to retort with.

He scratched his head, his gaze falling on her slightly red forehead, and that indescribable impulse in his heart surged up again.

"Um..."

"Don't speak yet, let me speak first."

Shen Qingxue interrupted him, taking a deep breath as if making some important decision.

Lu Li closed his mouth and waited quietly.

Shen Qingxue fell silent for a few seconds, then cast her gaze back onto him, her expression turning serious.

"Now, I can be certain of my feelings for you, but I don't know what you think of me. I want to know your answer."

Hearing this, Lu Li's heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat.

His gaze fell on Shen Qingxue's face.

At this moment, she was serious and solemn, lacking the earlier embarrassment and annoyance, and without any ambiguous evasion.

In those clear and cold eyes, there remained only a calm and open anticipation.

She was waiting for his answer.

Lu Li took a deep breath, fell silent for two or three seconds, and then spoke.

"My answer is very simple."

He paused, every word clear.

"Liking someone doesn't have that many reasons."

"Every companionship, every flutter of the heart counts as an answer, and it cannot be expressed through language alone."

Lu Li touched the tip of his nose, smiling somewhat sheepishly for once.

"Anyway, my heart just fluttered."

The living room fell quiet for a moment.

Shen Qingxue didn't interrupt him, listening quietly.

Yet her heart rate was rising rapidly.

"I had been wondering before if it was just because we'd spent a long time together, so I mistook it for a flutter of the heart, but later I figured it out."

Lu Li turned his head and met her gaze.

"It's because that person is you that my heart flutters."

Shen Qingxue's breathing noticeably paused.

She didn't speak, but the blush on her earlobes had quietly spread down to her neck.

She lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously drawing circles on her knees, and spoke only after a few seconds.

"...I'm very satisfied with this answer."

Lu Li was stunned for a moment, then grinned.

"That's good, I was afraid you'd think it was too perfunctory."

"It's not perfunctory."

Shen Qingxue raised her head, looked at him, the corners of her mouth curving slightly, but quickly reined it in.

"However."

She straightened her expression, and her look turned serious again.

"I have a request."

Lu Li subconsciously straightened his posture and asked curiously,

"Go ahead."

Shen Qingxue looked at him, her gaze carrying a layer of soft solemnity.

"I hope a relationship doesn't begin so sloppily, not because the atmosphere is right, nor because of a momentary impulse."

She paused, her voice softening a bit, but the seriousness in her tone didn't decrease in the slightest.

"I want a proper confession."

Lu Li opened his mouth, and before he could say anything, she continued.

"Not now, don't just casually say "Let's be together" and brush it off, I don't want that kind of hasty beginning."

She looked into his eyes and blinked playfully.

"So, I'm leaving this method to you. Whenever you figure out how to confess, I'll say yes."

"Remember, don't be too hasty."

The living room was quiet for a few seconds.

Lu Li stared at her for several seconds, then suddenly laughed.

"Are you... throwing the difficult problem to me?"

Shen Qingxue tilted her head slightly.

"Mhm, what? Scared?"

"Scared?"

Lu Li leaned back, resting his hands behind his head, crossing his legs, his expression brimming with confidence.

"There is no such word as 'fear' in my, Lu Li's, dictionary. Just wait, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Shen Qingxue watched his smug look, and the curve of her mouth couldn't be pressed down no matter what.

"Then I'll wait."

She lowered her head, reopened that account book, pretending to be very busy, but the tip of her pen stayed on the paper for a long time without moving.

Lu Li didn't speak anymore either, sitting quietly beside her, his gaze falling on her slightly red earlobes.

After a long while, Lu Li suddenly spoke, his voice much more casual than before.

"Right, um... before the formal confession, what kind of relationship do we count as right now?"

Shen Qingxue thought for a moment, then smiled playfully.

"Guess."

"...You're trying to drive me crazy."

"Hehe, serves you right if you die of anxiety."

Lu Li: "..."

He decided to take back what he just said.

Women were all transformed from vixen spirits, and he was just accidentally bewitched.

Seeing him deflated, Shen Qingxue was in a great mood, considering it payback for that night's "revenge".

After another dozen seconds or so, Lu Li suddenly scratched his head, his brow slightly furrowing.

"Eh, this is like weirdness opening the door for weirdness, weirdness to the extreme. Why do I always feel like... I forgot something?"

Shen Qingxue raised her head, looking at him curiously.

"It's already this time, what could possibly be the matter?"

"I dunno, there really doesn't seem to be anything at this hour, what could there be..."

Before his voice faded, both of their expressions froze simultaneously.

Then, almost at the exact same instant...

"Oh no!!! We forgot to release the orchid pavilion preface!!!"

Lu Li popped up from the sofa with a "swoosh".

"F*ck, I knew something felt wrong."

Shen Qingxue quickly took out her phone to take a look.

"There are still a few minutes until eight o'clock, quick quick quick, if we post it now, it shouldn't be too late."

Lu Li also felt extremely helpless.

Too many things happened afterward; you wanted to kiss, I wanted to kiss too; you wanted to confess, and I wanted to confess too.

With this whole chain of events, what orchid pavilion preface? Who the f*ck even remembered the orchid pavilion preface?!"

"It's done for, done for, done for... We've really ghosted them this time."

Lu Li quickly opened Douyin.

As soon as he entered the backend, direct messages and comments had already exploded, with a bunch of mentions.

[It's eight o'clock! It's eight o'clock! Where is the promised traditional-style song, did it grow legs and fly away???]

[@Rock Sugar Pear Did you guys forget???]

[Heavens, spare me, I've been refreshing since 7:55, and refreshing until now with still no result.]

[Lu Li you're ghosting again!!! You said you'd ghost for two days last time, I thought you were joking, and you actually went through with it???]

[Goddess, hurry up and keep your Lu Li in check!!!]

[Stop calling her goddess... Two people sleeping in the same blanket don't breed different kinds, these two fellows truly live up to the name of pigeon gods.]