chapter 3

The He Family has eyes and ears everywhere. The matter that Cheng Song had gone to great lengths to conceal reached me in less than half a day.

But in the past, I never cared, and pretended not to know.

My eyes and heart were filled only with Cheng Song. I relied on him; as long as he stayed with me and was willing to coax me, that was enough.

This time, though, it was different.

Suddenly, I found myself intensely curious about things other than Cheng Song.

Cheng Song once told his friends that it was as if he were personally tending a flower.

Watching her grow, bloom, stand tall and graceful, wild and radiant, shining because of his sunlight, shy because of his rain-she was a flower that bloomed only for him.

He was addicted to that feeling.

He spoke so beautifully about it that I wanted to try it myself.

“I want to plant a tree,” I suddenly said, very seriously, slowly. “I want to experience what it feels like to give him sunlight and rain, and watch him grow.”

Xu Sixian was stunned.

He didn’t understand what I meant, looking a bit lost.

I stifled a small yawn and switched to a more straightforward way of speaking: “I want to take care of you.”

He was at a dead end now. If I was the only one helping him, then he would be a tree growing just for me, wouldn’t he?

Xu Sixian fell silent.

Then, his ears turned red.

A little embarrassed, a little awkward, at a loss for words.

I knew my words might have sounded a bit frivolous, but I didn’t care much.

I thought he would feel humiliated.

But for some reason, when he looked at me, his gaze remained gentle, with a hint of helplessness that softened his usual distant demeanor.

He even crouched down to help me straighten the blanket that had slipped off my knees, brushing away the dust that had settled on it.

His reaction was different from those TV heroines who would argue and say, “You’re insulting me.”

“Miss He…” He hesitated, wanting to say something, and finally asked, “Will you tell your family about this?”