“What did you say?”
“You’re rejecting me?”
Gao Hongyi’s pupils dilated sharply.
“You clearly just said you liked me, yet you say you won’t kiss me. What kind of logic is that? Why are you being disobedient again, Uncle Bai?”
It was simply incomprehensible.
Her chest felt like glass dropped from a great height, shattering inch by inch.
The pain made it nearly impossible for Gao Hongyi to breathe.
Even if she had to use force, she was determined to have all of Uncle Bai….
Although the rejection stung her heart, Gao Hongyi wasn’t one to sit idly by.
If she couldn’t have his heart, couldn’t she at least have his body?
Just as she was thinking this, Gu Yebai suddenly grabbed her slender waist, causing her entire body to go limp in his arms.
“Tonight.”
“Let’s kiss at the Ferris Wheel, all right?”
“I want to leave precious memories with you in a more meaningful place.”
“Ah, so that’s how it is.”
Gao Hongyi, who had looked utterly devastated moments ago, immediately broke into a pure, girlish smile.
She lightly hammered Gu Yebai’s chest with her small fists.
“Gosh, why did you leave me hanging? You should have said so earlier, Uncle Bai! Oh, that’s right. We did say yesterday that we’d go on the Ferris Wheel today.”
“So you are willing to kiss me after all, right?”
Gu Yebai immediately nodded like a woodpecker.
“I suppose the scenery at the Ferris Wheel is better, and a kiss in an enclosed space has more atmosphere!”
‘Is it because I love Uncle Bai too much that I’m being too hasty?’
“I must apologize to you, Uncle Bai. I admit, seeing that girl from Seoul just now made me a little worried that your heart might stray. I was rambling so much only because I want to keep you so badly.”
“Please, whatever you do, don’t hate me for it.”
“How could I ever hate you?”
“Besides, Uncle Bai, I’ve heard that the study abroad circle is very messy. They aren’t loyal to their partners. I heard that as soon as the weekend hits, international students throw orgies. Their sleeping around is as common as drinking water — it’s disgusting.”
“I’m not saying Bai Xialin is dirty. After all, I don’t know her. I’m just saying that’s the general situation with most international students. They don’t have any self-respect.”
Looking at Gao Hongyi’s expression, Gu Yebai couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of suffocation.
She hadn’t been like this at first.
But just because she had seen Bai Xialin, the air had suddenly grown heavy.
It felt as if invisible shackles were forming, attempting to control him.
Gu Yebai kept searching for excuses for her, because the Gao Hongyi in his heart was a fragile and kind girl.
To help her return to a slightly more normal state and make her feel more at ease, he had to ease the tension between them.
For now, the only way was to be compliant.
“All right, show me around our home.”
Gu Yebai intentionally used the word “our.”
Though he was an amateur when it came to romance, Gu Yebai wasn’t truly stupid.
“We can certainly share a room tonight, Hongyi.”
“However, when I’m writing my book, I’ll need a separate room.”
“After all, having someone around affects my writing to some extent. Besides, Madam, you wouldn’t want your Uncle Bai to lose his job, would you?”
“Gosh, fine then. Uncle Bai can have a separate study,” Gao Hongyi finally compromised.
“Thank you.”
“But Uncle Bai, you’re only allowed to write in the study. You aren’t allowed to take advantage of being alone to secretly chat with other girls, or I’ll get jealous again.”
Sometimes he really didn’t understand why someone as beautiful as her would get jealous over him.
Although he didn’t look in the mirror often, Gu Yebai at least had a sense of his own reflection.
Why would so many girls like him?
In all his years, Gu Yebai hadn’t even had many male friends, let alone female ones.
The meeting with Bai Xialin at the elevator earlier was surely just a polite greeting.
She probably couldn’t even remember his name anymore.
“Don’t worry, I don’t have any female friends. If I ever do need to chat with one, I’ll be sure to report it to you truthfully.”
“Male friends also need my approval.”
“I wouldn’t want a day to come where Uncle Bai is captivated by a boy who looks like a girl. Don’t we have one of those femboys in our group?”
“That pervert named Sansan is clearly a man, yet he always posts leg photos.”
This was getting a bit too extreme.
The current Gao Hongyi truly wanted to control every aspect of his life…
“Sure, no problem.”
“Also, I’m straight. I’m already completely charmed by you, so you can rest easy.”
He was actually starting to sweat.
“That’s more like it.”
Gao Hongyi hummed a little tune contentedly as she stood by the balcony, overlooking the Bund.
“An Uncle Bai who is willing to kiss me and share a room with me is a good boy.”
Although Gu Yebai’s small movement of trying to pull his hand away from their interlaced fingers earlier hadn’t escaped her — which had made her feel quite dejected for a moment — looking at his face again and thinking about how they were now living together quickly cleared the gloom from her heart.
But she still couldn’t let her guard down.
Donghai was an international metropolis of bright lights and endless entertainment.
Here, temptation was everywhere, and every desire would be infinitely magnified.
In the international school Gao Hongyi currently attended, there were many girls with beautiful faces.
While Gao Hongyi was a school beauty level figure, her looks weren’t enough to completely crush every other girl.
She was merely one of the top-tier beauties!
If the Bai Xialin they had just run into were at her school, she would definitely be one of the school beauties as well.
If she encountered any beautiful girls, she had to find a way to isolate them from Uncle Bai.
Even if Uncle Bai claimed he only loved her, she still had to do something.
Should she get on good terms with Bai Xialin so she could convince her not to live at Tomson Riviera?
Or should she try to keep Uncle Bai from leaving the house without permission, making him stay in the room to write his novels?
‘If Bai Xialin were to die, that wouldn’t be a bad way to handle it.’
But quickly, Gao Hongyi shook her head.
It was too strange to have such a thought after only meeting her once.
Why would such an evil idea pop into her head?
Bai Xialin hadn’t done anything wrong, and she was actually quite polite.
Her only mistake was being too beautiful.
“Aaah! Damn it!”
Gao Hongyi gripped her deep cherry-red hair, messing it up in her frustration.
An invisible sense of anxiety kept her in a constant state of fear that she might lose Uncle Bai if she lowered her guard for even a second.
As she stood before the mirror, the anxiety eased slightly.
From any angle, she was beautiful — enough to make anyone give up everything for her.
So, Uncle Bai would belong to her and her alone forever…
‘Right?’
‘That Bai Xialin is just a passerby. And that girl in Uncle Bai’s reader group, probably the one called Himuro Mio, won’t be able to take Uncle Bai from me either — ‘
‘Ah, why do you all have to exist?’
‘Why do you have to appear in Uncle Bai’s life?’
‘You’re in the way, so in the way!’
‘If only the girls around Uncle Bai were all like Ai Lian, how wonderful would that be!’