Chapter 498 - 497: What-If: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? (66)

Chapter 498: Chapter 497: What-If: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? (66)

"Huh? Why, Cousin?"

Jiang Xia’s face was a picture of shock. "Isn’t this house great? I’ve only been here a few days, why are you selling it to someone else?"

He Hanshi didn’t explain further, only saying, "It’s none of your concern. Just go back to school."

"No."

Jiang Xia looked at him pitifully, his eyes pleading. "Cousin, if you have to sell, why not sell it to me? I’ve gotten used to living here. I don’t want to go back to a four-person dorm."

"There are plenty of apartments near the school. If you need one, just buy one off-campus. I’ve already found a buyer for this place."

After speaking, he stood up and started clearing the takeout containers from the table. He bagged the trash and paid Jiang Xia no more mind.

Unwilling to give up, Jiang Xia followed behind him. "Alright, then. Cousin, can you tell me who you’re selling it to? I’ll go buy it from them."

He Hanshi’s steps faltered slightly. "Why are you so insistent on this apartment? If you really want to buy, a place near campus would be more convenient."

Jiang Xia’s ears turned slightly red. He was too embarrassed to tell his cousin he’d fallen for Shi Lan at first sight, so he stammered out an explanation, "I... I’ve just gotten used to it."

"It’s only been a few days."

He Hanshi knew he wasn’t telling the truth. A faint suspicion formed in his mind. Glancing over Jiang Xia’s deliberately put-together outfit, his desire to send him away grew even stronger.

He added, "Be gone before the end of the day. Don’t make me move you myself."

Jiang Xia looked reluctant, but after glancing up at his cousin’s grim face, he swallowed all his complaints.

After He Hanshi left with the trash and his work laptop, Jiang Xia was in no mood to sleep.

He couldn’t bear to leave, couldn’t bear to be far from Shi Lan. Worried his cousin would take drastic measures, he immediately went downstairs to ask for Shi Lan’s contact information as soon as He Hanshi was gone.

Shi Lan didn’t expect him to show up a second time in one day. She looked at him with renewed surprise.

"Is there something else?"

Jiang Xia met her eyes, and his face instantly flushed red. Still, he worked up his courage and said, "Miss, I... can I get your WeChat ID?"

Shi Lan leaned against the doorframe. An inappropriately funny joke popped into her head, and she couldn’t help but laugh. "If you take my WeChat, what will I use?"

"Ah, I... I didn’t mean it like that."

Jiang Xia’s cheeks grew hotter, the blush spreading to his neck. He stammered, "I... I meant... add you as a friend. So we can keep in touch."

Jiang Xia had never pursued a girl before, but he felt that if he didn’t seize this chance to get Shi Lan’s contact information, his opportunities would only dwindle.

Most importantly, he wanted to make an impression on her so she wouldn’t forget him.

Shi Lan actually understood what he meant; she just wanted to tease him, seeing his blushing face.

However, perhaps sensing the sincerity of his feelings, she decided to be direct with her rejection. "I’m sorry, you’re too young. I’m not interested in you that way. Besides, you should be hanging out with people your own age. This is just a young person’s fleeting infatuation; you’re probably mistaking it for love."

Jiang Xia’s face had just been red, but now his eyes were red-rimmed too.

He couldn’t believe he’d been rejected by Shi Lan like this before he even had a chance to confess.

Jiang Xia’s eyes grew moist. He held back his tears, not wanting to embarrass himself further in front of her. His voice was hoarse as he slowly but firmly spoke his mind, "I’m already an adult. I’m not a kid. And this isn’t an impulse; I can think for myself."

"Yes, it’s true, I like you. But you shouldn’t dismiss my feelings just because of my age without getting to know me at all."

"Miss, can you please give me a chance? I won’t bother you. I’d be happy just to be on your contact list."

His expression was pitiful. He held out his phone, gazing at her eagerly like a listless puppy kicked out of its home, inexplicably stirring one’s pity.

’People really are swayed by a pretty face,’ Shi Lan thought.

Jiang Xia was blessed with good looks. He was young, his fair, boyish face full of collagen. At this moment, as he looked at her with red-rimmed eyes, holding back tears, she found it hard to steel her heart and reject him again.

Moreover, in Shi Lan’s memory, Jiang Xia, like Mu Tangfeng, was an arrogant, punkish rich kid who would defy heaven and earth, radiating a youthful bravado that refused to yield to anyone. This was the first time she had ever seen him look so pitiful and yielding.

In the end, Shi Lan, remembering how he had cared for her when she was Onyx, hesitated for a good while before finally scanning his QR code.

"Alright, I’ll add you."

"Okay, thank you, Miss~"

Jiang Xia’s moist, misty eyes instantly brightened, and he seemed full of life again.

Seeing him like this, Shi Lan couldn’t bring herself to say anything more harsh.

’Oh, well,’ she thought. ’A young guy like him will probably forget all about me once he hangs out with a few more people his own age. I don’t need to be so conceited as to think he’s fallen head over heels after just a couple of meetings.’

Shi Lan didn’t say anything else. Afraid of annoying her by lingering, Jiang Xia waited until she’d added him on WeChat, then said in a sweet, soft voice, "Well, Miss, I’ll be going now. I might have to move out soon, and I have classes, so I won’t bother you."

Shi Lan raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Classes? You go to school in L City?"

Not expecting her to continue the conversation, Jiang Xia suppressed his delight and nodded obediently. "Mhm, I got into L City University of Technology."

L City University of Technology was a top-tier university in L City. In Shi Lan’s memory, Jiang Xia was the type to doze off the moment class started. And back then, the college entrance exams were only a few months away. In such a short time, he’d actually gotten into a university—and a prestigious one at that? How impressive.

Perhaps the surprise on her face was a little too obvious, because Jiang Xia asked in confusion, "Miss, what’s wrong? Is there a problem?"

Shi Lan shook her head. "It’s nothing. In that case, I guess that makes me your senior. I graduated from the same university."

"Wow, really? What a coincidence!"

Jiang Xia was even happier. This gave him and Shi Lan another thing in common.

"I never would’ve thought your grades were so good."

Shi Lan couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. Hearing this, Jiang Xia seemed to recall something, and his expression turned desolate again. "Actually, my grades used to be terrible. I didn’t like studying either. But then... the cat I loved left me. I thought... maybe it left because it looked down on me for being an unscholarly good-for-nothing..."

Shi Lan had never actually asked what happened to her former cat self after she left. Perhaps it was a way to remind herself to forget those things, to not get lost in their kindness. She wasn’t supposed to have anything to do with them.

Now that Jiang Xia had brought it up, she hesitated for a moment before asking tentatively, "Left? Did it die?"

Jiang Xia shook his head. "Not exactly... It’s just that it’s not itself anymore..."

"I’m sorry, Miss. It’s hard to explain all at once. If I get the chance, I’ll bring my cat to see you next time, and I can tell you the whole story then."

The thought of the Cat Demon that hadn’t returned in so long still made Jiang Xia sad. He didn’t really know what it was he missed about the Cat Demon. Onyx was still with them, but he always felt like he had lost something important, that the initial feeling of liking it from the bottom of his heart was gone.

Perhaps it was the Cat Demon’s presence that had caught their attention in the first place, making them decide to get a cat.