Chapter 511 - 510: If-Line: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 79

Chapter 511: Chapter 510: If-Line: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 79

Shi Lan was surprised that not accepting his friend request had made He Hanshi feel this way. She guiltily fiddled with her fingers and made an excuse. "Sorry, I have two WeChat accounts. I was logged into my work one today and forgot to check my messages. Hold on, I’ll go accept it right now."

With that, she took out her phone and, with a few careful taps, accepted his friend request.

He Hanshi heard his phone chime and took it out to look.

Shi Lan’s lips curved into a slight smile. "Does that prove it?"

He Hanshi was a good person, and he was her first owner after she became a cat. No matter what, Shi Lan could never hate him.

In truth, she couldn’t put her real feelings into words. It wasn’t hate so much as avoidance. She was afraid she would fall too deep.

He Hanshi stared straight at her, not hiding the smile at the corners of his lips. "Mm, thank you."

Even though he had her WeChat now, he still stood in the doorway, lingering. His deep eyes gazed down at her.

Shi Lan felt a little embarrassed under his gaze and asked, puzzled, "Is there anything else?"

He Hanshi had just been wondering if he should just tell her that he knew she was Pumpkin. Jiang Xia’s existence had heightened his sense of crisis. Before, he might have planned to take things slow, but now he was worried there wasn’t enough time.

He was afraid that if he so much as blinked, Shi Lan would get together with Jiang Xia.

However, when he came back to his senses and his gaze met the nervousness in Shi Lan’s eyes, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly and temporarily dismissed the idea.

’I must have scared her just now.’

He Hanshi’s gentle eyes softened. From the pocket of his expensive, custom-made black suit, he pulled out a square gift box that was warm to the touch.

He handed it to her. "I was back in the Capital on business a while ago. I saw a nice bracelet and thought you might like it."

"Huh?"

Shi Lan swallowed, her first instinct to shake her head and refuse. He Hanshi’s eyes looked a little hurt. "I know you don’t like me right now, but you don’t like Jiang Xia either. You accepted the concert tickets he gave you, so why won’t you accept a gift from me, your suitor?"

Shi Lan had never seen such a look in his eyes before. Even back when his legs were paralyzed and he was lying in a hospital bed, his gaze had been gentle and composed, as if everything was under his control.

But now, those perpetually calm and composed dark eyes were filled with threads of disappointment, making Shi Lan feel as if it would be a terrible crime not to accept his gift.

He Hanshi continued, "Shi Lan, I’m not giving you this gift hoping you’ll start liking me just because you accept it. I’m giving it to you because I like you, and I want to give you things I think you’ll like. It sounds a little complicated, doesn’t it..."

He let out a low chuckle, his voice softening even more. "I hope you don’t feel pressured. You can think of it as my own one-sided wish. Me liking you is just that—me liking you. I’m not demanding anything from you in return. In fact, I’m happy just to be able to give you a gift."

During the entire time he was waiting to give this gift to Shi Lan, it had been like a temporary vessel for his longing, offering some solace to his affection.

Back when Shi Lan was Pumpkin, she often heard Mrs. He say her son was taciturn and spoke too little. She would even complain to her in private that he was already in his thirties and didn’t even have a woman he could exchange a few extra words with.

The person he probably spoke to the most was He Mi, to the point that Mrs. He had even gotten ideas about her at one point, though Mr. He had, of course, put a stop to it.

But in Shi Lan’s memory, He Hanshi was actually quite chatty. When she was Pumpkin, he loved to ramble on, his words always laced with gentle concern. Now that she was human, she was surprised that he could say so much just to give her a simple gift.

She knew that He Hanshi was worried she would refuse.

’Who would have thought that a top-ten tycoon would have such worries?’

The refusal on the tip of Shi Lan’s tongue was swallowed back down. She took the box, unable to stop herself from muttering complainingly, "I really can’t win an argument with you."

He Hanshi let out a soft sigh, his gaze tender. "No, it’s because you’re too kind."

Shi Lan couldn’t stand that look in his eyes. She turned her head away. "So, is that all?"

"That’s all. I’ll be going now."

At his words, Shi Lan mercilessly shut the door. From outside, He Hanshi’s low chuckle rang out, and her face inexplicably grew hot again. She quickly turned on the air conditioner, then looked down at the gift in her hands. Curious, she opened it. Inside was a sapphire bracelet.

The clasp was magnetic, and every sapphire looked pure and translucent. Without even asking, Shi Lan knew this bracelet was very expensive.

She tried it on her wrist, and for a moment, it felt like the lights in the room had grown much brighter.

The bracelet was a perfect fit. After trying it on, she took it off again.

It was too valuable. There was no way a man like He Hanshi would give her a fake; this bracelet had to be worth hundreds of thousands, at the very least. She put it in her safe at home.

Just then, a message arrived from He Hanshi: [Does the bracelet fit?]

Shi Lan replied: [It fits perfectly. Thank you. It’s too extravagant.]

She wouldn’t dare wear it out casually anyway. It was mainly because she hadn’t bought it herself; she was always worried about losing gifts from other people.

He Hanshi wrote: [As long as it fits. Don’t worry, it’s just a material thing. If you lose it, I’ll just buy you a new one.]

Shi Lan hadn’t said anything, yet he knew exactly what she was worried about.

Shi Lan awkwardly sent a "thank you" sticker and didn’t reply further, but she couldn’t resist tapping into He Hanshi’s social media feed.

He Hanshi’s feed was quite simple. The most recent post was a picture of Pumpkin he’d taken almost a year ago. Before that, there were just a few sporadic shares of articles from his company’s official account.

In the last three years, in fact, he had posted so few times you could count them on two hands.

There wasn’t much to see. Shi Lan went back to looking at the nine-image grid of Pumpkin. Just as she hadn’t known when Jiang Xia had taken unflattering photos of her, she had no idea He Hanshi had secretly taken so many pictures of her.

Pictures of her sleeping, playing in the pet room, or lying on his lap as his fingers gently stroked her head.

Those intimate moments... she hadn’t thought anything of them back when she was a cat. But looking at them now, Shi Lan felt a faint tingling all over, as if she could still feel the sensation of He Hanshi’s touch.

"Aaargh, what am I even thinking?"

Shi Lan suspected she was being influenced by the recording her best friend had sent, constantly thinking about He Hanshi’s confession.

Even though she had pretended not to know anything, He Hanshi had clearly told her to her face today that he liked her.

’I can’t let my thoughts run wild. A rich man’s affection is probably just a whim. It can’t be taken seriously.’

Shi Lan quickly patted her cheeks, trying to shake the messy, romantic fantasies from her head. She turned off her phone and decided to wash up and go to bed early.

...

Meanwhile, in the presidential suite of a five-star hotel in L City, Yan Huoshui was leisurely enjoying a flower petal bath. He wiped his damp fingers on a towel and picked up a sealed file from the side.

As everyone knows, the entertainment industry is crawling with paparazzi and private investigators, so he had also hired two to keep an eye on He Hanshi.