"Wha-What?" Qi Yuze barely managed to ask in his shocked state.
You did not expect that, did you? Liu Xinyu thought to herself as she enjoyed his look of shock. But also tickled the wickedness hidden in the depth of her heart.
Liu Xinyu took another step towards him as she continued, "Why are you so surprised? You should have expected this result."
"Huh?"
"Every girl with a romantic soul is always hoping for a knight in shining armor to come to her rescue in her time of distress. You... You just became my knight, appearing as if summoned from the dreams when you saved me from drowning." As she spoke, she continued to approach him, though he instinctively retreated a step. "Just as I was on the precipice of surrendering to oblivion, you reached out to me, pulling me back from the brink and guiding me back into the warm embrace of life's light. How could I not be deeply moved by your heroism?"
"No! Wait!" Qi Yuze interjected, raising his hands in a futile attempt to halt her words and her approach. But it was all in vain as he found that there was a wall behind him and he had no escape out of this as he was forced against the solid wall. As she drew nearer, her hand pressed against the wall beside his ear, while her other hand delicately traced the contour of his jawline with her index finger. Qi Yuze was stunned into immobility by her audacity, rendered speechless and unable to muster a response to her bold actions.
"In our country, there is a saying, that one should always repay the life-saving grace. And mostly it's done with marriage." Her finger moved from his jaw to his collarbone and then she placed her hand on his chest making him hold his breath and stare at her in disbelief. "But we are in the new age now, marriage would be too hasty. So, we should get to know each other first. For starters, how about you share your name with me? And then perhaps you can enlighten me about the woman from earlier. Understanding her relationship with you will determine whether I should consider her a potential romantic rival in the future or perhaps even an ally, should she happen to be your sister or something of the sort.
"Presumptuous!" Qi Yuze retorted sharply. "You don't even know my name, yet you are already taking liberties with me. Is this the demeanor of a well-bred lady?" Qi Yuze really wanted to smack his earlier self who thought she looked shy. She was not only confident but also very bold!
"I don't know," answered Liu Xinyu in a light tone. "My Baba only told me if I like someone, I should make my move first. I have to take the initiative and make sure the things are in my own hands." Her face drew closer to him, making him very uncomfortable. Seeing how he looked like he was going through torture, Liu Xinyu actually felt a little pity for him. She could be charged with sexual harassment if she did this in the future. She could only apologize to him in her head for now. She also did not want to repay his kindness in saving her life in this way but who told him to be so stubborn? Couldn't he just tell her about her mother?
Her hot breath brushed against the side of his face as Qi Yuze closed his eyes and wanted to even embed himself into the wall right now.
"And aren't I asking for your name right now to take the first step? It's a step towards knowing you and a step closer to our future together," she countered smoothly, her gaze unwavering. As she spoke, her hand delicately traversed his chest, inching downwards toward his abdomen, her touch purposeful and deliberate. "If not a name, how about you give me your number? Your landline number, your mobile phone number, or maybe your house number?" Her voice lowered conspiratorially, a hint of mischief dancing in her eyes. "I personally would love the room number though. After all, what better way to explore our personal connection than in a more intimate setting?"
That broke Qi Yuze's patience as he held her shoulders to push her away and said, "You! You are shameless! I have never met a more shameless woman than you in my life." But when he saw her losing her balance and almost falling down because of her sprain, he couldn't stop himself from holding her hand to support her. He blamed it on his instincts.
Liu Xinyu did not expect him to still help her after she practically harassed him and made him so uneasy. Now, she understood why he wasn't making any drastic movements to get her away from himself. He didn't want to hurt her. Quite a gentleman! How unexpected!
"Thank you! That's very kind of you!" she said sincerely.
"Kindness should not be repaid like this. You should stay away from me!"
Seeing him walk away, Liu Xinyu smiled as she called out, "What about the room number? I really wanna know you better though."
Qi Yuze put his hands on his ears and ran even faster to get away from the 'monster' he ran into. He did not expect himself to get into this kind of trouble just because he was too kind to save her!
Liu Xinyu burst out laughing once he was gone. She laughed so hard that she had to hold the railing to support herself. From the time she came from, it was rare to see men getting so flustered by a woman. She found Qi Yuze quite adorable for not only getting flustered but also for the way he looked at her as if she was a monster for even speaking so boldly and shamelessly.
Liu Xinyu looked at her hand that touched his abs and said, "He seems to be in good shape. The abs felt great, I wonder what they'd look like."
"You're a pervert!"
Liu Xinyu paused and turned to look at the ghost that stepped out of the dark corner of the balcony. The look on Yiyi's face really expressed her views about Liu Xinyu right now. She really thought Liu Xinyu was a pervert.
"You are shameless! You are morally degenerate! If the future has women like you, I really wonder what the world has become."
Liu Xinyu rolled her eyes at her comment, "You can't judge a whole generation just because you got to see an example like me. Besides, what is wrong with me? I don't think there is anything wrong with me."
"The fact that you don't think there is anything wrong with what you just did is, already showing what kind of a person you are."
"I was just mildly teasing him. He was the innocent one and got so nervous. How is it my fault? What I did is barely even considered flirting in the future. Don't be so rigid and boring. This isn't your time."
"This isn't yours either," was Yiyi's response. "This time is also unfamiliar to you and you should be respecting the boundaries of people. He could have pushed you or been rude to you but he didn't do so. It indicates that he has good manners. He took your health into account and went easy on you. But you were clearly taking advantage of him."
"I'd repay his kindness in the future. It's not like I want to owe him anything either," retorted Liu Xinyu.
"You seem to love playing with fire," said Yiyi. "You'll get burned because of this habit."
"I don't just love playing with fire, I am also quite used to the burns. But does it ever stop me? No! What kind of love it would be if I got scared off by the burns? If you won't get burnt, you won't be reborn from ashes. And I personally am obsessed with the idea of rebirth from the ashes."
Yiyi looked at her with a complicated look in her eyes.