"I've said I'm going to court you. I should take some actual actions, shouldn't I?"
The deep voice of Xiao Yanzhi came over the phone. Jiang Li was caught off guard and stared wide - eyed, with a hint of haste between her eyebrows. She was simply too shocked, and her whole body froze.
So he was serious.
"Alright, I'll hang up now." Xiao Yanzhi's voice was slightly hoarse, with a casual air: "It's getting late. You should go to sleep. I'll say good morning to you tomorrow."
His words were like a charm, making one's heart itch.
Just a few words, and Jiang Li began to feel dizzy. She felt light - headed, as if surrounded by pink bubbles.
Holding the phone, she actually didn't want to hang up.
"Not going to sleep?" The man heard the breathing on the other end and a pleasant smile spread across his face: "Do you want me to tell you a story to help you sleep?"
The pink bubbles burst immediately.
"No need to go to that trouble. You can tell stories to someone else. Goodbye." Jiang Li's voice was cold, and she hung up the phone without hesitation.
Xiao Yanzhi: …
It seemed he had made her angry again.
Looking at the disconnected call, Xiao Yanzhi was at a loss for a long time. He thought for a while but still didn't know what he had said wrong. The girl's mood changed faster than turning the pages of a book.
On the other end, Jiang Li was sitting cross - legged on the bed, holding the phone tightly in her hand. The screen was still on, and the words Xiao Yanzhi had just said echoed in her mind.
He said he would tell her a story to help her sleep.
His way of courting girls was so clichéd. He didn't even bother to be a bit more creative.
She thought about how Xiao Yanzhi had used the same gentle tone to comfort Qin Yaoyao on countless sleepless nights and told her stories.
A bitter feeling welled up in her, making her nose sting. Her eyes, which had just been crying, were on the verge of tears again.
She picked up the pillow on the bedside and hugged it tightly, pulling her arms in and holding it closer, trying to fill the void in her heart.
She knew she shouldn't feel so aggrieved, but she couldn't stop imagining those scenes. Each one made it hard for her to breathe.
With her head down, her tears fell on the screen. When Jiang Li wiped them away with the back of her hand, she accidentally touched a button, and the call was dialed out again.
Seeing the screen showing the call being dialed, Jiang Li panicked and tried to hang up. But unexpectedly, the other person answered the call faster than she could hang up. "Lili?"
Jiang Li was so embarrassed that she wished she could dig a hole and hide: "… I accidentally pressed the button."
Her voice was still gentle, but Xiao Yanzhi keenly noticed that her nasal tone was heavier than before: "Why are you crying?"
The moment she heard his voice, Jiang Li felt her face burning even more.
"… How do you know?"
"Your nasal tone makes it hard not to notice."
Jiang Li bit her lower lip. This unexpected call left her speechless for a moment, and she couldn't think of a single word.
"Lili."
Jiang Li didn't respond, just waiting for him to continue.
Xiao Yanzhi composed himself and calmly asked, "Why were you angry just now?"
So he knew she was angry.
Jiang Li's nasal tone was so heavy that her voice sounded listless. "Since you knew I was angry, why didn't you call back to ask?"
There was a hint of coquetry in her tone.
Xiao Yanzhi paused and unconsciously softened his tone: "I wanted to call you back, but I was afraid you would get even angrier."
He said seriously, "I'll pay attention next time."
His overly formal tone made Jiang Li couldn't help but laugh through her tears, but she quickly became cold again: "There's no need to pay attention. You treat everyone the same anyway."
"Who do I treat the same?" Xiao Yanzhi was stumped by her words. He always felt there was something else in her words: "Lili, what are you talking about?"
Jiang Li said the opposite out of anger: "It's nothing. I'm just talking casually."
Over the years, Xiao Yanzhi was good at gauging people's hearts in the business world, but he never thought a girl's mind would be so hard to guess.
It was even more difficult than negotiating a multi - million - dollar contract.
He took a deep breath and said calmly, "If there's really nothing, I'll hang up now. I'm still outside, and I have something to do later."
Jiang Li looked up at the clock on the wall. It was almost eleven o'clock.
His tone was cold. Jiang Li unconsciously tightened the pillow in her arms. Listening to the sound of traffic on his end, she always felt empty inside. She blurted out, "What's the matter? Are you going to tell stories to other girls?"
The moment the words came out of her mouth, Jiang Li closed her eyes tightly, regretting it deeply.
Why did she still ask!
Without anyone reminding her, Jiang Li could smell the strong jealousy. It was so sour that it almost made her teeth ache. "I... I didn't mean anything. I was just asking casually."
Xiao Yanzhi let out a soft laugh. He could roughly hear the stubbornness and awkwardness in her words: "Well, since you're just asking casually, I'll just explain casually."
"I'm going back to the company to work overtime now. There are several projects I need to deal with for tomorrow's company meeting."
Jiang Li held her breath.
He was patiently explaining to her: "There's no one else. I've also sent Xue An back to rest. It's just me. If you don't believe me, I can video call you."
Jiang Li's heart was pounding.
Since she had already asked, she wasn't afraid of being embarrassed again: "What about before? Did you also video - chat with others while working overtime?"
"Jiang Li." Xiao Yanzhi called her name seriously: "You've been angry from just now until now, but I don't understand what you're angry about."
"I have no intention of telling stories to others, and I don't have the habit of video - chatting with others except for work."
Hearing his so - called upright explanation, Jiang Li's eyes welled up with tears again: "You're lying."
She didn't know why, but her emotions were extremely fragile today. A few words made her feel extremely aggrieved. "You told stories to Qin Yaoyao before."
Xiao Yanzhi frowned: "Qin Yaoyao? When?"
Because it wasn't important, he had completely forgotten about it.
Jiang Li was so angry that she almost threw the pillow out: "Just a few months ago! When you sent me back, she said you were back late and that you had to compensate her. You even had to tell her two stories."
The more Jiang Li talked, the more her tears fell: "You also bought her a chestnut cake. You even went to her house overnight because there was a power outage in her room, and you wanted to go and accompany her..."
Just thinking about these things made her chest feel tight. "The paparazzi even took pictures of you two... You two used..."
Jiang Li just couldn't say the word "condom". She bit her lip tightly, holding her breath for a long time. She wiped her tears again and again, but they still kept falling.
Even if he was willing to lower his status and seriously pursue her again, so what?
She still couldn't let it go.
"Lili, those are fake." Xiao Yanzhi listened to the sobbing on the other end and felt so heart - broken.