5
“What? Is he serious?”
Chu Yun looked at me in shock.
But I was perfectly calm as I replied,
“No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Pei Jinzhou’s face grew even darker as he stared at me.
Sensing the tension, Jian Shutong pretended to feel weak and collapsed against him.
“Jinzhou, I suddenly feel dizzy… I think I caught a cold. Can you take me back to the guesthouse?”
We had all just come out of the water and were still soaked.
A cool breeze blew by, bringing a chill.
Pei Jinzhou, half exasperated and half amused, tapped her lightly on the forehead.
“Why come rafting if you can’t swim? You’re just asking for trouble.”
With that, he bent down and picked her up.
When he passed by me, he said with clear displeasure,
“Wait here for me. I’ll come find you later.”
He didn’t spare me another glance and strode off.
Chu Yun watched him leave, confusion in his eyes.
“Zhizhi, what did he mean by that just now? Why did he suddenly say he’s your boyfriend?”
Shivering from the cold, I sneezed.
“He’s just confused from the cold—don’t take it seriously.”
I didn’t say more and headed toward the guesthouse.
Back in my room, I quickly washed up and changed clothes.
When I’d fallen into the stream earlier, I distinctly felt someone deliberately pull me into the water.
Thinking about it now, it was almost certainly Jian…
It was definitely Jian Shutong who did it.
But why would she do such a thing?
Before I could figure it out, Pei Jinzhou showed up at my door.
This time, after opening the door, I didn’t let him in—I stood in the doorway, blocking his way.
Pei Jinzhou glanced up and down the hallway, making sure no one was around, then spoke in a low voice,
“I need to talk to you. Let’s go inside.”
“No, Jinzhou-ge. If you have something to say, just say it here. Otherwise, if someone sees you going into my room, they might get the wrong idea.”
Hearing this, he immediately gave up on coming in.
He looked at me seriously,
“Chu Zhi, what’s going on with you today? It’s one thing for Shutong to mess around, but why are you going along with her?”
“Messing around? I think it’s great. Sister Shutong truly likes you.”
I spoke earnestly.
Pei Jinzhou’s expression darkened, his eyes searching mine,
“You never used to be like this. Why are you suddenly—”
“What did I used to be like?”
At this, his demeanor softened a little, and he gave a roguish smile,
“You used to get so jealous. You wouldn’t let any other women near me, always telling me to stay away from them.”
“Oh? And did you ever actually do that?”
No, not even once.
In his eyes, my words were just unreasonable, childish demands.
Hearing my response, Pei Jinzhou’s face froze for a second, but he softened his tone and said gently,
“You’re mad because I didn’t save you earlier, aren’t you?”
“Think about it—Chu Yun was with us, and he’s your real brother. If something happened to you, of course he’d help you. But at the scene, I was the only one who could help Shutong. If I hadn’t saved her, something serious could have happened. You wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt, right?”
He made it sound so righteous.
If I hadn’t seen with my own eyes how he didn’t hesitate to jump in after her, I might have believed him.
“I’m not angry. I really do think you and Sister Shutong are a good match.”
“Stop messing around—”