Wasn’t this the Young Master of the Kangding Marquis Manor? He was also from a prestigious family, so why would he behave like this?

What difference was there between him and a common street hoodlum?

In Zhu Yao’s heart, Li Shiyan wasn’t like this. He should be a hero, a man of upright justice.

But this person right now…

She couldn’t say she felt disappointed, but she did turn to glance at Cai’er.

Cai’er furrowed her brow and shook her head, indicating she didn’t know either.

What was going on here?

Li Shiyan took a bite out of every single pastry on the plate, extremely wasteful. After biting them, he even asked, “Are there more?”

Cai’er naturally didn’t dare say there weren’t, so she nodded, “Yes.”

“Then go get more.”

“Yes.”

Cai’er hurried away.

Once she had gone far enough, Li Shiyan’s expression changed completely. He tossed the pastry in his hand back onto the plate, looked seriously at Zhu Yao, and said, “Yao’er, let me ask you—do you really want to marry me?”

Completely different from his common street behavior just moments ago!

Zhu Yao was stunned for a moment before saying, “Marriage is a major matter that has always been determined by parents’ orders and matchmakers’ words. There’s nothing I can say.”

“But what if I gave you a choice? Would you still marry me?”

“I…”

Li Shiyan stood up and got straight to the point: “You just saw what I’m like, didn’t you? Let me tell you plainly—this is how I normally am. I’m lazy and idle, I eat well but do no work, and I have absolutely no ambition. A few days ago, I deliberately avoided the meeting because I didn’t want this matchmaking. I have no interest in it. Miss Zhu, I don’t want to deceive you. Do you understand?”

Zhu Yao’s eyes filled with tears: “Shiyan, I know you don’t like me, but…”

“There’s no ‘but.’ I’ll also tell you the truth—there’s actually someone else in my heart.”

Uh!

Zhu Yao slowly stood up, looking at him with difficulty, her heart aching sharply.

She opened her mouth but couldn’t utter a single word.

Li Shiyan continued to make his thoughts clear: “A good young lady like you—if you married me, it would be a waste. You have good family background. Who wouldn’t be good for you to marry? Why would you want to marry me? I have no intention of marrying you, and I’m not worthy of you either.”

“Why… why are you telling me this?”

“Didn’t I just say? There’s someone else in my heart. I can’t marry you, and I don’t want a good young lady like you to end up with someone like me.”

“Then who is this young lady you like?”

“She…” Li Shiyan didn’t know what to say for a moment.

After all, that story was too long.

And that Miss Ji wasn’t in Qujiang.

Seeing that he couldn’t speak, Zhu Yao sniffled and said chokingly, “There must not be such a person! You just want to cancel this marriage arrangement, so you deliberately made up an excuse.”

“I’m not lying to you.”

“You can’t even say who that woman is, so you must be lying to me. Shiyan, I know I’m not good enough, but I’ve already developed feelings for you that I can’t take back.” Zhu Yao mustered her courage to say these words.

Hearing this, Li Shiyan was stunned.

What did she mean by “developed feelings”?

What did she mean by “can’t take back”?

His heart was pounding. This was the first time someone had said such things to him, and it was coming from a woman’s mouth no less.

Just as he was at a loss, Zhu Yao continued through her tears: “From the first time I saw you, I had already decided on you. Besides you, no one else can enter my heart. For these two years, I’ve thought about you day and night, just to be able to see you once. I even foolishly went to places you frequently visited to wait for you, but heaven always played tricks on me. I waited many times but never once managed to wait for you. Now I’ve finally waited for this opportunity, waited for you to stand before me. Do you know how long I’ve been hoping for this? But now you say such words—it’s like taking a knife and cutting flesh from my body.”

These words confused Li Shiyan even more!

What about two years ago?

He was completely bewildered by what he was hearing.

“Two years ago? We… have we met?”

“Do you truly not remember?”

“What should I remember?”

Zhu Yao’s eyes immediately reddened. She walked around the stone table in front of them to stand before him, looking up at him: “Two years ago, at the edge of Cheng Lake, you rescued someone who had fallen into the water. Do you still remember?”

Hmm?

Li Shiyan tried hard to recall. After thinking for a good while, he suddenly understood and looked at the graceful young lady before him in disbelief: “The young lady I rescued back then… how could it be you?”

“After two years, so you really have forgotten?”

“I haven’t exactly forgotten, it’s just that you’ve changed so much. They say girls change dramatically as they grow up—it’s truly right. But… when I left, weren’t you still unconscious?”

Zhu Yao said, “When I woke up, I saw you standing on the bridge. With just that one glance, I decided on you.”

She had always been timid, and when it came to romantic matters between men and women, she was very shy. But today, she didn’t know where she found such great courage to say everything in her heart.

Perhaps she didn’t want to miss this chance.

Hearing these words, Li Shiyan wasn’t moved at all. Instead, he felt extremely awkward. He walked two steps to the side, creating distance between himself and Zhu Yao.

Then he said, “I was just playing nearby. When I saw someone fall into the water, I casually rescued them without thinking much about it! If I had known you would be like this, back then I would have…”

Not rescued you!

Of course, he didn’t say those last four words out loud.

Zhu Yao looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

Li Shiyan waved his sleeve and continued, “In any case, Yao’er, I’m not as good as you think. Normally when I see stray cats and dogs, I kick them twice, wishing I could stew them for hotpot. Someone like me—many young ladies go out of their way to avoid me. You should quickly forget what happened back then and stop dwelling on it.”

He tried to persuade this young lady to hurry up and forget about him.

But two years of longing—how could it be forgotten just by saying so?

Even if he had a thousand faults—

Zhu Yao still said, “The person I’ve decided on will never change in this lifetime. It’s you, and it will be you.”

“Why are you so stubborn?”

“This is my nature.” Zhu Yao’s attitude was resolute.

Li Shiyan furrowed his brow and said, “Miss Zhu, it’s impossible between us. I don’t have feelings for you. Even if you married me, what good would it do? It would only make you suffer. I’m telling you all this today so you’ll personally go tell your father to cancel this marriage arrangement. If I were to say it, the entire capital would hear about it, and how would you marry anyone in the future?”

He was actually being kind!

But Zhu Yao’s mind was made up and wouldn’t be changed.

She said, “I won’t go tell my father, and I won’t cancel the engagement.”

“You…”

Before Li Shiyan could say anything more, Zhu Yao took steps to leave. Perhaps tears had blurred her vision, combined with her emotional state being out of control.

She accidentally missed her footing.

Her entire body fell into the water.

Splash!

Seeing this, Li Shiyan immediately jumped into the lake to rescue her.

Zhu Yao swallowed several mouthfuls of water, her face completely disheveled. After struggling a few times, she was finally rescued by Li Shiyan.

But having swallowed a mouthful of water, she felt extremely uncomfortable!

She choked several times.