Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 516: Li Shiqi's Confession

"Is there someone outside?" Liu Shuo asked, looking completely bewildered.Seeing that Liu Shuo had indeed not run into Jiang Xinyi, Zhou Yuwen did not elaborate and simply replied that it was nothing.

Then he added, "Drop her off at school first later, and then take me home."

"Oh, alright."

Zhou Yuwen continued packing his clothes while Liu Shuo stood nearby, asking which car they would be taking. If they drove one, what would happen to the other?

Zhou Yuwen told him to just find someone at random to drive it back.

Throughout their conversation, Li Shiqi stood to the side without saying a word. In truth, she had no idea what to say, and that remained true even after they got into the car.

Zhou Yuwen naturally took a seat in the back of Liu Shuo's Magotan. However, Li Shiqi hesitated when it was time to get in. She glanced at Zhou Yuwen, only to find that he still showed no intention of speaking to her.

Li Shiqi felt she had said the wrong things to Jiang Xinyi earlier and assumed Zhou Yuwen probably disliked her right now. After a brief moment of thought, she decided it would be best to just sit in the front passenger seat.

But the moment she opened the door, Liu Shuo stopped her.

Looking as if he had figured everything out, Liu Shuo grinned widely and said, "Oh my, Sister-in-Law, what are you doing? Is the front passenger seat really the place for you? You should be sitting in the back with my bro."

Since Liu Shuo had seen Zhou Yuwen and Li Shiqi in the same room, calling her "Sister-in-Law" felt like a matter of course. In his eyes, this was bound to happen sooner or later. However, the title startled Li Shiqi, and she hurriedly tried to explain.

She barely managed to utter, "I..."

Before Zhou Yuwen, who was already seated inside, called out to her, "Sit in the back with me."

At his words, Li Shiqi gave up on explaining and simply murmured a quiet sound of agreement.

The hotel was indeed quite congested today. It was exactly two o'clock, right when the first wave of lunch guests was finishing their meals and leaving.

Driving in the front, Liu Shuo waited to exit the underground parking garage. Whenever someone tried to cut in line, he couldn't help but curse under his breath.

Sitting next to Zhou Yuwen in the back seat, Li Shiqi remained somewhat anxious and fidgety. She could not resist looking up to steal a secret glance at him.

Only to find that Zhou Yuwen was resting with his eyes closed, not saying a single word.

The more he acted like this, the less Li Shiqi could guess what was on his mind, making her feel even more insecure.

In reality, Li Shiqi had never intended to impersonate Zhou Yuwen's girlfriend earlier. It was just that Jiang Xinyi kept insisting that something was going on between them, and her own logic had been full of holes.

Unable to hold back, Li Shiqi had retorted.

Who could have expected that Zhou Yuwen would hear every single word loud and clear from inside the room?

'What does he think of me now?'

He surely thought she was a duplicitous and treacherous girl, acting all soft and fragile in front of him, only to show a completely different face to others.

But what Li Shiqi wanted to say was that she wasn't that kind of woman at all.

She just hadn't wanted Jiang Xinyi to keep disturbing Zhou Yuwen.

She desperately wanted to explain everything to him.

But his continued silence meant he wasn't giving her any opportunity to do so.

Liu Shuo drove the Magotan, waiting for quite a while before finally navigating out of the hotel's underground parking garage. After a series of twists and turns, they merged onto the elevated road, though Liu Shuo still muttered complaints the whole time.

For Li Shiqi, this period of time was pure torment. She spent the entire ride agonizing over how to justify her behavior to Zhou Yuwen, mentally simulating how he might respond to different explanations.

Yet no matter how she spun it, nothing seemed to adequately excuse why she had pretended to be his girlfriend.

'Would he misunderstand me?' she wondered. 'Will he think I'm just a girl scheming to get close to him?'

Before long.

The car arrived at the gates of Jinling University.

Along the way, Zhou Yuwen occasionally exchanged a few words with Liu Shuo, but he remained completely oblivious to Li Shiqi sitting beside him. She had tried to figure out a way to chime in and test his attitude toward her, but ultimately could not muster the courage to speak.

Just like that, the car soon reached the entrance of her dormitory.

Li Shiqi had hesitated the entire journey, never figuring out how to break the ice with him.

Many times, her body language had made it obvious that she had something to say, yet her lips remained sealed.

Until the car finally rolled to a stop.

In the front seat, Liu Shuo asked, "Is this the place?"

By this point, Li Shiqi had finally gathered the courage to explain herself to Zhou Yuwen, but Liu Shuo's sudden interruption forced her to swallow her words. She just nodded and hummed an agreement.

Liu Shuo chuckled and remarked that a nationally renowned university was indeed on a whole different level compared to his trash school.

"Sister-in-Law, are you getting out now?" Liu Shuo asked again.

Naturally, Li Shiqi didn't want to leave, but she had no excuse to stay. She glanced at Zhou Yuwen, only to see him staring out the window, showing absolutely no intention of speaking to her.

Li Shiqi felt completely deflated.

She hardly realized how she managed to get out of the car, looking utterly dejected.

She had a sinking feeling that this would be the last time she and Zhou Yuwen ever saw each other.

After today, he might never come looking for her again.

"Bro, what's going on? Sister-in-Law got out without even saying goodbye to you," Liu Shuo asked in confusion after she stepped out.

Zhou Yuwen simply replied, "How should I know?"

Liu Shuo joked, saying that Sister-in-Law Shiqi was definitely mad.

"Bro, with so many girlfriends, can you even manage them all?"

Zhou Yuwen told him to mind his own business.

Liu Shuo chuckled cheekily, then asked where Zhou Yuwen wanted to go next.

Zhou Yuwen thought for a moment before answering, "Head to Zhonghai Garden. It's close to your place, so you won't have to drive too far out of your way."

"Oh, going to see Sister-in-Law Tao Tian." Liu Shuo immediately signaled his understanding.

The two of them continued to bicker in the car for a moment before Liu Shuo started the Magotan, preparing to leave.

Right at that moment, Li Shiqi suddenly darted to the front of the car.

The sudden movement gave Liu Shuo a fright. He couldn't help but shout at the girl blocking their path, "Hey, Sister-in-Law, do you have a death wish?!"

However, Li Shiqi bore an expression of sheer determination as she marched up to the door beside Zhou Yuwen.

Curiously, Zhou Yuwen rolled down his window.

Gathering all her courage, Li Shiqi declared, "I have something to say to you."

Before they knew it, October had already arrived, and the weather was beginning to cool. The main avenue leading to the girls' dormitory at Jinling University was lined with sycamore trees on both sides, their leaves now tinged with a withered, autumnal yellow.

On an autumn afternoon, even though the sun still hung high in the sky, it always gave off the lingering impression that it was about to set.

Li Shiqi simply could not let go of the obsession gnawing at her heart.

Finally, at the very last second, she decided to be brave just this once.

She asked Zhou Yuwen, "Do you think I'm a deeply manipulative and scheming girl?"

Taken aback, Zhou Yuwen replied, "No, I don't."

"Why would you..."

Before he could finish, Li Shiqi directly cut him off. "Whether you do or not, I'm sorry!"

She voiced her apology with extreme earnestness, her tone laced with deep regret.

Hearing this, Liu Shuo was utterly bewildered in the front seat.

It left Zhou Yuwen a bit baffled as well. Then Li Shiqi continued, "I know pretending to be your girlfriend was wrong of me. What I wanted to say is that there were so many people watching us back there, and she came right up and assumed I was your new girlfriend."

"If I didn't give a clear answer, even more people would have misunderstood."

"I really didn't mean to impersonate your girlfriend on purpose."

As she spoke, Li Shiqi grew so anxious she was on the verge of tears. In her heart, she felt that if she didn't fully explain this matter, Zhou Yuwen would never give her another chance.

Thus, driven by panic, Li Shiqi blurted out, "I really do like you! But I know it's impossible for you to like me back. My family situation is so complicated, and apart from getting good grades in my studying, I have absolutely nothing."

"I never extravagantly hoped to use any scheming tricks to chase your girlfriend away so that you would choose me."

"Back there, I really... I... I..."

Li Shiqi wanted to explain, wanted to justify why she had pretended to be his girlfriend just now, but she felt that no matter what she said, it wouldn't make sense. All she could do was stand there and wipe her tears.

In truth, Zhou Yuwen had barely understood a word of her frantic rambling.

But there was one sentence he caught perfectly.

Staring at the little girl standing outside his car window, looking as though she were about to cry a river, Zhou Yuwen still wasn't sure if he had heard correctly.

"Uh, did you just say..."

"...that you like me?"

Zhou Yuwen stared at Li Shiqi with a look of utter surprise.

The question caught Li Shiqi completely off guard. She froze for a moment, looking back at him.

'What?'

'You didn't know?'

Of course he didn't know. Zhou Yuwen's attitude toward Li Shiqi had always stemmed from his belief that she would become an incredibly formidable figure in the future. Because of that, he had always taken good care of her, but he had never entertained any romantic thoughts between men and women regarding her.

It wasn't until today, with her sudden confession, that Zhou Yuwen finally realized the truth.

Yet he still couldn't quite believe his ears as he gazed at the girl standing before him.

At that moment, their four eyes met.

Li Shiqi was equally stunned; she had genuinely thought he had known all along.

As a result, his astonished expression shattered her confidence, and she nodded in a daze.

But then she quickly and frantically explained, "I know it's impossible for us, and I know you wouldn't choose me! So I'm not trying to do anything to change that. I just hope I can stay by your side like before, that's all. I really wouldn't dare to ask for anything else."

Everyone lives in their own information cocoon.

Li Shiqi's perception of herself was that, despite her good academic performance, her family was a complete mess, and she herself was a dull, uninteresting girl. To her mind, there was zero chance Zhou Yuwen would ever choose her.

Yet in the eyes of everyone else, Li Shiqi possessed excellent character and academics, and she was exceptionally beautiful. That a girl worthy of the title of Jinling Campus Belle was secretly harboring a crush on Zhou Yuwen was mind-boggling.

Most importantly, according to the knowledge of Zhou Yuwen, a reborn person, Li Shiqi was supposed to be an aloof goddess.

At least, until he witnessed her tearfully confessing her feelings to him right here and now.

After a long pause, Zhou Yuwen finally uttered, "I understand."

Confused, Li Shiqi looked at him.

Only to see him give her a gentle smile as he repeated, "I understand."

"So..." With red-rimmed eyes, Li Shiqi looked at Zhou Yuwen, wanting to say something more.

At that moment, Zhou Yuwen stepped out of the car.

Looking down at the delicate girl who was a full head shorter than him, Zhou Yuwen smiled. "I really appreciate your feelings. Really, thank you. I remember back in high school, you were always a girl people looked up to. I never imagined that a girl like you would like me."

"I'm not a good guy."

"And you shouldn't burden yourself with guilt. Jiang Xinyi isn't my girlfriend. Things between her and me ended a long time ago."

Zhou Yuwen cleared up all the misunderstandings.

Then, after a moment's thought, he added, "Let's leave it at that for now. Don't cry anymore."

As he spoke, Zhou Yuwen reached out and gently helped wipe away Li Shiqi's tears.

Truthfully, having Li Shiqi crying at the entrance of the girls' dormitory was incredibly awkward for him. Fortunately, today was a holiday, so there weren't many female students walking around.

Even so, the occasional pairs or trios of passing girls couldn't help but stare. Seeing Li Shiqi wiping her tears while a man like Zhou Yuwen stood right there, anyone's imagination would run wild.

Zhou Yuwen didn't know what else to say. Although Li Shiqi had confessed her feelings, she hadn't explicitly expressed a desire to be together.

And since he genuinely had no desire to date anyone at the moment, all he could do was hand her a tissue and assure her that he didn't blame her in the slightest.

"Perhaps we both just need some time to calm down right now," Zhou Yuwen suggested.

Li Shiqi kept her head bowed in silence. She realized her actions had been terribly abrupt, but her emotions had overwhelmed her, causing her to pour out everything at once.

Thinking back on it now, she realized she had said far too much.

So, without waiting for him to finish, Li Shiqi gave him a deep bow, turned around, and hurried away.

Witnessing this scene, Liu Shuo immediately panicked.

But the biggest shock was that after she left, Zhou Yuwen simply climbed back into the car.

Unable to contain his anxiety, Liu Shuo urged, "Bro, why did you get back in?! Hurry up and chase after her! What are you thinking? This is the perfect opportunity!"

"So you know everything again?" Zhou Yuwen replied, somewhat speechless.

Perplexed, Liu Shuo asked, "Isn't it?"

Too lazy to explain, Zhou Yuwen bluntly ordered, "Just drive the car!"

"Wait, Bro, are you really not going to chase her?"

"I said, drive."

Liu Shuo could never fathom why Zhou Yuwen had refused to make his stance clear right then and there.

If he had just said the word, Li Shiqi undoubtedly would have become his girlfriend.

This was Li Shiqi! The most beautiful girl from their high school days.

Back then, there wasn't a single teacher who hadn't favored her.

On the drive back, Liu Shuo continued to fret and groan over Zhou Yuwen missing out on accepting Li Shiqi's feelings.

He reminisced about the past with Zhou Yuwen, saying, "Bro, do you remember our second year of high school? Li Shiqi wore that floral print dress during PE class and sat under the wisteria trellis reading a book."

"She just sat there, wearing that floral print dress and white socks."

"How many guys' dream girl was she back then? Do you remember, Bro?"

Liu Shuo spoke with intense passion.

From the back seat, Zhou Yuwen asked, "So, she was your dream girl too?"

Liu Shuo's face flushed bright red. "No! I didn't mean that! That's not what I meant at all!"

Then he couldn't help but add, "That was years ago! Bro, what I'm trying to say is, how could you possibly turn her down?!"

"Since she's such a wonderful girl, do you really think being with me is the right thing for her?" Zhou Yuwen asked in return.