As Xiao Zhiren broke out of her enchanting laughter, he left her and walked away. He wanted to yell at her or probably slap some sense into her but he couldn't do so. He loved her, she didn't. She wasn't obliged to value his feelings. He was really aiming in a dark room. It was that simple.
For the first time, he believed that love wasn't blind, the person he loved had love-blindness. Her lack of empathy left him annoyed. He didn't know what to do or what to say but he sure wanted to do something.
He took a champagne glass from one of the servers and gulped it down in anger. He was really trying hard to keep himself level-headed. After all, it was his own fault for loving a headstrong person. No, it was his stupid heart's fault that just kept saying that she was the one. It had to be her at any cost.
Before he could walk far, Ru walked up to him and dragged him towards the elevator. "Let me go. Why are you following me now?" Xiao Zhiren tried to free himself but her grip was vice-like. How could he free himself unless she really wanted to let him free?
It was rare for Ru to call something hers much less someone. And now that she had already accepted Xiao Zhiren as hers in her heart, how was she going to let him free? In his dreams!
She didn't reply to him at all and took him straight to the room which was booked for him. They had received the key cards when they boarded the cruise ship. After pulling him inside the room, she closed the door and pushed him against the closed door.
This scene had something really wrong with it and Xiao Zhiren could feel it. But what was it? Ah! He was supposed to be taking the lead here. But was she really taking the lead? He didn't trust her very much at this point.
Staring at his face, Ru asked, "Tell me, are lemons on sale these days?"
"What?" Xiao Zhiren was perplexed. Where did the lemon talk come from?
"No? Then do you have some contract with lemon retailers?" She asked again and his response was still the same.
He knitted his brows as he asked, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"It's not like that either." Ru nodded her head as if thinking something and said, "Then it must be that you have a personal lemon garden." Knocking his head, she added, "How else could you have an unlimited supply of lemons that you're eating all the time?"
"I don't eat lemons." Xiao Zhiren replied as he took her words literally.
"I used to think that you're a smart person. But you turned out to be the dumbest." Xiao Zhiren looked at her wide-eyed. "Instead of using your brain, why are always using your hyperactive imagination?" She poked on his chest as she glared at him. "Is it fun burning your own heart with your own baseless jealousy?"
Xiao Zhiren turned his face away saying, "I don't have a hyperactive imagination. You just have a blocked heart."
Ru rolled her eyes at his response. "Why don't you ask me first? Huh? Can't you just question me? Is it so difficult to come to me and say, 'My little chili, who was that guy? Why did he kiss you? Is he close to you?' Tell me, is it really that tough?"
Xiao Zhiren might not know where this was going but he was certainly dazed when she called herself his again with right. It sounded nice. Oh, wait! Was his anger again giving up on him? No, no! Not this time. Not so easily!
Hold your ground Zhiren! He willed himself to be strong as he faced her and said, "It's not like you ever answer anything clearly. Most of your answers are always vague!" Ru opened her mouth to retort when he spoke again, "Fine, I'm asking now. Who was he? Would you answer?"
"Naturally I will." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders making him stunned again. "Let's say that there is a circle in my heart and it contains all the people who matter the most to me. And the rest is out of that circle. And those out of the circle have nothing to do with. Their words or actions have nothing to do with me. But the ones in that circle are like my reversed scale. Jie is the person inside that circle. That's how important he is to me."
Xiao Zhiren's face darkened instantly as his eyes turned scarlet whether it was in rage or sadness, he didn't know. Ru slapped his face, not with force but still did so.
"I just told you to keep your lemon consumption under control. Would you let me finish?" With an aggrieved look, he nodded. "He's important because he was my first contact with the world outside my family. He was the first who knew who or what I am. He was the first friend I made. He's been my best friend since I was six years old. He had seen me at my worst and at my best."
"He obviously means more to you," he snickered sadly.
"Argh! I'm gonna pull your hair out now. Are you even listening? He's my best friend. My maternal cousin. Besides, he's married and has two kids. Would you stop brooding now?!" Ru screamed at his face while Xiao Zhiren's lit up brightly.
"He's related to you by blood?" He asked again for re-confirmation.
"Yes!" Ru snapped at him.
Xiao Zhiren grinned like a lunatic. With his arms around her waist, he picked her up in the air and twirled around in glee. Ru was so shocked by this action that she forgot to react. And even when he placed her back on the floor, she had yet to come back to Earth. It was not hard to guess that this was another first for her, right? Who would dare touch formidable Young Master Ru so casually?
He kissed her cheeks forgetting all about the earlier comments. What? She was always that indifferent. He couldn't hold that against her. If he had an active and nosy conscious like Ru's, he would have heard a voice in his head saying, 'Excuses, excuses. You just need any excuse to be with her.' And Xiao Zhiren would have happily nodded along.
Who cared about the context when the content was so delicious?
"But is he that important in your heart that he can kick me out of your life like a fly from milk?" Xiao Zhiren suddenly felt really pressured. He finally met someone related to Ru. The real Ru. Someone who could be called her family. It was a huge deal. What if he didn't like him? Would she really leave him because of her cousin's opinions?
Ru was finally jolted awake and noticed how she was still caged between his arms. However, it didn't even cross her mind that she was supposed to push him away. Acceptance can do wonders and as she accepted her feelings, naturally she didn't have any plans on pushing him away anymore.
"I don't take people's opinions that seriously in my life," was Ru's reply which indirectly said that she won't let Jie kick Xiao Zhiren out of her life.
"Even at the stake of your relationship with him. Would you really choose me?" He asked again.
"I have always despised crossroads in life. I'd either have everything or nothing. There had never been a middle road for me. I don't do that." She replied assuringly.
For the first time, Xiao Zhiren could feel her sincerity; The glaring sincerity of her feelings. She hadn't said the words but he had a hunch but he was afraid to ask. What if it was yet again his hyperactive imagination playing with him? He didn't want to take that risk.
"And anyway, let's suppose that my life is a glass of milk," Xiao Zhiren's brows snapped together as she continued, "Then you're that cube of sugar that my best friend had been trying to mix into my life since the first time you declared openly that you love me. Even though I was under the disguise of Alev Knight, your feelings scared me for the first time. I'd have run far away from you if Jie hadn't said otherwise."
Xiao Zhiren's lips curled up slightly at the reminder. That was the night when he first time claimed her as his. He was scared that he would have to compete with Alev Knight for her affection but who knew Alev Knight was her own alter ego in the end?