Xu Musen's tone was gentle, and by now, continuing to feign ignorance would only hurt her more.
Zhu Yulan also sensed the change in his tone; although she hadn't received any promises, her heart finally found a bit of solace.
She slowly straightened up from Xu Musen's embrace, gazing at the face that still invaded her dreams from time to time, Zhu Yulan squinting her reddened eyes slightly.
"I don't even know... when exactly I started liking you. I only remember the first time we met, when we had just entered university and were rivals. I offered two hundred thousand for you to willingly step back, but you flatly refused, telling me to fight for what I want, even if it means losing."
"Growing up, you were the first guy to ever reject me like that. From that moment, an obstinate shadow of you was left in my heart. Of course, back then, it was only a bad impression of how you would repeatedly trick me... After all, it was some jerk who always appeared in front of me, finding various excuses to coax me into doing things for him, and in the end, he'd only treat me to a meal at KFC as a way to make do. What status do I hold, and you treat me to KFC?"
Zhu Yulan felt her brains must have been waterlogged at the start. So many people racked their brains out to invite her out for exotic delicacies and she wouldn't even bother, but it was Xu Musen who thought of inviting her to KFC?
And she, lacking pride, had agreed!
Zhu Yulan's tone gradually steadied, but it still carried a hint of resentment, "It was clearly you who provoked me first..."
Xu Musen felt a bit embarrassed and scratched his cheek. At that time, he was still adamantly saying he was a real man who would not accept handouts.
But then he realized, freeloading was ever-present around him...
And at that time, Xu Musen really didn't trick her sparingly. He would often seek her help for various things, and over time, their relationship gradually improved.
Considering it all, it really was Xu Musen who actively provoked her.
Was this a scumbag's passive skill?
"Even though you were really annoying back then, the unrestrained freedom you embodied, yet your personality was exceptionally gentle, always full of hope... Those were the qualities I lacked and longed for the most..."
"Was I as good as you say? I remember you used to call me a trickster every day."
Xu Musen felt a little embarrassed by the passionate gaze of the young girl.
"You were pretty mean, eager to get back at others, but extremely kind to those close to you, especially Nuannuan..."
Zhu Yulan, her tone carrying a hint of jealousy yet longing, said, "Your treatment of Nuannuan was as if you gave all the world's gentleness to her—pushing her wheelchair, feeding her at meals, even the first tea shop owner was her... Every time you saw Nuannuan, the affection and doting in your eyes could almost drown someone!"
"The most important part is... When Nuannuan is by your side, you may not feel it, but as observers, we see that she portrays a quiet and somewhat aloof character in front of others. She's very smart, and I even think she can see through people with just a word or two at times..."
As Zhu Yulan spoke, she remembered several occasions when An Nuannuan and Yao Mingyue had been precisely pinpointing issues, dealing real emotional damage with each word.
It felt to her like being a clown whose disguise was stripped away, clearly calculated by Tian Jiang's 'Batman' Nuannuan.
"Is Nuannuan really as amazing as you say?" Xu Musen smiled.
Zhu Yulan bit the corner of her lip, "She only acts clueless and naive in front of you because by your side she doesn't have to worry about anything—being pushed in her wheelchair by you, carried downstairs, having her needs immediately met... Certain someone truly pampered her to the point of fearing she might break in their hands, melt in their mouth. That sense of being fully protected and able to recklessly act like a child is truly enviable…"
As Zhu Yulan spoke, the marks of her biting her lip grew deeper, her cheeks flushing with a mix of shame and resentment, she looked at Xu Musen, "So, when you and Nuannuan show affection, sometimes I... put myself in Nuannuan's place, and then with you..."
Xu Musen widened his eyes.
Looking at the young girl's cheeks flushed as if drunk, perhaps influenced by the chocolate liquor from earlier.
All in all, such embarrassing words were truly spoken by this proud young lady herself.
This... wasn't that just fantasizing?
Xu Musen felt as though he was only dating Nuannuan, yet it seemed like he had unintentionally launched an area attack auto-seduction.
Thinking about it, it seems An Nuannuan had been the same in his previous life, watching him and Yao Mingyue daily, gradually completing her self-seduction.
"Are you... mocking me?"
Zhu Yulan observed Xu Musen's expression, the shame in her heart surfacing, she hadn't expected that today she'd talk like she was drunk, speaking such words out loud.
It was as if she were a lovesick fool, secretly fantasizing about someone else's boyfriend treating her similarly.
Zhu Yulan's face was so red it could drip blood. She stared at Xu Musen, grabbing his sleeve.