Chapter 96 Let’s start over.

Across the dining table, Shen Zhiyi frowned, disturbed by Pei Yu's words.

She had not fully recovered yet, and her face was pale under the warm light. She pursed her lips slightly, looking confused and angry.

Pei Yu sighed softly. Not wanting to upset her, he lowered his voice and said, "I'm worried about you being alone. I don't mean any other thing."

He knew that he was anxious, but he couldn't help it. Moreover, she was injured now, and he just wanted to protect her.

Shen Zhiyi looked at him without saying anything, his brows still furrowed. After a while, he said stiffly, "I don't need anyone to take care of me. You can go back."

Even if she really needed someone to take care of her, that person should not be Pei Yu.

She was firm in her attitude, and there seemed to be no room for negotiation. She was about to leave. Pei Yu was silent for a moment. When she passed by him, he grabbed her wrist, not using force, just loosely holding it. When they sat and stood, he raised his face slightly in this posture and looked at her intently. "I'll stay for one night. I'll leave at dawn. I won't do anything and won't bother you."

He spoke in a low voice, with a hint of fatigue between his brows. His complexion was not much better than Shen Zhiyi's, and he even looked a little sick. It was inappropriate at the right time. Shen Zhiyi remembered that he had heard that he had a bad heart, and his thoughts were disturbed again.

She didn't refuse immediately. Pei Yu loosened his fingers that were loosely clasped around her wrist, tilted his head and suppressed a few coughs. His originally pale face suddenly became stained with a bit of blood color, but this blood color was dazzling.

He turned around after coughing and asked again, "Is it okay?"

His attitude was not tough at all, and he did not have the arrogance that he had before. I wonder if it was because of his poor health...

Shen Zhiyi turned around and said, "Whatever you want."

He always gets what he wants anyway.

There was only one bedroom in the house, and the second bedroom was used to store sundries. From the beginning, there was no plan to let other people live in. If Pei Yu wanted to live here, he could only make do with the sofa. Shen Zhiyi deliberately avoided paying attention to what he was doing and stayed in a daze in the bedroom until there was no movement outside.

She glanced at the time and was surprised to find that it was already early morning, but she still couldn't sleep at all. She thought about a lot of things at random and finally could only sigh deeply.

Pei Yu...my mind is full of Pei Yu.

Guessing that he should be asleep by now, Shen Zhiyi turned over and prepared to go to sleep. After a few seconds, he suddenly remembered that there was not even a blanket on the sofa. How did he sleep?

After hesitating for a while, she finally took a thin blanket and quietly opened the door.

The living room was silent. Shen Zhiyi walked a few steps quietly while holding the quilt. In the dark night, she saw the vague outline of a figure on the sofa. When she got closer, she could see Pei Yu clearly in the thin moonlight.

He was lying on his side on the sofa, with one arm as a pillow, and looked like he was sleeping soundly.

Shen Zhiyi squatted beside him, looking at him while he was sleeping. When she was in Huating, she would occasionally wake up in the middle of the night and look at him quietly for a while, thinking about nothing.

I always feel like he and I are from two different worlds. I'm used to seeing him being the center of attention on a daily basis. Only at times like this do I feel like we are so close that we can touch each other with our hands outstretched.

She carefully covered herself with the thin blanket, thinking she had been gentle enough. But when she was about to leave, she looked down and met his gaze, and froze in place.

Pei Yu did not speak immediately, but just looked at her quietly, as if he was not awake enough, or as if he had not fallen asleep yet. The light was dim, and Shen Zhiyi could not tell.

It was quiet for a few minutes. Shen Zhiyi wanted to leave, but someone touched her wrist hanging by her side. She looked down and saw Pei Yu still sleeping on his side. He stretched out a hand and held hers, stroking it slowly with his fingertips.

His hands were very cold, so cold that Shen Zhiyi trembled slightly. Perhaps his movements were too gentle and slow, like the movements of a person who was not fully conscious. She could not resist at all, and neither pulled her hand away nor left. "Zhizhi."

A soft murmur brought Shen Zhiyi back to his senses.

Pei Yu did not look up at her. His eyes fell on their clasped hands, which he tightened inch by inch. His voice was very clear, "How about going back to Hua Ting?"

He said it tactfully, but his meaning was only one. Shen Zhiyi stared at him blankly, meeting his sidelong glance.

He wasn't joking.

In fact, she was not very surprised. She could sense his thoughts from his abnormal behavior in the past two days. Shen Zhiyi was not stupid and of course understood what he meant. The reason why she pretended not to understand and deliberately did not think about it was because she could not give him the answer he wanted.

Her decision to break up with him was a well-considered one, and she has never regretted it. This was due not only to his reasons, but also to her own problems.

"Pei Yu," her voice was soft, as quiet as the night, and she slowly pulled her hand out of his, "I don't have confidence."

Both for myself and for him.

She hated being like an enemy to Huo Heng, disgusted with each other. This might be the best ending for them.

At the moment of separation, Pei Yu grasped her fingertips, his eyes were heavy, and he held her hand tightly again bit by bit, with a fierce determination not to let go, "Why?"

He raised his eyes, his expression serious, "Because our beginning is different from others?"

He did not regret taking her away from Nanyuan. He was even very glad that it was him who showed up at Nanyuan that night. Even if he had the chance to do it all over again, he would still do the same thing and be a despicable villain who took advantage of others' misfortune.

Her fingers were entangled by him, and her heart seemed to be held in his palm, rising and falling with his every word. Shen Zhiyi pursed her lips, unable to give an answer. Even she herself couldn't figure it out. She was in a mess, and she only knew that she couldn't respond to his "OK".

Since she didn't say anything, Pei Yu took it as her consent and said firmly, "Then let's start over."

He raised his face slightly, and smiled inconspicuously, with his unique arrogance and rare tenderness, "Starting from pursuing you."

Staring at him in a daze, Shen Zhiyi finally found her voice after a while. With her hand pulled out amidst her rapid heartbeat, she took two steps back and said, "You don't have to worry about me anymore."

She said something that was not what she meant, and tried to cover it up hastily, wanting to completely dispel his idea, so she said simply, "It's impossible for us."

Pei Yu sat up. Although he didn't approach her, his eyes followed her closely. "We won't know until we try."

He had been thinking about her for so many years and had enough patience to wait for her to look back at him.

Shen Zhiyi was speechless.

She knew her own heart clearly. She could have replied to him, "Impossible means impossible", but she didn't have the confidence, so she fell into silence again at this time.

In the darkness, it was impossible to see her expression, nor what she was thinking. Pei Yu didn't want to push her too hard, so he said softly, "Go back to the room."

"Good night."

(End of this chapter)