Chapter 44: You Are the One I Like

Qin Feng stopped talking, unsure of what to say.

After walking for a short distance, Hong Yue seemed to feel that her words had been a bit too harsh. She lowered her voice and said to Qin Feng, "I didn't mean to call you a bad person. I just think fighting is never a good thing."

"Yes, you're right. Actually, I don't fight all that often." Qin Feng found Hong Yue increasingly endearing.

They chatted for a few more sentences before falling silent. Not knowing what else to say, they walked awkwardly all the way to the entrance of the health clinic.

"Thank you, I'll go inside now," Hong Yue said to Qin Feng.

"Don't mention it. See you then, get some rest early." Qin Feng nodded, turned around, and began walking back.

Hong Yue stood there, watching Qin Feng's retreating figure. She felt that this man might not be as bad as she had imagined, though she still couldn't say she had a particularly good impression of him.

Qin Feng returned to the Bishan Restaurant, got on his motorcycle, and headed home.

Upon arriving home, instead of going into his own place, he went straight to knock on Hu Jiayun's door.

"What are you trying to do? Are you trying to take my door down?" Hu Jiayun asked as she opened the door, adjusting a facial mask on her face. She was still wearing the pajamas that always made Qin Feng's nose bleed slightly.

"What is wrong with you today?" Qin Feng asked, looking very angry.

"What's wrong with me? Why are you so worked up?"

"Just look at the things you said at the dinner table! Weren't you just making a mess of things?"

"How was I making a mess?" Hu Jiayun asked with a smile.

"How can you ask that?" Qin Feng demanded, coming to settle accounts.

"Oh... You mean trying to matchmake me and Hong Haifeng's sister, right?"

"What do you think? It was such a nice meal, and you guys started talking about that. Wasn't that deliberately making a fool of me and putting me on the spot?"

"Oh, my, oh, my, you're actually angry. What? Didn't you like the girl? What's wrong with her? She's got the looks, she's got the figure, and on top of that, she's gentle. Getting a girl like that as a wife is a blessing you must have cultivated in your past life," Hu Jiayun said with a chuckle.

"What on earth are you talking about? This is marriage, not buying cabbages at the vegetable market where you just pick whichever one looks pleasing to the eye. Xu Guoli was drunk and talking nonsense, and you just went along and messed around with him," Qin Feng said, growing more and more irritated.

"Do you really think Xu Guoli was just drunk and talking nonsense?" Hu Jiayun retorted.

"Wasn't he?"

"Let's set aside whether today was Xu Guoli's birthday or not. Even if it was his birthday, why did he invite Hong Haifeng's sister over? And why was it just the few of us?"

Qin Feng paused, seeming to realize where the problem lay.

"You and Hong Yue were the prospective couple, I and Hong Haifeng were the representatives of both families, and Xu Guoli was the matchmaker. Couldn't you see through that setup?"

"Are you saying Xu Guoli's birthday was just an excuse, and this whole thing was the real purpose from the start?" Qin Feng asked, somewhat surprised.

"So do you think that if I hadn't taken the initiative to bring it up today, Xu Guoli wouldn't have brought it up?" Hu Jiayun continued.

Qin Feng fell silent.

"Do you think it's better for me to bring it up proactively, or for Xu Guoli to do it? If I bring it up, Xu Guoli merely echoes it, and if you truly refuse, you're rejecting my face. If Xu Guoli brings it up first, then your refusal means you're rejecting his face." Hu Jiayun leaned back against the sofa, her face still covered with the mask.

Qin Feng acknowledged the logic in Hu Jiayun's explanation; it seemed he had indeed wronged her.

"That's the first point. Secondly, I genuinely think that girl is wonderful. Just as I told you earlier, she's pretty, has a good temperament, and is the kind of woman suited for a domestic life. If you can marry her, it'll be your good fortune. You have to trust your older sister's ability to judge people," Hu Jiayun continued.

"Sister, why are you bringing this up again?" Qin Feng grew angry once more.

"What's wrong? You're already twenty-five, shouldn't you be looking for a girlfriend? Are you really going to be this shy about it?" Hu Jiayun smiled.

"You sit here in the township government office, and every day you deal with these rough-around-the-edges guys. To be honest, even in the whole of Bishan, there aren't many girls who are a match for you. The good ones have long since gone out to work and married away. It's terribly hard for you to find a partner right here in Bishan."

"You're twenty-five this year. Even if your career rises smoothly, at a normal pace, it will be hard for you to leave Bishan within five years, and that's considered fast. What? Do you plan to remain unmarried until you're thirty?"

"Qin Feng, your sister isn't joking; I'm genuinely thinking about your future. This girl is truly great. I'm not saying you have to finalize anything with her right away, but there's no harm in getting to know each other. What if you end up developing feelings for her? Right?" Hu Jiayun said earnestly to Qin Feng.

"I could never develop feelings for her," Qin Feng said, a thick undertone of anger still lingering in his voice.

"How can you be so sure you won't develop feelings for her? Don't I know the little habits of you men? As long as you spend enough time together, you're bound to fall in love. Forget about you; even I like her just looking at her..."

"Because the one I like is you..." Qin Feng blurted out, unable to hold it in any longer.

As soon as Qin Feng uttered those words, Hu Jiayun froze, and Qin Feng froze as well. He hadn't expected that in his agitation, he would blurt out what was truly in his heart. The moment he said it, he was filled with regret.

He knew what saying those words meant; perhaps from now on, he wouldn't even be able to remain friends with Hu Jiayun.

After speaking, Qin Feng's face turned instantly red. Daring not to look at Hu Jiayun any longer, he turned and walked straight out, pulling the door shut behind him.

After Qin Feng left, Hu Jiayun remained dazed for a long while before letting out a soft laugh and muttering to herself, "This kid, he really is full of mischief."

Once the smile faded, Hu Jiayun's expression grew heavy, and she lay awake the entire night.

The other person who spent the entire night wide awake was Qin Feng, who was plagued by agonizing regret that he had somehow let slip such a sentence through some strange impulse.

Early the next morning, with a fluttering and anxious heart, Qin Feng stood by the doorway, waiting for Hu Jiayun to come out so they could go running together.

Hu Jiayun pushed the door open right on time, her figure as breathtaking as ever.

"Sister..." Qin Feng felt a bit nervous; he had no idea what kind of attitude Hu Jiayun would adopt toward him.

"You're quite early today. You drank so much wine yesterday, does your head hurt now?" Hu Jiayun said with a smile as she walked down the stairs, acting entirely as if nothing had happened at all.

"Sister..."

"What's wrong with you? Why are you stuttering?"

"Sister, about what I said last night..."

"What? You want to take back what you said? Don't tell me you're going to claim you were drunk and just talking nonsense last night, are you?" Hu Jiayun asked with a smile.