“This is between the two of us—between you, Ming Yue, and me, the unnamed male operative Jiang Feng! More precisely, it’s about whether our relationship can take the next step.”

Ming Yue deliberately played dumb, and Jiang Feng bluntly laid his cards on the table.

Having made his point, he cupped Ming Yue’s little face in his hands. His deep, penetrating eyes were wide open, fixed intently on her all-too-familiar features. “Ming Yue, I’m serious! I, Jiang Feng, am wholeheartedly pursuing your affection—and I’m truly committed to winning you over!”

Ming Yue opened her own big, glistening eyes, but instead of answering, she simply blinked softly, locking gazes with him.

Jiang Feng took a deep breath and continued, “Ming Yue, I know our beginning wasn’t exactly ideal. Over the years, we’ve stumbled along, with plenty of arguments and disagreements. I also realize that when we first drew close, neither of us may have had entirely pure motives. But I swear on my life: right now, and always from this moment forward, I’m dead serious. Not a single lie in sight. If I so much as utter half a word to deceive you, may heaven strike me down…”

Before he could finish, Ming Yue’s cool, soft lips sealed his mouth.

She swallowed every word he was about to say, then took the lead, guiding the man before her through the increasingly familiar techniques they’d honed over the years.

After a long while, Ming Yue finally broke the kiss, cupping his cheeks in her hands and saying in an equally earnest tone, “Don’t talk about anything bad!”

“But I…”

Jiang Feng’s cheeks flushed bright red, as if desperate to express his feelings.

Yet before he could finish, Ming Yue, her own cheeks glowing, cut him off. “Jiang Feng, I believe you. I believe you’re being completely sincere in discussing this with me, and I trust you have the ability and character to back up your words. But I have to tell you: I can’t give you an answer—certainly not right now, and not anytime soon either.”

“Why?”

Jiang Feng bit his lip, asking stubbornly.

He could feel it—their intimate connection over this time had taken them leaps and bounds forward. They were no longer at all like they used to be.

Or rather, he could clearly sense that he and Ming Yue really did care for each other; at the very least, their hearts and actions were attuned, filled with mutual concern and attachment.

That’s why he’d brought up the subject again—why he’d dared to bring it up.

What he hadn’t expected, though, was that Ming Yue still showed no sign of relenting.

Even more painful was the almost pessimistic tone in which she’d spoken those words just now.

Her pessimism made him think back to the past—to that dazzling young person famous throughout Ning City, to how Ming Yue had been back then…

So after asking, “Why?” Jiang Feng began to regret it.

He regretted asking why, and even more that he’d thought to ask at all.

Seeing that Ming Yue remained silent, her expression growing ever darker, Jiang Feng hurriedly changed the subject. “Forget it, Ming Yue. If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t…”

“There’s nothing I don’t want to talk about,” Ming Yue said, releasing her hands and slowly rising to her feet. She walked over to the window where the curtains fluttered in the breeze, gazing out at the scene beyond and speaking softly, “Jiang Feng, these days I’m a woman whose heart holds nothing but hatred. All I can think about is revenge, revenge, and more revenge.

Other than that, the only thing I truly care about is my family. There’s simply no room left in my heart for anything else.”

End of Chapter 143: Counterattack 69