“What on earth has gotten into you? Why suddenly…” Before Lin Xi could finish her sentence, Xiao Hu swallowed the rest of it whole.

When the kiss was over, he reluctantly cupped the other person’s face and said tenderly, “Don’t worry, I haven’t been stimulated in any way—I just suddenly, desperately want to tell you everything on my mind, every single word.”

“Xiao Hu…”

“Xi Xi, once everything with your Sao Zi is settled, will you marry me? Not being able to meet you when you needed me most is the regret of my entire life, but I want to be by your side for every day ahead, so that regret doesn’t grow any bigger. Is that okay?”

“You’re serious?”

To be honest, she’d never thought about getting married. The reason she’d taken the initiative to tease this young man was because… that day, after they’d met, he’d said, “Why do you have to go through all this? You should’ve started a new life long ago.”

She replied, “I’ve been trying to start a new life all along.”

He didn’t believe her and said, “Really? What kind of ‘trying’ is that? Locking yourself up in a bird cage, spending all your time plotting revenge for a man who only helped you through one tough spot? And then what? After you’ve gotten your revenge, what will you do next? The world is so big—have you ever thought about the path you want to take from here on out?”

She answered, “I have.”

He asked, “Have you really thought about it?”

She said, “Yes!”

He pressed further, “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Absolutely.”

Still unconvinced, he continued, “All right then—tell me, once your so-called ‘big affair’ is over, what are you going to do? Are you going to live the life you’ve already planned, or are you going to find some excuse to come back to my side and keep wasting your precious time?”

She was stunned.

He let out a soft sigh and gently took her trembling hand in his. “Lin Xi, don’t do this! Back then, I just happened to help a girl who was on the verge of giving up on life. All I wanted was for her to live a little better, for there to be one more poor soul in this dirty world who could still hold on. I never expected anything in return, and I certainly don’t need you to repay me like a moth to a flame. Do you know how many times you almost died over the years—if it hadn’t been for Gao Zi, whom I secretly had keeping an eye on you?”

She was even more dazed, and tears immediately began streaming down her face.

He reached up and wiped away the tears. “Lin Xi, it’s fine if you like me or admire me because I helped you—that’s your business, your freedom. I won’t interfere, I won’t pry. But I do want to tell you: don’t throw away your whole life just because of this so-called ‘love’ that has no future. I’m not dead yet—I’m still alive. The grudges of the Ming Family should be shouldered by me alone, and the vengeance of the Ming Family should also be exacted by me. It’s time for you to step back—to go live your own life!”

She kept crying. “Why are you so eager to push me away? Why aren’t you seeing Ming Yue? Do you really think I should step back, or are you hatching some other bad plan? Have you ever thought about us? Have you ever thought about Ming Yue?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

She asked, “Of course what?”

End of Chapter 149: Counterattack 75