NABC 57 If you want to get
57 If you want to get
When Xie Chengjing asked this question, his eyes were fixed on Su Tong. His angular face seemed to casually move closer to Su Tong, and if he were just a little closer, his high nose bridge would almost touch the tip of Su Tong's nose. When he got this close, the sharp aura on his body almost became tangible, but his expression remained cold, and there was no chill in the depths of his eyes, forming a strange charm that was both compelling and tangible.
Su Tong retreated in alarm, but Xie Chengjing relentlessly approached again, seemingly casually. The two were originally sitting on rattan chairs of the same height, and now that they were face to face, Xie Chengjing's back was slightly hunched, his body like a leopard poised to pounce, exuding noble beauty and a sense of danger.
Su Tong then realized that besides his usual stern and cold demeanor, his eyes were also incredibly beautiful. His eyelashes were thick, long, and straight, his eyes were narrow and elongated, and his pupils were dark and deep, like a universe. When he stared at her, he was so focused that it was as if she were the only person in the world. Su Tong suddenly had an absurd thought that his gaze could reach her soul, making her unable to utter falsehoods. At the same time, his gaze made her heart flutter and feel uneasy, and it could only beat faster and faster.
Faced with someone stronger than oneself, the human instinct for self-preservation is to run away or show weakness. Su Tong had already retreated a bit, her back almost touching the back of the rattan chair. If she retreated any further, she would probably be pressed down in the rattan chair by Xie Chengjing. So she could only show weakness. She no longer forced herself to look Xie Chengjing in the eye. Her butterfly-like eyelashes trembled, and her eyes, as ethereal as mist and as if carrying a thousand emotions, quietly closed, no longer daring to look directly into Xie Chengjing's focused gaze.
Seeing Su Tong's slightly flustered state, Xie Chengjing felt a faint sense of pride, making him feel somewhat unlike himself. He hadn't felt this way even when he earned a first-class merit in the army, earning the respect of those veterans who had once thought him arrogant. Those were people he didn't understand and didn't care about. But with the brothers he truly valued, those who had risked their lives with him, he only felt trust and gratitude. Seeing Su Tong lower her eyes, hesitant to answer directly and avoiding his gaze, Xie Chengjing loosened his stare, but still wouldn't budge, simply rephrasing his question: "Why are you so concerned about Lin Shanshan?"
Su Tong clenched her right fist tightly behind her back. The more unsettled she felt inside, the calmer she appeared on the surface. She simply blinked, concealing all her emotions in her eyes, and said softly, "Actually... I really admire Lin Shanshan's personality. She's proud, aloof, principled, strong, and decisive. I've always admired and liked her. Plus, we're in the same production team, and we met in the city before, so we were quite familiar with each other from the start. That's why I usually pay attention to her. Later, her news became so big, and since I'm quite observant and always notice details, I guess I was particularly concerned about Lin Shanshan. Actually, I care about everyone else, including Qin Jing and Chen Qi..."
"Is it?"
With Xie Chengjing's cold voice, Su Tong's explanation came to an abrupt halt. Xie Chengjing suddenly grabbed her right wrist, pulling her right hand from behind her back to between them. Although this moved his face further away from Su Tong, her tightly clenched fist betrayed her extreme nervousness. He gently pried open Su Tong's four fingers, which were piercing her palm. Against the backdrop of Xie Chengjing's calloused, tanned hands, Su Tong's hand appeared even more slender, white, and flawlessly smooth. The four thin, reddish indentations left by her neatly trimmed fingernails in her palm became even more noticeable.
Xie Chengjing released her hand, but still looked directly at her: "Then, what are you nervous about?"
Su Tong's face turned deathly pale, and she instinctively withdrew her right hand. Her lips were no longer as rosy as usual. Xie Chengjing hadn't been this aggressive in her memory for a while, so she couldn't withstand his stern scrutinizing gaze. She could only force herself to remain calm and answer, "I am indeed very nervous, but it's not because of that. It's just that I can't help but feel nervous when I'm with you."
“Okay,” Xie Chengjing said, turning his gaze away to look at Kongkong, whose food bowl had been quietly dragged from the kennel to the rattan table and chairs. Whether it was psychological or something else, as soon as his gaze left Su Tong, Su Tong immediately felt the pressure on her body lighten.
Kongkong was eating the food prepared in its bowl, smugly wagging its tail and wiggling its rear as it smugly approached Xie Er'er, who was lying listlessly at Xie Chengjing's feet. It was so energetic that it didn't seem like it had been injured that day. Its boastful and provocative manner made it seem as if Xie Er'er wasn't lacking appetite, but rather being punished by Xie Chengjing for not eating. Eventually, Xie Er'er got annoyed, barked, and swatted Kongkong to the ground. As soon as Kongkong got up, Xie Chengjing gave it a cold look, and Kongkong nimbly darted to the side, lying down next to Su Tong and playing with the leg of the rattan chair Su Tong was sitting on.
Su Tong tugged at his ear, "Kongkong, there's a bite ball for you to play with, you're not allowed to bite these."
Kongkong barked twice to indicate it understood, glanced at Xie Chengjing, and realized that the fierce-looking person living with his owner wasn't looking at it but at Xie Er'er. It then suddenly leaped out and quickly scooped up the food bowl with its two front paws. Afterward, it barked at Xie Chengjing a few times with a bit of pride before retreating back behind Su Tong.
Su Tong was utterly exasperated by Kongkong. It was clearly its own food bowl, yet it was happily playing with it, as if it had snatched the food from Xie Chengjing's jaws. The dog was smugly enjoying itself. They say animals have the most accurate instincts, and Kongkong, shrinking behind her like that, seemed oblivious to the fact that if it ever really angered Xie Chengjing, Su Tong wouldn't be able to protect it.
Since Xie Chengjing had already said "okay" and was now just looking at Xie Er'er, Su Tong figured he had decided not to delve into the matter further. Looking at Xie Er'er, who seemed so listless in contrast to the energetic and mischievous Kong Kong, Su Tong was worried. Even though it had indeed been vaccinated, its unusually lethargic state made her, who had only spent a short time with Xie Er'er, somewhat anxious; how much more so for its owner, Xie Chengjing, who had cared for it all along? Although he seemed nonchalant now, he had been silently holding Xie Er'er the whole time, and now he was just silently watching it. He was probably a little apprehensive too. Early symptoms of rabies vary from person to person; fatigue, general malaise, fever, restlessness, pain at the bite site, and abnormal sensations are all possible. Xie Chengjing was probably also afraid that Xie Er'er might get sick.
Su Tong mustered her courage and patted Xie Er'er on the head, then changed the subject with Xie Chengjing, saying, "I know you're usually very strict with your ears, but they actually hurt a lot. But don't worry too much. The nanny said that this time it was given the latest vaccine that has just passed clinical trials. Although we can't guarantee that vaccinated dogs will be completely safe, the preventative effect is very good. Besides, you've always taken such good care of its ears, so it's healthy and has a strong immune system. It doesn't have many of the common diseases that Caucasian Shepherds have."
"Thank you for comforting me." Xie Chengjing nodded, his reply still serious, but his eyes were extremely sincere, making his ordinary words of thanks suddenly carry great weight.
Su Tong waved her hand, "No need for thanks. Compared to what you've done for me, these are just a few useless words. If you're going to thank me for this, how can I accept it?"
“But that’s not all,” Xie Chengjing suddenly changed the subject, “You haven’t properly answered my question about why you care so much about Lin Shanshan.”
Su Tong just said that she was nervous just because she saw him. Although it was just a temporary excuse, it was actually Su Tong's true feeling to some extent. This made Xie Chengjing have to face it and want to change. Su Tong is indeed still very afraid of him.
It's clearly unreasonable for him to expect Su Tong to admit that her excessive concern for Lin Shanshan stems from Lin Shanshan's feelings for him, without him even stating his own position. Indeed, it's unreasonable. In Xie Chengjing's worldview shaped by over 31 years of life experience, everything requires sacrifice. To gain his father's favor instead of being disliked, he had to be absolutely outstanding; to make a name for himself in the military, he needed tangible achievements; to earn the obedience and respect of his comrades and subordinates, he first needed their trust and care. Therefore, he thought the same way about relationships: he wanted Su Tong to treat him the way he wanted to be treated.
Before Su Tong could figure out how to react, Xie Chengjing seemed to not need her answer this time, and said directly, "Su Tong."
He called her name, focused and serious, like a hammer blow to Su Tong's heart. Then, speaking slowly and in a cold voice, he said, "You don't know why you're so focused on Lin Shanshan, but I know why I'm focused on Lin Zhen. I'm not just focused on Lin Zhen, but also on Xiao Yang, An Jing, even Lin Lili, Wang Hai, Yang Huan, and Yang Yue. I'm focused on everyone around you." He completely ignored the surprise in Su Tong's eyes, because that was the effect he wanted. He continued, "I don't want you to get too close to certain people, yet I'm also afraid you'll get close to them, so—"
Xie Chengjing looked into Su Tong's eyes, this time not letting him escape: "Su Tong, you don't need to be afraid of me. I'm just an ordinary person, just like you."
Author's Note: Duo Yiduo threw a landmine. mff_ threw a landmine. Guiqin threw a landmine. Guiqin threw a landmine. Guiqin threw a landmine. q threw a landmine.
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