Chapter 113: Zhou Yili Teaches Him How to Love

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Shen Jixing didn’t understand why the little lion suddenly bristled. Yet, he genuinely felt a flutter of anxiety. Zhou Yili was too fierce; he hadn’t fully recovered, and he couldn’t bear the little lion’s wrath…

“You don’t like me at all, liar.”

Zhou Yili’s anger flared as he tucked him under the blanket, his face cold. Wrapped gently in the soft quilt, he dispelled the lingering chill outside. Finally, he leaned down and kissed the center of his forehead, then nuzzled his nose like a small animal.

Before the smoke could dissipate, he straightened up. “Forget it, go to sleep. I’m going to take a shower.”

“…”

As Zhou Yili turned and walked toward the bathroom, Shen Jixing sat up calmly and spoke to his retreating back.

“I never said I didn’t like you. I like you very much.”

“But in my view, these things have nothing to do with you. They are burdens I must bear and handle myself. I shouldn’t let the one I care about be troubled by them.”

Shen Jixing always held onto his principles. But he never expressed them gently. His words could unintentionally wound, so he needed a little lion who wouldn’t leave.

Three times in a row, the little lion’s affection made Zhou Yili feel exhilarated.

He turned his head and stared at Shen Jixing with suspicion and doubt. “Do you really not understand? Or are you just saying you like me to appease me…”

Shen Jixing was a bit irritated. “How many times have I told you?”

“Three,” Zhou Yili replied instantly. “This is the third time.”

Once when he was hurt, once after the filming cycle ended, and now.

Zhou Yili remembered each moment vividly. “You only said that to comfort me.”

Shen Jixing slightly averted his gaze. “Why say such things all the time?”

He immediately countered, “You know how easily you get angry, don’t you?”

After speaking, Zhou Yili showed his anger, standing there with fiery eyes fixed on him.

Shen Jixing inexplicably found it amusing. “Zhou Yili, I don’t deny my feelings for you. You are the one and only exception. But those are my matters; you’ve never been involved, so it’s right for me to handle them myself.”

He sat beneath the warm amber light like a flawless cold jade.

“Isn’t that so? Or…”

Shen Jixing, unusually doubtful of himself, murmured, “Maybe I’m wrong.”

He quietly sat in Zhou Yili’s nest, his eyelash curves sharp and graceful, his cold brows furrowed slightly, battling his own entrenched beliefs.

In that moment, Zhou Yili suddenly understood everything.

He didn’t know.

Shen Jixing wasn’t indifferent to him, nor did he dislike him.

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This seemingly aloof, cold, and arrogant person didn’t seem to realize… that pain and suffering could be shared with others.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Jixing looked at him through the light, his voice calm and teasing. “Why are you crying again?”

Zhou Yili’s eyes twitched. “Let me take a shower first.”

He regretted lighting that cigarette just now.

“Come here.” Shen Jixing called after him. “It’s mostly gone; I don’t smell it…”

Zhou Yili pulled him close, pressing his thin back against his palm, holding him tightly. Every embrace from the little lion was forceful and possessive.

Shen Jixing’s lashes lowered, accompanied by a sigh. “Am I wrong?”

Zhou Yili tightened his hold.

What exactly had Boyu done to him that Shen Jixing didn’t even understand this?

No matter how badly Zhou Yili quarreled with Zhou Hengyang, at least he knew that family was someone you could rely on unconditionally.

Zhou Hengyang might dislike his poor grades but would find tutors for him.

Zhou Hengyang might have new loves in his lonely life but never brought anyone home because of Zhou Yili.

The Zhou family would always belong to Zhou Yili.

But Shen Jixing?

It seemed he never truly had a home.

Shen Jixing felt the burning warmth sink into his collar; his eyes were filled with rare bewilderment as his fingers gently stroked the back of Zhou Yili’s neck. “Sorry, I think I understand now.”

It turned out that what he arrogantly thought was kindness could hurt. The burdens he thought he bore alone had become a weight on Zhou Yili.

Shen Jixing had always been quick to realize things.

But no one had ever taught him.

Boyu himself didn’t understand, so how could he teach him?

“What are you apologizing for?” Zhou Yili buried his head in his neck. “Hold me.”

The night breeze rustled through the garden, stirring the cool leaves to fall.

Zhou Yili wrapped him in his arms, lowering his gaze to kiss his eyes. “You’ve never told me about your childhood.”

Shen Jixing had already slept once; now, he wasn’t very sleepy.

“Which part do you want to hear?”

Zhou Yili was momentarily stunned, then realized Shen Jixing had three separate childhoods.

“The best and the worst.”

Shen Jixing replied, “I can’t rank them.”

His three childhoods were each filled with laughter and pain.

Though poor in the orphanage, the presence of the director offered some peace; but he was too young then, unable to hold on to any warmth from the world.

He lived a dreamy life in France, only to be awakened by reality and forced to leave that unreal world.

Boyu saved him at the brink of life and death but also inflicted unspeakable torment.

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“He hit you?” Zhou Yili instantly sobered.

“No, he never hit anyone himself.”

Shen Jixing spoke calmly. “His punishment was ‘out of sight, out of mind’—locking people in the basement.”

He didn’t lie but omitted the punishment devices in the basement.

Boyu was a kind-hearted demon who feared bloodstains on his hands would affect his prayers, so he made them endure the punishment themselves.

“Is he sick?”

Even someone as hot-tempered as Zhou Hengyang never locked him in the basement.

“This was his way of teaching. I never complained before I turned eighteen,” Shen Jixing said indifferently.

Boyu’s experiences destined him to be extreme in character; Shen Jixing embraced the life Boyu gave him, even if punished for reasons he couldn’t recall, never blaming Boyu.

“But it did cause sadness and fear.”

Zhou Yili pressed his forehead gently against his hair and whispered so.

Shen Jixing’s long lashes fluttered. “Maybe.”

“What about after eighteen?”

“Don’t you know?” Shen Jixing chuckled. “I left the Boyu family and came to your side.”

Recalling a nearly lighthearted and sweet past.

A faint smile flickered in Zhou Yili’s long eyes as he idly played with Shen Jixing’s fingertips. “And then? How did you go back?”

Shen Jixing’s throat moved slightly but didn’t answer.

Drawing on his understanding of Boyu, Zhou Yili seemed to have a good guess.

“Captured and brought back, right?”

“Not that dramatic…”

“Is it?” Zhou Yili pressed.

Shen Jixing was silent for a moment. “Yes.”

Zhou Yili’s breath seemed heavier. Shen Jixing pressed his hand on his shoulder. “It’s all in the past now, and it was my choice. I had the ability to stay in France, but I didn’t…”

“Where were you during that month?” Zhou Yili interrupted.

During the month when I was panicking, thinking you had abandoned me.

Where were you?

Shen Jixing had many excuses to deceive him, but he had just learned from Zhou Yili how to love.

His pain didn’t need to be borne alone; it could be shared.

“I was thinking of you.”