Chapter 369: Only Jiang Baobao Can Attract Him

"Me!" Jiang Baobao glared at the person in front of her, speechless for who knows how many times today.

"I already said, that was just an excuse to stall for time! You absolutely must not misunderstand anything! I didn't mean to take advantage of you!"

Jiang Baobao explained loudly, wishing she could distance her relationship with Li Beijue by a hundred thousand miles.

Li Beijue's gaze flickered for a moment, and suddenly, without thinking, he said, "What if I did misunderstand?"

"You..." Jiang Baobao felt as if someone had suddenly pressed a mute button on her; her mind was in total chaos.

Li Beijue hadn't expected himself to just blurt that out either, and a rare trace of embarrassment flashed across his face.

Tsk...

This was not how he had envisioned it.

Even if he were to confess, it shouldn't be today, and it shouldn't be here, with no flowers and no balloons.

All there was were the snow-white walls of the hospital room and the faint smell of disinfectant in the air.

In the back of Li Beijue's mind, an emotion called "reason" was stopping him from saying anything more.

Yet his body seemed to be controlled by another brain, successfully seizing control of his speech system.

"Jiang Baobao, I wouldn't mind if you turned this misunderstanding into reality."

Li Beijue's tone was earnest, his deep eyes looking straight into the nervous and bewildered eyes of Jiang Baobao before him.

He reached out and wrapped her hand in his palm.

It's over.

It seemed his jealousy was even more severe than he had imagined.

He wanted to announce to the whole world that this woman was his.

No one could think about her, and no one could touch her.

He couldn't even wait, choosing to lay his feelings bare right then, to accompany her and protect her as her "boyfriend."

Jiang Baobao's entire being crashed.

She even doubted if she had heard something wrong.

Li Beijue... what did he mean?

Was he confessing?

So suddenly?

"I... you..."

Jiang Baobao finally found her voice, but she couldn't form a complete sentence.

During this short time, she had thought countless times about Li Beijue's sudden feelings for her.

She had thought that one day, the window paper would be pierced, but she hadn't expected it to come so quickly.

Jiang Baobao stalled for a long while, her first thought being to pull her hand back.

Yet, in less than a second, it was held by him again.

"What are you hiding from?"

Li Beijue looked at the person before him with amusement, having already sorted out his thoughts during the silence just now.

Since he had already said it, he might as well say everything.

"Jiang Baobao, listen well. Perhaps it's a bit late for me to say this now, but I am willing to use all the time hereafter to make up for it..."

Li Beijue's voice was low and hoarse, seemingly due to nervousness, but his tone was incomparably firm as he said, word by word: "I. Like. You."

Jiang Baobao's pupils shrank sharply, and her breathing stopped for an instant.

These four words had quite a massive impact on her.

Yet there was no joy, nor nervousness or unease, as she had imagined.

Jiang Baobao blinked, and a complex emotion she couldn't even explain to herself suddenly surged in her heart.

This confession from Li Beijue was what she had once wanted most.

His deep affection, his gentle tone, and his expression at this moment were all things the Jiang Baobao of the past had fantasized about countless times.

However, that was already in the past.

Jiang Baobao came back to her senses from the shock, feeling only calm in her heart.

This "I like you" seemed to smooth over her resentment from many years ago, letting her put down even the last trace of insignificant concern.

All that remained was relief, without any romantic feelings.

Li Beijue held her hand quietly, his slightly pursed thin lips exposing his subtle nervousness at this moment, like a student waiting for a teacher to grade an exam paper.

Jiang Baobao still pulled her hand away.

She subconsciously rubbed the corner of the blanket, took a deep breath, and slowly began to speak: "Li Beijue, I'm sorry."

Li Beijue's gaze flickered for a moment; he didn't seem very surprised.

Jiang Baobao continued: "I think... you might not be very calm right now, and the two of us..."

"The two of us—it was my fault before. I know I made you suffer many grievances. I apologize to you. I'm sorry. In the future..." Li Beijue knew what she was going to say, and a trace of futile regret flashed in his eyes.

Jiang Baobao, however, shook her head.

"That's not what I wanted to say."

Her tone was flat; she had completely recovered from the shock just now and regained her composure: "I'm just curious, why did you... suddenly like me?"

Li Beijue was taken aback at these words. He pondered for two seconds before slowly saying: "I have been looking for you all these years..."

"I know."

Jiang Baobao interrupted him: "I know you've been looking for someone, I just didn't expect that person to be me."

A self-deprecating smile appeared on her face, and she already had the answer to that question in her heart.

"The one you are looking for, the one you like, is the girl who saved you back then. But that person isn't necessarily me. If it had been someone else who saved you back then, would you still be sitting here confessing to me now?"

Jiang Baobao asked calmly.

Li Beijue had never considered this possibility, and for a moment, he was actually stumped by her question.

Jiang Baobao, however, smiled indifferently: "You don't need to answer this question for me. I can also pretend I never heard the things you said today. The relationship we have now is quite good as it is."

After Jiang Baobao finished speaking, she casually pulled the quilt over herself, lay down with her back to Li Beijue, her eyes clear and bright.

Fearing that the person behind her might say something more, she deliberately added: "I'm a little tired and want to rest for a while."

"Mm," Li Beijue replied in a low voice.

Only then did Jiang Baobao close her eyes in satisfaction, suppressing all her emotions deep within her heart.

She was no longer the Jiang Baobao of the past.

The current her was incredibly clear-headed.

Li Beijue's liking, concern, and care were all built on the foundation that "she saved him back then."

She would not fall for it again.

She did not need this kind of "liking."

Once Li Beijue figured it out for himself, he would naturally act as if nothing had happened today.

Jiang Baobao listened carefully to the movements behind her, feeling as relieved as if a heavy stone had been lifted from her heart.

Since everything had already been laid out in the open...

Then the matters between her and Li Beijue should be able to be completely turned over, right?

As for that confession just now, she would just consider it as him owing her...

Between them, they were now even.

Jiang Baobao's whole body slowly relaxed, and her nerves were gradually eroded by sleepiness.

She deliberately ignored the presence of Li Beijue behind her, and before long, she fell into a deep sleep.

Li Beijue sat by the bed the entire time, and only when he heard Jiang Baobao's breathing gradually become long and steady did he carefully reach out to tuck the stray hair behind her ear.

A moment later, he sighed softly.

He had been thinking about Jiang Baobao's question just now.

He owed her too much.

If the girl from sixteen years ago hadn't been her...

Li Beijue frowned abruptly, his train of thought seemingly coming to a standstill.

If it hadn't been her...

Li Beijue had never considered this possibility, yet he already had a definitive answer in his heart.

He clearly remembered the feeling of mistaking Lu Qing'er for her.

At that time, he was almost always being pulled between reason and obsession, desperately enduring the discomfort that Lu Qing'er brought him.

He even wanted to give her some compensation in the end to repay the kindness from back then.

It was only then that he discovered it was impossible for him to like anyone based on the filter of the past!

The only one who could attract him, the only one he liked, was Jiang Baobao!