Chapter 120: You Can Only Be Mine

Meng Shutang didn't know whether the next scene would be a warm touch or a long confession; she only knew she was nervous, her mind a bit chaotic, but the only thing clear was how to gently refuse him without hurting him.

In the next instant, slender fingers lightly brushed away a leaf stuck in her hair.

Meng Shutang opened her eyes and saw his hand as light as the wind, his sense of proportion perfectly measured.

Lu Shenyang watched her restrained, shrinking posture; as he withdrew his hand, he even shifted half a step toward her.

There was not a hint of impropriety in his eyes, only decades of unchanging tenderness and care: "Your hair got something on it, what do you think?"

He asked in a joking tone.

A hoarseness rose in Meng Shutang's throat: "Brother Shenyang, grandmother always says, I thought…"

She was a bit incoherent.

The man pressed his lips together and said, "I understand grandmother's intention."

He gently cut her off, his tone as soft as a tuft of cotton, yet heavy enough to make one's heart tremble,

"I also know you already have an answer in your heart."

He knew even better that some words, once spoken, would be a burden to both her and him.

Taking a half-step forward was what he had dreamed of for years.

Yet he didn't dare; he couldn't get past that mental barrier.

Even now, when he wakes from midnight dreams, his mind is filled with the bloody scene of his mother holding a knife and his father lying in a pool of blood.

He cannot provide Meng Shutang with stability; instead, he would drag her into darkness.

He is unworthy of loving properly, and unworthy of being loved.

Just as back then he watched his father fall onto the blade, powerless to help.

He has stayed by Meng Shutang's side for so many years, both to wait for a result and not to wait for a result.

He fears he cannot give Meng Shutang a haven; he doesn't think he has that ability.

He could have spoken just now, yet he chose to swallow it.

He doesn't dare to use a confession, risking the chance of a lifetime spent by her side.

"Brother Shenyang, what's wrong with you?"

Meng Shutang looked at the melancholy and tenderness in his eyes that she couldn't read, and the wetness that surfaced there, and suddenly felt a bit uneasy.

The man turned his gaze toward Meng Shutang, gave a light smile, the smile carrying a bittersweet tenderness.

"It's nothing."

On the way back, the autumn wind was gentle.

He still habitually walked on the outer side, shielding her from all clamor and unease.

Along the way, neither of them said much, yet there was no awkwardness.

Returned to the Qingluju home.

Lu Shenyang and Meng Shutang came in, talking and laughing.

Gu Yunci, hearing the commotion, stepped out, his gaze fixed on Meng Shutang, his eyes both frantic and fierce, like a lion whose territory had been taken.

His sight swept over Lu Shenyang beside him, his complexion turning even more chillingly cold.

He proactively took the object from Meng Shutang's hand, but ignored her.

"Mom! Hold—" Xin Xin emerged from behind Gu Yunci, soft and fragrant, leaping onto Meng Shutang.

Meng Shutang lifted her; Xin Xin glanced at Lu Shenyang beside her and softly called, "Uncle."

After speaking, her little arm wrapped around Meng Shutang's neck, "Dad washed a lot of fruit, go eat."

Meng Shutang carried Xin Xin to the dining table; after mother and daughter sat down, Xin Xin took a strawberry and shoved it into Meng Shutang's mouth.

Grandmother emerged from the kitchen, and her first glance was at Lu Shenyang.

Seeing him still so gentle and restrained, she couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

Lu Shenyang naturally entered the house; after politely greeting grandmother he turned his gaze to Gu Yunci, "You drive quite fast; we're behind you and can't catch up."

His tone was open and sincere, without any hint of guilt over having taken Gu Yunci's woman.

In an instant, Gu Yunci became suspicious.

"Shutang, Xin Xin, I'm leaving."

Grandmother tried to keep them, "You've been busy all morning; eat before you go."

Lu Shenyang stepped out of the house, "No need, there's a meeting this afternoon."

Grandmother said, "Brother Shenyang, don't be so busy; health is most important."

Lu Shenyang replied, "I know."

After seeing Lu Shenyang off, grandmother turned back into the room.

Only Xin Xin remained in the room, "Where are your dad and mom?"

Xin Xin pointed to the bathroom, "Mom went to the restroom, dad followed."

Grandmother lifted her eyes to glance at the tightly closed bathroom door, shook her head slightly, "Silly child, we gave you such a good chance, and you don't even grasp it."

"If there were even a trace of Gu Yunci's vigor, that would be great."

Xin Xin didn't understand, looked up, "Grandmother, who is the silly child?"

Grandmother bent down and laughed, pinching her little cheek, "Anyway, it's not you."

After speaking, looking at Xin Xin's rosy little face, grandmother was slightly stunned again.

Actually their blended family isn't entirely a bad thing.

At least Xin Xin now has a complete family.

Bathroom.

The man seized Meng Shutang's wrist and forced her against the door, "Bang!" the door locked from the inside, the clatter of the latch echoing sharply in the quiet room.

Meng Shutang's surroundings were filled with the fresh pine scent from his body—cold, oppressive, carrying the panic and confusion of loss.

Four years ago, the person he personally pushed away is right before his eyes.

Protected and thought of by others, even his grandmother who once doted on him now counts her as part of someone else's future.

Just thinking of the hospital parking lot, where Grandma lightly patted Lu Shenyang on the shoulder, Gu Yunci's long-suppressed rationality cracked inch by inch.

"You two have been alone for so long—did he confess to you?"

Meng Shutang only felt Gu Yunci was being unreasonable: "Grandma and Xin Xin are outside..."

Before Meng Shutang could finish speaking, the next second, an aggressive kiss fell upon her without warning.

Trembling uncontrollably, bearing four years of repressed loss of control, and with a near-panicked fluster...

He kissed her urgently and heavily—not gentle, not probing, but rather like punishing her for leaving four years ago without a word and for just now being alone with someone else.

She struggled a little, pressing her palm against his chest, but could not push through this stubborn yet affectionate wall.

He is just this overbearing and unreasonable, shattering all the defenses she had painstakingly built.

Meng Shutang's breathing grew ragged, on the verge of suffocation.

Even so, the man still did not release her.

Along her jaw, he kissed her neck, and in her panic, with a trembling graze, he went to undo her buttons.

"Don't..."

Meng Shutang murmured, her slender fingertips brushing his head.

The man's motion paused, then he slowly straightened his body.

He pressed his forehead against hers, his breathing ragged, the red in his eyes shocking, "Believe me once more."

Meng Shutang lifted her head to look at him: "He's my brother; what could he say? We were just chatting about family matters."

Gu Yunci stared.

He simply couldn't believe that such a golden opportunity, Lu Shenyang would just give it up like that.

He took Meng Shutang's hand, kissed her fingertips, "You can only be mine."

Having said that, he released the hand that had pinned Meng Shutang against the wall, one hand gripping her slender waist, the other clasping the back of her neck, forcing her to tilt her head back.

Meng Shutang no longer pushed him, but neither did she respond.

Just standing there, letting him kiss her gently and tenderly.

Fifteen minutes later, Gu Yunci finally opened the door.

Xin Xin, seeing the door open, ran over: "Dad, what were you and Mom doing in there for so long?"

Gu Yunci glanced at the elderly woman, who sat upright on the sofa, wearing reading glasses while watching a show.

"Dad is apologizing to Mom, and also… saying a few important words to her."

Xin Xin tilted her head: "Has Mom forgiven you?"