PNB Chapter 348 Obedient and Clingy Younger Brother (59)
Chapter 348 Obedient and Clingy Younger Brother (59)
"What did you say?"
Lu Liruan indeed did not hear clearly.
If the child's voice is naturally soft, and after drinking, their tone becomes slurred and difficult to understand.
Jin Shuhe: ...
Fueled by alcohol, the emotions hidden in one's heart are amplified infinitely.
He swallowed and took a deep breath.
"what happened again!"
He suddenly stood up again, startling Lu Liruan.
I stood up too hastily this time, and even stumbled a little.
Lu Liruan was both amused and exasperated.
"What exactly do you want to say? Or I can just get you a megaphone and say it."
Jin Shuhe only heard and understood the word "loudspeaker," and the words that had been brewing in his heart were suddenly squeezed out from his throat.
Jin Shuhe was unaware of how loud he had been: "Sister Li Ruan! I like you!"
Lu Liruan initially thought he was just being noisy because he had been drinking, and was about to turn around to adjust the water heater so that he could take a shower before going to bed.
As a result, he was frozen in place by such a resounding confession.
A double shock.
"Sister Li Ruan... listen to me... you have to listen to me, don't go~"
Jin Shuhe thought Lu Liruan was about to leave, so he staggered forward, looking nervous and anxious.
"Don't go, please listen to me, please~" He said in a sticky, slurred tone, each word stuck together, like a child speaking earnestly.
"Hey! Xiao He!"
Hearing his pitiful groan, Lu Liruan turned around and saw him stumble and fall forward!
I instinctively reached out to help him, but he bumped into me.
Jin Shuhe has good balance. He lost his balance but recovered thanks to his physical abilities. He looked down at Lu Liruan, whom he was holding. His dull and unresponsive nerves didn't know what had just happened. How did Sister Liruan end up in his arms?
"Sister Li Ruan!"
Driven by instinct, he tightened his strong arms around Lu Liruan, as if trying to encircle her into his own territory.
"Listen to me~ I need to tell you~ Sister Li Ruan, don't go, don't go~"
He rested his chin on the top of Lu Liruan's head, rubbing it affectionately and carefully, while Lu Liruan's newly permed curls softly brushed against his cheek.
The shampoo he was using at the barbershop smelled different from what he usually wore, which made him open his eyes again and stare intently to confirm that the person he was holding was the one he loved so dearly.
He likes Sister Li Ruan. He can see her, smell her, and feel her. Jin Shuhe himself doesn't know that he has many instinctive ways of recognizing Lu Li Ruan...
"I'm not leaving, what do you want to say?" Lu Liruan said softly, half comforting and half coaxing.
Lu Liruan dislikes people acting crazy when drunk, but when it comes to Jin Shuhe, even though she can still smell a faint scent of alcohol on him, Lu Liruan still finds him adorable.
She instinctively treated him gently.
She is a child I like, but she is more than just a child.
"Really not leaving? Listen to me... let me finish!" In his dazed state, Jin Shuhe's deep-seated insecurity and domineering nature were revealed at the same time.
He held Lu Liruan tightly in his arms, refusing to let go for even a moment, and in this awkward position, he moved Lu Liruan back to the sofa.
Then, he forcefully pressed Lu Liruan against the sofa! He trapped Lu Liruan between himself and the soft sofa back.
The sofa was so soft that Lu Liruan's own weight, plus the fact that he was leaning against her, made her almost sink into it.
She wanted to support herself, but had no foothold, so she could only look up at him.
“Xiao He…”
For the first time, Lu Liruan sensed a stubborn aggressiveness from him.
Only one light was on in the living room, casting a warm glow from behind him.
The light shone through his hair, backlit, and didn't reach his eyes, yet his eyes were dark, deep, and bright, like beautiful gems that radiated a simple, unpolished glow.
Because it lacks any fine processing or the tempering of time, it is both innocent and somewhat aggressive.
This shows that he is no longer the weak and indecisive child he once was, but a man now.
He didn't need to say a word.
You can read it in his eyes: Don't go, look at me, only look at me.
Don't look at others, and don't beat around the bush. You need to look me in the eye!
Their eyes met, and Lu Liruan couldn't look away.
"Sister Li Ruan."
Jin Shuhe seemed to realize something in an instant, and he slowly lowered his eyes.
Slowly... he released the pressure on Lu Liruan.
As if it were losing some strength, it slid down.
Finally, he sat down next to Lu Liruan's legs.
Lu Liruan was able to breathe normally again and sat up by supporting herself with her elbows, but her legs were tightly held by Jin Shuhe, and she couldn't move at all.
The way he looked down at Lu Liruan just now seemed to make him feel uncomfortable and out of place.
At this moment, he was being looked down at by Sister Li Ruan. He habitually looked up at her, which made him feel naturally more comfortable.
Before his mind could even process how he liked Sister Li Ruan to treat him, his body was already instinctively hoping that Sister Li Ruan would treat him the same way as always.
Touch your head.
"What do you want to say?"
Sister Li Ruan really touched him!
Jin Shuhe instantly felt that he had regained his courage!
“I like you, Sister Li Ruan. It’s not that I like you, sister… I like you, sister, and I like you too.” Jin Shuhe said each word earnestly.
"You like me?" Although he didn't express himself clearly, Lu Liruan understood everything he said.
At this point, I can no longer deceive myself by saying that I am unaware of the child's feelings.
She knew it.
Lu Liruan sighed, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"Yes, I like you, I like you in a romantic way..." Jin Shuhe said the word "love" for the first time.
My heart felt like it was being energized by a tiny electric current, a tingling, numbing sensation that pumped through my bloodstream and throughout my body.
Every nerve, every vein, can feel it, and loves Sister Li Ruan.
So amazing.
Jin Shuhe hurriedly blurted out everything at once, as if afraid that if he spoke too slowly, Lu Liruan would interrupt him.
He was trying his best to fully express himself.
Then he looked at Lu Liruan, rested his head on her knees, his long legs awkwardly curled up, but he refused to loosen them even a little.
"How much is this?"
Lu Liruan held up two fingers and waved them in front of his eyes.
Then I saw his gaze follow my hand, and he shook it too.
Perhaps feeling a little dizzy, he barely managed to extend one hand, grasp Lu Liruan's fingers, and said earnestly, "Two!"
After saying that, she added confidently, "I know what I'm saying! If Sister Li Ruan... doesn't believe me, you can try it again~"
Lu Liruan gestured another number.
"Four!"
A very loud and confident answer.
Lu Liruan: ...
Completely drunk.
Jin Shuhe, however, felt perfectly justified in proving himself: "Sister Li Ruan, look!"
What am I looking at?
Lu Liruan was both annoyed and amused.
"Aren't you being too immature?" Seeing that he was drunk, Lu Liruan felt it was easier to say something.
Clearly, Jin Shuhe's attempt to understand the term "chicken-bird mentality" was unsuccessful.
"Sister Li Ruan... I, I'm not a bird~ I'm a person. I like you, but I'm not the bird you're talking about!"
Surprisingly, they answered correctly.
“I’m much older than you.” Lu Liruan patted his cheek.
His skin felt hot to the touch due to the alcohol.
"Huh?" Jin Shuhe seemed not to understand what the connection was between her being older than him and his liking her.
In the past few months, when Ms. Qin called me, she said, "You... don't care about your age, the most important thing is that the conditions are right for you and you are good to me!"
Hearing her words, Lu Liruan knew that nothing could escape her eyes.
Lu Liruan laughed it off: "Mom, don't be so realistic~"
Ms. Qin snorted: "Isn't life just reality? What are you going to do if you're not realistic? Are you going to fly up to the sky like a firecracker?"
"I'll have your dad release you next Chinese New Year!"
Lu Liruan: ...
During the Chinese New Year, Lu Liruan wasn't particularly angry with Jin Shuhe.
More often than not, they noticed that something was wrong with themselves.
When she blurted out those words, it seemed as if she was admitting that she and Jin Shuhe would be together forever.
He will always be by my side, just like every single day of the past years...
When Lu Liruan realized what the child was thinking and discovered that she herself was subconsciously thinking the same thing, she already felt that something was wrong.
When he was an adult and still overly dependent on her, she didn't correct him. When he was busy but still came back to do housework, tidy up the room, and accompany her to the store, she didn't refuse him.
Over the years, it seems I haven't really urged or forced him to leave or become independent.
How could I not like it? But it's a mixture of many kinds of liking, just like how he likes himself.
More complex than love, yet deeper and more enduring.
It's not that hard to admit it.
People should be more realistic and honest with themselves.
"Sister... Sister Li Ruan, shouldn't you be older than me?" Jin Shuhe shook his head, seemingly even more drunk, and spoke slowly.
"It sounds like nonsense no matter how you look at it..." Lu Liruan pinched his cheek.
"I... I've always wanted to tell Sister Li Ruan, but I didn't dare." Jin Shuhe was unusually honest at this moment.
"How brave you are! What are you afraid of?" Lu Liruan coaxed him to continue.
"I told you, there might not be Sister Li Ruan anymore, or my older sister either. I'm scared, very scared," Jin Shuhe said slowly, knowing there was no turning back now.
Once he breaks the ice, things will never be the same between him and Sister Li Ruan.
He worried that Sister Li Ruan would distance herself from him, and he wouldn't even have the right to continue pretending to be stupid, suppressing his feelings, and just being a good younger brother to stay by Sister Li Ruan's side.
He longed to tell Sister Li Ruan that he loved her, but he worried that if he failed, their previous relationship would not be able to continue.
The consequences of losing Sister Li Ruan were something he dared not even think about.
He had spent five years with Sister Li Ruan in his life. It wasn't a long time, but in Jin Shuhe's short life of just over twenty years, it was extremely important. So important that it seemed only this period, along with a few childhood memories, had any color in his life...
"Am I that fierce and that bad?" Lu Liruan wanted to laugh a little when she heard him say he was scared several times, but she also wanted to hug him.
"No."
"So you're afraid of me?"
"Mmm." He murmured, burying his face in his hands, his breath warm against Lu Liruan's legs through her thin jeans.
"Then should I apologize to you? Shouldn't I have been so fierce? Shouldn't I have listened to you only now?" Lu Liruan looked at him, her head seemingly radiating grievance.
"Sister Li Ruan is the best, I like Sister Li Ruan." Her consciousness gradually faded away.
When people get drunk, most eventually succumb to sleepiness.
Even at this point, they're still trying to protect themselves.
"Mm," Lu Liruan replied.
"Are you done?"
"I...I'm done talking."
Jin Shuhe stiffened his neck, trying to get a better look at Lu Liruan's expression.
He had just raised his head when he felt...
It landed softly and gently on his forehead, like the touch of a butterfly's wing.
It took him two seconds, with the last of his stubborn brain cells, to realize what was going on!
Sister Li Ruan... kissed herself.
The next moment, he couldn't remember anything.
When Jin Shuhe opened her eyes the next day, it was almost eleven o'clock.
He's off today.
As soon as I turned on my phone, I saw that several people had tagged him in the work group chat.
Jin Shuhe thought something was wrong, but when he opened it...
Inside, there was a row of photos of them with themselves when they were drunk.
Everyone has it.
Both Deputy Captain Wu and Forensic Doctor Xia were present.
Jin Shuhe followed their instructions and opened his own photo album, where there were still more photos.
There were also private messages Qin Wen had sent him in his message bar:
Sister, I have something to tell you!
So, what did you say?
Jin Shuhe's mind went blank for a moment.
Then it was discovered that he actually...couldn't remember anything.
It seems like there's something very important that he's forgotten.
wrong!
Something must have happened!
Jin Shuhe's memory stopped at the moment he lay on the sofa at home; after that, it seemed to be covered by something.
When Jin Shuhe later recalled it, he realized that he must have been too hot-blooded at the time, which increased the concentration of the alcohol and made him pass out.
What did I say about last night?
Jin Shuhe rubbed his still throbbing head and quickly sent a message to Qin Wen.
"Hey, you're awake, lad. How would I know what you were saying? The vice-captain and I will take you home. We have no idea what happens next."
"I saw you hugging her and calling her 'sister'!"
Did I...I hug Sister Li Ruan?
Jin Shuhe looked at his hands, vaguely recalling the initial touch, but it didn't feel real.
Qin Wen couldn't get anything out of him.
Jin Shuhe pushed open the door and walked nervously into the living room, only to find that the house was quiet and Sister Li Ruan had already left.
He was restless.
After a while, he tentatively sent a message to Lu Liruan: "Sister Liruan, why did you go to the store by yourself without calling me?"
Lu Liruan was sitting absentmindedly behind the counter when she was jolted back to reality by the sound of her phone notification.
"This is your first time getting drunk, so sleep a little longer." Lu Liruan actually left quietly, but when she saw the bright daylight outside, her unease and embarrassment seemed to be laid bare and exposed to the sun.
After thinking for a moment, I decided to slip away first.
"Sister Li Ruan, I was drunk last night, I didn't do anything, did I?"
Lu Liruan: ...
Did he really forget or was he just pretending?
Because she herself was also trying to portray a peaceful situation, Lu Liruan was now judging others by her own standards, her mind racing.
The people on both sides of the phone each had their own ulterior motives.