Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I’d originally planned to enjoy this meal properly, but of course, things never went the way I wanted.

I had just speared a piece of beef when something started happening at the next table.

A violin, roses-the whole grand spectacle of a proposal.

The man had been kneeling on one knee for several minutes, clutching the woman’s skirt and begging her miserably.

The woman’s face was flushed with anger and humiliation. “I only see you as a friend. Please get up.”

“I won’t! If you don’t say yes, I won’t get up!” The man’s tone was forceful.

The other diners in the restaurant had originally been ready to watch a sweet proposal unfold. None of them expected this twist. Some took out their phones to record; others lowered their voices and snickered.

There was a faint sense that people were about to start egging them on.

The woman’s face had gone bright red, and so had her eyes. She tugged desperately at the hem of her skirt, trying to free herself.

“Give me a second.” I set down my fork and smiled at Lu Boya.

In a few strides, I was beside the man kneeling on the floor. I clamped down on his wrist and gave him a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “That’s about enough. The lady isn’t willing. There’s no point forcing it.”

“Who the hell are-hiss!” He had been glaring at me, only to suddenly suck in a sharp breath.

Inch by inch, I pried his hand off. Then I said to the girl, who looked like she was about to burst into tears, “If you’re all right, you can go first.”

The girl looked at the man’s deathly pale face, then at my smiling one. Biting her lower lip, she thanked me again and again before hurrying out.

“Let go!” The man bared his teeth, cold sweat dripping from the pain.

“Oh, so you do know how to say ‘let go’?” I pretended to be surprised. “Then why were you clinging on for dear life when someone else told you to let go just now?”

I hauled him to his feet and said softly, “God gave men a natural advantage in strength, but it wasn’t so you could harass women. People need dignity the way trees need bark. You can lose your composure, but you’d better at least pick your face back up off the floor.”

With that, I released him.

Watching him curse under his breath and scurry away, I gave a cold snort and turned around.

By the window, Lu Boya was propping his cheek up with one hand. Behind his lenses, his clear eyes were fixed steadily on me.

Making a scene in such a high-end Western restaurant-he probably thought I was far too crude.

I explained stiffly, “I wasn’t being violent. I was doing a good deed.”

“Mm.” Lu Boya smiled faintly. “I could tell.”

“Really, I really was doing a good deed!” Thinking he was just humoring me, I explained to him with particular seriousness, “Look at that girl. She obviously didn’t want to, but the guy just wouldn’t let go. If someone gets cornered like that in a place like this, and a crowd of people who don’t know the truth starts helping the wrong side, even just egging them on is enough to put the girl on the spot…

“I once saw a video of a proposal on the street. A whole crowd around them was shouting, ‘Marry him!’ It looked pretty romantic, sure, but I couldn’t help wondering-what if the girl didn’t want to? Who was thinking about her?

“The one proposing doesn’t have to take responsibility. The people egging them on don’t have to take responsibility. In the end, all that pressure lands on the girl…”

After rambling on for ages, I finally noticed Lu Boya’s eyes had grown gradually deeper, and the way he looked at me had become a little strange.

I gave an awkward laugh. “I… I’m usually not this talkative.”

He was a professor, and he looked so refined. Why would he want to listen to a vulgar person like me babble on and on?

“You’re not talkative,” Lu Boya said, his warm gaze falling into my eyes. “You’re upright.”

“Huh?”

Being praised out of nowhere made my brain short-circuit.

“Not only upright, but gentle.” He kept stacking buffs on me.

This-

I was at a loss. “Gen… gentle?”

Was he talking about me?

A rough person like me had never had anything to do with the word gentle in my entire life!

“Upright, gentle, and…” Lu Boya placed a cheese-baked shrimp onto my plate, then lifted his eyes and said, “a very good person.”

“Ah. Ha. Haha…” My stiff smile made the corners of my mouth twitch. So this was what it felt like to be handed the ‘good person’ card.

Though I knew a celestial being like him was way out of my league, being rejected so plainly still made my heart sink, little by little.

Distracted, I finished both our portions of meat. When it came time to pay, I took out my phone first. “I’ll get it. I said this was my treat.”

Lu Boya didn’t fight me for the bill. After lowering his lashes slightly, he said gently, “All right. Next time, it’ll be my treat.”

I didn’t pay much attention to what I assumed was just a polite remark. Lowering my head to scan the code, I said in passing, “My aunt didn’t mean any harm. She was just worried I wouldn’t be able to get married, so she hid a little bit from you. Don’t be angry with her. I’ll talk to her later and tell her she can’t trick people like this again…”

After I paid and looked up, my gaze collided squarely with his again.

Lu Boya’s eyes were slightly long, the outer corners tilting upward. Hidden behind his lenses, his pupils were like crystal beads-clear and bright.

Just those eyes alone were so beautiful I didn’t dare look straight at them.

Unable to withstand the impact of such beauty, I quickly shifted my gaze away, took the parking voucher from the server, and handed it to Lu Boya.

“You can use this.”

Lu Boya paused, then pushed the voucher back to me. “I didn’t drive.”

I blinked. “It’s raining outside. How are you getting back?”

“I’ll call a ride,” Lu Boya said casually. “You should go first. There are lots of cars and people on rainy days, and it’s the evening rush hour. The area outside the mall might get congested.”

The moment I heard that, I frowned. “You just said there are lots of cars and people because it’s raining. It’ll be hard to get a ride at this hour. I’ll take you home.”

“Is it on your way?” he asked tactfully. “I live in University Town.”

“It is, it is,” I said without thinking. “I just happen to be headed that way too.”

Light flashed across Lu Boya’s lenses for an instant. He curved his lips in a faint smile. “Then I’ll have to trouble you.”