Chapter 45 I Thought You Wanted Me to Kiss You
The moment Song Ni said that, a strange silence fell upon the room. Tan Zheng had clearly not expected Song Ni to say such a thing. He lifted his gaze and looked deeply into her eyes, trying to discern something. Beyond the curiosity and interest of a woman towards a man he was familiar with, there was also a trace of shyness that was hard to detect. Tan Zheng paused, then shook his head, thinking he had seen wrong. Since he had known Song Ni, shyness was not a word that described her. She was bold, direct, and her emotions were vivid.
Song Ni felt a little uncomfortable being looked at like that by him. Tan Zheng's eyes were too invasive. "You yelled at me, is it too much for you to coax me?" After speaking, Song Ni pursed her lips slightly, her heart pounding fiercely in her chest. She was not an unreasonable person, nor was she prone to affected dramatics. But in front of Tan Zheng, she always felt an irresistible urge to test the limits of how far she could be unrestrained. She had indeed felt a bit uncomfortable about Tan Zheng yelling at her earlier; in her life, no one had ever yelled at her like Tan Zheng. But this matter... thinking about it from another angle, Tan Zheng was worried about her. Song Ni knew her own nature and how troublesome she could be when she was stubborn. To put it plainly, it was because Tan Zheng had always indulged her minor displays of defiance, and she had begun to push her luck.
"Or is it that you don't know how to coax people?" Song Ni shifted her posture, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, idly twirling her hair with her fingers. Tan Zheng stared at her for a long time, then habitually reached for a cigarette from his pocket, only to find that he was so drenched that his cigarettes were ruined. He casually tossed the pack onto the coffee table, raised an eyebrow, and asked with a hint of roguishness, "Do I look like someone who knows how to coax?"
Song Ni looked at the man's buzz cut and his stern eyebrows, and pouted slightly. He really didn't look like someone who knew how to coax. Especially with his unruly demeanor, he seemed more like someone who would be coaxed. Song Ni suddenly remembered what Lu Hao Ting had said that day, that Tan Zheng's relationships were all about women flocking to him. "Then learn now; you'll find it useful later."
Hearing this, Tan Zheng suddenly laughed. He narrowed his eyes, looking at Song Ni opposite him, a careless smile playing on his lips. After a laugh, he said nothing, just stared intently. Song Ni's entire body felt heated under his gaze. She uncrossed her legs and crossed them again, trying her best to appear not stiff. "Is there something wrong with what I said?"
Tan Zheng's gaze shifted down to Song Ni's feet, her toenails still painted a vibrant red. He nudged his cheek with his tongue and called her name. "Are you so sure I'll indulge you?" In Tan Zheng's understanding, coaxing someone was already an act of indulgence towards Song Ni. Song Ni was taken aback, not having considered this. How could Tan Zheng indulge her? What he had indulged her with before were just minor squabbles, nothing significant in his eyes. He didn't care, so he didn't hold it against her. Song Ni thought again about the kiss in the car, her first kiss... wasn't it because she had pushed things too far that Tan Zheng had become bothered? But what was Song Ni's nature?
"You coaxing me is indulging me?" Tan Zheng frowned. Song Ni continued, "You yelled at me, so you have to coax me."
Tan Zheng: ...What kind of twisted logic is this?
"I apologize to you." The man paused. "I really shouldn't have yelled at you." Song Ni curved her lips into a smile. "An apology needs sincerity. An apology is for people to overlook what you did before, so shouldn't an apology be according to my wishes?"
"Then what do you want? A bag? A car? Or a house?" Song Ni raised an eyebrow, patiently teaching Tan Zheng some things to pay attention to when dealing with women... or rather, with her. "Buying things is a form of coaxing, but I don't lack those. I want you to coax me verbally."
Tan Zheng: ...After all this circling, we're back to square one.
Tan Zheng raised his right hand and squeezed his left wrist. A hint of helplessness emerged due to Song Ni's difficult nature. He shouldn't have softened his heart and stayed to blow-dry her hair. Song Ni's brow furrowed as she watched the man's hand. This was the second time she had seen this gesture today. Just as she was about to ask, she saw the man stand up and walk towards her. Song Ni looked up, not understanding what was happening, when Tan Zheng's hand cupped her chin. The grip was not light, making it impossible for her to move her head.
"What are you...?" Tan Zheng suddenly leaned in and bit her lips.
Song Ni: ...
After a moment of stunned silence, Song Ni raised her hands and began to push against Tan Zheng's chest, resisting. What was wrong with this man? Was he addicted to kissing? Seeing that Tan Zheng had no intention of letting go, Song Ni didn't hold back and used her legs. But the man seemed to have anticipated this and used his leg to pin Song Ni down. No matter how much Song Ni struggled, she couldn't move him even a little. Tan Zheng was like a wall, a warm wall at that.
Song Ni struggled, gasping for breath, and instinctively opened her mouth. Sucking, biting, licking. Each action was forceful. Song Ni couldn't understand how this man could kiss so well. If this continued, she would suffocate. So, Song Ni bit down without hesitation. The taste of blood instantly spread in their mouths. Tan Zheng paused and finally released her. Song Ni's chest heaved, and she glared at Tan Zheng furiously. "What are you doing?"
Tan Zheng moved his leg away, took a step back, and casually wiped the spot Song Ni had bitten, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't you want me to coax you verbally?" After the kiss, Tan Zheng exuded a hint of allure. His eyes were dark, deep, and fiery. Even the simple act of raising an eyebrow seemed to carry some hidden meaning. Looking at the man exuding a more potent masculine aura, a sentence popped into Song Ni's mind: A wolf in heat.
"I wanted you to coax me verbally, meaning to say a few nice words. Who told you to kiss me?" Song Ni was furious. The most irritating thing was that Tan Zheng's kiss was addictive. She had almost been led astray by this scoundrel and fallen into it. Tan Zheng responded dismissively, looking at Song Ni's flushed face, and chuckled, his eyes holding a deep meaning. "I thought you wanted me to kiss you."
Song Ni: ...
At the doorway, Qin Yang stood holding a bowl of ginger and brown sugar soup, unsure whether to enter or not. She had arrived when Song Ni had asked Tan Zheng to coax her and had been waiting outside, curious about how Tan Zheng would respond. She hadn't expected... things to develop like this. Wasn't it said that there were no romantic developments? Wasn't it just simple lust? Then how should Song Ni's behavior of wanting to be coaxed be explained? And what about this sudden kiss? Was she out of touch with the times? Was it now acceptable to kiss someone whenever one pleased just because it was simple lust? Qin Yang flinched and finally knocked on the door. When she entered, she saw that both of them had small wounds on their lips. Well, it seemed love bites were still in fashion.
Qin Yang: Cold dog food smashed in my face.
(End of this chapter)