Addicted to My Cutie and Sweetie

Chapter 812: The Hard-Earned Little Cabbage

"Huh?" Zhang Lingying didn’t expect Leng Jian’s reaction to be more straightforward than hers. She slightly parted her lips, came back to her senses, and anxiously asked, "Are you willing?"

"Then you answer me first, do you like me?" Leng Jian’s expression became more composed as he pushed the small bowl of food in front of him back to her, indicating she could eat while talking.

Zhang Lingying felt a warmth in her heart, thinking she could never find someone as gentle and considerate as him. She decisively nodded, "I like you!"

Hearing this, Leng Jian’s lips curved slightly as he continued to ask, "Then do you love me?"

Zhang Lingying: "..."

"Is this question hard to answer? Or do you not even know yourself?" Leng Jian seemed to discern what she was thinking and slowly spoke.

Zhang Lingying, like a child who had done something wrong, lowered her head in dismay.

Staring at her own palms, she couldn’t find the words.

She didn’t know.

She didn’t know what love was, or how to tell if she loved someone.

All those unforgettable scenes portrayed in romance movies were experiences she never had.

"I’m sorry." Zhang Lingying said softly.

Leng Jian didn’t accept her apology; instead, he said softly, "Since you can’t judge if you love me, then I’m sorry, I might not be able to accept your pursuit."

Zhang Lingying: "..."

Is this the end for them?

Would they not even be friends?

It makes sense; encountering such an outlandish suitor, if she were in Leng Jian’s position, she would feel awkward too.

Zhang Lingying bit her lip, feeling somewhat sad and lowered her head.

"Don’t be like this, making me seem like a love’em and leave’em jerk." Leng Jian observed her reaction, chuckled lightly, and reached out to ruffle her head, "Even if we can’t date, we can still be friends."

"...Really?" Zhang Lingying raised her head in surprise.

"Of course, but you have to promise me one thing first." Leng Jian picked up his water glass in front of him, took a sip, and unhurriedly looked up at her.

"You’re still young, always doing experiments with Professor Zhang, not interacting much with people outside, so it’s normal to be unclear about your feelings. In the future, you’ll meet many people and slowly understand your own heart. Before then, don’t easily accept other people’s feelings for any other reason. Can you do that?"

"I can!" Zhang Lingying nodded vigorously.

When she finished agreeing with Leng Jian, she suddenly realized that Leng Jian’s way of putting it was a bit odd.

He didn’t seem jealous; rather, he seemed like he was worried that the little cabbage he had painstakingly raised would be snatched by someone else too soon.

"The way you talk, it feels like you’re my brother." Zhang Lingying blurted out, thinking of something.

As soon as she said this, Leng Jian, sitting across from her, stiffened but then returned to normal.

"Do you have a brother?"

"I don’t know." Zhang Lingying replied bluntly. She was adopted from an orphanage and didn’t remember her family. In her memory, there was a vague figure, like a father but also like a brother, she couldn’t distinguish.

Earlier, she had said brother spontaneously, because Leng Jian was so young he certainly wasn’t her father.

Now that he asked, she felt neither was accurate.

Zhang Lingying: "Do you have a sister?"

"I once did." Leng Jian pondered for a moment, then said softly.

Zhang Lingying was puzzled by what he meant by once did and was about to ask when Leng Jian already tapped her bowl with his chopsticks, reminding her to eat first.

After discussing topics that needed courage, Leng Jian simply confiscated her ice beer.

He asked what she had been doing these past few days alone.