NHWSG chapter 45

Sheng Zhao was full of question marks in his mind, along with a strange and guilty feeling of being touched on his center.

What’s going on, he thought: Does Xing Yingzhu also have mind-reading abilities? That’s too scary.

Sheng Zhao’s mind was drumming nervously, and before he could muster up a genuine answer from his full mind of complaints, he saw Xing Yingzhu slightly move and sit up from the bathtub.

In his movement, he accidentally touched the phone placed on the windowsill, and the unlocked screen lit up. Sheng Zhao instinctively glanced at it, only to find it on a search page.

The Dunnung Kruger Effect—from Baidu Baike entry.

Sheng Zhao: “…”

So you’re so concerned about this?

Speechless, Sheng Zhao looked at him. Xing Yingzhuo didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed about being caught. He casually glanced at the phone screen, waiting until it dimmed without touching it. With such thick skin and composure, Sheng Zhao felt defeated.

Xing Yingzhu raised an eyebrow, his gaze swept over Sheng Zhao’s hand that he was holding, and he made a slight sound.

His tone at the end carried a hint of doubt, and Sheng Zhao could tell. He was prompting for an answer.

For the sake of future career development, Sheng Zhao originally wanted to deny it, but as he looked at Xing Yingzhu’s seemingly sincere smile, he inexplicably remembered the side profile that made his heart race under the moonlight. So, on the verge of speaking, he inexplicably changed his mind.

“Uh…” Sheng Zhao dryly made a vague response.

“What does ‘uh’ mean?” Xing Yingzhu clicked his tongue in a dissatisfied manner, let go of Sheng Zhao’s hand, and said, “Be clear.”

“This question, it’s quite complicated,” Sheng Zhao tried to explain, “Under the emotional impact, there may be feelings of infatuation, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m in love—”

“So, you’re not?” Xing Yingzhu asked.

“…Well, you can’t say it’s not for sure,” Sheng Zhao’s arrogance vanished, and he corrected himself with less confidence.

Xing Yingzhu smirked.

If Sheng Zhao still couldn’t tell that Xing Yingzhu was teasing him, then he had been living with Xing Yingzhuo upstairs and downstairs for half a year in vain.

However, for some reason, Xing Yingzhu seemed particularly charming today. He was still the same irritating person, but Sheng Zhao inexplicably felt that the smile at the corner of his eyes and mouth was a bit more genuine than usual, and there was not a single aspect of him that he found displeasing.

Under the warm yellow light of the bathroom, with the blurry rain curtain outside, Sheng Zhao seemed to be enchanted by Xing Yingzhu, nervously licking his dry lips, his gaze fixed on him, unable to look away.

“Actually… it seems so,” Sheng Zhao said, “Kind of infatuated.”

Xing Yingzhu, quite interested, continued to ask, “How much?”

“A lot!” Sheng Zhao was flustered by his question and blurted out in frustration, “You’re handsome, rich, and have saved me several times. No one can resist being moved! If I were a girl, I would have offered myself to you long ago—come on, Xing Yingzhuo.”

Sheng Zhao, in his hurry, even spoke with a bit of a Shanghai accent, with the tail of his words softening slightly. Not only did he lack any sense of power, but he also sounded a bit rushed and internally conflicted.

The evil factor in Xing Yingzhu’s heart was stirring, and he even wanted to record it on the spot and play it back to Sheng Zhao the next day, letting him hear how amusing he was.

He received a pleasant response and narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.

Sheng Zhao stared back at him impartially, once again feeling that sense of being stared at. He blinked his eyes, finally sensing a hint of a “snake” vibe from Xing Yingzhuo.

Dangerous, mysterious, and full of curiosity.

Every time Xing Yingzhu half-closed his eyes to look at him like this, Sheng Zhao always had a feeling of being stared at by a wild beast. He always felt that this was a misconception based on Xing Yingzhu’s identity, but if he watched a few more episodes of Animal World, he would realize that his feeling was completely correct—Xing Yingzhu’s gaze when looking at him was indeed not much different from a snake looking at its prey.

The aftermath of Xing Yingzhuo’s venomous energy was quite significant. After Sheng Zhao finished speaking the truth in a rapid burst, instead of fleeing in dismay, a bold impulse surged from the depths of his heart.

“And what about you?” Sheng Zhao asked, “How do you see me?”

He should have meant to ask, “Do you have feelings for me?” but his instinct to avoid danger held back those words, transforming them into a more indirect expression.

Xing Yingzhuo looked at him with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, blinked for a moment, and said, “I don’t dislike you.”

Knowing Xing Yingzhu’s personality, Sheng Zhao almost instantly “translated” this sentence in his mind.

Xing Yingzhuo wasn’t particularly forthright. His mouth was only eloquent when it came to sarcasm and mockery. Expecting him to say something nice meant that even with a significant discount, it was already considered him being in a relatively good mood.

So, to Sheng Zhao’s ears, “I don’t dislike you” was almost equivalent to “I have a favorable impression.”

Sheng Zhao took a sharp breath, followed by a surge of excitement in his heart. His heartbeat accelerated, and his blood pressure rose. By the time he realized it, his mouth had uncontrollably blurted out the question hanging over their heads.

“Do you want to be in a relationship with me?” Sheng Zhao said, “We can give it a try.”

Xing Yingzhu seemed unsurprised by this audacious question. He slowly narrowed his eyes, looking at him meaningfully.

Sheng Zhao: “…”

Oh no, Sheng Zhao immediately froze in place, wishing he could use quantum power to go back one minute ago and cover his mouth.

What had he just done? Not only did he confess, but he even proposed?

Would Xing Yingzhu, with his high standards, angrily hang him out of the window on the eighty-seventh floor? Sheng Zhao rapidly thought, could he still call Zhang Jian to come back and save him in time?

“Boss, you have to understand one thing—” Sheng Zhao had been traveling with demons these days. Setting aside everything else, his survival instinct had been honed to perfection. His brain began to spin rapidly, trying to come up with an excuse before Xing Yingzhu reacted, “For ordinary humans, confessing to someone they like is a normal social etiquette, representing your unparalleled personal charm. It doesn’t mean I have any ulterior motives—”

“Okay,” Xing Yingzhu said indifferently.

“And now it’s the era of rule of law. If you hang me out of the window, 110 will come soon—” “Huh?” Sheng Zhao’s rapid defense speech was abruptly interrupted halfway as he blinked in disbelief, thinking he misheard.

“Fine,” Xing Yingzhu said slowly, emphasizing each word.

Sheng Zhao: “…”

Normally, succeeding in confessing would bring joy, or at least a sense of relief at fulfilling a long-cherished wish. But at this moment, Sheng Zhao’s first reaction was: Does Xing Yingzhuo have some kind of conspiracy?

Xing Yingzhu didn’t think that much.

He never disliked Sheng Zhao, and even found this inept young man quite pleasing to the eye. Combined with Sheng Zhao’s unexpected behavior today, Xing Yingzhu found himself having some unanticipated thoughts about him.

He didn’t just want to keep him around to amuse himself for a few years, Xing Yingzhuo thought.

Today, in the development zone, when he turned to look at Sheng Zhao amidst the thunderstorm, Sheng Zhao was resolute and determined, with a hint of desperation on his face, as if the only thought in his mind was “I can’t let him die.”

Xing Yingzhu had mocked Sheng Zhao’s thought process several times for being somewhat unusual compared to normal people, usually able to focus on only one thing for a short period, like a one-way street.

However, this time, for the first time, hr felt there might be some merit in this “one-way street” mentality.

At least he had never seen Sheng Zhao so genuinely foolish before.

In that moment, a fleeting thought crossed his mind, prompting him to want to keep Sheng Zhao around for a long time, to extend this fate from just a few years to Sheng Zhao’s entire life.

The lifespan of a human was just a mere hundred years, which was like a blink of an eye to Xing Yingzhu. Spending these decades amusing himself with Sheng Zhao, Xing Yingzhu felt it was a worthwhile endeavor.

“Willing to offer yourself?”  Xing Yingzhu teased.

Sheng Zhao: “…”

I confessed, why bring up these four words? Sheng Zhao puzzled, feeling like he was about to be packaged and married off to his boss.

But regardless, having such a beautiful boss in front of him was extremely tempting—the fact that the other party wasn’t human was conveniently ignored by Sheng Zhao.

Anyway, Xing Yingzhu hadn’t harmed him, so Sheng Zhao thought nonchalantly, nothing to be afraid of.

Moreover, Sheng Zhao had seen Xing Yingzhu’s snake body before, and he was handsome and beautiful. He could totally accept it.

“Offer myself?” Sheng Zhao stuttered, “In modern society, we don’t do marriages anymore. Let’s keep it equal.”

For Xing Yingzhuo, the three words “being in love” were something he encountered for the first time. He was in a good mood and found it amusing, so he was happy to relinquish some control.

So, they transitioned from colleagues to lovers seamlessly, without any sense of ceremony. One was out of sorts, the other inexperienced. They looked at each other, bewildered, not yet feeling the pink bubbles of love, but rather a sense of confusion at facing each other.

“Well…let’s go out first,” Sheng Zhao eventually broke the silence after a while, “You have a wound on your leg; don’t soak it in water all the time.”

Xing Yingzhu uttered a sound of agreement, and Sheng Zhao felt embarrassed to watch him bathe on the spot, so he turned and walked out, intending to wait for him outside.

But before he took a few steps, he heard a very light sound of water behind him. Then, something cold approached, and Sheng Zhao’s footsteps halted. Before he could turn around, he felt something cold wrapping around his ankle.

In the blink of an eye, Xing Yingzhu transformed into his snake form. His tail wrapped lightly around Sheng Zhao’s legs, and the entire snake smoothly climbed up along his waistline.

Sheng Zhao: “…”

This was a bit too stimulating—although Sheng Zhao had just confessed to Xing Yingzhuo, there was still a visual difference between dating a beautiful demon and dating a giant snake.

But fortunately, he wasn’t seeing Xing Yingzhu’s original form for the first time. Familiarity bred acceptance, so he wasn’t scared. However, when in close contact, goosebumps involuntarily rose on the back of his neck.

“What’s wrong?” Sheng Zhao asked, “Why the sudden—”

Xing Yingzhu, winding around his waist and legs, slowly “swam” up, finally clinging to his shoulders and lightly spitting out a message, gesturing towards the bottle in Sheng Zhao’s hand.

“What’s this?” Xing Yingzhu teased, “Are you planning to medicate my tail?”