Chapter 99 - I Like You

“You had awareness during those four years? Weren’t you unconscious?”

“My body was in a coma, but I’ve actually always had awareness.”

This was the real reason why Ji Buwang had been here and hadn’t returned to his position. He had actually known about the news of his older brother’s passing long ago.

Those were his moments of greatest despair. He had clearly been awake, but he had been forcefully trapped in his body.

He had always had awareness but had been unable to move. He had been incomparably clear-headed while appearing to be in a state of ignorance. In the four years he had been unconscious, he had experienced and seen many things.

At first, everyone had been heartbroken and had often come to visit him. Gradually, because he had little hope of waking up, fewer and fewer people had come. Everything around him had kept changing, and only Grandpa had been constantly there.

He’d watched coldly from the sidelines, feeling the changes in everyone while listening. He had felt that everything was the same, but people had changed, and the world was cold.

Actually, compared to other people, his situation was much better. There were no arguments over the medical fees, nor were there any shocking schemes against him. However, due to this accident, the successor naturally had to change.

Everything was logical and reasonable, but when he faced the truth that was revealed in front of him, he still felt disappointed, frustrated, and desperate.

Therefore, after waking up, he hadn’t contacted anyone or let Uncle Li tell anyone about his condition.

It wasn’t that he hated them. He just needed some time.

His secret about retaining awareness all this while had been destined not to be shared with anyone, including his grandfather.

He had originally planned on not saying anything for the rest of his life, but at that moment, Ji Buwang wanted to tell Mu Jingzhe about it.

Mu Jingzhe sighed in her heart when she heard that. To be honest, she felt quite upset when she heard it. Just thinking about Ji Buwang’s accident made her go crazy, yet he’d still managed to pull through.

“It’s good that you didn’t say anything, but if you feel aggrieved, you can say so,” she finally said dryly.

“I feel much better after telling you.” Ji Buwang smiled. “How is it? Do you feel better after hearing my sad story?”

“Mm?”

“I heard that if you don’t know how to comfort someone when they’re sad, you can compete with them over who’s been more miserable. It works better than any words of comfort.”

Ji Buwang sighed. “I really don’t know how to comfort you, so I’ll just compete with you in terms of misery. Did it help you at all?”

Mu Jingzhe laughed. “It worked. Thank you. To think you’re competing with me to see who’s more miserable.”

Ji Buwang smiled. “To show my good intentions, I’ll treat you and Shao Xi to a movie.”

“I should be the one thanking you for your good intentions. Since that should be me, how can I let you treat us to a movie?”

“You can treat me then,” Ji Buwang immediately added.

“Sure.” Mu Jingzhe agreed readily. After she agreed, something suddenly occurred to her.

It seemed that in this day and age, a man and a woman who weren’t related to each other only watched movies together on blind dates or if they were dating, right?

To avoid thinking too much, Mu Jingzhe asked hesitantly, “Is it appropriate for us to go to a movie together? Would it be bad if your family saw us?”

Last time, their housekeeper, Uncle Li, had stared at her strangely. Mu Jingzhe was really afraid that the Ji Family would misunderstand their relationship and then pay her to leave Ji Buwang.

Ah, if that happened, she would really take that money.

Stop! Mu Jingzhe snapped out of her thoughts and heard Ji Buwang say, “It’s fine if they see us.”

“That’s true. We’ll just be watching a movie.”

“Not really.” Ji Buwang looked at Mu Jingzhe and paused for a moment before saying, “At least, I will not. I do want to pursue you. Can’t you tell?”

For this reason, he had specifically asked around if there had been any changes in the way a man pursued a woman in the past four years.

Mu Jingzhe couldn’t help but let out a cry. “Are you joking?” This time, she didn’t want to fall prey to wishful thinking again. In the end, he had confessed?

“No.” Ji Buwang straightened his face. “I’m serious, Mu Jingzhe. I do have designs on you. I want to pursue you.”

Mu Jingzhe: “…”

This was her first confession since her arrival. At this very special moment, the confession had even come from a high-quality man like Ji Buwang.

She should have been thrilled, but she was only dazed. How had they reached the topic of him having designs on her?

Wasn’t this jumping the gun a little? How had they gotten to this topic?

Ji Buwang could roughly guess what she was thinking based on her expression. “You don’t have to be afraid, nor do you have to think too much. I’m sincere. If you ask, I’ll tell you my thoughts honestly.

“Since you know now, I hope you can look at me more often in the future to see if I’m someone worth entrusting your happiness with.”

Ji Buwang had already made his intentions clear. Mu Jingzhe probably thought that he’d only chosen her because he could see her.

He couldn’t deny this. The reason he was thinking of marrying her was indeed because he could see Mu Jingzhe.

He hadn’t planned on getting married originally because he didn’t want to be unable to see his other half’s face and find her or have his child be like this too.

What was the simplest, most normal thing to an ordinary person was a luxury to him. However, now that he had Mu Jingzhe, who he could see clearly, he wasn’t afraid anymore.

Mu Jingzhe was special to him, but it was also because this person was Mu Jingzhe that he had such thoughts.

“After all this time together, I think we get along well. I’m always looking forward to seeing you, and it’s not just because I want to see your face… So please, do consider it seriously.”

Mu Jingzhe was embarrassed. “Thank you for your honesty, but… I have no plans to get married for the time being. I just want to raise the children for now.”

“I can raise them with you.” Ji Buwang didn’t think that this was a problem.

“Raise them with me?” Mu Jingzhe was surprised.

“Yes, you don’t need to worry about that. I won’t interfere too much. I’ll just share some of your burden. If you need my help, I can help too.” Ji Buwang nodded.

A dubious look appeared on Mu Jingzhe’s face. Could a rich family be like this? Or was it because they were rich that they didn’t mind spending a bit of money to raise a few children?

Ji Buwang observed her expression. “You don’t have to be nervous or feel pressured. You can interact with me however you want in the future. You’ve just left a good impression on me.”

Ji Buwang emphasized his next words. “Don’t hide from me because of this, Mu Jingzhe. Just consider it taking pity on me. Don’t hide from me, understand? No matter what, show me your face.”

Mu Jingzhe: “…”

What was this? Why would she show him her face no matter what?

Mu Jingzhe felt conflicted. As she was at a loss for words, she heard Shao Xi’s unhappy voice. “What are you looking at?”

“Little Xi, you’re back.” Mu Jingzhe snapped out of her reverie.

“Mm, what were you talking about? You were talking really attentively.” Shao Xi’s face was full of suspicion. At first, his mother had waved at him like the other mothers.

He had initially been very happy, but soon, although he had no idea what Teacher Ji had told Mu Jingzhe, he had managed to attract her attention completely. She had stopped looking at him. Shao Xi had called her twice but hadn’t been able to attract her attention again.

Mu Jingzhe had carried him up to the carousel and helped him sit down. When it was over, he’d waited for a long time but Mu Jingzhe hadn’t come. He’d had to get down by himself.

Shao Xi even suspected that they wouldn’t have known if he had run away. Shao Xi was a little angry as he gazed at the two of them probingly.

Mu Jingzhe and Ji Buwang: “…”

Surely they couldn’t tell Little Xi that he had just confessed his interest in her!