Chapter 51: A Misunderstanding Born of the Era

To my surprise, however, Huang Ying did not nod this time; instead, she shook her head.

In the past, no matter what I said, she would never object. The moment she shook her head, I realized something: ever since I met her, I had always been the one making decisions for her, never once asking for her opinion, never once respecting her wishes.

Huang Ying looked at me, her eyes shimmering with faint, unshed tears.

More than ten times in the past, I had sworn in my heart never to let Huang Ying suffer even the slightest harm, yet every single time, it was I who broke that oath.

She did not belong to this world to begin with; she was alone here. Although she never showed the slightest hint of these emotions outwardly, sometimes a single gesture or word of ours could hurt her, because she belonged not only to another world, but to another time entirely!

The atmosphere today was already heavy, and looking into Huang Ying's eyes felt like having a thousand-pound boulder press down upon my heart.

"I belong only to you. Please, I beg you, do not share me with anyone else, okay?" As Huang Ying spoke, tears finally fell.

In an instant, I understood why she had shaken her head. She must have thought I was going to give her away to someone else.

Times change, cultural customs differ, and the same words can carry entirely different meanings when interpreted.

"I didn't mean that, I just..." At this point, I didn't know how to explain myself.

Chen Yuming stared at us blankly, having no idea what the two of us were doing. Everything had been fine just a moment ago; how had it turned out like this?

Having no other choice, I reached out, pulled Huang Ying into my arms, and held her petite body tightly against me.

I had heard a saying before: when you are texting the person you like, sometimes a single cheesy message will make you hug your phone and laugh like a madman for half an hour. But in reality, some people don't even need any of that. Their conditions might not measure up to yours at all, yet without sending texts or checking in every single day, they only need a single domineering kiss or embrace to make your goddess utterly devoted to them.

"In the past you were mine, now you are mine, and in the future, you will never be anyone else's," I said, holding Huang Ying close.

To be honest, holding her really felt wonderful—she was so soft!

This trick worked like a charm; Huang Ying gradually calmed down.

Chen Yuming was left dumbfounded by our actions. While tears shimmered in Huang Ying's eyes, drool practically shimmered in Chen Yuming's mouth.

"Why don't you head back first? Huang Ying and I will just wander around on our own!"

It felt a bit like tearing down the bridge after crossing the river, but Chen Yuming had said from the very beginning that he just wanted to catch a glimpse of Huang Ying. Today, his wish of many years had finally been fulfilled.

"No way, I'm coming with you guys!" Chen Yuming swallowed hard, shot me a meaningful look, and said.

"Didn't you stay up all night yesterday? Go get some sleep. I just saw a news report the other day about someone dying suddenly from exhaustion." I let go of Huang Ying and pulled out a news article from my phone to scare Chen Yuming.

"It's fine, I won't hold you responsible if I drop dead!"

"Whatever..."

"Wang Yu, let him come with us!" Just as I was about to refuse Chen Yuming, Huang Ying actually cracked a smile and said those words.

A wave of sourness instantly surged up from the soles of my feet. This little girl was definitely taking revenge on me for what I had said earlier!

Fine, her plan had succeeded. Now I finally knew what jealousy felt like. Even though she did it on purpose, I couldn't help feeling jealous anyway! This feeling really sucked!

"See that, Wang Yu..." Chen Yuming bumped my shoulder with his. The guy definitely thought he still had a chance.

"Alright!" I nodded helplessly. You brought this upon yourself. Later on, I'm going to act all affectionate with Huang Ying and whisper sweet nothings in her ear just to make you green with envy!

"Take us to buy a phone!" I said. Huang Ying didn't have a phone right now, which made getting in touch with her very inconvenient!

"You got it!" Chen Yuming replied, then led us out of the park and onto the bustling street.

Various kinds of shops lined both sides of the street, and at a glance, there were at least ten mobile phone stores alone.

He led us into the very first one.

There were three saleswomen inside. Although they looked decent, they paled immensely in comparison to Huang Ying.

As we walked in, one of the saleswomen immediately hurried over. They earned commissions for every phone they managed to sell.

We lingered there for just a few minutes before leaving, and we didn't visit any other phone shops afterwards.

It suddenly occurred to me that if Huang Ying were to hold a phone and make calls, it wouldn't match her temperament at all. There was no need for me to ruin her innate, natural beauty.

"Huang Ying, do you want to go see a movie?" I took Huang Ying's hand and asked, completely ignoring Chen Yuming.

Although doing this was quite mean, I could justify it with a completely righteous excuse: I was doing it for his own good. Judging by his expression, he was completely infatuated with Huang Ying. If I didn't crush his hopes now, it would only harm him and others in the future.

Uh... well, alright. That wasn't the actual reason. The truth was that he was intruding on the private world shared by just the two of us.

Inviting him out today had clearly been a mistake. I admit there was a tiny part of me that wanted to show off, which was why I asked him to come along. But any other man who encountered someone as flawless as her would inevitably want to show her off too, so I didn't think I was in the wrong.

Before Huang Ying could respond to my question, Chen Yuming spoke up first: "You guys go watch the movie. I've got some stuff to take care of at home, so I'm heading back!"

Without even waiting for my reply, he turned and left.

His retreating figure looked somewhat lonely. I watched Chen Yuming walk away for about ten meters before he suddenly turned back around.

"Old Wang, can I take a picture?"

"Who? Me?"

"Of course not, Huang Ying!" He cast a sly look at Huang Ying.

"Ask her yourself!" Nowadays, certain things had to be decided by Huang Ying herself.

With a cheeky grin, Chen Yuming walked up to Huang Ying and asked, "Can I take a picture of you?"

"S-sure... alright!"

Chen Yuming immediately whipped out his phone, snapped a few photos in rapid succession, and then shook his phone as he walked over to me, waving it right in front of my face.

"I'm going home to jerk off before bed!"

"Damn it, get lost!" I lashed out with a kick, but Chen Yuming burst into laughter and scurried away, and my kick missed completely!

"I'm sorry!" After Chen Yuming left, I murmured softly before turning back to Huang Ying.

"You little rascal!" A mischievous smile hung on my face as I looked at Huang Ying. I reached out, cupped her chin, and said, "Do you remember what you said last time when we were with Grandpa and the others?"

Huang Ying took two steps back, shook her head, and looked at me with extreme caution, because she saw that expression again. Yes, *again*—every single time I wore that expression, I would end up taking advantage of her.

"You said last time that you'd accompany me to rent a room. Have you forgotten?"

"No!"

"Good then, there's no time like the present—let's go right now!" The "particular" expression on my face grew even more pronounced!

Huang Ying had already guessed something was amiss from my expression and asked suspiciously, "What does renting a room mean?"

"Uh... renting a room means going to sleep!"

If you substitute "sleep" into the phrase, it essentially meant "accompany me to go sleep."

The moment Huang Ying heard the word "sleep," her face flushed red instantly, and she lowered her head, refusing to say another word.

Of course, I was only teasing her verbally. As long as she wasn't willing, even if it drove me crazy, I wouldn't touch her a single bit.

"Hehe, I'm just joking with you. Renting a room just means paying to stay in a guest room for a while!"

Huang Ying still kept her head down, not daring to look at me.

"Alright then, let's go rent a room!" I grabbed Huang Ying's hand and pulled her toward a nearby hotel.

The chosen hotel was called "Jie's Hotel." Seeing the name instantly reminded me of Viagra; hehe, this hotel felt quite cozy indeed!

Even though the name sounded a bit vulgar, a classmate had once told me that this hotel was the cleanest in the neighborhood and never engaged in any shady businesses.

I glanced at the other hotels nearby. Although it was still early, several pairs of young couples were already wandering in and out, and many of them looked younger than me!

After standing outside and sighing with emotion for a moment, I grabbed Huang Ying's hand and pulled her inside.

Standing behind the counter wasn't a woman, but a man wearing a necktie.

He looked about twenty-two years old and was quite handsome, though a closer look revealed a rather slick expression!

"Welcome!" the tie-wearing man greeted in fluent Mandarin.

"Give me a twin room!" I said.

Upon hearing "twin room," he raised his head!

"Are you sure you want a twin room?" He looked at Huang Ying and me, though his face showed only mild puzzlement rather than the slightest trace of being dazzled.

This guy must be either a eunuch or a monk.

I observed his expression and made my judgment!