A god-level beauty system? But I'm already a god-level beauty!

After the words of confession were spoken, the riverbank fell into a deathly silence.

The wind seemed to have stopped, and even the sound of the flowing river had receded into the distance.

Shen Ye opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He didn't know how to answer.

Long after Nuannuan's eighteenth birthday,

No, it should be a long period of time before that.

He realized that the girl's feelings were not just those of a brother and sister.

There are some strange things that he simply pretends not to know, pretends not to have noticed...

Being perceptible is one thing.

When the moment finally arrived, standing before himself, with tears in his eyes, Shen Ye still lost his composure.

Will you agree?

However, this went against his wishes.

It's not that he dislikes Nuannuan, absolutely not; this girl doesn't hold much weight in his heart.

But there are too many things between "liking" and "liking between a man and a woman".

Seven years of living and working together began when she was still a primary school student, chasing after him and calling him "brother".

For the past seven years, she has been the most important family member in his life, the closest person to him in the world.

To instantly reverse this feeling...

He couldn't pretend to be nonchalant.

You won't agree?

What about Nuannuan?

This girl put all the courage she had been saving up into action overnight.

She stood under the lamp, her chest heaving, her eyes red-rimmed, gambling with a relationship that could never be rekindled after being rejected.

His single "no" could shatter everything that exists between two people.

To agree goes against one's will.

Rejection breaks hearts.

Shen Ye stood there, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

The evening breeze ruffled the stray hairs on his forehead, and the boy stood silently, motionless.

Lin Chunuan was standing opposite him.

She kept her head tilted back, staring at him intently, waiting for his answer.

one second.

two seconds.

ten seconds.

The night wind blew in gusts, blowing strands of hair onto her face, but she didn't reach out to brush them away.

Every second of waiting felt like a knife twisting in my heart.

She could clearly see her brother's expression: bewilderment, struggle, and embarrassment, but not the kind of joy she most longed for, not even the kind of flustered delight.

A tear fell without warning.

Shen Ye finally moved.

He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. In the end, all his unspoken words turned into a long sigh.

"Warm and cozy."

"Could you...reconsider it a little longer, brother?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Chunuan's tears instantly burst forth.

If a direct rejection is a guillotine that can cut off your thoughts in one stroke, then the three words "think about it some more" are a small knife.

Not fatal, but torturous.

"Yes or no......"

She opened her mouth, her voice trembling uncontrollably, stammering.

"Does my brother... not like me...?"

"no."

Shen Ye denied it very quickly, almost urgently.

He reached out to wipe away her tears, but stopped halfway through, his hand hovering in mid-air, caught in a dilemma.

"My brother really likes Nuannuan."

He painstakingly organized his thoughts, carefully considering each word.

"From when you were little and would chase after me calling out 'brother,' it's always been like that."

"but......"

He paused for a long time, long enough for several night breezes to pass.

"It's more about the affection between siblings."

"You are the closest person to me in this world, and this kind of closeness... is different from that kind."

"I'm having trouble adjusting to some of these changes."

Even he himself couldn't sort out the tangled mess in his heart. He only knew that his current "liking" couldn't become the "liking" she wanted.

Forcing an "okay" would be a betrayal of her and a deception of myself.

Lin Chunuan listened quietly.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, one drop after another hitting the boardwalk.

She raised the back of her hand and wiped it haphazardly.

After a long silence, she spoke again:

"I know, brother..."

"Actually, I think I like her..."

she......

A single word, seemingly light, struck Shen Ye's heart with tremendous force.

She didn't say who it was.

Shen Ye didn't ask.

But in that instant, his heart suddenly clenched, as if gripped by an invisible hand, causing him excruciating pain.

He quieted down.

Silent as a mountain.

This isn't an answer, but it's better than any answer.

Lin Chunu stared at his expressionless face for a very long time.

The tears flowed even more freely.

really.

I knew it...

She wasn't unaware of the atmosphere, the way her brother looked at that person, and the unspoken understanding she could never quite penetrate when they were together...

She kept lying to herself that it was just a misunderstanding, that they were just friends who were a little closer.

Until today, I heard the answer with my own ears from my brother's silence.

"Ugh..."

The girl covered her mouth to stop herself from crying out loud, but her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

The sobs were suppressed and intermittent, yet exceptionally clear in the empty riverside.

Shen Ye stood in front of her, his hands hanging at his sides, his fingertips curling up repeatedly.

He wanted to say something.

I want to comfort, I want to explain, I want to deny.

But when the words were about to come out, I realized I had no stance whatsoever.

His silence was the answer; any further words would have been meaningless.

I don't know how much time passed.

The neon lights on the opposite bank of the river changed color, from blue to purple, and then back to blue.

Lin Chunuan's sobs gradually subsided.

She raised her hand and fiercely wiped away the remaining wetness from her face, wiping it again and again, until only her red eye sockets and the tip of her nose remained.

Then, she slowly raised her head.

With her swollen, tear-filled eyes, she stared intently at Shen Ye.

There was no resentment or grievance in his eyes.

Only a stubborn, almost obstinate light remained.

"elder brother."

"I will not give up."

Every word was spoken with resounding force.

Shen Ye's pupils contracted slightly.

Before he could react, the girl had already turned around abruptly.

Her ponytail swung in an arc in the night breeze.

She started running back the way she came, without looking back.

The sound of footsteps grew louder and louder as they approached and receded into the distance, tapping on the plank road.

"Warm and cozy!"

Shen Ye subconsciously reached out his hand.

His arm was halfway out, but it froze in mid-air.

The distance between my fingertips and that running figure grew ever greater.

You caught it, so what?

Should I tell her not to cry? Should I tell her to pretend nothing happened? Or should I tell her, "Brother will think about it some more, wait a minute"?

He could give her nothing.

Any attempt to salvage the situation at this point would only reopen the wound and rub it again.

So that hand, suspended in the night wind, paused for two seconds, and then slowly lowered down.

Lin Chunuan's figure grew smaller and smaller.

She ran along the riverbank back the way she came, her silhouette flashing in the dim light of the streetlights, passing one after another, before being swallowed up by the shadows of the bridge piers and disappearing from sight.

The riverbank fell silent once more.

The wind picked up again.

The wind rustled his clothes, ruffling the reflections of lanterns on the river.

Shen Ye stood still, maintaining the posture of watching them go, without moving for a long time.

The night was dark and heavy, pressing down on the river and on his heart.

He lowered his head, looking at his hand that had been raised and then lowered, opening and then clenching it again.

My palms felt empty; I hadn't grasped anything.

Do I like her...?

That girl asked the right question.

But what will become of this feeling that even he himself dares not think about deeply?

Ugh......

A deep sigh escaped from his chest and dissipated into the dark night.