Second Take On Romance - The A-List Actor Wants Me
Chapter 221 : Please, Can We Talk?

Chapter 221: Chapter 221 : Please, Can We Talk?

The last time he took care of Yan Renzhong, Shen Jingwei made wonton soup.

This time, in order to replenish Yan Renzhong’s strength quickly, he decided to cook some porridge instead.

Luckily, Yan Renzhong’s refrigerator was replenished regularly by his housekeeper twice a week.

It used to be once a week only, but she did it twice a week after Shen Jingwei moved in.

The housekeeper was a friendly elderly lady who liked to chat.

She rarely encountered Yan Renzhong, but she ran across Shen Jingwei several times during the latter’s free days.

Because Shen Jingwei liked cooking for himself, he had been leaving the housekeeper grocery list twice a week.

Recently, he had not contacted the housekeeper in any way.

Shen Jingwei stirred into the pot of porridge absent-mindedly.

He wondered if the housekeeper knew that he already moved out.

But Yan Renzhong had yet to delete his name from the resident register...

He sighed.

One bowl of ingredient after another was poured into the pot. As the flavors melded together, the enticing aroma filled the air, making Shen Jingwei’s stomach growl in anticipation.

He ladled one bowl for Yan Renzhong and took it to the bedroom.

Surprisingly, the man was awake.

"Can’t sleep?" Shen Jingwei asked.

"Hungry," Yan Renzhong replied curtly.

"Oh. Then please have some porridge."

Shen Jingwei picked a portable desk and lay it across Yan Renzhong lap. And then, he put the bowl of porridge on the desk.

"..."

"..."

The two men locked gazes.

Shen Jingwei’s stirred inside the bowl with a spoon.

"Aren’t you hungry?"

A sigh as heavy as heaven and hell combined escaped Yan Renzhong’s throat. Outsiders might think that he was just counting the minutes until he left for the Underworld.

"... Too weak to eat..."

"..."

Wordlessly, Shen Jingwei lifted the spoon and began feeding Yan Renzhong, one spoonful after another.

The only sounds in the room were the gentle clinking of the ceramic spoon against the bowl and the soft slurping of the porridge. Otherwise, a peaceful silence enveloped them.

The tranquility stood in stark contrast to the turmoil that had consumed their hearts in recent nights. It felt comforting to be in the same room without any lingering animosity or resentment.

When the bowl of porridge stood empty, Shen Jingwei even felt a sense of regret.

"I will take it back to the kitchen. You should sleep a little."

Shen Jingwei rose to his feet, but Yan Renzhong reached out and grasped his hand.

The two men locked eyes in an instant.

"Please," Yan Renzhong pleaded. "Can we talk?"

Shen Jingwei sat back down, but Yan Renzhong still held his hand tight, enveloping it in a familiar, long-lost warmth.

"We can."

"You go first."

Shen Jingwei frowned slightly.

"You can go first."

"No, you should," Yan Renzhong insisted.

"..."

Shen Jingwei pursed his lips and squeezed his eyes shut in annoyance.

He was the one who wanted to talk, but in the end he pushed Shen Jingwei to talk. How infuriating.

And yet...

"Hua Xueying," he spat out the three syllables as he opened his eyes. "Are you cheating on me with her?"

Yan Renzhong narrowed his eyes at Shen Jingwei.

Shen Jingwei was ready to answer Yan Renzhong’s subsequent questions, but unexpectedly Yan Renzhong gave a firm, one-word answer, "No."

Shen Jingwei didn’t even know he was holding his breath until he exhaled. Carefully, he squeezed Yan Renzhong’s hand in return.

"The kiss," he said. "I saw a picture in which you kissed Hua Xueying."

It was the picture attached to the article he browsed on their last night together.

"I didn’t kiss her, she kissed me," Yan Renzhong clarified. "I can get you the entire news coverage with video if you don’t believe me. It doesn’t mean anything."

The iron fist that tightened around Shen Jingwei’s heart for so long suddenly loosened its grip, allowing Shen Jingwei to breathe normally.

But then there was still something he did not understand.

"Then, were you so cold to me just because I came home late from the karaoke party...?"

Coldness tinged Yan Renzhong’s hand when Shen Jingwei mentioned the karaoke party. He inadvertently tightened his hold around Shen Jingwei’s hand.

"I can forgive you for everything you do," Yan Renzhong said. "All I need from you is your absolute honesty. What exactly happened between you and Feng Jietang that night?"

"Feng Jietang was heavily drunk," Shen Jingwei began. "I spent the night patting his back as he threw up in the toilet. And then I lost my phone. I had to drag him to Yunhuan Hotel to get the both of us some lift back home."

Yan Renzhong’s gaze softened.

"Is that all?"

"Yes," Shen Jingwei confirmed. "Did you think that I cheated on you?"

Wordlessly, Yan Renzhong retrieved his phone from the nightstand and showed Shen Jingwei the pictures and video he received from the unknown number.

"..."

Certainly, judging from the angle it was taken, it looked like a drunk couple heading to a hotel for a night of fun.

"I can get you the CCTV recording from Yunhuan Hotel first thing tomorrow morning," Shen Jingwei offered. "It will hopefully show me dragging Feng Jietang in and leaving without going into a hotel room."

Yan Renzhong sighed.

"No need."

"Why didn’t you verify with me first?" Shen Jingwei, irritated, followed up with another question. "I would have explained everything to you."

"I called you, but you hung up on me."

"My phone was gone. I didn’t hang up on you. Also, I tried calling you from Yunhuan Hotel’s reception desk but you never answered."

"I didn’t want to take calls from unknown numbers."

"..."

"I waited for you until you came home. And I asked you what happened. Why didn’t you tell me all this when you came home that night?"

"Because we didn’t get to talk. I didn’t want to talk about him except to share with you news about his acceptance. I didn’t know what you were thinking about when you posed me the question."

"I was under the impression that you cheated on me," Yan Renzhong emphasized. "And lied to me about it."