I rejected your confession, but you took my best friend home?

Chapter 96 It's nice to have someone you like by your side.

"I'm fine... I don't really have any clothes I like to wear..."

Zhou Heng looked at his clothes; there was nothing special about them. His clothes were all fairly simple styles.

He doesn't care what clothes he wears; he wears his school uniform most of the time, and spends weekends playing games at home instead of going out.

I spend my time exercising when I'm not playing games, so I mostly wear loose and comfortable clothes, like tank tops.

Yin Mengran took Zhou Heng's hand and said, "Then let's choose together today?"

Zhou Heng looked at her face and smiled slightly: "Okay."

Yin Mengran always remembered how many times Zhou Heng had smiled, because she especially longed to see Zhou Heng smile; every time she did, it would stir her heart.

The first time was when Zhou Heng was playing games; the second time was when his monthly exam results came out.

After getting together with Zhou Heng, Yin Mengran had seen it more than ten times.

For her, making Zhou Heng smile was a very meaningful thing.

"Bang bang—"

Just then, there was a knock on the door. The two looked up at the same time, knowing that it must be Tang Zhi.

Yin Mengran quickly got up to open the door, and sure enough, standing there was Tang Zhi.

"Sorry for the wait."

Tang Zhi did not go inside, but Zhou Heng and Yin Mengran went out together, and the three of them went out the door together.

Walking down the street, Zhou Heng and Yin Mengran naturally held each other's hands.

They've been walking like this to and from school every day this week, and now they can hold hands naturally.

Tang Zhi, however, was seeing it for the first time. Walking behind them, she watched the two holding hands, nodded, and sighed:

"This is the first time I've ever seen Zhou Heng in a relationship. It's so amazing."

"Giggle—" Yin Mengran covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

Zhou Heng looked embarrassed. He knew he had changed a lot since then, and Tang Zhi could see it all, which might become a topic of her ridicule...

"Ahem...when will we see you in a relationship? Maybe that would be even more interesting."

Zhou Heng retorted with the same question, saying that he was also quite curious about what kind of person Tang Zhi would end up with.

I feel that anyone who can be with Tang Zhi is definitely not an ordinary person. Being good at academics is definitely useless... They must at least be better than her in other aspects, otherwise she definitely wouldn't be interested...

Tang Zhi waved her hand dismissively and said, "Then you won't live to see that day."

Yin Mengran stared wide-eyed in surprise at Tang Zhi and asked, "Aren't you planning to date?"

"Yes, I'm not interested. Not dating or getting married isn't illegal. I don't lack anything. I can give myself anything a boyfriend can give me. Times have changed. Not everyone has to get married and have children. Anyway, my family respects my thoughts. At least when I said I wouldn't date or get married, my dad wholeheartedly agreed."

Zhou Heng hadn't expected Tang Zhi to be so absolute, but it was indeed the kind of thing she would say.

"Indeed, my uncle probably can't stand you dating, right? You're not wrong."

Zhou Heng's words sent a shiver down Yin Mengran's spine. She knew Tang Zhi was right.

However... her thoughts were completely opposite to Tang Zhi's. After falling in love with Zhou Heng, she desperately wanted to be in a relationship, to be with Zhou Heng, to marry him, and to spend her life with him...

Perhaps because of her current special circumstances, she no longer has such great ambitions; after all, at that time, she didn't even want to live anymore.

She doesn't want anything from Zhou Heng now; she simply wants to be by his side. That's enough. It's the only reason she has hope for life right now.

In other words, she's now living for Zhou Heng more than 90% of her life...

If Zhou Heng abandons me now, then all I'll have left is to live for my deceased parents; I won't have any reason to live anymore.

Now that Zhou Heng agrees with Tang Zhi's point of view, could it... cause him to change his mind and leave her...?

Just as Yin Mengran was worrying, Zhou Heng suddenly lifted her hand and tightened his grip.

"However, my thoughts are different from yours now. I think it's nice to have someone you like by your side."

Zhou Heng looked into Yin Mengran's eyes, a gentle smile blooming on his lips.

Yin Mengran froze instantly; she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

All her previous worries vanished. Zhou Heng's words were enough to dispel those anxieties and give her a strong sense of security.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Tang Zhi chuckled and said, "Alright, alright, stop showing off your love to me. I know you two have a good relationship."

Zhou Heng continued to pull Yin Mengran forward, while Yin Mengran lowered her head and whispered:

"I... will always be with you."

This is a promise she will absolutely keep, or rather, her expectation; there is no doubt about it.

Zhou Heng nodded gently and responded with an "Mm". Then, the two of them intertwined their fingers and held each other's hands tightly.

Although they appeared calm on the surface, their hearts were in turmoil.

However, since Tang Zhi was present, they couldn't just ignore everything, so they suppressed their inner feelings.

The three of them went to a shopping mall in the city center. It was very crowded and lively there on the weekend.

When we arrived at the clothing floor, it was mostly filled with girls, who were out shopping on the weekend.

Tang Zhi led Yin Mengran through each store, with Zhou Heng following behind, seemingly providing companionship, but perhaps not quite.

However, he thought that as long as Yin Mengran and the others were happy, he didn't care about himself.

"I'll go buy you some water. You can take your time shopping. Call me if you need anything."

Zhou Heng found something to do; otherwise, following people around everywhere, he felt completely invisible.

After Zhou Heng left, Yin Mengran watched his departing figure, lost in thought.

She wanted to stay by Zhou Heng's side forever, but Tang Zhi was still there, and she couldn't neglect her.

She could spend time alone with Zhou Heng at home, but since they were out together today, she felt she should take better care of Tang Zhi, because she knew Zhou Heng would understand and wouldn't get angry over it.

Zhou Heng went to a water bar to buy drinks for the two of them.

He was at the very back of the line, with three or four people ahead of him; it would be his turn soon.

Just then, he heard voices talking behind him, getting closer and closer, and the voices sounded so familiar...

"Hey! Stop messing around! Really..."

The next second, someone bumped into Zhou Heng from behind, as if they had accidentally bumped into each other while playing around.

"Ah... I'm sorry..."

Zhou Heng slowly turned his head and frowned when he saw the person in front of him. He was right; he recognized the voice all too well.

I never expected to run into Tong Yining here. What an unfortunate fact.

He could probably guess it, since Tong Yining goes out almost every weekend, and this is the busiest place on weekends, so it's quite possible that they would run into each other here.

Tong Yining recognized the person she had bumped into and opened her mouth in surprise:

"Zhou Heng? What happened to you...?"