Chapter 16: Are You Still Planning to Keep Suppressing It Like This?

At this moment, Nangong Che had also begun eating, his movements gentle and unhurried, exuding an elegance that perfectly matched his noble aura. She suddenly realized how flawless he was—not only in appearance but also in his gentle, kind nature and his meticulous thoughtfulness.

"Do you want some of mine?" As she gazed at him, lost in thought, Nangong Che suddenly turned to her, his expression half amused, half serious, and asked.

Jin’er snapped back to reality, feeling her cheeks flush slightly. She quickly shook her head and buried herself in her own chicken wing.

Yet after his question, she suddenly found the wing rather disappointing, with hardly any meat to enjoy...

Just as she was feeling frustrated, a large chicken leg appeared before her eyes. She looked up in confusion and found him smiling at her.

"Eat more. Look at you, so thin a gust of wind could blow you away," Nangong Che said with a faint smile, offering the chicken leg closer to her.

Jin’er licked the oil from her lips and instinctively glanced at the subordinate who always seemed to have something against her. She caught him sneaking a look at her; when he noticed her gaze, he hurriedly ducked his head, pretending not to have seen anything, and gnawed at a chicken bone with remarkable speed, looking utterly comical.

Jin’er was amused by his antics and couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Clearly, his master’s earlier reprimand had not been in vain.

Still smiling, Jin’er turned back and reached for the chicken leg, only to find it oddly immobile, as if fixed in place.

Hmm? Was he reluctant to give it up after all? She looked up at Nangong Che in puzzlement and saw him staring at her, his gaze strangely complicated.

Jin’er blinked at him, then at the chicken leg in his hand, and, determined, tried harder to take it.

But just then, as if realizing his own lapse, Nangong Che loosened his grip...

"Ah!" Jin’er, who had been tugging forcefully, suddenly lost her balance and toppled backward uncontrollably.

Nangong Che's brows lifted; he quickly reached out to catch her, but was a beat too slow. Not only did he fail to protect her, but her falling body dragged him down, and together they tumbled to the ground.

The flickering fire cast shifting shadows as everyone paused, hands and mouths stilled, their eyes all falling on the pair, one large and one small, entwined together.

Jin’er stared, wide-eyed and startled, at the handsome face so close to hers, her mind going completely blank.

Nangong Che seemed equally shaken by the suddenness of it all, dazedly gazing at the youthful face before him.

So alike. Uncannily so. How could two people, utterly unrelated, look so similar? Especially when she smiled—it was almost indistinguishable.

Could it truly be her? But that was impossible...

"Hey, are you planning to… keep pressing down like this?" Jin’er, nearly breathless beneath him, finally came to her senses and asked with difficulty.

On hearing her, Nangong Che snapped out of his trance, hastily rolling off her. He glanced around and found a dozen pairs of eyes fixed on him, their expressions full of suggestive curiosity.

"Ahem!" Nangong Che coughed awkwardly, ignoring them as he turned to help Jin’er up from the ground.

By then, Jin’er had already struggled to a sitting position. Frowning slightly, she instinctively looked down at her right hand, finding the chicken leg still clutched there—now smeared with dirt.

With a sigh, she pursed her lips in annoyance and tossed the leg into the fire.

What had gotten into him just now? Surely it wasn’t intentional…