You're Bullying People

Li Zhiyi was kissed dizzy, shrinking into the blanket with only her hands weakly resisting against Chen Zhi's chest.

Chen Zhi finally let her go.

Li Zhiyi panted for a long time, physiological tears hanging at the corners of her eyes. Her usually plain and clean face was now completely red, and her lips were swollen as if she had been gnawing on spicy snacks all afternoon.

"You... you're bullying me," she said in a soft, weak voice.

"How am I bullying you?" Chen Zhi leaned back against the pillow, his posture utterly shameless. "You came to the hotel, took a shower, and waited for me yourself. Can't I have a normal reaction? If I pushed you away, that would mean there's a problem."

Li Zhiyi's face suddenly burned even hotter.

She had indeed come early.

Waiting for Chen Zhi's message in her dorm room that afternoon, she had grown increasingly anxious. Later, when she received the text saying "Emergency at the company, I'll be late," she replied "Okay," but her hands were already digging through her closet for that newly bought dress.

She couldn't explain what she was so nervous about.

Since returning from winter break, they could count the number of times they had seen each other on one hand. Chen Zhi was always busy, sometimes so busy he could only reply with two or three messages a day.

She didn't dare rush him, nor did she dare make a fuss.

So she resorted to this embarrassing method.

Li Zhiyi covered half her face with the blanket, her voice muffled from inside.

"You said you were handling things at the company... then where did you shower?"

Here it comes.

Chen Zhi thought to himself.

He had anticipated this question would be brought up. The biggest fear of juggling multiple things at once was that the details wouldn't match up.

"The company has a shower room." Chen Zhi's expression didn't change, not even blinking. He had already found his excuse during this time. "Dai Damai and that group working overnight is the norm. When our floor was being renovated, I specifically had an employee rest area built with a bathroom. I was sweating from working so hard, so I just took a quick shower."

Li Zhiyi tilted her head and thought for a moment.

"Really?"

"You don't believe me? I'll take you to see it next time," Chen Zhi began to bluff.

"I'm not going." Li Zhiyi buried her face even deeper. "It would be so embarrassing if your colleagues saw me."

This natural airheadedness was sometimes a protective coloration, and sometimes a trump card.

Chen Zhi couldn't quite tell if she really believed him or had just selectively accepted this explanation.

But either way, he had passed this hurdle for now.

Chen Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to touch her hair.

A damp sensation transmitted to his fingertips.

"Your hair is still wet. Did you dry it?"

"I dried it halfway, and then you came," Li Zhiyi muttered softly.

"Silly girl, with this late spring chill, what if you catch a cold?"

Chen Zhi rolled out of bed, walked barefoot to the bathroom, and brought back a hairdryer. He fished Li Zhiyi out of the blanket, made her sit with her back to him, plugged it in, and turned on the warm air setting.

The hot air blew through her hair.

Li Zhiyi sat obediently, her hands placed neatly on her knees, letting Chen Zhi's fingers run through her hair.

"Have you lost weight?" Chen Zhi asked casually while playing with her hair. His fingers brushed against her shoulder, and the bones felt a bit sharp.

"I don't think so."

"Your shoulder bones are poking my hand, and you call that 'don't think so'?"

"I've been preparing my thesis on General Principles of Civil Law lately," Li Zhiyi quickly explained. "If I eat too much at the cafeteria, I get sleepy when I go back and can't write, so I've been eating a bit less for dinner."

Chen Zhi's hand paused for a second.

"You're dieting to write a thesis?"

"It's not dieting! Just eating less for dinner." Li Zhiyi hastily turned her head. "I've been eating breakfast and lunch properly."

Chen Zhi turned the hairdryer to the lowest setting, making the noise softer.

"When is the thesis due?"

"Next Friday."

"How much have you written?"

"Three thousand words. The professor wants fifteen thousand."

"What's the topic?" Chen Zhi asked casually.

"On the Legal Dilemmas and Legislative Approaches of Artificial Intelligence."

The hairdryer in Chen Zhi's hand almost dropped onto the blanket.

He looked at the well-behaved law school girl in front of him, his mind screaming in disbelief.

You're writing about the legal personhood of AI?

"You're writing about AI?" Chen Zhi steadied his nerves.

"Yeah, the professor gave us a few topic directions. I thought this one was more cutting-edge, so I chose it." Li Zhiyi turned her head, looking at him with some confusion. "What's wrong?"

Chen Zhi coughed dryly.

"Nothing. It's a good topic. Very grand."

"Do you understand AI?" Li Zhiyi looked at him earnestly. "I have a few technical questions I can't figure out. For example, does a large model's autonomous decision-making count as a 'declaration of will' in a legal sense? If it causes infringement, how is the attribution of responsibility defined technically?"

"That's a rather complex question." Chen Zhi knew absolutely nothing about this. "I'll help you ask our company's technical director another day."

"Your company has people working on AI?"

"A colleague knows a little."

Chen Zhi was talking about Dai Damai. If Dai Damai heard himself described as "knowing a little," he'd probably smash his glasses on the spot.

Her hair was completely dry.

Chen Zhi unplugged the hairdryer and casually tossed it onto the nightstand.

Li Zhiyi turned around and sat cross-legged on the bed. She cupped her cheeks in her hands and quietly looked at Chen Zhi.

After looking for a while, she suddenly spoke.

"You look really tired today."

"I'm alright." Chen Zhi rubbed his neck.

"Your dark circles are really heavy."

"I worked overtime last night doing tests." Chen Zhi continued to use work as a shield.

"Liar."

Li Zhiyi lowered her eyes, her fingers starting to fiddle with the tassels on the corner of the blanket.

"Our dorm didn't turn off the lights last night." She seemed to be talking to herself. "My roommates were all using their laptops to watch the live broadcast of the Singer finals."

Chen Zhi's back instantly tensed up.

"Mhm," he responded, trying to make his tone sound completely calm.

"Lin Wanwan won the championship."

"Yeah, that's pretty impressive."

"Taylor Swift was her guest performer."

"Everyone on Weibo is saying that whoever invited Taylor spent tens of millions, maybe even over a hundred million."

"We don't understand the world of the rich." Chen Zhi laughed it off.

Li Zhiyi didn't reply.

The room fell into a brief silence.

After a dozen seconds, Li Zhiyi looked up.

"Chen Zhi."

"Yeah?"

"When you were with me, were you still with Lin Wanwan?"

"We broke up a long time ago." Chen Zhi dodged the heavy and chose the light. "We were neighbors in the provincial capital when we were kids, our parents knew each other, and we dated for a while after graduation. Later, she went to do music and became a big star, so her company forced us to break up."

"Oh."

Li Zhiyi lowered her head and started twisting her fingers again.

Her two index fingers picking at each other.

She had this habit; whenever she felt uncomfortable but didn't want to say it, she would twist her fingers.

And then wait for you to take the initiative to coax her.

If you didn't coax her, she would swallow her grievances herself and slowly digest them.

Chen Zhi reached out, pried her fingers apart little by little, and held them in his own palm.

"If you want to ask something, just ask," Chen Zhi looked at her.

Li Zhiyi hesitated for a long time.

"...Last night, Lin Wanwan said on stage that she wanted to dedicate her championship to someone."

"Yeah."

"My roommates were all guessing who that mysterious financial backer was, and who her boyfriend could be."

"Did you guess?" Chen Zhi asked.

Li Zhiyi shook her head.

"I didn't," her voice was very soft. "I was afraid I'd guess right."

Li Zhiyi wasn't stupid.

She had a woman's intuition and the logical mind of a law student.

She knew Chen Zhi was wealthy, she knew he hadn't been in the capital yesterday, and she knew he and Lin Wanwan were childhood sweethearts.

So, she chose not to guess.

As long as she didn't guess, and as long as Chen Zhi didn't admit to anything, she could continue playing dumb.

Chen Zhi's grip on her hand suddenly tightened.

He realized that in front of this girl, he could no longer come up with any decent lies.

Chen Zhi's hold on her hand tightened just a little more.

He realized he just couldn't spin a decent lie anymore.

"Zhiyi."

"Yeah."

"Do you trust me?"

Li Zhiyi looked up. There were so many emotions swirling in her eyes, but in the end, she simply nodded.

"I do."

Chen Zhi pulled her into his arms.

Li Zhiyi didn't struggle, leaning obediently against his chest.

"Your heart is beating so fast," she murmured in a muffled voice.

Of course it was.

"I will definitely marry you," Chen Zhi said.