My Arms Can Turn into Blades-Chapter 105 - 98: Favorite Movie

"Alright, alright... it tickles, stop scratching."

Lin Ying twisted her body, laughing uncontrollably, taking a step back to dodge.

Chen Lusi stood still, withdrawing his hand: "Not chubby."

"...Is this how you measure someone’s waist? Can you be a bit more serious?"

Lin Ying’s delicate face blushed slightly, playfully chiding, "Stop scratching me."

Chen Lusi pondered and suggested, "I think it would be more reliable to use a measuring tape."

"I know, but we don’t have one at home."

Lin Ying stepped forward, standing gracefully in front of Chen Lusi again: "Go on, just don’t scratch me."

"..."

Chen Lusi had no choice but to help her measure again.

Seeing Lin Ying’s determined attitude, this time he refrained from teasing her and measured seriously.

Her waist was slender, and the sheer fabric of her white nightgown clung to it, almost transmitting her body heat.

"Not chubby."

Chen Lusi raised his head, affirming: "If anything, it’s a bit too thin."

"..."

Lin Ying glanced down before replying, "Of course it’s not chubby the way you’re measuring; it’s the thinnest part. A little higher."

Chen Lusi considered her words and moved his hands slightly up her slender waist.

"A bit higher."

Lin Ying stepped forward, then gently stood on tiptoes, leaning her body forward against Chen Lusi, her white chin resting on his shoulder. As she urged him to go a bit higher, she reached to fiddle with his ponytail.

After a brief silence, Chen Lusi said, "Any higher and it’ll be near the ribs... Do you usually measure your waist here?"

"Chubby, right?"

Lin Ying stepped forward again, finally able to stand upright in front of Chen Lusi.

"Are you an idiot?"

Chen Lusi lowered his hands, wanting to see her expression, but noticing her on tiptoes, he feared she might fall if he moved back suddenly, sighing in resignation, "And what are you doing?"

"Playing with your ponytail."

Lin Ying admitted honestly, "It’s fun."

"Childish."

Chen Lusi let his hands hang down, speaking softly, "You’re in your twenties."

"... Last year, you still said I was cute."

Lin Ying paused and then asked, "Have you changed that quickly?"

"That was when you were eighteen, not last year."

Chen Lusi replied blankly, "And I remember I followed it up with calling you an idiot, right when our high school teacher was at the door. Couldn’t you have waited? You just had to be dragged away to get a talk about ’not slacking even during the end of senior year,’ ’love can wait till after graduation,’ and all that?"

"People tend to do what they want most when relaxing."

Lin Ying seemed to recall, smiling gently, "Besides, that teacher Liu let us off at the end, didn’t he?"

Chen Lusi said nothing, helpless against her.

Lin Ying continued playing with his ponytail, and suddenly asked, "Chen Lusi, do you want to leave the Celestial Strategy Mansion?"

Chen Lusi was slightly taken aback, then confusedly replied, "Didn’t you say you wanted to buy a house?"

"Once, twice, thrice..."

Lin Ying stood on tiptoe, calmly saying, "Three times already."

"What?"

Lin Ying didn’t answer directly, instead, she changed the subject, proposing, "I can cover the down payment myself, but in exchange, we rent a house together here, and you protect me, how about it?"

"Can you handle it alone?"

Chen Lusi slightly frowned, "I’ve been through a lot, my salary is only sixty thousand."

"I can."

Lin Ying nodded softly, her white chin pressing against Chen Lusi’s shoulder, "But the name has to be yours, the thirty-year mortgage we both have to pay together, that I can’t do alone."

Chen Lusi didn’t rush to respond, instead he put his arms around her waist, feeling her delicate body, pondering carefully before he spoke, "I’ll think about it."

Though he said that,

in his heart, he already knew the answer.

"However, the renting idea can be moved up the agenda."

Chen Lusi added, "Sleeping on the sofa is uncomfortable."

"... I remember the sofa is less than three meters from the room."

Lin Ying paused after hearing that, lowering her hand, resting on Chen Lusi’s shoulder, raising her head to meet his gaze, "Are you stupid?"

"Isn’t that your room?"

Chen Lusi casually replied, "It doesn’t seem right, it could lead to unexpected trouble, and I haven’t asked you."

"..."

Lin Ying withdrew a step in silence, then ran her fingers through her long hair, smoothing it down.

Then, she glanced at Chen Lusi, pulling him to the window, drawing the curtains open.

The sunset cast its glow into the room, lighting up Lin Ying’s beautiful face in a rosy hue, outlining her graceful curves through the thin fabric.

Lin Ying stretched lazily, then led Chen Lusi to the sofa, sitting down casually, and lightly patting the spot next to her.

Chen Lusi turned and sat down.

Lin Ying lifted the hem of her nightgown slightly, turning sideways to reveal a small section of smooth, jade-like thigh, looking at Chen Lusi: "I think it’s necessary to understand each other better before we co-rent."

Chen Lusi: "..."

Lin Ying didn’t care whether Chen Lusi agreed or not, she continued to ask on her own:

"The most incomprehensible yet intriguing thing at present?"

"Hi-fi."

"The easiest thing to understand?"

"Culinary cravings."

"Favorite movie... romantic genre."

"’Vanishing Lover’."

"..."

Hearing his answer to the third question, Lin Ying stopped the quick questioning, somewhat helplessly saying, "Why is it still this movie?"

"I remember once reading a review asking — what reasons can make someone calmly accept another person’s control and dominance without any familial bond as a support?"

Chen Lusi thought for a moment, responding, "And the answer was the thrill of the last name, financial security, and the exhaustion of time and energy by children.

I think this somewhat captures the essence of marriage, and it’s the answer the movie provides; I find it quite fitting, and the movie is brilliant.

Maybe my views will change after I get married, but that seems pretty tenuous, the first point I could resolve myself, the second doesn’t need marriage, and as for the third... I feel I’m not up to the responsibility a new life brings.

... After all, if I were to die one day and the child turned out like me, it would be terrible."

Chen Lusi looked ahead, his voice soft at the end.

"Resolve it yourself?"

Lin Ying watched Chen Lusi’s profile, hesitated for a moment, then curiously asked.

"That’s not the point."

Chen Lusi turned to look at Lin Ying’s pretty face, helplessly saying, "Alright... I just feel that the first point is the least important, because I don’t think I’m capable of being a boyfriend, nor do I think I can maintain a romantic relationship, let alone a marital one.

Once it happens, the relationship easily destabilizes, complicating matters, you understand?

If it’s because of desire that another person is destroyed, that feels even worse."