Reborn to Outshine My Ex and His White Moonlight-Chapter 354: Not Ugly, Quite Cute

A familiar voice, yet Lin Zhiyi felt as if it came from another lifetime.

She followed her pale fingers and looked toward the newcomer.

It was Gong Chen, whom she hadn’t seen for over a month.

He had lost some weight, his features became sharper and more dangerous, and his deep, ink-black eyes imperceptibly flickered.

With just one glance, a chill crawled up her spine, her blood turning ice-cold.

Lin Zhiyi’s mind wandered for a moment. Realizing she had been staring at him, she immediately returned to reality and turned her body aside.

"No need."

As she walked past him, her wrist was tightly grasped.

The man stared at Lin Zhiyi’s face, his jawline tensed, and his restrained eyes brimming with intense emotion.

The next second, he closed the door behind him forcefully, pushing Lin Zhiyi back into the restroom.

Lin Zhiyi stumbled back several steps, hitting the edge of the vanity, her head pressing against the cold mirror.

The man leaned in close, looking down at her face, not missing a single flicker of change.

His unabashed, fiery gaze was so intense it left her gasping for breath.

Lin Zhiyi tried to look away, but he caught her chin and lifted it, forcing her to meet his eyes.

His Adam’s apple rolled slowly, his breath delicately landing on her face.

"You really want to marry him?"

"Yes." Lin Zhiyi answered with crisp decisiveness.

Gong Chen’s eyes reddened slightly, turning instantly dark and fearsome.

Lin Zhiyi struggled, and the chin he was holding started to hurt more and more.

Suddenly, he pulled her into his arms with force, his dark eyes shaking with a complexity he could not understand.

As he kissed her fiercely, the sound of a slap echoed in the empty restroom.

"Have you come to your senses?" Lin Zhiyi said angrily, "You’re married, Third Young Master."

Gong Chen tilted his head slightly, his tongue licking the corner of his lips.

His gaze darkened, his hand holding the handkerchief lifted slightly to wipe the hair on Lin Zhiyi’s temple.

"There’s some water."

"I don’t need you to care! Can’t you understand? Can you stay away from me! Why do you come and go as you please! Get out!"

Lin Zhiyi forcefully pushed the man in front of her and ran out.

Reaching the end of the corridor and feeling the warm breeze by the window, she finally regained some semblance of rationality.

She took a deep breath, adjusted her thoughts, and turned back to the private room.

Unexpectedly, Chen Jin had followed her.

He handed her a pouch: "Miss Lin, here’s some stomach medicine."

The sudden show of concern was just like spoiled food, nothing but a source of nausea.

After that night, Lin Zhiyi had been healing herself, both physically and mentally.

Yet that man could get married with a clear conscience just by telling himself to forget, and then pretend nothing had happened as he showed concern for her.

Just thinking about this, Lin Zhiyi could not contain her fury as she grabbed the medicine, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it several times.

"Tell him, I don’t need it!"

Having said that, Lin Zhiyi turned around and left.

Chen Jin watched her retreating figure, wanting to call out to her several times, but in the end, he just sighed, picked up the medicine from the ground, and went back to Gong Chen’s side.

He looked at Gong Chen awkwardly: "She doesn’t want it. Third Young Master, you rushed here as soon as you got off the plane, let me take you back to rest."

Gong Chen’s eyes drooped, concealing the calm look in his eyes: "Hmm."

...

Back in the private room, Liu He and Sang Li were chatting and laughing, getting along very well.

Only then did Lin Zhiyi regain some sense of reality.

She longed for a normal family too much, with parents and a husband who cherished her, a future where everything was ordinary and smooth.

Now, she was about to get it all.

Sang Li looked at her with concern: "What’s wrong?"

Lin Zhiyi took a sip of tea: "This morning I tried making a new flavor of fried pancake, but I accidentally used too much oil, and ever since then, my stomach has felt uncomfortable. Just now, seeing all the greasy dishes made me think of those oily pancakes."

Liu He quickly interjected: "Stop, just hearing about it makes me feel greasy. Back in high school, you loved eating those, and once after eating too much, not only did you feel sick to your stomach, but the next day you broke out with several big pimples. You even believed those internet remedies saying ginger could clear up acne. So you sneaked into the kitchen in the middle of the night, but then you ran into..."

Mid-sentence, she pursed her lips.

"She immediately corrected herself: ’It was so funny to see her acne flare up so red and swollen the next day.’"

Upon hearing this, Sang Li clenched his fist against his lips.

Lin Zhiyi awkwardly continued to drink water.

That day, she had just applied ginger to her face when she ran into Gong Chen who was returning from socializing.

She had a crush on Gong Chen and naturally didn’t want to lose face in front of the person she liked.

So she covered her face, intending to run away, but Gong Chen caught her right in the act.

"What is that on your face? It looks grotesque."

He was as indifferent as ever at that time, and his tone was sometimes even a bit mean.

Startled by his words, Lin Zhiyi lowered her hand and looked into the mirror, only to find her acne even redder and more swollen.

"Ah! I look like a freak!"

With a glum face, she instinctively glanced at Gong Chen’s expression through the mirror.

His lips quietly curled up, revealing an almost imperceptible light smile.

"Are you laughing at me?" Lin Zhiyi felt like crying without tears.

"It’s all part of puberty. I had it too, just not as... unique as yours."

Gong Chen was always decisive and ruthless in his affairs outside, so his attempts at consolation were somewhat awkward.

Lin Zhiyi just burst into tears.

"You look even uglier crying." Gong Chen approached her, lifting his hand to wipe away her tears.

This was the first time they were so close, so very close.

Despite smelling of tobacco and alcohol, his unique scent was still undeniable.

Lin Zhiyi pursed her lips as she gazed at his handsome face up close, even making out the details of his thick eyelashes.

Her heart raced uncontrollably, forgetting all about the acne, as her hands anxiously clutched her dress.

He suddenly stopped and said in a low voice, "You’re... eighteen, right?"

"Mm."

"Still too young."

"..."

Lin Zhiyi pushed him away and ran off.

Being considered too young by the person she liked felt just like being rejected.

After returning, she was upset all night, and the next day her face was swollen, with the acne even more so.

But a tube of acne cream appeared on her table.

"Zhiyi?"

Sang Li’s voice pulled Lin Zhiyi back from her thoughts.

She looked up at him: "What is it?"

"What are you thinking about? You seem so engrossed."

"Just thinking about how I swelled up like a pig’s head. I really didn’t expect acne to be so powerful. Later, I asked a doctor with my mom and found out that some areas of the face shouldn’t be irritated, or it will worsen," Lin Zhiyi touched her face.

"I’m quite curious to see what that looked like," Sang Li said with a laugh.

"I have a picture." Liu He began to take out her phone from her purse.

"Mom!"

Lin Zhiyi quickly pressed down Liu He’s hand, fearing that she would really take out the photo.

Sang Li laughed and stood up, insistent on wanting to see.

Lin Zhiyi quickly blocked him with her body.

Suddenly the private room was filled with playful noises.

"It’s fine, I’ll marry you even if you’re ugly."

"Don’t you dare look!" Lin Zhiyi nearly embraced Sang Li.

Liu He sat to the side, giggling non-stop, incredibly amused.

The three of them didn’t notice the gaze at the doorway.

Outside the door, Gong Chen watched Lin Zhiyi playfully tussle with Sang Li and turned to leave.

After getting into the car, Gong Chen lit a cigarette.

Only after a long time, in a hazy murmur, he slowly spoke.

"I’ve seen it, not ugly, pretty cute actually."