Chapter 33: Push and Pull

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“Sorry, I was taking a shower just now.”

Shen Siyuan sent Jiang Tingyu a message on WeChat.

But Jiang Tingyu did not reply at once. Whether she had not seen it or was deliberately playing some little mind game, he could not tell.

When a man and a woman are mutually attracted, having one’s message go unanswered for too long can be an agonizing, nerve-racking experience.

Once one party has developed feelings, they easily become passive, plagued by uncertainty and fear of loss, and fall straight into the other person’s trap.

But since Shen Siyuan intended to keep the upper hand, he naturally kept his composure. He opened a game and began playing against someone else.

After roughly two or three minutes, Jiang Tingyu’s reply finally came.

Shen Siyuan did not switch out of the game to answer her. He finished the round first, then unhurriedly exited the game.

“Do you want to come to my aquarium tomorrow and watch me perform?”

“Sorry, I was playing a game just now. Tomorrow probably won’t work. I came back to my hometown today, and I probably won’t return until tomorrow evening.”

Shen Siyuan bluntly told her that he had been playing a game and had not replied to her message because he wanted to give her the impression that she was not actually all that important to him.

Saying that he had returned to his hometown was both an answer and a test.

If Jiang Tingyu merely expressed regret and said that she would have to watch his performance another time, then it would mean that although she liked him, her feelings were not particularly strong.

But if, after hearing that, she became curious about where his hometown was and whether it was fun there, then there were two possibilities.

Either Jiang Tingyu was a serial flirt who wanted to keep Shen Siyuan dangling.

Or she had genuinely developed feelings for him, but did not want to start a relationship just yet while also not wanting to lose him. Torn and undecided, she wanted to tie Shen Siyuan down first and take her time deciding whether to be with him.

“Oh, right. I remember you mentioning it over dinner yesterday. Your hometown is in Qingshui Town, isn’t it? Is it far from here? How long does it take to get there by car?”

Seeing that, the corners of Shen Siyuan’s lips lifted.

Now this was interesting...

He followed her lead and continued chatting with her.

He even said that he would invite her to visit when he had the time.

Just as the two of them were chatting enthusiastically, Shen Siyuan suddenly added, “One of my relatives introduced me to someone. I came back for a blind date.”

Jiang Tingyu was clearly rendered speechless by that message. It was quite some time before she finally replied.

“You only went on a blind date with me yesterday, and tomorrow you’re meeting another girl? Are you really that eager to find a girlfriend?”

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That question was, strictly speaking, somewhat inappropriate. But it also clearly showed that Shen Siyuan’s actions had made her uncomfortable.

Moreover, she had ended with “are you really that eager” rather than a more direct question. Her tone was therefore somewhat gentler. Clearly, she did not want to cut ties with Shen Siyuan just like that.

“I can’t help it. You didn’t take a liking to me, so naturally I have to keep looking. Besides, it isn’t me who’s in a hurry—it’s my parents,” Shen Siyuan replied.

He placed the pressure directly on her.

If Jiang Tingyu truly wanted to keep Shen Siyuan dangling, then she would have to seriously consider whether she could hold on to him with mere conversation, or whether she needed to take things a step further. A sense of urgency would arise in her heart as she weighed the gains and losses.

Shen Siyuan was actually very good at reading people’s minds. If Jiang Tingyu was not a serial flirt, then her behavior could not really be considered malicious.

Most people who had suffered emotional wounds became especially cautious upon entering a new relationship. They tested the waters repeatedly. It was only human nature, and Shen Siyuan was not surprised.

The two chatted for a while longer before Shen Siyuan took the initiative to end the conversation.

This also showed that Shen Siyuan did not particularly care about the relationship between them.

If Jiang Tingyu stopped there, the two of them would probably have no further contact.

But if Jiang Tingyu took the initiative to contact him again, she would only sink deeper and deeper. In the end, having invested too many feelings and accumulated too great a sunk cost, she would be unwilling to give up, forcing her to pay an even greater price.

Seen in that light, Shen Siyuan was rather a scoundrel.

Still, Shen Siyuan did quite like Jiang Tingyu. After all, with a beauty like her, how could he possibly feel nothing?

If Jiang Tingyu truly wanted to treat their feelings seriously, Shen Siyuan would also make a sincere effort to get along with her.

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“Here?”

Beneath the moonlight, the old Daoist priest and Yu Youcai stood outside the courtyard of Shen Siyuan’s home, carefully examining the building before them.

Yu Youcai nodded.

“Your nephew is doing quite well for himself,” the old Daoist priest remarked.

“He only started making some money these past few years. He lost quite a lot in the years before that. I even put my retirement savings into helping him.”

“You two must be very close.”

The old Daoist priest turned his head. It was rare for someone to be willing to spend their retirement savings on a nephew.

“I’ve never had a son or daughter of my own, so he’s practically half a son to me. Jianguo’s a filial child too. When I die, he and his father will wear mourning clothes and observe the funeral rites for me.” Yu Youcai sounded rather proud.

The old Daoist priest gave a slight nod before continuing, “You go inside. I’ll wait out here.”

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At that, Yu Youcai walked through the courtyard gate and went inside.

As for the old Daoist priest, why did he not enter? Was it because he did not want to?

Naturally not. It was because he could not.

A house was considered private territory. When someone lived inside, their aura became one with the house. Unless a spirit had been a direct blood relative of the person during life, it could not enter without the owner’s permission. All ghosts and other supernatural beings would be blocked outside.

That was also why, on that day, Lu Guanchang had merely lingered outside Jiang Wenxin’s door instead of entering the house: he simply could not get in.

As for why Yin Xingyue had been able to follow Doudou into Shen Siyuan’s home, that was because the house did not actually belong to Shen Siyuan. He was only renting it.

This was also why some people, when staying in a hotel, would first knock three times on the door before opening it sideways. They were informing the “people” inside that the room now had an occupant and asking them to make room.

These old customs did, in fact, have a certain rationale behind them.

Once inside, Yu Youcai went upstairs with practiced ease and entered Shen Siyuan’s room directly. Clearly, this was not his first visit.

But upon entering, he was startled to see Shen Siyuan sitting on the bed and looking at him.

“Great-Uncle,” Shen Siyuan said, somewhat puzzled. Why had he come looking for him in the middle of the night?

“You knew I was coming?” Great-Uncle asked in surprise.

Shen Siyuan nodded. Not only had he sensed Yu Youcai entering, he also knew that another ghost was waiting outside the courtyard gate.

As the master of the Myriad Souls Banner, he still possessed that much ability, even though the banner had been badly damaged.

That was also why he had immediately noticed Yin Xingyue following behind Doudou that day.

“There’s something strange about your condition. I’m worried something might have gone wrong, so I found an old Daoist priest to examine you. He knows a great deal. Would you like to meet him?” Great-Uncle asked.

When Shen Siyuan heard that the visitor was a Daoist priest, he became interested.

Since ghosts existed in this world, Daoist priests and Buddhist monks naturally had the greatest authority in such matters. Perhaps one of them could resolve some of the doubts weighing on Shen Siyuan’s mind.

He immediately rose and said, “Then I’ll go meet him.”

But he soon sat back down. “Actually, have him come in and talk here. It’s late at night, and it wouldn’t be good to wake my parents.”

Seeing that Shen Siyuan had agreed, Yu Youcai turned and went back downstairs to call the old Daoist priest inside.

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