I rejected your confession, but you took my best friend home?

Chapter 186 Um... she doesn't seem to be the aloof type.

Shen Linyi's gaze first fell on Zhou Heng, but her expression remained unchanged.

When she saw Yin Mengran beside Zhou Heng, her body trembled slightly, and a hint of surprise, along with some strange emotions, flashed in her eyes for a moment.

It only flashed by and didn't linger for long, so no one noticed.

Zhou Heng raised his hand and greeted, "Hi...long time no see..."

Shen Linyi simply nodded and responded with a faint "Mm".

Zhou Heng lowered his hand; he knew it would be the same reaction...

He shouldn't have held onto any hope that her attitude towards him could change...

He didn't know what he had done to offend her, or why she was treating him like this...

"Tsk...look at you...Zhou Heng came all this way just to have fun, and you're really..."

Liu Ling also looked helpless, glanced at Shen Linyi, turned to Zhou Heng, and said:

"Haha... Don't mind him, Zhou Heng. You know this kid, he meant no harm, don't take it to heart..."

"It's okay, Auntie, I... I'm used to it."

Zhou Heng forced an awkward smile, shrugged, and pretended not to care.

But actually, I felt really bad inside. Being treated like that by my own siblings was really upsetting; anyone would feel bad about that...

After that, Shen Linyi stared at Yin Mengran, her eyes devoid of any emotion, her expression completely blank, as if she had facial paralysis...

Liu Ling quickly spoke up: "Oh right, this is..."

"Auntie, let me introduce myself."

Yin Mengran stood up and walked forward confidently.

Shen Linyi was a little taller than Yin Mengran, so Yin Mengran raised her head slightly to look at her, giving her a kind smile.

"Hello! Nice to meet you. My name is Yin Mengran, and I'm Zhou Heng's girlfriend. Happy New Year!"

Yin Mengran extended her hand, wanting to shake hands with Shen Linyi in a simple and friendly manner.

However, Shen Linyi didn't seem to react much to Yin Mengran's enthusiasm.

"Oh... hello..."

Shen Linyi nodded and responded to Yin Mengran.

Then, the hand seemed to reach out, but then stopped.

As if he was hesitating, although it was just a fleeting movement, Yin Mengran still caught it.

Yin Mengran raised her eyebrows, quickly withdrew her hand, smiled faintly at her, and then went back to sit down.

Shen Linyi didn't linger. After taking two seconds to make sure there was nothing else for her to do, she turned around and went back to her bedroom without hesitation.

"Oh, you silly child..."

Liu Ling was completely helpless, watching as Shen Linyi went back to her bedroom without saying another word, leaving her extremely embarrassed...

No matter what, they are guests and family members. Such an attitude is truly disheartening.

"It's alright, Auntie, it's alright, we don't mind."

Zhou Heng quickly waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care about Shen Linyi's attitude. In fact, he had been prepared for this and was not surprised by her attitude.

After sitting down, Yin Mengran remained silent, looking somewhat surprised.

He couldn't help but frown, as if he was pondering something...

Liu Ling quickly smiled and said, "Never mind her, I'll get you some food. Feel free to do whatever you want, make yourself at home here."

After Liu Ling went to the kitchen, Yin Mengran whispered in Zhou Heng's ear:

"Um...she doesn't seem like the aloof type, it seems...it wasn't intentional..."

Zhou Heng turned to look at Yin Mengran, his expression somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Huh? What do you mean..."

"I feel like... she just seems to have very severe social anxiety..."

"Social...social anxiety?...Huh?"

A look of surprise flashed in Zhou Heng's eyes as he stared at Yin Mengran in disbelief.

The main problem is that I've known Shen Linyi for so many years and I never noticed it myself, but Yin Mengran knew she was socially awkward after just one meeting?

"Are you sure?"

"I...I'm not sure, but I feel like she wanted to say something to you, but didn't know how to start. And when she saw me, she seemed quite tense. I initially thought she was hostile towards me, but now it seems she was just overly nervous because a stranger suddenly came to her house..."

"real or fake?"

Zhou Heng couldn't help but have some doubts and began to believe Yin Mengran's story.

He thought about how long he had known Shen Linyi, and how she would only reply with a few words when they spoke, and how she never initiated conversations with him.

Even when we make eye contact, she avoids it, so my memory of her face is a bit hazy...

He always thought that Shen Linyi was too aloof and looked down on him, which was why she never spoke to him.

But now that Yin Mengran has said it, it does seem to make some sense...

After all, it seems Shen Linyi treats everyone the same way, not just her. She's a little nicer to elders, and talks to them more than she does to her.

But when facing peers... he rarely speaks...

"I guessed, because..."

Yin Mengran stopped speaking abruptly, silently lowered her head, and did not continue.

Zhou Heng was puzzled and asked, "Why?"

"Because...I used to...be socially anxious too..."

Yin Mengran spoke very softly, as if she were a little shy, and kept her head very low.

"Uh... well, I really didn't realize that. I always thought you had a pretty cheerful personality..."

“Before, too many guys talked to me... I didn’t want to reply to them, but they kept talking... and it made me socially anxious.”

"Ah, that's true, it makes people not want to talk, so... Shen Linyi might be in the same situation?"

Zhou Heng stroked his chin, beginning to recall what Shen Linyi was like in the past.

It seems like she's always been like this since I first met her. I wonder if she's had some kind of experience in the past that made her like this.

"Hmm... probably so. But since she knew you were here and came out of her room, I think... it's not that she didn't want to talk to you, right? Otherwise, she wouldn't have come out at all. So, she probably just didn't know what to say..."

"Well, that makes sense."

Zhou Heng nodded, agreeing with Yin Mengran's statement, looking as if he had just realized something.

The thought that things have been like this all these years, perhaps wanting to say something but ultimately unable to, must be a terrible feeling.

"Then... is there any way to solve this?"