"To truly string someone along is when you have better options, but for now, you can't choose them, so you keep things ambiguous with me. That's what it means to string someone along. So tell me, do you still want to be with Senior Miles?" Gavin Gao asked.
Yina Yin shook her head. "The current Miles... I don't want to be with him."
"What if Senior Miles went back to how he used to be?"
"I can't promise. Maybe I'd go back." Yina Yin answered honestly.
Gavin Gao smiled, but there was a trace of sadness in his eyes.
"See, you've said it yourself. Unless Miles goes back to how he was, you wouldn't consider him. Everything's clear now, so this isn't stringing someone along. It's me, willingly and voluntarily giving myself. If you lied to me and said you'd never go back, that would be stringing me along." Gavin Gao said.
Yina Yin sighed. "Isn't that just fooling yourself?"
"I like it. What's wrong with that?" Gavin Gao tilted his head at Yina Yin, looking both cute and handsome, full of sunshine.
"Am I really that charming?" Yina Yin laughed at herself. "You know there's danger, but you still run toward it?"
"Hahaha, don't sell yourself short." Gavin Gao laughed loudly. "Yina, you're Aunt Gu's daughter."
"So what?"
"So you shouldn't underestimate your charm!" Gavin Gao laughed so hard he started to tear up. "Back then, Mr. Mo was such an amazing person, and he still refused to marry anyone but Aunt Gu. You're Aunt Gu's daughter, and I'm nowhere near as great as Mr. Mo, but I'm happy to wait for you. Why not?"
Yina Yin couldn't help but laugh. "Your analogy is really something..."
Yina Yin was never the type to brood or get tangled in her feelings. Once things were said and clear, she didn't dwell on it.
"Alright, I've made myself clear. If you want to keep going, that's your choice. Chasing is your right, accepting is my freedom." Yina Yin patted the railing. "I really can't pull off being a 'green tea girl.' This is hard work."
Gavin Gao chuckled. "Don't, please don't try to be a green tea girl. I see way too many of them in the entertainment industry every day. Just be your true self and give my eyes a break."
Yina Yin reached out to Gavin Gao. "So it's settled. If I want to stop being single, I'll consider you. If I don't, don't complain. Deal?"
"Deal." Gavin Gao shook Yina Yin's hand, ending the conversation like two buddies.
On another balcony, Yuzhen Yin and Ryan King were crouched, eavesdropping.
"Ryan, do we really have to crouch here and eavesdrop on my sister and Senior Gavin?" Yuzhen Yin asked, frustrated.
"Shut up, I can't even hear what they're saying." Ryan King clamped a hand over Yuzhen Yin's mouth, whispering, "Aren't you curious how Captain Yina is going to turn down Gavin?"
Yuzhen Yin pulled Ryan King's hand away. "How do you know my sister will definitely turn Gavin down?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Ryan King sprawled out, putting on a face so clueless it was almost funny. "How long has Miles Gu been in trouble? After twenty years together, do you think Captain Yina would just let go? Gavin's chasing her so hard, she's gotta be annoyed. Captain Yina's always straight with people she doesn't like—she'll make it clear."
Yuzhen Yin looked thoughtful. "You think my sister doesn't have any new feelings for Miles Gu? At lunch today, Miles was acting all confused—do you think that made her soften up?"
"Hell no! You really don't get Captain Yina." Ryan King shot Yuzhen Yin a look of disdain. "Seriously, where have you been for nineteen years?"
Yuzhen Yin scratched the back of his head. "I've never been in love, so how would I know any of this stuff?"
"Let me break it down for you. No matter what happens with Miles Gu's engagement, no one can make Captain Yina settle for someone she doesn't like. Got it?"
"Got it."
"You say you get it, but it's pretty clear you don't." Ryan King rolled his eyes. "Cherry went through all that trouble to set up a group photo with Gavin and Captain Yina. Captain Yina doesn't want to hurt Gavin, doesn't want to waste Cherry's effort, and doesn't want to compromise herself. So she's figuring out how to turn him down."
Yuzhen Yin scratched the back of his head again.