Do You Really Like Hong? Yaorao's Stubbornness

"You are unfortunate, yet also fortunate." Zhou Ze smiled slightly. "I could feel from his words that he is also very proud of you."

"Really?" A hint of surprise and shyness appeared on Yaorao's face.

Nothing pleases a child more than a parent's affirmation.

"Mhm, alright, no more family talk." Zhou Ze's expression returned to calm. "From Hong, I know your general situation."

"You've followed Hong since childhood, and you've also followed him in mental cultivation, but it seems it hasn't gone well?"

Yaorao's expression dimmed. "I did exactly as he said, but I don't know why it's not working..."

"Because you dare not face your true heart!" Zhou Ze believed that for such problems, a swift, decisive cut was the best method.

Hesitation leads to defeat, softness leads to loss!

"You like Hong, don't you?"

Zhou Ze's voice struck like thunder, exploding in Yaorao's heart!

"Of course... he's like a father to me..."

Yaorao's heart was in turmoil. Despite having the strength of a Councilor, standing one meter ninety, with an exaggerated, statuesque figure, she acted like a little girl—the contrast was overwhelming!

"No, I'm talking about romantic love! I've seen you sneaking glances at Hong many times, that awkward look in your eyes. You think you're hiding it well, but even a fool could see it."

"You think Hong doesn't know? He just hasn't said it, afraid of hurting you. Or rather, he's been waiting for an opportunity, and that opportunity is me!"

Zhou Ze said indifferently.

Crack!

Yaorao's heart shattered. She refused to accept reality. "Enough! Stop talking!"

"Why are you yelling so loud..." Zhou Ze raised an eyebrow. This Hong really didn't know how to handle his own affairs.

As he spoke, a water-blue domain bloomed, enveloping the entire Training Hall.

He didn't want Yaorao's voice to carry outside and cause gossip. Not out of fear, but to avoid trouble.

The domain expanded, its power similar to Hong's, instantly calming Yaorao down.

But hope still lingered in her heart.

"I know the Hall Master is afraid of trouble. As the number one person on Earth, too many eyes are on him. He also has his own children. If others found out he fell in love with his adopted daughter..." Yaorao spoke with conviction.

Zhou Ze said flatly, "He has never loved you..."

Before Zhou Ze could finish, Yaorao's voice shot up. "Then why does he care about me so much? This clearly goes beyond family affection. He obviously likes me too!"

"He just doesn't want to face it. He's afraid—afraid of the whole world knowing about our relationship."

"If he doesn't like me, why doesn't he just say it? Why make me his personal guard? I'm supposed to be a guard, but I've been doing his secretary's work all along..."

Damn it, Sima Hong!

The debt you owe me will never be repaid! Just say "Loyalty!" and "Honesty!" to me!

Zhou Ze felt his head throbbing.

A woman who has lost her reason, a child with an undeveloped mind, an old man faking a fall—these are the most headache-inducing things!

A brat can be tamed by a stick, a scammer has his fears too.

But a woman who has lost her reason is crazier than a pig before the New Year...

"Hong cares about you because he has always seen you as a daughter! With Hong's state of mind, if he truly liked you, he wouldn't care what others thought. But precisely because of that, how could he fall in love with the adopted daughter he raised himself?"

"His own biological children haven't spent as much time with him as you have, right? His familial love for you is no less than for them—maybe even more."

"Making you his personal guard was one of his measures... He has always been worried about you, watching over you. He didn't want to point it out directly because he was afraid you couldn't handle it."

"After all, you may seem strong in strength and talented in martial arts, but when it comes to emotions, you're really fragile..."

Yaorao couldn't refute him for a moment, but her brain temporarily underwent a super-evolution, making her IQ rival the smartest person on Earth!

She calmed down slightly and analyzed with reason and evidence: "He could have just kept me away. Over time, I would have slowly forgotten. The argument about making me his personal guard doesn't hold up. He likes me, but he doesn't dare to face it..."

Pfft!

Zhou Ze felt like spitting blood.

Women's IQ is bizarre—sometimes it drops to zero, sometimes it rivals Einstein's...

Sima Hong!

Cursing him again in his mind, Zhou Ze adjusted his mindset and said teasingly:

"Do you know the story of the Young Stallion and the Old Man?"

Yaorao listened, about to speak again, but was directly suppressed by Zhou Ze's voice, infused with domain power:

"You are an orphan. Because you are Hong's adopted daughter, your status is noble, and you have no friends. You placed all your emotional dependence on Hong..."

"If Hong deliberately distanced himself, do you think you wouldn't overthink? And in that emotionally vulnerable state, what if someone with ulterior motives took advantage of the situation?"

"The number of people who want to be Hong's son-in-law could circle the Earth a hundred times..."

Zhou Ze said pointedly, "Speaking of which, Thunder God has the most to say on this matter..."

Hong appeared cold on the surface, but the fire within him was no less intense than Thunder God's or Luo Feng's.

"Thunder God..." Yaorao's eyes were vacant.

As the only two transcendent powerhouses on Earth, every move Thunder God and Hong made was watched by major global forces.

The major powers of the world knew about Thunder God and his daughter, and Thunder God had publicly made harsh statements on the matter.

Hong naturally had his reservations. After all, many things looked one way on the surface while all sorts of shady dealings went on behind the scenes, and you could never find any evidence—everything happened as if by nature.

Zhou Ze said slowly, "So do you understand now?"

"You need to grow up. You can do anything you want, but please, stop causing trouble for your father!"

Yaorao's delicate frame trembled.

"But I really do love the Hall Master. I won't make him worry from now on. I won't fall in love with any man other than him!"

Yaorao wiped away her tears, stubborn and unyielding.

Zhou Ze had said everything he could say, maxing out every internal buff he had.

Yes, even in a matter like this, the system's judgment counted it as guidance. When Yaorao listened as a student and understood the content, she also gained a boost in comprehension.

But when it came to matters of the heart and mindset, it seemed no amount of comprehension or mental fortitude was enough, because from the very beginning, Yaorao knew she was deceiving herself.

"Actually, you know all of this clearly. You know that Hong's feelings for you are those of a father for a daughter. You even know that your feelings for Hong aren't love, but familial affection. So why can't you face it?"

Zhou Ze's expression was calm, like an elder speaking slowly:

"It's because you rely on him too much. Hong isn't good at expressing himself by nature; he even comes across as somewhat cold. He's a man of action, not words. His surface coldness even makes you overlook his actual caring actions..."

"A woman's nature is to seek affirmation. You all need constant affirmation to feel secure."

"So you're too afraid of losing Hong... and that gave birth to this twisted emotion. Because you lost everything when you were young, and Hong walked into your heart like a beam of light..."

Yaorao stared at Zhou Ze with tear-filled eyes, extremely fragile, her heart in turmoil.

"A daughter is her father's little cotton-padded jacket..."

"With Hong's state of mind, he sees it very clearly. He knows that if things continue this way, this situation is very likely to arise. But compared to another choice, he would rather choose this one..."

Yaorao's expression was calm: "No matter what you say, I just can't let go. And besides, the Hall Master and I have no blood relation. He's single too..."