Chapter 388: I Thought You Couldn"t Get over Your Old Flame
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
No one could have predicted that Qi Chenglin would be so energetic having just woken up. It was like he wanted her to collapse from exhaustion. His zeal was much more than the night before, and Ruan Danchen almost could not breathe. He made her unable to contain herself, and her body did not even answer to her anymore.
His chest was broad and she was wrapped tightly in him, bearing the weight of him engulfing her. She curled her arms and legs instinctively on him, hanging on him as if she was holding tightly onto a piece of floating wood.
Qi Chenglin intimately wiped off the sweat from her forehead. He felt very content.
“What time is it?” Ruan Danchen mumbled and asked.
Qi Chenglin glanced at the clock on the nightstand and said, “Ten thirty.”
“Oh dear, I forgot that I have a senior high school reunion to go to later.” Her words were so, but he did her so good that she was not that keen on getting up. She would much rather nuzzle in his embrace than attend the reunion.
Qi Chenglin remembered her school reunion too, but the main reason was because Ruan Danchen"s old crush would be attending too. He was hoping that she would forget the reunion.
He looked at her distantly but there was no way he could forbid her from going since that would all but reveal his pettiness.
There was a knock on the door. Qi Youxuan"s spirited voice resounded from outside. “Dad, Mom, are you awake yet? I want to eat!”
Qi Chenglin wanted to cozy himself with Ruan Danchen for a while longer, but Ruan Danchen got up immediately after hearing that her son was hungry.
“If you still want to sleep, you can sleep a while more.” Ruan Danchen looked at his handsome face and could not resist kissing him a few more times.
His pampering of her made her feel like she was becoming a member of the "good-looks a.s.sociation 1" [1].
Qi Chenglin did not say a single word and got up after she did.
After tidying things up, Ruan Danchen went out to see Qi Youxuan standing at the door. He was holding his little tummy and sporting a rather pitiful and hungry expression.
“I"m sorry. I"ll get to it now.” Ruan Danchen brought him to one side and asked, “What do you want to eat?”
“I"d like to eat some hot noodles for breakfast,” Qi Youxuan proclaimed. He thought about slurping his noodles without a care in the world, and with a hot bowl of soup and the white steam emitting from his noodles. Then, he imagined the warm feeling he would get after eating those noodles. His face looked absolutely gluttonous.
Ruan Danchen was incredibly amused by his demeanor and she wondered how the kiddo turned out to be such an adorable child. From the freezer, she took out some luncheon meat, some vegetables, and eggs. She whipped up three bowls of soup swiftly.
After the meal, all the dishes and utensils were cleaned up placed away. Ruan Danchen did not intend to put on any makeup. She might have considered doing so if it was just a simple reunion, but Chen Libai was there. He was old news, and the little embers of fondness wilted away before anything even started. After so many years, everyone was mature and no one would take all that too seriously.
She knew though, that Qi Chenglin was petty. Although she did not have any ulterior motives, putting on makeup might make him feel like she was eagerly looking forward to meeting with Chen Libai. She simply applied a layer of BB cream, some eyeliner, and a thin layer of lipstick. It was practically the same as her natural skin tone.
When she carried her bag out, she saw Qi Chenglin holding his iPad, but she could not see what he was looking at. He seemed to be engrossed in it and looked extremely focused.
Ruan Danchen could not help but do a double-take. "Is he really that accepting?"
Even so, she asked him in good faith, “Would you like to come with me? It"s okay to bring family members.”
Although that was the case, in past reunions, all those men bragged about bringing their own partners the next time they had a reunion. Most of them had girlfriends, while some were contemplating marriage and others were already married, yet not once did any of them bring their other half over.
They figured that everyone might feel uncomfortable since their own friends were not familiar with their significant others and might be reserved with their jokes.
Ruan Danchen had no apprehensions about it, but with Qi Chenglin"s aura, no one would probably say anything if he were to sit there, and the dinner would probably be cold.
It was Qi Chenglin"s feelings that Ruan Danchen cared the most about. She did not want him to sulk at home by himself.
Qi Chenglin remained nonchalant and lowered his iPad calmly. He c.o.c.ked a brow at her and said, “Family member?”
“…” Ruan Danchen glared at him. She knew that the man was using that chance to poke fun at her, but his waggling eyebrows and mischievous look made her feel shy.
“If you don"t want to be a family member then so be it,” Ruan Danchen said bashfully. She headed out, but he grabbed her wrist.
She was then pulled down to be seated beside him.
Qi Chenglin decided to place the iPad to one side and lean over. “You"re proposing to me?”
“I hate you!” Ruan Danchen murmured softly. She was still irked by it even though she knew he was teasing her on purpose. “A proposal is the kind of thing that men should do!”
Her willingness to invite him to join her was something that made him happy, but he masked that happiness and put on a solemn expression, remarking seriously, “It"s your school reunion. I"m not close to them. If I sit there, I don"t think they can talk freely, so I don"t think I"ll go.”
After saying that, he stood up. “I"ll send you and come back home.”
“Are you sure you won"t be worried if you don"t go?” Ruan Danchen looked at him suspiciously.
Qi Chenglin"s expression was incredibly calm and he was about to take his car keys.
“You don"t need to send me. It"s rare for you to be off work, so you should rest at home. I"ll just take a cab,” Ruan Danchen stopped him as she did not want him to drive to-and-fro.
“It"s not easy to get a cab here,” Qi Chenglin said.
Ruan Danchen swiped her phone. “There are e-hailing apps, right? I learned it from a colleague. It"s very convenient. Aunt Zheng is on leave and there"s no one at home. I"ll be worried if Youxuan stays at home alone.”
“But you wanted me to go with you?” Qi Chenglin c.o.c.ked a brow and asked.
“If you went with me, we could bring Youxuan or drop him off at Jade Field Park.” Ruan Danchen had already decided on that.
Qi Chenglin then nodded. “Okay. Call me when you"ve reached.”
Ruan Danchen tiptoed and kissed his lip. “I won"t stay there too long.”
“Mm,” Qi Chenglin responded. He sent her off at the doorstep, and although he really wanted her to just skip the reunion, he was so mindful of his dignity that he could not utter a single word.
Ruan Danchen went out of Prestige Residences 1 [2], and before she could even launch the e-hailing app, she saw an empty cab in front of her, which she flagged down immediately.
Around forty minutes later, Qi Chenglin received Ruan Danchen"s call.
She paid her fare and walked to Shengyue while saying, “I"m here.”
“What time do you want to leave? I"ll come pick you.” Qi Chenglin looked at the clock and was already feeling impatient just waiting at home.
“I"ll see. Will let you know later,” Ruan Danchen said. “Maybe in an hour or two.”
Qi Chenglin sat on the sofa with his iPad still on his lap, but none of the content or words could enter into his brain.
Once she hung up, Ruan Danchen went into Shengyue. She was already in the list of VIP members, so when the manager saw her, he immediately welcomed her in.
“Miss Ruan,” the manager greeted.
Ruan Danchen mentioned the name w.a.n.g Kaiyi, and the manager used his walkie-talkie to ascertain it with the front desk. He then escorted Ruan Danchen to a room on the second floor.
She went in and looked at the time. It was forty minutes past eleven and she arrived slightly later than the agreed-upon time. She went into the room and noticed that everyone was present—she was the last to arrive.
A man was seated on one of the seats that faced the wall. Ruan Danchen recognized him as Chen Libai.
He did not look too different from his senior high days, save for the slight maturation. He wore a black dress s.h.i.+rt with two b.u.t.tons undone, lending his collar a casual but confident look. His sleeves were folded up too, and he was chatting with the others in a very relaxed manner.
Chen Libai was attractive and handsome, but compared to Qi Chenglin he was just slightly inferior, be it in his looks or his charisma.
If Qi Chenglin really did show up, it was more than likely that everyone would be hesitant to speak up, if at all. They might just answer obediently to whatever questions that Qi Chenglin asked, making for an incredibly awkward situation.
“Danchen!” Gao Xiaoyang turned around and waved.
Ruan Danchen walked over with a smile on her face.
“Come, sit! We"ve saved a spot for you.” Gao Xiaoyang looked at her phone. “You"re ten minutes late.”
Twenty people were present and seated at the large round table. The only empty seat was beside Chen Libai. Ruan Danchen did not feel anything toward Chen Libai, so she went there and sat without feeling shy at all. Gao Xiaoyang was seated at her other side.
“Long time no see.” Chen Libai was originally in the middle of a conversation with Chang Jingqiu, but once he saw Ruan Danchen sit down, he simply cut off the conversation and ditched Chang Jingqiu to greet Ruan Danchen.
Ruan Danchen had just arrived, so she did not hear what Chen Libai and Chang Jingqiu were talking about. That was part of the reason why she did not notice Chang Jingqiu"s rather unhappy expression.
She smiled and replied courteously, “Yes, it"s been a long time. I heard from Xiaoyang that you"ve just returned to the country.”
“What plans do you have after returning? Do you want to get into your family"s business?” w.a.n.g Kaiyi asked.
Chen Libai shook his head. “I want to venture out myself and see whether I have what it takes. I can give myself this challenge because I"m still young. If it doesn"t work out and I suffer some losses, it"ll still be a beneficial thing.”
“I never expected you to think of it that way. You"re very different from those other rich kids that I know,” Chang Jingqiu smiled and said. Her beautiful eyes were constantly hovering over Chen Libai"s face.
Chang Jingqiu transferred to their school during the latter half of their second year in senior high. Her family was from J City, but despite that, her family"s business was well-known across the country. In terms of ranking, the Chang family 1"s position was quite high. J City was a small place after all, with the uppercla.s.smen paling in number when compared to B City. The Chang family [3] all migrated to B City and successfully integrated with B City"s upper-cla.s.s society
“Chen Libai, you keep a pretty low profile, don"t you? Ever since high school, I knew you were from a good background, but I didn"t know that you were this good,” Gao Xiaoyang smiled and remarked. “I"m now a finance journalist. If there are any interviews in the future, maybe you can do me a favor?”
“If I can, I will,” Chen Libai answered with a smile.
“Libai, you studied abroad but you didn"t bring a girlfriend home?” w.a.n.g Kaiyi asked knowingly.
Chen Libai smiled and glanced briefly at Ruan Danchen, saying, “Westerners don"t suit my tastes, and the cultural discrepancy is just too wide. Our personalities don"t complement. In other words, I already knew that I"d be coming home, and sooner or later I"ll have to break up with them. Why should I have that playboy mentality and do all those irresponsible things?”
“I thought you couldn"t get over your old flame,” Gao Xiaoyang chimed in.
She had earlier agreed with w.a.n.g Kaiyi to lead the conversation to Chen Libai"s love life. Sensing their intentions, Ruan Danchen was left with no choice but to feign ignorance.
“When I was younger, I didn"t want to be an irresponsible person. I"m not the kind of person who can just promise you things on a whim, then slap your a*s and leave just like that. Truth is, there were some things I couldn"t forget,” Chen Libai said. He looked at Ruan Danchen without being discreet at all.
“…” Ruan Danchen did not know what else to do. She could only pretend to be clueless and drink some tea to hide what she felt.
“I remember too, even though the both of you didn"t say it, the entire cla.s.s knew that you both liked each other,” w.a.n.g Kaiyi said.
Chen Libai was smiling constantly beside her, and Chang Jingqiu suddenly asked, “I heard Xiaoyang say that you already have a boyfriend, Danchen?”
Chang Jingqiu was all smiles and the question was asked in a very gentle voice, but Ruan Danchen felt that something was not quite right.
Nevertheless, Chang Jingqiu"s sentences were Ruan Danchen"s saving grace. She had no qualms about affirming it, as that would prevent Chen Libai and the others from making things awkward.
“Mm,” Ruan Danchen said without missing a beat. Fearing that her response might be too slow that others may accuse her of finding an excuse. She was still rather worried, so she added, “We"re really happy with each other.”
Chang Jingqiu sn.i.g.g.e.red and said, “Why are you so anxious for? You"re that proud to have a boyfriend?”
Ruan Danchen felt embarra.s.sed, realizing that her answer was made in some haste, as though she was dying to let everyone know that she had a boyfriend.
She chuckled awkwardly, but Chang Jingqiu smiled and added, “Okay, I won"t tease you anymore. I know you"re really happy with the relations.h.i.+p. Xiaoyang said the two of you are living together.”
Chen Libai"s expression became forced once he heard that, and his mien started to become dull.
Ruan Danchen did not know what Chang Jingqiu was up to because those words did not seem to tally with the smiling face. Those sentences seemed to be directed toward Chen Libai.
However, Ruan Danchen was not at all bothered about Chen Libai"s thoughts, as it would be best to extinguish quickly whatever intentions he might have.
She nodded without even blus.h.i.+ng. “Mm, we"re discussing marriage already. He"s considered my first love.”
“And I thought your first love was Libai,” w.a.n.g Kaiyi said jokingly.
Ruan Danchen glared at him. “Don"t make these kinds of jokes. My boyfriend will be jealous if he finds out.”
“Yo, you"re that scared of him?” w.a.n.g Kaiyi c.o.c.ked a brow.
“I"m not scared of him. I love him a lot.” Ruan Danchen"s mind was already set on killing off whatever thoughts Chen Libai had, which was why she could say that so brazenly.
She was not a fan of keeping others in the dark, and she would not string anyone along either.
“You"re showing a lot of love, but your boyfriend"s not even here. If he was, I don"t even know how lovey-dovey the both of you would be,” someone jested.
“But Danchen, you"re the same age as me, right? If your boyfriend is your first love, doesn"t that mean that your first love came a little bit too late?” Chang Jingqiu asked half-smilingly.
Ruan Danchen giggled and said, “I knew him when I was nineteen. He was my first love, but we were separated for some time, and I didn"t look for anyone else. We got together again later on.”
After finis.h.i.+ng those few sentences, she continued, “Why are we focusing so much on me? It"s nothing important to be focusing on. Aren"t we here to welcome Libai back?”
“Exactly, exactly!”
Everyone"s attention was thus successfully diverted to the topic, but Chen Libai looked at Ruan Danchen with a very convoluted expression.
Qi Chenglin sat in the living room and watched the replay of a newly-produced variety show, but he was not actually paying attention to it. The entire show was just boisterous noise, which Qi Chenglin used to drown out the loneliness in the home.
Having watched it for a while, Qi Chenglin looked at the time. It had been an hour since Ruan Danchen"s call. He looked at Qi Youxuan sitting on the rug and playing with his Lego while watching television. He wondered if the child was heartless, because it had been so long since Ruan Danchen left, yet he did not think to be worried for her.