They reached downstairs, but she didn’t see An Ran’s car. She had no choice but to look at An Ran. “Your car? Was it in an accident or did it get stolen?”
An Ran rolls her eyes, she should’ve known not to expect anything nice from her. “My car’s at the company's parking lot, I didn’t get to drive it back. We’ll take a taxi, a taxi.”
Lin Li nods, rolls her eyes, and suddenly says, “Ah! How about this, you can drive Cheng Xiang’s car. Then when we’re finished, you can send me home.”
An Ran’s mouth twitches. This girl is actually treating her like a chauffeur! However, today she is supposed to apologize, and that is why she didn’t foolishly argue against this Lao Fo Ye. She gathers herself and puts on a good attitude while smiling, and says, “Lao Fo Ye, you* see that your* son Xiang’s mistress (as in, the car) is a brand name, how can I, this lowly person, even dare to touch or breathe in it?” *you is formal/ respectful
Lin Li looks at her thoughtfully, and after a while she nods. “Your words are reasonable, though a bit rough.”
Not in a good mood, An Ran gives her a pat, as she smiles and says, “I already gave you* a few colours so that you* can open up a dye workshop, and I don’t even get a thank you.” *informal
*informal “Hey hey hey, watch your* attitude.” Lin Li deadpans. She looks at An Ran with that expression and then cracks a smile. Seeing Lin Li look at her with that expression, An Ran cracks a smile. In turn, Lin Li also struggles to stifle a laugh. Eventually, the two crack up on the sidewalk, rolling up like a dumpling.
Once they flagged a taxi, An Ran gave the address. But on their way there, the car’s Lao Fo Ye decided to issue a different order, saying that she wants to eat You Ran Restaurant’s yellow croaker. Seeing that today she was to apologize, and seeing that a pregnant woman’s mood is so unstable, An Ran, without hesitation, let the driver change directions and headed towards You Ran restaurant.
When they had entered the restaurant, An Ran did not request for a private room. She only looked around the lounge for a seat by the window, and the waiter smiled as they handed her their menu. An Ran let Lin Li decide on the order. Lin Li eyes An Ran, the corner of her mouth rises up slightly, her expression scheming something evil.
An Ran was taking a drink of the water that the waiter had just placed down, when she gets a bad premonition. Even more, she had already begun to grieve after her thinning wallet. And when An Ran was secretly grieving for her change purse as if it were the eve of mourning, a ray of light from the side created a shadow of a person that stood beside An Ran. Before An Ran could raise her head, she heard the person say, “Mrs. Su, you’ve come to have a meal!”
“Pu Wu!” An Ran suddenly choked on her water. The water did not go down the right pipe, but instead went up her nose. An Ran's choking face became crimson red, coughing incessantly.
“An Zi?” Lin Li was startled, quickly handed her a napkin, and quickly ran over to her side to pat her back, at the same time, saying, “Are you okay! How can you choke on water!”
An Ran continues to cough. Half of the water had gone up her nose, while the other half was stuck in her throat. She was really suffering.
“Mrs. Su, you, are you okay!” Manager Zhang looks at An Ran with guilt. He was just at the lounge giving the staff orders, when he saw the two ladies come in. Yesterday when Mr. Su had asked for the flower pavilion, he gave a call intending to consult Chief Su, only to hear Chief Su say that that Mr. Su was her older brother, and to give them special treatment. So seeing that An Ran had come back again today, he was thinking of giving her a loud greeting, yet didn’t expect that he was too rash. He accidentally made her choke!
Hearing his words ‘Mrs. Su’ repeatedly, An Ran coughs even louder.
Seeing this, Lin Li turns her head to glare at that Manager Zhang, in a bad mood, she says, “Do you have the wrong person? What do you mean Mrs. Su, who is this Mrs. Su.”
“Uh…” Manager Zhang was startled, he was a bit confused. Pointing at An Ran dazedly he says, “She isn’t Mrs. Su?”
“She’s….” Lin Li was thinking of something to say, when a thought suddenly occurred to her, she turns to look at An Ran. “You got married with a man with the surname Su?”
An Ran took a breath with difficulty, stopped her coughing, however her face was still crimson red. Looking at Lin Li, she nods.
“Mrs. Su, you, are you okay? Are you alright?” Manager Zhang asks with concern.
An Ran nods her head, waving her hand to him, and with difficulty, says, “I’m—I’m fine.”
Only then does Manager Zhang nod his head, but before leaving he does not forget to say, “Then, Mrs. Su, if you ever need anything please let me know.”
They wait for Manager Zhang to leave, and An Ran finally managed to stop coughing. Standing up, Lin Li goes back to her seat, taking the menu upon sitting down. She looks at An Ran cautiously, but doesn't say anything.
An Ran was a bit unnerved. “You.. Whatever you wanna say just say it, whatever you wanna ask just ask, don’t look at me like that, it’s weird.”
After a good amount of time had passed, Lin Li finally asks, “An Zi, what’s your husband like. Seems like he’s rich and powerful!”
An Ran shakes her head. “I don’t know.” She really doesn’t know. Originally last night she was supposed to discuss this with him, but because of her mother’s thing they didn’t get to have a word of it. Hearing him say that he has a business trip today, so even though she wanted to speak with him, it would have to be done tomorrow.
Lin Li put the menu aside, and with a serious face, sits upright. She lectures, “I say, you’re really something! At the first sight you ran off with him to get married, aren’t you being a bit too reckless with yourself.”
“Well actually it’s not really like that. The purpose of being set up is to get married, if both parties find each other suitable, they should just get married. I was afraid, underneath the appearances, that there would be another Lin An Jie jumping out.” An Ran says.
“But doing this is just too careless! At the least the two have to reach an understanding, then be associated with each other for about a month, no, even a week would be fine! You, contrary to what one expects, are so skillful, the day isn’t even over, and only after one or two hours you went to get yourself a certificate. Aren’t you afraid of running into a law-breaker!” Lin Li was a bit upset, not at her, but at the fact that she did not treasure herself.
An Ran simply smiles, not bothering to argue, even though she really wanted to.
Lin Li looks at her angrily, and takes a drink out of the cup of water. She sighs, and looks at An Ran in the eyes again, at the same time feeling guilty and blaming herself. “An Zi, was it because of me, when I told you about Mo Fei that day, so you…”
“No.” An Ran denied. She also grabbed her glass of water and drank. “That day I had met him. He came to find me.”
“F--, he still has the gall to find you!” Lin Li was agitated.
“After we talked a bit that day, I came to understand one thing.” An Ran said. “Even if he hadn’t left 6 years ago, even if I managed to get him to stay, I wouldn’t be able to leave him, and his ambitions are too big. He wanted things that I couldn’t give. Six years later, I still wouldn’t be able to give them to him.”
“Heng, he’s the kind of man you need to look down on. How vain.” Lin Li said with resentment. Seeing how far An Ran has come, she saw all of it, how wronged she was and how much suffering there was. She would have taken it all for An Ran instead.
An Ran gave a small smile, and opens the menu as she puts it in front of Lin Li. “Order. Didn’t you want to punish me, or did you suddenly figure out my plans and want to go home?”
“You’re thinking of trouble, I haven’t eaten a thing this morning, I was looking forward for lunch to punish you.” Lin Li said firmly, scanning the menu. She raised her hand and called for the waiter to order.
---END OF CHAPTER---
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