015. Lin Li’s person
On Saturday
morning, Lin Xiao Fen gets up very early in the morning as usual. She gets busy
in the kitchen for the father-daughter pair for the early morning, but today is
not like the past. The kitchen today appears to be exceptionally lively. Gu
Heng Wen and An Ran also gets up early, and the two get Lin Xiao Fen to stop.
Breakfast
was not that abundant, but it was very nutritious. Lin Xiao Fen slowly cooks
the congee, and Gu Heng Wen goes out to buy steamed buns as quickly as
possible. An Ran also has the intention to make fried eggs, even though it did
not turn out looking that nice.
On the
dining table, the three have a tacit understanding not to ask about what had
happened yesterday evening, however regarding the lies that was spun last night
to their son-in-law, Lin Xiao Fen and Gu Heng Wen clearly have not forgotten
them.
“Ran Ran, I
forgot to ask yesterday. What does Yi Cheng do?” Lin Xiao Fen asks. Concerning
Su Yi Cheng, she seems to be quite pleased about him.
“Uh..” An
Ran was surprised, unable to come up with an answer. Not even talking about
what he does, she doesn’t even know his family members.
“You didn’t
ask him?” seeing her odd expression, Lin Xiao Fen guesses the answer.
“N-no, he’s an assistant for a foreign enterprise, the company’s quite big. As to what the company is called, I can’t really remember it right now.” An Ran quickly explained. She remembers that the time when bureau chief Tong saw him, and treated him with politeness, even calling him special assistant Su or something like that. She’s guessing that his company scale ought to be quite big, and also his post ought to be a bit high.
Gu Heng Wen
nods, “What his post is and in what company, doesn’t really matter that much.
What’s important is that his character is good.”
Smiling, An
Ran nods her head, and lowers her head to concentrate on eating her congee.
“Well, since you’ve already received that certificate, when do you guys plan to do this wedding?” Lin Xiao Fen asks again.
An Ran was
truly shocked, wedding! She didn’t even think about that. Furthermore,
yesterday when she ‘proposed’ to Su Yi Cheng, she said that they don’t need to
do a wedding. “Mom, we… We’re not planning to do one.”
“Not doing
one!” Lin Xiao Fen wrinkles her brows and frowns, and turns to look at her
husband.
Gu Heng Wen
puts down his chopsticks, grabs a napkin to wipe his mouth, looks at An Ran and
asks, “An Ran, tell dad and mom honestly. You agreed to marry Yi Cheng, is it
because you still couldn’t let go of Mo Fei? We’ve already asked Lin Li, she
said that Mo Fei is back.”
An Ran was
caught off guard, she still feels a thread of pain tightening across her heart.
She puts on a vague expression, “No, me and Mo Fei have already no connection
since 6 years ago.” She casts her eyes away after finishing, and lowers her
head to take a big spoonful of congee.
Her
reaction was quite obvious, regardless of her lowering glance anyone could
tell.
Gu Heng Wen
quietly sighed, and says, “The journey is your own. What you choose, how you go
about it, only you yourself can decide. Your mother and I merely wish that you
won’t regret it later.”
An Ran
raises her head, looks at her father, and nods.
After
finishing breakfast, An Ran returns to her room. She took a while to consider
giving Lin Li a call as she feels that there is a matter to apologize for, and
attitude is very important.
The phone
rang for a good while before it was finally connected, not as good as the past,
this time Lin Li’s manner of speaking is cold and peculiar.
“Hey hey
girl, this afternoon we’re having lunch together.” An Ran also does not fear,
she smiles as she speaks.
“No time.”
Lin Li coldly declines. She still hasn’t cooled down.
“C’mon, let’s go out. I know that Gong Yuan road just opened a new western restaurant. I heard that that place’s steak is really good.” An Ran said to lure her.
Lin Li is
indeed known as a food lover, having good appetite, and despite always eating,
she does not gain weight. Thinking about their university days in their dorms,
there was one time when they went to the dining hall pretty late, the food was already reflecting light.
Surprisingly, there was still food leftover, and the two girls mentally traced
back to their dorm and remembered that there was still some snacks. Considering all that, they took those kind of snacks [from the cafeteria].
Their dorm is on the 5th floor, and the travel to the dining hall isn’t too far. Each person scoops some food into their hands and prepare to go upstairs, in Lin Li’s vision, she sees layers and layers of each flight of steps, and can only sigh hungrily in defeat. An Ran eyes her, and says that they already have the food in their hands, you can only walk and eat at this point. On the journey up, they barely reached the 5th floor when they hear a voice cry out “Lin Li!” from behind, asking if they’re still getting food from the canteen. An Ran puzzlingly looks at both hands, empty as a bucket, and asks, where’s your food? Lin Li eyes her oddly, ‘I ate it’ she says as she turns around and runs down excitedly, her mouth muttering, didn’t know there was still more food in the canteen.
Their dorm is on the 5th floor, and the travel to the dining hall isn’t too far. Each person scoops some food into their hands and prepare to go upstairs, in Lin Li’s vision, she sees layers and layers of each flight of steps, and can only sigh hungrily in defeat. An Ran eyes her, and says that they already have the food in their hands, you can only walk and eat at this point. On the journey up, they barely reached the 5th floor when they hear a voice cry out “Lin Li!” from behind, asking if they’re still getting food from the canteen. An Ran puzzlingly looks at both hands, empty as a bucket, and asks, where’s your food? Lin Li eyes her oddly, ‘I ate it’ she says as she turns around and runs down excitedly, her mouth muttering, didn’t know there was still more food in the canteen.
On the
other side of the phone, Lin Li was silent for a while. Finally, she coolly
says, “Pick me* up at noon, or else I* won’t go.” (the ‘me’ she uses here is
one for widowed empresses.)
An Ran
smiles, if she didn’t mishear, she had heard Lin Li swallowing down her saliva.
But of course, she didn’t mention it, and quickly answers, “Yes, LaoFoYe/ Empress
Dowager.”
When An
Ran arrived at Lin Li’s house at noon, Cheng Xiang was the one to open the
door. Cheng Xiang is a refined lady-killer, his skin fair and clear, his
glasses especially accentuates an intellectual air. At the time when Lin Li was
bewildered and utterly lost by this intellectual air, she still had the guts to
chase after him for years with starry eyes. Finally, at a moonless night and when the winds were great, she successfully won him over.
“You’re
here.” Cheng Xiang greets her warmly.
“Yes~
where’s your Empress Dowager?” An Ran asks. Her, Cheng Xiang, and Lin Li were
all schoolmates, even after graduating so long ago she still keeps in touch
with the two of them.
“Still
changing.” Cheng Xiang invites her into the living room to have a seat, as he
goes into the kitchen to pour her a cup of water. As he pours her water, he
says, “Actually, there’s no need to go out to eat. I can make whatever you guys
want to eat.”
“Sure.”
She has already had a taste of Cheng Xiang’s craftsmanship, his cooking is as
comparable to a high-class kitchen.
“If
you’re thinking of falling, heng! I won’t give you servant a chance for my
darling Xiang.” Lin Li was ready, coming out from the change room. She sees
Cheng Xiang politely hand over the cup of water to An Ran, and reaches out with
a hand to intercept it. She tips her head as she drinks a big mouthful, and hands
back the empty cup to Cheng Xiang. She looks at An Ran and says, “In the future
when this person comes here, you don’t need to serve her any beverages.” Lin Li is also a beauty, if only she didn’t
speak, she would absolutely be in accordance with China’s traditional sense of
a beautiful woman. Big eyes, fair skin, tall stature, and a seemingly inherent
peaceful temperament… If she didn’t speak she would absolutely be a daughter of
a noble house. However, with an open of a mouth, a kick of a foot, that temperament
of the daughter of a noble house is completely gone. Besides that, you get the
opposite—a bandit girl from the mountains.
With
defeat, Cheng Xiang smiles at An Ran, while An Ran smirks with understanding.
“Let’s
go, why are you still sitting? You still consider yourself as a guest?!” Lin Li
says frowning.
An Ran
hurriedly gets up, “Okay okay okay, Lao Fo Ye (empress dowager). I (used to
refer oneself as lower) will hold the door for you.” She says as she steps
forward to support the open door.
Lin Li
nods her head in satisfaction, “This is not too bad.” She turns to Cheng Xiang
and gives him a gentle smile, and says, “Hubby, I’m going out.” She moves
closer to give Cheng Xiang a kiss on the cheek. It’s only with Cheng Xiang that
Lin Li will show off this side of her—the charming attitude of a woman. Seeing
this kind of attitude nearly made An Ran gag, but Lin Li gave her a threatening
look that hid her tyrannical abuse, a look that she had slowly perfected. So
after being tormented for nearly 10 years, seeing these scenes of saying
goodbye, An Ran has already perfected the art of appearing indifferent.
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