075. Memories of that year
Su Yi Cheng leads An Ran out. He looks at his watch, and says, “Let’s go. I’ll bring you to a nice place.”
An Ran was still somewhat distracted. Hearing what was said, she slowly pats and nods, “Okay.”
The car slowly stops in front of a fancy neighbourhood. An Ran turns her head suspiciously and looks at him, “Why’d you bring me here?”
Su Yi Cheng chuckles and doesn’t speak. He gets off the car, opens the door for her, and like a gentleman, extends his hand to her. He laughs, “Let’s go, I wanna show you something.”
Although she was confused and suspicious, An Ran still allowed him to lead her into the grand building. In fact, An Ran was aware of this neighbourhood. After all, she does work in the field.
Back then when this neighbourhood had not been opened yet it was already sold at a high price. When the stock for it opened it only took 2-3 days and the market was completely sold out. Back then, that kind of accomplishment imploded the industry. At that time she was new to Jing Cheng, and hadn’t worked for long, but she still remembered that the company had specially convened a big meeting for it. They even analyzed the reason for the success.
By the time they reached the elevator An Ran still couldn’t help but ask, “Are we meeting someone?”
Su Yi Cheng laughs and shakes his head, “Nope.”
An Ran was even more suspicious. If they weren’t seeing someone, then what are they doing here? Admiring the landscape and the full moon?
Looking at her confused and suspicious appearance, Su Yi Cheng laughs silently. He presses the elevator button, one that looked exactly like the one in their apartment. Here, he had also picked the 10th floor. It was a height that was not too low and not to high, so they did not need to worry about power outages or elevator breakdowns, since this altitude was not considered to be very high.
Ding! The elevator stops at the 10th floor.
An Ran was still confused, but still let him lead her. Then she watches him fish out a key from his pocket, and even hands over the key to her. He pouts, hinting that she was supposed use the key to open the door.
An Ran, baffled, takes the key. While she takes the key and opens the door she turns her head to look at him. She wasn’t clear about what was happening right now.
When An Ran turned the key an answering voice comes out. She pushes the unlocked door, only to see that the interior was still messy, as if it was still in the process of decorating. Newspapers were scattered about the floor. An Ran turns her head stunned, “This is……?”
Su Yi Cheng pushes the door open, and pushes her in. The room was more or less already renovated, not like the cold appearance of the other apartment. Going past the front door, to side was a high counter, pure white. And comparing the interior decoration of this room to the other cold-themed room, the colours were a lot warmer. The wallpaper was light yellow. Behind the large television was a large hand painting of a beautiful blossoming rose, the jade green foliage setting off the gorgeous rose shrub. That kind of picture was extremely nice to see.
The style of the living room was similar to the other apartment. Half of it was an open style, the dinner table was still a bar counter, but the kitchen in this apartment was a lot bigger. The kitchen, besides the appearance of the cupboards, was the same, and there was a lot more space for glass cups, which will probably be used to store red wine. The counter was also much longer, and there were three red high stool chairs. Hanging above it was a circular crystal chandelier. This style, kind of resembled a 7-star bar.
In the large living room, the furniture has not yet been put out. It was like an empty lounge.
“This…. Is your place?” An Ran asks in disbelief. According to what she knows, at the time the housing price wasn’t low, actually it rose quite a bit, so an average person won’t be able to afford it.
Su Yi Cheng jokingly pinches her nose, and corrects her, “Not my place, this will be our home, not just mine, it’ll also be your’s! In a few days the interior decorations will be done and then we can move in.”
An Ran took a lot of time to digest his words. She really didn’t feel that it was real. Even though this place wasn’t like a villa, but it is still an absolute mansion.
With great difficulty she digests the details. She still questions, “W-why are we moving so suddenly?”
She’d never heard him mention it before, and the other apartment was pretty good. Even though it can’t compare to this one, but the environment and everything else was still top-quality. Or possibly, he suddenly wanted to move, was because of Ling Ran?
Thinking of that, even though she wasn’t clear of situation she still asks, “Is it because of Ling Ran?” Her voice was tiny, a little depressed, a little unpleasant.
“An Ran.” Su Yi Cheng calls her. He straightens, reaches out to grab her chin, so she can look at him. He looks into her eyes, and asks, “Tell me, what do you want to know?”
An Ran stares into his deep, starry eyes. After a while, she stutters, “W-why did you guys break up?”
Su Yi Cheng looks at her. Why break up? His thoughts seemed to return to that summer 7 years ago.
Summer in Jiang City was very hot. The sun was vicious, and the temperature continued to rise. There was no wind at all, it seemed like people were being roasted by the sun.
Su Yi Cheng started the car that the CPC county committee had provided for him and slowly returned to Jiang City. After university he was relocated to the planning department of the city of Lin Xian. From his first position as an ordinary office worker, up until his current position as assistant chief of the planning department, Su Yi Cheng had used up three years. During these three years he had depended on no one but himself, going up one step at a time. Naturally, his promotion went smoothly, his family had nothing to do with it. After all many of the county managers were grandfathers and fathers that kind of generation, old comrades. As far as his work goes, they did not assist him much. During this journey there wasn’t anyone from higher-up to impede him, so his official career went quite smoothly.
Lin Xian was an affiliated county town of Jiang City. The district was 100 km away from Jiang City, even at the highest speed it would take about an hour of travel. Recently he had been busy with the initial levels of research, and hadn’t returned home to Jiang City in nearly 2 weeks. Today he finally announced the final stages of the project, and tomorrow just so happened be the weekend, so Su Yi Cheng had finished up sooner than planned and drove back home.
On the way back he gave Yi Zi Wen a call, and to ask for his advice on something.
He connected the call, and Ye Zi Wen picked up after 3 rings. Not waiting for Su Yi Cheng to start, Ye Zi Wen carelessly asked, “Assistant chief Su, what can I do for you? I haven’t violated any construction regulations recently and so on and so forth for you seize and forcibly demolish.”
Su Yi Cheng chuckled, “Don’t make fun of me. Do you have time this afternoon, I want you to come with me to some place. I need your opinion.”
“Where?” It doesn’t matter if he had the time or not, it depends on the place, that’s the most important point.
Su Yi Cheng doesn’t bother to keep it a secret, so he confesses, “I’m going to propose to Ling Ran. Come with me this afternoon and help me pick out a ring, give me some ideas.”
“Get married!” Ye Zi Wen was startled by his words, “You’re only 25, isn’t it too early to get married?”
“Is it?” Su Yi Cheng disapproves, “Well, in the end we’ll still be together. Not planning on breaking up, there’s no difference on whether we marry or not.” These past two days his mother suddenly gave him a call, and said that Ling Ran’s paternal uncle brought up the topic of their marriage. Because they felt, that Ling Ran was a woman, and with a woman being 25 years old, hearing it no longer sounds young.
(T/N: as someone who is getting close to 25… How dare they, lol.)
The fact is he doesn’t care about marriage, because he knows that he will be with his person for the rest of his life, and the issue of getting married earlier or later is only a matter of appearances, an issue of time. The Ling family suddenly brought it up, so arranging a wedding ahead of time will be no problem. In fact previously, looking at the time, he hadn’t seen Ling Ran for half a month, and recently he had been busy with the city’s documents and ‘suggestions’, Ling Ran was busy with the preparations of opening her boutique, so the two have been very busy.
“You really thought it through?” Ye Zi Wen confirmed one more time. He had always thought that marriage was something men in their 30s would think about. Speaking about marriage in your 20s, really was too early, too early!
Not paying attention to his question, Su Yi Cheng just says, “I’m about an hour away from your office, go online for me and check which styles of diamond rings are pretty.” Saying that, he doesn’t wait for him to answer, and just immediately hangs up.
He puts in Ling Ran’s number, and directly calls her. The call was connected fairly quickly. It rang for a long time but no one picked up, the ring back tone still transmitting. The ice-cold voice appears from the other line, saying that the person was temporarily unavailable. Su Yi Cheng then hangs up the call. He doesn’t think too much of it, and only assumed that she was busy. As for himself he was going to go with Ye Zi Wen to pick out a ring and then directly go find her somewhere downtown, at the boutique that was yet to be completely decorated.
At Ye Zi Wen’s trusted shoddy advice, Su Yi Cheng finally got a recommendation by the jewellery shop assistant. He chose a classic one, but it was still a design well worth the second look. He puts the ring into the pocket of his suit, and at Ye Zi Wen’s jack of all trades-trusted-shoddy suggestion, Su Yi Cheng went to a flower shop to buy a bundle of flowers. He bought red roses, and spent a lot of money for the shop assistant to wrap up the beautiful bouquet and was about to head to Ling Ran’s shop.
And because it was a car-free zone, he could only park his car at the corner of the street, so finally Su Yi Cheng could only clasp the large bouquet of roses in his hands, ignoring everyone’s curious gaze as he walks over to Ling Ran’s shop. And Ye Zi Wen at his side had already laughed enough to give himself cramps, ignoring his sharp glance that could kill a person. Su Yi Cheng really regretted this, how could he listen to his guy’s suggestion. Carrying such a large bouquet of roses, he really was making a fool of himself.
The route was long. Su Yi Cheng sped up his pace finally and unexpectedly only used up 5 minutes. He peers through the window outside. It was empty inside, newspapers laid on the ground, paint scattered about. Su Yi Cheng was about to open the door, when he caught sight of something. The door was pushed open.
Ye Zi Wen pushed the door to go in, yet was stopped by Su Yi Cheng.
“What?” Ye Zi Wen looked at him strangely.
Su Yi Cheng reaches out to touch his nose. With an unnatural expression he says, “You, you go home first.” Remembering that he would be seeing his own proposal to Ling Ran, made him feel uneasy.
Ye Zi Wen stares him blankly. Then he immediately reacts. He laughs as he pats his hand, “Are you trying to burn the bridge after crossing the river?”
“Your bridge wasn’t even that useful. The worker there helped me choose the ring.” Su Yi Cheng states.
Ye Zi Wen’s mouth twitches. He then points to the flowers in his hands, and confidently says, “You think Ling Ran will care about your ring? I think compared to the ring she will definitely like the flowers more. If you don’t believe me, then go test it out.”
Su Yi Cheng rolls his eyes. He opens the door, taking the initiative to go in. It didn’t seem like there was anyone downstairs. However, the door was unlocked, so there should be somebody, or perhaps they just left.
Su Yi Cheng fishes for his cellphone to give her a call. The call went through, at the same time, the ringtone to Ling Ran’s cellphone goes off. It was a graceful melody of a piano, a tune she was quite fond of.
Hearing that sound, Su Yi Cheng went around the back to look for her cellphone. He frowns, pursing his lips. Her cellphone was here, so where was she?
As he was wondering that, he heard Ye Zi Wen say, “Maybe she’s upstairs?”
He pushed the door open. There was a narrow set of staircase inside. The space was not big, but it led directly upstairs. He turned his head to say to Ye Zi Wen, “You wait for me here.”
Ye Zi Wen shrugs his shoulders indifferently, and doesn’t say anything.
He goes up, tidies his clothes. One hand grasped on the bouquet of roses, while the other held the newly-bought ring. He can’t say what the mood was, but being nervous was unavoidable.
He wasn’t a very romantic person, and he wasn’t one to say sweet speech and honeyed words, however today he wanted to say to her, ‘Marry me’, so they can walk hand-in-hand for decades of years together, go through the good and the hard times together, and perhaps give him the best life there ever was, but he can only try his best to give her a good life!
As Su Yi Cheng was thinking of what to say during his proposal, there was a faint noise coming through the second floor. Only that voice…..
“En…. En… Ah!.....” That voice, was the gasping of a woman, and mixing together with a man’s low growl!
Su Yi Cheng unconsciously clenches on the bouquet of flowers in his hand. The sweet speech in his mind immediately vanishes into nothing. He recognizes that voice. He and Ling Ran had talked to each other on the phone earlier! Step by step, he advances. The door was still slightly ajar perhaps because of their hasty mood, vainly covering up the situation, exposing the grand expanse of the love affair.
In the room, even though there was no bed, on the floor, was two flushed man and woman with their four limbs tangled. Their sweaty bodies were covered with the dust on the floor, however they did not care, because right now they were indulging themselves in that happy activity, so much that even though the door was pushed open by someone, and wasn’t even aware that that someone was in the room, not even taking notice.
The roses that he was originally handling carefully was now being grasped tightly by Su Yi Cheng, his former excited self was now facing this laughable betrayal.
“Ah Cheng, hurry up and come down with Ling Ran, you better not secretly propose up there. I was the one who gave you the opportunity, let me capture this historic moment for you guys!” From behind Ye Zi Wen jokes as he comes up. He sees that he was blankly standing there holding the roses. He couldn’t help but ask, “Ling Ran’s not there?”
Su Yi Cheng doesn’t turn around, but also doesn’t say anything. He fixes his gaze on the two people inside, and inside the room now was a fierce battle of two people because of Ye Zi Wen’s sudden voice. The two people turn around, to see Su Yi Cheng standing at the door. Ling Ran’s complexion turns white. Looking at her, her body shudders because of fear, “Ah, Ah Cheng!.....”
And compared to the Ling Ran who was alarmed and scared, the Zhou Han beside her looked much more calm. He easily withdrew from her body, grabbed the trousers that was tossed aside from their love-making, and calmly covered himself, then he grabbed the white dress shirt and wraps it around Ling Ran.
Su Yi Cheng sneers at them as he watches. One of them was the woman who he was planning to propose to, and the other person was a brother who he had grown up with, and today, they both betrayed him, using this kind of method!
He looks again at the bunch of roses that he held in his hands, and only felt that it was extremely funny. He laughs at himself and shakes his head, releasing the bouquet that he had held. That bouquet answered by falling down. Due to the gravity the petals, fell apart, falling on the ice-cold ground.
Su Yi Cheng finally looks at them. He wasn’t reluctant to turn around and leave. Not even uttering a word, he turns around and leaves.
An Ran, shocked, listens to his retelling of everything that had happened that year, she did not expect at all that they would have that kind of ending. His story was even more tragic than her’s. His girlfriend and his close friend had doubly betrayed him, losing his love along with his friendship!
Thinking of that, An Ran hurt for him. She rubs her cheeks. This kind of experience she knew it deeply, how painful and regretful it is she understands it all.
Su Yi Cheng chuckles, reaches out to cover her hand. He looks at her tenderly, and shakes his head, “It’s all in the past.”
An Ran nods. Suddenly remembering something, she asks, “Ling Ran was the one who betrayed you first. Now she wants to go back, why?”
Su Yi Cheng shakes his head, “I don’t know. But don’t worry about what she wants to do, it has nothing to do with me. The her right now, is only a person I know, that’s all.”
An Ran nods, the corner of her mouth carries a smile.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her, reaches out to stroke her cheek. He looks at her tender and deeply moved expression, and faintly says, “Want to know anything else, just ask, don’t hide it in your heart, yeah? Ok?”
An Ran turns her head to look at the half-decorated room. She looks at him and earnestly says, “When did you buy this place. Was it because of me that you were so anxious to move?”
Laughing weakly, he half holds her and turns her around to look around the room, at the same time saying, “This house belongs to Zi Wen’s company. When they were just opening it he reserved a suite for me. I didn’t move before because I was used to living there, and I lived alone. The apartment was good, and this place is a bit too big.”
It really was big. The originally 4-room 2-living room house was converted into a 2-room 1-living room house. The study room was expanded, the dining room connected to the lounge, making the lounge look a lot bigger. The master room was twice as big as the other apartment, faces the south and connects to the balcony. Besides the master room there was a guest room and a child room.
“After we got married I was already planning to move. After the marriage I let Zi Wen arrange the decoration issue, but because of Ling Ran, we sped up the progress of the project, because I didn’t want you to feel disturbed.” Su Yi Cheng states so.
Opening the study room, she only sees two large mahogany desks separated and placed on both sides. Behind each was the same large bookshelf. An Ran turns her head, only to see Su Yi Cheng smiling and leading her to go in, as he says, “From now on when you design you don’t need to inconvenience yourself in the living room with that low table. I specially asked him to make the study room larger, so this way, it’ll be large enough for the both of us to use.”
An Ran looks at him. Her nose started to sting. He was so considerate of her that it’d be hard if she wasn’t touched by this. She thought that marriage was only to find a person to live the rest of your life with, a person to live under the same roof, the rest wouldn’t change. Originally the marriage was only to find a person to collaborate with. If he requested to sign a prenuptial agreement, she would also unconditionally agree. However the marriage that she completely had no expectations for moved her so much and gave her so much happiness, it gave her an illusion, that their marriage wasn’t a collaboration, but it was as if they were truly two people who loved each other!
Her eye sockets suddenly started to burn. She looks away, afraid to look at him. She reaches out and travels her hands along the mahogany desk, followed by a tear slipping down her cheek. Yet the corner of her mouth had this pretty, slightly curved smile.
Su Yi Cheng reaches out to catch her body, looks at the tear stains hanging down her face. He slightly frowns. He didn’t bring her here to make her cry. He reaches out to wipe the tear at the corner of her eye, “Why are you crying? Don’t like it?”
An Ran quickly shakes her head. Why wouldn’t she like it. She loved it to death, so very happy. She couldn’t help but ask, “Why, why do you treat me so well?” That voice carried a strong nasal tone.
Su Yi Cheng was amused by her small appearance. He couldn’t help but laugh. With his large hands he rubs her head, and says, “You’re my wife. If I don’t treat you well then who should I be treating well?”
“Pft.” She looks at him, the corner of her eyes still holding onto some tears.
Su Yi Cheng reaches out and erases the tears at the corner of her eyes. He brought her here to clearly say that he doesn’t want her to be she bothered by those nonsensical stuff, that he doesn’t want to see her sitting at the corner of the wall crying. She was his wife. No matter what the root of their binding was, if it was absurd or not, too careless, those were not important. What’s important was that from now on she is his wife, that person that he will spend the rest of his life with, even if she isn’t sincerely in love with him, even if the corner of her heart still hides a cherished memory and couldn’t let go. Because he believes that she is like him, that they were both people who would in the end get married. In that way, let’s just let them marry first and fall in love later.
Looking at him, as if a huge resolution came down, An Ran starts to ask, “Do you want to know the history between me and Mo Fei?”
Su Yi Cheng looks at her. He was happy about that, she finally took the initiative to talk about it with him. However, looking at her expression, he knows that it was a wound that was not yet completely healed. In fact that kind of feeling he deeply knows from experience. There were some things that after a long time, so long until one can forget, so long until one has already felt that they had already let go, but when bringing it up again, facing it again, the wound that was left behind was still aching dully. It wasn’t that not talking about it meant that you couldn’t let go, but that kind of feeling of betrayal and pain was so deep, that thinking about it many years later, is still vivid in your mind, shocking the eye and astonishing the heart.
He strokes her cheek, looks at her and softly asks, “Do you want to tell me?”
An Ran nods determinedly, “If you want to know, I’ll tell you.” He was honest about everything with her, so as an equal exchange, she should also tell him everything he wants to know.
Su Yi Cheng smiles. He looks at her for a while, then shakes his head, and says, “Right now I feel like there’s something else I want to do more, a hundred times more than listening to those senseless stories.”
An Ran was puzzled, “What thing?”
Su Yi Cheng smiles, doesn’t say anything, and uses his action to show her. He steps forward, cups her face, and seals down a hot kiss.
The two grind and tangle against each other. Su Yi Cheng pasting himself to her lips, says, “You don’t have to force yourself to tell about those unhappy things. From now on remember to tell me the things that make you happy, because I will do the same.”
An Ran closes her eyes, responding to his kiss. She nods, quietly saying in her mind, ‘Thanks!’
The two were in the room for a long while. Su Yi Cheng then pulls her to leave. When they left, An Ran continued to look back. She liked the feeling that the place gave her.
“Was the thing you talked about with Mr. Ye at the hospital about this?” She remembered that they were talking something about decorating a house. Now that she recalled, she was afraid that they were talking about this.
“Yeah. This time I’m really forcing him to hurry up.” Su Yi Cheng chuckles. He starts the car and was about to leave, when suddenly he thought of something. He turns to look at An Ran and says, “Next time I’ll arrange a time for you guys to meet. He’s my best friend.”
An Ran nods, and also remembered from before that Lin Li wanted to meet him too. She also blurts out, “Then next time you should also meet my best friend.”
Su Yi Cheng nods, “Sure.”
The two were at the house for a while, then finally leaves. On the way back An Ran’s mood seemed very good, compared to the gloominess from this morning, she seemed like a completely different person. The corner of her mouth carried a smile, a faint dimple appeared; it looked extremely nice.
A soft music gently fills the inside of the car. An Ran was starting to fall asleep, slightly wobbling and nodding her head. One moment she was looking at Su Yi Cheng, another moment turning to look out the window.
Su Yi Cheng was concentrated on driving the car. He turns his head slightly to shoot a glance at her. One hand grasping on the steering wheel, the other hand reaches out to pull on her hand, then holds it tightly.
An Ran turns to look at him, turning her hand in his grip. The smile on her mouth becomes more obvious, that even the corner of her eyes were brimming with a hint of happiness. The atmosphere was very warm. The soft music, the two people holding each other’s hands. The atmosphere was so warm and ambiguous, An Ran was happily embarrassed. Her face slightly flushes red. She turns her head, and looks out the window to watch the passing scenery.
Night Jiang City was a very beautiful city. The neon lights flickering the streets, few cars on the street. Because it wasn’t the time, those that frequent were not considered few.
Because the light was red, the car slowly comes into a stop.
An Ran, because she was feeling unnatural and shy, had her head turned to look out the window. A black Benz slowly stops by An Ran’s side. The car window was down so it made it easy to see everything in the car.
Looking at the man who was driving, and the person sitting beside him in the passenger seat was a woman. An Ran’s smile gradually vanished, until there was only two large eyes, with a shocked expression! Because that man wasn’t any other person, but Cheng Xiang!
The red light turns green. It seemed as if Cheng Xiang did not care. His side of the traffic seemed as if it was a little earlier than their side. She sees that he was looking tenderly at the person in his embrace, then moves the car to leave.
Su Yi Cheng naturally sees the situation. He slowly moves the car. He asks, “What’s up? You know that person?”
An Ran doesn’t say anything. She watches the car gradually furthering away, and takes back her glance. Cheng Xiang deceived her. Not only did he just deceive Lin Li, he even deceived her. She quickly grabs her cellphone from her bag, and dials Lin Li’s cellphone, then calls her.
The dial tone rings for a long time. When An Ran was about to hang up and try again, Lin Li finally answers the call.
“Hello~” The voice on the other line seemed tired.
“Lin Li, is Cheng Xiang there?” An Ran asks.
“Ah wu~” A long yawn, and unconcernedly answers, “Why are you looking for another family’s Cheng Xiang?” The voice on the other side still sounded as tired as before.
“He’s there?” An Ran quickly asks.
“Nope, before he got off work he called me and said that there’s a dinner party tonight, so he’ll come home a bit late.” Lin Li states.
An Ran turns cold, not saying anything for quite a while.
“Need something from him? What is it, do you want me ask him when he comes back?” Lin Li asks.
A while later, An Ran then says, “No, it’s okay. Go sleep.” Saying that she was about to hang up.
Before she could hang up Lin Li calls out to her, “An Zi.”
“Yeah?”
“Did something happen?” Lin Li asks concernedly.
An Ran turns silent. She was conflicted, for Lin Li and Cheng Xiang.
No answer. Lin Li anxiously calls out, “An Zi?”
An Ran’s spirit returns. She calms her tone down as much as possible, half laughing she says, “Nothing. Just saw a person that looked a lot like your Cheng Xiang, and beside him was a big-breasted blondie, so I called to ask if he was having an affair.”
An Ran cautiously probes, sounding out Lin Li’s attitude. She doesn’t know if she should be forthcoming and tell her of Cheng Xiang’s affair, if she could bear it or not. After all she was still pregnant!
The other line immediately turns silent. Even after a while not even a little noise can be heard.
“Lin Li?” An Ran cautiously calls.
“Ha ha ha ha….”
Suddenly, Lin Li howls with laughter, while saying, “An Zi, An Zi you must be hallucinating. Cheng Xiang has a dinner party tonight, he should be at ‘Jiang City’s Big Pub’. Even called me earlier, and anyways, Cheng Xiang doesn’t like big-breasted blondies. His type of hair, is the elegant jet-black long hair. You see I have never dyed or cut my hair, not because I didn’t want to, because he wouldn’t let me. Know this next time.”
An Ran bites her lips. She tries her best to be as natural as possible and says, “Ok ok. I guess I saw wrong. I’m not even near by, so I must’ve seen wrong. Now that I think about it that person does not look like your Cheng Xiang at all. He seemed a bit shorter than Cheng Xiang, and a little fatter.”
“What kind of eyes do you have, my little Xiang Zi is such a handsome man, you definitely saw wrong!” Lin Li shouted.
An Ran does not have a smile on her face at all. Nevertheless she still tries to calm her voice down and says, “That’s your man, how would I know so well.”
“You just look at your Mr. Su.” Lin Li says. She then suddenly remembers something, and asks, “Speaking of that An Zi, is your Mr. Su handsome?”
An Ran was taken aback by her randomness. She subconsciously turns to glance at Su Yi Cheng, then answers, “Handsome!”
“Oh oh oh! Really have no shame.” Lin Li teases her as she laughs heartily.
An Ran still bites her lip, not saying anything. Perhaps, regarding Cheng Xiang, she should verify it, at the very least when she gets a 100% precise answer, she will think about whether or not she would tell Lin Li. After all her situation right now was special.
“Lin Li, I still have something to do, I’ll hang up first. You go back to sleep.” An Ran states.
“Ok.” Lin Li consents. Before hanging up she doesn’t forget to ask, “Oh right, An Zi, some other time take your Mr. Su out for a walk, and also let me see what a wealthy person looks like.”
An Ran laughs and nods, “Alright.” She hangs up. The smile on her face immediately disappears. Her mood was dark. She turns her head to look out the window, her mood complicated.
Su Yi Cheng takes a quick look at her, and softly asks, “Was that man Lin Li’s boyfriend?” Actually he didn’t need her to reply. The answer was obvious.
An Ran turns to look at him, finally sneering and nodding her head. With difficulty she says, “All three of us were friends. Lin Li was with him since university, dating for almost 10 years. In less than 10 days, they’re going to have a wedding. Lin Li also has his child in her belly.” Saying that, her eyes start to go sour.
Su Yi Cheng doesn’t say anything. He concentrates on driving. The hand that was on the steering wheel, reaches out to take her hand.
“Actually, I saw him at the hospital the other day. I saw him with that woman.” Saying that, An Ran laughs at herself. “Hehe, I’m so stupid. I foolishly believed his explanation, really believed that there was nothing between them, so awfully stupid. One man could deceive his own wife then stealthily go to the hospital to take car of another woman, even helping her to the washroom. This, how could they simply be just friends. And I actually believed his nonsense……”
Su Yi Cheng doesn’t say anything. He has never experienced that side of the situation before.
The car slowly enters the underground parkade of the apartment. After she had laughed, An Ran just maintained her posture, one hand propping up her face, looking outside.
He puts out the car, not in a hurry to get out. Su Yi Cheng turns to look at her, and sighs. “An Ran, we don’t have superpowers, we can’t predict the future. There are some things that are set to occur, we can’t prevent it. Even if we really want to, but we’re still powerless.”
Hearing what was said, An Ran turns her head despondently, staring at him.
He reaches out to brush away the hair that covered her eyes. Su Yi Cheng continues, “Even if you saw through his lie last time, saw through his deceit, you can’t change the fact that he cheated, right?”
An Ran’s gaze drops. Su Yi Cheng was right.
Right, even if she knew that Cheng Xiang had cheated what could she do. She thinks she’ll still be like now, can’t bear to tell Lin Li, because she needs to think about her feelings to Cheng Xiang, think about her the state of her health.
He cups her face, and allows her to look at him face to face. He looks into her eyes, and says, “This isn’t your mistake, don’t blame yourself.”
“I… Lin Li, Lin Li is my best friend.” An Ran was still conflicted, for Lin Li, because she knows her feelings towards Cheng Xiang, if she knew of Cheng Xiang’s affair, how could she bear it! She was hurting for Lin Li.
Su Yi Cheng doesn’t say any more. He seizes the moment to embrace her, comfort her by patting her on the back.
---END OF CHAPTER---
Next Chapter
Omfg... Fweradcuf$#@!! Cheng Xiang... The biggest bastard!
Saturday, 19 August 2017
Saturday, 12 August 2017
First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 74 Translation
074. The Osmanthus Fish of 6 years ago
The next day was Monday, so Su Yi Cheng went ahead and drove An Ran to work. An Ran has her head turned to look out the window, and doesn’t speak. The mood was somewhat heavy.
The car slowly stops in front of Jing Cheng building. Turning the engine off, An Ran undoes her seat belt. She turns her head to look at Su Yi Cheng and says thanks. She then carries her bag and was about to open the door to leave.
“An Ran.” Su Yi Cheng grabs her hand before she could open the door.
An Ran turns her head, looks at him puzzled, and asks, “What?”
Su YI Cheng doesn’t say anything, just smiles. Then he pulls on her, leans his head forward and plants a kiss on her forehead. He then lets go of her, the corner of mouth carries a faint smile. He helps her fix her collar, then quietly says, “Go up. Remember to wait for me tonight?”
An Ran nods, her face carried a slight flush as a result of his kiss. She looks at him, and couldn’t help but remind him, “Drive carefully.”
Su Yi Cheng smiles, nods and replies, “Alright.”
Perhaps she was still a bit shy and embarrassed, An Ran couldn’t face him. She quickly turns around and gets off the car, then she quickly walks over to the building. Midway, she didn’t forget to turn around and look, and sees that he was still there watching her. She waves her hand, then turns around to go in.
In the car, Su Yi Cheng couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head. He waited until her figure disappeared behind the door, then starts the car and leaves.
By the time An Ran had reached the office she felt that the atmosphere today was strange. The people in the office seemed to be talking about something, as once she stepped into the office, they quickly put on an act and left.
An Ran doesn’t ask, and just goes straight into her office.
During lunch apparently she had too much soup, because the entire afternoon she was constantly running to the washroom.
When An Ran went in, not even a minute later, two of her female colleagues also came into the washroom. They were fixing up their makeup--no--to be accurate, they were gossiping.
“Have you seen the corner of Xiao xiao’s eyes, it looks like it caught a big line.” One person says.
The other person replies, “Who hasn’t seen it. Did she think wearing sunglasses could cover it up. It clearly exposes what she wanted to hide. Who in the office doesn’t know the relationship between her and Huang De Xing. She was caught red-handed, having a scrape at the corner of her eye is considered good luck. She has a few cases in her hands, yet everyday she dresses up like a witch.”
“Hey, some have to rely on their face and bedroom skills to survive in this harsh environment. You’re jealous, you’re so jealous that you also bought some revealing clothes. Everyday you drew like a siren, then when Director came you quickly tossed some winks at him so you don’t have to design, and become our company’s other beauty designer.”
“Fuck off, I’d rather design for the rest of my life than to serve that old man.”
Outside, the two giggle for a while, wash their hands, then prepared to leave, yet when they were about to go out they were suddenly startled, only to see Xiao xiao wearing dark glasses that concealed more than half her face, her hair was still wavy and graceful, her tight outfit showed off her impressive figure.
“Ar-architect Xiao.” The pair who were laughing just now immediately become stupid. They didn’t know when Xiao xiao had come in, and how much she had heard.
Xiao xiao steps forward, that dark glasses that was cover half of her face, made is so that one couldn’t see her current expression.
The pair that was once joking around immediately became listless. They look at Xiao xiao and give her a hollow laugh to admit concession. They stammer, “W-we’re leaving first.”
Xiao xiao stands there in front of the glass mirror, and reaches up to lift her sunglasses. The corner of her eye had a bright red and slender cut, with bruises surrounding it. She expressionlessly takes out her foundation from her bag, opens it and fixes up her make up, concentrating on the area around her eyes.
Upon seeing this, the two women, turn around in anger, only to hear Xiao xiao’s soft voice, “No need to come tomorrow.” Her tone was neither quick nor slow, salty nor weak.
Hearing that, the two halt, turn around, and scowl, “Xiao, Xiao jie, we were wrong. We didn’t do it on purpose, no malice, please, please forgive us.”
Xiao xiao looks at herself through the mirror indifferently. With skilled practice she fixed her make-up, managing to cover up the redness on her face as much as possible. As for the two people behind her, she doesn’t even glance at them.
Seeing her unconcerned, they couldn’t come up with anything, and they didn’t know what her attitude was like. Even though they didn’t like her, but after all she was Huang De Xing’s person. If she really wanted them to go, then it wouldn’t be impossible.
The redness around the corner of her eye was too big. The foundation couldn’t even cover up half of it. On the contrary, the excessive foundation was making the corner of her eye look even worse. She squeezes her powder puff, recalling the scene of Huang De Xing’s bitch grabbing her, while he stood there indifferently. Her rage flares wildly. The more she thought about it the more difficult it was to breathe. She gravely turns her head, glowers at them, and howls, “What are you still stupidly standing there for, get lost!”
The two women both were frightened. The redness around corner of her eye was exposed, and she looked terrifying to them at the moment, made people want to be careful.
“What are you looking at, get lost!”
One of the girls would not back down, and talks back, “You, what seniority do you have to let us go, anyways, what we said was fact, if you’re scared of people talking, then don’t do it. Doing it yet not letting people talk about it, how noble and virtuous.”
“What did you just say?” Xiao xiao steps forward. She glowers at her, it seemed like it could oppress people, incredibly terrifying. Gnashing her teeth, she emphasizes each word, “You. Have. The. Guts. To. Say. It. Again!”
The person swallows her saliva, her body moving back continuously. By her side the other person stands there. Looking at her appearance, also scared people. She wanted to say something to ease the tension, then finally says, “Xiao, Xiao jie----“
Only Xiao xiao, with just a glance, scared her so badly that she swallowed her words down.
*Crashing sound!*
When they were deadlocked outside, An Ran flushes and comes out from the toilet. She turns her head to look at them indifferently, then turns back and goes to wash her hands.
Xiao xiao suddenly walks over to An Ran, glowers at her, and asks, “Why are you here!”
An Ran shoots at a glance at her from the mirror. She turns on the tap, presses on the soap dispenser and starts to wash her hands, at the same time, she says, “Peeing.”
“So you heard everything!” Xiao xiao clenches her two fists by her thighs. She did not expect that she was also in the washroom, her own sorry situation, she couldn’t stand that she’d heard it all!
Not looking at her, An Ran insipidly replies, “I’m not deaf.” Moreover they were howling, it’s impossible for her to pretend that she didn’t hear!
Xiao xiao’s chest move up and down. She looks at her and sneers, “So proud of yourself now aren’t you, you’re secretly laughing, laughing that I’d get this one day right? Looking at what a joke I've become must make you so happy, doesn’t it?”
An Ran turns off the tap, grabs a paper towel to wipe a wet spot. She turns around and calmly looks at her, insipidly says, “You always like to impose your ways of thinking on others. I wasn’t thinking that, but you must be thinking it, and I can't help it, because that way of thinking is your’s. I can’t change it.”
“Heng, what pretty words, don’t think that I don’t know, you’ve been eager to see the day when I make a joke of myself.” Xiao xiao says sharply.
An Ran sneers, “Don’t assume that everyone’s like you. Not everyone is as narrow-minded as you.”
“You---!” Xiao xiao was pissed, her chest heaving.
An Ran doesn’t say any more, passes her and was about to leave.
“You think you’re so good, you’re just fortunate to catch Su Yi Cheng, otherwise, you won’t be anything!” Xiao xiao says resentfully.
An Ran smiles, and nods, not denying her words. She says, “I really am lucky.”
“Heng, I’ve seen enough of his kind, I’m afraid that he’s just playing with you, when he gets tired of you, he’ll kick you away.” Xiao xiao remarks scathingly, her eyes were filled with indignant jealousy.
An Ran smiles shallowly. She doesn’t pay attention to her, and directly goes out of the washroom. When she passed the two women, she says to them, “Last week did you guys finish your blueprint?”
“Uh…..” The two were stupefied. What blueprint, they stare at each other, not understanding what An Ran was saying.
An Ran frowns, sending a message through her eyes, she feigns strictness and says, “If you’re not even designing, why are you still gossiping idly? Get back to work!”
The two finally got the message, hurriedly nods, and says, “We’ll go back, we’ll go back right now.” Saying that, then hasten to leave the washroom.
Xiao xiao looks at them resentfully. In the end, she swipes her make-up box and throws it on the round.
When it was almost time to get off work Huang De Xing calls her into the office, then gives her a pile of materials, saying that it was a competition that the company was planning to do soon, a foreign case. After one month they will do the biddings. It was almost time. Because apart from the blueprint, the company still needs to provide a sample room. When the time comes there will be a specialist coming in to do the evaluations.
“I-I’m really in charge of this case?” An Ran was overwhelmed.
Huang De Xing’s brows raises, and asks, “What, not confident?”
“No, I, I’m just surprised.” After all this project was a big deal, it relates to the company’s foreign development in the future.
“I believe in you. You are perceptive in designing. As it should be, of course I should say, if you have any questions, you can come find me. If you’re having trouble making a decision, you can also come find me for advice.” Huang De Xing laughs as he speaks.
An Ran nods. Hugging the pile of materials, she pledges, “I’ll do my best, not to disappoint you!”
“Alright. I’ll wait for your blueprint.”
“Yes.” An Ran nods, then carries the pile of materials out of the office.
The project this time was a large-scale exercise park. It will have every kind of exercise and leisure equipment. It’ll occupy a very large space, and it’ll require a tremendous amount of capital, because a UK company, ‘Jason Consortium’ will be investing in it. It’s an aristocratic financial group, and with regards to this project’s launching, every country’s media will be paying close attention to it. Therefore if ‘Jing Cheng Construction’ could seize this project, then regardless of whether it was a domestic or foreign project, then undoubtedly all would be hugely successful.
When An Ran was eagerly looking at the pile of resources that Huang De Xing had given her, Su Yi Cheng had called. Su Yi Cheng was already downstairs, and didn’t see An Ran so he gave her a call to ask her whether or not she was still busy with work.
Only then does An Ran remember that Su Yi Cheng had said that he will be taking her to a mysterious place today. She quickly tidies up her stuff and puts the materials into her briefcase, then leaves.
When she got downstairs Su Yi Cheng’s car was already at the gate. Upon seeing her come out of the building, he opens the car door and gets out. He watches her, wearing a faint smile on his face.
An Ran runs over to him with small steps, looks at him apologetically, and says, “Did you wait for long? Sorry, I was looking at some data and forgot.”
Su Yi Cheng laughs. He reaches out and fixes her hair that had become messy because she ran. Then he opens the car door, and says, “Get in.”
An Ran nods, smiles at him softly, and gets in the car.
Heavenly gentleman Su closes the door for her, then gets in his side of the car.
She waits until he sat down. An Ran couldn’t contain her curiousness and ask, “So where are we going?” Yesterday he said that he would bring her some place, but he was being all mysterious and wouldn’t tell her.
Su Yi Cheng starts the car, turns to her and laughs, “Let’s eat first.”
The car slowly approaches a unique looking restaurant and parks in front of it. There were all sorts of grand-looking cars parked at the front, looking at it would make people dazzled.
An Ran raises her head. “Yi Ran yuan”, she’d heard of this inn before. It opened two months ago, and she heard that at its grand opening they invited all the celebrities and well known people of the city, to attract countless people, so much that word travelled far and wide, that even people from the far parts of the country would rush over, only to see their idol. And thanks to the promotion of those celebrities, this restaurant’s reputation immediately circulated out. In addition on that day’s grand opening, this ‘Yi Ran yuan’s’ proprietor did not hesitate to spare blood and let people try their food free of charge for a day. Plus with the restaurant’s chef’s remarkable craftsmanship, those who had tried their food praised it to high heavens, and from then on became the restaurant’s loyal customer. Even if this place was not convenient to reach, they still recommended their friends and relatives to try out the newly opened restaurant.
“Let’s go, I heard that the zhe jiang dish here is pretty good.” Su YI Cheng says, leading her by the arm to go into the restaurant.
“You’ve eaten here before?” An Ran asks mindlessly.
Su Yi Cheng chuckles as he shakes his head and says, “Nope, Yi Jiao told me about it.”
“Yi Jiao! She has a restaurant herself, why would she go to other people’s restaurant’s to eat?”
“Haha, didn’t I tell you that this restaurant is also Yi Jiao’s?” Su Yi Cheng laughs.
An Ran stares at him wide eyed, and shakes her head. She did not expect that Yi Jiao was Jiang city’s Queen of Catering. She clearly looked like a child, yet she didn’t expect that she would open one restaurant after another!
The two enter. Not needing a private room, they directly go into the lounge and look for seats.
Su Yi Cheng orders. Apparently it was some coincidence, An Ran surprisingly discovered that there was very little difference between her taste and his. What he liked to eat, she also liked it.
“So you also like to eat these kinds of food!” An Ran happily exclaims.
“Yeah.” Su Yi Cheng responds. The entire time the corner of his mouth was wearing a good-looking smile.
Only coming in does she discovers, the management of this place was indeed a lot like You Ran Restaurant’s. The only thing that differed was the interior decoration and design. It wasn’t like the subdued luxuriousness that people had said. Everything here was dimmer, appearing simple and plain. Living up to the restaurant’s name, calm and quiet, making people feel cozy.
The dishes came out very quickly, even the smell was good, not at all losing to You Ran restaurant.
“You just wanted to bring me to this place to eat?” Placing a few pieces of food into her mouth, An Ran asks.
Su Yi Cheng smiles, passes a piece of meat to her, and says, “Nope. I’ll bring you there after we finish eating.”
“So what place is it?” An Ran asks curiously.
Su Yi Cheng only laughs, and shakes his head lightly.
An Ran pettily scolds him in her mind, lowers her head and continues to eat her food. And it was at this time, that a sweet voice comes out from behind.
“Special Assistant Su, senior sister An Ran!” From the tone she seemed surprised, pleasantly surprised.
Su Yi Cheng raises his head, and just faintly nods his head. He wears a smile on his face, but that smile, was faintly discernable and somewhat estranged, not at all friendly.
Hearing what was said An Ran also turns her head, only to see Tong Xiao Jie’s white outfit, her face wearing a smile looking at them. “Senior sister and Special Assistant Su are also having a meal here!” Tong Xiao Jie smiles as she walks to them, at the same time saying, “The food here really is not too bad, the ambient is also really nice.”
An Ran looks at her unenthusiastically, turns around, not answering to her.
Su Yi Cheng looks at An Ran, raises his head and nods at Tong Xiao Jie, smiling, “Miss Tong is alone? Would you like to join us?”
“No, I came with my husband.” Tong Xiao Jie replies. After saying that she turns to look at An Ran, only to see An Ran eating undisturbed.
“Oh, is that so.” Su YI Cheng nods his head in understanding, not saying much. Then he returns his gaze, looks at An Ran warmly, then adds another piece of meat to An Ran’s bowl. He says, “Here, leaving out the meat again, you’re too thin.”
Tong Xiao Jie watches them, the corner of her mouth seemed as if there was no smile. She says, “Why don’t Special assistant Su and senior sister join us, we have a private room. Yuan Shan Construction’s Director Zhang is also with us. I think they would very happy to see you Special Assistant Su.”
“No need, An Ran and I have plans later on. Perhaps next time.” Su Yi Cheng declines.
Tong Xiao Jie nods, and says somewhat regretfully, “Then I can only wait until next time.”
“Yes. We’ll meet next time.” Su Yi Cheng nods in agreement.
Tong Xiao Jie says to An Ran, “Senior sister, then I’ll go ahead first. You and Special Assistant Su take your time.” Not caring if An Ran would reply or not, after she finished speaking, she turns around and walks over to a private room.
The mood became strange after Tong Xiao Jie’s appearance. An ran eats silently. Su Yi Cheng has a slight frown as he watches her.
Not long after, Su Yi Cheng was about to say something, when he sees Zhang Yuan Shan’s smiling face come up from behind her. Following him was Mo Fei.
“Special Assistant Su, special assistant Su. What a coincidence, you guys are also here to eat!” The person hasn’t even neared yet, when Zhang Yuan Shan’s voice calls out.
Su Yi Cheng raises his head to look at him. He puts on a professional smile, moves his chair and stands to walk over to him. In response, An Ran also puts down her chopsticks and gets up. She turns her head, and happened to see Mo Fei, following Zhang Yuan Shan from behind.
Zhang Yuan Shan was naturally happy to see Su Yi Cheng and his wife. Ever since that reception he had always thought of asking Su Yi Cheng for a meal, considering to apologize, but every time he called, he was always turned down by the secretary. He wasn’t even able to meet him face to face. This was good, he didn’t expect that the appointment today with Mo Fei and his wife to discuss the company’s future collaboration, would unexpectedly bump into Su Yi Cheng. Even better, Mo Fei and Tong Xiao Fen are schoolmates with Su Yi Cheng’s wife Gu An Ran. Even if Su Yi Cheng won’t give him face, he would still give Mo Fei face. Really was wonderful!
Zhang Yuan Shan enthusiastically reaches out with two hands to shake Su Yi Cheng’s. He repeatedly exclaims, “Special assistant Su is also here, really, such a coincidence. A few days before I was thinking of asking you for a meal, however you are quite busy, there was no opportunity for me.”
Su Yi Cheng’s appearance does not change as he shakes his hand. The smile on his face was still kind. He nods, and faintly says, “I’m indebted to Director Zhang’s grace. This time we’re quite busy with investigations, indeed a little busy.”
“Then please, why not take this chance encounter, today we happened to encounter here, looks like we are fated to have a meal, why don’t Special Assistant Su join us?” Zhang Yuan Shan requests.
Su Yi Cheng smiles mildly as he says, “Director Zhang is too courteous.” Finishing speaking he turns to face An Ran, only to see her standing there calmly, watching him. The corner of his mouth rises slightly, his mood immediately becomes cheerful.
This Zhang Yuan Shan can also be considered an elite. He came from nothing and became rich overnight, then, going through obstacles in the business world for so many years, it’s obviously fundamental for his expression to weigh up to his words. Upon seeing this, apparently understanding something, he turns around to An Ran and says, “Mrs. Su, I apologize for the matter at the reception. Is it possible for me to borrow this opportunity, let me take the honour of inviting Mrs. Su to a meal. It is also an apology for last time.”
Hearing what was said, An Ran turns around and looks at Su Yi Cheng, only to see that he is still smiling, looking at her, not at all intending to speak. An Ran thought that it was inconvenient for him to decline, so she was thinking of tactfully declining herself. Thinking of this, she turns to look at Zhang Yuan Shan and smiles, “Director Zhang is joking. There is no need to speak of the incident last time. It was just a misunderstanding, Director Zhang does not need to take it to heart.”
“Haha, Mrs. Su is too magnanimous. Even if it was not for last time, today by chance Mo Fei and Xiao Jie are here, the three of you went to same school and are schoolmates. And Xiao Jie and them just came back from abroad. You guys have not met for so many years, today can also be considered a time to reminisce.” Zhang Yuan Shan says. He turns towards Mo Fei, and says, “Right, Mo Fei?”
Mo Fei was distracted, and then comes back to Earth. He stupidly nods, and wears a pained smile, agreeing with him. He fixes on An Ran and says, “Right. It’s been years, and actually we have a lot to talk about. An Ran, come join us, the Osmanthus fish is pretty good. I remember that your favourite dish was the Osmanthus fish soup.
An Ran’s face stiffens, that smile seemed as if it turned cold that moment, freezing her face. She avoids his gaze, not looking at him at all.
Su Yi Cheng naturally sensed An Ran’s difference and change. He reaches out to take her hand, and gives her a loving smile. Then he turns to face Mo Fei, and calmly says, “It’s rare that Director Mo still remembers what An Ran likes to eat. However, habits are a strange thing: some people who were once very fond of one thing, even loving it. But after a long time, their preferences will change, especially you rejecting that dish 6 years ago, could one still remember the taste of that dish?”
Mo Fei turns stiff, clearly stunned. He looks at Su Yi Cheng, and stiffly says, “Perhaps it’s because I haven’t eaten it in 6 years, that I only cherish the memory of that taste.”
Zhang Yuan Shan stands at the side, puzzled. This skillful exchange, is just about the food?
The smile on Su Yi Cheng’s face does not change, as graceful and mannerly as before. He gently says, “Perhaps it wasn’t cherished from the beginning. After all liking it that much, akin to giving up smoking and drinking, the hardest part is the initial stages. But if after a while, and it being as long as 6 years, wanting to eat after not thinking of it, only proves that she has already successfully given up the taste that she once enjoyed.”
“How do you know that she hasn’t thought about that dish. Perhaps she once thought about it day and night, have never forgotten!” Mo fei’s emotions were stirred up.
“Perhaps it’s like what Director Mo said, indeed she may have strong affections for that dish, and has kept it constantly in mind for a long time. However, ultimately she still hasn’t eaten it, only has one reason, and that is that she was hurt too deeply back then, and that hurt made her fear and dread it.” Su Yi Cheng says.
Hearing what was said, Mo Fei turns to dazedly look at An Ran who was standing at his side. He couldn’t help but ask himself, “Was it like that?”
Zhang Yuan Shan apparently heard some kind of mystery, only the scene was very strange. He can only be obliged to jokingly ask, “Mrs. Su swallowed a mandarin fish bone back then?”
An Ran forces a smile, not knowing how to respond. She subconsciously turns to look at Su Yi Cheng.
Su Yi Cheng still smiles warmly, reaches out and naturally embraces An Ran’s waist. He jests to Zhang Yuan Shan, “Yes, that time she swallowed a huge bone, and henceforth she’s dreaded mandarin fish.”
“Haha, so it’s like that.” Zhang Yuan Shan nods in understanding, “Then Mrs. Su must be scared to touch fish.”
“Well, it’s not exactly like that.” Su Yi Cheng shakes his head. He turns to look at Mo Fei, and dimly says, “There’s nothing that can’t be replaced. If she can’t eat mandarin fish there are still other fish. She only choked on mandarin fish, the shadows of the mandarin fish is real, but other fish are harmless. You can’t stop eating other delicious fish because of that one fish, don’t you think, Director Mo.”
Mo Fei stiffens, unable to come up with even a word. He drops his arms and clenches his fist, his fingernails sinking into his palms, but he doesn’t feel pain.
The atmosphere became weird, Zhang Yuan Shan naturally is able to see the general idea. He quickly smiles and says, “Well then we won’t get mandarin fish. Special Assistant Su and Mrs. Su should come with, tonight I shall drink a few cups with Special Assistant Su.”
Speaking of alcohol, An Ran subconsciously says, “He can’t drink!”
Zhang Yuan Shan was shocked, and asks, “Why?” He had heard that Su Yi Cheng’s capacity for liquor was pretty good, and was about to ask for the highest quality of Mao Tai liquor that he liked.
Only after An Ran had finished speaking did she feel that she was too sudden. She regretted that she spoke too soon. She doesn’t know how an official’s wife should act, but on TV they all just stood there, just wearing a smile on their face. If it really was supposed to be like that, than she really shot her mouth out. A little annoyed, she looks at Su Yi Cheng, only to see him looking at her funny.
They don’t seem to answer, but Su Yi Cheng also does not refute it, so Zhang Yuan Shan jokingly says, “Haha, looks like Special Assistant Su really loves his wife.” The implication was that he was under his wife’s thumb.
An Ran said no so it was a no, only he didn’t think that Su Yi Cheng, a man with an iron fist, would unexpectedly be whipped!
Hearing that, Su Yi Cheng laughs. He only says, “To marry a wife is to marry pain*”
*T/N: The ‘love’ that they used isn’t the usual character, ‘ai’, but ‘teng’, which is commonly known as ‘pain’. The alternate meaning is ‘to love dearly’. Take what you will 😉
Zhang Yuan Shan nods, “Yes yes yes, Special Assistant Su is so right, taking a wife is to marry pain.” Saying that, he also says to An Ran, “Mrs. Su, please let me borrow Special Assistant Su for one night, drinking is only to liven things up, we won’t drink too much.”
An Ran shakes her head, firmly rejects, “Sorry Director Zhang, Yi Cheng’s stomach is not too well these days, the doctor specifically said not to drink or smoke.” She was scared to death a few days before. Normally if she wasn’t here she wouldn’t care, but since she’s here now, and she clearly knows his stomach’s condition, so naturally she won’t let him drink.
“Uh, is Special Assistant Su’s health not good? Is it serious?” Zhang Yuan Shan asks concernedly.
“Hehe, An Ran’s too tense, it’s just an old illness, nothing imposing.” Su Yi Cheng’s tone was relaxed. At the corner of his eye he shoots a glance a Mo Fei, smiling yet not smiling.
Mo Fei does not speak, only watches him. He looks at An Ran. His fist clenches tighter.
“Well then we won’t drink today, let’s just sit and eat. Let’s not talk any more, the food here is really good.” Zhang Yuan Shan says again. Today, no matter what he will get Su Yi Cheng, otherwise the next time that he requests him for a meal, it would be difficult. He turns to look at An Ran and says, “Xiao Jie had not spoken to Mrs. Su, Mrs. Su, with Mo Fei and Xiao Jie, have studied at the same school for so many years, come join us to chat.”
An Ran looks at Su Yi Cheng awkwardly. She doesn’t want to stay behind, and especially does not want to be with Mo Fei and Tong Xiao Jie. She does not want any relation with that couple.
Su Yi Cheng naturally knows her thoughts, and faintly nods at her. He then looks at Zhang Yuan Shan and says, “Director Zhang is too polite, however tonight is really out of the question. I still have plans with An Ran, it seems that you can only wait til next time for that meal.”
“Uh, this----“ Zhang Yuan Shan was about to say something, yet was interrupted by Su Yi Cheng.
“How about this, Director Zhang the meal tonight will be on me, next time, next time when there’s time, we will call on Chairman Xiao and all chat together.” Su Yi Cheng smiles.
Seeing that he said so, Zhang Yuan Shan also does not push any further. “That being the case that Special Assistant Su and Mrs. Su still has plans tonight, then we will also not force it. After all it is important business. However this bill, Special Assistant Su is too polite. If it is footing the bill then I should be one to do it. Then I will count on Special Assistant Su.”
“Haha, Director Zhang please don’t fight me. Today you can consider me as the host. This restaurant belongs to my sister, so, there is no need for Director Zhang to be so polite.” Su Yi Cheng says so.
“Uh.” Zhang Yuan Shan was surprised, not expecting yet another layer. It would not be good for him to persist in refusing this, so he can only force a smile and say, “That being the case, then I will have to thank Special Assistant Su, for spending money.”
Su Yi Cheng smiles warmly, “My own sister, naturally have to show consideration.”
Zhang Yuan Shan smiles and nods, but doesn’t have the slightest intention of leaving.
Su Yi Cheng glances at him, then turns to softly ask An Ran, “Are you full?”
An Ran nods, “Full.” In fact she was pretty much almost done, only she didn’t expect to run into Tong Xiao Jie, even more she didn’t expect that she would call on Zhang Yuan Shan and Mo Fei to come out.
Hearing what was said, Su Yi Cheng turns to the side and addresses to Zhang Yuan Shan and Mo Fei, “Then, Director Zhang, please continue. I still have matters with An Ran, so I will leave first.”
“Sure, sure. You are busy, busy.” Zhang Yuan Shan quickly smiles, and answers. Mo Fei, at the side, only fixes on An Ran. He looked like he was enduring something.
Su Yi Cheng smiles weakly and nods, taking An Ran’s bag. Then he leads An Ran by the hand and leads her to the front desk.
Seeing that they are going to pay the bill, Zhang Yuan Shan then turns around, preparing to return to his room. At the same time, he says to Mo Fei, “Let’s go.”
Mo Fei stares at the restaurant door. He naturally heard what Su Yi Cheng had just said, but he was not willing, not willing, just not willing yet he is also powerless. He had thought that Su Yi Cheng was just a simple office worker. Even if his personality was good and remarkable he was just a substitution, able to give An Ran a quiet life, but not the best life. That was what he assumed just by seeing the car that he had driven before.
He even thought, that even though he and An Ran were together right now, but after half a year, even if it was just half a year, when it was time he was determined to disregard everything and make her return to his side. However, he didn’t expect that Su Yi Cheng’s identity was the Special Assistant of the Mayor of Jiang City, and even more did not expect that he had the strong backing of the Su family behind him! That kind of status, thusly he couldn’t grasp it.
Seeing him motionless, Zhang Yuan Shan calls out again, “Mo Fei?”
Mo Fei then come back to Earth. He nods at him, and only says, “I need to go to the washroom.” Saying that he directly goes over to the washroom. The present him, only needs to be good, cool-headed, otherwise, he doesn’t know how he could face Tong Xiao Jie!
The next day was Monday, so Su Yi Cheng went ahead and drove An Ran to work. An Ran has her head turned to look out the window, and doesn’t speak. The mood was somewhat heavy.
The car slowly stops in front of Jing Cheng building. Turning the engine off, An Ran undoes her seat belt. She turns her head to look at Su Yi Cheng and says thanks. She then carries her bag and was about to open the door to leave.
“An Ran.” Su Yi Cheng grabs her hand before she could open the door.
An Ran turns her head, looks at him puzzled, and asks, “What?”
Su YI Cheng doesn’t say anything, just smiles. Then he pulls on her, leans his head forward and plants a kiss on her forehead. He then lets go of her, the corner of mouth carries a faint smile. He helps her fix her collar, then quietly says, “Go up. Remember to wait for me tonight?”
An Ran nods, her face carried a slight flush as a result of his kiss. She looks at him, and couldn’t help but remind him, “Drive carefully.”
Su Yi Cheng smiles, nods and replies, “Alright.”
Perhaps she was still a bit shy and embarrassed, An Ran couldn’t face him. She quickly turns around and gets off the car, then she quickly walks over to the building. Midway, she didn’t forget to turn around and look, and sees that he was still there watching her. She waves her hand, then turns around to go in.
In the car, Su Yi Cheng couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head. He waited until her figure disappeared behind the door, then starts the car and leaves.
By the time An Ran had reached the office she felt that the atmosphere today was strange. The people in the office seemed to be talking about something, as once she stepped into the office, they quickly put on an act and left.
An Ran doesn’t ask, and just goes straight into her office.
During lunch apparently she had too much soup, because the entire afternoon she was constantly running to the washroom.
When An Ran went in, not even a minute later, two of her female colleagues also came into the washroom. They were fixing up their makeup--no--to be accurate, they were gossiping.
“Have you seen the corner of Xiao xiao’s eyes, it looks like it caught a big line.” One person says.
The other person replies, “Who hasn’t seen it. Did she think wearing sunglasses could cover it up. It clearly exposes what she wanted to hide. Who in the office doesn’t know the relationship between her and Huang De Xing. She was caught red-handed, having a scrape at the corner of her eye is considered good luck. She has a few cases in her hands, yet everyday she dresses up like a witch.”
“Hey, some have to rely on their face and bedroom skills to survive in this harsh environment. You’re jealous, you’re so jealous that you also bought some revealing clothes. Everyday you drew like a siren, then when Director came you quickly tossed some winks at him so you don’t have to design, and become our company’s other beauty designer.”
“Fuck off, I’d rather design for the rest of my life than to serve that old man.”
Outside, the two giggle for a while, wash their hands, then prepared to leave, yet when they were about to go out they were suddenly startled, only to see Xiao xiao wearing dark glasses that concealed more than half her face, her hair was still wavy and graceful, her tight outfit showed off her impressive figure.
“Ar-architect Xiao.” The pair who were laughing just now immediately become stupid. They didn’t know when Xiao xiao had come in, and how much she had heard.
Xiao xiao steps forward, that dark glasses that was cover half of her face, made is so that one couldn’t see her current expression.
The pair that was once joking around immediately became listless. They look at Xiao xiao and give her a hollow laugh to admit concession. They stammer, “W-we’re leaving first.”
Xiao xiao stands there in front of the glass mirror, and reaches up to lift her sunglasses. The corner of her eye had a bright red and slender cut, with bruises surrounding it. She expressionlessly takes out her foundation from her bag, opens it and fixes up her make up, concentrating on the area around her eyes.
Upon seeing this, the two women, turn around in anger, only to hear Xiao xiao’s soft voice, “No need to come tomorrow.” Her tone was neither quick nor slow, salty nor weak.
Hearing that, the two halt, turn around, and scowl, “Xiao, Xiao jie, we were wrong. We didn’t do it on purpose, no malice, please, please forgive us.”
Xiao xiao looks at herself through the mirror indifferently. With skilled practice she fixed her make-up, managing to cover up the redness on her face as much as possible. As for the two people behind her, she doesn’t even glance at them.
Seeing her unconcerned, they couldn’t come up with anything, and they didn’t know what her attitude was like. Even though they didn’t like her, but after all she was Huang De Xing’s person. If she really wanted them to go, then it wouldn’t be impossible.
The redness around the corner of her eye was too big. The foundation couldn’t even cover up half of it. On the contrary, the excessive foundation was making the corner of her eye look even worse. She squeezes her powder puff, recalling the scene of Huang De Xing’s bitch grabbing her, while he stood there indifferently. Her rage flares wildly. The more she thought about it the more difficult it was to breathe. She gravely turns her head, glowers at them, and howls, “What are you still stupidly standing there for, get lost!”
The two women both were frightened. The redness around corner of her eye was exposed, and she looked terrifying to them at the moment, made people want to be careful.
“What are you looking at, get lost!”
One of the girls would not back down, and talks back, “You, what seniority do you have to let us go, anyways, what we said was fact, if you’re scared of people talking, then don’t do it. Doing it yet not letting people talk about it, how noble and virtuous.”
“What did you just say?” Xiao xiao steps forward. She glowers at her, it seemed like it could oppress people, incredibly terrifying. Gnashing her teeth, she emphasizes each word, “You. Have. The. Guts. To. Say. It. Again!”
The person swallows her saliva, her body moving back continuously. By her side the other person stands there. Looking at her appearance, also scared people. She wanted to say something to ease the tension, then finally says, “Xiao, Xiao jie----“
Only Xiao xiao, with just a glance, scared her so badly that she swallowed her words down.
*Crashing sound!*
When they were deadlocked outside, An Ran flushes and comes out from the toilet. She turns her head to look at them indifferently, then turns back and goes to wash her hands.
Xiao xiao suddenly walks over to An Ran, glowers at her, and asks, “Why are you here!”
An Ran shoots at a glance at her from the mirror. She turns on the tap, presses on the soap dispenser and starts to wash her hands, at the same time, she says, “Peeing.”
“So you heard everything!” Xiao xiao clenches her two fists by her thighs. She did not expect that she was also in the washroom, her own sorry situation, she couldn’t stand that she’d heard it all!
Not looking at her, An Ran insipidly replies, “I’m not deaf.” Moreover they were howling, it’s impossible for her to pretend that she didn’t hear!
Xiao xiao’s chest move up and down. She looks at her and sneers, “So proud of yourself now aren’t you, you’re secretly laughing, laughing that I’d get this one day right? Looking at what a joke I've become must make you so happy, doesn’t it?”
An Ran turns off the tap, grabs a paper towel to wipe a wet spot. She turns around and calmly looks at her, insipidly says, “You always like to impose your ways of thinking on others. I wasn’t thinking that, but you must be thinking it, and I can't help it, because that way of thinking is your’s. I can’t change it.”
“Heng, what pretty words, don’t think that I don’t know, you’ve been eager to see the day when I make a joke of myself.” Xiao xiao says sharply.
An Ran sneers, “Don’t assume that everyone’s like you. Not everyone is as narrow-minded as you.”
“You---!” Xiao xiao was pissed, her chest heaving.
An Ran doesn’t say any more, passes her and was about to leave.
“You think you’re so good, you’re just fortunate to catch Su Yi Cheng, otherwise, you won’t be anything!” Xiao xiao says resentfully.
An Ran smiles, and nods, not denying her words. She says, “I really am lucky.”
“Heng, I’ve seen enough of his kind, I’m afraid that he’s just playing with you, when he gets tired of you, he’ll kick you away.” Xiao xiao remarks scathingly, her eyes were filled with indignant jealousy.
An Ran smiles shallowly. She doesn’t pay attention to her, and directly goes out of the washroom. When she passed the two women, she says to them, “Last week did you guys finish your blueprint?”
“Uh…..” The two were stupefied. What blueprint, they stare at each other, not understanding what An Ran was saying.
An Ran frowns, sending a message through her eyes, she feigns strictness and says, “If you’re not even designing, why are you still gossiping idly? Get back to work!”
The two finally got the message, hurriedly nods, and says, “We’ll go back, we’ll go back right now.” Saying that, then hasten to leave the washroom.
Xiao xiao looks at them resentfully. In the end, she swipes her make-up box and throws it on the round.
When it was almost time to get off work Huang De Xing calls her into the office, then gives her a pile of materials, saying that it was a competition that the company was planning to do soon, a foreign case. After one month they will do the biddings. It was almost time. Because apart from the blueprint, the company still needs to provide a sample room. When the time comes there will be a specialist coming in to do the evaluations.
“I-I’m really in charge of this case?” An Ran was overwhelmed.
Huang De Xing’s brows raises, and asks, “What, not confident?”
“No, I, I’m just surprised.” After all this project was a big deal, it relates to the company’s foreign development in the future.
“I believe in you. You are perceptive in designing. As it should be, of course I should say, if you have any questions, you can come find me. If you’re having trouble making a decision, you can also come find me for advice.” Huang De Xing laughs as he speaks.
An Ran nods. Hugging the pile of materials, she pledges, “I’ll do my best, not to disappoint you!”
“Alright. I’ll wait for your blueprint.”
“Yes.” An Ran nods, then carries the pile of materials out of the office.
The project this time was a large-scale exercise park. It will have every kind of exercise and leisure equipment. It’ll occupy a very large space, and it’ll require a tremendous amount of capital, because a UK company, ‘Jason Consortium’ will be investing in it. It’s an aristocratic financial group, and with regards to this project’s launching, every country’s media will be paying close attention to it. Therefore if ‘Jing Cheng Construction’ could seize this project, then regardless of whether it was a domestic or foreign project, then undoubtedly all would be hugely successful.
When An Ran was eagerly looking at the pile of resources that Huang De Xing had given her, Su Yi Cheng had called. Su Yi Cheng was already downstairs, and didn’t see An Ran so he gave her a call to ask her whether or not she was still busy with work.
Only then does An Ran remember that Su Yi Cheng had said that he will be taking her to a mysterious place today. She quickly tidies up her stuff and puts the materials into her briefcase, then leaves.
When she got downstairs Su Yi Cheng’s car was already at the gate. Upon seeing her come out of the building, he opens the car door and gets out. He watches her, wearing a faint smile on his face.
An Ran runs over to him with small steps, looks at him apologetically, and says, “Did you wait for long? Sorry, I was looking at some data and forgot.”
Su Yi Cheng laughs. He reaches out and fixes her hair that had become messy because she ran. Then he opens the car door, and says, “Get in.”
An Ran nods, smiles at him softly, and gets in the car.
Heavenly gentleman Su closes the door for her, then gets in his side of the car.
She waits until he sat down. An Ran couldn’t contain her curiousness and ask, “So where are we going?” Yesterday he said that he would bring her some place, but he was being all mysterious and wouldn’t tell her.
Su Yi Cheng starts the car, turns to her and laughs, “Let’s eat first.”
The car slowly approaches a unique looking restaurant and parks in front of it. There were all sorts of grand-looking cars parked at the front, looking at it would make people dazzled.
An Ran raises her head. “Yi Ran yuan”, she’d heard of this inn before. It opened two months ago, and she heard that at its grand opening they invited all the celebrities and well known people of the city, to attract countless people, so much that word travelled far and wide, that even people from the far parts of the country would rush over, only to see their idol. And thanks to the promotion of those celebrities, this restaurant’s reputation immediately circulated out. In addition on that day’s grand opening, this ‘Yi Ran yuan’s’ proprietor did not hesitate to spare blood and let people try their food free of charge for a day. Plus with the restaurant’s chef’s remarkable craftsmanship, those who had tried their food praised it to high heavens, and from then on became the restaurant’s loyal customer. Even if this place was not convenient to reach, they still recommended their friends and relatives to try out the newly opened restaurant.
“Let’s go, I heard that the zhe jiang dish here is pretty good.” Su YI Cheng says, leading her by the arm to go into the restaurant.
“You’ve eaten here before?” An Ran asks mindlessly.
Su Yi Cheng chuckles as he shakes his head and says, “Nope, Yi Jiao told me about it.”
“Yi Jiao! She has a restaurant herself, why would she go to other people’s restaurant’s to eat?”
“Haha, didn’t I tell you that this restaurant is also Yi Jiao’s?” Su Yi Cheng laughs.
An Ran stares at him wide eyed, and shakes her head. She did not expect that Yi Jiao was Jiang city’s Queen of Catering. She clearly looked like a child, yet she didn’t expect that she would open one restaurant after another!
The two enter. Not needing a private room, they directly go into the lounge and look for seats.
Su Yi Cheng orders. Apparently it was some coincidence, An Ran surprisingly discovered that there was very little difference between her taste and his. What he liked to eat, she also liked it.
“So you also like to eat these kinds of food!” An Ran happily exclaims.
“Yeah.” Su Yi Cheng responds. The entire time the corner of his mouth was wearing a good-looking smile.
Only coming in does she discovers, the management of this place was indeed a lot like You Ran Restaurant’s. The only thing that differed was the interior decoration and design. It wasn’t like the subdued luxuriousness that people had said. Everything here was dimmer, appearing simple and plain. Living up to the restaurant’s name, calm and quiet, making people feel cozy.
The dishes came out very quickly, even the smell was good, not at all losing to You Ran restaurant.
“You just wanted to bring me to this place to eat?” Placing a few pieces of food into her mouth, An Ran asks.
Su Yi Cheng smiles, passes a piece of meat to her, and says, “Nope. I’ll bring you there after we finish eating.”
“So what place is it?” An Ran asks curiously.
Su Yi Cheng only laughs, and shakes his head lightly.
An Ran pettily scolds him in her mind, lowers her head and continues to eat her food. And it was at this time, that a sweet voice comes out from behind.
“Special Assistant Su, senior sister An Ran!” From the tone she seemed surprised, pleasantly surprised.
Su Yi Cheng raises his head, and just faintly nods his head. He wears a smile on his face, but that smile, was faintly discernable and somewhat estranged, not at all friendly.
Hearing what was said An Ran also turns her head, only to see Tong Xiao Jie’s white outfit, her face wearing a smile looking at them. “Senior sister and Special Assistant Su are also having a meal here!” Tong Xiao Jie smiles as she walks to them, at the same time saying, “The food here really is not too bad, the ambient is also really nice.”
An Ran looks at her unenthusiastically, turns around, not answering to her.
Su Yi Cheng looks at An Ran, raises his head and nods at Tong Xiao Jie, smiling, “Miss Tong is alone? Would you like to join us?”
“No, I came with my husband.” Tong Xiao Jie replies. After saying that she turns to look at An Ran, only to see An Ran eating undisturbed.
“Oh, is that so.” Su YI Cheng nods his head in understanding, not saying much. Then he returns his gaze, looks at An Ran warmly, then adds another piece of meat to An Ran’s bowl. He says, “Here, leaving out the meat again, you’re too thin.”
Tong Xiao Jie watches them, the corner of her mouth seemed as if there was no smile. She says, “Why don’t Special assistant Su and senior sister join us, we have a private room. Yuan Shan Construction’s Director Zhang is also with us. I think they would very happy to see you Special Assistant Su.”
“No need, An Ran and I have plans later on. Perhaps next time.” Su Yi Cheng declines.
Tong Xiao Jie nods, and says somewhat regretfully, “Then I can only wait until next time.”
“Yes. We’ll meet next time.” Su Yi Cheng nods in agreement.
Tong Xiao Jie says to An Ran, “Senior sister, then I’ll go ahead first. You and Special Assistant Su take your time.” Not caring if An Ran would reply or not, after she finished speaking, she turns around and walks over to a private room.
The mood became strange after Tong Xiao Jie’s appearance. An ran eats silently. Su Yi Cheng has a slight frown as he watches her.
Not long after, Su Yi Cheng was about to say something, when he sees Zhang Yuan Shan’s smiling face come up from behind her. Following him was Mo Fei.
“Special Assistant Su, special assistant Su. What a coincidence, you guys are also here to eat!” The person hasn’t even neared yet, when Zhang Yuan Shan’s voice calls out.
Su Yi Cheng raises his head to look at him. He puts on a professional smile, moves his chair and stands to walk over to him. In response, An Ran also puts down her chopsticks and gets up. She turns her head, and happened to see Mo Fei, following Zhang Yuan Shan from behind.
Zhang Yuan Shan was naturally happy to see Su Yi Cheng and his wife. Ever since that reception he had always thought of asking Su Yi Cheng for a meal, considering to apologize, but every time he called, he was always turned down by the secretary. He wasn’t even able to meet him face to face. This was good, he didn’t expect that the appointment today with Mo Fei and his wife to discuss the company’s future collaboration, would unexpectedly bump into Su Yi Cheng. Even better, Mo Fei and Tong Xiao Fen are schoolmates with Su Yi Cheng’s wife Gu An Ran. Even if Su Yi Cheng won’t give him face, he would still give Mo Fei face. Really was wonderful!
Zhang Yuan Shan enthusiastically reaches out with two hands to shake Su Yi Cheng’s. He repeatedly exclaims, “Special assistant Su is also here, really, such a coincidence. A few days before I was thinking of asking you for a meal, however you are quite busy, there was no opportunity for me.”
Su Yi Cheng’s appearance does not change as he shakes his hand. The smile on his face was still kind. He nods, and faintly says, “I’m indebted to Director Zhang’s grace. This time we’re quite busy with investigations, indeed a little busy.”
“Then please, why not take this chance encounter, today we happened to encounter here, looks like we are fated to have a meal, why don’t Special Assistant Su join us?” Zhang Yuan Shan requests.
Su Yi Cheng smiles mildly as he says, “Director Zhang is too courteous.” Finishing speaking he turns to face An Ran, only to see her standing there calmly, watching him. The corner of his mouth rises slightly, his mood immediately becomes cheerful.
This Zhang Yuan Shan can also be considered an elite. He came from nothing and became rich overnight, then, going through obstacles in the business world for so many years, it’s obviously fundamental for his expression to weigh up to his words. Upon seeing this, apparently understanding something, he turns around to An Ran and says, “Mrs. Su, I apologize for the matter at the reception. Is it possible for me to borrow this opportunity, let me take the honour of inviting Mrs. Su to a meal. It is also an apology for last time.”
Hearing what was said, An Ran turns around and looks at Su Yi Cheng, only to see that he is still smiling, looking at her, not at all intending to speak. An Ran thought that it was inconvenient for him to decline, so she was thinking of tactfully declining herself. Thinking of this, she turns to look at Zhang Yuan Shan and smiles, “Director Zhang is joking. There is no need to speak of the incident last time. It was just a misunderstanding, Director Zhang does not need to take it to heart.”
“Haha, Mrs. Su is too magnanimous. Even if it was not for last time, today by chance Mo Fei and Xiao Jie are here, the three of you went to same school and are schoolmates. And Xiao Jie and them just came back from abroad. You guys have not met for so many years, today can also be considered a time to reminisce.” Zhang Yuan Shan says. He turns towards Mo Fei, and says, “Right, Mo Fei?”
Mo Fei was distracted, and then comes back to Earth. He stupidly nods, and wears a pained smile, agreeing with him. He fixes on An Ran and says, “Right. It’s been years, and actually we have a lot to talk about. An Ran, come join us, the Osmanthus fish is pretty good. I remember that your favourite dish was the Osmanthus fish soup.
An Ran’s face stiffens, that smile seemed as if it turned cold that moment, freezing her face. She avoids his gaze, not looking at him at all.
Su Yi Cheng naturally sensed An Ran’s difference and change. He reaches out to take her hand, and gives her a loving smile. Then he turns to face Mo Fei, and calmly says, “It’s rare that Director Mo still remembers what An Ran likes to eat. However, habits are a strange thing: some people who were once very fond of one thing, even loving it. But after a long time, their preferences will change, especially you rejecting that dish 6 years ago, could one still remember the taste of that dish?”
Mo Fei turns stiff, clearly stunned. He looks at Su Yi Cheng, and stiffly says, “Perhaps it’s because I haven’t eaten it in 6 years, that I only cherish the memory of that taste.”
Zhang Yuan Shan stands at the side, puzzled. This skillful exchange, is just about the food?
The smile on Su Yi Cheng’s face does not change, as graceful and mannerly as before. He gently says, “Perhaps it wasn’t cherished from the beginning. After all liking it that much, akin to giving up smoking and drinking, the hardest part is the initial stages. But if after a while, and it being as long as 6 years, wanting to eat after not thinking of it, only proves that she has already successfully given up the taste that she once enjoyed.”
“How do you know that she hasn’t thought about that dish. Perhaps she once thought about it day and night, have never forgotten!” Mo fei’s emotions were stirred up.
“Perhaps it’s like what Director Mo said, indeed she may have strong affections for that dish, and has kept it constantly in mind for a long time. However, ultimately she still hasn’t eaten it, only has one reason, and that is that she was hurt too deeply back then, and that hurt made her fear and dread it.” Su Yi Cheng says.
Hearing what was said, Mo Fei turns to dazedly look at An Ran who was standing at his side. He couldn’t help but ask himself, “Was it like that?”
Zhang Yuan Shan apparently heard some kind of mystery, only the scene was very strange. He can only be obliged to jokingly ask, “Mrs. Su swallowed a mandarin fish bone back then?”
An Ran forces a smile, not knowing how to respond. She subconsciously turns to look at Su Yi Cheng.
Su Yi Cheng still smiles warmly, reaches out and naturally embraces An Ran’s waist. He jests to Zhang Yuan Shan, “Yes, that time she swallowed a huge bone, and henceforth she’s dreaded mandarin fish.”
“Haha, so it’s like that.” Zhang Yuan Shan nods in understanding, “Then Mrs. Su must be scared to touch fish.”
“Well, it’s not exactly like that.” Su Yi Cheng shakes his head. He turns to look at Mo Fei, and dimly says, “There’s nothing that can’t be replaced. If she can’t eat mandarin fish there are still other fish. She only choked on mandarin fish, the shadows of the mandarin fish is real, but other fish are harmless. You can’t stop eating other delicious fish because of that one fish, don’t you think, Director Mo.”
Mo Fei stiffens, unable to come up with even a word. He drops his arms and clenches his fist, his fingernails sinking into his palms, but he doesn’t feel pain.
The atmosphere became weird, Zhang Yuan Shan naturally is able to see the general idea. He quickly smiles and says, “Well then we won’t get mandarin fish. Special Assistant Su and Mrs. Su should come with, tonight I shall drink a few cups with Special Assistant Su.”
Speaking of alcohol, An Ran subconsciously says, “He can’t drink!”
Zhang Yuan Shan was shocked, and asks, “Why?” He had heard that Su Yi Cheng’s capacity for liquor was pretty good, and was about to ask for the highest quality of Mao Tai liquor that he liked.
Only after An Ran had finished speaking did she feel that she was too sudden. She regretted that she spoke too soon. She doesn’t know how an official’s wife should act, but on TV they all just stood there, just wearing a smile on their face. If it really was supposed to be like that, than she really shot her mouth out. A little annoyed, she looks at Su Yi Cheng, only to see him looking at her funny.
They don’t seem to answer, but Su Yi Cheng also does not refute it, so Zhang Yuan Shan jokingly says, “Haha, looks like Special Assistant Su really loves his wife.” The implication was that he was under his wife’s thumb.
An Ran said no so it was a no, only he didn’t think that Su Yi Cheng, a man with an iron fist, would unexpectedly be whipped!
Hearing that, Su Yi Cheng laughs. He only says, “To marry a wife is to marry pain*”
*T/N: The ‘love’ that they used isn’t the usual character, ‘ai’, but ‘teng’, which is commonly known as ‘pain’. The alternate meaning is ‘to love dearly’. Take what you will 😉
Zhang Yuan Shan nods, “Yes yes yes, Special Assistant Su is so right, taking a wife is to marry pain.” Saying that, he also says to An Ran, “Mrs. Su, please let me borrow Special Assistant Su for one night, drinking is only to liven things up, we won’t drink too much.”
An Ran shakes her head, firmly rejects, “Sorry Director Zhang, Yi Cheng’s stomach is not too well these days, the doctor specifically said not to drink or smoke.” She was scared to death a few days before. Normally if she wasn’t here she wouldn’t care, but since she’s here now, and she clearly knows his stomach’s condition, so naturally she won’t let him drink.
“Uh, is Special Assistant Su’s health not good? Is it serious?” Zhang Yuan Shan asks concernedly.
“Hehe, An Ran’s too tense, it’s just an old illness, nothing imposing.” Su Yi Cheng’s tone was relaxed. At the corner of his eye he shoots a glance a Mo Fei, smiling yet not smiling.
Mo Fei does not speak, only watches him. He looks at An Ran. His fist clenches tighter.
“Well then we won’t drink today, let’s just sit and eat. Let’s not talk any more, the food here is really good.” Zhang Yuan Shan says again. Today, no matter what he will get Su Yi Cheng, otherwise the next time that he requests him for a meal, it would be difficult. He turns to look at An Ran and says, “Xiao Jie had not spoken to Mrs. Su, Mrs. Su, with Mo Fei and Xiao Jie, have studied at the same school for so many years, come join us to chat.”
An Ran looks at Su Yi Cheng awkwardly. She doesn’t want to stay behind, and especially does not want to be with Mo Fei and Tong Xiao Jie. She does not want any relation with that couple.
Su Yi Cheng naturally knows her thoughts, and faintly nods at her. He then looks at Zhang Yuan Shan and says, “Director Zhang is too polite, however tonight is really out of the question. I still have plans with An Ran, it seems that you can only wait til next time for that meal.”
“Uh, this----“ Zhang Yuan Shan was about to say something, yet was interrupted by Su Yi Cheng.
“How about this, Director Zhang the meal tonight will be on me, next time, next time when there’s time, we will call on Chairman Xiao and all chat together.” Su Yi Cheng smiles.
Seeing that he said so, Zhang Yuan Shan also does not push any further. “That being the case that Special Assistant Su and Mrs. Su still has plans tonight, then we will also not force it. After all it is important business. However this bill, Special Assistant Su is too polite. If it is footing the bill then I should be one to do it. Then I will count on Special Assistant Su.”
“Haha, Director Zhang please don’t fight me. Today you can consider me as the host. This restaurant belongs to my sister, so, there is no need for Director Zhang to be so polite.” Su Yi Cheng says so.
“Uh.” Zhang Yuan Shan was surprised, not expecting yet another layer. It would not be good for him to persist in refusing this, so he can only force a smile and say, “That being the case, then I will have to thank Special Assistant Su, for spending money.”
Su Yi Cheng smiles warmly, “My own sister, naturally have to show consideration.”
Zhang Yuan Shan smiles and nods, but doesn’t have the slightest intention of leaving.
Su Yi Cheng glances at him, then turns to softly ask An Ran, “Are you full?”
An Ran nods, “Full.” In fact she was pretty much almost done, only she didn’t expect to run into Tong Xiao Jie, even more she didn’t expect that she would call on Zhang Yuan Shan and Mo Fei to come out.
Hearing what was said, Su Yi Cheng turns to the side and addresses to Zhang Yuan Shan and Mo Fei, “Then, Director Zhang, please continue. I still have matters with An Ran, so I will leave first.”
“Sure, sure. You are busy, busy.” Zhang Yuan Shan quickly smiles, and answers. Mo Fei, at the side, only fixes on An Ran. He looked like he was enduring something.
Su Yi Cheng smiles weakly and nods, taking An Ran’s bag. Then he leads An Ran by the hand and leads her to the front desk.
Seeing that they are going to pay the bill, Zhang Yuan Shan then turns around, preparing to return to his room. At the same time, he says to Mo Fei, “Let’s go.”
Mo Fei stares at the restaurant door. He naturally heard what Su Yi Cheng had just said, but he was not willing, not willing, just not willing yet he is also powerless. He had thought that Su Yi Cheng was just a simple office worker. Even if his personality was good and remarkable he was just a substitution, able to give An Ran a quiet life, but not the best life. That was what he assumed just by seeing the car that he had driven before.
He even thought, that even though he and An Ran were together right now, but after half a year, even if it was just half a year, when it was time he was determined to disregard everything and make her return to his side. However, he didn’t expect that Su Yi Cheng’s identity was the Special Assistant of the Mayor of Jiang City, and even more did not expect that he had the strong backing of the Su family behind him! That kind of status, thusly he couldn’t grasp it.
Seeing him motionless, Zhang Yuan Shan calls out again, “Mo Fei?”
Mo Fei then come back to Earth. He nods at him, and only says, “I need to go to the washroom.” Saying that he directly goes over to the washroom. The present him, only needs to be good, cool-headed, otherwise, he doesn’t know how he could face Tong Xiao Jie!
---END OF CHAPTER---
Saturday, 5 August 2017
First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 73 Translation
073. Drunken Ling Ran
Last night was truly exhausting for her. When she slept she didn’t even hear the early morning reveille. By the time she had woken up it was already almost 9 o’clock, and Su Yi Cheng was already gone.
Her sorry self gets herself ready and changes. When she came out there was only auntie in the house, cleaning the yard.
That auntie catches sight of An Ran, and quickly says, “Shao nai nai*, you’re up. Madam just went out.”
T/N: Shao nai nai – wife of the young master
An Ran nods, and smiles at her.
The auntie puts down the broom, walks over to her, and says, “Shao nai nai, you must be hungry. Today Madam had made congee this morning, but seeing that you didn’t wake, it’s still warming up on the stove. I can go get it for you.” Saying that she washes her hands and quickly goes into the kitchen.
An Ran follows her. At first she wanted to help out a bit, but she was chased out, said that the kitchen soot was too heavy.
She was bored to death sitting at the dinner table, muttering to herself wondering where Su Yi Cheng had gone. She hadn’t even seen a shadow of him all throughout the house.
The auntie brings out the congee as she says, “Shao nai nai, this is the swallow’s nest congee that Madam made earlier. Here, be careful it’s hot.”
An Ran takes it, and smiles at her, “Auntie, please call me An Ran.” Being called ‘shao nai nai, shao nai nai’, she’s not used to it.
The auntie laughs, and nods, urging, “Here, eat it while it’s hot. Madame said you have to fill yourself well, you’re too skinny.”
An Ran blushes. She’s not fat, but she’s not exactly skinny either. She takes the ladle, and takes little scoops to eat. The congee was sweet and thick. It was made with glutinous sticky rice, and she had always preferred sweets. This kind of congee was hitting the right spot.
By the time An Ran was finished eating breakfast, Su Yi Cheng and Qin Yun still hadn’t returned. She accompanied auntie into the garden to water the flowers, then she told auntie that she would go out by herself.
She walks around the courtyard. From time to time she can hear the hubbub from the training yard. The children of the officers had no classes as it was the weekend, and at this moment in twos and threes they run over to An Ran’s side. Seeing their attitude, it appears that they were playing solider catching the thief, having a blast.
She walks along the path until she reached the activity center. There was a lot of communal equipment outdoor to keep fit: see-saws, rotating disks, poles, pairs of levers etc. There were some women sitting at the side chatting. Looking at their attire, they should be some official’s housekeeper or auntie (nursemaid). There were children who were happily circling around, their cries of joy cheerful. The mood was pretty good.
An Ran had nothing to do, but doesn’t know where to go. She was unfamiliar with the place, and she was even a little scared, because the courtyard had a lot of tall imposing doors, and the colours were solemn, which couldn’t help but make people feel awed.
Some of the children played noisily. An Ran fixes her attention to the large locust tree at the middle of the courtyard and was lost in thought. She wasn’t paying attention, as one child who was playing had bumped into her. When An Ran came back to earth there wasn’t enough time to dodge, and the two simply bumped into each other. That child’s strength was very heavy; one bump made them land on their bum, while An Ran lost her footing. In no time she fell back.
“Ah!” A subconsious cry, purely out of instinct. The screeching An Ran had closed her eyes resigned to fate, preparing for that pain to come.
Suddenly, she just felt something warm behind her, and that pain that should’ve came didn’t come. An Ran simply fell into a warm embrace. It was a person, carrying her from behind, saving her from the awkward predicament of falling.
“Miss, are you okay?” A warm voice speaks into her ears.
An Ran then reacts, and quickly withdraws from that person’s embrace. She turns her head, and quickly says, “Uh, I-I’m fine. Really, thank you for that.” Now she can see the person clearly. The man had dark, black eyebrows, a square face, and was wearing a suit. He seemed decorated, his hair was combed neatly. She wouldn’t call him very handsome, but still was charming.
The man smiles at her. He doesn’t look at her face, and turns around to the boy who had tripped and pulls him up, with a serious face, he admonishes, “Why are you so hot-tempered, you have to apologize for bumping to her.”
That little boy rubs his sore buttocks. He was strong as he hadn’t shed any tears, and in a small voice he says to An Ran, “Sorry!”
An Ran smiles and shakes her head. Her sharp eyes catch sight of his broken skin from the fall, the blood still on his hand. She quickly says, “You’re bleeding. Does it hurt, this auntie will take you to bandage it up, okay?”
The boy shakes his head, timidly looking at the man beside An Ran.
The man beside An Ran only smiles apologetically, and says, “Sorry, This child was too mischievous.”
An Ran only then responds. So it turns out this man was the child’s guardian. She quickly smiles and says, “It’s okay, children always love to play around, it’s their nature. Right, why don’t you bring the child to get bandaged, don’t let it get infected.”
The man nods, turns to take a quick look at the boy. His brows wrinkle a bit, and after a while he extends his hand.
That boy seemed like he feared him, not daring to look at him in the face, but still timidly takes his hand.
Right when the man was about to lead the child and An Ran was about to say goodbye, Su Yi Cheng’s voice comes out from behind.
“An Ran.” Turning her head, she only sees Su Yi Cheng standing there a few feet away. His hair was somewhat messy from the wind, and he was dressed up casually.
“Yi Cheng.” An Ran smiles at him, turns around and walks over to him.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her, and also takes note of the man standing not too far. Suddenly his expression changes; the smile on his lips at once turns stiff.
The man also sees him and comes over, making eye contact with Su Yi Cheng. He was also slightly surprised, his expression becomes a little strange.
An Ran noticed the change in the two, she curiously asks, “You guys know each other?”
Su Yi Cheng then gradually comes back to earth. He turns his head, and just says to An Ran, “Let’s go. Secretary Zheng called, there’s a meeting that I have to attend to at noon. We might have to go back a bit early.”
An Ran nods. She turns to look at the man standing there, and slightly nods her head. She turns around to follow Su Yi Cheng’s lead, and leaves.
The man watches the two figures slowly retreat. Only after a while does he lower his head and says to the child he was holding, “Let’s go.”
On the way, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward. Su Yi Cheng was silent the entire time. An Ran doesn’t know what to say. She could only stand there foolishly and let him lead the way. Seeing his reaction to the man just now, the two of them must know each other. But it seems like, it seems like their relationship isn’t that good.
When they got back to the Su household Qin Yun was already back. Right at that time she and the auntie were in the yard getting ready to kill the chicken. She had just caught the chicken the traditional way, and was preparing to kill it to make chicken stock stew to give to An Ran for her health. But this chicken still wasn’t dead and even successfully heard what those two had said and went back. Her mood that was once good immediately fell apart, but she also knows that with this kind of work there is nothing to be done. She can only urge the two to come back when they have time, and said that tomorrow she’ll have the chicken stew ready and will deliver it to them.
On the road Su Yi Cheng was concentrated on driving. He looked tense, not warm like before. He seemed like an unapproachable stranger, and looked somewhat dreadful.
“Is the work really urgent?” The awkward atmosphere was weird, and An Ran attempted to break the silence.
It seemed like Su Yi Cheng had not heard her, his eyes still intently driving.
“Yi Cheng?” An Ran carefully calls out.
Su Yi Cheng then indistinctly comes back, distractedly turns his head, and asks, “Uh, what did you just say?”
An Ran stares at him. Finally she shakes her head, and says, “Do you want to switch? I can drive, you seem preoccupied.”
Su Yi Cheng shakes his head, and smiles at An Ran, “It’s nothing. I was just thinking of some stuff, wasn’t really listening.”
An Ran softly sighs, and says, “You know that man just now?”
Su Yi Cheng looks at her eyes, and nods. He doesn’t deny, “He’s from the courtyard agency. He doesn’t distance himself, so I’ve seen him a few times.”
“Oh.” An Ran nods, and doesn’t ask any more. She always felt, that if he wants to explain to her he will do it on his own. If he wasn’t willing, then asking would just be in vain, inviting a snub. She changes the subject, and asks, “Is the meeting this noon really urgent?”
“It’s at 2, but before the meeting I have to prepare some stuff.” Su Yi Cheng sates.
“Go after lunch, the doctor said you need to have 3 meals a day.” These past two days have been good. If he goes hungry there will be a problem, then these past few days will be for nothing.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her, and nods. A faint smile emerges at the corner of his mouth.
By the time they returned to their apartment it was 11. Because he still has time, An Ran took advantage of the time when he went in to go change and hurried herself to make noodles, soup and small side dishes, even adding an egg.
When Su Yi Cheng had freshened himself up and came out with his clothes changed, An Ran was breaking an egg and adding it into the noodles. She sees him come out of the room, and quickly says, “Here, eat and go.” Saying that, she takes the bowl of noodles and carries it to the counter.
Su Yi Cheng nods, and walks to the stool and sits down.
He takes a sip of the soup. Truthfully the flavour was ordinary, but there was ample feelings, which made him feel that this bowl of noodle soup was especially delicious. He nods his head in admiration, and says to her, “It’s really good.”
An Ran smiles faintly. She sits across from him, props herself up against her cheek, and watches him eat, not doing anything else.
Su Yi Cheng ate quickly, but his table manners were graceful. There wasn’t a drop of soup that was spilled out, and there weren’t any crumbs either.
As he was eating, he suddenly hands over an egg to An Ran, motioning her to open her mouth.
An Ran shakes her head, “You eat.” This intimate action made An Ran feel somewhat uncomfortable. Her face flushes.
Su Yi Cheng doesn’t take back his chopsticks, still insisting on giving her the egg to eat.
She was defeated, as she can’t beat his stubborn persistence. An Ran had no other choice but to open her mouth and take a bite from the egg. Because her skin was thin, it was extremely rosy.
Su Yi Cheng smiles in satisfaction, then grabs another piece from the bowl and gives it to her.
An Ran frowns, but still helplessly opens her mouth and takes a bite. When Su Yi Cheng went back to take another piece for the third time, An Ran pretended to be angry and says in seriousness, “Su Yi Cheng, are you avoiding my food because it’s unpalatable, that’s why you’re not eating?”
Su Yi Cheng was startled. He didn’t expect that she would come up with that. He shakes his head, lowers it and takes a big bite of the remaining food, even the soup. All of it was in his stomach. Then he puts down his chopsticks, and looks at An Ran earnestly as he says, “My wife’s noodles are the best noodles in the world, from now on I will finish everything you make.”
An Ran smiles from his earnest expression. She ignores him, takes the utensils and puts it into the sink.
He looks at the time. There wasn’t a lot of time left. Su Yi Cheng grabs his briefcase, goes over to An Ran to say something, then directly goes out.
‘Jade Lake Garden’s case was under construction. If it goes smoothly next month it’ll go into the second stage of engineering. She had already withdrawn from the municipal committee government project, so now that she’s idle she’s kind of bored.
She returns to the study room and takes the 1/4 finished design draft. She likes to make sure that every design she makes is thoroughly drawn from beginning to end. Even though she lost this project, at least this can be considered her form of conclusion.
Inspiration is actually a very uncertain, serendipitous thing. Originally she had thought for a long time, had many compositions, many consultations. She spent nearly half a month until she could draw one nearly to completion. Now, maybe because she doesn’t have that burden, that afternoon, An Ran was able to easily design. She didn’t break concentration, for the entire afternoon, to her surprise she was able to draw something good, even better than before. She was even more satisfied with this design.
Suddenly, at this time, the doorbell rings, its tinkling ringing throughout. An Ran puts down her pen, and cautiously walks over to the door.
She doesn’t know who it was, but they were probably looking for Su Yi Cheng, as this is Su Yi Cheng’s place, and she had just recently moved in, so she hadn’t told anyone that she was living here.
She gazes into the peephole, only to see Ling Ran standing outside, her body trembling, her stance did not seem stable.
An Ran reaches out and was about to open the door, but as she was holding the knob she suddenly hesitates. Intuition tells her that she should distance herself from Ling Ran, as she doesn’t seem like she treats people so simply. She hasn’t yet generously told her what was between her and Su Yi Cheng.
The doorbell was still ringing. There was that determination that wouldn’t be abandoned if you don’t open the door. Ultimately she still opened the door.
As she opens it, An Ran only smells a burst of alcohol. The smell was so strong, that it was difficult to bear.
Ling Ran seemed intoxicated. Her gaze seemed misty.
“Miss Ling?” An Ran gently calls out to her.
Ling Ran stands there swaying. Her eyelids seemed heavy. One blink, another blink. Her entire person was swaying back and forth, it looked like she was about to collapse at any time.
She was afraid that Ling Ran would really fall over. Without any better option An Ran reaches out and supports her, “Come, come in.”
Ling Ran hangs onto An Ran, crying and laughing as she held onto her, “An Ran, I’m in pain, really in pain.”
Although she wasn’t heavy, and she looks thin, but having this big person push down on her, An Ran really couldn’t endure, moreover, she isn’t calming down, she was really intoxicated, swaying and staggering.
“Hu---“ With great difficulty she helps her onto the sofa. An Ran lets out a long sigh, turns around and was planning to get her a cup of water, but she didn’t think, that when she turned around, her hand was being pulled by her.
“Let go first, I’m going to get you some water. If you’re like this, drinking water might ease it a bit.” An Ran says.
Ling Ran shakes her head, holding onto An Ran tightly and not releasing her. She looks at her with a wronged expression and says, “An Ran, I’m in pain, really painful.”
“You’re in pain because you’re drunk. Let go, I’ll get you some tea to sober up. If you drink it you’ll feel better.” An Ran was really defeated. It’s reasonable to say that she has seen two sides of her, and even though they weren’t friends, she still got drunk and ran to her, so what is the meaning of that! An Ran was pondering, perhaps, she should call Ling Lin, and have her get her sister.
Ling Ran shakes her head, points at her chest and says, “I’m not drunk, it hurts here, really hurts!”
An Ran looks at her, not knowing what she should say. Her hand was being pulled on, but she couldn’t leave, so she had no choice but to sit beside her.
“I really love him, really, really love him. Even though I left for 7 years, but I still think of him every moment, think of the days when we were together. I really regret it, really regret why I drank that year. I clearly know that I can’t drink, otherwise, otherwise that sort of thing wouldn’t have happened.” Saying that, Ling Ran cries mournfully.
An Ran stays silent, because she knows that the ‘he’ that she was mentioning is referring to Su Yi Cheng. She was Su Yi Cheng’s ex, and she herself is Su Yi Cheng’s current wife. An ex-girlfriend coming to look for the wife to cry about how much she loves her husband, how much she regretted breaking up. Regarding those kinds of circumstances, she was completely at a loss, because she doesn’t have any experience at all.
As she was weeping, Ling Ran suddenly lifts her head up, and looks around the house. Then she suddenly smiles foolishly, and says, “Do you know, this place hasn’t changed at all. It’s still decorated the same as that year.”
An Ran frowns, looking around at decoratives of the place.
Ling Ran suddenly gets up. Her body staggers, her foot was also unsteady. She staggered along towards the kitchen counter. She gently strokes the marble of the counter, that tall red footstool, and smiles sadly. She mumbles, “Back then, I always sat on this chair. Then Ah Cheng would make the best food. After first his cooking wasn’t good at all, but for me, because I was picky, he secretly learned how to look for a long time, and finally, made it so that he was even better than those famous restaurants outside and was even more delicious.”
An Ran stays silent, fixing her gaze at her. Su Yi Cheng’s culinary skills are indeed good. From the first time that he had made a meal, Ling Ran wasn’t exaggerating, indeed it was better than any restaurant’s and was even more delicious. But she never thought of it, that he had learned how to cook because of her.
Staggering about, Ling Ran walks over to the study room. She opens the door, and looks at the still-familiar decorations. Her hands cover her mouth, and inarticulately says, “Still, still the same as before. Nothing’s changed, really nothing has changed!”
An Ran looks at her, her two hands unconsciously grips onto each other. Her heart, has this inexplicable feeling of unhappiness. She couldn’t say what the reason was, but can only feel unbearably stuffy.
Ling Ran trips as she was walking over to lie on the master room. An Ran’s heart suddenly tightens, she takes large strides, and catches the hand that was reaching out to open the door. She coldly says, “Miss Ling, you are drunk. I’ll bring you up.” The bedroom was her’s and Su Yi Cheng’s. It was a place where they sleep and hold each other, mutually lingering and grinding. She doesn’t want to hear whatever assessment from other people, and even more she doesn’t want to know how it was before.
Borrowing the strength from her drunkenness Ling Ran shakes off her hand, and staggers back to the study room. She looks at the ash gray sofa, and smiles bitterly. She turns around, looks at An Ran, and says, “Back then Ah Cheng really liked to hold me on the sofa and watch TV. He liked to watch current political news, but I always liked to watch dramas. He finds them boring, but even though it was boring he still watched them with me. When I cried he’d give me napkins, when I laughed he’d laugh with me. Then he’d pamper me and pinch my nose, kiss my forehead. Those times were my happiest days.” Saying that, she weeps sorrowfully. She turns to walk to An Ran, grabs her clothes, and cries as she says, “Give Ah Cheng back to me, give him back to me okay? I really love him, I can’t be without him!”
An Ran only frowns. Her chest was painfully stuffy, she can only feel that her breathing was beginning to quicken. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and says, “Miss Ling, I can’t understand what you’re saying. You’re drunk, let me take you up!”
Ling Ran suddenly pushes her away. She was worked up as she says, “He doesn’t love you. He doesn’t love you at all. I’ve been gone for 7 years, and not once has he had a woman by his side. Why do you think that is. He was waiting for me, he was waiting for me to come back!”
“But in the end he still married me, and now I am Mrs. Su, I am Su Yi Cheng’s wife!” An Ran fixes her gaze at her as she says that, her hands tightly clenched.
Ling Ran looks at her, stares at her. Then she suddenly sits down, frozen. It looked as if gas were leaking out of her body like a ball; void of anger. Her gaze was elsewhere, yet her two eyes did not lose focus. She can only accept defeat, as if she were thinking aloud, “I made him wait for too long, so long that his heart had gone cold. I was wrong, I should have came back earlier. I should have came back earlier…..”
An Ran’s chest tightens. Because of her words, because of what she said she thought of her impulse to marry. Now she thinks back to his words ‘suitable’, her heart suddenly tightens painfully.
“Hehe, hehe…….” Ling Ran who was sitting down suddenly starts laughing. She looks at An Ran, as she says in a bitter and scathing tone, “Why do you think Ah Cheng married you?”
An Ran looks at her, her lips purse up. Her trimmed fingernails left a deep mark in her palms because she was gripping too tightly. Faintly painful!
“It’s because of your name, An Ran! Ling Ran, your ‘Ran’ and my ‘Ran’, you are merely my replacement! You are my substitute!” Ling Ran shrieks, then lets out a loud cry. She shouts out erratically, “Ha ha ha ha, you are my substitute, the person Ah Cheng loves is me, the one he loves is me.”
Ling Ran …… An Ran ……
Ran equals Ran?
An Ran blanks. She felt dizzy. Was it like that? He agreed to marry her because of her name, because in her name she had a homophone of his ex-girlfriend’s name? Really, he has such good conditions, how could he be worried about finding a suitable woman for marriage!
She takes a deep breath, and painfully shuts her eyes. She opens them again, her eyes cold as ice and frost. She forces out, “Miss Ling, please leave.” She doesn’t want to be in the same space as her. She only felt this painful feeling in her chest.
“I don’t want to.” Ling Ran apparently was truly drunk, as she speaks out in a childish tone. Then she dazedly grabs her hair and walks to the sofa, her mouth muttering something, “I want to wait for Ah Cheng to come back, wait for him to come back, hug me like before, kiss me…….” Saying that she walks to the sofa in the study room, then grabs a cushion and hugs it against her chest until she reaches the sofa in the living room. She closes her eyes, mumbling. Then she closes her eyes, and not long after a faint breathing sound appears, evidently fallen asleep.
An Ran stands there confused, apparently all her strength was sucked out of her.
Evening. Su Yi Cheng pinches his sore eyebrows. The meeting took up the entire afternoon, staring at the screen the entire time, his eyes were now aching a lot. He takes out a key from his bag. Opening the door, he sees a silent, dark space. He knits his brows. Is An Ran not here?
He reaches out and turns on the light, “Pa----“ The white light illuminates the entire house. With one hand he pulls on his necktie. He was thinking of calling An Ran, when he suddenly sees An Ran sitting against the wall. He only sees her looking at him woodenly, her face seemed to have traces of tears.
He doesn’t know what had happened. He puts his briefcase aside, and walks over to her in large strides. He squats in front of her, and looks at her puzzled. He asks, “What’s wrong? Why is the light turned off?”
An Ran woodenly shakes her head, but doesn’t say anything.
“En….” Ling Ran, on the sofa, was disturbed because of the sudden illumination. She lifts her hand to cover her eyes, mumbling as she slowly wakes up.
Hearing a sound, Su Yi Cheng suddenly turns his head. Only then does he notice that there is a third person in the room, and that person was Ling Ran!
Ling Ran dazedly props herself up, apparently forgetting about everything before. She touches her head that became painful because she had drank. Her misty gaze takes in the environment, finally landing on the startled Su Yi Cheng.
“Ah Cheng?” Ling Ran calls out. She clearly remembered that she had bought a lot of alcohol to bring home, then she drank at home. Why is Ah Cheng here? “You, why are you here?”
“I should be asking you that.” Su Yi Cheng says coldly, his gaze disapproving.
Ling Ran was shocked. Then she notices An Ran crouching down behind him. She then examines her surroundings, suddenly discovering that she wasn’t in her own home. But she has no recollection of why she was here! “I, why am I here? I was just drinking at home a moment ago!”
Taking a deep breath, Su Yi Cheng coldly says, “Ling Ran, all along I thought that I had sorted everything out clearly that night, what we had in the past was past, now we have our own respective lives, and I am very satisfied and happy with my life now. I don’t want you to disturb me or my family.”
“I, I didn’t…..” Ling Ran looks at him, her eyes looked like she was wronged.
“Please leave.” Su Yi Cheng says coldly, not giving her any face. After saying that he turns around, doesn’t look at her, and helps An Ran up.
“Ah Cheng….” From behind, Ling Ran calls out to him, tears sliding down her cheek. Her heart tightens painfully, she mumbles in grief, “Don’t be like that to me, don’t be like that okay……” She begs, holding onto a strand of hope.
Su Yi Cheng was indifferent. He holds An Ran and goes over to the master room, not once turning around to look at her.
Su Yi Cheng supports An Ran to the bed. He looks at the tear-stains on her face that had not yet dried. Reluctant to part, he reaches out and strokes her face, softly says, “Fool.” He doesn’t know what Ling Ran had said to her, but seeing her like this, he was afraid that she had thought too much. She was too soft, her temperament was too gentle. Even if she was bullied, she wouldn’t say anything mean. He likes her warm appearance and personality, but he also worries that she would be hurt when bullied. He never knew that he was such a contradictory person.
Sighing and shaking his head, he doesn’t know if her personality was good or bad. But seeing her like this, he felt this unspeakable pain. He lowers his head and gives her a soft kiss on her forehead, then turns to go into the bathroom. He wrings a warm towel, then carefully wipes the tear stains on her face, as he says, “Don’t think about what she said."
An Ran lets him wipe her sorry face. She only stares at him, looks at his brows, looking at this, strictly speaking, man who she has only known for a month yet is already her husband.
A while later, when he was about to turn around to go back into the bathroom, she suddenly grabs his hand, and starts to ask, “Why did you agree to marry me that time?”
She knew the answer. She doesn’t care that they didn’t marry out of love, she doesn’t care that it was because of suitability or chance that she became his wife, but she cared that she was someone’s substitute because of unclear circumstances, became a shadow of someone else.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her. He frowns. This question again. He thought he had explained it clearly. What did Ling Ran say to her?
An Ran stares at him, determined to hear the reason from his own mouth.
“If I said my reasons were the same as your’s, would you believe me?” Su Yi Cheng asks. He doesn’t want to lie and say it was love, because that was not reality. Originally they were not acquainted, so where would love come from. Even though the time they've been together has been short, he clearly knows that he is fond of her, and he is glad that he had agreed to get married with her, but as for the real reason for getting married, was not because of love.
An Ran was silent. For a long time, she still couldn’t help but ask, “Was, was it not because you wanted me to substitute Ling Ran?” Only if it came from him, would she believe it. Holding in her breath, she waits for his reply.
“Of course not!” Su Yi Cheng was certain, moreover he says it seriously. Not even a bit does she resemble Ling Ran, how could he look at her as Ling Ran’s substitute! Besides, his feelings for her were long gone, no love, not even hate. She was an irrelevant person, like a stranger.
“He he.” An Ran lets out her breathe, chuckling. Whispering to herself, she says, “Then that’s good, that’s good.”
Seeing her response, Su Yi Cheng can roughly guess what had happened. He sighs, turns around, and sits beside her once again. He reaches out and pulls on her hand, sighing. He fixes his gaze on her, raising his hand to move the bangs on her forehead aside, then softly says, “Anything else you want to ask me?”
An Ran stares back at him. She actually only needed to know that she wasn’t a substitute for someone else. As for the rest, she won’t impose. After all, their marriage does not need to be out of love. She herself had even waited for Mo Fei for 6 years, so how can she ask him return her former emotions when it was all like blank paper. That would be too unrealistic.
She then wanted to shake her head and wasn’t going to say anything, but the words that came out of her mouth, came out completely different, “She also lived here.”
Su Yi Cheng looks at her, doesn’t deny it, nods, followed by a smile. He felt this indescribable joy. The fact that she is bothered at least confirms the truth that she cares, not indifferent. That discovery made him suddenly be secretly delighted.
Seeing that he nodded, An Ran lowers her gaze. “Oh.” She softly replies. She hangs her head down and doesn’t speak anymore. Perhaps affected by her heart, she suddenly felt sitting on the bed was uncomfortable. Recalling that they were always intimate on this bed, she felt extremely depressed.
Su Yi Cheng can see her thoughts. The corner of his mouth rises, and reaches over to her body, “An Ran, look at me.” He asks her to look at him face to face.
An Ran blankly looks at him, unsure of what he wanted to do.
“It’s changed, everything in this room, has been changed several years ago. Not a trace of anyone else.” Su Yi Cheng says determinedly. The fact is he didn’t move because he was used to living here. At first he hadn’t changed the layout or decorative in this room, but a lot of time has passed, the decorative was starting to come off, so, he later let Ye Zi Wen renovate everything. Although the layout hadn’t changed much, but the furniture and what not, had already been changed to new ones.
An Ran nods, and gives him a small smile, but the smile did not reach her eyes.
Su Yi Cheng doesn’t say any more. Actually he couldn’t come up with anything, what his mood was right now, because she had minded, he felt this mysterious sense of vanity.
However seeing that her brows did not relax, and that smile that was not a true one, he still felt sorry. He wasn’t happy with parting her when she was like that. He sighs, reaches out and holds her tiny chin, staring into her eyes. He says, “I’ll pick you up after work tomorrow, then we can go to this place together.”
An Ran stares at him confused, and asks, “Go where?”
Su Yi Cheng gives her a faint smile, and only says, “Secret. You’ll know when we get there.”
By the time Su Yi Cheng came out from the room Ling Ran was sitting in the living room, her pretty eyes kept in her tears. The tear-stained face of a beauty would make people take pity on her, feel sorry for her. However these, Su Yi Cheng couldn’t see them any more.
Seeing Su Yi Cheng appear, Ling Ran quickly got up from the sofa. Watching him, she softly calls out, “Ah Cheng…….”
His brows slightly knit. Su Yi Cheng hadn’t a bit of pity or love on his face. He just asks indifferently, “Why are you still here.”
“Ah Cheng…..” Ling Ran calls him, so much emotion, as if those seven years, that mood, her voice hadn’t changed at all.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her indifferently. Even though she hadn’t changed, still pretty and graceful, but after all seven years had passed. Even if she was still the same person as before, he wasn’t the same Su Yi Cheng as before.
“I, I drank too much. I also don’t know how I came here, don’t know what I said to An Ran, I, I didn’t do it on purpose…..” Ling Ran says as she cries, her expression appeared as if she was wronged.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her, passes her and draws out a tissue from the tissue box and hands it to her. Then he says indifferently, “Not important, you should go back.”
Ling Ran looks at him regretfully, her tears falling faster. She adds in, “Did An Ran misunderstand something, I’ll go explain to her, I don’t want to hurt the relationship between you because of me. “
“No need, I’ll make it clear to her. You go back, not going to see you out.” Su Yi Cheng relentlessly declines. After he spoke he turns around to leave, yet when he was about take a step he turns around again, recalling something, and says, “Oh right, from now on drink less, I don’t want this kind of thing to happen again.” Saying that, he turns around, doesn’t look back and goes into the master room.
In the living room, Ling Ran stands there despondently, watching him leave. Her cheeks were still stained with tears. Her two hands clench into a fist.
---END OF CHAPTER---
Next Chapter
Last night was truly exhausting for her. When she slept she didn’t even hear the early morning reveille. By the time she had woken up it was already almost 9 o’clock, and Su Yi Cheng was already gone.
Her sorry self gets herself ready and changes. When she came out there was only auntie in the house, cleaning the yard.
That auntie catches sight of An Ran, and quickly says, “Shao nai nai*, you’re up. Madam just went out.”
T/N: Shao nai nai – wife of the young master
An Ran nods, and smiles at her.
The auntie puts down the broom, walks over to her, and says, “Shao nai nai, you must be hungry. Today Madam had made congee this morning, but seeing that you didn’t wake, it’s still warming up on the stove. I can go get it for you.” Saying that she washes her hands and quickly goes into the kitchen.
An Ran follows her. At first she wanted to help out a bit, but she was chased out, said that the kitchen soot was too heavy.
She was bored to death sitting at the dinner table, muttering to herself wondering where Su Yi Cheng had gone. She hadn’t even seen a shadow of him all throughout the house.
The auntie brings out the congee as she says, “Shao nai nai, this is the swallow’s nest congee that Madam made earlier. Here, be careful it’s hot.”
An Ran takes it, and smiles at her, “Auntie, please call me An Ran.” Being called ‘shao nai nai, shao nai nai’, she’s not used to it.
The auntie laughs, and nods, urging, “Here, eat it while it’s hot. Madame said you have to fill yourself well, you’re too skinny.”
An Ran blushes. She’s not fat, but she’s not exactly skinny either. She takes the ladle, and takes little scoops to eat. The congee was sweet and thick. It was made with glutinous sticky rice, and she had always preferred sweets. This kind of congee was hitting the right spot.
By the time An Ran was finished eating breakfast, Su Yi Cheng and Qin Yun still hadn’t returned. She accompanied auntie into the garden to water the flowers, then she told auntie that she would go out by herself.
She walks around the courtyard. From time to time she can hear the hubbub from the training yard. The children of the officers had no classes as it was the weekend, and at this moment in twos and threes they run over to An Ran’s side. Seeing their attitude, it appears that they were playing solider catching the thief, having a blast.
She walks along the path until she reached the activity center. There was a lot of communal equipment outdoor to keep fit: see-saws, rotating disks, poles, pairs of levers etc. There were some women sitting at the side chatting. Looking at their attire, they should be some official’s housekeeper or auntie (nursemaid). There were children who were happily circling around, their cries of joy cheerful. The mood was pretty good.
An Ran had nothing to do, but doesn’t know where to go. She was unfamiliar with the place, and she was even a little scared, because the courtyard had a lot of tall imposing doors, and the colours were solemn, which couldn’t help but make people feel awed.
Some of the children played noisily. An Ran fixes her attention to the large locust tree at the middle of the courtyard and was lost in thought. She wasn’t paying attention, as one child who was playing had bumped into her. When An Ran came back to earth there wasn’t enough time to dodge, and the two simply bumped into each other. That child’s strength was very heavy; one bump made them land on their bum, while An Ran lost her footing. In no time she fell back.
“Ah!” A subconsious cry, purely out of instinct. The screeching An Ran had closed her eyes resigned to fate, preparing for that pain to come.
Suddenly, she just felt something warm behind her, and that pain that should’ve came didn’t come. An Ran simply fell into a warm embrace. It was a person, carrying her from behind, saving her from the awkward predicament of falling.
“Miss, are you okay?” A warm voice speaks into her ears.
An Ran then reacts, and quickly withdraws from that person’s embrace. She turns her head, and quickly says, “Uh, I-I’m fine. Really, thank you for that.” Now she can see the person clearly. The man had dark, black eyebrows, a square face, and was wearing a suit. He seemed decorated, his hair was combed neatly. She wouldn’t call him very handsome, but still was charming.
The man smiles at her. He doesn’t look at her face, and turns around to the boy who had tripped and pulls him up, with a serious face, he admonishes, “Why are you so hot-tempered, you have to apologize for bumping to her.”
That little boy rubs his sore buttocks. He was strong as he hadn’t shed any tears, and in a small voice he says to An Ran, “Sorry!”
An Ran smiles and shakes her head. Her sharp eyes catch sight of his broken skin from the fall, the blood still on his hand. She quickly says, “You’re bleeding. Does it hurt, this auntie will take you to bandage it up, okay?”
The boy shakes his head, timidly looking at the man beside An Ran.
The man beside An Ran only smiles apologetically, and says, “Sorry, This child was too mischievous.”
An Ran only then responds. So it turns out this man was the child’s guardian. She quickly smiles and says, “It’s okay, children always love to play around, it’s their nature. Right, why don’t you bring the child to get bandaged, don’t let it get infected.”
The man nods, turns to take a quick look at the boy. His brows wrinkle a bit, and after a while he extends his hand.
That boy seemed like he feared him, not daring to look at him in the face, but still timidly takes his hand.
Right when the man was about to lead the child and An Ran was about to say goodbye, Su Yi Cheng’s voice comes out from behind.
“An Ran.” Turning her head, she only sees Su Yi Cheng standing there a few feet away. His hair was somewhat messy from the wind, and he was dressed up casually.
“Yi Cheng.” An Ran smiles at him, turns around and walks over to him.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her, and also takes note of the man standing not too far. Suddenly his expression changes; the smile on his lips at once turns stiff.
The man also sees him and comes over, making eye contact with Su Yi Cheng. He was also slightly surprised, his expression becomes a little strange.
An Ran noticed the change in the two, she curiously asks, “You guys know each other?”
Su Yi Cheng then gradually comes back to earth. He turns his head, and just says to An Ran, “Let’s go. Secretary Zheng called, there’s a meeting that I have to attend to at noon. We might have to go back a bit early.”
An Ran nods. She turns to look at the man standing there, and slightly nods her head. She turns around to follow Su Yi Cheng’s lead, and leaves.
The man watches the two figures slowly retreat. Only after a while does he lower his head and says to the child he was holding, “Let’s go.”
On the way, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward. Su Yi Cheng was silent the entire time. An Ran doesn’t know what to say. She could only stand there foolishly and let him lead the way. Seeing his reaction to the man just now, the two of them must know each other. But it seems like, it seems like their relationship isn’t that good.
When they got back to the Su household Qin Yun was already back. Right at that time she and the auntie were in the yard getting ready to kill the chicken. She had just caught the chicken the traditional way, and was preparing to kill it to make chicken stock stew to give to An Ran for her health. But this chicken still wasn’t dead and even successfully heard what those two had said and went back. Her mood that was once good immediately fell apart, but she also knows that with this kind of work there is nothing to be done. She can only urge the two to come back when they have time, and said that tomorrow she’ll have the chicken stew ready and will deliver it to them.
On the road Su Yi Cheng was concentrated on driving. He looked tense, not warm like before. He seemed like an unapproachable stranger, and looked somewhat dreadful.
“Is the work really urgent?” The awkward atmosphere was weird, and An Ran attempted to break the silence.
It seemed like Su Yi Cheng had not heard her, his eyes still intently driving.
“Yi Cheng?” An Ran carefully calls out.
Su Yi Cheng then indistinctly comes back, distractedly turns his head, and asks, “Uh, what did you just say?”
An Ran stares at him. Finally she shakes her head, and says, “Do you want to switch? I can drive, you seem preoccupied.”
Su Yi Cheng shakes his head, and smiles at An Ran, “It’s nothing. I was just thinking of some stuff, wasn’t really listening.”
An Ran softly sighs, and says, “You know that man just now?”
Su Yi Cheng looks at her eyes, and nods. He doesn’t deny, “He’s from the courtyard agency. He doesn’t distance himself, so I’ve seen him a few times.”
“Oh.” An Ran nods, and doesn’t ask any more. She always felt, that if he wants to explain to her he will do it on his own. If he wasn’t willing, then asking would just be in vain, inviting a snub. She changes the subject, and asks, “Is the meeting this noon really urgent?”
“It’s at 2, but before the meeting I have to prepare some stuff.” Su Yi Cheng sates.
“Go after lunch, the doctor said you need to have 3 meals a day.” These past two days have been good. If he goes hungry there will be a problem, then these past few days will be for nothing.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her, and nods. A faint smile emerges at the corner of his mouth.
By the time they returned to their apartment it was 11. Because he still has time, An Ran took advantage of the time when he went in to go change and hurried herself to make noodles, soup and small side dishes, even adding an egg.
When Su Yi Cheng had freshened himself up and came out with his clothes changed, An Ran was breaking an egg and adding it into the noodles. She sees him come out of the room, and quickly says, “Here, eat and go.” Saying that, she takes the bowl of noodles and carries it to the counter.
Su Yi Cheng nods, and walks to the stool and sits down.
He takes a sip of the soup. Truthfully the flavour was ordinary, but there was ample feelings, which made him feel that this bowl of noodle soup was especially delicious. He nods his head in admiration, and says to her, “It’s really good.”
An Ran smiles faintly. She sits across from him, props herself up against her cheek, and watches him eat, not doing anything else.
Su Yi Cheng ate quickly, but his table manners were graceful. There wasn’t a drop of soup that was spilled out, and there weren’t any crumbs either.
As he was eating, he suddenly hands over an egg to An Ran, motioning her to open her mouth.
An Ran shakes her head, “You eat.” This intimate action made An Ran feel somewhat uncomfortable. Her face flushes.
Su Yi Cheng doesn’t take back his chopsticks, still insisting on giving her the egg to eat.
She was defeated, as she can’t beat his stubborn persistence. An Ran had no other choice but to open her mouth and take a bite from the egg. Because her skin was thin, it was extremely rosy.
Su Yi Cheng smiles in satisfaction, then grabs another piece from the bowl and gives it to her.
An Ran frowns, but still helplessly opens her mouth and takes a bite. When Su Yi Cheng went back to take another piece for the third time, An Ran pretended to be angry and says in seriousness, “Su Yi Cheng, are you avoiding my food because it’s unpalatable, that’s why you’re not eating?”
Su Yi Cheng was startled. He didn’t expect that she would come up with that. He shakes his head, lowers it and takes a big bite of the remaining food, even the soup. All of it was in his stomach. Then he puts down his chopsticks, and looks at An Ran earnestly as he says, “My wife’s noodles are the best noodles in the world, from now on I will finish everything you make.”
An Ran smiles from his earnest expression. She ignores him, takes the utensils and puts it into the sink.
He looks at the time. There wasn’t a lot of time left. Su Yi Cheng grabs his briefcase, goes over to An Ran to say something, then directly goes out.
‘Jade Lake Garden’s case was under construction. If it goes smoothly next month it’ll go into the second stage of engineering. She had already withdrawn from the municipal committee government project, so now that she’s idle she’s kind of bored.
She returns to the study room and takes the 1/4 finished design draft. She likes to make sure that every design she makes is thoroughly drawn from beginning to end. Even though she lost this project, at least this can be considered her form of conclusion.
Inspiration is actually a very uncertain, serendipitous thing. Originally she had thought for a long time, had many compositions, many consultations. She spent nearly half a month until she could draw one nearly to completion. Now, maybe because she doesn’t have that burden, that afternoon, An Ran was able to easily design. She didn’t break concentration, for the entire afternoon, to her surprise she was able to draw something good, even better than before. She was even more satisfied with this design.
Suddenly, at this time, the doorbell rings, its tinkling ringing throughout. An Ran puts down her pen, and cautiously walks over to the door.
She doesn’t know who it was, but they were probably looking for Su Yi Cheng, as this is Su Yi Cheng’s place, and she had just recently moved in, so she hadn’t told anyone that she was living here.
She gazes into the peephole, only to see Ling Ran standing outside, her body trembling, her stance did not seem stable.
An Ran reaches out and was about to open the door, but as she was holding the knob she suddenly hesitates. Intuition tells her that she should distance herself from Ling Ran, as she doesn’t seem like she treats people so simply. She hasn’t yet generously told her what was between her and Su Yi Cheng.
The doorbell was still ringing. There was that determination that wouldn’t be abandoned if you don’t open the door. Ultimately she still opened the door.
As she opens it, An Ran only smells a burst of alcohol. The smell was so strong, that it was difficult to bear.
Ling Ran seemed intoxicated. Her gaze seemed misty.
“Miss Ling?” An Ran gently calls out to her.
Ling Ran stands there swaying. Her eyelids seemed heavy. One blink, another blink. Her entire person was swaying back and forth, it looked like she was about to collapse at any time.
She was afraid that Ling Ran would really fall over. Without any better option An Ran reaches out and supports her, “Come, come in.”
Ling Ran hangs onto An Ran, crying and laughing as she held onto her, “An Ran, I’m in pain, really in pain.”
Although she wasn’t heavy, and she looks thin, but having this big person push down on her, An Ran really couldn’t endure, moreover, she isn’t calming down, she was really intoxicated, swaying and staggering.
“Hu---“ With great difficulty she helps her onto the sofa. An Ran lets out a long sigh, turns around and was planning to get her a cup of water, but she didn’t think, that when she turned around, her hand was being pulled by her.
“Let go first, I’m going to get you some water. If you’re like this, drinking water might ease it a bit.” An Ran says.
Ling Ran shakes her head, holding onto An Ran tightly and not releasing her. She looks at her with a wronged expression and says, “An Ran, I’m in pain, really painful.”
“You’re in pain because you’re drunk. Let go, I’ll get you some tea to sober up. If you drink it you’ll feel better.” An Ran was really defeated. It’s reasonable to say that she has seen two sides of her, and even though they weren’t friends, she still got drunk and ran to her, so what is the meaning of that! An Ran was pondering, perhaps, she should call Ling Lin, and have her get her sister.
Ling Ran shakes her head, points at her chest and says, “I’m not drunk, it hurts here, really hurts!”
An Ran looks at her, not knowing what she should say. Her hand was being pulled on, but she couldn’t leave, so she had no choice but to sit beside her.
“I really love him, really, really love him. Even though I left for 7 years, but I still think of him every moment, think of the days when we were together. I really regret it, really regret why I drank that year. I clearly know that I can’t drink, otherwise, otherwise that sort of thing wouldn’t have happened.” Saying that, Ling Ran cries mournfully.
An Ran stays silent, because she knows that the ‘he’ that she was mentioning is referring to Su Yi Cheng. She was Su Yi Cheng’s ex, and she herself is Su Yi Cheng’s current wife. An ex-girlfriend coming to look for the wife to cry about how much she loves her husband, how much she regretted breaking up. Regarding those kinds of circumstances, she was completely at a loss, because she doesn’t have any experience at all.
As she was weeping, Ling Ran suddenly lifts her head up, and looks around the house. Then she suddenly smiles foolishly, and says, “Do you know, this place hasn’t changed at all. It’s still decorated the same as that year.”
An Ran frowns, looking around at decoratives of the place.
Ling Ran suddenly gets up. Her body staggers, her foot was also unsteady. She staggered along towards the kitchen counter. She gently strokes the marble of the counter, that tall red footstool, and smiles sadly. She mumbles, “Back then, I always sat on this chair. Then Ah Cheng would make the best food. After first his cooking wasn’t good at all, but for me, because I was picky, he secretly learned how to look for a long time, and finally, made it so that he was even better than those famous restaurants outside and was even more delicious.”
An Ran stays silent, fixing her gaze at her. Su Yi Cheng’s culinary skills are indeed good. From the first time that he had made a meal, Ling Ran wasn’t exaggerating, indeed it was better than any restaurant’s and was even more delicious. But she never thought of it, that he had learned how to cook because of her.
Staggering about, Ling Ran walks over to the study room. She opens the door, and looks at the still-familiar decorations. Her hands cover her mouth, and inarticulately says, “Still, still the same as before. Nothing’s changed, really nothing has changed!”
An Ran looks at her, her two hands unconsciously grips onto each other. Her heart, has this inexplicable feeling of unhappiness. She couldn’t say what the reason was, but can only feel unbearably stuffy.
Ling Ran trips as she was walking over to lie on the master room. An Ran’s heart suddenly tightens, she takes large strides, and catches the hand that was reaching out to open the door. She coldly says, “Miss Ling, you are drunk. I’ll bring you up.” The bedroom was her’s and Su Yi Cheng’s. It was a place where they sleep and hold each other, mutually lingering and grinding. She doesn’t want to hear whatever assessment from other people, and even more she doesn’t want to know how it was before.
Borrowing the strength from her drunkenness Ling Ran shakes off her hand, and staggers back to the study room. She looks at the ash gray sofa, and smiles bitterly. She turns around, looks at An Ran, and says, “Back then Ah Cheng really liked to hold me on the sofa and watch TV. He liked to watch current political news, but I always liked to watch dramas. He finds them boring, but even though it was boring he still watched them with me. When I cried he’d give me napkins, when I laughed he’d laugh with me. Then he’d pamper me and pinch my nose, kiss my forehead. Those times were my happiest days.” Saying that, she weeps sorrowfully. She turns to walk to An Ran, grabs her clothes, and cries as she says, “Give Ah Cheng back to me, give him back to me okay? I really love him, I can’t be without him!”
An Ran only frowns. Her chest was painfully stuffy, she can only feel that her breathing was beginning to quicken. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and says, “Miss Ling, I can’t understand what you’re saying. You’re drunk, let me take you up!”
Ling Ran suddenly pushes her away. She was worked up as she says, “He doesn’t love you. He doesn’t love you at all. I’ve been gone for 7 years, and not once has he had a woman by his side. Why do you think that is. He was waiting for me, he was waiting for me to come back!”
“But in the end he still married me, and now I am Mrs. Su, I am Su Yi Cheng’s wife!” An Ran fixes her gaze at her as she says that, her hands tightly clenched.
Ling Ran looks at her, stares at her. Then she suddenly sits down, frozen. It looked as if gas were leaking out of her body like a ball; void of anger. Her gaze was elsewhere, yet her two eyes did not lose focus. She can only accept defeat, as if she were thinking aloud, “I made him wait for too long, so long that his heart had gone cold. I was wrong, I should have came back earlier. I should have came back earlier…..”
An Ran’s chest tightens. Because of her words, because of what she said she thought of her impulse to marry. Now she thinks back to his words ‘suitable’, her heart suddenly tightens painfully.
“Hehe, hehe…….” Ling Ran who was sitting down suddenly starts laughing. She looks at An Ran, as she says in a bitter and scathing tone, “Why do you think Ah Cheng married you?”
An Ran looks at her, her lips purse up. Her trimmed fingernails left a deep mark in her palms because she was gripping too tightly. Faintly painful!
“It’s because of your name, An Ran! Ling Ran, your ‘Ran’ and my ‘Ran’, you are merely my replacement! You are my substitute!” Ling Ran shrieks, then lets out a loud cry. She shouts out erratically, “Ha ha ha ha, you are my substitute, the person Ah Cheng loves is me, the one he loves is me.”
Ling Ran …… An Ran ……
Ran equals Ran?
An Ran blanks. She felt dizzy. Was it like that? He agreed to marry her because of her name, because in her name she had a homophone of his ex-girlfriend’s name? Really, he has such good conditions, how could he be worried about finding a suitable woman for marriage!
She takes a deep breath, and painfully shuts her eyes. She opens them again, her eyes cold as ice and frost. She forces out, “Miss Ling, please leave.” She doesn’t want to be in the same space as her. She only felt this painful feeling in her chest.
“I don’t want to.” Ling Ran apparently was truly drunk, as she speaks out in a childish tone. Then she dazedly grabs her hair and walks to the sofa, her mouth muttering something, “I want to wait for Ah Cheng to come back, wait for him to come back, hug me like before, kiss me…….” Saying that she walks to the sofa in the study room, then grabs a cushion and hugs it against her chest until she reaches the sofa in the living room. She closes her eyes, mumbling. Then she closes her eyes, and not long after a faint breathing sound appears, evidently fallen asleep.
An Ran stands there confused, apparently all her strength was sucked out of her.
Evening. Su Yi Cheng pinches his sore eyebrows. The meeting took up the entire afternoon, staring at the screen the entire time, his eyes were now aching a lot. He takes out a key from his bag. Opening the door, he sees a silent, dark space. He knits his brows. Is An Ran not here?
He reaches out and turns on the light, “Pa----“ The white light illuminates the entire house. With one hand he pulls on his necktie. He was thinking of calling An Ran, when he suddenly sees An Ran sitting against the wall. He only sees her looking at him woodenly, her face seemed to have traces of tears.
He doesn’t know what had happened. He puts his briefcase aside, and walks over to her in large strides. He squats in front of her, and looks at her puzzled. He asks, “What’s wrong? Why is the light turned off?”
An Ran woodenly shakes her head, but doesn’t say anything.
“En….” Ling Ran, on the sofa, was disturbed because of the sudden illumination. She lifts her hand to cover her eyes, mumbling as she slowly wakes up.
Hearing a sound, Su Yi Cheng suddenly turns his head. Only then does he notice that there is a third person in the room, and that person was Ling Ran!
Ling Ran dazedly props herself up, apparently forgetting about everything before. She touches her head that became painful because she had drank. Her misty gaze takes in the environment, finally landing on the startled Su Yi Cheng.
“Ah Cheng?” Ling Ran calls out. She clearly remembered that she had bought a lot of alcohol to bring home, then she drank at home. Why is Ah Cheng here? “You, why are you here?”
“I should be asking you that.” Su Yi Cheng says coldly, his gaze disapproving.
Ling Ran was shocked. Then she notices An Ran crouching down behind him. She then examines her surroundings, suddenly discovering that she wasn’t in her own home. But she has no recollection of why she was here! “I, why am I here? I was just drinking at home a moment ago!”
Taking a deep breath, Su Yi Cheng coldly says, “Ling Ran, all along I thought that I had sorted everything out clearly that night, what we had in the past was past, now we have our own respective lives, and I am very satisfied and happy with my life now. I don’t want you to disturb me or my family.”
“I, I didn’t…..” Ling Ran looks at him, her eyes looked like she was wronged.
“Please leave.” Su Yi Cheng says coldly, not giving her any face. After saying that he turns around, doesn’t look at her, and helps An Ran up.
“Ah Cheng….” From behind, Ling Ran calls out to him, tears sliding down her cheek. Her heart tightens painfully, she mumbles in grief, “Don’t be like that to me, don’t be like that okay……” She begs, holding onto a strand of hope.
Su Yi Cheng was indifferent. He holds An Ran and goes over to the master room, not once turning around to look at her.
Su Yi Cheng supports An Ran to the bed. He looks at the tear-stains on her face that had not yet dried. Reluctant to part, he reaches out and strokes her face, softly says, “Fool.” He doesn’t know what Ling Ran had said to her, but seeing her like this, he was afraid that she had thought too much. She was too soft, her temperament was too gentle. Even if she was bullied, she wouldn’t say anything mean. He likes her warm appearance and personality, but he also worries that she would be hurt when bullied. He never knew that he was such a contradictory person.
Sighing and shaking his head, he doesn’t know if her personality was good or bad. But seeing her like this, he felt this unspeakable pain. He lowers his head and gives her a soft kiss on her forehead, then turns to go into the bathroom. He wrings a warm towel, then carefully wipes the tear stains on her face, as he says, “Don’t think about what she said."
An Ran lets him wipe her sorry face. She only stares at him, looks at his brows, looking at this, strictly speaking, man who she has only known for a month yet is already her husband.
A while later, when he was about to turn around to go back into the bathroom, she suddenly grabs his hand, and starts to ask, “Why did you agree to marry me that time?”
She knew the answer. She doesn’t care that they didn’t marry out of love, she doesn’t care that it was because of suitability or chance that she became his wife, but she cared that she was someone’s substitute because of unclear circumstances, became a shadow of someone else.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her. He frowns. This question again. He thought he had explained it clearly. What did Ling Ran say to her?
An Ran stares at him, determined to hear the reason from his own mouth.
“If I said my reasons were the same as your’s, would you believe me?” Su Yi Cheng asks. He doesn’t want to lie and say it was love, because that was not reality. Originally they were not acquainted, so where would love come from. Even though the time they've been together has been short, he clearly knows that he is fond of her, and he is glad that he had agreed to get married with her, but as for the real reason for getting married, was not because of love.
An Ran was silent. For a long time, she still couldn’t help but ask, “Was, was it not because you wanted me to substitute Ling Ran?” Only if it came from him, would she believe it. Holding in her breath, she waits for his reply.
“Of course not!” Su Yi Cheng was certain, moreover he says it seriously. Not even a bit does she resemble Ling Ran, how could he look at her as Ling Ran’s substitute! Besides, his feelings for her were long gone, no love, not even hate. She was an irrelevant person, like a stranger.
“He he.” An Ran lets out her breathe, chuckling. Whispering to herself, she says, “Then that’s good, that’s good.”
Seeing her response, Su Yi Cheng can roughly guess what had happened. He sighs, turns around, and sits beside her once again. He reaches out and pulls on her hand, sighing. He fixes his gaze on her, raising his hand to move the bangs on her forehead aside, then softly says, “Anything else you want to ask me?”
An Ran stares back at him. She actually only needed to know that she wasn’t a substitute for someone else. As for the rest, she won’t impose. After all, their marriage does not need to be out of love. She herself had even waited for Mo Fei for 6 years, so how can she ask him return her former emotions when it was all like blank paper. That would be too unrealistic.
She then wanted to shake her head and wasn’t going to say anything, but the words that came out of her mouth, came out completely different, “She also lived here.”
Su Yi Cheng looks at her, doesn’t deny it, nods, followed by a smile. He felt this indescribable joy. The fact that she is bothered at least confirms the truth that she cares, not indifferent. That discovery made him suddenly be secretly delighted.
Seeing that he nodded, An Ran lowers her gaze. “Oh.” She softly replies. She hangs her head down and doesn’t speak anymore. Perhaps affected by her heart, she suddenly felt sitting on the bed was uncomfortable. Recalling that they were always intimate on this bed, she felt extremely depressed.
Su Yi Cheng can see her thoughts. The corner of his mouth rises, and reaches over to her body, “An Ran, look at me.” He asks her to look at him face to face.
An Ran blankly looks at him, unsure of what he wanted to do.
“It’s changed, everything in this room, has been changed several years ago. Not a trace of anyone else.” Su Yi Cheng says determinedly. The fact is he didn’t move because he was used to living here. At first he hadn’t changed the layout or decorative in this room, but a lot of time has passed, the decorative was starting to come off, so, he later let Ye Zi Wen renovate everything. Although the layout hadn’t changed much, but the furniture and what not, had already been changed to new ones.
An Ran nods, and gives him a small smile, but the smile did not reach her eyes.
Su Yi Cheng doesn’t say any more. Actually he couldn’t come up with anything, what his mood was right now, because she had minded, he felt this mysterious sense of vanity.
However seeing that her brows did not relax, and that smile that was not a true one, he still felt sorry. He wasn’t happy with parting her when she was like that. He sighs, reaches out and holds her tiny chin, staring into her eyes. He says, “I’ll pick you up after work tomorrow, then we can go to this place together.”
An Ran stares at him confused, and asks, “Go where?”
Su Yi Cheng gives her a faint smile, and only says, “Secret. You’ll know when we get there.”
By the time Su Yi Cheng came out from the room Ling Ran was sitting in the living room, her pretty eyes kept in her tears. The tear-stained face of a beauty would make people take pity on her, feel sorry for her. However these, Su Yi Cheng couldn’t see them any more.
Seeing Su Yi Cheng appear, Ling Ran quickly got up from the sofa. Watching him, she softly calls out, “Ah Cheng…….”
His brows slightly knit. Su Yi Cheng hadn’t a bit of pity or love on his face. He just asks indifferently, “Why are you still here.”
“Ah Cheng…..” Ling Ran calls him, so much emotion, as if those seven years, that mood, her voice hadn’t changed at all.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her indifferently. Even though she hadn’t changed, still pretty and graceful, but after all seven years had passed. Even if she was still the same person as before, he wasn’t the same Su Yi Cheng as before.
“I, I drank too much. I also don’t know how I came here, don’t know what I said to An Ran, I, I didn’t do it on purpose…..” Ling Ran says as she cries, her expression appeared as if she was wronged.
Su Yi Cheng looks at her, passes her and draws out a tissue from the tissue box and hands it to her. Then he says indifferently, “Not important, you should go back.”
Ling Ran looks at him regretfully, her tears falling faster. She adds in, “Did An Ran misunderstand something, I’ll go explain to her, I don’t want to hurt the relationship between you because of me. “
“No need, I’ll make it clear to her. You go back, not going to see you out.” Su Yi Cheng relentlessly declines. After he spoke he turns around to leave, yet when he was about take a step he turns around again, recalling something, and says, “Oh right, from now on drink less, I don’t want this kind of thing to happen again.” Saying that, he turns around, doesn’t look back and goes into the master room.
In the living room, Ling Ran stands there despondently, watching him leave. Her cheeks were still stained with tears. Her two hands clench into a fist.
---END OF CHAPTER---
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