First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 108 Translation

108. Calculation



Regarding the issue of Ke Ji City project, An Ran had never directly replied to Huang De Xing. And about the collapse of the sample room and the missing blueprint, she actually wanted a thorough investigation, and even forward it to the police, but it was rejected by Huang De Xing as he did not want to break out the negative side of the company during this sensitive period of time with the opening of Ke Ji City.

Although An Ran was doubtful regarding his irrational approach, she did not press the issue any further.

Because of the exercise manor case, work had been extremely busy, but because the sample room had collapsed and the blueprint was lost, it immediately gave An Ran some free time, and she had absolutely nothing to do.

From time to time she would hear Ling Lin and Xiao Xiao’s gossip, but as long as the mouth is on another body, listening to it or not is the other person’s privilege, to listen to it or not is the other person’s choice. In fact these past two days she had been thinking a lot, whether or not she should listen to the faint answer in her heart or not. Although it has almost been 7 years, when she thinks back on Jing Cheng, unexpectedly she isn’t that reluctant to leave the place, whether it was the people, or the work.

At this time, the cellphone on her desk starts to ring. It was an unfamiliar number. An Ran frowns. Due to her mood at the moment she didn’t feel like picking it up, but it seemed like the other person was very persistent, so they ended up sending her a text.

An Ran sighs, and reaches out to grab the phone. She opens the text, and her eyes widen. The text was very simple, including the punctuation there were only eight characters.

The text had said, “Gu jie, I am Chen Cheng.”

After her shock, An Ran quickly memorizes her number and calls back. It seemed like Chen Cheng was on the other side waiting for her call, as she picked up the call after one ring.

“Chen Cheng?” An Ran was still unsure, her tone carried a hint of doubt. There is no such person who would steal something and take the initiative to go back to the person who they had stolen from, that would be unreasonable.

The other line stayed silent for a while, when Chen Cheng finally makes a faint sobbing sound, as if she were struggling for a long time. Then she finally starts to say, “Gu jie…..”

An Ran tightens her hold on the phone, and asks, “Did you take the blueprint?”

Chen Cheng doesn’t say anything for a while, but An Ran can faintly hear her sob. She doesn’t say anything, and just clenches the cell phone, calmly waiting, waiting for her to give her reply.

A while later, Chen Cheng finally opens her mouth, and just says, “Gu jie, can we meet up and talk.”

“Huh.” An Ran sneers. She has no intention of meeting. “Is there something we need to talk about? Talk about how you took the blueprint from my office?” Her tone was angry with sarcasm.

“Sorry.” Chen Cheng seemed to be remorseful, but was insistent on meeting her. “Gu jie, let’s meet and talk. I have some things I want to tell you.”



When An Ran had arrived at the coffee shop that Chen Cheng had chosen, Chen Cheng was already there. She was sitting by the windows, in front of her a cup of coffee, and she had her head turned towards the window as she watched the cars and passer-bys. Her gaze seemed to be fleeting, as if she wasn't focusing.

An Ran walks over to her, and finally pulls out a chair opposite to her to sit. She places her bag on her seat, looks at Chen Cheng, and faintly starts to say, “Hand me the blueprint.” Her tone was very flat, she was not angry or indignant, but very cold, ice cold.

Chen Cheng then turns her head, stares at An Ran, and bows her head with guilt, “Sorry!”

An Ran hadn't replied yet. The waitress approaches them promptly, carrying the menu and a smile and says, “Excuse me, may I take your order?”

An Ran glances at Chen Cheng, turns to the waitress and says, “Give me a cup of water, thanks.”

“Sure. Just a moment please.” The waitress smiles and nods.

An Ran then turns her line of sight to Chen Cheng, fixes her gaze at her, and asks, “Why? Can you give me an explanation?”

Chen Cheng lowers her gaze, and tightens her grasp on the coffee cup. Only after a while does she faintly open her mouth, and says, “I needed money. Someone gave me a price, said that I only needed to take away the blueprint of the exercise manor, and he will give me 100 000 dollars. I, I really did need money, so I accepted.”

She knew that doing this was incredibly wrong, but she really had no other way. Her family had given her the news that her mother’s illness had worsened, and she needed surgery. However they had no money, last year because of mother’s illness, they completely emptied out their banks. They thought that her mother’s illness was gone for good, at the least the next few years her life would be no problem, but suddenly she received a call saying that her illness has worsened, and every day the hospital urged for surgery. Ultimately her dad and brother had no other way, and called her, thus making her pressed for money. At the time when she was unable to find a solution, that person told her that so long as she was willing to take the blueprint to the Exercise Manor, then disappear for a few days, then he would give her one payment of 100 000. She truly needed the money, if she had this 100 000, her mother could operate. Although she wasn’t sure how long her mother would live after the surgery, perhaps a few years, or perhaps a few months, but if she had looked on helplessly as her mother suffered while she did not think of another way, then being her child, how could she repay her. For her mother, she had harmed An Ran.

An Ran doesn’t speak, and just stares at her, seeming to wait for her to continue.

“I went back to my hometown for the past few days. I came back to Jiang City today, and also learned today that something happened to the template room the day that I left.” Chen Cheng said quietly, facing her shame made her feel uncomfortable. She knew that in this situation An Ran was the most innocent, and those people undoubtedly wanted to leave no leeway for An Ran. She felt that she must tell An Ran what she knew, so at least she could be on guard.

“Who told you to take away the blueprint?” An Ran faintly asked. Actually, in her mind she had a vague idea.

Chen Cheng looks at her for a while, then finally starts to say, “It was Director.”

One day Huang De Xing had called her into his office. Apparently he had gotten someone to investigate into her family situation, and said that he was willing to give her 100 000, as long as she took An Ran’s blueprint and give it to him, he would give her the cash on the spot. Additionally even if the incident was exposed he could protect her, and would not permit officials to perform an investigation into the matter. So, as she received one urging call after another from home, she truly had no other way. That evening her older brother called her once again to say that if they delayed the surgery again then the hospital will have to give them a critically ill notice. She could only painfully hide at the staircase and cry. That evening she waited for An Ran to leave and called Huang De Xing, telling him that she could steal the blueprint for him however he must give her the 100 000 that evening, because she really could not wait any longer.

Huang De Xing very readily agreed. That night at 9 o’clock they met at the coffee shop in front of the firm. She handed over the blueprint to Huang De Xing while he handed over the money that was promised. That same evening she gave him a verbal resignation, and the next day she took the train and hurried home. Over the past two days her mother’s condition had improved, and the more she thought about the situation the more she felt that it was fishy, thus she returned to Jiang City, and first thing she did was call the office assistant Xiao Li, to ask about the state of the company. Then she found out that the day that she left, the template room had collapsed, and they had lost the project. She did not understand what was Huang De Xing’s aim in doing this. The exercise manor was such a huge project, if they succeeded not only would they have reached their target for the second half of the year, they could even have expanded their market overseas. However he had personally plotted to ruin the project! It truly was baffling, outrageous.

“Heheh.” An Ran laughs coldly. She just faintly says, “Really.” She was only guessing that Huang De Xing might have known, but she really did not expect that he was the mastermind behind it. It truly was ridiculous.

“Gu jie?” Chen Cheng looks at her, and asks worriedly, “You… Are you okay?”

An Ran turns her head, and just slightly looks at her. She steadily says, “The blueprint is in Huang De Xing’s hands now, right?” Her tone was very flat, so flat that one could not detect any emotion in it.

“I’m not sure, but when I took the blueprint I did give it to Director.” As to who he had given the blueprint to after that, she has not a clue.

An Ran did not speak again. The waitress brought over the glass of water to their table, and she raises her head to take a sip. Then she stands up, and faintly looks at her, just saying, “Thanks for telling me today. However, may I offer a bit of advice. From now on, please do not go against your conscience for money’s sake.” After speaking, she turns her head and does not look back.

When she returned to the company, as she entered the hall, she bumped into Huang De Xing who was on his way out.

Before An Ran had said anything, Huang De Xing started to smile at her and greets her, “Just coming back after rushing out?”

An Ran nods, and does not say much. Her expression towards him immediately turns cold.

He seemed to be in a hurry to leave, and just reminds her to think it over and hope that she will give him a reply soon.

Returning to her office, An Ran sat in front of her desk, dazed as she thought about many things.

About Huang De Xing’s proposition, she did not have to think much about it. She hated these dishonest and shady businesses, she always felt that things should be fair and realistic, your strength will win, as long as you have strength, there is no need to be worried about not winning. Doing things behind people’s back by using back-door relationships is simply violating the principle of fairness and impartiality. Of course she knew that there are many people who do things that way, but other people are other people, and she was unwilling to become them. Call her old-fashioned, not understanding on how to be flexible, she admits that she has always been an awkward person.

She began to think about leaving, but if she had left this way, she reckons Jing Cheng will investigate and find blame for the accident and the loss of the blueprint.

Huang De Xing’s move was very despicable, but at the same time it was quite brilliant. At the moment she was trapped, if she doesn’t leave, then she will have to listen to him and get Su Yi Cheng’s Ke Ji City project. If she was determined to leave, then all these years in the construction business have been in vain. And even after that her reputation in the industry would be tainted because of this incident, because if her guess was correct, Huang De Xing was not willing to make the incident public now, but if she left, then all the blame would be on her. At that time the collapse was not due to human intervention, and the blueprint was not stolen, but rather it was a design failure, and then they would purposely destroy the blueprint to shirk responsibility!

She pinches her sore brows. She really hated this kind of calculation and speculation. She had said that she was not dumb. The things that she doesn’t seem to understand, it’s only because she does not want to understand or get to know them. She only wanted to design quietly and peacefully, regarding the business side of the company, she doesn’t want to hang out with unnecessary people, on account of gaining more favors for herself. That is not the life that she wants, but obviously, she is not interested because of the unnecessary troubles those relationships will bring. Yet there are people who will do all sorts of calculations to pressure her for those relationships, she truly, truly hated that!

“Ai!”

With a sigh, she really did not want to think about those annoying things. At the moment she was an unnecessary idler in the company, rather than doing work, might as well say that she came to sit in the office and be lost in thought.

Since she was in her office in idle, she might as well go to the hospital and see if the report of the examination was out. So she planned just to do that, An Ran takes her briefcase from the desk, and was planning to leave directly, but when she raised her hand she caught sight of the ring on her finger. The corner of her mouth faintly raises.


When she reached the hospital An Ran did not go to the 8th floor where Lin Xiao Fens' ward was, but instead went to the 7th floor where the office of the doctor in charge was, and came to inquire to see if her mother’s health was normal before seeing Lin Xiao Fen.

Because Su Yi Cheng had called the president of the hospital, the president had specially made it clear that Lin Xiao Fen’s case was very important, thus, each and every examination were in-depth, so the original plan of allowing Lin Xiao Fen to stay for 2 days for observation turned into 5 days of examinations. During that period her company was not at ease, and had specially came to see her. After visiting her they found out that it was because her husband, daughter and son-in-law would not let her leave and insisted on having her stay for a full physical examination.

“Knock knock knock.” An Ran knocks on the door, only to see Lin Xiao Fen’s doctor, Doctor Zhang, standing in front of the fluorescent board, looking earnestly at the CT scan images. His brows were wrinkled.

“Doctor Zhang.” An Ran softly calls out. She enters.

Hearing something, Doctor Zhang then turns his head, and sees her entering. He says, “You came right on time. Please take a seat, regarding your mother’s health, I would like to speak to you about it.” As he spoke he takes down the two images of the CT head scans, and places it down onto his desk.

An Ran sits in front of him. This time she has a bad feeling. She cautiously asks, “Doctor Zhang, is there an issue with my mother’s health?”

Doctor Zhang nods, and says, “Indeed there is an issue.” As he spoke he hands her the CT scans, and points at it to let her see, “Your mother has a pituitary adenoma.”

Hearing that, An Ran was taken aback. Even a while later, she could not respond. She stares at him, her voice trembling, “D-doctor, what did you say? Pituitary adenoma?”

Seeing her nervous manner Doctor Zhang knew that she had misunderstood. He explained, “Do not be nervous. Your mother’s adenoma is not big, and it is a benign tumor. Even if not removed it will not cause a harmful threat to your mother’s body.”

She shakes her head. Everything that he had said did not make sense to her.

“I will explain it more simply.” Doctor Zhang sits down again, and explains once more, “The tumor that your mother has is a benign one, in other words it will not grow or worsen. Some in the medical field even say, over time it may be gone, disappear, so basically it is not life threatening.”

Hearing him say that, An Ran was then relieved, “Then what does Doctor Zhang want to discuss?” It’s a benign tumor, it isn’t necessary to have an operation. Then that doesn’t need a discussion, and also doesn’t need to let the patient and their family be worried and afraid.

“It’s like this. Your mother’s pituitary tumor is in this position, and this position is quite close to the optic nerve. If the tumor was slightly displaced, then it will most likely compress the optic nerve, thus it will easily cause blindness.” Dr. Zhang said truthfully.

“Then, then what about it?” An Ran asks. Her tone was anxious and uneasy.

“In the case that it compresses the optic nerve, then we can only excise the tumor. But when the time comes, with your mother’s age, I’m afraid she won’t be able to withstand the operation.” Dr. Zhang confesses, “Of course, there is a possibility that the tumor will never grow or be displaced, then naturally everything that I had talked about would not occur.”

An Ran frowns. She looks at him and asks, “Then you’re leaning towards surgery?”

Dr. Zhang nods, and says, “Right now is the best time, your mother’s health is good, performing this kind of operation is not something to worry about, the success rate of such surgery also very high. Of course, as with any craniotomy operation, there are some risks. You should carefully discuss this with your family, whether to go through with the operation or not.”

An Ran frowns, nodding in understanding. She asks once more relevant question about the operation, and if there was anything else about Lin Xiao Fen’s health. Once she understood more clearly, she then turned about to leave the doctor’s office. Because of Su Yi Cheng’s connection, Lin Xiao Fen’s hospital room was moved from an ordinary one to a luxurious VIP ward. Compared to the ordinary room, the VIP room was pretty good, what was more important was that it was quiet, it wasn’t noisy like before, and made a wonderful place for a patient to recover in.

When An Ran arrived at Lin Xiao Fen’s room the door was ajar. She pushes the door to go in, and at the entrance, she hears Gu Heng Wen speaking with her mother, the pair talking about something. An Ran was about to call out to them, when she heard one of them say her name. An Ran pauses, and thinly listens to the dialogue between the two people.

“Heng Wen, what do I do. He came to see me, and already knows about An Ran’s past.” On the bed, Lin Xiao Fen’s tone was frantic. She grabs onto Gu Heng Wen’s hand and holds it firmly.

Gu Heng Wen pats her hand, and with a soft voice consoles her, “Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

“I don’t want to let An Ran know, even more I don’t want An Ran to have any relation with him, I’m scared if An Ran knows she will blame me.” Lin Xiao Fen said in a depressed tone.

“He will not take the initiative to find An Ran, rest assured.” Gu Heng Wen consoles her as he pats her hand, “Right now he has his own family, he will not take the initiative to find An Ran and talk to her. This will threaten his family, with his status right now, it’s unlikely that he will do that.”

“Really?” Lin Xiao Fen was still unsure. She knew that he was right, just wanted to get confirmation from him. She was truly afraid, this was a secret that she had guarded intensely for 20, almost 30 years!

“Really.” Gu Heng Wen nods confidently.

Lin Xiao Fen pulls in her lips, but wasn’t able to pull up a smile. Even though he was certain, she after all was still afraid, “Heng Wen, tell me, if An Ran finds out, what should we do?”

“An Ran will always be my daughter!” Gu Heng Wen looks at her in a tone that certainly had no doubt in the slightest.

An Ran clutched onto the CT bag. She came at the wrong time, listening to things she should not have heard. She doesn’t know what they are talking about, but she can faintly surmise what it was. Carrying the bag she quietly withdrew from the room, her movement was very light, so light that no one had heard a sound, as if she hadn’t been there at all.

She sits down on the bench outside beside the door. She was still clutching onto the plastic bag, her father’s confident words still ringing in her ears.

“An Ran will always be my daughter!”

Wasn’t she always his daughter?

When did that change? In addition to mother’s anxiousness, who will know what? Why is her mother so worried that she will know something? Was she afraid that she will find out that she wasn’t her father’s daughter?

An Ran was afraid of her thoughts, and was unresponsive for a while. She quietly talked to herself, “How, how could that be. That’s just absurd.” The more she thought about it the more afraid she became. She pats her face, and attempts to stop her thoughts, incessantly comforting herself, “If I am not dad’s daughter then who is, do not scare yourself, do not scare yourself.”

She sat outside for a while, and tried her best to pacify herself. Then she gets up to go to the ward. She was about to open the door, when at this time, the door was opened. From inside Gu Heng Wen was surprised to see her, his expression was somewhat panicked, “Ran, Ran Ran, you, when did you get here.”

Although Gu Heng Wen’s reaction made the uneasiness in An Ran’s heart grow, but An Ran still tried to make her expression as natural as possible. She pulls on her lips, and faintly smiles as she says, “I just came back from Dr. Zhang’s office, I brought over the examination report.” As she spoke she hands over the report and the CT scans to her father, “Dad, are you going out?”

Gu Heng Wen quickly shakes his head, and explains, “N-no, I was about to go see Dr. Zhang to ask about the results of the examination. Since you’ve brought it over, I don’t need to go there. Oh, that’s right, what did Dr. Zhang say, are there any issues with mother’s health?” Saying that, An Ran’s expression gets heavy. Her brows were also slightly wrinkled. She looks at her father and says, “Dad, let’s go in and talk.”



---END OF CHAPTER---


Next Chapter

First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 107 Translation

107. Ring


Lin An Jie was surprised to see An Ran at the hospital. Actually, before and after meeting An Ran, he had continued to go on dates, with girls younger than An Ran, some were prettier than An Ran, some were not. Those who were younger and prettier than An Ran, their job wasn’t good, they were only a small office worker. The others, who had better jobs than An Ran, were more stable, but were not as pretty as An Ran. In any case, after a few dates, he could not find anyone suitable. In the end, An Ran had the most advantageous conditions.

He did not expect that they would run into each other here. Recently his family had been urging him, so perhaps Gu An Ran is the best marriage partner. Although her character is a bit old-fashioned, and her age is a little old, but she has a respectable job, and she is quite pretty.

An Ran was also surprised to run into Lin An Jie here, but after that unpleasant event, regarding this man, An Ran doesn’t have a favorable impression. She just slightly nods at him.

Making a note, Lin An Jie goes over to her, and says sleazily, “What a coincidence. Are you here to see someone?”

An Ran does not intend to stay and chat with him, so she excuses herself, “Sorry, I still have matters, will have to go first.”

“Hey, An Ran, wait.” Seeing that she wanted to leave, Lin An Jie quickly calls out.

“Excuse me, is there anything else?” An Ran said impatiently, her tone indifferent, her expression aloof. Anyone within sight, could see from her face that at this moment she was annoyed.

However Lin An Jie was not an average person, he was more outrageous, even narcissistic, his ego was large.

He smiles at An Ran and says, “I think everyone had a small misunderstanding last time, I was too impulsive last time, please do not worry.”

Hearing that, An Ran faintly looks at him, her face expressionless as she says, “What happened last time, I had already forgotten about it.” If he hadn’t called out to her, she wouldn’t have recognized him. Some things are senseless, thus she wouldn’t spend a great deal of effort making sense of it.

Contrarily, her reply made Lin An Jie misunderstand, thinking that she agreed with him. So he quickly laughs and says, “You are still single right. Actually during this period I have been seeing people, but they were basically not good enough. I think that perhaps we could try to get along.”

An Ran was taken aback. She finally understood his intention after a minute. This man is just hilarious, where does he have the confidence to think that after such a thing, anyone would accept him?

“Sorry, I’m married, I think you have the wrong person.” An Ran glances at him, and turns to leave.

Lin An Jie was taken aback. He looks at her empty ring finger, and laughs, “I know that at your age you are in a rush to get married, that is not a problem. I don’t mind dating with marriage in mind.”

Her back facing him, An Ran helplessly rolls her eyes. This man really can’t help but just see himself, huh.

Seeing her not speak, Lin An Jie thought once again of himself, and continues, “Although your work is not bad, you are also considered pretty, but your age is a bit high. Perhaps if you were younger you would be able to find someone better, but right now, after all, you are almost 30, and women age faster than men, and men the older the more attractive they become. Thus, those who are wealthy will look for the young and the beautiful, at an age such as your’s, would be awkward.” As he spoke he continued to walk over to her, “Although my conditions aren’t extremely well, but I have a house, a car in Jiang City and I am not considered lacking. I don’t care that your age is a little old, because what I care more about is the personality. After all in ten years won’t we all be the same. If you want to get married as soon as possible, that is no problem either, as we are dating with the intention of getting married. Sooner or later will be the same, don’t you think?”

An Ran was truly defeated by his formidable confidence, “I’m really sorry Mr. Lin, you must not have heard that I am already married?”

“You don’t even have a ring on your finger.” Lin An Jie stares at her as he spoke, confident that she wasn’t married.

An Ran was taken aback. She looks down at her own hands. It really does not have a wedding ring. As their marriage was rushed, she and Su Yi Cheng did not prepare a ring. Over time, they forgot about it, and had not even thought about going to buy or try out a wedding ring.

“But she has a husband.” When An Ran was still out of it, a magnetic voice appears from behind.

Hearing that, Lin An Jie raises his head, only to see Su Yi Cheng come over from behind An Ran. He naturally draws in An Ran’s shoulder, and faintly looks at him. He lowers his head and looks at An Ran sweetly, asking, “Why are you at the hospital?”

An Ran stares at him blankly. It was such a surprise that he appeared here. “Why are you here?”

“Secretary Zhang hasn’t been so well these days so I told him to see a hospital. I took advantage of my break to come and bring him here.” Su Yi Cheng said faintly. He reaches out to her and pushes aside some stray hair.

Lin An Jie at the side, was shocked and speechless. His eyes were wide as he looked at Su Yi Cheng. He recognized Su Yi Cheng, because Su Yi Cheng would occasionally come down to do some investigations, and he had once received a warning from him! He never would have thought that he would be Gu An Ran’s husband!

It took a while for Lin An jie to return to his senses. He looks at Su Yi Cheng embarrassed and laughs, “Sp-special assistant Su…..”

Su Yi Cheng looks at him briefly but doesn’t speak. Secretary Zheng had already come up and was beside him. He looks at Lin An jie and sneers, then kindly reminds him, “That’s Deputy Mayor Su now actually.”

Lin An Jie turns cold. The corner of his mouth twitches into a smile, that smile was unsightlier than crying.

Su Yi Cheng did not even glance at him, even more does not have the time to discuss it with him. He looks at An Ran and asks, “Why are you at the hospital? Are you not feeling well?”

An Ran shakes her head, and says, “It’s mom. She suddenly fainted at work.”

Hearing that, Su Yi Cheng frowns, and asks, “How’s mom?”

An Ran smiles at him, “The doctor says it’s just fatigue, there’s nothing hindering. But just to be safe, she has to stay in the hospital for a few days, and do a physical examination.”

Upon hearing that, Su Yi Cheng then relaxes his frown, and says, “I’ll come with you to see mom.”

“I was planning on going to the market to buy some healthy food for mom.” At the least she has to buy towels or washbowls etc.

Su Yi Cheng nods, and says, “I’ll come with you.” He turns around, and instructs Secretary Zheng, “If there’s anything give me a call, I won’t be returning to the office today. Also keep an eye on the tenders, inform them, that tomorrow morning at 10 we will have a group conference.”

Secretary Zheng nods, replies seriously, “Alright, I understand.”

Su Yi Cheng looks at him, doesn’t say much more, and turns to take An Ran by the hand out the hospital and towards the supermarket.

By the time they got back to the hospital, Gu Heng Wen was sitting in front of the bed and was speaking to Lin Xiao Fen about something. When he saw them come in, he quickly shuts his mouth, as if he were afraid that An Ran had heard.

He then sees Su Yi Cheng beside her, and the both them looked shocked. Lin Xiao Fen glares at An Ran, and says, “Why did you bring Ah Cheng, I’m fine. Ah Cheng must be busy with work, it’s not good to leave like that.”

“That’s right, An Ran, you didn’t need to interrupt Yi Cheng’s work.” Father Gu also agreed. Ever since the two families had dinner, they knew from the start that Su Yi Cheng was not working at some international corporation, but was the young leader of the municipal committee, an official. This had shocked them, as they had never thought of their daughter to be so great. No matter the status, as long as he treated An Ran well, that is enough, but they never expected that she would have relations with such big wigs. It felt like a mirage, made them feel like it wasn’t true.

Fortunately, apart from Su Yi Cheng’s extraordinary job, there was nothing else unusual about him. There was no general dandyism, towards An Ran and towards them he spoke well and did not speak badly of them, thus they were relieved.

An Ran glances at Su Yi Cheng, looking pleased, as if she was saying, ‘See, I knew it.’

In fact, while they were on their way back, An Ran had made a bet with him. She said that Lin Xiao Fen wouldn’t be happy to see him, while Su Yi Cheng did not agree, and countered, saying that Lin Xiao Fen would definitely be laughing and smiling from ear to ear upon seeing him.

“Mom, dad, don’t blame An Ran. I just happened to be here at the hospital to see the director, and bumped into An Ran at the lounge.” Su Yi Cheng places the stuff in his hands onto a table, then walks over to Lin Xiao Fen and says, “Mom, even if I didn’t run into An Ran today, you and dad shouldn’t hide these from me, after all I am also your son. How could you conceal the news that your health isn’t well.”

Lin Xiao Fen sighs, “Your work is special, and anyways I’m fine. Not only is it bad that I am wasting your time to work, you are serving the people, of course, the interest of everyone is important.”

Su Yi Cheng chuckles. He advances and takes Lin Xiao Fen’s hand, smiles and looks at her in a serious manner, “Mom, I am the people’s servant, but I am also An Ran’s husband, and your son-in-law. In old times they call the son-in-law the half-son. I don’t just see you and father as just my half-parents, as far as I’m concerned, you and father are like my own parents, I just need to know that you and dad are healthy and great, only then can I do my work well for everyone’s benefit. You guys are my strong backing, ah.”

Hearing that, Lin Xiao Fen stares at him, and was almost touched to tears by his words. She suddenly felt like Heaven had treated her and An Ran too well, giving them such great men.

“Ai, I was just worried that I was inconveniencing you.” Lin Xiao Fen pats his hand as she spoke.

Su Yi Cheng chuckles, and says, “What kind of child would think that their parents are troubling.”

Hearing that, Lin Xiao Fen and Gu Heng Wen look at each other, then smile gratefully.

In the afternoon Su Yi Cheng called the president of the hospital, and asked him to get the best doctor in the hospital and do a comprehensive examination for Lin Xiao Fen. Finally the hospital agreed, and they will begin the examination tomorrow, and arranged for the best doctors and nurses for her.

An Ran and Su Yi cheng returned home at night. Originally An Ran wanted to stay overnight, but Lin Xiao Fen and Gu Heng Wen did not approve, said that they still have to work tomorrow, so they must go home early and rest. An Ran was helpless, and could only follow Su Yi Cheng home. Before leaving she incessantly reminded, that Lin Xiao Fen has to rest a lot, and if anything comes up Gu Heng Wen must call her first.

The two did not drive here, and the night was late. It wasn’t yet 7pm, but the sun had already set, and now the sky was completely dark.

They did not call a taxi immediately. The two held hands as they slowly walked down the street. An Ran turns to look at him, and suddenly laughs.

Su Yi Cheng looks back at her, and smiles as he asks, “What? Why so happy?”

An Ran laughs, the smile on her face was even more joyous. She looks straight ahead, and doesn’t say anything.

“En?” Su Yi Cheng deliberately scratches the palm of her hand, stares at her, as if he absolutely had to know the reason.

An Ran stops her steps, looks at him and laughs, “I realized that you truly are suitable to be a leader. You always know how to make your words beautiful, know what to say to touch people’s heart and pull their strings.” Clearly they were not sweet words, but the more ordinary and warm they were, the more they touched people, making others unable to oppose him.

Su Yi Cheng pinches her nose, and leads her hand and continues forward. “What I said was truth, and the truth is always the most pleasant to hear.”

An Ran pouts, “You are a man with extensive experience. One look and you can already see through people, say the right things depending on the person, without thinking you can just open your mouth and speak.”

Su Yi Cheng laughs, but doesn’t deny it, because it was exactly as she had said. He can already tell what a person is like, what to say to each person, however there aren’t a lot of people who he speaks well to. He does not need to win other’s favour, but he does want to win the favour of her and her parents.

There is no more in-depth explanation of the issue, so Su Yi Cheng diverts the topic by asking, “How did things go at the company? Is it really thorny?”

Speaking of that, An Ran’s smile slowly gathers up, and she turns quiet.

Su Yi Cheng turns to look at her, and can naturally see the difference in her. He just faintly says, “Do you want to talk to me about it? Even though I may not be able to help you, but at least I can be a good listener.”

An Ran raises her head to look at him, and forces a small smile. A while later, she says, “The exercise manor case, was thrashed.”

Su Yi Cheng was shocked. He heard her say that this project, was the one that she had been busy working on for this period of time.

“The sample room suddenly collapsed, and the blueprint disappeared. Even the intern student that I was working with suddenly disappeared.” An Ran continues, “I suddenly feel really tired.” She stops her steps and stares at him, “Yi Cheng, do you think I’m a failure? Aside from Lin Li, it seems like I don’t have any other friend. My relations with people seem to be really bad.”

Su Yi Cheng laughs, and reaches out to rub her head, “It is they who don’t have the foresight. And not everyone has the talented acumen that I have.”

“Pfft—” An Ran guffawed at his narcissism. She asks in jest, “Leader Su, may I ask are you praising me or praising yourself?”

“Of course I am praising my own foresight!” Su Yi Cheng’s face was serious, that earnest expression made An Ran laugh, no longer did she have that gloomy, powerless look.

Su Yi Cheng looks at the An Ran who is laughing happily. He likes this kind of An Ran, the large smile spread across her face is very pretty, the smiling her is more beautiful than the unsmiling her. She is more suited to smile, the sad and gloomy expression does not suit her face.

After laughing, An Ran’s mood seemed to be a lot better than before. She looks ahead, and while walking, says, “Huang De Xing wants me to look for you, and wants me to capture the Ke Ji City project. That would make up for my mistake, my penance.”

Su Yi Cheng understands clearly. So that was what she was talking about from her call earlier.

An Ran continues, “It’s funny don’t you think, the theft, the collapse, unexpectedly the company didn’t respond, didn’t make a report, and don’t even talk about investigation, apparently this incident wasn’t an accident to them, as if it was prepared.” Right now, thinking back, Huang De Xing’s reaction was too dull, so dull that it made people feel suspicious.

Su Yi Cheng doesn’t speak, just listens to her, and doesn’t give her his opinion. But his hold on her slowly strengthens, as if he were giving her strength.

“I’m not bright, but I am not foolish either. Not saying it’s incontestable but it’s just a thought, but it seems like everyone’s taking me as a fool.” An Ran laughs at herself.

Suddenly Su Yi Cheng stops his steps, turns his body to face her and pulls her in. He looks at her and says, “An Ran, do you want to stay at home and let me work?”

An Ran also looks back at him. She understood his meaning, but after all, she has been with Jing Cheng for almost 7 years, ever since she graduated she had foolishly stayed there, even through the bad times she has some attachments. If she said she really wanted to leave, she really would hate to do so.

Su Yi Cheng does not push her to make a decision immediately. He reaches out to stroke her face, and takes her hand again. “Come, let me bring you to this place.”

Not waiting for An Ran to reply, he pulls her hand and takes her towards the city center.

“Where are we going?” An Ran asks puzzled.

Su Yi Cheng doesn’t turn his head, and just faintly laughs as he says, “You’ll know when we get there.”

The night market had already started, and there were a lot of people on the streets, so she allowed Su Yi Cheng to shuttle her around the crowd.

An Ran looks at the side of his face. His side profile was just as good-looking as his front, his strong outline, his deep eyebrows, how is it that he gets more charming the more you look at him. Actually, not thinking of anything, letting him lead her the way felt quite good. It felt as if they had been long-time lovers. His hands were large, his palm could completely wrap around her hands, it felt fantastic.

When An Ran was completely dazed and in her thoughts, Su Yi Cheng stopped his steps. An Ran did not notice, and nearly bumped into him. Luckily, Su Yi Cheng was swift and caught her. He laughs and mocks her, “You are like a child, don’t you look while you’re walking?”

An Ran spit out her tongue, and asks, “Are we here?” As she asked she looked around, only to see that they were in front of a jewellery shop. Confused, she turns to look at him, “Why did you bring me here?”

Su Yi Cheng lifts her hand up, looks at her bare finger, and says, “I feel like I should buy a ring for you and at the same time warn other men that you are already taken, they better not have any reckless plans.”

An Ran was taken aback. She finally gets a reaction from the meaning behind his words, and recalled their encounter with Lin An Jie at the hospital, “Can I assume that you got jealous?”

Su Yi Cheng noncommittedly nods, “of course!”

An Ran laughs as a result of his earnesty. She takes his hand, and does the same thing by looking at his bare ring finger, “Then don’t you think I should buy you a ring to safely harness you, otherwise I’m afraid there would be someone coveting my beloved husband.”

“I’d be extremely honoured.” Su Yi Cheng laughs, and stares at her eyes. His face was tender, and the two enter the jewellery shop with their fingers entangled. The jewellery shop had a lot of rings, pure gold, diamonds, gems, everything that should be there was there. The styles were very comprehensive, but ultimately the pair decided on a very average silver ring. It looked very simple, not at all gaudy, but it was something that the both of them liked very much.

The buying and choosing of the ring went smoothly, only when it was time to pay, there was a little drama.

“Let’s split it, both of us pay our own part.” She looked at the staff as she was preparing to package the rings.

Hearing that, Su Yi Cheng raises his brows, and looks at her funnily.

“Uh.” An Ran’s request baffled the attendant. She forces and smile and laughs awkwardly, “Sorry, miss, these rings, have always been bought together, it’s never been sold separately.”

An Ran frowns, and compromises, “Then use two cards.”

The corner of the jeweler’s mouth twitches. They were both buying the same thing, using two cards, it’s not like taking off your butt and farting, so much more!

An Ran, don’t make it hard for others. "I’ll pay first, you can return the money to me when we get home alright?” Su Yi Cheng reasons with her.

An Ran looks at him in the eyes, and sternly refuses, “No. When we get home you will definitely say that we are husband and wife, will not split it. What’s your’s is mine, and I can’t counter. In any case today I will definitely pay for the ring today, otherwise you will pay for the ring, so how can I use this ring to harness you.”

Su Yi Cheng laughs heartily. He reaches out and strokes her head, then turns to the jeweler and says, “My wife insists, then I can only bother you.”

The client was so insistent, after all they are a business, they still need to sell things. The jeweler gives them a professional smile and nods at them, “No worries.” Saying that she grabs two paper bags from under the counter, and puts the two rings in each of the bag respectively, and pushes the bag to both of them.

An Ran straightforwardly fishes her credit card from her bag, and Su Yi Cheng chuckles as he shakes his head. He does the same thing and uses his credit card to pay. From the paper bag she takes out the case, opens it up and takes the ring inside. In front of everyone, in front of the store, her face slightly flushes. She pulls his hand, and gently slips the ring on him. From now she only has this man, this time it seemed to become very sacred. An Ran’s expression, although it was bashful, was extremely sincere.

After putting the ring on him, An Ran then raises her head to look at him. Her small face was flushed, “Are you going to put it on me?”

“Very happy to do so.” Su Yi Cheng smiles, and likewise takes the ring out. He gently puts the ring on her, a very simple movement, but he was very gentle, and slow, so much that it looks like it was a very important moment to him.

When An Ran was staring at her ring, seemingly out of it, the quiet store suddenly bursts out an enthusiastic applause, people were even starting to heckle.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss…!”

The group applauds, the entire store seemed to have become lively, even attracting unknowing passerbys to stand in a circle and watch.

An Ran turns extremely red, and embarrassingly buries her head into Su Yi Cheng chest.

After all being seen by such a crowd, regarding this spectacle, he had a smile on his face that he was unable to hide. He wasn’t at all uneasy or uncomfortable, and raises his hand to calm everyone down. Then he lifts up An Ran’s head, looks at her in the eye, and says, “Although I’m also not used to having this many people watch our intimate action, right now I really want to kiss you.” Saying that, he does not give An Ran a chance to retort or reject, and picks up her chin, lowers his head and covers her pink lips.

Then the crowd bursts out an enthusiastic applause and cheer, right now, everyone was their witness!


---END OF CHAPTER---



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