Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Turning slightly red with anger, An Xiaoning eyed her husband, who was acting as if nothing had happened at all. She wanted nothing more than to expose his true colors, which were hidden beneath a facade.
Indeed, the ball had already commenced.
The crowd was larger than she had expected.
“I’m hungry,” said An Xiaoning to Jin Qingyan. She reached out to hold his hand.
“Come with me,” he said.
They sat down on a sofa elsewhere, facing a young man who was holding a scantily-clad woman in his arms.
“Fill your stomach with something small first. There will be proper dishes later,” said Jin Qingyan as he handed An Xiaoning a plate of appetizers.
An Xiaoning shoved the appetizers into her mouth incessantly, one after another. She was too hungry to even bother about her image and posture, so much so that even Jin Qingyan could not stand watching her any further.
Pursing his lips, he urged An Xiaoning, “Hey, slow down. If you get yourself too full, how are you going to stomach the main dishes later on?”
“Try this, hubby. It’s delicious!” said an excited An Xiaoning, attempting to feed him.
Jin Qingyan watched in embarrassment as she refused to heed his advice.
Not wanting to chide her in public, he had no choice but to admit defeat and allow her to feed him the appetizer.
Unable to contain his amusement, the young man opposite them let out a burst of boisterous laughter and said, “Young Master Jin, this has got to be your new wife, whom I’ve yet to meet.”
Slowing down, An Xiaoning nodded along with her mouth full. Jin Qingyan quickly handed her a drink with a low alcohol content, afraid that she would choke on her food.
“Hi, I’m An Xiaoning, nice to meet you,” An Xiaoning introduced herself, right after taking a sip of the drink to water down the food in her mouth.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Long Tianze,” greeted Long Tianze. As he did, his almond-shaped eyes wandered about. “We’ll be seeing each other rather frequently in the future. Young Master Jin and I have been friends ever since we were born. There’s nothing about him that I don’t know about, other than you… whom I found out about from the news. I have no clue at all as to how you two met and for how long. Well, looks like you’re really important, for him to conceal your identity for so long, until the day you got married,” he continued.
“That’s true. We’ll be spending the rest of our lives together, so of course he has to respect me,” said An Xiaoning proudly, casting a glance at Long Tianze, overjoyed.
“Hahaha,” Long Tianze chuckled. He found her to be rather likable.
Taken aback by her words, Jin Qingyan thought to himself, Spending the rest of our lives together?
That idea had never once crossed his mind.
“Long time no see, Jin Qingyan,” said a cold, deep male voice. Looking in the direction of where the male voice was coming from, An Xiaoning watched as a man donning a full-white suit eased himself into his seat. He had a pair of long, thin eyes, a pronounced nose bridge coupled with thin and flushed red lips, and he wore an eye-catching blue diamond earstud on his earlobe. He exuded a dominating and fearsome aura.
The lad was exceptionally handsome, but he still dulled in comparison with Jin Qingyan.
Coincidentally, the female partner he had brought along was the same woman who had wanted to speak to Jin Qingyan privately earlier.
“Gu Beicheng. It has indeed been a long time since we’ve met, jerk,” said Jin Qingyan with a voice as cold as ice. Anyone could tell with just a look that the two weren’t exactly on good terms with each other.
“The last time we met, you were still battling it out with me over Rui’er. Why… did you get married so soon after? Don’t tell me you’ve given up on love because you were too heartbroken?” Gu Beicheng mocked Jin Qingyan while gently caressing the hair of Chi Rui’er, who sat in his arms.
All of a sudden, Long Tianze pushed the lady in his arms away and hollered in a moment of pique, “Why is it so smelly? Are you trying to stink me to death? What are you waiting for? Get out of my sight, now!” His initial affection turned into an uncontrollable rage.
In order to be his lady, one would first have to possess a good sense of self-awareness and intelligence. Knowing without needing to be told that Long Tianze was not actually referring to her, the lady stood up and excused herself, instantly playing along.
An Xiaoning was tempted to let out a giggle or two, but she stopped herself. Instead, she turned to Jin Qingyan, who appeared extremely upset, and said sarcastically with a smile, “Hubby, you actually fought with him over Chi Rui’er? If he wants that dog so badly, let’s just gift it to him! There’s no point getting all worked up over such a trivial matter.”
“A dog… Rui’er?”
An Xiaoning’s words had caught Jin Qingyan by surprise. Meanwhile, Gu Beicheng chuckled menacingly while Chi Rui’er’s face stiffened. On the other hand, Long Tianze broke into an uncontrollable bout of laughter.
“Yes, yes, she’s right. Qingyan, just give that dog to me, lest you two argue over it. How annoying is that!” added Long Tianze mockingly.
Jin Qingyan had never had a dog; he had zero patience for domestic pets. However, he knew that his wife was just trying to help him out of the predicament.
Kudos to her for coming up with such an idea.
“Honey, didn’t you want to eat hot and spicy lobsters? Let’s go have them somewhere else,” said Jin Qingyan. He stood up after taking another look at Chi Rui’er, who was still canoodled in Gu Beicheng’s arms.
An Xiaoning’s eyes lit up at her husband’s suggestion. “Sure,” she said. She too stood up immediately
Realizing that they were about to leave, Long Tianze added, “I’ll join you guys.”
Gu Beicheng and Chi Rui’er were the only ones left on the couch.
“She’s not a simple woman,” Gu Beicheng said solemnly.
“Damn, she actually had the nerve to insult me. Jin Qingyan has never had a pet, so she was obviously referring to me. Ugh!” grumbled Chi Rui’er, who was raging with anger.
“Why didn’t you expose her then?” he asked.
“I…” she stuttered, not wanting to admit that she was afraid of ruining her image of a dainty, refined lady.
——
“How did you know that I loved eating hot and spicy crayfish?” said An Xiaoning who was riding shotgun. A the same time, she placed a hand on his thigh.
“You’re my wife. Of course I’d know,” Jin Qingyan replied.
An Xiaoqing’s heart began to flutter, and she felt warm and fuzzy from within. “Is Long Tianze really your childhood friend?” she asked.
“You reckon he’d dare to lie in front of me?”
“Of course not. Now that I think of it, you two are really similar.”
“…”
“The lady with Gu Beicheng earlier… Is she Chi Rui’er?” An Xiaoning asked inquisitively. As she spoke, the thought of the lady in purple crossed her mind.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to know about it? Why are you suddenly asking again?” he answered.
An Xiaoning was speechless. She could tell Jin Qingyan was reluctant to go into detail about the lady, and thus, she did not pry any further.
Arriving at a restaurant, the couple quickly entered, with Long Tianze following closely behind.
They then requested a private dining room.
“Hey, peel one for me too!” Long Tianze teased with his mouth open, watching Jin Qingyan peel some crayfish for An Xiaoning.
“Sorry, but I would only do this for my wife,” replied Jin Qingyan as he played along.
“What a typical case of hiberdating[hiberdating: to disregard one’s friends because he is dating someone]!” Long Tianze said playfully with a sigh. “Seems like you don’t remember who was the one who introduced you to fun toys and games, and sneakily brought you the street snacks you were craving but your Mother did not allow you to have, while you were ill… ” he continued, trying to guilt-trip Jin Qingyan.
“How is that?” said Jin Qingyan as he stuffed a peeled crayfish into Long Tianze’s mouth.
“Now that’s better,” chuckled Long Tianze.
Since they still had to drive, the trio refrained from having too much alcohol, though they still had a couple of drinks here and there before leaving.
Once they arrived home, An Xiaoning and Jin Qingyan proceeded to take a bath together.
The moment she undressed herself, he scooped her up in one fluid motion, quite effortlessly, and lowered her onto the basin.
An Xiaoning shivered slightly upon coming into contact with the cool surface of the basin. Gazing at the man before her, she broke into an unrestrained smile.
“Why are you smiling?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing, really,” she said, placing her arms around his neck. “I just think God has been really good to me. Because I got to marry you,” she continued.
——
Writer’s note: I’ll be updating the novel with new chapters every day. Please show me some support by saving the novel to your collection if you enjoyed reading it! You guys are just like my family, I love you.
