Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
He sat down without saying a word, not even a single apology. His coat was suffused with the chilly weather, but he did not take it off before lighting up a cigarette. If it was somebody else, the three people opposite of him would already make a scene. However, Yu Zidong could only suppress his anger even though he was furious at the person sitting across him was Qi Chengzhi.
Yu Keyao seemed completely unfazed by the choking smoke that Qi Chengzhi was puffing out. Her monochrome eyes were filled with admiration as they stared adoringly at Qi Chengzhi’s elegant face. He was nothing but handsome in her eyes, and his entire body—even his fingernails—were mesmerizing to her.
At that moment, everyone felt awkward when they saw Song Yu standing at the door.
Song Yu and Qi Chengzhi seemed to be the only two people whose expressions did not change.
“Sorry, wrong room,” Song Yu said plainly and turned to leave without even looking at Qi Chengzhi.
When Song Yu turned and walked off, she saw an obvious expression of surprise on Qi Chengyue’s face.
Qi Chengyue’s eyes and mouth were wide open as she looked at Song Yu, but she closed her mouth hurriedly only after noticing that Song Yu was walking over. Qi Chengyue did not intend to display her expression of awe, but her movements were too little too late.
She never expected that Song Yu would have had such guts!
Moreover, Song Yu was able to maintain a poker face even though she saw clearly that Qi Chengzhi was in the midst of a blind date.
Qi Chengyue squinted. She was hardly convinced that Song Yu was unmoved, surmising instead that the calmness was actually feigned!
As Song Yu walked past, Qi Chengyue sneakily extended her foot out.
When it came to being around Qi Chengyue, Song Yu retained a sort of intuition—she was much more aware of her surroundings and she would also have her guard up.
Spotting Qi Chengyue’s little maneuver, Song Yu walked over and lifted her leg ever so slightly. Without the slightest hesitation, she stomped her heel down on the foot that Qi Chengyue had extended to try and trip her.
Song Yu made a conscious decision to wear high heels that day in order to match her dress better, so it came as no surprise that her act of stomping down made Qi Chengyue shriek in agony. It was so painful that tears began gushing out. Pale-faced, she slumped to the ground and retracted her leg immediately.
The pain was so intense that she no longer cared about picking a fight with and scolding Song Yu. Standing up was completely out of the question, let alone walking; she just sat on the floor without realizing that Song Yu had left. The only thing she was capable of doing was to lean back against the wall and tremble in anguish.
Her miserable shriek prompted Xia Wenna to come out.
“Chengyue? What are you doing here?” Xia Wenna asked in surprise after noticing her. It was only natural that she did not want to make a big deal out of the blind date and invited other people, hence only her family was present.
Qi Chengyue was in so much pain that her forehead began to sweat. With the wall as her support, she managed to stand back up although she struggled and shook while doing so. She positioned herself so her center of gravity was on her right foot, and as she leaned against the wall, her pale face mustered up the energy to flash a slight smile. “I’m having a meal with someone here at Dynasty. I didn’t expect to bump into Song Yu when I arrived.”
At the first mention of Song Yu, Xia Wenna could not help but look behind Qi Chengyue, but by then Song Yu was long gone.
Xia Wenna sighed disappointedly because she was not able to do anything about the Song family’s bankruptcy.
She and Yu Qianying were childhood friends, but because of that incident, they stopped keeping in contact with each other and went so far as to become enemies.
In fact, at the time of the bankruptcy, Xia Wenna wanted to support the Song family through their difficulties.
Back then, they had no choice when the Song family decided to cancel the marriage. When there was word of Qi Chengji’s death in America, it was obvious that the marriage could no longer continue, but even though Qi Chengji came back and proved that it was all a misunderstanding, the Song family had already severed all ties with them. Meanwhile, Chengji had his heart set on Wei Ran, and no amount of persuading could snap him out of his obsession with her. The only logical conclusion was to ax the marriage.
When all of that happened, Xia Wenna suggested that they help the Song family even though they canceled the marriage. Qi Chengzhi, however, objected. By that time, Qi Chengzhi’s word was nearly gospel in any work-related decisions, so Qi Zhongliang did not interfere and the matter ended there.
After knowing that Song Yu and Qi Chengzhi were together, Xia Wenna was very much against the two of them being in a relationship. It was partly because Qi Chengji was her ex-fiancé, but the plain truth was that Xia Wenna missed the Song family, hence her decision to introduce Yu Keyao to Qi Chengzhi.
Xia Wenna thought about how Yu Keyao looked similar to Song Yu, and if Qi Chengzhi liked that kind of woman, he might just take a liking to Yu Keyao.
There was also the fact that the Yu family was Yu Qianying’s maiden family. If the marriage succeeded, Xia Wenna could be the intermediary and hopefully, the Yu family might be persuaded to help out Song Yu’s family financially.
Qi Chengyue concocted an excuse and left. Meanwhile, Xia Wenna re-entered the room. Her re-entrance made her realize how stifling the smoke was compared to when she was first inside the room.
Xia Wenna frowned at Qi Chengzhi because she knew he was doing so on purpose. She told him, “Chengzhi, maybe you could put out that cigarette? It’s suffocating and you can see how smokey the room is.”
His fingers clipped the cigarette as he opened his mouth and puffed out a cloud of smoke. He subsequently got up and walked to the door.
“Where are you going?” Qi Zhongliang’s expression turned sour and his tone became much sterner.
“The smoke is suffocating, isn’t it? I’m going out to smoke.” The cigarette was clipped between his lips, and his teeth gripped its butt. His rich voice was not too clear, and his hand was already on the door handle.
“Didn’t you hear what your mother said? She said to stop smoking, not go out and smoke!” Qi Zhongliang had an unhappy expression. He had been holding his anger in from the moment Qi Chengzhi came in, but at that point, he found it hard to keep it in.
Qi Chengzhi’s late arrival was one thing, smoking immediately upon arriving was another—obviously, he was doing all that on purpose.
Yu Keyao had a petulant expression when Qi Chengzhi got up.
Looking at the deadlock between both sides, Yu Keyao tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and uttered softly, “Uncle, I actually don’t mind a man who smokes. As long as it isn’t too excessive, I wouldn’t mind the smoking. Plus…”
A red flush began appearing on Yu Keyao’s face. Her attention was directed shyly onto Qi Chengzhi’s back. He was facing outside, so Yu Keyao could only look at about three-quarters of his face from the side. In spite of that, her feelings were so stirred that she could not bear to look away.
Not a word was spoken, although her eyes were full of passion. Her lips, which had pink lipstick applied to them, curled into a modest smile and she said gently, “Plus… I think Big Brother Chengzhi is really charming when he smokes.”
Qi Zhongliang and Xia Wenna were elated. Although their eldest son’s attitude was nothing to be proud about, they were lucky to have a child whose handsomeness was capable of misleading a young woman’s heart.
They were very happy to see that in addition to Yu Keyao not being angry, she even had a look that was reminiscent of love at first sight.
Qi Chengzhi shot Yu Keyao a stony look. She did not expect him to stare at her so suddenly, so she looked down bashfully. Her shy, blushing face was very much capable of eliciting tender affection from others.
She took a deep breath and decided that she would look up at him and flash him a smile. She figured that a mature man like Qi Chengzhi would not fancy a woman who had no courage to look at him.
Once she looked up however, her gentle and prepared smile stiffened on her lips. Qi Chengzhi was no longer in the room.
All she heard was Xia Wenna’s awkward consolation. “Keyao, don’t take it to heart. It’s that temper of his. No one can control him. Even his grandmother has been nagging about finding a woman to keep him in control.”
Yu Keyao could only nod shyly.
By then, Qi Chengzhi had already rushed over to Song Yu’s room.
He called her twice, but after two rings, the call was disconnected.
Qi Chengzhi stood in the walkway outside Song Yu’s room. He still had the cigarette between his lips and he looked down, causing the smoke to rise up and cover his vision gradually.
He squinted and sent another text to Song Yu. [Come out, I’m just outside of your room door.]
She still did not reply.
He stood at the walkway for fifteen minutes and he was almost finished with his cigarette. He narrowed his eyes as he mulled over a way to get Song Yu to come out. He took his phone and decided to send another message, but as soon as he did so, the room door clicked and he watched as it swung open.
A sentence was on the brink of escaping from his mouth, but his thin and stern lips pursed tight immediately as he stared at the people who were leaving the room.
Song Yu was not the only one coming out. Song Donglin and Yu Qianying followed closely behind.
They came out not because Song Yu was finally willing to let him meet them, but it was because they finished their meals and decided to leave.
Song Donglin and Yu Qianying were completely satisfied with the meal, and a content smile adorned their faces. However, they went blank the second they spotted Qi Chengzhi standing outside the door.
Song Yu did not even look at him as she turned and walked another way. Yu Qianying froze and looked at him without greeting him. Song Donglin was the only one who nodded at him.
Qi Chengzhi followed silently behind them, but a soft voice suddenly came from ahead. “Auntie, Uncle, you’re here too?”
Yu Keyao stood firmly in front of Song Yu. The former’s white top and peach skirt lent her an air of grace and a bit of charm.
She had somewhat of an educated and artsy appearance, albeit slightly contrived and not as natural as Song Yu.
Yu Keyao pushed the hair away from her temples and spoke in a gentle and relaxed tone, “I saw elder cousin sister just now, and I didn’t expect auntie and uncle to be here too.”
Ever since Yu Qianying was no longer in contact with the Yu family, she was not that familiar with her niece, and even upon seeing her, there was no feeling of closeness. She asked rather stiffly, “Came here to eat?”
“Mm.” Yu Keyao nodded. “My parents are here too. Are you leaving already?”
Upon seeing Yu Qianying’s nod, Yu Keyao remarked, “Uncle, auntie, you can come over to our house when you have the time. It’s been years since we last saw you.”
Yu Qianying did not believe that her niece would be so oblivious to the events and circumstances that happened between their families in the past. When Yu Keyao was saying those words, Yu Qianying remembered that Qi Chengzhi was behind them, and not one to be fooled, she knew who those words were really intended for.
If there was one thing Yu Qianying hated with all her might, it was that kind of charade. Without bothering to be courteous, she sneered and said, “We’ll see about that when your dad and mom welcome us themselves. You’re just a small girl, it won’t be nice of you to go against their wishes by simply making promises on their behalf.”
Having finished speaking, she left without waiting to see Yu Keyao’s awkwardly cramped expression.
“Big Brother Chengzhi.” Song Yu, who walked ahead of everyone else, heard the intimacy of Yu Keyao’s voice. “Your mother told me to come and look for you.”
She found it odd that Qi Chengzhi was walking with the Song family, but due to his frigid expression, she dismissed it as mere coincidence and not that he was in contact with the Song family.
At some point, Qi Chengzhi lit up another cigarette. He took and deep puff and ignored Yu Keyao. He did not even look at her as he continued walking behind Song Donglin.
Yu Keyao gnashed her teeth and followed behind Qi Chengzhi.
He followed Song Yu up until they reached the entrance of Dynasty. He stood at the platform outside the door and watched as Song Yu called for a cab.
Since he had been wearing his overcoat from the moment he arrived, he did not feel the least bit cold.
On the other hand, Yu Keyao was only wearing a thin top and skirt, so by then, she was already shivering.
She hugged herself and looked up at Qi Chengzhi, who was beside her, but he did not reciprocate her gaze.
“Big Brother Chengzhi, aren’t you going in?” Yu Keyao finally could not take it any longer, and she asked him in a trembling voice.
“I’ll smoke here at the entrance.” Rare indeed was the occasion when Qi Chengzhi eventually did reply her. “If you’re cold, you can go inside.”
Song Yu stood at the side of the road and felt Qi Chengzhi’s piercing gaze on the back of her head. Her arms waved even more stiffly and uneasily when she was calling the cab.
Things, however, were not going well for her. Either the cabs were full or an empty car would drive right past her with their eyes wide open.
Qi Chengzhi’s stares made her even more irritated. The man was simply standing there quietly, smoking at Dynasty’s entrance, and looking at her. ‘What does he want?’
‘I’m not the one who secretly attended a blind date!’
She stole a glance at him and saw Yu Keyao still standing beside him. She was saying something to him softly, and she looked up at him as though she was admiring him. Qi Chengzhi’s figure seemed to be even lankier than before.
They looked so conspicuous together, and it really felt like they were the most well-matched young couple there ever was.
The more she looked, the more she became angry, and she could not contain herself from letting out an audible ‘Hmph’.
Yu Qianying heard her and thought that she had gotten angry because she was unable to hail a cab even though some of the cars were empty. Yu Qianying consoled her, “Don’t be upset. If we can’t get a car, we’ll take the public bus. B City’s taxis have always been difficult to get a hold of.”
“Song Yu?” At that instant, she heard a voice that seemed more happy than surprised. “Uncle, auntie.”
Song Yu looked over and saw that it was Li Zhuoan, whom she met previously at the Red Roof Club.
Yu Qianying recognized him too. She had never been that familiar with the Li family, so when it came to Li Zhuoan, she neither felt close nor distant to him.
After being given a friendly greeting, Li Zhuoan said, “It’s hard to get a cab at this sort of time. Where do you want to go? Let me send you!”
“…” Yu Qianying looked at Song Yu. The latter did not know Li Zhuoan too well, and she also did not want to keep in touch with those other people from her past. When he offered to send them back, Song Yu was truly at a loss as to what she should reply.
“It’s okay. We’ll take a cab back,” Song Yu outrightly refused. Even though she was angry at Qi Chengzhi, she would not think of going into another man’s car right in front of him.
She had always been the type who would not drag in a third party whenever she was angry. Doing so was childish, and being the mature adult that she was, she would not resort to using such methods to spite Qi Chengzhi. The best thing was for both of them to solve their own problems together. There was no need to complicate simple matters.
“Song Yu, can you treat this as an apology for what happened back at the Red Roof Club?” Li Zhuoan walked over to Song Yu and blocked her hand-waving movements from view.
Yu Qianying heard their conversation and felt odd. ‘Could they have met before?’
Qi Chengzhi narrowed his eyes and took a deep, intense puff.
“Look at how strong the wind is on this cold night. You’re still unable to get a cab, and it’s pointless to have your parents bear the cold here.” Li Zhuoan was being sincere. His eyes looked directly at Song Yu, making her take a half-step back. She was distancing herself from him subconsciously.
She looked to the side and saw Song Donglin and Yu Qianying wrapped tightly in their down jackets. The wind made their hair messy, and their faces were beginning to redden.
Noticing Song Yu’s hesitation, Li Zhuoan turned extra polite and pointed at the side of the road. “My car is here.”
All of a sudden, Song Yu felt heat on her cheeks. She looked away and saw that Qi Chengzhi had extinguished his cigarette and was looking at her with his narrowed eyes.
His tall, slender figure was fixed to the ground, and despite the large distance between them, an indescribable pressure was mounting on her. Without even realizing it, Yu Qianying had left her side.
Song Yu’s heart began thumping wildly because of his stare. She had a feeling that if she decided to go with Li Zhuoan, Qi Chengzhi would run over immediately and stop her.
Almost immediately, Qi Chengzhi stares made her wavering thoughts much firmer.
“I…” Before Song Yu said anything further, Dynasty’s manager came running over while wiping his sweat.
“Miss Song, the cab is here!” Song Yu looked at the direction pointed at by the manager and discovered that a taxi really did stop there.
Thus, she smiled at Li Zhuoan and said, “Thanks for your offer. The taxi’s here, so we’ll take the taxi.”
Li Zhuoan’s expression soured as he glanced at the untimely arrival of the taxi. He then glared at the manager and wondered when did Dynasty start helping their customers to get a cab.
His lips pursed and he handed her his business card. “This is my number. If there’s anything I can help with, just give me a call.”
Since the name card had been offered, it would be impolite for Song Yu not to accept. All she could do was say her thanks and keep it.
She entered the cab with her parents, leaving Li Zhuoan watching as the cab drove away. He then turned and met with Qi Chengzhi’s gaze.
Li Zhuoan stared back in provocation, eliciting a smirk from Qi Chengzhi as he placed his hands in his pockets and walked to his just-arrived Range Rover.
…
…
Song Yu sat in the front passenger seat of the taxi. Suddenly, she saw from the rear-view mirror that a Range Rover was following closely behind them. Her heart began beating madly.
She snuck a look at her parents who were seated behind and noticed that they were unaware of anything unusual happening.
How long did Qi Chengzhi decide to follow them for?
Midway through his drive, Xia Wenna called him. Her anxious voice was heard right after he picked the phone up. She asked him, “Where are you? Why can’t I find you anywhere? Where could you possibly have disappeared to just to smoke a cigarette?”
“I have something to do, so I left. Take your time there,” Qi Chengzhi answered plainly.
“What do you mean ‘you have something to do, so you left’? You left without even telling anyone anything? How could you just leave the Yu family hanging!” Xia Wenna’s voice became even more urgent. “They’re all waiting for you now!”
“So? Don’t let them wait then,” he replied coldly.
“Where are your manners?” Xia Wenna had much to say but was interrupted by Qi Chengzhi’s ice-cold voice.
“It was agreed that this was a family meal, but when I arrived, there were three outsiders. When did the Yu family become the Qi family? I agreed to a family dinner, not dinner with a blind date. I’m hanging up now.”
…
…
Once the cab stopped at their building, Song Yu got down. She heard a car driving from behind, and when she turned to look, her heart nearly stopped beating.
Qi Chengzhi’s Range Rover drove all the way in too, and it stopped just beside the building.
Song Yu looked nervously as the Range Rover’s engine was turned off and there was no movement for some time.
“Song Yu, let’s go.” Yu Qianying and Song Donglin got down and called their daughter.
“Mm, okay.” Song Yu glanced at the Range Rover once more before turning and walking into her building. However, she could still feel numbness at the back of her head, as though Qi Chengzhi’s gaze managed to penetrate through the car and land on her.
