Chapter 31

As their conversation ended, they exchanged glances, and for a few seconds, the air around them seemed to be filled with silence.

Then Ruan Nianchu burst out laughing, breaking the silence, and was the first to avert her gaze. “That was quite humorous. But next time, don’t joke like that with such a serious tone; others might take it seriously,” she said as she grabbed her bag and started walking towards the door. “By the way, I have plans with Qiao Yufei tonight, you don’t need to accompany me home.”

Unexpectedly, Li Teng also stood up. “Where are you meeting?”

“At ‘Da Li’ Izakaya, on Jiannan Road. You’re not going that way again, are you?”

Li Teng replied without much emotion, “Not out of the way. I’ll take you there.” Then he settled the bill and walked out.

Ruan Nianchu frowned, and after a moment, facing his back, she asked the doubt in her heart, “Li Teng, why have you been sticking with me all this time?” Recollecting the past few days, she realized that besides being at home and with the performance group, he had been around her all the time.

Ironically, they had broken up, yet now the time they spent together as ordinary friends seemed to exceed the time they spent as a couple.

But Li Teng had already walked far, seemingly not hearing her question.

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Tlzrzlppzu, Swyd Lkydnbw qszzsole bkx.

Gqvla qypvldkdt bla plyvclzv kd vbl nya, pbl ypjle ytykd, “Pked’v usw blya obyv R ypjle lyazkla? R ypjle obu usw’hl clld okvb xl yzz vblpl eyup?”

Nk Mldt eashl sdvs vbl asye yde prsjl psqvzu, “Mos alypsdp, sdl rlapsdyz, sdl rasqlppksdyz. Ebknb sdl es usw oydv vs blya?”

Vlarzlmle, Swyd Lkydnbw ypjle, “Ebyv es usw xlyd cu rlapsdyz yde rasqlppksdyz?”

Tl pyke, “Vasqlppksdyzzu, xu nwaaldv vypj kp vs ldpwal uswa pyqlvu yde ralhldv usw qasx ydu byax. Rq yduvbkdt byrrldp vs usw, R’x qwzzu alprsdpkczl.”

“…Mypj? Vasvlnvkdt xu pyqlvu? Gal usw pyukdt psxlsdl oydvp vs byax xl?” pbl iwlpvksdle pjlrvknyzzu.

Eblal eke vbkp xytknyz rzsv vokpv nsxl qasx? Eyp vbkp vbl tldlayvksd tyr clvolld y vbkavu-vball-ulya-sze yde voldvu-pkm-ulya-sze?

Nk Mldt dseele nyzxzu, “Fs usw clvvla clbyhl. Omnlrv obld usw’al yv bsxl sa yv osaj, usw nyd’v zlyhl xu pktbv.”

After seriously pondering for a while, Ruan Nianchu still couldn’t understand and asked again, “Can you tell me who wants to harm me?”

“Bad people.”

“That’s not saying anything,” she suddenly realized, “Is it classified information?”

“As long as you know,” he replied.

“Let’s skip that for now.” Since that reason couldn’t be openly discussed, it had to be glossed over. After a moment, she turned to look at Li Teng’s cold profile and then asked him, lowering her voice, deliberately adopting a gossiping tone, “The first reason is your mission, but what about the second reason? What’s the personal one?”

Li Teng remained silent.

She squinted, lowering her voice, and intentionally sounded like she was prying for gossip. “Do you also need to keep your personal reasons a secret?”

“Because I want to see you often,” he suddenly replied.

“…” This time, Ruan Nianchu was genuinely stunned. Knowing Li Teng’s eccentricities, his reasons for doing odd things were always bizarre. But the shock value of this answer still exceeded her expectations.

And afterward, the situation changed rapidly.

As night fell, amidst the bustling traffic, Li Teng suddenly turned the steering wheel and drove the car to the side of the road, stopping. Ruan Nianchu was startled by this sudden action, she turned her head and saw him with lowered eyes, tightly pursed lips, his expression even more solemn and cold than usual.

Her eyes widened slightly, her hands unintentionally tightening on her lap. Her heartbeat suddenly became rapid.

“…” Ruan Nianchu heard her own voice echoing in the car, her breath slightly unsteady. “Why did you suddenly stop the car?”

Li Teng raised his eyes to look at the colorful neon lights of the city, his tone unusually calm. “You’ve always wanted to know who the woman I admire is.”

Ruan Nianchu’s gaze flickered.

He turned his head, his gaze firmly fixed on her features. “That woman is you.”

She: “…”

“Seven years ago, the day I saw you off, I told myself that I had to forget you no matter what. If we were truly destined, it would be by fate alone.” These words had weighed on Li Teng’s heart for seven long years, only now finding their way to the surface. The curve of his lips carried a hint of self-mockery. “Ruan Nianchu, you really have quite a power, to make someone obsess over you like a lunatic for seven years. Would you like to guess how I’ve spent these years?”

At this moment, his gaze was unlike its usual calmness, blunt and straightforward, with a strong sense of aggression.

Ruan Nianchu’s mind was buzzing, leaving her momentarily blank. It took her a while to come back to her senses. She averted her gaze, forcefully exhaling a breath, and chuckled dryly, trying to move her lips: “You’re joking again. Don’t tease me with such things all the time, it’s not good.”

Li Teng said, “I’m not joking with you.”

“Why aren’t you joking with me?” Ruan Nianchu hadn’t expected her reaction to be so intense in that moment. “We’ve already broken up! Do you even know what breaking up means? How did you talk when we were together? And now suddenly you’re telling me you’ve liked me for seven years?”

Such inconsistency and fickleness, this person must be truly insane.

There was a moment of dead silence in the car.

After she had finished venting her anger with a roar, feeling a bit relieved, she glared at him with nothing but anger in her eyes.

Li Teng closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking again, his tone subdued, “I’m sorry. I was wrong before.”

“Don’t apologize to me. Everyone has the right to apologize, and everyone also has the right not to forgive. There’s no law that says I have to choose to forgive you.” Ruan Nianchu took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She turned her head to look out the window, waved her hand, and said, “Alright, I don’t want to talk about this with you anymore. Captain Li, please disappear from my sight immediately.”

Li Teng remained seated without moving.

After a while, she calmed down and remembered that this was his car. She sighed, then pushed open the car door to get out.

Li Teng said, “Where are you going?”

“I don’t want you to drive me.”

“Come back.” His eyebrows furrowed deeply.

He was just a complete lunatic, who cares about him? Without hesitation, Ruan Nianchu walked straight to the curb. The Izakaya wasn’t far from here, she decided to walk there.

Li Teng closed his eyes, slammed the steering wheel hard, clenched his teeth, and finally got out of the car to follow.

Under the night sky, the two of them walked, one in front and one behind, with about ten meters between them.

After walking for a while, Ruan Nianchu couldn’t help but turn back, not in a good mood, and said, “So you’re going to keep following me? Fine, then just follow me.”

After saying this, she turned her head and a big electronic appliance store was having a commercial event outside. The host was holding a microphone and spitting as he threw small dolls to the audience. The middle-aged women and men watching were excited, cheering and squeezing to jump up and grab them.

Ruan Nianchu quickly dashed into the crowd to grab a doll.

The crowd was bustling, everyone was jumping with all their might. Ruan Nianchu also raised both hands high, jumping vigorously.

Li Teng stood aside for a while, unable to bear it any longer, walked over, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her out of the crowd.

She angrily tried to shake off his hand, but couldn’t, and couldn’t help but ask, “What are you doing?”

“Let me tell you, Ruan Nianchu.” He tightened his grip on her wrist, his voice low and firm. “You may feel upset, angry, even hit or curse at me, but don’t joke about your safety. Do you understand that someone wants to harm you?”

“…” She frowned, trying to break free forcefully. “Li Teng, let me tell you too. I can’t understand your strange methods, and I can’t play along. Do you like me? Well, I don’t like you at all. So please don’t come looking for me again in the future. Because we can’t be friends anymore.” With that, she turned around and walked away quickly.

The cool breeze of the night blew. Ruan Nianchu sniffed, wrapped her coat tightly around her, her hair flying messily in the wind, her nose turning red from the cold.

Li Teng clenched his fist and caught up with her.

*

“Da Li” was a very famous Izakaya in Yuncheng, located in the old city area, owned by a Tokyo native. The ingredients were fresh, the prices were fair, and the business was booming all year round. When Ruan Nianchu arrived, Qiao Yufei had been waiting for quite a while.

As soon as she saw Ruan Nianchu, Qiao Yufei pointed at her watch and complained, “We agreed to meet at eight, it’s been almost half past, were you stealing chickens or playing with dogs?” Her peripheral vision caught sight of Li Teng coming in behind, and she froze on the spot.

Weren’t these two broken up? How come they’re still appearing together? Qiao Yufei was very puzzled and whispered, “What’s going on? Are you two back together?”

“How is that possible?” Ruan Nianchu smiled and replied calmly, “That person doesn’t matter, just ignore him.”

Although she said that, out of politeness, Qiao Yufei still exchanged a nod with Li Teng. Li Teng nodded back faintly and sat at a distance from Ruan Nianchu.

The waiter came over to take their order.

Qiao Yufei hadn’t had dinner, so she ordered some sashimi and sushi. Ruan Nianchu, on the other hand, ordered all alcohol.

Seeing her order so many bottles of alcohol, Qiao Yufei felt a little panicked. “Hey, although Japanese sake isn’t strong, can you handle drinking so much?” She then turned to the waiter and said, “Bring two fewer bottles.”

“I’ll pack up whatever we can’t finish.” Ruan Nianchu pushed away Qiao Yufei, who was pulling the waiter, “That’s all, bring it up.”

“…” Qiao Yufei couldn’t argue, her expression changed slightly, and she glanced somewhat uneasily at Li Teng sitting at the table behind them.

He stared straight at Ruan Nianchu’s back, his eyes unclear, the tea cup held to his lips, but he didn’t drink.

In fact, tonight Qiao Yufei had arranged to meet Ruan Nianchu to chat about the new guy she was seeing, hoping for her opinion. Unfortunately, this dinner turned into an upgraded version of Ruan Nianchu’s heartbreak drinking session.

Several tens of minutes later, all eight bottles of sake were empty, with Ruan Nianchu alone finishing six bottles, now completely intoxicated.

Her cheeks flushed, forgetting where she was, she grabbed Qiao Yufei’s hand and slurred, “Do you know? I, I finally, finally managed to figure it out, finally convinced myself to treat him as just a friend… I adjusted my mindset…” She stood up suddenly from her seat, swaying, and reached up to hold her forehead, “But Li Teng, he actually came over to provoke me again…”

“…” Qiao Yufei’s mouth twitched, quickly getting up to support her, comforting, “Shh, shh, you’ve had too much to drink, sit down first. Sit down.”

“I’m not drunk!” Ruan Nianchu pushed her away with one hand, “I have a good tolerance for alcohol…”

The force exerted was mutual. With this push, Ruan Nianchu pushed away Qiao Yufei but also stumbled and fell.

Before hitting the ground, a large hand steadied her waist, stopping her fall.

Li Teng held her arm and said, “It’s late, let’s go home.”

“…” Ruan Nianchu frowned, unable to see the person’s face clearly, muttering, “Who are you?”

Ignoring her, Li Teng directly lifted her by the waist, looking at Qiao Yufei, and said coldly, “I’ll take her home first.”

After hesitating for a moment, Qiao Yufei nodded, “…Well, thank you then.” After a few seconds pause, she couldn’t help adding, “Although I don’t know what happened between you two. But, Captain Li, in a relationship, a woman’s ability to resist hits is often not as strong as a man’s. Take care of yourself.”

Li Teng remained silent, carrying the drunkard in his arms, and walked away.

The car stopped about a kilometer away, and for this stretch, he could only carry her.

Around midnight, there weren’t many pedestrians in this part of the old city. The streets were deserted, with only the chilly autumn wind freely blowing through the alleys.

Curled up in Li Teng’s arms, Ruan Nianchu rubbed her cheek against him and suddenly furrowed her brows, saying, “I… I feel uncomfortable, I want to vomit…”

He had no choice but to put her down, half-dragging, half-carrying her to the side of the road.

Li Teng pointed to the trash can. “Go ahead and vomit.”

“…” Ruan Nianchu’s gaze was unfocused, her mind a blur, she hiccupped from the alcohol, then hugged the trash can and began vomiting violently.

After a while, she felt a bit better, closing her eyes to catch her breath.

Li Teng supported her with one hand while gently stroking her back with the other. “Still feel like vomiting?”

Ruan Nianchu didn’t answer. She was completely drunk, unable to hear clearly what he was saying. So, he took out some tissues and gently wiped away the dirt from her mouth, his gaze focused, his movements gentle.

Midway through wiping, Ruan Nianchu suddenly grabbed his hand.

Li Teng raised his gaze to look at her.

Her cheeks were flushed, her big eyes watery as she looked at him, suddenly smiling teasingly, her finger hooking his chin as she said, “Little brother, you’re so handsome, why not join me on an adventure?”

Li Teng: “…”

Ruan Nianchu hiccupped again, blinked, then suddenly pushed him away, stumbling and sitting by the roadside.

Li Teng looked down at her from a higher vantage point, his tone calm, “Let’s go home.”

“I’m not going with you.” She giggled foolishly, conveniently finding a no-parking sign nearby, she reached out to grab it, pressing her face against it softly, closing her eyes and muttering, “Who are you? What if you’re a bad person?”

Li Teng remained silent for a few seconds, then bent down to her level, “I’m Li Teng.”

“Li Teng…” Ruan Nianchu’s brows furrowed even tighter, shaking her head, “Li Teng is not a good person. Why do you have to be Li Teng? He’s the one I dislike the most.”

Li Teng looked at her flushed cheeks and intoxicated eyes, curved his lips, gently caressed her cheek with his finger, his voice very soft, “You may dislike him so much, but he likes you so much. What should we do about that?”

“What should we do…” Ruan Nianchu felt dizzy from all the twists and turns. She shook her head again, murmuring vaguely, “I don’t know, I really don’t know what to do.”

“I have an idea.”

“Hmm.” She replied lightly, silly smile on her face, “Tell me.”

He lowered his head to kiss her forehead, closing his eyes, his voice incredibly soft, “Let’s start over. This time, I’ll pursue you, and you won’t be able to chase me away. How about that?”

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