Chapter 396 - Ah, You Sure Have the Tendency to Keep Me on a Leash Now
Chapter 396: Ah, You Sure Have the Tendency to Keep Me on a Leash Now
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Just as Cheng Jingqiu was about to ask Chen Libai to send her and Xia Zishan home, Chen Libai interrupted, “I just remembered I have something to do. I can’t send you two home.”
Xia Zishan’s expression shifted but she quickly put on a smile. “You go do your thing. You don’t have to send us back, we can go home ourselves.”
“I’ll wait for a cab with you two.” Chen Libai was a little worried about two ladies taking a cab by themselves at night; he was not one to abandon women.
Luckily, they were able to hail a cab relatively quickly this time. He let Chang Jingqiu and Xia Zishan enter the cab.
He returned to his car after seeing them off, but he did not leave.
After waiting for almost an hour, he saw a Mercedes stopped in front of Shengyue. Chen Libai raised an eyebrow; when he last saw Ruan Danchen’s boyfriend coming to fetch her, he only noticed the brand of the car but not the license plate number. Thus, he could not confirm that the car was here for Ruan Danchen.
Even so, his guts told him that it was indeed her boyfriend.
A while later, he saw Ruan Danchen coming out while holding her son’s hand and saying goodbye to her colleagues. Only when everyone else had gotten into their own cars did Ruan Danchen approach the Mercedes with Qi Youxuan.
Just then, the man in the driver seat got out of the car. He was wearing a dapper suit and gave off an exceptional aura. However, Chen Libai did not get the same feeling as he did from the man that came to fetch Ruan Danchen previously.
He frowned as he watched Ruan Danchen and Qi Youxuan enter the car. When the Mercedes left, he started his car engine and drove off too.
He had planned to follow them, but after getting stuck at a few traffic lights, he lost sight of the Mercedes.
Xiao Yang looked in the rear-view mirror and saw that the Lexus was no longer trailing behind. Only then did he turn his focus back on the road. He pouted.
Chen Libai could no longer see even a shadow of the Mercedes. With a dark expression, he turned his car around and left.
…
…
Qi Chenglin had just got off the phone with Xiao Yang. He was in the hotel room and had just come out from a bath. He turned on the television but did not watch it; he merely listened.
After the night’s dinner, the general manager over there wanted to drag him to some clubhouse. Qi Chenglin knew his intentions full well, so he declined firmly.
Just now, Xiao Yang had reported over the phone that Ruan Danchen and Qi Youxuan had reached home safely. He also disclosed to Qi Chenglin the matter with Chen Libai.
Just as Qi Chenglin was going to call Ruan Danchen, his phone rang. It was Qi Youxuan.
The little boy, Qi Youxuan, was just done showering and drying his hair. He snuggled cozily in his blanket, acting out the role of a little spy masterfully.
“Dad, let me tell you, today when Mom was having dinner with her colleagues, we ran into an uncle. By the looks of it, he has feelings for Mom.”
“…”
“I don’t know that uncle’s name. How would I know? A kid can’t just ask an adult something like that, you know? It’s very rude. I didn’t want to spoil you or Mom’s name.”
“…”
“But rest assured, Dad. Although the uncle is quite attractive, he’s no match for you.”
“…”
“Mom didn’t give him much attention either, she merely said a few words and left.”
After listening to Qi Youxuan’s report, Qi Chenglin ended the call. He was quite vexed to find out that he had another love rival in B City.
He turned on his laptop and keyed in the name ‘Chen Libai’. Although he had heard of this name before, he did not know what he looked like.
To his surprise, Chen Libai was not a nobody. From elementary school to university, he had won innumerable awards when studying abroad. Besides, the Chen family was quite well-known in B City; it was inevitable that the internet would have some news about Chen Libai.
…
Qi Chenglin’s business discussion went smoothly. The final decision was made on Wednesday and on that night itself, Qi Chenglin signed the agreement with the director and general manager over dinner.
After dinner, Qi Chenglin was impatient to go home as one more night seemed so unbearable. Therefore, he had someone check for available flights that night. Luckily, there was one first-class ticket left on a plane that departed at the nearby airport. Thus, Qi Chenglin abandoned the others from the sales department and returned to B City.
Qi Chenglin did not inform Ruan Danchen.
He was afraid that the flight might be delayed so he did not call Ruan Danchen just yet. However, when boarding time arrived, Qi Chenglin glanced at his watch and saw that it was already eleven-thirty. Worried that Ruan Danchen was already asleep, he refrained from calling her once again.
…
Ruan Danchen was sound asleep. Although Qi Chenglin would only be away from three days, she still counted down the days at home. Even in her dreams, she smiled when she thought of Qi Chenglin arriving home soon.
She was unaccustomed to lying on the bed alone, especially now that it was winter. Although the house was equipped with heaters, she still missed feeling Qi Chenglin’s body heat by her side.
In the end, she had to drink a bit of red wine to fall asleep. Otherwise, she would have lied on the bed all night thinking about Qi Chenglin.
Ruan Danchen had never expected herself to miss a man so dearly. When she was single, she watched girls bawl their eyes out for a boy after a breakup; she watched her roommate being all lovey-dovey with her long-distance boyfriend over the phone; she watched young couples flirting with each other with the girl clinging onto the boy’s as they sauntered down a road.
Ruan Danchen could not understand why they had to act so cloyingly.
Reflecting on herself now, she was utterly shocked by how much she changed.
Qi Chenglin felt his way up the stairs in the dark. He opened his bedroom door, worrying that his son had taken his spot.
Gradually, his eyes adjusted to the dark. With the little bit of moonlight pouring in from the window, he could make his way around the room just fine.
He closed the door gently. When he saw the little body wrapped up in the blanket, he instantly felt his exhaustion leave his body and instead felt completely energized.
He was afraid that bathing in the bedroom would wake her up, so he headed to the bathroom down the corridor and took a quick shower. He did not bring his nightwear with him so he simply walked around naked.
Qi Chenglin did not plan on putting on anything either. Naked, he lifted a corner of the blanket carefully.
Ruan Danchen must have felt cold in her sleep. Eyes closed, she was scrunched up into a ball and had wrapped herself tightly in the blanket.
Qi Chenglin burrowed into the blanket and held her in his embrace.
Even when asleep, Ruan Danchen was familiar with the warmth of Qi Chenglin’s embrace. Subconsciously, she positioned herself comfortably in his arms, as that position had been deeply engraved in her bones. Snuggled up in his embrace, Ruan Danchen felt infinitely safer.
…
The next day, Ruan Danchen was woken up by the alarm. She needed to go to work.
As usual, she reached out to grab her phone and turn off the alarm. Suddenly, she felt that something was off. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times. To her surprise, she was met with a wall of flesh with snow-white skin and solid muscles. It even gave off the scent of an exceedingly familiar body wash.
Ruan Danchen was immediately wide awake. She stared at him wide-eyed, doubting what she was seeing in front of her eyes.
She had just been on the phone with him yesterday morning; he had clearly stated that he was almost done with his work and would only be coming home today. In spite of that, she was lying next to him right now.
Ruan Danchen lifted her head slowly, afraid to disturb him. She fell asleep and woke up in his arms. it was like a dream.
Qi Chenglin looked completely worn out, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes. Softly breathing, he was still sound asleep.
Ruan Danchen did not want to leave his embrace. After not seeing him for a few days, Ruan Danchen missed him dearly. She buried her face deep into his embrace and moved her nose around like a puppy, sniffing at the scent of his body.
The two of them shared the same body wash, but she loved the way it smelled on him especially.
She could not help but press her face against his chest. As she lied gently and carefully against his chest, she could feel his heart beating.
Her movements were extraordinarily tender; even she could not imagine herself being so gentle. She was like a feather rubbing against his chest, making him feel a little ticklish.
Ruan Danchen was worried that she would be late for work. She tried to move his arm away without waking him up.
However, just as she gently grabbed his wrist, Qi Chenglin woke up abruptly. He grabbed her hand and pressed it against his chest, his palm encapsulating the back of her hand.
“Why’d you wake up?” Ruan Danchen mumbled. She wondered what time he came home yesterday.
She went to bed quite late. It was already past twelve by the time she was lying on the bed.
“I woke up every time you move.” Qi Chenglin let go of her hand and pulled her tight into his embrace. He buried his face against her neck and got a good whiff of her scent. He sniffed her everywhere, from her neck to her shoulders, to her lips then to the corner of her eyes.
“I’ve wanted to do this the minute I reached home, but I didn’t want to wake you up.” Qi Chenglin landed a long, forceful kiss on her cheek. He was pushing so hard that her cheek was being pushed into her bones.
Even after a night’s sleep, her face still smelled sweet.
“What time did you reach home?” Since he was already awake, Ruan Danchen reached to touch the dark circles under his eyes.
“A little past three,” Qi Chenglin answered.
Ruan Danchen’s eyebrows shot up instantly. “Why didn’t you just wait till today to come home? It’s so tiring to travel at midnight.”
From the time he got home, he could only have been home for around three hours. Moreover, he had clearly taken a shower before he went to bed. He could not have slept much.
“Why do you think I came back so early?” Qi Chenglin’s lips were curled and an eyebrow was raised. He kissed her at the corner of her lips. “I missed you the entire time I was away, so I quickly wrapped things up over there and rushed home.”
Although she could not stand seeing him so tired, she was still thrilled to see him earlier.
Just now, she was afraid to disturb him, but now that he was awake, she took long, deep sniffs at him. “Next time you come home so late, just come to bed. You must’ve been tired. There’s no need to shower first—I won’t complain.”
“But what if I get used to being lazy? Eventually, you’ll start to dislike it.” Qi Chenglin smiled.
It was quite a lot of pressure to have a wife. Not only did he need to be cautious about his appearance outside, he now had to do it at home too.
Ruan Danchen kissed his stubble-covered chin without any reservations. She then kissed him on the lips and finally got off the bed. “You should sleep for a while longer.”
Qi Chenglin did not stop her this time.
Ruan Danchen hurriedly got changed and went down for breakfast. Aunt Zheng had already returned from her leave. Qi Youxuan, on the other hand, was still having holidays and was still sound asleep in his room. During the day, Aunt Zheng was around to take care of him and if he wanted to go to Jade Field Park or the old mansion, a driver would take him there. Thus, Ruan Danchen could set her mind at ease.
As Ruan Danchen was frying eggs, someone suddenly hugged her from behind and pecked her cheek.
“Why are you out of bed already?” Ruan Danchen turned her head to look at him. Just then, Qi Chenglin took the chance and kissed her on the lips. He kissed her long and hard as if he wanted to suck her straight into his stomach. The eggs were starting to burn.
Qi Chenglin released her once he was satisfied. In a gentle loving voice, he said, “When I was away on the business trip, there was some work piling on at my desk. I’ll deal with them today and tomorrow, we can head to the Civil Affairs Bureau together.”
Ruan Danchen’s heart skipped a beat. Staring into his deep, dark eyes, she did not expect herself to feel so blessed and exhilarated to know that she was going to marry him soon.
“Okay.” Ruan Danchen smiled, and in no way was it bashful. She grinned ear-to-ear, exposing her shiny white teeth. She did not restrain herself at all; she looked like she had just won the lottery.
“You seem happy,” Qi Chenglin teased. He was delighted to see her beaming away.
Ruan Danchen nodded earnestly. “Yup, I’m super happy. There’s no way for me to put my happiness in words. It’s indescribable. My heart is beating so fast right now.”
“Let me feel it,” Qi Chenglin said. Immediately, he cupped his hand onto her.
“…” Ruan Danchen was speechless.
It was so early in the morning yet he was already having lewd thoughts?
Just then, Aunt Zheng was heading into the kitchen to make breakfast with Ruan Danchen. However, when she saw Qi Chenglin hugging Ruan Danchen so tightly from behind, she stopped at the kitchen door and quietly backed away.
She felt like it was getting harder and harder to move around in this house; she would run into Sir and Madam being intimate with each other everywhere she went.
“It really is beating fast.” Qi Chenglin smirked.
“…” Ruan Danchen did not know what to say. Her face was flushed.
With his hand grabbing her like that, of course it would be beating fast.
“What if we go register our marriage today?” Qi Chenglin suggested.
“Don’t you have to deal with your work today?” Ruan Danchen asked as she scooped the eggs out of the frying pan.
“You’re so excited, so I thought it’d be better to do it sooner.” Qi Chenglin snickered.
“…” Ruan Danchen felt that he was always ridiculing her. “We’ll just roll with the original plan. What difference does it make if we do it today or tomorrow?”
“You’re not too impatient to wait?” Qi Chenglin questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.
Ruan Danchen clenched her teeth. “No!”
“Really?”
Ruan Danchen glared at him.
Qi Chenglin burst out laughing. Seeing Ruan Danchen fuming as she stomped into the dining room, he followed behind with a grin.
…
Qi Chenglin went back to the bedroom after they finished breakfast. Ruan Danchen did not know why he went up there, but he did not come back down for a long while. Thus, she went up to investigate. When she entered the bedroom, she saw his tall, slender body standing handsomely in front of the mirror. Oh, what a view!
His long, bony fingers were working on the couple scarf he bought with Ruan Danchen that day. He pulled and twisted it around for ages but was still unsatisfied with how it looked.
“Let me help you,” Ruan Danchen offered. She walked up to him and tidied up the scarf.
She had never seen him wear things like this so when she bought it, she thought it was the perfect chance to get him one. She wanted to gift him something but never expected him to wear it to work. She always thought that the scarf did not match the vibe he gave off. After putting on the scarf, his usual cold and distant appearance instantly melted; he appeared much warmer and more gentle.
Ruan Danchen would already be happy if he were to wear it in private.
Since it was Ruan Danchen who worked on it, Qi Chenglin was completely satisfied with it. He took the other scarf and let Ruan Danchen put it on too. Finally, he took her hand and headed out contentedly.
When Aunt Zheng was seeing them off, she noticed the couple scarf that stood out obviously from his smart and tidy suit. Her lips twitched; she wondered what the employees in Qilin would think when they see Qi Chenglin dressed like that.
Ruan Danchen got into the car. As the heater warmed up the car, she took off her scarf. Qi Chenglin, on the other hand, was adamant to keep it on.
Ruan Danchen understood what he was trying to express. Her heart was filled with warmth. “You should take it off. It’s hot in the car. The car will be parked in the indoor car park when we reach the company, so there’s no need to wear it.”
“Mm,” Qi Chenglin mumbled but his hands did not move.
When he reached Qilin, he did not turn into the indoor car park. Instead, he parked it outside.
The outdoor car park was quite a distance away from the building’s main entrance. Due to the large size of the car park, it would take about five to six minutes to walk to the main entrance.
Qi Chengzhi turned off the engine and pulled out the keys. He turned to Ruan Danchen and said, “It’s cold outside. You should put on your scarf.”
“…” Ruan Danchen was utterly speechless.
Just to show off the couple scarves, he deliberately parked the car at the furthest end of the outdoor car park. Just for that, they had to withstand the frigid winds to get to the company.
Ruan Danchen put on the scarf compliantly. The moment she got out of the car, he grabbed her hand and they walked toward the company together.
Qi Chenglin was becoming more and more egoistic. The more employees crowded around them, the more pleased he was. His ego was close to that of a peacock spreading its feathers.
As for Ruan Danchen, she could not handle being the center of attention; it was too stressful for her. She was blushing the whole way there.
Even after they entered the company, Qi Chenglin was still clutching onto Ruan Danchen’s hand. She did not act too coquettish when walking beside him; the whole company had found out about their relationship after all. Besides, she did not want to pretend to be someone she was not.
Even when Qi Chenglin pulled her into the private elevator with him, she did not protest. After all, it was better than having to cram into a crowded elevator where all eyes were on them.
When they were reaching the design department, Ruan Danchen looked up and grinned. “You’re happy with the couple scarves now, aren’t you?”
“It’s not bad.” Qi Chenglin did not deny it.
Ruan Danchen pecked his lips. “I’m going now. I know you have a lot to do today, but don’t smoke too much.”
The elevator reached the design department’s floor, and Ruan Danchen stepped out.
Working hours had not begun yet. Just as Ruan Danchen entered the office, she was once again surrounded by her colleagues who teased her about their couple scarves.
The whole department was already well acquainted with Ruan Danchen, and they knew her personality. They knew that when they tease her, she would merely get flustered, but not angry. She would not hold grudges on petty things either as she accepted jests.
They treated Ruan Danchen like a normal colleague instead of as the general manager’s wife. They could be casual with her and would not feel pressured around her.
…
When lunchtime was approaching, Ruan Danchen received Qi Chenglin’s call. He said that he needed to entertain a client this afternoon and that he would have someone bring her takeout. He instructed her to eat in his office.
“There’s no need. You’re not here anyway so what’s the point of me eating in your office? I’ll just have lunch with my colleagues,” Ruan Danchen replied.
Qi Chenglin thought that sounded logical, so he suggested, “We’re now at Qiaopin, which is very near the company. Why don’t you just eat here with your colleagues?”
“Stop fooling around. Ah, you sure have the tendency to keep me on a leash now! I’ll follow the crowd; wherever my colleagues go, I’ll go. You’re meeting your client, so why should I be there?” said Ruan Danchen.
Extra Mini-Scene:
NoDoNoDie 2
That night, Ruan Danchen had made plans with Song Yu and the other two to fight monsters in an instance dungeon. Qi Chenglin waited and waited, but his wife never came.
He lied on the bed, feeling terribly dejected. “Danchen, are you done?”
“We’re trying to defeat this monster. Just give me a few more minutes,” replied Ruan Danchen.
“If you want that equipment so badly, why don’t you just buy it online? Why spend so much effort?” argued Qi Chenglin.
Just then, Ruan Danchen finished her game. She turned around abruptly and glared at him disdainfully. “We despise people who pay to win the most. Our goal is to get as far as possible without spending a single penny.”
“…” Silently, Qi Chenglin left the bedroom.
After a while, Ruan Danchen suddenly went offline. “Why was I disconnected?”
To be continued in the next mini-scene~