Chapter 120 - 97: Sharing a Room
"Actually..." Lin Che started to go over and explain, but Wang Jun pulled him back. "Don’t try to explain things right in front of the club. Explaining will just make it look like you’re guilty."
It was crudely put, but he had a point.
Lin Che and the others felt extremely guilty, though. They had planned this SJ reunion in Shanghai—a group of good buddies grabbing dinner, then heading to a club to unwind. Su Ran had adamantly refused to go, but they had practically dragged him there, telling him, "You can keep it clean while we have our fun. The main thing is that we brothers rarely get a chance to get together." They just never imagined Su Ran would run into a girl he knew, even in Shanghai. His "social" network was truly extensive.
Lin Che and his friends stood to the side, their hearts in their throats as they watched the tall, fair-skinned, long-legged beauty approach Su Ran, her pretty face clouded with anger.
Thoroughly drunk, Su Ran reached out and caressed Xiao Wanqing’s angry face. "Wanqing, what are you doing here?"
"I live right here. Did you forget?" She sighed, gently lowering the hand that was cupping her cheek. She stepped closer, wrapping her arms around his waist to support him. The reek of alcohol wafted off him, and as she looked up at his drunken face, she felt torn between anger and heartache.
Passersby hurried past, glancing at the "couple." It looked like a girlfriend worried about her drunk boyfriend, holding him close with an adoring look, her glistening eyes reflecting only the man before her. Many of Xiao Wanqing’s neighbors were around, but she didn’t care if they saw. She just felt a little hurt. ’After all, I’ve been waiting for Su Ran for two days, planning to surprise him, and he lied to me, saying he wasn’t coming today.’ When you truly care, it’s easy to feel hurt. Despite the feeling, her arms only hugged Su Ran tighter, unwilling to let go. Her queen persona was just for show, an act for outsiders. In front of the person she cared about, she just wanted to be a little woman.
Su Ran reached out and gently tucked away a strand of hair that had fallen across her cheek. Only then did he clearly see her glistening, beautiful eyes, and a pang of guilt struck him. "Wanqing, I’m sorry I lied to you about not coming to Shanghai today. I won’t lie to you again." His thumb began to gently and tenderly stroke her exquisite cheek.
Xiao Wanqing knew Su Ran was a man of his word. ’If he said he won’t lie to me again, then he won’t.’ She nodded with a soft "Mm," then raised her hand to caress his flushed, drunken cheek. Her voice was full of heartache as she said, "Why did you drink so much? To get this drunk... what if something had happened? Don’t drink this much again, okay?"
BURP~
One of the SJ members let out a full-sounding burp. The air was thick with the taste of "dog food." Here they were, late at night in front of a club, getting a huge helping of PDA. The ’girlfriend’ hadn’t even gotten mad; she was doting on him instead. They couldn’t help but envy Su Ran.
AHEM, AHEM...
Lin Che felt he had to clear the air. He stepped forward, entering the "PDA epicenter," and coughed twice. He addressed the beautiful girl holding Su Ran, "Uh... Hello, sister-in-law. I’m Lin Che, one of Su Ran’s best friends. We all just had dinner together and were planning to come here to relax—pfft, no, I mean, we were going to get massages. Su Ran didn’t want to come, we had to drag him. Please don’t misunderstand Su Ran."
Xiao Wanqing had seen it happen. It was true, these ’assholes’ had been dragging *her* Su Ran towards the club. If Su Ran had been happily striding in on his own, she wouldn’t have called out to him. She would have simply turned around, gone back inside, and blocked his number. Everyone has a bottom line, and Xiao Wanqing’s was clear—Su Ran was not allowed to see prostitutes.
"It’s true, sister-in-law! Su Ran doesn’t do that kind of thing. We’re the lecherous ones, right, Wang Jun?"
"Yep, yep, yep, that’s right! We’re the perverts here, it has nothing to do with Su Ran! Please don’t get the wrong idea, sister-in-law!"
Xiao Wanqing chuckled. She found Su Ran’s friends to be amusingly "blunt."
"Let’s go."
Xiao Wanqing paid no mind to Lin Che and the others or what they were doing. They were irrelevant people she didn’t care about. She just supported Su Ran and started walking.
"Wanqing, where are you taking me?"
"Home."
"No, not going."
"There’s no one at my place. My parents went to Chongming."
"Still not going."
"Believe it or not, I can send the picture I just took of you at the club entrance to the group chat right now. Let’s see if your dear Sister Jinyu flies over here to beat you to death."
"What’s your unit number?"
Xiao Wanqing let out a short, sharp laugh. "So it takes your dear Sister Jinyu to keep you in check, does it?"
Building 2, Unit 1, Apartment 1302.
Xiao Wanqing opened the door, helped Su Ran into the apartment, and sat him down on the sofa. She then scurried over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Wanglaoji for him. "Drink slowly." She pulled out a tissue to wipe a few drops from his chin.
Being alone together didn’t feel awkward in the slightest. They had, after all, built a foundation during their RV trip and their time at Chuyuan. This quiet, domestic moment felt completely natural. If anything was different, it was that Su Ran had always been the one taking care of them, and now, Xiao Wanqing was taking care of him.
"Feeling any better?"
"Much better."
"I’ll go run the water for you. Go take a bath."
"Alright."
Su Ran didn’t refuse. After all, the reek of alcohol mixed with sweat was making him feel miserable.
Xiao Wanqing got up. As she walked toward the bathroom, she skillfully twisted her hair up into a bun. She turned on the hot water for the bathtub, then went to her parents’ room to find a set of clean clothes for him, leaving them in the bathroom.
It was all so domestic, like a wife getting things ready for her husband to bathe and go to sleep.
When she returned to the living room, she saw Su Ran was on a group video call. It had been started by Liu Jinyu, and Su Ran, with nothing to hide, had answered it directly.
Back on the call, when Liu Jinyu saw a background that looked very much like Xiao Wanqing’s home, her heart dropped. ’Did they sleep together that quickly?’ was the honest, subconscious thought that immediately surfaced.
Honestly, if Su Ran really did sleep with any of the other three women, Liu Jinyu wouldn’t be surprised. It wasn’t that she was generous and wanted to share her boyfriend, but rather that their whole group was overly intimate, constantly blurring the lines. They were just one final barrier away from something happening.
If it really did happen, Liu Jinyu knew she’d be heartbroken. What she’d do about it, she had no idea. But their relationships were all just too close—they’d even slept in the same bed before. It was only a matter of time before certain things happened.
Su Ran explained the whole story, and the two women on the video call let out a relieved "Oh." They were reassured because Su Ran wasn’t someone who would lie or be deceitful. If he had slept with someone and you asked him, he would tell you straight up. He wouldn’t try to hide it. He was just that honest.
Don’t ask why there were only two women on the call. It’s because Xie Yiren was out of service range~
Xiao Wanqing strolled over nonchalantly and sat down beside Su Ran. Looking at her best friends on the screen, she deliberately provoked Liu Jinyu, "Su Ran, the hot water’s ready. Let’s go take our couples’ bath. Jinyu, do you want to watch? If you do, I’ll find a good spot to put the phone and livestream it for you."
Aina snickered, "Yes, yes, please do!"
"You guys can chat. I’m going to take a shower."
Su Ran was already used to their uninhibited conversations. He shoved the phone into Xiao Wanqing’s hands and headed for the bathroom.
Xiao Wanqing, cracking sunflower seeds, asked, "By the way, when are you guys coming back to Shanghai?"
Liu Jinyu: "I already bought a ticket! The earliest flight tomorrow morning!!!!"
PSST—
Xiao Wanqing: "Tch~ Is it really that serious? What’s the matter, you don’t trust your precious little brother?"
Liu Jinyu: "I’m the one who doesn’t trust *you*, you hussy."
Xiao Wanqing: "Heh heh~ Liu Jinyu, believe it or not, I can make you regret this for the rest of your life."
Aina: "What’s this~ Wanqing, are you going to sacrifice yourself just to provoke Jinyu?"
’Blah, blah, blah, so loud,’ he thought. ’They’re completely ignoring the fact that I’m in the bathroom. Do I, Su Ran, really have to put up with this? Don’t I get to have any dignity?’
"Wanqing, where’s your shower gel?"
"Oh~ We’re out. I bought a new bottle. Hold on."
With that, Xiao Wanqing said to her friends on the call, "I’m hanging up for now, talk to you later."
Aina and Liu Jinyu protested in unison, "Don’t you dare hang up! Go in there and livestream it!"
PFFT—