Chapter 118 - When A Man of His Composure Made Such A Demand, He Seemed Like an Insecure Little Child (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“I’ll see you out.” She could not care less about what Yu Qianying would think. She simply held his elegant hand and rubbed her thumb on the joints of his fingers.
The old lady sported an exceptionally content smile as she looked at them from the side. She genuinely felt that Song Yu’s previous engagement with Qi Chengji was no longer an issue.
Yu Qianying snorted coldly as if to admonish Song Yu, but the latter pretended not to hear and continued seeing Qi Chengzhi out.
Qi Chengzhi and Song Yu faced each other. One of his hands was still holding her hand, but the other crept up slowly to her waist. He tilted his head downward and leaned close to her. His thin, warm, and handsome lips were almost touching the tip of her nose.
Song Yu blushed as she glanced behind Qi Chengzhi, muttering softly, “Grandma’s here.”
Grandmother Qi turned her eyes away immediately and let Aunt Liu help her down a flight of stairs. She looked down from the porch, pointed to the ground below, then said to Aunt Liu, “Xiao Liu, look at how fat that dog is. It can’t even walk!”
Curious, Aunt Liu searched frantically for the dog. “Where is it?”
The old lady pinched Aunt Liu immediately after the question. Following an ‘ouch’, she looked at the old lady and noticed a frown, prompting her to nod and say, “I see it! I see it!”
Song Yu’s ears were feeling extremely hot. It was obvious that the old lady was just cooking up an excuse to give Song Yu and Qi Chengzhi some space.
Qi Chengzhi observed the white, downy vellus hairs on Song Yu’s ear. He bent his head and kissed her ear, letting his dry and warm lips brush gently against the downy hair. His actions made her feel rather ticklish, but knowing that the old lady was there, Song Yu did not dare to let out a pampered giggle.
Qi Chengzhi then continued kissing her from her ears to cheeks, and finally, his lips landed on hers.
Song Yu pushed him away and forbade him from kissing too passionately since the old lady was still around.
Not satisfied with the kiss, he gave her a few extra pecks and held her waist with both his hands. A scorching-hot electric current was emanating from the gentle caresses of his lips. His voice was hoarse when he began speaking, “I’ll talk a while with Grandmother before coming back here. She brought the driver and Aunt Liu, so there’s really no need for me to send her. She just has a few things she wants to tell me.”
“Take your time. Maybe you can go back first if you’ve finished talking with Grandma. My mom definitely wants to speak to me privately too, it wouldn’t be convenient to do that if you were there.” Song Yu tilted her head backward slightly, otherwise, her lips would have been rubbing against his when she spoke. She would have felt really hot if she did not tilt her head back.
“I’ll wait for you downstairs.” He tightened his grip and pressed her against himself. “It doesn’t matter if your conversation takes a long time. If you need me, tell me. I’ll come up.”
Song Yu listened to his words. His insistence on waiting for her meant that he was not about to let her stay there that day. Ever the dominant man, he wanted her to go home with him no matter how late it might be.
When a man of his composure made such a demand, he seemed like an insecure little child. She felt somewhat sorry for him.
“Okay.” She tiptoed and kissed him on the lips, but felt slightly embarrassed after kissing him.
“You’d better get going. Grandma’s gonna be laughing at us.” Song Yu looked down and avoided his gaze. She fixed her eyes on his abdomen. His sturdy muscles were wholly covered by his clothes, but she could not control herself from recalling the sight of his half-naked body.
Qi Chengzhi smiled as he placed his lips on hers and kissed her once again. He proceeded to help the old lady down only when Song Yu re-entered her home.
The elderly lady stared at Qi Chengzhi continuously as they made their way down. In the end, Qi Chengzhi could not help but say, “Grandmother. Please keep your eye on the stairs. Don’t keep looking at me.”
Grandmother Qi was not staring at him on purpose. In fact, she did turn away at the start and looked at the scenery below. Nevertheless, Qi Chengzhi and Song Yu’s conversation still reached her ears.
Her grandson was so indifferent and so detached towards everyone else, but with Song Yu, he was soft-spoken and particularly caring.
When she peeked at them moments earlier, Qi Chengzhi was grasping Song Yu very tightly. He stuck to her like an herbal plaster and seemed unable to let go of her for even a second.
She heard everything that Qi Chengzhi said. He wanted to wait downstairs for her and insisted on bringing her back home with him; he did not want her to stay too long by herself with her parents.
How could the old lady not be shocked when it was Qi Chengzhi who did all those things?
Aunt Liu was also so shocked that her face went pale. It was the first time she saw Qi Chengzhi acting that way. She stole glances at him from time to time because she felt like he was a different person altogether.
After everything that transpired, Grandmother Qi could deduce that Qi Chengzhi would not break up with Song Yu. Even if Song Yu was willing to, he would most certainly refuse.
The old lady sighed. Qi Chengzhi’s act of running the Song family into bankruptcy was likely done just for the sake of voiding Song Yu’s engagement with Qi Chengji.
No wonder he never had a woman by his side: Song Yu was the only woman in his heart and the only person that was constantly in his mind.
As a result, it was impossible that Qi Chengzhi would let go of her even if his family protested.
Qi Chengzhi helped his grandmother into the Volvo. Xiao Fan had switched on the engine, but he remained outside the car with Aunt Liu. They chatted, and when a peddler selling roasted sweet potatoes passed by, Aunt Liu bought two and ate with Xiao Fan.
It was late enough in the day that the weather was warmer, but the air was still chilly. In spite of that, eating those roasted sweet potatoes brought about a feeling of warmth in them.
Inside the car, Grandmother Qi looked at Qi Chengzhi with a very stern expression.
Nowadays, the old lady was genial and all smiles. She was always on good terms with the neighbors; moreover, she had minor roles in theatre and she was fond of plaza dancing. Her approachability, however, was a far cry from her younger days. Back then, she was known as the iron lady, both in name and in her real-life persona. Everything that she said became set in stone, and she governed the Qi family with absolute strictness.
If it were not for that, Xia Wenna would not have been so afraid of the old lady.
It was also the reason why Qi Chengzhi wanted to persuade her first—if he was successful in doing so, his other family members would pose no threat anymore.
“Your mother told me about the things you did to the Song family,” she remarked solemnly.
…
…
“How long were you two in a relationship? The car that Lao Xu saw during the new year, it was his, wasn’t it?” Yu Qianying asked the instant Song Yu entered the home.
“We just got together during the new year,” Song Yu told the truth.
“Hmph!” The thought of it made Yu Qianying’s blood boil. “You even told me that Lao Xu saw wrongly.”
“Mom, we had just gotten together at that time. Nothing was official. Your opinion of the Qi family is also a strong one, and I wouldn’t dare to rush myself into telling you all this,” Song Yu summoned up the courage and remarked.
“When you first asked me whether I was together with him or not, the answer was a solid no. But feelings are not something you can predict, especially after I got along with him later on. Feelings don’t always happen the way you want them to. I know that you don’t like the Qi family and I’ve told myself before that we weren’t compatible. Because of that, I had inner conflicts too, but in the end, I couldn’t stop my heart from feeling what it felt.”
“Mom, all along I’ve told you that feelings are dependent on fate. Who would’ve known that fate would lead me to Qi Chengzhi? I like him, and it has nothing to do with the Qi family. When I was with him, the only thing I thought of was him, not the Qi family. I just hope that you can distinguish Qi Chengzhi and the Qi family.”
“All I want is to let my heart search for someone that I can truly love. It wasn’t easy for me to find one, and I just want to be with him without further complications. You’re always introducing good men to me, urging me to be in a relationship and get married. I know you want nothing else but to see me happy. I believe that I can be happy with Qi Chengzhi. Will it be possible for you to not care so much about the Qi family anymore? Or, you can separate Qi Chengzhi as a person from the Qi family. Qi Chengzhi is Qi Chengzhi. He’s not the Qi family. Whatever that happened in the past was not his fault. You can choose to dislike the Qi family, but can you just accept him? Can you please accept him, Mom, for my sake?”
Yu Qianying pursed her lips into a tight straight line. Her breathing was tense, heavy, and clearly audible, while her face began turning red due to her overwhelmed emotion.
“Do you think that I’m against the relationship just because of my past with the Qi family? When our family went bankrupt and the Qi family refused to help, they did nothing wrong. I have no right to complain about it to them. The Qi family is a powerful family, and I’m worried that you won’t be treated right by the family if you were to continue your relationship with him! I wasn’t worried in the past because our family had power too, but now that we have nothing at all, wouldn’t you be bullied by the Qi family?”
“Qi Chengzhi is going to be the future leader of the family. It’s only natural that the Qi family would want his other half to be equally powerful, and useful to him. But you don’t have anything now, and it’s still a question of whether Qi Chengzhi’s parents will even accept you. Judging by the way Xia Wenna came today, I think she wanted me to persuade you to break up with him! If something happens to the Qi family in the future, they wouldn’t think twice about casting you aside.”
“What else is there for me to pursue? Don’t I have nothing in the first place? If they want to rid themselves of me, what more do I have that they would want to rid themselves of? The only thing that matters is that Qi Chengzhi will not leave me.” Song Yu pursed her lips and clenched her fists tightly. With full of confidence, she said, “And, I believe that Qi Chengzhi will protect me.”
Yu Qianying trembled in extreme anger. She only wanted what was best for Song Yu, but the latter’s words painted her as the bad person. Song Yu was stubborn and would not listen to her no matter how much advice was given.
“If you get hurt next time, don’t come crying to me!” Yu Qianying was so furious that her voice was faltering and her eyes became red.