Translated by Dan-dan, edited by Ahzinal~
Ren Zhouyuan thought that he would be able to get along with Leonid while sharing one room, but nevertheless, his heart was more or less a little uncomfortable. However, he didn"t expect to immediately fall asleep when his head touched the pillow that night, and since he was so nervous, to sleep soundly until the next day. In the morning, he was groggily awakened by the voice of Leonid.
At the moment when he woke up, Leonid seemed to be talking to someone, and his voice was a little far away. Ren Zhouyuan listened for a while before he realized that Leonid was in the bathroom.
He stretched his body and sat up from the bed. His eyes were unconsciously drifting to the bathroom.
Listening to Leonid"s tone, it does not seem to be a happy matter. Although he was only saying a few words that did not seem very genuine, Ren Zhouyuan could hear the impatience in his words.
Ren Zhouyuan paused and felt that it was not very good to eavesdrop here. He got out of bed then pondered whether to go out to evade the issue, but the bathroom door was opened from the inside suddenly.
The two people"s eyes met in the air. Ren Zhouyuan stared blankly for a second then performed a gesture of going out to avoid listening. However, Leonid actually put his hand up to indicate that there was no need.
In the small room, there was only one sharp voice left which was constantly transmitted from Leonid"s cell phone. Ren Zhouyuan felt extremely awkward. He wanted to pretend that he couldn"t hear it, but the voice on the phone was so loud that even Leonid frowned and put the phone a little farther away from himself.
Judging from the sound, the other party is a girl with a temper that was not so good. Ren Zhouyuan heard her crying and shouting more than once, but the voice was too indistinct. Although the other party was speaking Russian, Ren Zhouyuan did not know what they were arguing about.
Ren Zhouyuan suddenly remembered the woman who he had seen in the office last time called Natasha. He heard from Kong Fei that she was Leonid"s fiancee. Ren Zhouyuan didn"t know why he kept instinctively telling himself that it was her on the phone.
Leonid did not have any qualms that Ren Zhouyuan was present, and the person on the phone was indeed Natasha.
When Ren Zhouyuan first appeared in the company, Leonid had explained to Natasha that he had found the person he had been looking for. He would apologize to his parents and only hoped to settle the matter of their engagement peacefully with Natasha.
When they first decided to get engaged, Leonid said to Natasha that there was always someone else in his heart. He didn"t want to get engaged and didn"t want to get married. It was just because of an agreement by their parents that he had no choice but to accept the request for them to get engaged.
Natasha felt that it didn"t matter at the time. In the past few years, she hadn"t heard of anyone getting into Leonid"s heart. She secretly suspected that this was Leonid"s method of refusing to marry. She also believed that, with her own charm, she would get Leonid to find her good one day then fall in love with her.
She didn"t think that, after one year has pa.s.sed, the person she thought never existed had actually appeared. She didn"t know if this was the reason that Leonid wanted to dissolve the marriage contract, but she would not agree whether it was true or not!
When Natasha came to Vichy the last time, Leonid thought that he had already explained it clearly to her. He wanted to confess to his family, but Natasha said to give her a little time. He didn"t know that after so long, Natasha had not even made it clear to her family, but also picked a wedding dress with her parents on her own initiative with the att.i.tude of waiting for her marriage.
After Leonid knew of this incident, he and his family called to explain the situation on their own and cancelled the marriage contract. However, they did not expect that, after a few days, Natasha would know about the matter and cal again to rage.
Leonid knew that he was in the wrong, so he patiently listened to her crying, but, no matter how Natasha cried, he would never give in.
“I will be loyal to my family. I also hope that you can find someone who is loyal to you, but, unfortunately, that person will not be me.” Leonid kneaded his temples: “Natasha, I wish you happiness, but if your happiness is built on the sacrifice of my happiness, then I can only say sorry to you. I am a selfish person. I only hope that the person I love can accept the happiness I give him. My heart is very small. It can"t tolerate anyone other than him.”
In this case, Leonid said these words in front Ren Zhouyuan to make his position clear towards Natasha and, also at the same time, to tell Ren Zhouyuan about his att.i.tude towards the marriage contract.
However, whatever Leonid said after, Ren Zhouyuan did not pay attention. His train of thought had long been dragged far away because of Leonid"s first sentence.
Like him, Leonid is only loyal to his family. There are many people who can say this, but how many followed through with it? However, hearing him say similar things a few days in row, Ren Zhouyuan himself didn"t know why, but he believed Leonid.
He bowed his head and folded his hands together. He didn"t even know who the person Leonid spoke of was, but he faintly envied him.
If Leonid knew of the existence of An An, would the targets of his loyalty become them two, father and son?
At that moment, Ren Zhouyuan even raised a trace of malice against the person who he didn"t know. His long-cherished desire for a family made his heart feel a little distorted.
Ah, turns out he would still care about this.
Ren Zhouyuan smiled bitterly in his heart, shook his head, loosened his clenched fists that had turned his knuckles white, and got up to go to the bathroom.
Leonid"s line of sight kept following him until he closed the bathroom door, then he sighed. He was very impatient with Natasha on the phone. No matter what he said, she would only cry and cry. After she said a few more sentences, Leonid ended the call.
When Ren Zhouyuan came out of the bathroom, his mood had returned to normal. He saw that Leonid had gotten dressed neatly. He was sitting on the edge of the bed as if waiting for him, so he was a little surprised.
Leonid saw that his complexion was not abnormal, and, although he felt relieved, there was also a sense of loss. He stood up and invited him to have breakfast together, so the two left the room.
Two people walked silently along the way each among their own thoughts, so no one spoke for a period of time.
This situation continued until the end of breakfast. Leonid took the initiative to break the silence, “I am sorry about this morning.”
Ren Zhouyuan paused then shook his head.
“That was my previous fiancée. You saw her in the office last time," Leonid said.
Having heard this, Ren Zhouyuan glanced up at him, but only nodded without much reaction.
Leonid was a bit unsure about what Ren Zhouyuan was thinking. He hoped that Ren Zhouyuan would not misunderstand, but he also hoped that he would show that he cares a little bit. Thus, he explained further that they quarreled because the two of them had dissolved their marriage. However, from beginning to end, Ren Zhouyuan was just listening silently, occasionally nodding his head, and saying that he heard.
Leonid could not read Ren Zhouyuan"s att.i.tude. He felt that the atmosphere between the two of them was quite harmonious yesterday, so, today, he took the opportunity to tell Ren Zhouyuan that he is now once again a “bachelor”. However, Ren Zhouyuan only had a mediocre reaction, almost no response. Even if he was not interested in himself, he was still carrying his own son. What kind of indifferent att.i.tude is this?
For the rest of the day, Ren Zhouyuan"s interest in everything began to wane. Even when Leonid took him to see the large-scale facilities, he had a lack of interest. He only faithfully did his job as a temporary translator, so Leonid really didn"t know what to do with him.
The two-day and one-night trip ended very quickly. In the afternoon, the group of people left the hotel and set foot on the return trip. Leonid didn"t want to end this journey in this way, so he finally took a little privilege as the president before the departure. He made everyone else sit in the other cars, leaving the whole vehicle to only three people: him, Ren Zhouyuan and the chauffeur.
Ren Zhouyuan was absent-minded along the way, so he did not discover this. Leonid waited until the car had driven out for a short while then took the initiative to incite a conversation.
“Fortunately, you came together with me this time,” he joked. “I only just found out that, when Rowen is not here, I become a useless person in China.”
Ren Zhouyuan turned his head, looked at him, and returned with the phrase “It"s my obligation”.
Seeing that the conversation was about to be cut short again, Leonid shattered the pot and said: “Tell me about your son.”
This time, Ren Zhouyuan was not silent anymore. As Leonid expected, when he asked this question, Ren Zhouyuan"s face changed.
“M-my son?” Ren Zhouyuan suppressed his voice and tried to make the words he was saying sound normal.
“En,” Leonid pretended to be unable to see his panic. “I have a brother. He also has a son named Anatoli. Although that little fatty is very naughty, he is still very cute. That family of three is very happy, I am very envious.”
Ren Zhouyuan"s heart jumped suddenly. "Yes, are you?" He thought about it and picked something irrelevant and said: "My son, he is very sticky [clingy]."
Leonid was only trying to evoke the interest of Ren Zhouyuan to speak, but, now listening to him talking about Ren Ju An"s matters, he began to listen keenly with interest.
“When I am at home, he would always stick to me. If I was at work, he would sit quietly reading a book next door at the neighbors and play by himself. As soon as I move about, he would come over and pull on my clothes. Like a little shadow, whever I go, he would also follow.”
Thinking of An An, Ren Zhouyuan"s expressions became softer, and Leonid listened quietly. While listening, he imagined the scenes in their home, imagining it was so meng* he could hardly bear it.
[T/N: Meng is like moe in j.a.panese, meaning something super adorable~]
He occasionally said a couple of interesting things about the little fatty in his brother"s family. Ren Zhouyuan would also say that An An has done some similar things. Under the guidance of Leonid, Ren Zhouyuan also spoke a lot.
After more than two hours of driving, the car ride pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye. When they returned to the company"s entrance, Ren Zhouyuan"s mind suddenly returned to him. A little annoyed, he wished he could bite off his tongue. He did not expect to say so much unconsciously.
Leonid was a bit reluctant to separate, but the progress of the two days was much better than he expected. After the car stopped, he took the initiative to stand up. Extending his right hand towards Ren Zhouyuan, he said: “I was very happy these two days with having your company. I hope to be able to see your cute son the next time we have a chance.”
Ren Zhouyuan, upon seeing this, busily stood up and reached out his hand to grasp his hand. It was only hope in Leonid"s words, but he couldn"t rashly agree, so he only nodded and said a phrase of "don"t be polite" to him.
The author has something to say:
Leonid: Tell me about your son.
Ren Zhouyuan: He quite dislikes foreigners.
Leonid: HP-10000000000