107. Ring
Lin An Jie was surprised to see An Ran at the hospital. Actually, before and after meeting An Ran, he had continued to go on dates, with girls younger than An Ran, some were prettier than An Ran, some were not. Those who were younger and prettier than An Ran, their job wasn"t good, they were only a small office worker. The others, who had better jobs than An Ran, were more stable, but were not as pretty as An Ran. In any case, after a few dates, he could not find anyone suitable. In the end, An Ran had the most advantageous conditions.
He did not expect that they would run into each other here. Recently his family had been urging him, so perhaps Gu An Ran is the best marriage partner. Although her character is a bit old-fashioned, and her age is a little old, but she has a respectable job, and she is quite pretty.
An Ran was also surprised to run into Lin An Jie here, but after that unpleasant event, regarding this man, An Ran doesn"t have a favorable impression. She just slightly nods at him.
Making a note, Lin An Jie goes over to her, and says sleazily, “What a coincidence. Are you here to see someone?”
An Ran does not intend to stay and chat with him, so she excuses herself, “Sorry, I still have matters, will have to go first.”
“Hey, An Ran, wait.” Seeing that she wanted to leave, Lin An Jie quickly calls out.
“Excuse me, is there anything else?” An Ran said impatiently, her tone indifferent, her expression aloof. Anyone within sight, could see from her face that at this moment she was annoyed.
However Lin An Jie was not an average person, he was more outrageous, even narcissistic, his ego was large.
He smiles at An Ran and says, “I think everyone had a small misunderstanding last time, I was too impulsive last time, please do not worry.”
Hearing that, An Ran faintly looks at him, her face expressionless as she says, “What happened last time, I had already forgotten about it.” If he hadn"t called out to her, she wouldn"t have recognized him. Some things are senseless, thus she wouldn"t spend a great deal of effort making sense of it.
Contrarily, her reply made Lin An Jie misunderstand, thinking that she agreed with him. So he quickly laughs and says, “You are still single right. Actually during this period I have been seeing people, but they were basically not good enough. I think that perhaps we could try to get along.”
An Ran was taken aback. She finally understood his intention after a minute. This man is just hilarious, where does he have the confidence to think that after such a thing, anyone would accept him?
“Sorry, I"m married, I think you have the wrong person.” An Ran glances at him, and turns to leave.
Lin An Jie was taken aback. He looks at her empty ring finger, and laughs, “I know that at your age you are in a rush to get married, that is not a problem. I don"t mind dating with marriage in mind.”
Her back facing him, An Ran helplessly rolls her eyes. This man really can"t help but just see himself, huh.
Seeing her not speak, Lin An Jie thought once again of himself, and continues, “Although your work is not bad, you are also considered pretty, but your age is a bit high. Perhaps if you were younger you would be able to find someone better, but right now, after all, you are almost 30, and women age faster than men, and men the older the more attractive they become. Thus, those who are wealthy will look for the young and the beautiful, at an age such as your"s, would be awkward.” As he spoke he continued to walk over to her, “Although my conditions aren"t extremely well, but I have a house, a car in Jiang City and I am not considered lacking. I don"t care that your age is a little old, because what I care more about is the personality. After all in ten years won"t we all be the same. If you want to get married as soon as possible, that is no problem either, as we are dating with the intention of getting married. Sooner or later will be the same, don"t you think?”
An Ran was truly defeated by his formidable confidence, “I"m really sorry Mr. Lin, you must not have heard that I am already married?”
“You don"t even have a ring on your finger.” Lin An Jie stares at her as he spoke, confident that she wasn"t married.
An Ran was taken aback. She looks down at her own hands. It really does not have a wedding ring. As their marriage was rushed, she and Su Yi Cheng did not prepare a ring. Over time, they forgot about it, and had not even thought about going to buy or try out a wedding ring.
“But she has a husband.” When An Ran was still out of it, a magnetic voice appears from behind.
Hearing that, Lin An Jie raises his head, only to see Su Yi Cheng come over from behind An Ran. He naturally draws in An Ran"s shoulder, and faintly looks at him. He lowers his head and looks at An Ran sweetly, asking, “Why are you at the hospital?”
An Ran stares at him blankly. It was such a surprise that he appeared here. “Why are you here?”
“Secretary Zhang hasn"t been so well these days so I told him to see a hospital. I took advantage of my break to come and bring him here.” Su Yi Cheng said faintly. He reaches out to her and pushes aside some stray hair.
Lin An Jie at the side, was shocked and speechless. His eyes were wide as he looked at Su Yi Cheng. He recognized Su Yi Cheng, because Su Yi Cheng would occasionally come down to do some investigations, and he had once received a warning from him! He never would have thought that he would be Gu An Ran"s husband!
It took a while for Lin An jie to return to his senses. He looks at Su Yi Cheng embarra.s.sed and laughs, “Sp-special a.s.sistant Su…..”
Su Yi Cheng looks at him briefly but doesn"t speak. Secretary Zheng had already come up and was beside him. He looks at Lin An jie and sneers, then kindly reminds him, “That"s Deputy Mayor Su now actually.”
Lin An Jie turns cold. The corner of his mouth twitches into a smile, that smile was unsightlier than crying.
Su Yi Cheng did not even glance at him, even more does not have the time to discuss it with him. He looks at An Ran and asks, “Why are you at the hospital? Are you not feeling well?”
An Ran shakes her head, and says, “It"s mom. She suddenly fainted at work.”
Hearing that, Su Yi Cheng frowns, and asks, “How"s mom?”
An Ran smiles at him, “The doctor says it"s just fatigue, there"s nothing hindering. But just to be safe, she has to stay in the hospital for a few days, and do a physical examination.”
Upon hearing that, Su Yi Cheng then relaxes his frown, and says, “I"ll come with you to see mom.”
“I was planning on going to the market to buy some healthy food for mom.” At the least she has to buy towels or washbowls etc.
Su Yi Cheng nods, and says, “I"ll come with you.” He turns around, and instructs Secretary Zheng, “If there"s anything give me a call, I won"t be returning to the office today. Also keep an eye on the tenders, inform them, that tomorrow morning at 10 we will have a group conference.”
Secretary Zheng nods, replies seriously, “Alright, I understand.”
Su Yi Cheng looks at him, doesn"t say much more, and turns to take An Ran by the hand out the hospital and towards the supermarket.
By the time they got back to the hospital, Gu Heng Wen was sitting in front of the bed and was speaking to Lin Xiao Fen about something. When he saw them come in, he quickly shuts his mouth, as if he were afraid that An Ran had heard.
He then sees Su Yi Cheng beside her, and the both them looked shocked. Lin Xiao Fen glares at An Ran, and says, “Why did you bring Ah Cheng, I"m fine. Ah Cheng must be busy with work, it"s not good to leave like that.”
“That"s right, An Ran, you didn"t need to interrupt Yi Cheng"s work.” Father Gu also agreed. Ever since the two families had dinner, they knew from the start that Su Yi Cheng was not working at some international corporation, but was the young leader of the munic.i.p.al committee, an official. This had shocked them, as they had never thought of their daughter to be so great. No matter the status, as long as he treated An Ran well, that is enough, but they never expected that she would have relations with such big wigs. It felt like a mirage, made them feel like it wasn"t true.
Fortunately, apart from Su Yi Cheng"s extraordinary job, there was nothing else unusual about him. There was no general dandyism, towards An Ran and towards them he spoke well and did not speak badly of them, thus they were relieved.
An Ran glances at Su Yi Cheng, looking pleased, as if she was saying, ‘See, I knew it."
In fact, while they were on their way back, An Ran had made a bet with him. She said that Lin Xiao Fen wouldn"t be happy to see him, while Su Yi Cheng did not agree, and countered, saying that Lin Xiao Fen would definitely be laughing and smiling from ear to ear upon seeing him.
“Mom, dad, don"t blame An Ran. I just happened to be here at the hospital to see the director, and b.u.mped into An Ran at the lounge.” Su Yi Cheng places the stuff in his hands onto a table, then walks over to Lin Xiao Fen and says, “Mom, even if I didn"t run into An Ran today, you and dad shouldn"t hide these from me, after all I am also your son. How could you conceal the news that your health isn"t well.”
Lin Xiao Fen sighs, “Your work is special, and anyways I"m fine. Not only is it bad that I am wasting your time to work, you are serving the people, of course, the interest of everyone is important.”
Su Yi Cheng chuckles. He advances and takes Lin Xiao Fen"s hand, smiles and looks at her in a serious manner, “Mom, I am the people"s servant, but I am also An Ran"s husband, and your son-in-law. In old times they call the son-in-law the half-son. I don"t just see you and father as just my half-parents, as far as I"m concerned, you and father are like my own parents, I just need to know that you and dad are healthy and great, only then can I do my work well for everyone"s benefit. You guys are my strong backing, ah.”
Hearing that, Lin Xiao Fen stares at him, and was almost touched to tears by his words. She suddenly felt like Heaven had treated her and An Ran too well, giving them such great men.
“Ai, I was just worried that I was inconveniencing you.” Lin Xiao Fen pats his hand as she spoke.
Su Yi Cheng chuckles, and says, “What kind of child would think that their parents are troubling.”
Hearing that, Lin Xiao Fen and Gu Heng Wen look at each other, then smile gratefully.
In the afternoon Su Yi Cheng called the president of the hospital, and asked him to get the best doctor in the hospital and do a comprehensive examination for Lin Xiao Fen. Finally the hospital agreed, and they will begin the examination tomorrow, and arranged for the best doctors and nurses for her.
An Ran and Su Yi cheng returned home at night. Originally An Ran wanted to stay overnight, but Lin Xiao Fen and Gu Heng Wen did not approve, said that they still have to work tomorrow, so they must go home early and rest. An Ran was helpless, and could only follow Su Yi Cheng home. Before leaving she incessantly reminded, that Lin Xiao Fen has to rest a lot, and if anything comes up Gu Heng Wen must call her first.
The two did not drive here, and the night was late. It wasn"t yet 7pm, but the sun had already set, and now the sky was completely dark.
They did not call a taxi immediately. The two held hands as they slowly walked down the street. An Ran turns to look at him, and suddenly laughs.
Su Yi Cheng looks back at her, and smiles as he asks, “What? Why so happy?”
An Ran laughs, the smile on her face was even more joyous. She looks straight ahead, and doesn"t say anything.
“En?” Su Yi Cheng deliberately scratches the palm of her hand, stares at her, as if he absolutely had to know the reason.
An Ran stops her steps, looks at him and laughs, “I realized that you truly are suitable to be a leader. You always know how to make your words beautiful, know what to say to touch people"s heart and pull their strings.” Clearly they were not sweet words, but the more ordinary and warm they were, the more they touched people, making others unable to oppose him.
Su Yi Cheng pinches her nose, and leads her hand and continues forward. “What I said was truth, and the truth is always the most pleasant to hear.”
An Ran pouts, “You are a man with extensive experience. One look and you can already see through people, say the right things depending on the person, without thinking you can just open your mouth and speak.”
Su Yi Cheng laughs, but doesn"t deny it, because it was exactly as she had said. He can already tell what a person is like, what to say to each person, however there aren"t a lot of people who he speaks well to. He does not need to win other"s favour, but he does want to win the favour of her and her parents.
There is no more in-depth explanation of the issue, so Su Yi Cheng diverts the topic by asking, “How did things go at the company? Is it really th.o.r.n.y?”
Speaking of that, An Ran"s smile slowly gathers up, and she turns quiet.
Su Yi Cheng turns to look at her, and can naturally see the difference in her. He just faintly says, “Do you want to talk to me about it? Even though I may not be able to help you, but at least I can be a good listener.”
An Ran raises her head to look at him, and forces a small smile. A while later, she says, “The exercise manor case, was thrashed.”
Su Yi Cheng was shocked. He heard her say that this project, was the one that she had been busy working on for this period of time.
“The sample room suddenly collapsed, and the blueprint disappeared. Even the intern student that I was working with suddenly disappeared.” An Ran continues, “I suddenly feel really tired.” She stops her steps and stares at him, “Yi Cheng, do you think I"m a failure? Aside from Lin Li, it seems like I don"t have any other friend. My relations with people seem to be really bad.”
Su Yi Cheng laughs, and reaches out to rub her head, “It is they who don"t have the foresight. And not everyone has the talented ac.u.men that I have.”
“Pfft—” An Ran guffawed at his narcissism. She asks in jest, “Leader Su, may I ask are you praising me or praising yourself?”
“Of course I am praising my own foresight!” Su Yi Cheng"s face was serious, that earnest expression made An Ran laugh, no longer did she have that gloomy, powerless look.
Su Yi Cheng looks at the An Ran who is laughing happily. He likes this kind of An Ran, the large smile spread across her face is very pretty, the smiling her is more beautiful than the unsmiling her. She is more suited to smile, the sad and gloomy expression does not suit her face.
After laughing, An Ran"s mood seemed to be a lot better than before. She looks ahead, and while walking, says, “Huang De Xing wants me to look for you, and wants me to capture the Ke Ji City project. That would make up for my mistake, my penance.”
Su Yi Cheng understands clearly. So that was what she was talking about from her call earlier.
An Ran continues, “It"s funny don"t you think, the theft, the collapse, unexpectedly the company didn"t respond, didn"t make a report, and don"t even talk about investigation, apparently this incident wasn"t an accident to them, as if it was prepared.” Right now, thinking back, Huang De Xing"s reaction was too dull, so dull that it made people feel suspicious.
Su Yi Cheng doesn"t speak, just listens to her, and doesn"t give her his opinion. But his hold on her slowly strengthens, as if he were giving her strength.
“I"m not bright, but I am not foolish either. Not saying it"s incontestable but it"s just a thought, but it seems like everyone"s taking me as a fool.” An Ran laughs at herself.
Suddenly Su Yi Cheng stops his steps, turns his body to face her and pulls her in. He looks at her and says, “An Ran, do you want to stay at home and let me work?”
An Ran also looks back at him. She understood his meaning, but after all, she has been with Jing Cheng for almost 7 years, ever since she graduated she had foolishly stayed there, even through the bad times she has some attachments. If she said she really wanted to leave, she really would hate to do so.
Su Yi Cheng does not push her to make a decision immediately. He reaches out to stroke her face, and takes her hand again. “Come, let me bring you to this place.”
Not waiting for An Ran to reply, he pulls her hand and takes her towards the city center.
“Where are we going?” An Ran asks puzzled.
Su Yi Cheng doesn"t turn his head, and just faintly laughs as he says, “You"ll know when we get there.”
The night market had already started, and there were a lot of people on the streets, so she allowed Su Yi Cheng to shuttle her around the crowd.
An Ran looks at the side of his face. His side profile was just as good-looking as his front, his strong outline, his deep eyebrows, how is it that he gets more charming the more you look at him. Actually, not thinking of anything, letting him lead her the way felt quite good. It felt as if they had been long-time lovers. His hands were large, his palm could completely wrap around her hands, it felt fantastic.
When An Ran was completely dazed and in her thoughts, Su Yi Cheng stopped his steps. An Ran did not notice, and nearly b.u.mped into him. Luckily, Su Yi Cheng was swift and caught her. He laughs and mocks her, “You are like a child, don"t you look while you"re walking?”
An Ran spit out her tongue, and asks, “Are we here?” As she asked she looked around, only to see that they were in front of a jewellery shop. Confused, she turns to look at him, “Why did you bring me here?”
Su Yi Cheng lifts her hand up, looks at her bare finger, and says, “I feel like I should buy a ring for you and at the same time warn other men that you are already taken, they better not have any reckless plans.”
An Ran was taken aback. She finally gets a reaction from the meaning behind his words, and recalled their encounter with Lin An Jie at the hospital, “Can I a.s.sume that you got jealous?”
Su Yi Cheng noncommittedly nods, “of course!”
An Ran laughs as a result of his earnesty. She takes his hand, and does the same thing by looking at his bare ring finger, “Then don"t you think I should buy you a ring to safely harness you, otherwise I"m afraid there would be someone coveting my beloved husband.”
“I"d be extremely honoured.” Su Yi Cheng laughs, and stares at her eyes. His face was tender, and the two enter the jewellery shop with their fingers entangled. The jewellery shop had a lot of rings, pure gold, diamonds, gems, everything that should be there was there. The styles were very comprehensive, but ultimately the pair decided on a very average silver ring. It looked very simple, not at all gaudy, but it was something that the both of them liked very much.
The buying and choosing of the ring went smoothly, only when it was time to pay, there was a little drama.
“Let"s split it, both of us pay our own part.” She looked at the staff as she was preparing to package the rings.
Hearing that, Su Yi Cheng raises his brows, and looks at her funnily.
“Uh.” An Ran"s request baffled the attendant. She forces and smile and laughs awkwardly, “Sorry, miss, these rings, have always been bought together, it"s never been sold separately.”
An Ran frowns, and compromises, “Then use two cards.”
The corner of the jeweler"s mouth twitches. They were both buying the same thing, using two cards, it"s not like taking off your b.u.t.t and farting, so much more!
An Ran, don"t make it hard for others. "I"ll pay first, you can return the money to me when we get home alright?” Su Yi Cheng reasons with her.
An Ran looks at him in the eyes, and sternly refuses, “No. When we get home you will definitely say that we are husband and wife, will not split it. What"s your"s is mine, and I can"t counter. In any case today I will definitely pay for the ring today, otherwise you will pay for the ring, so how can I use this ring to harness you.”
Su Yi Cheng laughs heartily. He reaches out and strokes her head, then turns to the jeweler and says, “My wife insists, then I can only bother you.”
The client was so insistent, after all they are a business, they still need to sell things. The jeweler gives them a professional smile and nods at them, “No worries.” Saying that she grabs two paper bags from under the counter, and puts the two rings in each of the bag respectively, and pushes the bag to both of them.
An Ran straightforwardly fishes her credit card from her bag, and Su Yi Cheng chuckles as he shakes his head. He does the same thing and uses his credit card to pay. From the paper bag she takes out the case, opens it up and takes the ring inside. In front of everyone, in front of the store, her face slightly flushes. She pulls his hand, and gently slips the ring on him. From now she only has this man, this time it seemed to become very sacred. An Ran"s expression, although it was bashful, was extremely sincere.
After putting the ring on him, An Ran then raises her head to look at him. Her small face was flushed, “Are you going to put it on me?”
“Very happy to do so.” Su Yi Cheng smiles, and likewise takes the ring out. He gently puts the ring on her, a very simple movement, but he was very gentle, and slow, so much that it looks like it was a very important moment to him.
When An Ran was staring at her ring, seemingly out of it, the quiet store suddenly bursts out an enthusiastic applause, people were even starting to heckle.
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss…!”
The group applauds, the entire store seemed to have become lively, even attracting unknowing pa.s.serbys to stand in a circle and watch.
An Ran turns extremely red, and embarra.s.singly buries her head into Su Yi Cheng chest.
After all being seen by such a crowd, regarding this spectacle, he had a smile on his face that he was unable to hide. He wasn"t at all uneasy or uncomfortable, and raises his hand to calm everyone down. Then he lifts up An Ran"s head, looks at her in the eye, and says, “Although I"m also not used to having this many people watch our intimate action, right now I really want to kiss you.” Saying that, he does not give An Ran a chance to retort or reject, and picks up her chin, lowers his head and covers her pink lips.
Then the crowd bursts out an enthusiastic applause and cheer, right now, everyone was their witness!
---END OF CHAPTER---
Aww what a sweet ending to a bad day lol. Also, how funny is it that Lin An Jie just vanishes the moment Su Yi Cheng shows up hahah.