Chapter 47: Our Promise (2 of 2) + mini side story
The sky is already fully lit when Jin Xi wakes up.
The bright sun shines through the windshield. There are constantly people pa.s.sing by in the front.
She blinks and keeps still for a moment.
She shifts her gaze and sees that she is still sitting on Han Chen"s lap. And his hands are on her waist.
They actually slept like this for the whole night.
Jin Xi"s face flushes immediately.
They were too impulsive last night. Her mind is in a mess right now, but there"s one thing that she is certain about——
She must leave immediately.
She lifts her head slowly and sees Han Chen"s chest moving up and down steadily and his eyes are closed.
Jin Xi is stunned slightly.
His face is especially handsome and refined in the morning sun. The shirt collar accents his straight and long neck.
Jin Xi falls into a daze staring at him. After a moment, she uses the car door for support and attempts to get off of him lightly. But the instant she moves, she feels the hand on her waist grab her.
He opens his eyes slowly and looks at her.
His dark brown eyes carry a hint of laziness. They gradually reveal a smile.
"Where are you going?"
Jin Xi"s heart shakes from his smile. She pushes his chest, "It"s none of your business! Let go."
But Han Chen doesn"t listen. He continues sitting in the backseat lazily with one hand still grabbing onto her waist. He then moves his other hand and actually places it on her thigh naturally.
Jin Xi"s body shivers as if she has just received an electric shock. Her face is completely red, "Take your hand off!"
Han Chen stares at her and says in a slow and deep voice, "I can"t."
He can"t……
Jin Xi feels her face burning. And in the next second, she sees two familiar figures pa.s.sing by through the tinted car window.
It"s Xiao Zhuan and Chatterbox.
"Let go! I have to get out. They"re here to pick me up!" she wants to break free from him.
Han Chen glances outside.
"You want them to see you get out of my car like this early in the morning?"
His words. .h.i.t Jin Xi back into his embrace.
She really doesn"t dare to. Xiao Zhuan likes to think of nonsenses and Chatterbox is a pervert. If they were to see her like this, wouldn"t they think that the members of the Black Shield Team had car s.e.x?
She shoves him away feeling a bit angry. She slides off of his lap, sits beside him and then nudges farther away from him.
"What should we do then?"
She sees him rub his legs and give them a shake. Jin Xi doesn"t need to think to know that his legs are numb, so her face turns redder.
"Give me your cell phone," he says.
Jin Xi gives it to him.
His fingers tap on the keyboard quickly and he sends out a text message soon after. Jin Xi leans over to look; it"s to Zhou Xiao Zhuan: "Something came up, so I had to leave first. Please complete the paperwork for my discharge."
Jin Xi is stunned. He tosses the phone back to her.
"That"s it?" she asks.
"That"s it."
Jin Xi is speechless. Putting other things aside, this brief and cold tone of voice sounds nothing like a text message that she would send. Zhou Xiao Zhuan will definitely be in a rage.
Just as she had expected, a few seconds later, she receives Xiao Zhuan"s reply——
"Xiao Bai! Have you gone crazy!? How could you toy with our friendship like this!?"
Just when she wants to respond back, Han Chen s.n.a.t.c.hes her phone and throws it to the side. He grabs her hand, "Go sit in the front." Jin Xi is scared that he will come close to her again, so she gets up and sits in the pa.s.senger seat obediently.
Han Chen returns to the driver"s seat, starts the car and drives away from the hospital.
_____
The sun shines brightly throughout the ride.
Jin Xi watches the busy traffic while still feeling stuffed inside. She turns her head to the side, leans back on her seat and avoids looking at him.
Han Chen takes a look at the back of her head, fetches for a cigarette, lights it up and opens the car window.
After a while, he switches on some music.
A low mellow female voice resonates in the car, echoing the touching and doubtful feelings in Jin Xi and making her heart become softer. The atmosphere in the car has suddenly become ambiguous.
"Should I take you back to the dormitory first?" he asks in a low voice.
Jin Xi is still not looking at him, "……Okay."
Her phone rings. She holds it up and is stunned.
It"s because the caller is "stupid ex-boyfriend Zhao Zi Xu."
Seeing her expression change, Han Chen also looks over, "Who is it?"
Jin Xi doesn"t answer. She stares at the screen for a moment before picking it up, "h.e.l.lo."
"h.e.l.lo, Xiao Xi?" the man on the other end says in a deep and gentle voice. It"s also carrying a hint of a smile, "It"s Zhao Zi Xu."
Jin Xi"s heart pounds. She responds nonchalantly, "Mm, is something up?"
She once thought that if Zhao Zi Xu ever contacted her again, it would stir up a storm in her heart. Her emotions might even go out of control like she embarra.s.singly did when she was running on the rooftop last time. But now that she hears his voice, even though she"s nervous subconsciously, she feels rather calm.
At the same time, she senses Han Chen slowing down his car speed and is looking and examining her face. Jin Xi turns her back towards him immediately.
"How have you been?" Zhao Zi Xu asks.
Jin Xi smiles, "Not bad. How about you?"
"Not bad either," Zhao Zi Xu"s voice is cheery, "My son is already two years old now."
Jin Xi can"t help but feel uncomfortable inside her heart, so she lets out an "oh" and says, "Congratulations."
Zhao Zi Xu says, "Your boyfriend pa.s.sed by Lanzhou yesterday, so we met up. He seems like a good guy, and I"m very happy for you. When will I get to come to your wedding? Remember to send me an invite, I"ll definitely come."
Jin Xi is a bit surprised and turns to look at Han Chen. He"s looking straight and seems very calm. Therefore, she responds vaguely, "About that……we"ll see."
Zhao Zi Xu called just to see how she has been doing. They hang up very soon.
Jin Xi is still grabbing onto her phone as she falls into a daze.
This is the man that she had once loved with her life? A feeling of dullness comes to her heart again. She turns around to look at Han Chen, "Why did you go see my ex-boyfriend? You were investigating me?"
Han Chen keeps his calmness. He doesn"t answer but asks instead, "You don"t want to find out what exactly happened to the case from five years ago?"
Jin Xi is a bit stunned.
That"s right……
They still haven"t been able to solve this mystery left behind by T. Based on Han Chen"s style and forte in finding out traces of evidence through details, he would naturally investigate everything from her past.
"Do you have any findings?" she asks.
Han Chen glances at her, "Still investigating."
Jin Xi doesn"t ask any further. She lifts her head and looks straight. The call from Zhao Zi Xu makes her feel a bit of regret nonetheless as she says softly, "I originally wanted to find some time and go visit Zhao Zi Xu too."
"There"s no need. He"s not worth seeing," he says apathetically.
Jin Xi is struck dumb. She wants to laugh, but she doesn"t want to do it in front of him, so she turns her head to look up at the clouds in the sky.
After a moment of quietness, she hears him say, "Do you still have feelings for him?"
Jin Xi is surprised by his question. But it"s already in the past and she has already let it go, so she answers frankly, "I don"t know. But I think I did love him in the past. Otherwise, I wouldn"t have dreamed about what he said to me. But it"s all in the past." The weird thing is that she actually feels like discussing this with Han Chen.
She then senses Han Chen keeping quiet for a moment before asking slowly, "What did he say?"
Jin Xi closes her eyes, lets out a sigh and says, "He said he would marry me after I graduate. He won"t marry anyone else but me in his life……"
Before she finishes, she suddenly feels the car braking hard and skidding accompanied by a loud screech. Jin Xi is in complete shock. The moment she opens her eyes, she sees that the car has landed on a gra.s.s area on the curb, and the cars behind them are honking non-stop.
Everything happened too fast. She turns around to look at Han Chen in fright.
She sees that he is completely ignoring the honking from behind and both of his hands are off of the steering wheel. His leans over his whole body and grabs onto her hands tightly.
Jin Xi is bewildered, and her hands are hurting from his grasp, "……What are you doing?"
But Han Chen"s face is expressionless. His dark brown eyes are covered with dense emotions that she cannot make out.
"Say that again," he says in a very slow and raspy voice.
Jin Xi is in a daze.
She doesn"t know why but her heart is pounding hard as she looks into his eyes and watches his facial expression.
The man in her dreams said……he said……
"Let"s get married after I graduate. He won"t marry anyone else but me in his life."
"Let"s get married after you graduate. I won"t marry anyone else but you in my life."
Han Chen"s eyes are fixed on her as he speaks almost in sync with her; the same pace, same tone, same pauses, and same complex emotions.
It"s as if he"s the same person who made the promise in her dreams.
Jin Xi"s heart pounds and her mind is drawing a blank. The sound of cars pa.s.sing and pedestrians talking around them have all disappeared. Only his face is reflecting clearly in her eyes.
She then sees him turn his head suddenly to avoid her gaze.
But they"re very close to each other right now. Jin Xi can still see very clearly——those calm eyes of his are actually slowly becoming watery.
"Han Chen, are you……"
In the next second, she feels her waist being grabbed onto and he uses all of his strength to hug her tightly like never before. He lowers his head and buries it deeply into her shoulder. He"s hugging her too tightly, making her almost unable to breathe.
After she falls into a daze for a moment, she reaches out her arms suddenly and hugs him back. Her tears begin to flow.
……
"Let"s get married after you graduate. I won"t marry anyone else but you in my life."
Bai Jin Xi,
Have you also seen my pair of eyes before in your dreams?
Have you also refused to wake up for my sake in order to linger on to the broken and deepest part of memories?
Do you still remember vaguely the shape of my face and some of the things I"ve said?
Do you remember the twenty-year-old Han Chen who once held out his heart in front of you? After losing you, happiness has never descended on him again.
__________
Mini Side Story: The Secret in the Phone
A lot later when they"re finally together. Han Chen remembers that she once demeaningly called him "two-timer b.a.s.t.a.r.d," so he grabs her phone and scrolls through the list.
He finds his number very quickly. He frowns seeing the remark.
It has been changed.
But it has been changed to "shameless b.a.s.t.a.r.d Han."
At this moment, Jin Xi walks out of the bathroom and crawls into his embrace. He tosses the phone to her and asks, "Why am I still a b.a.s.t.a.r.d?"
Jin Xi s.n.a.t.c.hes the phone back with her face blushing immediately.
"What do you think?" she says gritting her teeth.
Not every guy is like Bo Jin Yan (a character in Ding Mo"s "Love Me, If You Dare" novel). Han Chen has great EQ when it comes to romance! He understands immediately, so he whispers in her ear, "It"s because of last night?"
Jin Xi"s ears are red now. She stuffs her head into the pillow and doesn"t answer.
"How am I shameless?" he asks slowly.
Jin Xi says depressingly, "……you"re shameless in everything!"
Han Chen laughs, takes the phone and changes the remark to "Husband."
He scrolls the list further down and smiles again.
Cold Face"s is: the cutest virtuous wife and a great mother.
Chatterbox"s is: Too talkative!
Qin Wen Long"s is: Smiling Tiger (Crocodile Smile)
When he gets to Xiao Zhuan, he frowns slightly again. It"s because the remark is——Dearest Xiao Zhuan.
Jin Xi notices his expression and explains casually, "Xiao Zhuan browses my phone all the time. He added the description himself."
Han Chen glances at her, taps on the phone"s keyboard quickly and changes it to "Zhou Xiao Zhuan"
Jin Xi thinks it"s funny. An idea springs to her mind, so she grabs his phone and scrolls through it: "What is my contact name saved as on your phone? It"s not just my name, is it?"
Han Chen tosses her phone to the side, puts one arm behind his head, looks at her and doesn"t answer.
Jin Xi scrolls through the list but can"t find her own name. All of a sudden when she sees one of the rows, she freezes.
It"s her number. The contact name is……
(English) My heart.
"(English) My heart," a low mellow voice says at the same time beside her ear.
My heart.
The only woman in my heart, possessing all of my gentleness and love.