Perfect Fiancé

h.e.l.lo everyone! Some exciting things are happening concurrently, more subplots turn up and there’s more to come.

Join  for Perfect Fiancé to discuss more awesome updates or other novels too~ Alrighty, let’s get on with Chapter 15!

Ming Xuan?

Su Jin stared at the name blankly- this was rather unusual. Why would Ming Xuan be looking for her out of the blue? However, before Su Jin could even grasp the situation, her phone alerted her to an incoming new message.

[I will be at Red Dragonfly opposite Tian Feng shopping centre, hope you can come.]

Oh… Wasn"t that the cafe where she used the excuse of meeting Ming Xuan the last time to evade Lu Xi"s date?

Su Jin yawned softly and returned to her room to get dressed.  When she went downstairs, she met Su Yue who had finished his breakfast and was just about to head out.

"Gege, I am heading out too.  Where I am going is on your way, so can you give me a lift?"  As she was speaking, her eyes brightened.

"Going out?"  Su Yue was somewhat surprised, "where are you going this early in the morning?

Oh…" Su Jin replied while changing her indoor shoes for another pair, "I"m going to meet a friend."

At the moment, she was not willing to mention Ming Xuan"s name in front of Su Yue.  Especially when he had taken great pains to find peace within himself.

Hearing her say as much, Su Yue did not pursue the subject with further questions, rather he gave an affirmative nod and proceeded to open the door.

What happened next was totally unexpected for them- standing before them was a person wearing a white shirt paired with casual khaki coloured pants, his raised hand about to ring the doorbell.

Su Yue frowned.

Although he had ascertained the person"s feelings for his sister, it still did not mean that he would accept this man"s wolfish and carnal intentions toward his Xiao Jin.

"Big Brother Su." A brazen Lu Xi stood there with his lips curled into a smile and greeted his future brother-in-law, disregarding the fact that both of them were of the same age, "Where"s Jin-er?"

"Why are you here this early?" Su Yue was rather perplexed since Su Jin had gotten up earlier than her usual time today.

Lu Xi was aware of Su Yue"s implicit inference and with the curl of his lips, he replied seriously,  "It is because Jin er and I have a mutual tacit understanding.

Mutual tacit understanding? It was extremely rare that Su Yue was so surprised that he choked and stared intensely at the man who stood there smiling naturally and blithely. This sort of brother-in-law had such a thick skin- it was probably hard to find another one like him.

"Ahem…" from the side of his ears came a succession of coughing sounds. However it did not originate from Su Yue, rather it was Su Jin who had just walked towards the side of the door.

She looked at the man standing by the doorway wearing a perplexed expression.
Mutual tacit understanding? This guy had obviously seen that her room window was open from his balcony.

"Jin er, where are you headed?  Lu Xi questioned, "do you need someone to help with the bags or settle some accounts on your behalf? (1)"

(1) līn bāo fù zhàng (拎包付账) – This is a Chinese slang that refers to Lu Xi willing to be her pack mule and her wallet. For him, this is a way to show his affection and his ability to provide for her as his future wife.

Someone to help with the bags or settle some accounts? Su Jin was amused by this statement.  Her mouth curled up at the edges as she shook her head in reply, "Such a pity, I"ve got a date with a friend for coffee, so I have no need of someone to help with the bags nor settle any accounts."  As she said this, she looked at Su Yue, "Gege, let"s go."

Su Yue smirked, then with a nod of his head, he spoke directly to Lu Xi, "See you later, Mr Lu."

With a lift of her brows, Su Jin followed suit and said, "See you later, Mr Lu".

Mr Lu…

The smile on Lu Xi"s face froze. They had not met since the previous night, yet this chit of a girl could just revert back to addressing him as Mr Lu? Then again….his eyelid twitched and he broke into a smile when he noticed that the girl"s T-shirt collar revealed a red cord and that piece of jade- both were still safely secured around her neck.

"Alright."  Since he was unsuccessful in becoming a knight in shining armor, Director Lu carelessly tossed his hand in resignation. He then recalled that he had another important matter to attend to, "time to get back to work."

The Red Dragonfly Cafe.

As Su Jin pushed the door open, she was able to spot a familiar figure seated by the window.

With a neat, short-cropped, chestnut coloured hairstyle and wearing a  professional business-like black outfit, she had on a pair of dark gla.s.ses.  Even though her head was lowered and her expression obscured, Su Jin was able to ascertain who she was.

"Ming Xuan Jiejie." She walked forward to the opposite seat and sat down.  Ordering a cup of Italian latte, she casually asked,  "Why are you wearing shades today?"

Both Su Jin and Su Yue knew Ming Xuan since they were young, therefore she was well aware that Ming Xuan usually did not like to wear sungla.s.ses as it obstructed her line of sight.
"小锦来了。"明萱低低回到，随手摘下了墨镜。　　　　毕竟……在他的妹妹面前，没什么好掩饰的。　　　　苏锦先是瞪大了眼睛，随后又反应过来，微微叹了口气。　　　　"明萱姐姐你……"张了张嘴，却不知道该怎么劝慰。　　　　面前人隐藏在茶色墨镜下的杏眼有些红肿，依稀看得出哭过的痕迹。　　　　"我没事。"她勾了勾唇，低声问道："他……怎么样？"　　　　哥哥……

"Xiao Jin, you"ve come." Ming Xuan mumbled, and casually removed her sungla.s.ses.

Afterall…. In the presence of his sister, there really was no need for subterfuge.

Su Jin"s eyes widened before exhaling a soft sigh.

"MIng Xuan jiejie, you…." Opening her mouth to speak, yet she couldn"t find the words to console her.

The sungla.s.ses had concealed the pair of swollen red, but beautiful eyes of the person before her, a probable result of prolonged crying.

"I"m alright."  She lifted the ends of her lips, in a low voice inquiring, "He….How is he?"

Gege….

Fortunately, the waiter came with their coffee.  Su Jin accepted her cup and gently fingered the rim of the cup a couple of times. Biting her lips, she answered with a question instead, "Ming Xuan jie, are there no other options to turn things around to resolve what is happening between you and my brother?"

Upon hearing Su Jin"s question, Ming Xuan was momentarily stunned. Once she recovered, she quietly acknowledged, "He is still very upset…."

As Su Jin took in what was said, she lowered her head to take a sip of her coffee and did not deny Ming Xuan"s remark.

It"s because she had known that her brother Su Yue was hurting, and knowing as such, Su Jin could not help being relentless in pursuing the issue.

"Turning things around…" Heedless of Su Jin"s response, instead Ming Xuan gently closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Ming Xuan Jiejie, did you invite me out today just to ask about my brother?", Su Jin released a poor attempt of a sigh.

"It"s not just that." Ming Xuan opened her eyes, her lips curled up in a bitter smile, did Su Yue tell you what transpired yesterday?”

"Yup." Su Jin nodded and asked, "Ming Xuan Jiejie, are you really getting engaged to Shen Anyan?"

"He even told you about this?" Ming Xuan was somewhat astounded, before gently nodding her head, "if there aren"t any other surprises or complications, then it is going to happen."

Su Jin was reticent.  Su Yue had said that Meng Xuan was getting engaged, whereas Shen Anyan"s name, her knowledge about him was from the novel.

"Speaking of which, I didn"t ask you out just to ask about his current state," Ming Xuan didn"t elaborate further about Shen Anyan, but with a slight lifting of her lips, "although Su Yue and I aren"t fated to be childhood sweethearts, we can still remain childhood friends."

"Since I was young, I already knew that he would be the Su family"s heir, and I would be the Ming family"s heir. As such, I was also competing and setting myself up against him.  From a young age, I would compare our grades, our successes in the business world, but he was always so outstanding." A smile appeared on Ming Xuan"s lips. A fleeting sense of pride coasted across her eyes, as she slowly delved into her own thoughts, "the one I love, he is so outstanding…."

The one I love….

Su Jin bit her lips, why did things have to go this far for this couple?

"Thanks for lending a listening ear." Ming Yuan surfaced from her reverie, directing a smile at Su Jin, "I really wanted to find someone to talk with, and after much thought, I realised that you are the only one I can speak frankly with."

Although her eyes were still slightly swollen and puffy, the woman before her had recovered her calm and collected composure.

Seriously….What a pair. Both were great at hiding their feelings.

Su Jin gave her a hard scrutiny and relentlessly decided to press on with her initial question, "is there really no chance for a change in the situation?"

MIng Xuan bit her lips but did not respond.

"So far in my whole life," Su Jin took a deep breath and straightened up as she spoke, "I"ve only seen my brother cry twice.  The first time was when grandfather pa.s.sed away, and last night…."

"Was the second time."

Su Yue was older by four years, so by the time she was aware of things, he was also just a young teen. Yet, she had never seen him cry.

"Ah Yue….." Ming Xuan was rattled, involuntarily cried out.

"So Ming Xuan jiejie, you"re telling me that there isn"t any hope for the both of you?"

Su Jin had both her arms on the table, her pair of beautiful phoenix eyes boring into MIng Xuan as she quietly tried to find out the truth, "if there is even….. A tiny flicker…."

"Hope….it"s too elusive."  Facing the blazing gaze from the sister of the one she loved, Ming Xuan painfully averted her eyes.

"Too elusive…" Su Jin reiterated as her eyes brightened and lit up, "then, doesn"t that mean that there"s still hope?"

"Back then, my mother was pregnant with twins," Ming Xuan looked at the young lady"s brightened eyes, and revealed a tale from the past. "I have a fraternal twin brother.  However, upon his birth, one of dad"s….one of his lovers….took him away. But not long after, the lover was found but there wasn"t any trace of my brother.  It"s been over twenty years, the Ming family has not ceased searching for my brother, but to date, there hasn"t been any news about his whereabouts."

"Without any new clues or leads, no one knows of his whereabouts, so much so that…. We don"t even know if he is still alive."

Twin brother? Lover?

Su Jin"s eyes were agog, this kind of melodramatic scenario would only be found in novels, yet it was actually playing out in reality?

"How come I"ve never heard of this before? She asked apprehensively.

"This is not some prestigious matter to be brought up." Ming Xuan shook her head, "and my dad naturally had it all locked and buried tight.  And it"s because of this, the once selfish and unruly father suddenly cleaned up his act. Therefore, I remained the only child of the Ming family."

To find someone who had been missing without a trace for more than twenty years… Hope…  Indeed was somewhat elusive.

Even after Ming Xuan had departed, for a span of time Su Jin remained in her seat. Her hands were tracing around the rim of her coffee cup before letting out a sigh.

Then, shaking her head subtly, she arose from her seat and exited the cafe. She flagged down a taxi intending to head home.

As she opened the door to the pa.s.senger seat, she informed the driver, "Shifu, take me to Ming Yu Park."

The lady driver up front gave her an acknowledgement.

The taxi proceeded forward.

Su Jin immediately went into deep thought but when she resurfaced from her thoughts, she frowned as she gazed out the window.

Although she was directionally-challenged, however….. There was definitely something amiss about their direction of travel?

Translated by Minodayz

Edited by Ely, Th.o.r.n.yan

TLC-ed by irisu-san