When she said those words, even Tao Shuran herself had not realized it.
By the time she reacted and realized this was “meeting the parents,” her face burned hot. She quickly spoke up to remind her, “Auntie Li, your time is up. I won’t disturb you anymore.”
“Wait.”
Unexpectedly, Li Wan stopped her and said with a beaming smile, “So you’re the girl who’s had my son head over heels for you.”
“Tao Shuran… comfort, peace, a lifetime without worries. I saw that phrase on Liang Yuanjing’s desk.”
After Li Wan smilingly finished saying this, she tapped on the window and instructed the assistant inside, “Help me check and change to the next flight slot.”
They had just been talking about flights when a thought suddenly struck Li Wan. She let out an “Ah” and turned back to ask her, “Which flight are you taking home?”
“HZ73001 Flight?”
Tao Shuran’s eyelashes fluttered. She said softly, “This is the flight I took to Jingbei. In my second year of grad school, Teacher Lin transferred to Jing University, and I often flew over to see her.”
“I thought your home was in Jingbei.”
Li Wan chuckled lightly and said, “A Jing has been flying this route for a whole year. One day I asked him why, and he said it was nothing, he just liked it.”
She suddenly understood. “So it’s because the person he likes is on it.”
The teased Tao Shuran felt a bit embarrassed. She was used to taking this flight because the first time she flew it, she had stayed up all night and dozed off in economy class. Later, in a daze, someone had given her a neck pillow and eye mask.
At that time, she felt this flight was very warm and cozy. She had also been upgraded several times by luck.
The last time she got off the plane, Tao Shuran smilingly complimented the flight attendant, sighing that she had never won a cent on a scratch-off lottery in her life—all her good luck was concentrated here.
The flight attendant kept her professional smile and said gently to her—
“Miss, then I wish you good luck always and a smooth life ahead.”
It turned out all that good luck was a gift fate had prepared long ago.
Tao Shuran sighed helplessly and said with a wry smile, “Just how many things has Liang Yuanjing done behind my back?”
“This is also the first time I’ve seen him like someone.”
It was getting late, and the temperature had dropped a bit. Li Wan rubbed her arms; she no longer had her earlier imposing manner. Her voice lowered, carrying a tone of emotion.
“I taught him to be upright and virtuous, but the only thing about liking someone—I didn’t teach him that.”
For the first time, this usually proud woman showed a hint of sadness. She raised her hand to wipe the tear from the corner of her eye, her voice laced with laughter.
“Because my own love was a failure.”
In her youth, she had fallen head over heels for a man without regrets, accompanying him from nothing, weathering all the hardships together.
Unexpectedly, the trials couldn’t defeat them, but the fading freshness gradually swept away all the waves of love.
Li Wan was a decisive woman. Later, he had wanted to return to her side.
At that time, she had said resolutely, “Absolutely no forgiveness.”
Later, he left the country dashingly, and she lived alone ever after.
That was the entirety of Li Wan’s story about love.
She hurried to Liang Yuanjing’s birthday party that evening, and it was already nearly seven o’clock.
Li Wan had called a car for her. As she got in, Tao Shuran’s heart pounded. She didn’t understand why she had suddenly been so bold at that moment, charging right up like that.
She swallowed and glanced at the messages vibrating nonstop in her pocket. Many people were asking where she was.
Fang Qingyi had sent the most—a string of exclamation marks that gave her a headache.
“Tao Shuran!! Where are you!!! Do you know today is your boyfriend’s birthday! Your first birthday together since dating!! How is the protagonist arriving so late?”
“Liang Yuanjing has looked toward the door 32 times. Don’t blame your bestie for not warning you.”
“A girl asked Liang Yuanjing for his WeChat.”
“Pretty one too. Liang Yuanjing took out his phone.”
Tao Shuran bit her lower lip and couldn’t help saying, “Driver, can you go faster?”
“I’ll give you a five-star review when I get out.”
Rushing as fast as possible, Tao Shuran finally stepped into the restaurant at 7:15. Before she could even reach the private room door, someone pulled her straight into an embrace.
Tao Shuran was just about to cry for help when the familiar scent enveloped her. Her whole body relaxed, and she looked up at him innocently.
“Liang Yuanjing, what are you doing?”
“You know me so well.”
Liang Yuanjing hugged her from behind in this deeply intimate pose. He buried his whole face in the crook of her neck, his fluffy hair brushing against her skin.
“Liang Yuanjing.”
Tao Shuran couldn’t withstand it; his breath tickled her. She gripped his hand, turned her head, and her nose tip brushed his cheek.
She only felt his body heat scorching, like a volcano about to erupt and swallow her whole.
She asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
“Little Yi and the others are still waiting inside…”
Before she finished, Liang Yuanjing suddenly released his hold. He pressed both hands on her shoulders, turned her around, leaned down, and kissed her forcefully.
Amid the intertwining breaths, Liang Yuanjing exhaled deeply.
He gently nibbled her earlobe and said in a tone of long-held solace, “I heard everything, Tao Shuran.”
Tao Shuran was kissed breathless.
It felt like her first time kissing someone else. Halfway through, she pushed at his chest. Liang Yuanjing chuckled muffledly against her lips, naughtily pinched the back of her neck, and said in a low, husky voice right by her ear.
“Classmate Tao, learn to breathe.”
Having just gone through that long kiss, Tao Shuran was still too embarrassed to look at him.
She kept her head down, slowly unbuttoning and rebuttoning her shirt one by one, her hands busy, her gaze drifting everywhere.
She casually asked him, “What did you hear?”
Liang Yuanjing’s clear eyes looked at her and said, “You agreed to be my girlfriend.”
Tao Shuran instinctively retorted, “When did I…”
Halfway through, she suddenly remembered the afternoon events. She had rushed up too hastily and forgotten to check if Li Wan’s call had ended.
If it hadn’t, then everything she said had been heard by Liang Yuanjing?
Tao Shuran’s eyes widened as a wave of shame surged over her, drowning out her earlier shyness.
Liang Yuanjing smilingly reached out, turned her furiously embarrassed face back to him, leaned down, and gazed at her with a squinting smile, drawing out his words.
“Tao Shuran, you can’t go back on your word.”
Tao Shuran had been spoiled into having a bit of temper by him lately. When he said this, she deliberately lifted her chin in defiance.
“So what if I do?”
“No big deal.”
His tone was leisurely, his lazy aura unmasked. He deliberately leaned closer and spoke in a roguish manner.
“Chasing you again wouldn’t be anything.”
Tao Shuran’s lowered eyelashes trembled. In that instant, she thought of what Li Wan had said—how Liang Yuanjing had shuttled between Jingbei and Fuqing City on flights for these five years.
The midpoint between Jingbei and Fuqing City was Xianyao.
His life had always revolved around her as the endpoint.
At that thought, Tao Shuran suddenly tiptoed and boldly pressed a kiss to the right side of Liang Yuanjing’s cheek.
Her eyes were clear and pure, joyful yet shy. She glanced away evasively and said softly, “Now do you get my meaning?”
The moment she kissed him, Liang Yuanjing’s mind went blank for a second.
So this was what it felt like to be kissed by the person you liked.
A brilliant smile bloomed on his face. He shook his head.
“Nope.”
Liang Yuanjing tilted his head, pointed to his lips with a finger, and chuckled lowly.
“Ranran, kiss here.”
Tao Shuran bit her lower lip; her whole face was flushed red. Under the dim light, she could vaguely see his laughing eyes, his teasing intent obvious.
She raised her hand and lightly patted his face—a warning with no real threat. “Liang Yuanjing, don’t get cheeky.”
Liang Yuanjing huffed a laugh, hugged her like a koala, and murmured lowly by her ear.
“Don’t you know how cheeky I can be?”
Before she could respond, Liang Yuanjing lifted her chin again.
He leaned his whole body in, his bright eyes reflecting all of her this time. Tao Shuran saw her entire self in them.
Liang Yuanjing raised his hand to press the back of her head, his breath warm, his tone seductive.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you like this for so long.”
…
After fooling around outside for a bit longer, when they went in, Tao Shuran was still embarrassed and kept tugging at her sweater collar to hide her face.
As she pushed open the door, Zhao Zhengnian spotted her first. He happened to be holding the microphone, and as soon as he opened his mouth, the whole room echoed with the lingering sound.
“Tao Meimei, we waited and waited, and you’re finally here.”
“Why is your face so red?” he teased. “What naughty thing did you do?”
The already guilty Tao Shuran felt even more flustered at his words and wished she could find a crack to hide in. In fact, she did hide behind Liang Yuanjing.
Fang Qingyi threw a pillow at him, righteously coming to her rescue.
“Zhao Zhengnian, don’t talk nonsense. If you’re not singing, give me back the mic. I still want to sing.”
“Fang Qingyi, I haven’t settled things with you yet.”
Zhao Zhengnian shot her a sharp glare. In his peripheral vision, he caught sight of her hand clasped with Fu Changpei’s, and his eyes darkened for a moment.
He sneered, “That time on the Ferris Wheel, you took the initiative to hold my hand—just to smoothly hold Fu Changpei’s later?”
Mentioning that, Fang Qingyi’s arrogant air deflated instantly.
She stuck out her tongue. “You know the rule: see through but don’t say it?”
“Of course I know the rules.”
Zhao Zhengnian stared at her, then turned away with a scoff.
“So that’s why I hate you, Fang Qingyi.”
He said something rather out of the blue, but those who got it understood.