Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the private room of Zi Jing City Club, Li Nanheng hung up the phone and entered the room. Before closing the door, he turned back to look at Feng Ling.
Feng Ling stood there without looking at him.
Mo Jingshen asked Ji Nuan, âHave you eaten anything tonight?â
Ji Nuan looked at the various wines on the coffee table. âI havenât eaten. I was just about to say, isnât today Nanhengâs birthday? Youâve been here for half a day. Why donât I see any cake?ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Qin Siting calmly curved his lips. âI drove here right after finishing a surgery. How would I have the time to buy a cake?â
When the men gathered together, no one liked to eat these things, so they naturally ignored them.
Mo Jingshen received Ji Nuanâs gaze and calmly replied, âDo I look like someone who would buy a cake to celebrate a manâs birthday?â
Ji Nuan pursed her lips. âThen what should I do? Even if you donât like cake, there has to be a formality since itâs his birthday. If I had known earlier, I would have called you. I happened to pass by a good cake shop.â
âWhere? Let that female bodyguard of yours buy it,â When Qin Siting said. His tone became heavier. His gaze had already swept past Li Nanheng.
Sure enough, when Li Nanheng heard the words âfemale bodyguard,â he glanced at him coldly. âThereâs no need. Someone will bring a cake later.â
âWho? Arenât we the only ones invited?â Qin Siting looked at him.
Li Nanheng smiled and leaned back casually on the sofa. He looked at Qin Siting silently. The deep meaning in his eyes caused Qin Sitingâs relaxed smile to gradually fade away. His gaze turned cold. âYou...â
All of a sudden, the door of the private room was pushed open, and a figure appeared in front of the door with an exquisite cake box.
Everyoneâs gaze turned in that direction, including Qin Sitingâs.
Shi Niange was no longer the young student she was four years ago. Now that she had returned, she was close to her twenty-sixth birthday. She wore a comfortable suit, and her entire body exuded the beauty of a mature woman. Her long, slightly curly hair was scattered behind her back. Her temperament was outstanding but not too lethal.
âSorry, Iâm late.â Shi Niange entered the door. When she walked in, she had already mentally prepared herself. Right now, her smile was naturally appropriate. Her gaze swept across the faces of the people on the sofa. Li Nanheng had seen her before. Mo Jingshen had coincidentally met her at a business meeting in Los Angeles, while Ji Nuan had met her many years ago.
Then her gaze lingered on Qin Sitingâs cold face for a fraction of a second. She then smiled and looked in the direction of Li Nanheng and the rest.
At the same time, Shi Niange smiled at Ji Nuan. âHello, youâre Ji Nuan, right? Weâve met before, but you definitely donât remember. Iâm Shi Niange.â
Ji Nuan was startled for a moment. She quickly regained her composure and rushed to greet her warmly.
After all, there were only a few young girls at that party. They had some impression of each other. When their names were mentioned, they would think about it carefully.
Ji Nuan saw that after Shi Niange came in, she was left alone. Mo Jingshen was not familiar with her, so he naturally had nothing to say. Li Nanheng only smoked while watching the show coldly. As for Qin Siting..., Ji Nuan did not pay much attention to him, but with a womanâs sixth sense, she sensed that they did not plan on treating this Miss Shi as one of their own. Furthermore, her appearance seemed to have caused the atmosphere to become suddenly colder.
To ease the atmosphere, Ji Nuan rushed over to help her take the cake and place it on the coffee table. She sincerely said, âItâs really been many years since we last met. Miss Shi, why have you returned to the country? Will you be settling down in Hai City or returning to the United States?â
âThe old company of the Shi family in the country is still in Hai City. I might stay, but itâs also possible that... there will be other changes,â Shi Niange said and looked at Li Nanheng. âI brought the cake over so late. Did I spoil your fun?â
âNo, you came at the right time. Mrs. Mo was still wondering why there wasnât any cake,â Li Nanheng said, glancing meaningfully at Qin Siting, who had not spoken.
Shi Niange could also feel Qin Sitingâs silence. Looking at the atmosphere in the room, she could imagine that before she came in, perhaps everyone was still happily celebrating Li Nanhengâs birthday. However, clearly, Qin Siting did not expect her appearance. Now that he saw the person who had left him, his face did not have any joy. There was only coldness and unfamiliarity.
Even Ji Nuan, who was unaware of the situation, felt that Qin Sitingâs body seemed to be surrounded by a cold aura. The temperature in the entire room dropped by quite a bit.
Mo Jingshen sat there without even raising an eyebrow. He continued drinking the wine in his glass, clearly unconcerned.
Before Shi Niange came, she had already mentally prepared for the possibility that Qin Siting might not want to see her.
They were already past the age where they had to force each other. Even if there were still something in their hearts, they would no longer be so childish and stubborn.
However, all these years, there had been a thorn in her heart. Part of the decision she had made four years ago was wrong. After learning that Qin Siting had not been engaged to Ling Xuaner, she had very clearly realized her mistake. This thorn had caused her heart to ache for many years. She had never dared to touch it, nor did she dare to pull it out. She was afraid that once she did, the blood in her heart would not stop. The wall she had built in her world in the past four years would collapse, and she would return to find him.
In the past four years, it was as though they had never appeared in each otherâs world.
Back then, she didnât even dare to think about how she could meet him again.
But Lele said that she wanted a father.
Although Lele didnât cry or shout for a father, and she naively thought that a father could be bought, she could feel her desire from the childâs innocent words. Why did everyone have a father? Why didnât she have a father?
Her courage, which had long collapsed, was slowly being boosted by Leleâs desire. She returned to the country, rearranged her emotions, and prepared to face everything.
However, as she stood there, she realized that when she saw Qin Siting again, she was still the same as before. Excited, nervous, and her heartbeat could not be controlled. Even though she had a light smile on her face and looked at him as though he was a friend she had not seen for several years, her heartbeat seemed to have returned to the beat of that year when she was in her third year of high school and sat by his side listening to him speak to her for the first time.