Chapter 20

"Are you crazy?"

Song Yihuan was taken aback by his inexplicable accusation. She repeated, somewhat confused, "Me?"

Chi Ran clearly interpreted her question as a provocation, and tightened his grip on her hand.

"When you said those things on your birthday, I thought you were just making it up because you were in a bad mood..." Chi Ran said fiercely, "I didn't agree, and you just brought two men home. What exactly are you trying to do?"

Song Yihuan's wrist throbbed with pain: "Ouch."

She finally realized that Chi Ran had misunderstood something.

Just now, Wang Yashuai was talking about "doing things," "taking advantage of," and "sleeping" at the door, and she was trying to open the door for him as if she were being manipulated... He obviously misunderstood that she was going to agree to his request, and in doing so, he also misunderstood the kind young man who came to fix the air conditioner last week and yesterday.

Chi Ran had no idea that when he opened the door just now, he saved Wang Yashuai, not her.

Wang Yashuai spread rumors about her in the group chat and even made a scene at Ms. Wang's place. When Song Yihuan confronted him, she already knew how to get revenge on him: she would give him a lifetime of nightmares.

Open the door and let him see the room full of chemotherapy drugs and painkillers, along with a terrifying promise to come find you sooner or later. Given his cowardice, it would be strange if he didn't run away in fear.

As for the air conditioner repairman... he was clearly wearing a bright red polo shirt with a logo, so how could he be...?

...He really did suffer losses that he couldn't see.

Song Yihuan had no intention of clearing up the misunderstanding. She withdrew her hand, decided to play along, and asked indifferently, "What I do and who I do is none of your business."

Chi Ran was taken aback by her harsh words, then became even angrier: "Do you even know them before bringing them home?? Do you even know what a 'four-infectious disease test report' is? Have you even been tested? How dare you... how dare you do this so recklessly?"

“I want to sleep with you, but you won’t, so I can only find someone else. What’s wrong with that?” Song Yihuan looked up at him. “It’s my freedom.”

As if she had heard some absurd theory, Chi Ran frowned and asked, "Freedom? You're telling me this is freedom?"

“Little friend, do you know what you’re saying? Do you really think that indulging your desires is what freedom is?” His tone suddenly turned serious and earnest. “I’m telling you to enjoy life to the fullest… but that’s not what I mean. This era is bad; it teaches us to rationalize our desires, but it doesn’t teach us to discern them. You think that feeling happiness in a stranger’s arms is freedom, that satisfying your desires in the present moment is freedom, but you’ve never seen the price behind your so-called happiness and desires.”

Song Yihuan dropped her teasing expression and stared at him blankly.

“Young man, blindly jumping into a place of pleasure without considering the consequences is called self-destruction, not freedom,” he said.

Song Yihuan originally wanted to say, "If you won't let me sleep with them, then can I sleep with you?" But when he spoke to her so seriously and sincerely, she couldn't bring herself to say it, and the words stuck in her throat.

See? Beneath all those thorns, Chi Ran is truly a very, very good person. Right now, the last thing she needs is a very good person.

How hateful, how despicable.

Song Yihuan shook her head, dismissing her wavering thoughts, and took a step closer: "And what about you? What's your price? Can I afford it?"

Chi Ran snorted coldly and took half a step back, clearly not expecting such a reaction from his heartfelt words.

"If you don't want me to mess around with them, then you have to agree to it," she said defiantly through gritted teeth. "Otherwise, I'll definitely go out with them again."

"The stupidest thing in the world is to use yourself to threaten others," Chi Ran said impatiently. "Who do you think you can threaten?"

Song Yihuan: "You."

Chi Ran was taken aback, but did not refute.

“I’ll go with you tomorrow to sign the contract,” she said.

Chi Ran said coldly, "I'm not going."

Song Yihuan tilted her head and chuckled softly: "You will go."

Because there is no one in this world who is more stubborn but soft-hearted than you.

He said he wouldn't let the song be sold to Zhou Ting, but he eventually agreed. He said he wouldn't see her again, but he always ended up seeing her again. Chi Ran is always soft-hearted.

Suffering cruelly reshaped this arrogant young genius, shattering his exquisite and gorgeous shell, letting the fragments grow into jagged spikes, yet bestowing upon him an overly soft core.

This damn suffering.

Seeing him fall silent again, Song Yihuan tilted her head and asked, "The four infectious markers you mentioned earlier..."

"What are you doing?" Chi Ran looked up warily.

"After we sign the contract tomorrow, shall we go and do it together?"

/

The sky in April is always clear, and life is generously poured down from the azure sky, with even the wind carrying the breath of spring.

The company is only a 20-minute walk from the residential area, but Chi Ran can't walk that far, so Qian Yu has to drive her.

Song Yihuan was also sitting in the back seat. Chi Ran turned his vacant gaze toward the spring scenery outside the window and faced her with the back of his head.

It was rush hour, the roads were incredibly congested, and the atmosphere inside the car was incredibly tense.

Qian Yu, trying to make conversation, asked, "Song Shen, can you drive?"

"Do we have to take different routes even for a twenty-minute drive?" Chi Ran said casually, facing the window.

Qian Yu sighed, speechless.

I didn't provoke you, bro.

Song Yihuan ignored Chi Ran's attitude and answered Qian Yu with a smile: "I have a driver's license. I went to learn to drive after the college entrance examination, but I can't drive."

"Oh right, you only finished the college entrance exam two years ago," Qian Yu continued, "What did you study again?"

“I only studied until high school,” Song Yihuan said.

"I see." Qian Yu shut his mouth as if he had said something wrong.

Song Yihuan said with a smile, "I didn't do very well on the exam, so I didn't go to school. After graduating from high school, I was a minor idol for a while before I started making videos as a singer."

That's partly true and partly false. It's true that I didn't do well on the exam, but the reason I didn't go to school wasn't because of that; I went to get medical treatment.

"You know what you want to do at such a young age, you're much better than me." Qian Yu exclaimed, "I was so addicted to Fantasy Westward Journey in college that I wasted four whole years fishing for immortal peaches."

Song Yihuan asked curiously, "Which schools do you all go to?"

Qian Yu smiled and said, "I'm from SX Vocational Technical School, majoring in preschool education."

Song Yihuan turned to look at Chi Ran, but he ignored her, turning his back to her and moving away as if he wanted to stick to the car door on that side.

Qian Yu turned around and readily chimed in, "Brother Ran was admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music through a special recommendation, and he was the most handsome guy in his department that year."

He was so engrossed in his conversation that he didn't see the traffic light turn green, and the impatient cars stuck in traffic behind him started honking their horns. A cacophony of sirens blared from all directions, and Qian Yu frantically started his car.

"If you don't look at the lights, do you expect me to look at them for you?" Chi Ran said calmly.

In the second half, Qian Yu quietly turned off his microphone and didn't dare to continue the conversation.

Song Yihuan could sense that Chi Ran was in a terrible mood, speaking like a cactus from Plants vs. Zombies, spewing thorns from his mouth. His bad mood was definitely related to his upcoming meeting with Zhou Ting, but besides that, her "threat" yesterday must have also played a part.

After getting out of the car, Chi Ran, as usual, put her hand on Qian Yu's shoulder, put her other hand in her pocket, and walked into the company wearing sunglasses.

"Zhou Ting is waiting upstairs." Sister Ying hurriedly came to greet him. "Don't speak so harshly, don't make things too difficult for Brother Wen."

Chi Ran ignored him and simply pretended to be mute.

Yingjie pressed the elevator button and then noticed Song Yihuan, who was following at the back. She asked, "Who is this little girl...?"

Before Song Yihuan could speak, Chi Ran said, "I don't know him."

Yingjie was somewhat used to his temper, and asked with a smile, "Then why would I still follow you?"

“Pervert,” he said.

You're the pervert.

Song Yihuan didn't bother arguing with him and greeted him with a smile: "You must be Sister Ying? I've often heard Teacher Chi mention you. I'm his neighbor, you can just call me Mengmeng."

"My neighbor," Sister Ying said shrewdly, without asking any further questions. "Hey, why do you look so familiar?"

“I’m a singer.” Song Yihuan showed her her account as she walked, “and told me not to talk in my sleep.”

"I knew it." Sister Ying smiled. "You were on that music variety show where you made friends through singing at the end of last year, right? I was also there mentoring artists."

"What a coincidence, Sister Ying."

Her laughter was sweet and innocent, a far cry from the mischievous face she had shown when threatening him yesterday.

Chi Ran gripped Qian Yu's shoulder and walked faster and faster, leaving that deliberately obedient voice behind.

"Wow, little genius!"

After walking only a few steps, I was met with another nauseatingly harsh voice.

Zhou Ting strolled over, unhurriedly. His facial muscles generally slop downwards, but perhaps due to numerous cosmetic procedures, his cheekbones and forehead rose at an odd frequency.

"Little genius, it's been years since we last saw each other, hasn't it? I've made a reservation at the seafood restaurant downstairs, let's catch up later."

A wave of nausea rose from his stomach, spasming as it climbed up his throat. He tried to swallow, suppressing the urge to vomit.

Sister Ying quickly caught up and smoothed things over: "President Zhou, let's get down to business first. We'll have plenty of time to catch up after we sign the contract."

"Oh, sorry, our legal department isn't very good at handling things." Zhou Ting glanced at the well-behaved little bespectacled man behind him and scolded him, half-jokingly, "What are you dawdling for? Get the contract out, everyone's waiting for you. Take your time, time is precious."

The boy with glasses hurriedly pushed up his glasses, lifted one knee to support his bag, and reached into his briefcase, rummaging around unsteadily, looking very disheveled.

"What are you saying, Mr. Zhou?" Sister Ying said with a smile. "We're all just coasting along in our small company, it's Mr. Zhou whose time is precious."

Seeing his veiled insults, Sister Ying knew that tonight's dinner was going to be a disaster. Chi Ran had been keeping quiet and holding back until now, and he was probably as pent up as a pufferfish. If she made him eat with her any longer, he would really explode.

Zhou Ting was about to say something more when she caught sight of a pretty little girl with pink hair peeking in.

"This is..." Zhou Ting was taken aback. "Sister Ying, your little sister has grown so much?"

"No, my daughter is still in high school. This is... a relative's child." Sister Ying added cautiously, "She's not my child; the teacher who came to record today brought her."

"Hello, Uncle!" Song Yihuan said loudly, bowing to him as she spoke.

Those three words struck Yingjie's heart like a thunderbolt, making her tremble. Zhou Ting was a shameless old man who loved to act young and hated being called old. Even her daughter had to call him "brother."

Chi Ran coughed lightly, turned her head to the side, and covered the corner of her mouth with her thumb.

Sister Ying sighed softly. This ancestor was indeed sent by Ancestor Chi to cause trouble.

Her move to distance herself from the situation early on was incredibly astute and brilliant; no wonder she's been voted the top agent every year.

Zhou Ting was stunned by her loud and clear address of "uncle," and it took her a while to say, "You...you're in college, aren't you? The way you're addressing me is way too distant."

“I’m twenty,” Song Yihuan said confidently.

Chi Ran lowered her head and hid her mouth behind Qian Yu's back, trembling as she tried to suppress her laughter.

"You're twenty...you're twenty, what kind of uncle are you?" Zhou Ting was already embarrassed, but he didn't have the heart to immediately lash out at a young girl. He coaxed her gently, "You're only two years younger than my wife, just call me brother."

Song Yihuan finally stopped calling him "uncle." She said, "Auntie is only twenty-two? How old are you then?"

Upon hearing the words "little aunt," Zhou Ting's face darkened considerably. Instead of revealing her age, she stated her birth year: "I was born in 1981."

"Uncle, you're older than my dad."

Zhou Ting didn't want to waste any more words with her, so she kicked the girl with small eyes in the butt: "Give me the contract!!"

During the contract signing process, Song Yihuan kept referring to him as "uncle," and Zhou Ting had to shut her up every time he tried to say something.

"Uncle, is your company quite big?"

"Uncle, isn't Auntie very pretty?"

"Uncle, you and Auntie have the cutest age gap ever!"

...

When Chi Ran signed the document, he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, his pen trembling. Sister Ying couldn't bear to watch and secretly pinched him to make him bear it.

Until the contract was signed, Zhou Ting didn't mention dinner again, clearly not in the mood for eating and only wanting to get two more Juvederm injections.

After Sister Ying politely saw the person out, Chi Ran quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Song Yihuan sat in a chair by the window in the conference room. The shadow of the blinds fell down, alternating between wine red and light pink, making her look like a limited-edition striped velvet, her edges swaying in a hazy way.

—Completely unrecognizable from the wicked look he had just given Zhou Ting when he called him "uncle."

Song Yihuan is truly a sharp-tongued girl. If she cares about something, the word "forget" doesn't exist in her dictionary; she will fight back relentlessly. If she cares about something, she's not afraid for the whole world to know it.

She will fight against everything with all her might.

The first thing Chi Ran learned after losing her sight was to not care. Not care about being blind, not care about the low points, not care about this damn world.

Over time, he even found it difficult to distinguish whether he was faking it or not.

He belatedly realized that he wasn't attracted by the soft, pink fluffy texture; quite the opposite, in fact.

He was drawn to the sharpness.

That kind of sharp and meticulous way of living.