Chapter 105 An Unexpected Person

The two ate their food, which was getting cold, in small bites, while secretly observing the commotion over there, their minds filled with questions.

Just as Su Xiaonuan was secretly wondering if the two of them had some complicated emotional entanglement or were making some kind of secret deal, Qin Haoran suddenly stood up without warning.

He didn't even glance at the woman again, only giving a barely perceptible nod as a farewell, then turned and strode away from the restaurant without looking back, his back view resolute.

The woman seemed surprised that he left so decisively; her smile froze for a moment, and a clear look of disappointment and embarrassment flashed in her eyes.

But she adjusted very quickly. Almost in the next second, she regained her calm and elegant demeanor, gently straightened her skirt, stood up, and slowly walked away in another direction.

A meeting that seemed so inexplicable began abruptly and ended just as abruptly.

Su Xiaonuan and An Ran exchanged glances and withdrew their probing gazes.

"What the hell..." Su Xiaonuan muttered under her breath, shaking her head with the mindset that it's better to avoid trouble.

She got up and returned to her original seat, picked up the pasta dish that she had barely touched, and prepared to continue eating.

An Ran, meanwhile, seemed lost in thought. She gently stirred the salad in her plate with her fork and suddenly spoke, her tone certain: "Nuan Nuan, I guess... that woman is probably the blind date that the Qin family found for Hao Ran."

"A blind date?" Su Xiaonuan was taken aback, then her face showed a look of understanding. "Oh—no wonder!" Qin Haoran's aloof and unapproachable demeanor, combined with the other party's efforts to maintain a proper and generous manner, immediately made sense in the context of "blind date"!

An Ran nodded and continued in a low voice, "Yes, I went to the Qin family a couple of days ago and overheard Uncle Qin and Aunt Qin complaining to Hao Chu that Hao Ran is already in his mid-twenties and doesn't even have a proper girlfriend yet. He's always so irresponsible, and it's worrying to see him like that. Hao Chu even tried to smooth things over, saying there's no need to rush, let him have a few more years of fun, and he'll naturally settle down eventually."

She mimicked Qin Haochu's gentle yet somewhat helpless tone, then pouted and said, "As a result, Uncle Qin and Aunt Qin got even more anxious, insisting on arranging blind dates for him as soon as possible, and not letting him do whatever he wanted. Judging from the way they were acting just now... they probably did arrange some, but unfortunately we just happened to run into them."

Su Xiaonuan was both amused and exasperated after hearing this.

She scooped up a spoonful of mushroom soup, blew on it, and sighed, "Sigh, I have to say, I really don't agree with my parents' generation's views on marriage."

She paused, then said seriously, "I don't mean to disrespect my parents, but I feel they sometimes interfere too much. Who a child likes and wants to marry depends on many factors, such as values, personality, appearance, and most importantly—feelings!"

She stretched out her slender fingers and counted them one by one: "Anyway, I think that if any of these four things are missing when looking for a partner, I would rather be scolded by my parents and suffer the scorn of the world than just marry someone casually. That would be irresponsible to myself."

Her eyes were clear and bright, with a stubborn seriousness in them. "Being irresponsible to yourself is disrespecting your parents. They raised us with so much hardship, hoping we would be happy. If you are unhappy in your marriage and torment yourself every day, how sad they would be if they knew."

An Ran listened to her words, her eyes softened, and she said with emotion, "Nuan Nuan, you really haven't changed at all."

She stirred her coffee gently. "Actually... I agree with your point of view. That's why I felt so sad and couldn't accept it when I found out what Qin Haochu did behind the scenes."

Her voice lowered, with a barely perceptible sob: "But...we've been together for so long, we know each other very well, and so many things are intertwined. It's not something you can just sever..." She raised her head, her eyes filled with confusion and pain. "This time I ran away from home because I wanted to...get my thoughts sorted out and think about whether we are really right for each other."

Seeing An Ran's dejected appearance, Su Xiaonuan knew that An Ran was once again caught in a complicated emotional entanglement with Qin Haochu.

She didn't say anything, but silently pushed a clean tissue to An Ran's side.

In Su Xiaonuan's mind, she would definitely advise breaking up rather than staying together.

Qin Haochu is a cunning and calculating man who uses even emotions as bargaining chips, making him hardly a good match for a woman.

But... listening to An Ran's intermittent recounting of their life abroad last night, the meticulous care, the subconscious protection, the actions that almost made An Ran the apple of his eye... she couldn't deny that Qin Haochu truly loved An Ran, perhaps even to the point of obsession, loving her with his life.

Such a complex and contradictory situation is difficult for outsiders to comment on.

At this moment, she could only remain silent, allowing An Ran to calm down and make her own decision.

The two finished their lunch in silence.

After paying the bill and leaving the restaurant, An Ran looked at a brightly lit claw machine shop not far away, filled with all kinds of cute plush toys. Her eyes lit up slightly, and she looked at Su Xiaonuan with a hint of anticipation: "Nuan Nuan, let's go play claw machines? It's been so long since I've played."

Su Xiaonuan realized that she was trying to distract her, and immediately agreed: "Okay! Let's go! Let me show you my amazing claw machine skills that I've practiced for years!"

The two entered the doll shop with great interest and exchanged their winnings for a small basket of game tokens.

An Ran took a fancy to a snow-white lop-eared rabbit, while Su Xiaonuan set her sights on a cool black unicorn.

Perhaps it was good luck today, or perhaps Su Xiaonuan really did have some "superpowers" in her bones. On her first attempt, Anran's claws accurately grabbed the lop-eared rabbit's ear, and it wobbled around, succeeding on the first try!

As the doll fell into the shipping chute, Anran let out a soft gasp of surprise, her face breaking into the first genuine smile of the day.

Not to be outdone, Su Xiaonuan adjusted her angle and struck again, and the seemingly difficult-to-catch black unicorn obediently fell into her pouch.

"Yay! We're amazing!" An Ran hugged the soft, lop-eared rabbit, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

Su Xiaonuan, holding her spoils, was about to make a joke when a slightly magnetic male voice, tinged with a smile, suddenly rang out behind them:

"Your skills are quite good, ladies."

Su Xiaonuan's smile froze instantly. That voice...

She turned her head abruptly.

It really was Han Ming.