Chapter 28 Habits
At the door, the three rich kids who had chased after them saw the scene inside the private room, especially the man in the main seat with his powerful aura and icy, knife-like eyes. They instantly sobered up considerably, their arrogance vanishing, replaced by terror. They repeatedly apologized, "We're so sorry, we've disturbed you. We'll leave right away, we'll leave right away," and scrambled out the door.
Standing at the center of the storm, Jiang Yining finally saw the people in the private room clearly. Her gaze swept over the familiar faces, filled with shock and disbelief. Finally, it settled firmly on the man in the main seat, who was staring intently at her—Xie Shiyan.
Fear, resentment, and an instinct to find refuge made her forget everything. Like a fledgling bird finally finding its nest, she rushed over with tears in her eyes.
"Brother Shi Yan, help me!"
She buried her face in Xie Shiyan's arms, and an extremely refreshing lemon scent, carrying the aroma of sunshine and mint, instantly enveloped Xie Shiyan.
This taste... this taste that belonged only to Jiang Yining, a taste that he had locked deep in his memory and thought would never fade away, so real and so vividly crashed into his nostrils and reached straight to his soul.
Xie Shiyan's body suddenly stiffened. He subconsciously opened his arms, but then hesitated to lower them as if afraid of shattering the illusion.
He lowered his head, looking incredulously at the trembling girl in his arms—the warm touch, the familiar top of her hair, her breath carrying the scent of lemon…
Every inch of his senses was frantically assaulting his icy rationality. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't a hallucination, it was the living, breathing Ningning.
“Ningning…my Ningning?” A low, hoarse voice finally managed to squeeze out from his dry throat.
Just then, the girl in his arms saw that the people chasing her outside had left, and seemed to calm down a little. She raised her head, her face still bearing traces of tears, her eyes still panicked, yet filled with a natural intimacy.
She reached out her slightly cool hand and very naturally slipped it into the inside pocket of Xie Shiyan's suit jacket, where he usually kept his phone.
Under the horrified gazes of everyone, Jiang Yining expertly pulled out Xie Shiyan's custom-made black phone. She didn't even look up at Xie Shiyan; she simply and instinctively, with perfect fluidity, swiped her finger across the screen to unlock it and entered the password: her birthdate.
With a soft "beep," the screen lit up, indicating successful unlocking. The entire private room was stunned, wondering if this was Mr. Xie's girlfriend or wife.
Jiang Yining's entire process was lightning fast and smooth, as if she had done it a thousand times.
If Jiang Yining's appearance just now was a thunderclap, then her smooth unlocking of Xie Shiyan's phone completely shattered the last shred of doubt among her friends.
Zhou Yanzhe suddenly stood up, knocking over the chair behind him, his voice hoarse and trembling: "Ning... Ningning?"
Lu Jingshen supported the swaying Xiao Xiao, who was already in tears, gripping her husband's arm tightly, her nails digging deep into it.
An Kexia finally dropped the champagne glass from her hand, smashing it onto the carpet and leaving a dark stain. Oblivious to this, she stared intently at the girl who was looking down at her phone, her lips drained of color. So this was the woman he deeply loved.
Shen Nian'an covered her mouth, tears silently streaming down her face. But as she looked at Jiang Yining's clear shadow under the light and felt the presence of a living person in the private room, her eyes held not only shock but also a hint of disbelief. It wasn't a ghost; it was a living person. How could it be a living person who had witnessed her funeral? "Resurrected from the dead?"
Jiang Yining was completely unaware of the storm she had created. All she wanted was to contact her mother as soon as possible. Her fingers trembled as she found the dial pad, entered her mother's number from memory, and even accidentally pressed speakerphone due to her nervousness.
"Beep...beep..." After a few beeps, the call was connected.
“Mom…” Jiang Yining said, sounding aggrieved.
Jiang's mother's signature loud voice, filled with immense anxiety and anger, instantly reverberated throughout the quiet private room:
"Jiang Yining, are you crazy? I told you to go out for a walk to digest your food, where did you go? You didn't even take your phone, the whole family is frantic with worry, your uncle and the others are driving around looking for you, did you sneak out again? Huh?"
Jiang Yining shrank back at the shout, instinctively holding her phone further away, and said into the microphone with a pitiful expression, "Mom, I didn't drive. I'm lost, I'm... I'm in the Qin-themed private room. Can you please have Yunting come pick me up? I left my phone in the dinner room."
"Lost? How old are you? How could you get lost in a club? Are you trying to drive me crazy?" Jiang's mother's voice rose even higher. "Stay where you are and don't move. I'm going to send Yunting over to catch you."
At this moment, a clear, deep, and authoritative voice rang out from above Jiang Yining's head, clearly transmitted through the microphone:
"Auntie, it's me, Xie Shiyan."
There was an instant silence on the other end of the phone, broken only by heavy breathing. After a few seconds, Jiang's mother's voice rang out again, carrying an indescribable complex emotion: "Ah...Ayan? How come Ningning...is with you?"
"I just happened to run into her." Xie Shiyan's voice was steady, but his gaze was fixed on the girl in his arms, as if he wanted to etch her into his very bones. "Don't worry, I'll personally take Ningning back later."
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