Chapter 40 09.12/First update What are you guys doing? ...
After Nan Ling sent that string of messages, Chu Song didn't reply, but not long after, he "took the trouble" to record a video and sent it to him.
From the video, it can be heard that the people inside were indeed arguing, mainly speaking Italian, occasionally mixed with some Chinese. The words "ring" and "marriage" can be heard. Chu Song did not hear Fan Tingnian and Nan Zhimei talking, but from the words of other elders, he could hear that they did not agree with Fan Tingnian getting married now.
However, Chu Song was even more shocked. She had never expected that things would develop to this point.
She opened the video, watched it over and over again, and put it to her ear to confirm what was said in it. Although Fan Tingnian, her younger brother, was unpredictable and didn't seem to have any good intentions, half of what he said was probably right.
Chu Song paced back and forth in his room, not knowing what to do, nor what Fan Tingnian was thinking.
And what about Nan Ling saying that she would be detained in Italy?
Because Fan Tingnian is different from ordinary people in many ways and does things unconventionally, she is often confused when facing him.
It wasn't until ten o'clock that evening that Fan Tingnian returned to the building and sent her a message, asking if she wanted to come over. Chu Song sat on her bed in her bedroom, the light on. She thought back to the time Fan Tingnian had tied her hands in the studio a few days ago.
She sat on the edge of the bed, hesitant, and typed a few words over and over again with her thumbs on the keyboard.
The other party seemed to have been looking at the phone. Before she could enter the characters again, she sent a message:
Fan Tingnian: [Why do you only type and not talk?]
Chu Song took a deep breath: [Have you been looking at me?]
Fan Tingnian: [Yes.]
Chu Song recalled the few days when he had lingered in front of her room at night while she was still in China. She felt a little uneasy and did not reply to his message immediately.
However, the other party seemed very perceptive: [What are you hesitating about?]
Fan Tingnian: [You seem a little strange today.]
Chu Song took another breath, pressing his fingertips against the keyboard: [No... I was just thinking about where to sleep today.]
On this side, Fan Tingnian glanced at the few lines of words on the screen. He knew very well that Chu Song was lying.
Her behavior has always been simple and regular. If she doesn't want to come, she will refuse in a panic with several exclamation marks. If she wants to come, she will pause for two seconds and reply "OK" directly.
This is a question that has been asked many times and does not require repeated typing or careful consideration of the answer.
She would type over and over again but not send it because she had other things she wanted to say or ask but didn't know how to start.
But feeling that the person on the other side seemed afraid, he let her go.
He called, his voice soft, "We don't see each other much during the day, and I want to spend time with you tonight. Do you want to come over?"
Chu Song sat on the side of the bed, his left hand on the edge of the bed. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard such a sound.
Fan Tingnian was actually gentle most of the time when facing her, and occasionally showed aggression and oppression, but he didn't really hurt her.
She held the phone in her right hand, and perhaps because the room was quiet, her voice was soft: "Okay then..."
She also happened to have something to ask Fan Tingnian.
A few minutes later, Chu Song stood at the door of Fan Tingnian's bedroom, holding a pillow, raised his hand, knocked twice, and pushed the door open.
She was wearing a white long-sleeved nightgown, her hair had just been washed and was draped over her shoulders. The right side of her hair was tucked behind her ear, revealing her small, pale face. She was holding a pillow in her right hand and clinging to the door frame, like a rabbit that had woken up in the night, its eyes open in a daze.
Fan Tingnian was standing in front of the table, unbuttoning the cuff of one sleeve. When he heard the noise, he turned around and looked over.
Chu Song walked in and closed the door behind her. She glanced at his clothes and asked, "Did you just come back..."
He was still wearing the same shirt that Nan Ling had worn in the video that night. It was dark gray and had a wide, straight cut.
"Yes," Fan Tingnian walked towards the bathroom, took two steps, held the bathroom door, turned around and asked her, "Do you want to take a shower together?"
Chu Song shook his head and quickly said, "No need, I washed it last night."
When Fan Tingnian came out of the bathroom again, the girl was still in the same position as before he entered, leaning on the table with a pillow in her arms, far away from the bed.
Fan Tingnian brushed the hair off his forehead and looked at her face, scrutinizing her.
His feeling was not wrong, she was indeed behaving strangely today and was afraid of him.
Chu Song looked up when he came out, the words he had just prepared on the tip of his tongue still on his lips: "Are you done with the shower? Are you going to bed?"
She has been talking nonsense today.
Fan Tingnian looked at her for two seconds, then walked over and raised his hand to help her tidy up her hair: "Why don't you go to the bed, or sit on the sofa."
"Um... nothing, I forgot, I just wanted to stand for a while."
"Um."
"Where did you go tonight?"
"In the building behind, my mother came back to meet some elders."
"Are you talking about work...?"
Fan Tingnian stopped helping her fix her hair and looked down at her.
Chu Song met his gaze. When he wasn't smiling, his eyes were cold and somewhat creepy. She shrank back half a step and was held down by the waist and held on the table.
"What do you want to ask?" He looked straight at her and saw through her thoughts.
"Nothing, just..." Thinking that he might be unhappy when she mentioned Nan Ling, she immediately changed her words, "I just want to know what you talk about with your family after not seeing them for such a long time."
Fan Tingnian picked her up and walked towards the bed.
Being suddenly mentioned, Chu Song put his arms around his neck, carefully observing his expression, and asked again: "What do you think of our relationship now..."
The man put her on the bed and looked at her strangely when he heard the question: "Let's fall in love."
Chu Song was still nervous when he heard him say, "But we're going to get married later."
He put his phone on the bedside table: "It shouldn't be long."
“What?” Chu Song finally confirmed that what he said was true.
Fan Tingnian lowered his head and glanced at her. After a moment, he placed his hands on the bed and leaned over to hold her in his arms. "You don't want to?"
His eyes were serious, and although they weren't intimidating, Chu Song still stepped back involuntarily and patiently explained, "No, it's mainly because we haven't been together for too long, and we weren't prepared for you to suddenly say something like that."
"It's okay, we can live together longer after we get married." He patted her head.
How come this guy is a marriage maniac?
And she couldn't just stay in Italy quietly.
Chu Song reached out and touched the side of his face, carefully: "...But I think this matter needs to be considered in the long run."
"Why?" The man's hand was much larger than hers. He grabbed her wrist and pulled it down, frowning slightly. "Besides, you promised me."
"Me?? When will I?"
"When you first slept with me."
The man half-knelt on the bed, stroking her chin with his fingertips: "I told you that in our family, you can only sleep together after you get married. Even after I said that, you still kissed me."
"And many times," he said.
Chu Song hadn't recovered from her shock yet. Didn't they say that what was said in bed didn't count? Besides, she was drunk at the time and had no idea what he was asking.
The man in front of her finally let go of the hand that was caressing her, lowered his head slightly, and rested his chin on the crook of her neck. He said in a hoarse voice: "How do couples in China call each other after they get married?"
First Song: "My wife is old..."
He ruffled her hair: "Can I call you wife?"
How can this be possible! Chu Song was still confused: "No, this won't work..."
"Why?" He rubbed the back of her neck. "You're being naughty."
"I hope you'll call me by the same words from now on," he said, supporting her with one hand and getting up to turn off the light in the room. "Dear, it's time to go to bed now."
Chu Song snuggled in Fan Tingnian's arms and couldn't fall asleep at all, but she was afraid that if she told Fan Tingnian now that all those things she had agreed to before were just random promises, Fan Tingnian would strangle her to death.
Not knowing what to do, she hooked the quilt with her right hand and subconsciously shrank back. The person behind her felt her movement and crossed his right arm across her waist, tightening it a little.
"Fan Tingnian..." She turned around.
"Hmm? Wife."
Chu Song’s scalp tightened. “I think we need to discuss this. Please don’t call me that for now.”
"Why? Do we have to wait until we're actually married to yell at each other like that?" The man touched the back of her head. "But I've seen documentaries about many couples, and they yell like that when they're in love."
His voice lowered a little, pressing against her ear: "If you have anything to say, we can talk about it tomorrow. It's already twelve six, and it's time to go to bed."
"You usually have to go to bed... but I've never seen you go to bed so punctually." Chu Song muttered.
"What did you say?" Fan Tingnian looked down at her.
Chu Song stopped talking: "Nothing..."
The family dinner the next night was on the first floor of the building next door.
A few days ago, Fan Tingnian told Chu Song to sit at the same table with him for dinner tonight.
Nan Zhimei also had some complaints about his getting married, but the main complaint was that the time was too short. She didn't say anything else. However, the old folks in the family who were pedantic, only cared about pleasure and not work, and were bossy expressed strong opposition. However, he didn't care about their opinions, nor did he need to care.
Tell them it’s just a notification, and tonight’s dinner is just for them to see Chu Song.
In the afternoon, Fan Tingnian called Chu Song and asked her to come to his room on the fourth floor to choose some clothes. The dressing room contained some low-key, everyday dresses, all in the style she often wore. Chu Song went over and chose one. After Fan Tingnian left, she sat in the dressing room feeling increasingly uncomfortable. The development of the situation had completely exceeded her expectations.
She was very afraid that Fan Tingnian would make her stay in Italy from now on.
At a quarter past six, just after the dinner was about to start, she went downstairs and walked towards the building at the back. She felt that she still needed to have a good talk with Fan Tingnian.
The dinner had already begun, and there were not many people in the garden or outside the building, only a few gardeners passing by occasionally.
When Chu Song was about to approach, he saw through the glass that Fan Tingnian was talking to some elders.
Those elders, dressed in suits and ties, were older, looking to be in their fifties or sixties. They were talking about something with angry eyes, but Fan Tingnian ignored them.
Encountering such a scene, Chu Song felt a little timid and hesitated for a moment, not going up immediately.
He walked a few steps left and right in the garden outside the first floor, looked inside through the window, and thought about how to call Fan Tingnian out for a good chat.
Before she could organize her words, she heard someone calling her from a distance, "Sister."
She looked up.
Nan Ling stood diagonally in front, wearing a thin white shirt, with one sleeve rolled up at the elbow and the other hand tucked into the cuff.
Like Fan Tingnian, he had broad shoulders and just the right amount of muscles that held up his shirt nicely.
He walked over a few steps and was met with a slap in the face: "Brother wants to introduce you to my family today."
Chu Song didn't respond to him. She turned back and looked through the window into the room again, then walked towards the tree with her arms folded. If Fan Tingnian saw her, he would probably ask her to come in, but she wanted to think about it outside for a while.
She pretended Nan Ling didn't exist, thought for a moment, got tired of standing, and squatted down to continue pondering.
Nan Ling didn't know what he was thinking. He was also standing outside. When he saw her squatting down, he walked over and found a place next to her and squatted down.
He propped up his chin and looked at her curiously.
"Are you really dating my brother? It's amazing that I can see my brother dating. He didn't even have any friends before."
"But don't you think my brother is very controlling? He's very dangerous and stubborn, but he hides it very well and looks very gentle..."
Chu Song was helpless: "Don't say bad things about your brother."
"Oh," Nan Ling stretched out his voice and looked at her face again, cunningly, "but don't you think so too? Otherwise, why don't you go in?"
"You're afraid of my brother too." He looked into her eyes.
"Okay, stop talking. It's time for you to go in and eat." Chu Song treated him like a child.
As they were talking, Nan Ling's phone vibrated. He took a look at it, then raised it and took a picture of himself. The camera tilted to the left, revealing the corner of Chu Song's clothes.
Chu Song looked at him: "What are you doing?"
Nan Ling sent the photo and typed: [My sister and I are outside looking at the moon.]
He went to the studio a few days ago and sent two photos to Fan Tingnian, both of which were selfies, but Fan Tingnian ignored him.
Fan Tingnian: [Come in.]
Nan Ling: [My sister said I have beautiful eyes.]
Nan Ling put away his phone and sat down, supporting himself on the grass with one hand: "Sister Shuang asked me where I was."
Chu Song was afraid that Fan Tingnian would see her and Nan Ling together. She held onto the grass and was about to stand up when she heard him say, "Don't you know what my brother is really like?"
Chu Song stopped and looked over.
The night was very quiet. The wind blew through the leaves, making a rustling sound. A bird was on the branch, flapping its wings and flying away.
The building is very airtight, and the music in the hall on the first floor behind me cannot be heard outside.
Nan Ling saw Chu Song stop, stood up and squatted beside her: "Can I help you see his true face?"
After he said that, he leaned closer to her ear. Actually, there was still more than ten centimeters between them, but because of the angle and the dim light under the tree, it looked like he kissed the side of her cheek.
Chu Song heard an extremely cold male voice behind him: "What are you doing?"
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The author has something to say: As usual, I am late, so I will send you a red envelope [scatter flowers]
Second update before 12 o'clock at night [Starry Eyes]
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