Chapter 32 The Contest: "It's just... a bit too sour, all show and no substance..."
The Su family of Kuncheng, though not as powerful as the Qiao and Wen families, was still considered quite influential. Wen Hong spoke casually, but the sarcasm in his words was obvious.
Su Ran huddled next to Qiao Yunzheng. Hearing Wen Hong's words, she showed no anger at being belittled; instead, her eyes sparkled with barely suppressed excitement.
She shifted her body almost imperceptibly, moving closer to Qiao Yunzheng, trying not to disturb the two men in front of her who were on the verge of exchanging blows. Her voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement: "Holy crap! Qiao Qiao, I never thought you, who are usually so well-behaved, would actually like the wolf-dog type!"
Qiao Yunzheng sat with Wen Hong on her left and Su Ran squeezed to her right. She remained expressionless, but her right hand pinched Su Ran's arm hard under the table as revenge for the person who had put her in such an awkward situation.
Su Chen adjusted his glasses, showing no emotional fluctuation at Wen Hong's words, his voice remaining gentle and calm: "My family was quite strict when I was a child, so I didn't have many opportunities to go out."
He smiled gently, looked at Qiao Yunzheng, and continued, "I'm not very good at greeting people. From childhood to adulthood, only Xiaozheng doesn't mind that I'm introverted."
Wen Hong gently tugged at her lips and followed Su Chen's gaze to look at Qiao Yunzheng beside her.
His displeasure was blatantly obvious, and his intention to question was clear.
Qiao Yunzheng immediately straightened her back, as if she had been instantly placed in a world of both ice and fire.
She wisely gave Wen Hong an innocent and obedient smile: "When we were little, we lived close by and often...we would play together from time to time. I've told you that before."
Wen Hong looked down at her innocent-looking face and her eyes curved slightly: "Oh? It seems there is such a thing."
Su Chen glanced at the two of them and interrupted, "Shall we have something to drink?"
As he spoke, he turned and beckoned to the waiter.
There was only a pot of tea on the table, which Qiao Yunzheng and Wen Hong ordered while waiting for them.
Su Ran quickly responded to her brother, "Okay, okay, this club has some good new products, we can try them." As she spoke, without the waiter asking any questions, she rattled off a long list of names, clearly a regular customer.
After ordering, he turned to look at Qiao Yunzheng with a hint of regret and sympathy: "Qiao Qiao, you should just drink your tea! Don't end up like last time, accidentally having an allergic reaction and suffering..."
Upon hearing this topic, Qiao Yunzheng's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly winked at Su Ran.
Su Ran was speaking excitedly and didn't grasp her deeper meaning at all. Remembering that embarrassing incident, she felt the urge to express herself again: "I was so scared that day. After my brother came back, he said that he was worried after taking you home, so he didn't leave right away. Then he heard a lot of noise in your house and thought you had fainted inside because you didn't have time to take your medicine. He knocked on the door but no one answered. He was terrified and almost called the police..."
As she spoke, she reached out and covered her chest, genuinely shaken: "Thankfully, I was alright later, otherwise, I would never have been able to forgive myself."
The glass of wine that Qiao Yunzheng accidentally drank that day was placed in front of her by Su Ran by mistake.
Su Chen echoed, "We really have to be careful about these things. It's good that we're here, especially when you're on your own..." As he spoke, he glanced at Wen Hong, intentionally or unintentionally.
This statement clearly has a hidden meaning.
Ignoring the unfriendly gaze, Wen Hong rested his head on one hand, listening calmly as a perfect outsider, seemingly unperturbed by their closeness in excluding him.
Occasionally, he would even appropriately chime in:
"Yeah?"
"you're right."
Finally, feigning surprise, she turned to Qiao Yunzheng with a resentful expression, as if she had been kept in the dark, and asked, "Is there such a thing? Why have you never mentioned it to me before?"
Qiao Yunzheng was taken aback, noticing the cunning in his eyes, and the scene from that night instantly flashed into her mind.
It was clearly him who was being unreasonably jealous and deliberately made such a commotion, which caused Su Chen outside the door to knock.
On the other hand, when Su Chen called her, he deliberately pressed her against the inside of the door and fiercely kissed her.
Looking back now, it really was utterly awful.
He was clearly the one who started it all, but now he's pretending to be innocent and bewildered, putting on airs.
Even knowing his bad intentions, Qiao Yunzheng still patiently cooperated with him.
"Yes, that day was an accident, it was an accident..."
"Yes... I took the medicine in time and it was nothing serious, so I didn't think it was necessary to mention it, and that's why I didn't tell you."
"Oh..." Wen Hong drawled out, her voice rising at the end, "If Mr. Su hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that my daughter had ever been in such a situation!"
“That’s just how she is,” Su Chen replied to Wen Hong, but her gaze remained fixed on Qiao Yunzheng. “From childhood to adulthood, she has always needed someone to take care of her.”
Wen Hong snorted dismissively, then picked up the teapot and filled Qiao Yunzheng's empty cup with tea: "Then let's just drink our tea!"
"Hmm." Qiao Yunzheng politely moved the full porcelain cup closer to herself.
“Xiao Zheng,” Su Chen interrupted the brief silence, “I just mixed a new drink before I came in, you can try it.”
Qiao Yunzheng was slightly surprised, but before she could speak, Su Chen had already turned around and instructed the waiter.
A moment later, the waiter brought over a glass.
The glass is filled with a clear liquid that has a blue gradient, with a mint leaf floating in the liquid. Tiny ice flowers adorn the blank glass wall above the blue liquid, and a round lemon hangs near the rim of the glass where the ice flowers are.
It resembles a scene of a coastline under the moonlight.
Su Chen personally placed the special cocktail in front of Qiao Yunzheng, his gaze full of meaning: "Want to know what it's called?"
This special drink is indeed quite beautiful, especially the lemon slice, which truly resembles a bright moon hanging in the sky.
Qiao Yunzheng was a little curious about how the lemon was hanging there, and couldn't help but take a few more glances. Before she could think of anything else, she blurted out, "What's it called?"
“Suspended Moon,” Su Chen looked at her and repeated, “its name is Suspended Moon.”
Even Su Ran was stunned. It took her a long time to come to her senses: "Brother, this... did you make this?"
Su Chen nodded: "I've been studying it for quite a while."
"Oh, I see," Su Ran suddenly realized something and said, "Brother, is this the beach we used to go to together when we were little?"
Only after Su Ran mentioned it did Qiao Yunzheng vaguely remember that there was such a thing.
She was never allowed to go out freely since she was a child, but she longed for the outside world, especially for a period of time when she really wanted to see the sea at dawn. So she asked Su Chen for help.
Su Chen was a few years older than her and Su Ran, and he had been steady and composed since childhood. Only when he spoke up would his parents occasionally soften their attitude.
That day, Su Chen took her and Su Ran to a faraway blue beach.
The beach at dawn was indeed beautiful. The sky was deep blue, the sea was deep blue, and only the bright moon shone down with its clear light.
Su Ran said excitedly, "I remember my brother had something very important to do that day, and I thought we wouldn't be able to go. But in the end, he still took the two of us... I even joked that what we wanted was the moon in the sky..."
Before he could finish speaking, his gaze swept over the "Suspended Moon" cup again, as if he had finally realized something, and he suddenly stopped talking.
Su Ran looked at her best friend with concern, then timidly stole a glance at Wen Hong's expression.
Wen Hong sat casually, his eyes only lingering on the drink for a moment before he looked away without a care.
"Xuanyue," he said with a slight smile, "would you like to try some?"
Qiao Yunzheng felt a chill run down her spine and dared not make any rash moves.
Wen Hong smiled and said, "That's true. We need to be careful with what our daughter puts in her mouth. It's always better to be cautious about what she puts in her mouth."
As he spoke, he reached for the special drink, examined it for a moment, and slowly tore off the lemon slice, saying with regret, "It seems that the moonlight can only be gazed upon from afar; it's of no use."
Su Chen's good expression, which had been maintained since he entered the room, finally began to falter at this moment.
However, since Qiao Yunzheng didn't say anything, he couldn't very well criticize her either.
Wen Hong first brought the glass of blue cocktail to her nose and took a small sip.
As everyone's gaze fell upon him, Wen Hong raised an eyebrow and concluded, "Beautiful as it is, it's just... a bit too pretentious, all looks and no substance."
As he spoke, he picked up the teacup in front of Qiao Yunzheng and poured the cool tea into the drink.
The clear, pale yellow slowly disappeared into the gradient blue, like moonlight disappearing into the seabed.
Wen Hong stared at the changes in the cup, gently shook the cup twice with her hand holding it, and took another small sip.
A smile bloomed at the corners of his eyes and brows: "That's much better."
He handed the new special cocktail to Qiao Yunzheng, smiling gently: "Want to try it now?"
Qiao Yunzheng hesitated for two seconds before slowly taking the cup.
She stared at the cup for a long time.
His gaze fell on the spot where Wen Hong's lips had just touched.
Very faint marks can still be seen on the glass.
Suddenly, all the blood in my body rushed to my face.
Wen Hong continued to look at her, seemingly unable to understand her hesitation: "Let's not disappoint Mr. Su's kindness, what do you say, A-Zheng?"
Intentional.
This thing is definitely doing it on purpose!
Qiao Yunzheng secretly grumbled to herself, but even though she knew it was Wen Hong's deliberate teasing, she still couldn't help but feel concerned, shy, and even have her heart racing.
The moon and the sea were all wiped away with a single click, leaving only one thought in her mind that was so prominent she couldn't ignore it:
She wanted to use the same cup as him.
Same one!
Wen Hong moved even closer to her, close enough that she could easily feel his breath.
"What's wrong?" he lowered his voice, then slowly and deliberately added in a breathy tone, "Wife?"
Su Ran had already wisely abandoned her best friend the moment she made that slip of the tongue, and secretly slipped away to sit on the other sofa.
Therefore, only Wen Hong could hear her calling her "wife," while the Su siblings could only see her face turn inexplicably red.
After much mental preparation, Qiao Yunzheng finally took action.
She didn't rotate the cup or make any excuse to refuse; instead, she simply held the cool, icy cup in her mouth, keeping it in its original position.
Wen Hong's expression, which had been one of watching a show, suddenly froze the moment her lips touched hers; he clearly hadn't expected the girl to do that.
The cool liquid slid down my throat, carrying the refreshing taste of mint and a hint of tea. However, these flavors paled in comparison to the main note, which was the unique, mellow and rich flavor emanating from the man beside me.
Qiao Yunzheng harbored her own thoughts, her face remaining calm and composed, but her heart was practically pounding out of her chest.
She subconsciously licked her lips, bringing back the lingering taste of her escape.
Author's Note: A big thank you to our lovely "Sunshine" for the nutrient solution! Mua!
Su Chen: Landlord Grab
Wen Hong: It's blown up
Daughter: quacking wildly
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