17. Snow in a silver bowl
I'm willing to keep coaxing you until you calm down.
desert.
Although the car was moving slowly, the bumps were still noticeable.
Shang Xinuan had almost exhausted all her strength to endure the pain on the way there, so on the way back, when Li Xiran suddenly held her in his arms, although she didn't want to admit it, the pain in her bones was indeed relieved quite a bit.
As the sun was about to set, she felt awkward asking the driver to stop for her alone.
So throughout the journey, as the young lady struggled with her discomfort and unbearable pain, Li Xiran remained in a half-kneeling position, using his chest as a cushion to protect her body.
When the car finally arrived at the campsite, Yu Jiayue immediately jumped out of the passenger seat, opened the door next to Shang Xinuan, and carried her away.
Suddenly pulled from her familiar embrace, Shang Xinuan's gaze hadn't even left the direction of the car.
Li Xiran, supporting himself on his knees, slowly moved to the seat.
The moment their eyes met, Shang Xinuan immediately looked away.
She couldn't describe her feelings at that moment, and for some time now she had been avoiding any emotional value that Li Xiran brought her.
Reason told her not to care about his behavior, but her emotions and the resentment of her unrequited love over the years made her constantly see his image in her peripheral vision.
Shang Xinuan bit her lip, feeling the blood and stinging pain spread throughout her mouth.
It was like swallowing a thousand needles, prompting a warning voice in her heart: Remember this pain, and never feel this pain again for anyone.
Li Xiran did not get out of the car immediately. He gently lifted his trouser leg, and bruises were clearly visible on his knee.
At the edge of his line of sight, he saw Shang Xinuan being carried away by Yu Jiayue. The young lady was truly ruthless and decisive, not even giving him a glance.
The driver parked the car, turned around, and said, "That girl isn't your boyfriend. You hugged her, tripped and fell, and upset her boyfriend."
Li Xiran rested his neck on the seat cushion, his voice tinged with weariness, "Master, if that girl were my girlfriend, and I made her angry, how should I appease her?"
"I don't know about that. I give all my salary to my wife. When I get home, I either clean the house or help take care of the kids. I'm very perceptive. I almost never give her a chance to get angry."
Looking at his empty arms, he shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh. At that moment, he felt a million regrets and wished he had known better.
Now he seems to be grasping at straws, no longer displaying the strategic and efficient work style he once did.
Recalling his recent interview with a financial reporter, Shang Xinu truly embodied the phrase: she was his source of anxiety and insecurity, his inability to control himself.
hold.
"So, that girl just now wasn't your girlfriend, was she?" Seeing the complicated expression on his face, the driver asked tentatively, "Did you make her angry?"
Li Xiran neither nodded nor denied it, "She's my young lady, and she's very difficult to coax."
"Girls are all like that. My youngest daughter is seven years old, and when she gets angry, she can ignore me for two or three days."
Looking at the vibrant scene in the center of the camp, Li Xiran thought, "It's all my own fault."
As Qiao Xi said, he used to only look at problems from his own perspective.
Over the years, he ran the huge Li family business, thinking he could control everyone and everything.
However, they overlooked the fact that other people's feelings are also important.
A prolonged silence and no response, an ambiguous and ambiguous attitude.
Little by little, it wore down the young lady's expectations and patience.
-
"When you came back, were you alright?" Qiao Xi looked around the desert and went to Li Xiran's tent but didn't see him. She thought that the young lady had thrown him into the desert to fend for himself in a fit of anger.
"It's nothing," Shang Xinuan said absentmindedly, sitting on a low stool.
Ever since Yu Jiayue carried her back, she has been resting her chin on her hand, her eyes vacant and unfocused, without uttering a word.
Qiao Xi hesitated for a moment, but still asked with unease, "My uncle?"
Before she could even utter a word, she saw Li Xiran limping back on his right leg.
"You threw him into the desert and let him run back on his own?"
"Am I that ruthless?" The young lady glanced at her leisurely and continued, "I just tied him up with a rope and dragged him back."
Qiao Xi naturally understood the young lady's joking tone, and smiled as she gave her a thumbs up, "You're kind."
Before Li Xiran could even reach them, the camp manager used a megaphone to call the tourists to the main square.
Yu Jiayue then returned with a cup full of hot water, and together with Qiao Xi, they helped her walk slowly over.
"Tonight, I want to thank Ms. Shang and Mr. Li from Shanghai. Ms. Shang is treating everyone to charcoal-grilled tender beef, and Mr. Li is treating everyone to stewed mutton."
Upon hearing the news, the tourists cheered and applauded.
Yu Jiayue helped Shang Xinuan return the greeting, and Li Xiran also waved politely.
Several older women immediately surrounded them, their faces full of warmth.
"I overheard off-road pickup truck drivers chatting today. There was a young woman surnamed Shang who was accepted to Cambridge with her boyfriend at the same time. It turns out it was you two," the aunt in the red scarf said, staring intently at Shang Xinuan and Yu Jiayue.
"Auntie, no..."
"Just by looking at your demeanor, I can tell you're a perfect match. You're an impeccable couple in terms of both knowledge and appearance."
The aunties talked one after another, giving them no chance to explain.
Even the unsuspecting bystanders started offering various blessings, and eventually even the wish for a son was shouted from a child with a penetrating voice.
Shang Xinuan was extremely embarrassed, and her attempts to explain were suppressed by everyone's enthusiasm.
She couldn't help but glance at Li Xiran standing to the side; his eyes held an indescribable emotion.
Loss, loneliness.
There was also a jealousy that was indescribable and lacked any basis for judgment.
Like looking in a mirror, at this moment, she seemed to see the expression on her face from the past.
She also remembered the people who caused her to lose control of her expression.
A popular female celebrity, a wealthy heiress who is a perfect match for Li Xiran, a beautiful person in charge of a company who came to discuss business, and Bai Quesi, who made headlines in the entertainment news.
She didn't know how Li Xiran felt when everyone was teasing him.
Would he, like me, first glance at him out of the corner of his eye, trying to discern his inner thoughts?
Yu Jiayue probably noticed Shang Xinuan's disappointed expression, and he took the initiative to explain, "Aunties, please don't misunderstand, we are currently very good friends."
"But I also appreciate your kind words, hoping that I will catch up with the person I like soon." He said with affection in his eyes.
The aunties started getting enthusiastic again, saying, "Miss Shang, look how nice this young man is, give him a chance."
Shang Xinuan stood in the center of the crowd and responded with only three sneezes.
At this moment, the gaze of an auntie wearing a floral scarf fell on Li Xiran. With his handsome appearance and gentle demeanor, he immediately won the auntie's favor. "I was so busy chatting with the young lady that I forgot that Mr. Li also invited everyone to eat delicious food."
"Mr. Li looks quite young. Are you dating or married?" The woman in the floral scarf was even more enthusiastic than the woman before. Seeing that there was no woman standing next to him, she directly took his arm. "If you're single, I have a niece who just graduated from university. She's very beautiful."
Li Xiran's gaze fell on Shang Xinuan, and he said meaningfully, "Auntie, you can't introduce me to any more potential partners. The young lady in my family is throwing a tantrum at me right now."
"Handsome uncle, you weren't kicked out of the house by your wife, were you?" It was that little boy with the particularly penetrating voice again. "Every time my dad makes my mom angry, she kicks him out of the house."
Shang Xinuan looked up awkwardly and saw Li Xiran staring at her with a slight smile, saying, "It's not exactly being kicked out. So how did your father always beg your mother for forgiveness?"
After thinking for a while, the child said, "Buy a gift. A gold necklace, a big diamond ring, and roses."
The child's innocent words caused everyone present to burst into laughter.
Even more enthusiastic aunties chimed in with various suggestions, saying, "The saying goes that couples quarrel in bed and make up in bed. Just hug your wife and coax her with kisses. You're pretty, you'll surely appease her in no time."
"Oh my, Auntie, that was brilliant!" someone in the room joked.
"Don't laugh, I've been there, this is how I'm always coaxed into submission."
Although she knew that her aunt's words were not directed at her personally, Shang Xinuan still blushed.
What's even more outrageous is that Li Xiran deliberately tilted his head to look at her, his glassy eyes with a British flirtatious air carrying an improper teasing tone.
"Really?" He smiled broadly, his gaze burning with passion, his tone half flirtatious and half sincere as he asked, "My princess and the monk are about the same age, according to my aunt. Can they win you over?"
When he teased her in public, Shang Xinuan frowned, but everyone around her just thought it was an acquaintance joking around, and she couldn't even find a reason to get angry.
The young lady gritted her teeth, her face turning red with suppressed rage.
Normally quick-witted, she couldn't even utter a retort at this moment.
He could only mutter "Ask someone else" in silence before walking out of the crowd.
Seeing her leave, Li Xiran also distanced himself from the crowd.
With the main character absent from the gathering, the camp steward began to invite everyone to take their seats.
The long table, lively and characteristic of Northwest China, was reserved for Shang Xinuan and Li Xiran at the center.
Despite the young lady's repeated refusals, she was still pushed to Li Xiran's side by the enthusiastic aunt.
"Young lady, since you're hosting today, you can't sit anywhere else."
Shang Xinuan naturally understood this principle, but she just didn't want to get close to Li Xiran.
It's all because some of her past memories are so unreasonable; they keep popping into her mind whenever she gets even slightly close to him.
Painful, beautiful, all kinds of things are intertwined.
She didn't want to go back, but she was afraid that these memories would urge her to go back, so she had no choice but to avoid it at its root.
"Nuan Nuan." She had just been pressed back into her seat by the aunt in the red scarf when Li Xiran grasped her hand, which was resting on her knee. "Just have a nice meal, I won't bother you."
His voice was very soft and gentle, just like how he used to coax her.
Shang Xinuan pulled her hand out of his palm. Seeing everyone at the table looking at them, she stopped struggling.
The next moment, Yu Jiayue sat down on her other side.
Two men, with her sitting in the middle, and a sense of tension began to rise in the air.
The young lady did not enjoy that meal at all.
When the special charcoal-grilled tender beef is served, the plate contains a whole tender beef, surrounded by various side dishes, and a silver dagger is used to cut the meat on the spot.
Since each piece of meat is cut off with bones attached, most people choose to eat it with their hands.
The young lady frowned, looking at the lamb leg in front of her but hesitating to take a bite.
Just as she was pondering how to ladylike cut the enormous leg of lamb in front of her into smaller pieces, Li Xiran simply reached out and took the plate away from her.
"You!" Shang Xinuan frowned, just about to ask him what was wrong with him, when she saw Li Xiran holding a knife in one hand and wearing a disposable glove in the other, cutting meat for her.
He changed into a light-colored outfit after returning from the desert today.
It's rare for him not to wear dark colors, and his gentle temperament becomes even more refreshing.
His short-sleeved T-shirt revealed his smooth, well-proportioned muscle lines, as well as the tattoos on his arms.
Sitting side by side, she could see that the red area on the black wings was half ink markings and half scars.
Li Xiran has the appearance of a noble and refined young nobleman, so tattoos always seem out of place with him.
"If you want to see, you can lift it up." Li Xiran guessed that she was looking at his tattoos without even turning his head while cutting the meat.
The young lady, her secret exposed, immediately looked away, staring at the empty plate in front of her, and said coldly, "Nobody wants to see this."
For the next few minutes, she only heard Li Xiran sigh softly, and then he placed the sliced roast meat back in front of her.
Everything was cut into small pieces, and next to the plate were forks, which were more convenient than chopsticks.
"Although I know the answer, I still have to ask. Miss, can you forgive me today?" He turned to the side, staring at her amber eyes beneath her thick, curled eyelashes, and asked gently.
The young lady remained unchanged, not even giving him a proper look.
But she couldn't help but recall the past four years, when she had a humble, unrequited love for Li Xiran.
However, her spoiled temper didn't make her much more docile, and she often sulked with Li Xiran.
The reason why she can be so easygoing about many things, but can never be ruthless towards Li Xiran, is because he is always willing to coax her again and again without getting tired of it.
So much so that she can no longer tell whether this is just another instance of him using feigned affection as a habitual way to coax her.
As he said, it is still about suppressing and restraining the awakening of love.
Li Xiran pursed his lips and nodded, his tone both helpless and indulgent, "I know, Miss is still angry."
"But it's okay, I'm willing to keep coaxing you until you calm down."
A note from the author:
Let's have a short survey:
Are you satisfied with how well your uncle is pursuing your wife?
I hope he can endure even more injuries!
A. Breaking a large rock with his chest
B. Kneeling in repentance at the Shang Mansion on a torrential rainy night.
C. A tiger punch—uppercutaneous hook, lowercut, left hook, right hook—and he'd be bruised and battered.
D. Actually, I kind of want to forgive him.
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Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2023-04-28 23:59:54 and 2023-04-30 23:34:38!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: 67048855 (1 landmine);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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