"From now on, be a good father, regain your authority, and fill the emotional void in his life. But ask yourself honestly, can you do it?"
"I……"
“He can’t do it.” Li Jingchen interrupted him, not giving Li Guanyu a chance to speak.
Song Nuan tilted her head and looked at Li Guanyu with a faint smile, "Your son said you can't do it, what do you think? If you're confident, you can refute him now."
Li Guanyu pursed his lips into a straight line. After so many years, that sense of frustration returned.
Song Nuan really hoped he would say something.
Whatever you say, even if it's admitting you can't do it, admitting you're a failed father, anything you say is better than this suffocating yet incredibly clear-headed silence.
Because Li Jingchen stood still.
His lack of eagerness to leave speaks volumes.
Song Nuan looked at Li Guanyu again. He lowered his eyes, smiled self-deprecatingly, and turned to leave...
Song Nuan: "..."
She briefly considered calling out to Li Guanyu.
But then she thought that repairing the father-son relationship was not something an 'outsider' like her could interfere with; they might be able to understand the signals they were sending out to each other.
Or perhaps they are deliberately ignoring it?
Who knows?
On the way back, Song Nuan looked at the scenery rushing past the car window, feeling somewhat listless.
She couldn't explain why, nor did she want to figure out the source of her unhappiness. Being in a daze like this was fine.
Ghost drove to a place unfamiliar to her.
It's a detached villa in the city's affluent area, called Wanhua Garden.
"Aren't we going back to the garden?" Song Nuan asked.
“I’m not going back.” There’s no need to stay in a place where an accident happened. Li Jingchen said, “I’ve had your things brought over. You can stay here from now on.”
The villa was very spacious, more than twice the size of her own.
The decor is visibly high-end; from the building materials to the furniture placed everywhere, it exudes understated luxury and elegance.
"I have my own home."
The implication was that she wanted to go home.
Li Jingchen turned on the heater, took off her coat, and hung it on the hanger. "Who was it that just said they loved me?"
"...What does this have to do with me going home to live?"
The man chuckled softly, poured a cup of hot water, and handed it to her, saying, "Come and drink some water to warm yourself up."
She obediently walked over.
Before her hand even touched the water glass, her wrist was suddenly grabbed, and she was pulled into a thick embrace.
Li Jingchen held her tightly, resting his chin on her shoulder and stroking her ring finger, on which he wore the ring he had given her before she went to Yunxian.
"Nuan Nuan, let's get married."
Song Nuan remained calm.
"Hmm?" He raised his voice slightly, as if seeking someone's opinion.
"don't want."
"Why?"
Song Nuan looked up at him and said, "Your desire to get married is just a momentary impulse. A momentary impulse can bring endless hidden dangers. Don't you know that?"
"Why do you think I acted impulsively?" Li Jingchen asked, puzzled. He had proposed to her more than once, but she had rejected him each time. Before, it was Qin Yuchuan, and now she was saying he acted impulsively.
His expression turned somewhat grim. "Don't you want to marry me?"
Song Nuan looked at him; she had never been so calm and clear-headed as she was now.
"think."
"Let's go get our marriage certificate now."
He really did grab her and try to leave, like a mad dog that couldn't be leashed.
Song Nuan quickly grabbed him, "Can you let me finish what I have to say? Thinking about it is one thing, but being able to get married is another. Do you think now is a good time to get married?"
Why not?
She took a deep breath and changed her question, "You have a fiancée, right?"
"Is that why?" Li Jingchen frowned slightly. "This is a marriage arranged by my family. I have never acknowledged it, and I don't know who that woman is."
Song Nuan took out her phone, swiped a few times on the screen, and then handed the phone to him.
"See for yourself."
On the screen were the news articles she had searched for.
Shocking! The heir of the Li family is engaged, and the woman is suspected to be from the Zhong family in the capital. The heiress of Liangcheng is heartbroken overnight.
'Li Jingchen's fiancée? The Zhong and Li families join forces!'
There are many similar news reports, without pictures, just a few lines of text, but the Zhong and Li families' sensationalism is so strong that they have at least hundreds of thousands of views.
Besides, the news was from five years ago.
At that time, they didn't know each other. The person next to her was Qin Yuchuan, but Song Nuan had no way of knowing who the person next to him was, or whether he had ever even met his rumored fiancée.
"These are all reports from the media that are completely fabricated."
"But without your permission, these news articles shouldn't have appeared online, and they haven't been taken down for so long."
Song Nuan smiled faintly, but her smile seemed insincere.
Li Jingchen's expression was complicated. "Nuan Nuan, the situation back then was quite complicated. Let me explain."
"Forget it." She hugged him and leaned against him, enjoying the moment of peace. "Let bygones be bygones, but Li Jingchen, I won't make any progress with you until your engagement is finalized."
"Even dating is not allowed?"
"no."
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Song Nuan spoke even faster, "I don't want to be criticized in the future for being a mistress. Once is enough. I don't want to experience this a second time."
The man's Adam's apple bobbed, and after a long while, he gently embraced her, his voice deep and resonant, "Okay, I'll take care of it as soon as possible."
It takes a hundred days to recover from a bone or muscle injury.
Song Nuan's feet are no longer swollen, but they are not completely healed. Sometimes, if she is not careful about her posture, she still feels a slight pain.
At Li Jingchen's insistence, she chose to switch to online work.
As for the work that couldn't be handled online, Fang Yu took care of it all, which made her much more relaxed.
That afternoon, she received a phone call.
Who is it?
"Sister Song Nuan, is that you?"
The voice sounded very familiar. After a moment, Song Nuan recognized the owner of the voice, "Windsor?"
Windsor was clearly delighted to be recognized. "It's me! I didn't expect you to remember me. That's wonderful! I even bought a plane ticket back to my home country to look for you."
Did he return to China to find her?
Song Nuan had a bad feeling. It seemed that she had been repeatedly intercepted when she went to Song's, so she didn't know how they had managed to get her number directly.
"What's wrong?"
"Things are a bit complicated, and it's hard to explain over the phone. Let's meet and talk."
Song Nuan glanced down at her feet and politely declined, "I'm sorry, Windsor, it's not convenient for me to meet with you recently. Just tell me directly. If you're really worried, we can talk about it when I get back."
Windsor knew that when she called the Song family before, they always said that Song Nuan was not there.
So he really did go on a business trip.
Windsor waved her hand, seemingly to no one on the other end of the phone, "It's okay. Where are you? Send me your location, and I'll come over and talk to you in person."
Song Nuan: "..."
There's really no need for it.
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