After she finished speaking, Xu Cheng’an fell silent, resting his head on her shoulder, his gaze vacant and staring at a point in nothingness, feeling suffocated.
Shen Ran’s words had extinguished all of his expectations.
If matching social status was a prerequisite for marrying Shen Ran, no matter how hard he tried, he would never achieve his goal.
With such a gap before his eyes, what could he do?
Was Shen Ran deliberately reminding him that she would never marry him in this lifetime?
No, he would not allow such a thing to happen.
This lifetime, next lifetime, the lifetime after next, he would never leave her!
His arm around her waist suddenly tightened. Xu Cheng’an hugged her fiercely, like a child lacking a sense of security.
The shoulder he was resting on was wet—he was crying again.
Chen Jing pushed him, her tone becoming serious: “Xu Cheng’an.”
Xu Cheng’an’s breathing slowed for a moment, silent.
“Are you sure you want to cry while hugging me here all day?”
“Chen Jing said: ‘My leg is going numb.’
Xu Cheng’an sniffled, using both arms to lift her in a child-carrying position and walked silently to the bedroom.
Xu Cheng’an placed her in the bed, immediately lying down next to her, curling up insecurely beside her, his voice hoarse: ‘Hold me.’
Chen Jing reached out and embraced him.
Xu Cheng’an’s anxious heart finally felt somewhat comforted, closing his eyes to sleep.
Chen Jing glanced at the sun high outside the window, hesitantly asking: ‘You just woke up not long ago, and now you want to sleep again?’
On such a good day, what’s the point of just sleeping!
Xu Cheng’an, however, felt aggrieved yet righteous: ‘You’re unwilling to marry me, and now you won’t even accompany me for an afternoon nap?’
‘I’m not unwilling to marry you, I just think it’s too soon,’ Chen Jing tried to explain, but the person in her arms suddenly trembled, as if choking on anger, frightening her into quickly changing her words: ‘Okay, okay, I won’t say anything. I’ll accompany you for a nap. I’ll do whatever you want.’
She deliberately tightened her arms, gently rubbing her cheek against his head, completely soothing him.”
Chen Jing internally sighed deeply, admiring her past self for the Nth time. Daring to love such a male lead, what courage!
Her comfort and indulgence were effective. Xu Cheng’an gradually calmed down, his complexion returning to normal, softly confirming: “You’ll really accompany me in everything?”
Chen Jing decisively nodded: “Really, I’ll be a dog if I’m lying.”
Xu Cheng’an closed his eyes contentedly, his lips slightly raised, sleeping peacefully.
In fact, he knew he wasn’t quite normal, but so what? As long as Shen Ran was willing to indulge him, he didn’t care about anything else.
From the initial secret love, wanting only to talk to her daily, to being her friend, to being her boyfriend, and now being unable to tolerate even a bit of her perfunctory attitude and coldness.
He admitted he was becoming increasingly greedy…
But so what?
He just loved Shen Ran, extremely, extremely, extremely much.
Chapter 6: Little Crybaby 6
///
Because Shen Ran was holding him, Xu Cheng’an slept exceptionally well.
When he awoke, it was already late at night.
He moved, first reaching out to touch Shen Ran, and when his palm felt the already-cold other half of the bed, his heart sank.
“Ran Jie?”
No one answered.
Xu Cheng’an immediately got up, about to check other rooms, when he suddenly noticed a post-it note stuck on the bedside table—
[Urgent company matter, I’ve left first. I won’t have time to accompany you these two days. When you wake up, go home. We’ll contact by phone.]
Leaving in the middle of the night with an excuse, telling him to go home when he wakes up—what was she trying to do?
Dumping him?
Hmph.
Xu Cheng’an looked coldly at the words on the post-it, his eye sockets reddening, yet unexpectedly calm.
After a long silence, he slowly tore the post-it into pieces, crumpled it, flushed it down the toilet, then returned to bed and lay down, closing his eyes to continue sleeping.
From discovering Shen Ran was gone, tearing up the note, to lying back in bed, Xu Cheng’an’s behavior was remarkably calm, except for his reddened eye sockets, showing no other abnormality.
But for some reason, the quiet air became increasingly heavy, like the calm before a storm, oppressive and suffocating.
Inexplicably frightening.
///
Airport.
A black, low-key Cayenne slowly stopped beside a man. The window rolled down, and Chen Jing frowned, glaring at Shen Xuan with a displeased expression: “You said not to contact often, and now you’re threatening me to pick someone up in the middle of the night. Are you sick?
Shen Yuan didn’t even glance at her, expressionlessly opening the passenger door and getting out of the car.
” The usual interaction between the Shen siblings was always tense. Shen Yuan never acknowledged having a sister and would often play the victim in front of their parents, falsely accusing Shen Ran of bullying him. According to the original plot, Shen Yuan had never actively contacted Shen Ran until his death in a car accident. Yet this time, he suddenly appeared and threatened her with Xu Cheng’an. Chen Jing looked at Shen Yuan’s cold face, feeling that the plot development was somewhat strange. Shen Yuan closed the car door, impatiently urging: “Take me to the nearest hotel to your home, quickly.” Chen Jing didn’t move, frowning and asking: “How did you know about Xu Cheng’an’s matter?” Shen Yuan suppressed his temper: “Drive first, I’ll tell you when we get to the hotel.” Chen Jing suspiciously withdrew her gaze and stepped on the gas, driving back. The atmosphere in the car was gloomy. Shen Yuan sat with a cold face, frequently looking back as if some monstrous beast was chasing him. Chen Jing pretended not to notice and focused on driving. During the journey, Chen Jing tried to speak to the electronic voice but received no response. “
Helplessly, she remained silent, taking things step by step. As instructed, she booked a room at a nearby hotel. Chen Jing sat on the sofa in the room, looking at Shen Yuan who had collapsed onto the bed.
“Speak.”
Shen Yuan stared at the ceiling, paused, and suddenly said: “I will die in a car accident in three months.”
Chen Jing was suddenly stunned. How could Shen Yuan know about something that hasn’t happened yet?
“You don’t believe it either, right?” Shen Yuan wiped his face, self-deprecatingly: “Mom and Dad don’t believe me either. They say I’m crazy.”
Chen Jing came to her senses, cautiously asking: “If it’s something three months from now, how do you know about it?”
Shen Yuan, unaware of her thoughts, hesitated before finally sharing the dream that had troubled him for days. “I had a dream,” he sat up from the bed, looking slightly tired: “In the dream, I was in a car accident, and the person responsible was Xu Cheng’an.”
Chen Jing frowned: “That’s impossible.”
Before his blackening, Xu Cheng’an was just an ordinary teenager. How could he possibly have a chance to tamper with Shen Yuan’s car?
Moreover, before Shen Yuan’s car accident, Xu Cheng’an was dating the female protagonist. They barely had time to interact with Shen Yuan. The female protagonist was low-key, and her friends only knew her family was well-off but never thought she was related to the Shen family.
Chen Jing reminded him: “Think carefully. You must have seen it wrong.”
Shen Yuan’s face turned ugly: “I saw it very clearly. It’s your little lover.” He pulled out a stack of photos from his backpack and handed them over: “Take a look yourself.”
Chen Jing glanced at him, took the photos, and flipped through them, completely shocked. This person…
