Chapter 81: The Love-Brain Female Lead Awakens 24

It rained all day, and it never stopped.

Sang Ruo nestled in Yi Chen’an’s arms as the two of them listened to the soft rustle of the rain outside.

Yi Chen’an didn’t mention packing her things and sending her away again.

He held the girl in his arms and stroked her back, again and again.

There was a beanbag chair on the balcony, and that was where they were curled up now.

Neither of them spoke for a long time. They simply leaned quietly against each other, and that alone already felt satisfying.

Sang Ruo tipped her head up and asked softly, “I want some water.”

The man still didn’t let go of her. He merely reached out, poured half a glass of water from the table beside them, and brought it back.

Sang Ruo had been planning to take it herself, but he brought it straight to her lips.

After she finished drinking from his hand, she heard him ask, “Do you want more?”

She shook her head.

He set the glass down and came back to curl up with her again.

Sang Ruo smiled. “Are you raising a child?”

The man didn’t deny it at all.

“Mhm.”

“I don’t care. You kissed me, so you have to take responsibility.”

“All right, I’ll take responsibility.”

His gaze was like honey. When he looked at her, it was as if he wanted to melt her into it.

Sang Ruo still wanted to say a little more, to confirm and solidify their relationship.

Then she heard Yi Chen’an say on his own initiative, “Since we’re together now, as your boyfriend, I only have one request.”

“Tch, you’re already trying to control me.”

“Listen.” He lightly tapped her on the head.

“Oh.”

Yi Chen’an looked at her and said very seriously, “I’m a few years older than you, so sometimes I may not fully understand some of your thoughts and needs. If there’s anything I’m not doing well enough, you have to tell me. I’ll do my best to meet them. But you can’t casually bring up breaking up just because you think I’ve done something poorly. I’m not playing house with you.”

Sang Ruo huffed. “I’m not fooling around with you either.”

Then she asked him, “If I can’t casually bring up breaking up, then when can I?”

“Never.”

Yi Chen’an pinched her cheek, and it actually hurt.

“Ow, ow, ow, let go.”

He didn’t let go. Instead, he said, “You’d better delete those two words from your everyday vocabulary.”

Sang Ruo played dumb. “Which two words?”

Then he glared at her.

Sang Ruo pushed her luck and lay against his chest, acting spoiled. “You haven’t even said whether you like me.”

The man chuckled softly, stroked her hair, and kissed her eyes.

She heard him whisper by her ear, “I do. How could I not?”

“Then when did you start liking me? Tell me, were you plotting against me a long time ago?”

Yi Chen’an stopped talking.

Sang Ruo changed the question and started bringing up old scores.

“I don’t believe you. You didn’t even care about me. I rented a place outside and posted so many updates on Moments, and you ignored every single one.”

Yi Chen’an simply watched her quietly as she performed.

Sang Ruo felt a little guilty. “What’s with that look?”

Yi Chen’an said, “I asked Old Sang… your dad. He said you were staying in a serviced apartment with very good security and property management, not the rundown little place in some remote area you described on Moments. He also said your internship didn’t have night shifts, so there was no such thing as you having to walk home alone late at night after work. And besides, the subway station is right downstairs from both your office building and your apartment. Theoretically, the distance you’d actually need to walk isn’t far at all.”

Ah, a miscalculation. She’d forgotten this man knew Old Sang, and that he would actually ask him about the situation.

Even after being exposed, Sang Ruo wasn’t embarrassed.

She could always act shameless. “I don’t care. You’ve been so cold to me these past few days, and I was sad for ages. You have to make it up to me.”

“All right. How do you want me to make it up to you?”

Uh… for a moment, she really couldn’t think of anything.

Before, her head had been full of all the things this dog of a man had done to upset her. She had endless old scores to settle with him.

And yet now, when she tried to recall them,

she couldn’t remember a single one.

“I want kisses.”

The man lifted a hand and rubbed the corner of her mouth.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore?”

“I want it anyway.”

She heard a low chuckle roll out of his throat.

He leaned closer.

Sang Ruo closed her eyes.

Then a dry, broad hand rested against her forehead.

“Sang Ruo, your forehead is really hot. Do you have a fever?”

Sang Ruo touched it herself, but she couldn’t tell.

“I really have a fever? No wonder I felt dizzy. I thought it was just the giddiness of happiness.”

Yi Chen’an: “…”

He looked at her as if she were a Little Moron.

The Little Moron was carried off and settled down in the guest room.

Yi Chen’an brought over a forehead thermometer to take her temperature.

37.4. A mild fever.

“Take some medicine and get some proper sleep. If you feel bad tonight, call me and I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Yi Chen’an brought over Sang Ruo’s phone and had her unlock it.

Entirely unapologetic, he pinned his own name to the very top in all of her contact lists.

He also set his number as her emergency contact so she could call him with one tap.

“Be good and go to sleep. Don’t stay up late.”

Yi Chen’an went out and closed the door for her.

Sang Ruo covered her burning face and rolled around happily.

Yi Chen’an had finally fallen into her hands.

Sang Ruo had thought she’d be too excited to sleep, but instead she had sweet dreams all night.

When she woke up the next day, she felt strong as an ox again.

She swallowed and found that her throat hurt a little, probably from inflammation.

But that couldn’t affect her good mood in the slightest.

The sky had cleared, and the city looked washed clean and new.

Sang Ruo liked this rain. The downpour had played matchmaker.

A lot of people in the company group chat were asking for leave, saying that because of last night’s rain, the roads in their neighborhoods were flooded and they had no way to get out.

In this city today, many people were trapped at home, and many others were out in the rain trying to clear drainage channels and save underground garages from flooding.

Clearly, human joy and sorrow are not shared.

Yi Chen’an was already up, and his phone was on speaker. It sounded like he was in a conference call.

He was cooking noodles, and when he saw Sang Ruo, he signaled for her to go wash up.

By the time she finished getting ready and came out, he was no longer in the meeting.

He naturally came over and checked her forehead again.

“Your fever’s gone.”

Sang Ruo took the chance to wrap her arms around his waist and nuzzle against his chest.

In a coquettish voice, she said, “I’m not better yet. My throat still hurts.”

“I thought of that. I ordered you some stewed pear soup. Drink some after we eat, then take a pill. You should be fine by this afternoon.”

Sang Ruo obediently went to eat.

Yi Chen’an asked, “Are you going to work today? Do you want to take leave and stay home to rest and recover?”

“No. A lot of people in our department already took leave because their neighborhoods got flooded. If anyone else asks off, our supervisor definitely won’t approve it.”

“All right. I’ll drive you to work after we eat.”

“Is it on your way?”

Come to think of it, Sang Ruo still didn’t know where he worked.

He was quite straightforward about it and gave her a place name. “Not exactly on the way, but it’s not much of a detour either.”

Sang Ruo checked on her phone. There were two possible routes. Dropping her off before heading to work would only add a little over ten minutes compared to going straight to his company, so she agreed.

But some roads were waterlogged, and they had to take a bit more of a detour. She ended up arriving at the office right on time.

Yi Chen’an himself was definitely going to be late, but since he was the boss, being late once in a while probably wasn’t a big deal.

She unfastened her seatbelt and got out, ready to dash inside and clock in.

Just as she opened the car door, it seemed like someone tugged on her left hand, the one holding her bag.

It was Yi Chen’an.

“This afternoon… should I come pick you up?”

The contrast of him saying something like that with such a blank expression was ridiculous. It was so cute.

Sang Ruo couldn’t help leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. “Okay. Send me a message when you get there.”

After confirming their relationship, the way they got along became clingy and lovey-dovey.

That day happened to be Friday. That evening, the two of them curled up together and watched a movie that wasn’t particularly interesting.

Sang Ruo yawned. “I’m so sleepy. I’m going to bed.”

“I’ll take you home.”

Sang Ruo thought she was so sleepy she must have misheard him.

She checked the time again to make sure she hadn’t seen it wrong.

11:50 p.m.

Yi Chen’an had already picked up his car keys.

“It’s the middle of the night, and you’re making me go home?”

Yi Chen’an said, “You can’t stay here overnight.”

“I slept here last night.”

“You were sick yesterday.”

Sang Ruo refused to accept that. “Why not? Didn’t I used to stay here all the time on weekends? How come now that we’re together, suddenly I can’t?”

“It’s different now.”

“What’s different?”

Yi Chen’an didn’t say, but he held his ground. He simply wouldn’t let her stay the night.

Sang Ruo was furious. What a jerk. On the very first day of being together, he’d already made her mad.

On the way back, she didn’t say a word to him.

The little girl was huffing with anger, and it was almost funny to watch.

Yi Chen’an said, “I’m free tomorrow. I’ll take you out somewhere. Is there anywhere you want to go?”

“No. I’m sleeping in tomorrow.”

“That works too. You sleep first, and I’ll come by after you wake up.”

She ignored him.

Yi Chen’an said, “The zoo has a three-month-old panda cub on display tomorrow. It’ll be its first time meeting visitors. I just checked, and there are still tickets left for the 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. slot. Interested?”

Who could possibly not be interested in pandas, especially a cub version, soft and sticky like a little mochi dumpling?

Sang Ruo caved without a shred of dignity.

Was she really that easy to coax?

No, it was just that Yi Chen’an could always soothe her in a few short sentences.

At the zoo, the little panda cub had been licked pink by its mother. It was a soft little ball of fluff, lying in a bamboo tray and making tiny whining sounds.

Every time it moved, the chubby meat on its body jiggled. It was so cute you almost wanted to gobble it up.

The restaurant inside the park was quite the profiteer too. A panda-shaped rice ball made from black rice and white rice, tiny as could be, sold for thirty yuan.

Sang Ruo ate three all by herself.

They were lined up on the little table in front of her, giving her the most impressive spread among all the children around them.

The little boy at the next table stared at the single one in front of him, his lips already puckering as he was about to cry. “Daddy, I want lots and lots of kitty ones too.”

The young dad looked utterly speechless, and when he glanced at Sang Ruo, his eyes were full of condemnation.

Under the little boy’s stare, Sang Ruo picked up a panda rice ball and bit its head clean off in one bite.

After setting it down, she picked up the second one and bit off its head the same way.

Then the third…

At last, the little boy couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst into loud sobs.

Yi Chen’an came back carrying the rest of the food they’d ordered, and Sang Ruo quickly lowered her head and pretended nothing had happened.

That day, when Yi Chen’an drove her home, he took two small panda plushies from the back seat and gave them to her.

Sang Ruo hugged them in her arms, though she said with disdain, “How old am I, and you’re still buying me stuffed toys? Are you seriously raising me like a little kid?”

Yi Chen’an wasn’t fooled by her act at all.

“If you weren’t a little kid, then why would you get into a huff with other little kids?”