Chapter 86 The Love-Brain Female Lead Awakens 29

Yi Chen’an was genuinely helpless, and the plan to meet her parents was dropped just like that.

“You, honestly. Am I really that unpresentable?”

Hunching her neck, Sang Ruo tried to flatter him. “It’s not that you’re unpresentable, it’s that you’re too presentable. I’m afraid you’ll scare my parents. At least give me some time to ease them into it.”

Yi Chen’an was not fooled by that at all.

“How long do you need to ‘ease them into it’?”

Sang Ruo bravely tested the waters. “Half a year?”

Yi Chen’an just stared at her without saying a word.

His gaze made Sang Ruo’s skin crawl.

“Three months, three months at least, right? I’ve been working on these embroidery pieces lately. No matter what, I should have some results in three months. By then, if my parents are happy, everything will be easier to talk about. Otherwise, if I’m doing my project while also talking to them about dating, they might think being in a relationship is affecting my career. And when that happens, won’t you be the one in trouble?”

She muttered on and on, and finally found herself a perfectly suitable excuse. “So, see? I’m doing this for your sake too.”

He cupped her face and rubbed it around like he was venting his frustration.

Sang Ruo’s leave was almost up, and she had originally planned to go back this weekend anyway. With Yi Chen’an here, the two of them could return together.

During this period, while the livestream channel was building hype, Sang Ruo had been going live herself for two hours every day as the host.

The operations staff said they could promote her as the brand’s heiress and ride that for a wave of traffic.

Sang Ruo refused. Revealing her identity would not necessarily help attract new customers. If there were no big giveaways, who would care who you were?

If anything, it might backfire.

The factory’s bulk goods were not ready yet, so in the livestream she mostly just chatted, introduced some knowledge about embroidery, and incidentally helped sell her family’s fabric.

Since Sang Ruo had to go back to school, the livestreams could not stop because of that. Her plan was to rent a place there and set up another livestream room. Whatever she needed for the streams, the staff would ship it to her every week.

On the day she left, Old Sang wanted to take her to the high-speed rail station. Sang Ruo was too embarrassed to let Yi Chen’an come pick her up, so they agreed to meet at the station.

Old Sang said, “You can’t keep renting forever. When you have time, you can take a look at some new developments. If the location works, we can buy a place over there. It’ll be more convenient.”

“Okay, I’ll take a look when I have time.” Sang Ruo agreed verbally, but buying a house was troublesome. As for where exactly her brain would rank that item on the agenda later, she had no idea.

Old Sang could tell she was not taking it seriously.

Helplessly, he said, “You go ahead and look first. I’ll look around too. When I have time to go over there, we’ll just buy one.”

Then he asked, “Want to buy a car too?”

Sang Ruo refused. “I don’t need one for now.”

The father and daughter were chatting when a voice suddenly cut in from the side. “Uncle Sang, I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Sang Ruo jolted. If that voice was not her boyfriend’s, whose was it?

Old Sang looked pleasantly surprised. “Xiao Yi! Here on business? Why didn’t you stop by the house?”

“I was planning to…”

Sang Ruo looked at him, her heart nearly leaping into her throat. Hadn’t they agreed to meet on the train? Why was he suddenly showing up here, and saying something like that?

Then she heard Yi Chen’an continue, “But I got held up by some personal matters. Next time, I’ll definitely come pay you a proper visit.”

The two chatted for a while, then Old Sang remembered Sang Ruo and urged her, “Why aren’t you greeting him? Brother Yi took good care of you in Qingyang.”

That “Brother Yi” from Old Sang made Sang Ruo’s teeth ache.

Then she looked at the culprit, who was smiling at her brightly.

He was clearly waiting for her to say it.

He was getting back at her, getting back at her for not letting him come to the house.

With her father right there, Sang Ruo could only swallow the grievance and say, “Hello, Brother Yi.”

“Hey!” He answered that one especially loudly.

Sang Ruo’s fists clenched.

Old Sang was still asking over there, “Xiao Yi, which car are you in?”

“Uncle Sang, I’m in Car 13.”

Old Sang was delighted. “Well, isn’t that a coincidence? Bubu is in Car 13 too. You…”

Yi Chen’an said, “Don’t worry, Uncle Sang. Leave Sang Ruo to me. I’ll take her all the way back to school.”

Old Sang naturally left beaming from ear to ear.

He even sent Sang Ruo a message. “When Xiao Yi saw me this time, I felt like he was much friendlier to me than before. He used to call me President Sang. This time he called me Uncle.”

Sang Ruo could only marvel at how thick Old Sang’s nerves were.

He had completely failed to sense Xiao Yi’s sinister intentions.

That sinister Xiao Yi was now taking Sang Ruo’s bag and “kidnapping” her through the ticket check and onto the train.

“‘Brother Yi’ sounded pretty good. Your voice was very sweet. Say it again for me.”

Sang Ruo rewarded him with a kick.

“Hiss…”

Sang Ruo said, “Didn’t we agree to meet on the train?”

“Oh, well, I saw your dad before boarding, so I came over to say hello.”

Oh, my ass. There was not an ounce of sincerity in that. Lying dog of a man.

Yi Chen’an said, “When a certain little girl wants to toy with me and then dump me, and keeps me hidden away, I can only come out and remind everyone I exist.”

Sang Ruo rolled her eyes at him and did not want to bother with him.

As soon as she got on the train, she went to sleep. Then when she was woken up, she discovered that she had spent the whole time sleeping sprawled against his shoulder.

Even worse, there was a napkin tucked beneath the corner of her mouth, and there was an obvious wet stain on it.

How was she supposed to keep up her angry act now?!

She crumpled up the tissue and tossed it away.

She forced out a question just to say something. “Are we there?”

She was still terribly sleepy, so she simply kept leaning against him and did not get up.

Yi Chen’an smiled and handed her a bottle of water. “A few more minutes. Have a sip and wake yourself up.”

“Are we taking the subway back later?”

Yi Chen’an said, “No need. My car’s parked in the lot.”

“Oh.”

They had left Qingyan fairly late, so by the time they got off, it was already close to seven.

Yi Chen’an first took her to dinner, then drove straight back to the residential complex without even making a detour.

To get from the high-speed rail station to his place, they would have passed by the area near her school first.

But actually, she did not want to go back to school that early anyway.

Yi Chen’an had been away on a business trip for two weeks, and she had taken two weeks off. All together, the two of them had not seen each other for almost a month.

Sang Ruo had been exhausted during this time. After taking a comfortable hot shower, she sprawled herself on the sofa and did not want to move at all.

After Yi Chen’an finished cleaning up and came out, he saw the state she was in and frowned. “Why is your hair still wet?”

Sang Ruo couldn’t be bothered to move.

“I don’t feel like it. The floor heating¹‘s on anyway, so it’s not cold. It’ll dry on its own if I just let it air out.”

Yi Chen’an didn’t say anything. A moment later, he carried over a stool and sat down beside the sofa above her head. There was a hair dryer in his hand.

The moment Sang Ruo saw it, she immediately wriggled upward like a little worm, spreading all her hair over the sofa armrest.

Yi Chen’an sat there and dried her hair for her, occasionally having her turn over so he could dry the parts of her scalp that had been pressed down.

Sang Ruo felt like a salted fish being flipped over and over to dry in the sun.

Still, being pampered by her boyfriend felt pretty great.

As long as this man wasn’t acting like an infuriating jerk, he was exceptionally presentable.

He gently combed through her scalp with his fingers, smoothing out her slightly wavy long hair.

The warmth on her head made her drowsy.

Then suddenly, the hum of the hair dryer stopped.

She half lifted her eyelids and saw the man bend down and softly taste her lips.

At this angle, Sang Ruo felt awkward.

She let out two soft, aggrieved little whimpers.

“You’re bullying me.”

The man’s voice was low and husky. “You’re really a little troublemaker, accusing me before I can accuse you. Wasn’t it you who started bullying me? You couldn’t even wear your clothes properly.”

Sang Ruo tilted her head back for a look and saw that the belt of her robe had come loose at some point. Wherever her gaze fell, there was a dazzling stretch of fair, delicate curves spilling into view.

From his angle, he could only see more than she could.

“Ah…” she cried out, pulling her robe closed.

She wanted to get up, but the man pressed her back down.

“Only thinking of covering up now? Too late…”

His breath was scorching, his fingertips were scorching, his kiss was scorching.

Only when she was nearly out of breath from his kissing did he finally relent and release her lips, then move downward, branding her chin, her neck, and farther still.

Her robe fell open even more, and where he buried his head made her tremble.

She was scared now, murmuring helplessly, “Yi Chen’an…”

The man straightened up, and she saw the sheen of moisture on his lips.

Sang Ruo noticed that his muscles were trembling, and his breathing was unsteady too.

But what he asked was, “Should I take you back to school?”

Ever since they had gotten together, he had always insisted on taking her back to school, never once letting her stay the night.

Before, he had always sent her away forcefully. This time, though, he was asking her.

Sang Ruo understood what he meant.

She heard herself say, “I don’t have class tomorrow.”

The moment the words left her mouth, she realized her voice sounded unbearably coy. She immediately shut up and said nothing more.

Having gotten his answer, the man kissed her tenderly. “My Guaiguai…”

Sang Ruo was easily swept up into the man’s arms. He looked at her with burning eyes, and that gaze was so hot she had no choice but to avert her eyes and bury her face in his chest.

The man carried her into the master bedroom, his territory and his alone…

…

After that night, Sang Ruo realized that Yi Chen’an had become even more intimate with her.

If you asked her for examples, she wouldn’t really be able to name any. It was just that she felt their two souls had drawn even closer.

As though they had finally become a single whole, and with Yi Chen’an, she had become a part of him.

All his thoughts and actions seemed to revolve around that idea.

It was clingy in a way, but also even more reassuring.

Sang Ruo also became bolder around him.

She had been bold before, but now… now she was practically lawless.

But this man accepted all of it with a smile.

He was so indulgent that she sometimes felt a little guilty, wondering if she was going too far.

Sang Ruo was planning to set up a livestream room here in Qingyang, and Yi Chen’an suggested, “There’s still an unused guest room. It wouldn’t be a problem at all to turn it into a livestream room. And if your stream goes late, you won’t have to keep running back and forth.”

Listen to that. This man didn’t even talk anymore about taking her back to school. Between the lines, he was already taking it for granted that she’d stay here at night.

Shameless.

Yi Chen’an was used to being scolded by her and didn’t get annoyed. Smiling, he said, “Isn’t this an even better solution? And you wouldn’t have to spend extra money.”

Sang Ruo shot him a sidelong glance. She hadn’t realized when he had become so frugal.

“I’m serious. It’s convenient here, sure, but it’s also a hassle. Deliveries come all the time, and Qingyan staff might be coming and going too. It’s not appropriate to put the livestream room at home.”

Yi Chen’an toyed with her hair and lifted it to his nose for a light sniff. “Then where are you planning to set it up?”

“Near school. Ow… stop pulling my hair.” Sang Ruo explained, “Don’t make that face. I’ll definitely still be living at school more often, it’s more convenient over there. And if I need help or something, I can just call out around campus and there’ll be tons of people looking for part-time work.”

Seeing that she had made up her mind, Yi Chen’an let out a sigh.

All he said was, “I’ll go house-hunting with you.”

There weren’t any office buildings near the school, only residential complexes.

But there weren’t many owners actually living in their own homes. Most of them were either rented out or being used as guesthouses.

Sang Ruo found a renovated apartment building, with a parcel station² in the storefront downstairs.

It was only for setting up a livestream room, and the finished Embroidery pieces she made were all small items, so Sang Ruo had originally planned to just rent a studio apartment. It wouldn’t take up much space.

Yi Chen’an was thinking further ahead. “Rent a two-bedroom place. I noticed a lot of livestreams run late. If your stream goes late too, you won’t need to go back to the dorm. We can set up one bedroom here so you can sleep here when needed.”

Sang Ruo thought the suggestion actually sounded pretty good, so she rented a large two-bedroom apartment of about ninety square meters. It even came with a storage room, which was perfect for use as a storeroom.

Sang Ruo already had experience setting up a livestream room at Qingyan, so this was just doing it all over again. Once the supplies arrived, she would be able to handle it with ease.

However, before the livestream room was even set up, the first things to move into the apartment were Yi Chen’an’s personal belongings.

He directly brought over a bedding set and a pair of pillows from home to make the bed, along with his usual clothes, a spare computer, a toothbrush, cup, slippers, and the like.

Under Sang Ruo’s cool stare, he wasn’t the least bit guilty.

“How could I feel at ease letting you live out here alone? When you get too busy to handle everything, I’ll stay here with you.”

As if she would believe the sinister intentions of this dog of a man.

There had originally been two streamers over at Qingyan. When Sang Ruo was unavailable, they were the ones keeping the account active.

After endless anticipation, the bulk shipment of accessories centered around Embroidery pieces had finally arrived.

Sang Ruo’s grand sales campaign has officially begun.

Translator’s Notes