Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
Through the reprimand, Song Qingchun could discern the barely hidden pampering, not unlike the indulgence a big brother allowed his younger sibling.
It was at that moment that Song Qingchun finally saw the truth for what it was.
It was the same truth she had glimpsed at the City Clubhouse when he patted her head after gifting her the birthday present and advised her to not take so much alcohol. Thinking back, she realized he was merely treating her like a little sister.
At the time, even though she had already made the decision to give up on Qin Yinan, the ferocity of the truth had hurt her heart in a certain way.
In retrospect, she knew at the time, she was still lying to herself; she still held out hope that Qin Yinan would one day realize his importance in her heart. However, now, she truly felt nothing in her heart beyond the appropriate feeling of thankfulness and friendliness between family. Gone was the sadness and pain that had gripped her heart. She even managed to look into his eyes and reply half-jokingly,
Brother Yinan, I will definitely hold you to your promise!
Qin Yinan laughed and replied indulgently,
When have I ever lied to you?
…
It was Su Zhinian’s annual habit to accompany his mother as they welcomed the New Year. After the reunion dinner, he joined his mother to watch the New Year Gala that he was not one bit interested in.
Su Zhinian received a call from Tang Nuo at 8 pm, asking him to join him at a party at North Sea Garden. He rejected his friend without hesitation.
After Tang Nuo arrived at the party, he took a picture of the cruise and sent it to Su Zhinian, adding his own commentary on how pretty the place looked.
Su Zhinian knew Tang Nuo was baiting him. He merely replied with a nonchalant
hmm
in response to Tang Nuo’s exaggerated commentary.
The reply had the opposite effect Su Zhinian was hoping for because Tang Nuo now saw it as a challenge and started sending Su Zhinian a picture every few minutes.
Initially, he would still look at them, but later, he just chose to ignore them.
Who knew Tang Nuo was more annoying than he gave him credit for? Even without any response from Su Zhinian, he was having fun on his own, flooding his inbox with endless snaps of the party.
His phone kept on ringing, and in just five minutes, there were already 65 unread messages in his WhatsApp.
He stared at the uninteresting New Year Gala, but his mother kept glancing at the phone he had placed on the coffee table.
During the ninth time his mother laid her eyes on his phone, Su Zhinian finally reached out for his phone. He opened WhatsApp and was ready to blacklist Tang Nuo when the latest photo his friend sent caught his eyes.
On the right-hand corner of the picture was a girl in a nude colored dress, clinking her champagne flute with someone cut off by the frame with a smile on her face.
That’s Song Qingchun… She has gone to the party as well?
Su Zhinian’s finger, which was going to blacklist Tang Nuo, halted. He stared at the picture for a long time, and finally, a message came from his friend,
So how was it? Did the person caught in the last picture arouse your desire to come to the party?
Su Zhinian didn’t reply but turned his head around to glance at his mother, who was raptly watching the show on the television.
Tang Nuo was right; he was interested in going, but it was more than his desire to spend the New Year with Song Qingchun. More importantly, he was worried danger might come to Song Qingchun.
For this period of time, other than during the night when they were under the same roof, he had been secretly protecting her.
