Chapter 86: Do You Dare Come Home With Me for a Meal?

Jiang Yao returned to the hotel at two in the dead of night.

The moment she switched on the light, Cheng Yanchi was suddenly there by the window, standing motionless like a great slab of stone.

“Ah!” Jiang Yao jumped in fright. “Cheng Yanchi, you nearly scared me to death!”

Cheng Yanchi glanced at her. “I thought you weren’t coming back tonight.”

“If I don’t come back, where else would I go?” Jiang Yao tossed her backpack aside and sank tiredly onto the sofa.

With his arms folded, Cheng Yanchi strolled to her side and sat down beside her. “Looking at how delighted you are, who knows?”

“Delighted? Am I?” Jiang Yao touched her cheeks with both hands.

On her finger, the women’s matching ring gleamed blindingly.

Cheng Yanchi’s gaze passed lightly over the ring. A trace of loneliness flashed through his dark eyes, before he put on his usual careless, unruly expression again.

He lifted a hand and tapped her lightly on the head. “Not yet? Look at you, all flushed and dreamy. Your mouth’s nearly split to your ears.”

“You’re the dreamy one!” Jiang Yao raised a hand and gave Cheng Yanchi a punch.

Feigning injury, Cheng Yanchi flopped back onto the sofa. “A Yao, you have a cruel heart.”

Jiang Yao yawned and stood up. “Yes, yes, the cruel-hearted one is sleepy and going to bed.”

Cheng Yanchi sat up and suddenly said in a very serious voice, “A Yao.”

Jiang Yao turned back. “Hm?”

He looked at her neat little face for a long while, then suddenly smiled. “Good night.”

There were some words he had never said aloud through all the years gone by, and would never need to say again.

Jiang Yao smiled and waved at him. “Good night, good night.”

He Wenqing returned home the next day.

Jiang Yao stayed here with Cheng Yanchi for three more days. Only after watching the competition did they finally board the flight home.

The second day after landing, Jiang Yao and He Wenqing had arranged to meet at Huai'an Hospital.

The hospital’s medical facilities were among the finest in the world.

Only after He Wenqing came here for a follow-up and continued treatment did Jiang Yao finally feel at ease.

Fortunately, even the doctor said that as long as he rested properly, there would be no major problems later on, though scarring was inevitable.

The young nurse changing He Wenqing’s dressing looked at him with eyes full of pity.

“That must have hurt terribly when it happened,” she asked softly.

He Wenqing shook his head slightly. “It was all right.”

“Such a serious injury, and you say it was all right? Wenqing, you may not know this, but I’m your fan. If people knew you were hurt like this, they’d be heartbroken.”

“Then please help me keep it a secret, all right?” He Wenqing said gently.

The nurse immediately blushed and nodded.

Standing nearby, Jiang Yao clicked her tongue twice. He Wenqing must have a fatal charm that affected women; not many could resist hearing him speak to them like that.

The nurse turned around and finally noticed Jiang Yao. “And who are you?”

“She is—” He Wenqing began, but before he could finish, Jiang Yao cut in.

“Oh, I’m a patient. I came to join the fun. May I ask, are you He Wenqing?” Jiang Yao asked as if she did not know him at all.

“Patients should wait outside. Is this a place for joining the fun?” The nurse shot her a glare.

Jiang Yao gave an helpless smile, then behind the nurse’s back gestured toward the door at He Wenqing, indicating that she would go out first.

After waiting outside for a while, He Wenqing finally came out from inside wearing a mask.

“Why did you pretend not to know me?”

Jiang Yao kicked at the floor with the tip of her shoe. “You’re different, aren’t you? I didn’t want your fans to overthink it and affect you.”

“That’s all there is to it. They didn’t overthink anything.” He Wenqing was brief and direct.

Jiang Yao scratched her head. “Are you angry? I was completely thinking of you, really. Why are you angry then?”

As she spoke, she reached out to tug at his arm, swaying it lightly in a coaxing manner.

He Wenqing gave a helpless, indulgent smile, then tapped her forehead lightly. “Hungry? What do you want to eat?”

“Then why not—” Jiang Yao tilted her head, thinking.

“Why not go home for dinner,” a woman’s voice rang out.

Both of them looked toward the source of the voice at the same time.

There stood Irene, dressed in simple, understated luxury, in impeccable branded clothes of fine quality. No one knew when she had appeared before them.

She examined Jiang Yao with a haughty gaze, finally fixing her eyes on her younger brother. “Wenqing, come home for dinner tonight. I heard you were injured, and everyone is worried about you.”

“Who told you? And who is ‘everyone’?” He Wenqing said coolly. “I have things to do tonight.”

With that, he took Jiang Yao’s hand and started off without hesitation.

Irene’s gaze fell on their tightly clasped hands, and her expression turned even less pleasant. “Wenqing! Are you not even going to want your own sister anymore?”

He Wenqing’s steps faltered slightly.

Seeing him stop, Irene hurried forward and blocked his way. “Come home. Father hasn’t been well lately, and he’s not young anymore. We don’t know how much longer he can stay with us. No matter how much you resent him or hate him, he is still our father. Don’t wait until one day you lose him before you remember to regret it.”

For some reason, Jiang Yao suddenly thought of her own mother.

When her mother was alive, she had tried countless times to draw near to her, but because of Jiang Yao’s resentment, she had almost never received a kind look from her.

Only after her mother died did she finally understand that this time, she truly no longer had a mother.

She gently tugged at He Wenqing’s hand and whispered, “He Wenqing, do you remember my mother?”

He Wenqing frowned slightly. Looking at Jiang Yao’s innocent little face, he smiled faintly. “A Yao, dare to come home with me for dinner tonight?”

“Wenqing, it’s a family dinner tonight. It wouldn’t be appropriate to bring her,” Irene said quickly.

Jiang Yao opened her mouth and was about to echo her, yes, yes, it really wouldn’t be appropriate.

But before the words could leave her lips, He Wenqing cut her off. “If she’s not going, then I’m not going back either.”

Irene’s beautiful face flushed slightly with displeasure. She shot Jiang Yao another fierce glare. Only after drawing a deep breath did she force a smile back onto her face. “Fine. I’ll tell Father. You two come back for dinner tonight. A new chef has just come to the house, and his dishes are excellent. He knows many styles too. I’ll have him make a few more of your favorite dishes.”

He Wenqing asked Jiang Yao gently, “A Yao, what do you want to eat?”

Jiang Yao felt the atmosphere was absurdly strange. She let out a couple of dry laughs. “I... anything is fine. I like everything.”

He Wenqing nodded, then turned to Irene. “Have him make a few more dishes that girls would like.”

The smile on Irene’s face could not have been more strained. “All right. It’s just that I heard Uncle Jin…”

Halfway through, she swallowed the rest back down, looking at Jiang Yao with a peculiar expression before nodding. “All right.”