Chapter 235 - 134: Vegetarian

Chapter 235: Chapter 134: Vegetarian

Morning light filtered through the window, falling upon the Beauty Painting in the study.

The cinnabar mark remains, yet the person in the painting is gone.

Xiao Wanqing slowly awoke from her slumber. She gazed out the window at a pair of magpies chirping on the branch of a red apricot tree that extended over the wall.

She cursed the blasted magpies under her breath. Xiao Wanqing had noticed them last night when her hands were pressed against the glass.

A pair of pervy magpies.

Savoring the memory, she found it endlessly wonderful.

Xiao Wanqing turned on her side and gazed at Su Ran’s sleeping profile. Her heart felt full, yet she also felt a twinge of shame. ’Did I, Xiao Wanqing, really travel a thousand miles to Jiangning just for... this?’

Of course, she had done so willingly. Their love had reached a depth that demanded to be explored... deeply.

She slipped out of Su Ran’s embrace. Under the watchful eyes of the magpies, she casually grabbed Su Ran’s white button-down shirt and put it on. She padded barefoot out of the room. The floor wasn’t cold thanks to the underfloor heating, and her heart wasn’t cold thanks to the warmth within it.

Like any other woman in her situation, the first thing she did upon waking was make a loving breakfast for the man she adored. Of course, as she prepared the meal, her thoughts kept drifting back to the previous night. Her face would flush with shame from time to time as she mentally praised Su Ran for understanding women, only to curse him for not knowing how to be gentle.

A moment later,

Su Ran woke up. Stepping out of the room, he saw Xiao Wanqing in his white shirt, making breakfast in the Western-style kitchen. Bathed in sunlight, she was a beautiful sight.

"You’re awake." She turned her head, a happy smile gracing her lips. "Breakfast is almost ready."

Her voice, carried on the morning breeze, seeped into Su Ran’s heart, refreshing and sweet. A perfect day was beginning.

「Breakfast.」

Two bowls of tomato and egg noodles.

"It seems a little bland," Xiao Wanqing said. "I’ll go add some salt."

"No need," Su Ran replied. "I’ve still got the taste of the sea in my mouth, so it’s not bland to me."

Xiao Wanqing was speechless.

"Aren’t you going to eat?"

"You can have it."

"Okay."

Su Ran took Xiao Wanqing’s half-eaten bowl of noodles and began slurping them down enthusiastically.

"You don’t mind that I’ve already eaten from it?"

"You didn’t mind eating mine, so why would I mind eating yours?"

"You..."

Xiao Wanqing’s face flushed with shame.

She desperately wanted to tell him to stop saying such things. Talking like this so early in the morning could easily lead to things getting out of control.

Then again, there was nothing wrong with those things that couldn’t be spoken of to outsiders.

It was the first time Xiao Wanqing had witnessed the true heights of Su Ran’s "cultivation."

Finger Technique Fragrance, Tongue Combat Power, and Vibrant Colors and Fragrance—unleashing these three Divine Skills on one little woman was completely dishonorable!

Su Ran ate his noodles, watching her squirm and trying to hide a smile.

"What are you snickering about?"

"I’m not. Eat your noodles. A big sister has her thoughts, and little boys shouldn’t... interrupt."

"Heh."

"What are you laughing at? It’s disgusting just thinking about it. Stop laughing. There won’t be a next time."

Women always say one thing and mean another, especially with their ’mouths’.

"Sister Wanqing, what time are you heading back to Shanghai today?"

"Uh..." Seeing the reluctance in Su Ran’s eyes, Xiao Wanqing said with a radiant smile, "Before I came, I booked a morning flight. But, in light of your excellent performance, I’ve changed it to a six p.m. flight."

"That works. I have a class this morning—it’s the last one of the semester. I’ll go attend it, and when I get back, I’ll spend some quality time with you."

Xiao Wanqing bit her chopsticks, mulling over Su Ran’s ’spend some quality time with me.’ She knew exactly what he meant. ’Spending "quality time" with me just means coming back to torment me, doesn’t it?’

"Okay."

「After the meal.」

Xiao Wanqing was doing yoga in the courtyard. When Su Ran came out of the house, he saw her performing a difficult split.

"What are you staring at?" Xiao Wanqing asked.

Su Ran squatted down and said, "Sister Wanqing, your split is much wider today than before."

"What’s that supposed to mean? I—Get the hell back here... Su Ran, don’t you run!"

A shoe went flying and hit the large iron gate as Su Ran fled from the courtyard.

"Hehehe... HISS..."

Xiao Wanqing laughed in exasperation, but the movement made her chest ache.

...

「At school.」

After class ended, Su Ran noticed that Shen Qingning wasn’t there. Normally, even with her part-time job, she never missed a single lecture. So, after class, Su Ran asked a female classmate and learned that Shen Qingning had gone home last night.

"Last night? That’s impossible."

Su Ran clearly remembered playing an escape room game with Shen Qingning and Xiao Wanqing just last night. The three of them had a great time.

The classmate replied, "Why would I lie to you? After she got back to the dorm last night, she got a phone call, quickly packed a few things, and left. Her eyes were all red at the time. Something must have happened at home, so she rushed back overnight. I don’t know the specifics. Why don’t you give her a call? If something really did happen, we classmates can help out."

"I’ll ask."

Su Ran had to call Shen Qingning several times before she picked up. Her voice was hoarse, as if she had been crying.

"You went back to your hometown? Did something happen?"

"N-No, it’s nothing. Thanks for your concern, Class President. I’m... fine. Bye."

The line went dead.

Su Ran was quite worried, but since she clearly didn’t want to talk about it, he knew there was no point in pressing the issue and annoying her.

So he sent her a WeChat message: [If you run into trouble, find me. I’ll help you solve it.]

...

Before returning to Chuyuan, Su Ran remembered that Xiao Wanqing liked sweet-skin duck, so he had the taxi driver make a special detour to Zhou Ji’s Sweet-Skin Duck to buy one.

During his semester in Jiangning, Su Ran had eaten his way through pretty much every delicacy the city’s streets and alleys had to offer. He naturally had his own internal ’foodie ranking chart’.

He got out of the car at the entrance to Shanglin Fu and ran into Qi Shan’s Maybach. The two exchanged a few words. The gist of it was that Qi Shan had just been to Chuyuan but hadn’t found Su Ran there. Instead, he’d seen a ’lovely lady’ cooking while waiting for ’Young Master Su,’ a fact Qi Shan relayed with a mix of envy and flattery.