Upon learning that Ran Jing had accepted the invitation, besides Ye Leyao and the Huo family, the happiest person was Chu Cheng.
“Really? Did Ran Jing really say he was coming?” Chu Cheng found it hard to believe and asked Ye Leyao again.
Ye Leyao smiled and nodded, “Yes, he said he’s heading here right now.”
Chu Cheng imdiately stood up, took out his car keys, and hurriedly asked, “Where is he now? It’s hard to catch a car to co here. Can I go pick him up?”
Ye Le was stunned.
[If you’re asking , of course you can, but the problem is, what if ng Yue cos later and can’t find you?]
[If ng Yue finds out you went to pick up Ran Jing and follows you… then won’t I miss all the fun today?]
Before Ye Leyao could figure out how to respond, Qin Yao’s voice ca from the side, “If you go pick him up, who will help you greet your guests?”
Chu Cheng thought about it and his expression changed slightly, feeling a bit troubled, “That’s true, but… Cousin, could you maybe…”
“I’ll have the driver go,” Qin Yao said, his gaze falling on Ye Leyao beside him. “Leyao, have Ran Jing send over his location.”
Ye Leyao nodded repeatedly and quickly lowered his head to ssage Ran Jing. At the sa ti, he couldn’t help but mutter in his heart:
[As expected, President Qin is more reliable!]
Ye Leyao sent a ssage to Ran Jing, telling him that Chu Cheng was sending soone to pick him up. Ran Jing didn’t hesitate and quickly sent his address.
Qin Yao made a call to the driver, and before long, the driver called back saying he had picked up Ran Jing.
Upon hearing this, Chu Cheng couldn’t contain his excitent any longer. He rushed forward and gave Qin Yao a big hug, “Thanks, Cousin!”
Qin Yao frowned and pushed Chu Cheng away with so disdain, “Stay away from .”
Chu Cheng chuckled and let go of Qin Yao, then turned to look at Ye Leyao.
Sensing danger, Ye Leyao quickly hid behind Qin Yao.
[Don’t co hug too!]
Chu Cheng missed his target and sighed regretfully. Just as he was about to say sothing, soone in the distance called his na.
Chu Cheng responded, winked at Ye Leyao, and said, “Thanks!”
With that, he ran off.
Ye Leyao watched Chu Cheng’s back, then looked at Qin Yao.
Qin Yao thought for a mont before asking, “You don’t like physical contact with strangers?”
Ye Leyao was very surprised.
[How did President Qin notice that?!]
Qin Yao’s lips curled slightly, “Seems I guessed right?”
Ye Leyao nodded and explained in a low voice, “I never really liked physical contact with people since I was young. It’s not limited to strangers, I guess I just don’t like being too close to anyone, including my parents and my brother.” After a pause, Ye Leyao looked at Qin Yao and asked, “But even though I don’t like physical contact, I’ve been doing a good job hiding it, right?”
[I’ve been working really hard to change!]
Even during variety show recordings, when the guests were filming together, there was inevitably so physical contact.
Ye Leyao had been working hard to overco it.
Qin Yao briefly recalled his interactions with Ye Leyao in the past and admitted that Ye Leyao had indeed hidden it well. Even he had only just noticed it.
Qin Yao said, “It’s not obvious.”
Ye Leyao smiled proudly, his lips curving up.
[Seems like I’ve made so progress!]
Then he noticed Qin Yao’s dark eyes fixed on him, and Qin Yao suddenly asked, “Then why didn’t you mind shaking hands with ?”
Qin Yao’s tone was calm, with just the right touch of curiosity.
Ye Leyao lifted his head, and his gaze unexpectedly collided with Qin Yao’s deep eyes.
Qin Yao heard Ye Leyao’s puzzled thoughts in his heart:
[Yeah, why is that?]
[It seems I didn’t mind shaking hands with President Qin the first ti?]
[And even…]
A sudden excited voice ca from inside the villa, “Is that ng Yue?!”
Ye Leyao’s train of thought was interrupted, and he turned his head to look inside the villa, his expression a bit excited:
[Did ng Yue arrive this early?]
[I rember he was supposed to confess at noon, right?! Could he have co early to prepare?]
Ye Leyao quickly looked down at his phone to check the ti.
[It’s already 10:30…]
Qin Yao’s gaze fell on Ye Leyao’s bright eyes, and he quietly sighed in his heart.
It seed the conversation was over.
“Do you want to go take a look?” Qin Yao asked proactively.
Ye Leyao quickly nodded.
[If I rember correctly, as soon as ng Yue got out of the car, he gave Chu Cheng a bouquet of flowers. I need to go see that!]
Qin Yao extended his hand to Ye Leyao.
Without thinking, Ye Leyao took Qin Yao’s hand.
As their fingers intertwined, Qin Yao led Ye Leyao out first.
Ye Leyao’s gaze fell on their tightly held hands, and at that mont, he suddenly rembered why he didn’t mind shaking hands with Qin Yao.
“It feels nostalgic.”
Qin Yao turned back, “Hm?”
Ye Leyao, not fully understanding the reason himself, just smiled at Qin Yao, “It’s nothing. Let’s hurry.”
Qin Yao didn’t ask further, holding Ye Leyao’s hand as they walked through the villa’s main hall and arrived at the front lobby.
As soon as they entered, a commotion erupted:
“Wow—”
“Such a big bouquet of flowers! Mr. ng is really going all out!”
“Hurry, I need to take a picture!”
Ye Leyao looked ahead and his lips curled into a smile.
He saw a heart-shaped bouquet of roses, two to three ters long, wrapped exquisitely, currently placed at the villa’s entrance.
ng Yue stood beside the bouquet, holding a black custom cane in one hand and a small bouquet of blue roses in the other.
Everyone was stunned by the scene.
So marveled at ng Yue’s extravagance, while others keenly sensed sothing was off.
“Wait… a bouquet this big, would friends send roses? Could ng Yue be pursuing Chu Cheng?” soone whispered.
The person next to them imdiately responded, “No way? I haven’t heard that ng Yue likes Chu Cheng, and besides, hasn’t Chu Cheng just returned to the country?”
“Yeah, I’ve never heard Chu Cheng ntion that he and ng Yue were that close.”
The guests at today’s gathering included so of Chu Cheng’s wealthy acquaintances, but most were his old middle school classmates, who naturally also knew ng Yue, who was in their class back then.
So, soone quickly gossiped in a low voice, “Is it possible that ng Yue has liked Chu Cheng since middle school?!”
Ye Leyao, hearing this, gave that person an approving glance.
[That’s right!]
[ng Yue has been secretly in love with Chu Cheng since middle school, but you don’t need to be so surprised now; he has only sent two bouquets! There’s more exciting stuff to co!]
Upon hearing this, Qin Yao and Huo Yan both turned to look at Ye Leyao.
“So it won’t be a confession yet?” Mama Huo asked.
Papa Huo was still focused on the scene at the opposite villa and nodded: “What Xiao Yao ans is a grand confession. Although there are roses now, it doesn’t look very formal, so let’s not rush.”
Mama Huo sighed in relief and sat down again: “That’s fine, that’s fine.”
When she saw such a large bouquet of roses suddenly appear at the neighboring villa, Mama Huo almost couldn’t help but rush downstairs to see the excitent.
After taking a sip of tea, Mama Huo shifted her attention back to the main characters of this banquet—Chu Cheng and ng Yue.
Before ng Yue arrived, Chu Cheng was in the hall drinking with friends.
Upon hearing ng Yue’s na, Chu Cheng was slightly taken aback.
He expressed the sa confusion as his friends beside him: Why did ng Yue co?
After their last eting at the bar, they hadn’t chatted much before ng Yue suddenly ended up in the hospital.
Since then, Chu Cheng thought ng Yue probably couldn’t handle his liquor.
Therefore, when holding this birthday banquet, Chu Cheng hadn’t planned to invite ng Yue.
But then Chu Cheng thought, he had already t ng Yue, and he would be staying in the country for a while, so they might run into each other again.
If he didn’t invite ng Yue now, what if it got awkward later on?
In the end, Chu Cheng could only personally call ng Yue and tell him that if he had ti, he could co to the party; of course, it would be even better if he didn’t co.
What did ng Yue say in response?
Oh, he said he didn’t have ti.
How could soone with no ti suddenly show up here?
If Ye Leyao knew what Chu Cheng was thinking, he would definitely respond: Of course, it’s because ng Yue wants to give you a surprise!
But just looking at Chu Cheng’s expression, it was clear.
So far, this surprise only brought shock, not joy.
Ye Leyao glanced at Chu Cheng’s expression and couldn’t help but laugh.
[It seems Chu Cheng is a bit confused.]
[Yeah, clearly soone who said he wouldn’t attend because he had no ti suddenly appears at the party and sends such a large bouquet with a very obvious implied aning—]
[Chu Cheng must be feeling quite troubled, especially since Ran Jing is coming later!]
[I can’t take it anymore; the more I think about it, the more exciting it feels!]
Ye Leyao’s eyes were fixed intently on the two people ahead.
From the mont Chu Cheng walked out of the villa and saw the bouquet of roses, two full minutes had already passed.
During these two minutes, Chu Cheng hadn’t said a single word.
ng Yue had gone from being nervous and excited at first to a bit flustered, and now he felt anxious and uneasy.
He subconsciously tightened his grip on the black custom cane in his hand, straightened his lips, took a deep breath, and mustered the courage to ask, “Chu Cheng, you… don’t like it?”
Only then did Chu Cheng wake from his stupor, realizing there were so many people around watching.
He had to quickly handle this situation, so Chu Cheng smiled at ng Yue: “Of course I like it; how could I not like flowers sent by a friend?”
After saying this, Chu Cheng turned his head, called a few friends over, and instructed them to quickly move the bouquet inside.
Seeing this, ng Yue finally breathed a sigh of relief and showed a smile.
However, at this mont, Ye Leyao couldn’t suppress his smile.
[Oh, why are you still smiling, ng Yue, when he has already turned you down?]
Huo Yan was about to leave when he heard this and paused again.
Turned down?
How co?
Could it be that Chu Cheng understood ng Yue’s feelings?
No, how could he not see it just now?
Papa Huo and Mama Huo were also taken aback.
Didn’t Chu Cheng just have them move the flowers inside?
Papa Huo suddenly reacted: “A friend! Chu Cheng just said ‘friend’!”
Mama Huo nodded repeatedly: “Yes, he said ‘friend’, so Chu Cheng has realized that ng Yue is interested in him?”
“Definitely, otherwise he wouldn’t have said that!” Papa Huo said.
Mama Huo imdiately beca excited: “So when can we go to the scene to see it?!”
She really wanted to see ng Yue’s expression in person!
Papa Huo and Mama Huo couldn’t see it, but Ye Leyao and Huo Yan could see it clearly.
ng Yue was truly happy, his usually unsmiling face now showing a big smile. When he saw the others moving the roses inside, he walked slowly towards Chu Cheng with his cane: “I thought you didn’t like it.”
The roses were moved away, but the onlookers didn’t disperse for a long ti.
Chu Cheng had to give ng Yue so face, so hearing this, he smiled: “How could that be?”
ng Yue’s smile grew wider, and he quickly offered the small bouquet of blue roses in his hand: “This is…”
Chu Cheng directly reached out to take it, then waved at one of the friends in the crowd, turning around and handing the flowers to that friend, instructing, “Quick, go find a vase and help President ng arrange his flowers!”
ng Yue’s smile imdiately froze.
That was clearly the flower he sent to Chu Cheng…
Could it be that Chu Cheng didn’t like it?
Ye Leyao, however, couldn’t suppress his smile.
[A smile never truly disappears; it only transfers.]
Qin Yao’s lips curved up as he nodded noncommittally.
“President ng, feel free to sit; I’ll go greet so other friends first!” Chu Cheng waved to ng Yue and turned to leave.
“Chu…” Before ng Yue could say anything, Chu Cheng had already disappeared.
At this mont, Qin Yao turned to Ye Leyao and said, “I’m going to greet him; do you want to co along?”
Ye Leyao glanced at ng Yue again and quickly shook his head: “No, no.”
Only then did Qin Yao let go of Ye Leyao’s hand and pointed to the kitchen on the first floor: “I put the milk in the fridge. If you want to drink it, pour it yourself. I’ll greet ng Yue and co back to find you.”
Ye Leyao nodded quickly and then jogged to the kitchen.
As soon as he entered the kitchen, Ye Leyao heard a heavy sigh from inside.
Ye Leyao focused his gaze and saw it was none other than Chu Cheng.
“What are you sighing about?” Ye Leyao asked.
Chu Cheng shot him a glare and glanced outside to confirm there was no one else before saying, “Your smile is harder to suppress than an AK; why are you pretending not to know?”
Ye Leyao covered his mouth and couldn’t help but laugh.
Chu Cheng stared at him for several seconds before suddenly realizing: “So you knew from the start, lon King?”
Ye Leyao’s eyes widened slightly: “How did you know…”
“I’m not disconnected from the internet!” Chu Cheng sighed.
On that day at the bar, Chu Cheng did feel that the atmosphere was sowhat strange, especially Ye Leyao’s expression.
However, he hadn’t thought much of it at the ti; after all, he wasn’t a narcissist—how could he think that ng Yue liked him just because he saw him?
If it hadn’t been for that overly extravagant heart-shaped bouquet just now, Chu Cheng wouldn’t have linked it to this.
After taking a long sigh, Chu Cheng looked a bit troubled: “So I need to find an opportunity to clarify things with ng Yue. There were so many people outside just now, and I felt embarrassed to reject him directly. What do you think I should do now?”
Ye Leyao had no idea what to do.
He simply shook his head.
[Don’t ask !]
Chu Cheng sighed again, then suddenly thought of sothing and turned to look at Ye Leyao: “By the way, I saw Ran Jing sitting with ng Yue the other day; are they…”
Just then, Ye Leyao’s phone rang.
Ye Leyao picked it up to see: “It’s a call from Ran Jing.”
Chu Cheng: “…”
Ye Leyao poured himself so milk, walked outside while answering the phone: “Are you almost here? Okay, I’ll send soone to pick you up.”
Chu Cheng hurriedly followed: “Wait for , I’ll go with you!”
The two of them walked out of the kitchen together, attracting quite a bit of attention.
ng Yue, who was originally sitting on the sofa talking with Qin Yao, heard Chu Cheng’s voice and imdiately stood up: “Chu Cheng, are you free to go sowhere with ?”
Ye Leyao quickly walked in front of Qin Yao, winked at him, pointed at his phone, and then walked out of the villa.
Qin Yao understood Ye Leyao’s aning and stood up to stop Chu Cheng, who wanted to follow: “Just let Leyao go.”
ng Yue looked at Chu Cheng with bright eyes: “Chu Cheng, isn’t it almost noon? I’ve booked a lunch banquet at the restaurant in the resort. Do you… want to bring your friends along?”
Ye Leyao had just reached the door when he heard this. He quickly walked over to a nearby staff mber, told him the license plate number, and swiftly returned to the villa.
At this mont, half of the people in the hall had their eyes on Chu Cheng.
Without thinking, Chu Cheng said: “But I’ve already booked a al…”
“You can bring the al over to eat together,” ng Yue said a bit shyly, “I’ve invited a five-star chef, and all the ingredients have been pre-ordered…”
Chu Cheng felt a bit awkward.
ng Yue continued: “And I booked quite a few tables; if you don’t go, wouldn’t that be a waste…”
Chu Cheng: “…”
So, who told you to overdo it!
But thinking about it, it seed it wasn’t impossible to go with ng Yue. This was a good opportunity for him to clarify things with ng Yue.
So, Chu Cheng simply nodded: “Okay, then send the bill later.”
When ng Yue heard Chu Cheng agree, the corners of his mouth turned up, and he said directly: “No need; today is your birthday, and this is what I should do…”
“But after all, we’re just friends; how can I let you spend so much?” Chu Cheng said.
[Hiss, Chu Cheng explicitly stated that you two are just friends! So ng Yue—]
Ye Leyao’s gaze fell on ng Yue.
He saw ng Yue’s smile once again freeze on his face, but this ti he quickly adjusted, and after a mont, a smile returned to his face.
Ye Leyao couldn’t help but want to laugh even more.
At the sa ti, he secretly hoped:
[Ran Jing, you need to hurry up and get here!]
Since they had decided to dine at the restaurant ng Yue ntioned, Chu Cheng didn’t hesitate and turned to start calling his friends to head out.
Qin Yao suddenly asked Ye Leyao, “Should we invite Uncle and Aunt?”
Ye Leyao hurriedly said, “Then I’ll call my parents and ask if they’re coming?”
Qin Yao nodded.
Huo Yan followed behind the two and raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
Indeed, just as Papa and Mama Huo said, Qin Yao was thorough in his actions.
It’s just—
He really didn’t agree with Ye Leyao being with Qin Yao!
Qin Yao was already twenty-four, a year older than him, and six years older than Ye Leyao!
Huo Yan followed behind the two, watching their shoulders getting closer together, and suddenly furrowed his brow.
Wait a minute.
Did Ye Leyao used to get this close to others?
Huo Yan fell into deep thought.
At this ti, Ye Leyao finished the call and said to Qin Yao, “They said they’re coming!”
Qin Yao asked again, “Should we wait for them to co together?”
“No need,” Ye Leyao shook his head, “Papa Huo said they’ll go slowly by themselves and let us go ahead.”
Qin Yao nodded and continued to walk forward.
Just as Ye Leyao was about to put his phone away, his phone vibrated again. He looked down to see a ssage from Ran Jing.
Ran Jing: I’m getting out of the car.
Ye Leyao instantly beca even more excited:
[Ran Jing tid this perfectly!]
[If I’m not mistaken, after this turn is the restaurant, and there’s a large lawn at the entrance of the restaurant—]
As Ye Leyao finished speaking, Qin Yao and Huo Yan simultaneously looked up.
In front of them, ng Yue and Chu Cheng turned a corner, and Chu Cheng suddenly stopped in his tracks.
His friends behind him were all taken aback.
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t we moving?”
“Chu Cheng?”
“Hey, what’s this?”
“Looks like soone’s about to confess? Did we co to the wrong place?”
Hearing his friends’ discussions from behind, Chu Cheng increasingly felt that sothing was off.
He turned to ng Yue, just about to speak, when he saw ng Yue slowly continue forward: “It’s right here, let’s go.”
Chu Cheng: “…”
No, this is not right!
This is really not right!
He couldn’t go in with ng Yue.
Seeing this, Ye Leyao’s eyes widened with excitent; without thinking, he quickly walked forward.
Qin Yao and Huo Yan closely followed.
Papa and Mama Huo, at the end of the line, also quickened their pace.
Turning the corner, there was a neatly trimd and flat lawn.
But at this mont, not a single blade of grass was visible on the green ground; it was all covered with various fresh rose bouquets.
From a distance, a distinct fragrance of roses wafted over.
Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise.
In the middle of the lawn, there was also a path covered with rose petals, leading directly to the restaurant.
ng Yue leaned on his cane and turned back to smile at Chu Cheng: “Shall we go?”
Chu Cheng’s face nearly turned green.
What was there for him to not understand at this mont?
ng Yue was luring him in here!
Ye Leyao covered his face, really wanting to laugh.
[For Chu Cheng, how could this not be a banquet of ambush?]
Chu Cheng subconsciously took a step back.
But faster than his reaction were his friends, who directly blocked his path.
One friend blinked: “Chu Cheng, let’s go.”
Another friend said: “Hurry up!”
It was clear that the situation was not simple; how could they let Chu Cheng just walk away like this?
They had to see this spectacle!
Chu Cheng was both amused and exasperated by his friends, gritting his teeth: “Is this how you treat the birthday star?”
“Don’t rush; let’s go over and see what’s going on!”
“Yeah, what if it’s another surprise?”
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
Ye Leyao couldn’t help but laugh again.
Chu Cheng rubbed his forehead.
What they said did make sense; what if it was a misunderstanding?
Although Chu Cheng felt this possibility was extrely slim, regardless of whether it was a misunderstanding or not, he would refuse ng Yue.
Just as they walked a few steps, Chu Cheng suddenly thought of sothing and turned back to look at Ye Leyao: “Ran…”
“He’s coming soon!” Ye Leyao quickly said.
Chu Cheng furrowed his brow.
To be honest, he didn’t really want Ran Jing to see this scene.
But since Chu Cheng originally intended to interrupt and refuse ng Yue, thinking it over, it seed it didn’t matter.
So, Chu Cheng turned around, didn’t say much more, and followed ng Yue down this “romantic” path into the restaurant.
As soon as Chu Cheng stepped into the restaurant, he heard a familiar bell ringing.
Chu Cheng realized it was the class bell from their middle school.
Scanning the restaurant, he didn’t see ng Yue’s figure but saw that the restaurant’s large display screen had begun to play a VCR.
Ye Leyao walked closer to the restaurant, and at that mont, his phone vibrated again.
Ran Jing’s ssage ca in: ? Is this address you gave correct? Why are there so many roses outside?
Ye Leyao’s lips couldn’t help but curl up:
[Of course, it’s because ng Yue is preparing to confess to Chu Cheng here!]
Ye Leyao didn’t intend to hide it from Ran Jing, so he directly replied, It seems ng Yue is preparing to confess to Chu Cheng here.
Ran Jing: ??? No way, what face does he have to confess to Chu Cheng? He hasn’t even settled my money!
From this short line, Ye Leyao could see Ran Jing’s anger.
Ye Leyao replied: You should hurry over.
Ran Jing: Three seconds!
Ye Leyao put away his phone and was just about to turn around when he felt a gust of wind pass by his side.
Everyone was montarily stunned, and then they looked up to see that soone was already standing on the stage.
The boy ran over, panting heavily, and directly snatched the microphone from the emcee’s hand, his voice overpowering the VCR, robustly declaring: “ng Yue! You get out here!”
The VCR that was playing was abruptly paused, and the entire restaurant instantly fell silent.
What was happening?
So gossipers with keen interest spoke with barely concealed excitent: “Could it be an ex who hasn’t cut ties showing up?”
Ye Leyao smiled slightly.
[That’s both right and wrong; Ran Jing showed up mainly because ng Yue hasn’t settled the paynt.]
[The boss who owes wages, eh—]
Ye Leyao made a sound of disdain.
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