Chapter 370
The moment the elevator doors opened and fresh air rushed in, Chen Yuan let out a long sigh of relief. The nauseating feeling had finally subsided a little.
Just now, he could feel the alcohol churning in his stomach as if it were deliberately trying to torture him. The sensation had been unbearable.
Chen Yuan took a few deep breaths and stumbled. Jiangg Ning moved to support him and take him home.
"Where am I going? Didn’t you say you were taking me to find my girlfriend? Where is she...?"
"You’ll see her soon. Just calm down for a bit. Later, you can drink some water, take a shower, and cool off, okay? Be good now."
"I don’t want to." He flung her hand off and stood rooted in the elevator, refusing to move.
"What the hell are you doing? Chen Yuan, we’re right at the door and you pull this stunt? Believe it or not, I’ll go home right now and leave you here."
"What did I do?" Chen Yuan’s face was flushed red, his tone utterly sullen, like a child throwing a tantrum. "You won’t let me find her, so can’t I just find her myself?"
"Then go find her yourself!" Jiangg Ning couldn’t take it anymore, pointing at his nose. "Let me tell you, I’ve had more than enough of this for the past month! Don’t think that just because we signed a contract, I have to bend to your every whim. I’m working for you, I didn’t sell myself to you! Do you hear me?"
"Then leave! I’m going to call my girlfriend. I don’t need you looking after me. I have someone who will..." Chen Yuan said as he fumbled in his pockets for his phone. "Hey, where’s my phone?"
Seeing his shameless act and remembering all the grief she’d put up with this past month, Jiangg Ning pulled out the phone Chen Yuan had carelessly tossed in the car and shoved it hard into his chest.
"You think I enjoy waiting on you? You’re unbelievable!"
After saying her piece, she stalked to her front door in just a few quick strides of her high heels.
Biting her lip, her face a mask of fury, Jiangg Ning was now fully intent on abandoning Chen Yuan. Let someone else deal with him.
She had given so much, a heart full of sincerity, and it was all wasted on Chen Yuan.
Because he was completely blind to it—or rather, pretended to be.
The door opened with a CLICK. Jiangg Ning was about to step into the warmth of her home when a phone started ringing—BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ. The sound was jarringly abrupt.
In the silence of the deep night.
The vibration and ringtone from the phone in her small purse reached her ears clearly.
Jiangg Ning froze, then looked down and rummaged through her purse for her phone.
That bastard—the one whose contact name was "Chen Yuan"—was calling her.
Leaning against the elevator entrance, his back to Jiangg Ning, Chen Yuan stared at the call screen on his phone, stubbornly refusing to move an inch.
In just a moment, the stubborn line of Jiangg Ning’s mouth slowly curved into a smile. She subconsciously turned her head to glance at Chen Yuan.
’Seriously... What is he doing...?’
「Half a minute later.」
A figure appeared before Chen Yuan. She stood with her arms crossed, brows knitted in a hostile expression.
"Didn’t you say you were going to call your girlfriend? Why are you calling me?"
"But you are my girlfriend... You finally came to get me. I was looking for you for so long," Chen Yuan said, pouting like an aggrieved newlywed. His cheeks were flushed from the alcohol as he reached out to hug Jiangg Ning. "Why didn’t you come sooner... There was a mean woman just now, she yelled at me for a long time."
The embrace was solid and real, and she could easily feel the warmth of his body. The reek of alcohol washed over her, mixed with the lemon scent she used to love smelling on him. It was the scent of a very common laundry detergent, one that smelled wonderful after clothes were dried in the sun.
’A mean woman...? Who is he passive-aggressively complaining about?’
As her cheeks flushed, Jiangg Ning felt the urge to pinch him, but she hesitated, wondering if Chen Yuan was truly drunk. After all, he didn’t seem like much of a drinker, and he’d certainly been forced to drink far too much today.
She didn’t push him away, a complex emotion flickering across her face.
’So the girlfriend Chen Yuan kept talking about in the elevator wasn’t Jiangg Yao. Otherwise, why would he be calling me?’
At that thought, she felt a pathetic, yet long-lost, sense of happiness.
’This feeling is so strange...’
"Take me home... It’s so cold out here," Chen Yuan suddenly whispered.
His murmur tickled her ear.
It drained her of any lingering harshness.
"You’d better really be drunk," Jiangg Ning whispered back. "This is the only time I see a glimpse of the old you, Chen Yuan."
She tugged on Chen Yuan’s sleeve, pulling him toward the door of 1302.
Chen Yuan had been feeling sentimental and dizzy, his emotions more sensitive than usual. He could sense the sorrow in Jiangg Ning’s words, and it made his heart clench painfully. But there was nothing he could do. This was the path he had chosen, and once he started down it, there was no turning back.
But when they reached 1302, he sobered up instantly.
’Is she going to make me go back and stay alone? To lie by myself in a cold, lonely room in the middle of the night...’ The thought snapped Chen Yuan to his senses. He grabbed Jiangg Ning and pulled her toward the open door of 1301 across the hall.
"What are you doing?" Jiangg Ning was confused.
"Home is here. You went to the wrong one. That’s not our home."
"Don’t push your luck. Just go home and sleep. Hey! Where are you going?"
Jiangg Ning watched as Chen Yuan zipped into the apartment. In the blink of an eye, he was gone, leaving only his voice echoing behind him:
"Gonna be sick, can’t hold it in."
If you’re going to put on an act, you have to go all the way. Chen Yuan had it all planned out. He would dive straight into the master bedroom, dawdle in the bathroom for a bit, and then pass out on the toilet.
Even if Jiangg Ning didn’t take care of him, Jiangg Yao was there.
Someone would definitely drag him to bed. He’d get a nice, soft, blissful sleep, and when he woke up in the morning, he’d get to see the two sisters.