Chapter 79: Actually, I Was There Yesterday Too

Hearing the familiar voice, An Ling turned her head in pleasant surprise.

"Shen Linyan?! Why are you here?"

"I have a business engagement here."

The man walked over, took off his coat, and draped it over her shoulders. Catching a glimpse of the contact name on the woman's phone from the corner of his eye, his movements paused slightly.

He quietly withdrew his gaze, helped her tidy her hair, and touched the woman's cold little face. With smiling eyes, he asked gently, "Why is my wife standing outside? Aren't you cold?"

"My brother is having a blind date here." An Ling pointed toward the restaurant. "I'm going to go in later to cover for him."

She caught a very faint scent of tobacco and lowered her head to sniff. "Did you smoke? Your clothes seem to smell like cigarettes."

"It might have gotten on me by accident when someone else was smoking."

Shen Linyan's tone was natural. He turned to look at the restaurant. "Do you really have to go in? The pet hospital just messaged me saying Huihui is doing quite well today and we can go see him. Do you want to go together?"

An Ling blinked, feeling somewhat tempted.

Sitting there the whole time would be too boring; she might as well go see Huihui.

After thinking for a few seconds, she looked up, her eyes curving into a smile.

"Let's go!"

An Zhou had thrown her under the bus so many times, it was about time she returned the favor.

As they were leaving, a woman walked toward them from the opposite direction.

After passing them, the woman paused slightly, turned her head to cast a thoughtful glance, and then entered the restaurant.

An Zhou sat in the restaurant, head down, frantically sending messages.

[She isn't here yet, come in quickly!]

[Where are you?]

[An Ling??]

What was this girl doing? Why wasn't she replying to his messages??

Receiving no reply, An Zhou frowned. Just as he was about to go look for her, a cold, clear female voice sounded by his ear.

"You must be Mr. An, right?"

His movements froze. He looked up to see a woman looking down at him. Her eyes were light-colored, her features elegant, and she was wearing a simple white turtleneck sweater with an outer coat, exuding an aloof aura.

And at this very moment, he finally received An Ling's reply:

An Ling: [I'm leaving now~]

"..."

An Zhou turned off his phone screen, forced a smile, stood up, and extended his hand. "Hello, hello, Miss Qin, I am An Zhou."

The woman lightly shook his hand. "Just call me Qin You."

An Zhou nodded repeatedly. He bent down, picked up the flowers from the table, and offered them to her. Before he could even speak, the woman suddenly raised her hand and calmly declined, "I'm sorry, could you put those away? I'm allergic to pollen."

"..."

An Zhou gave an awkward laugh, his arm stiffening as he put the flowers down. "Sorry... I wasn't being considerate enough."

He really wanted to run away.

An Ling, you traitor!!

...

"Achoo—"

Sitting in the car, An Ling suddenly sneezed.

Seeing this, the man turned up the heater a bit. "Catching a cold?"

An Ling smiled and waved her hand. "Probably not. I'm guessing my brother is cursing me."

An Zhou hadn't replied to her, which meant his blind date must have arrived.

Upon arriving at the pet store, An Ling and Shen Linyan got out of the car.

Compared to yesterday when it lay listlessly in the cage, Huihui had indeed recovered quite well today and was very eager to eat.

An Ling held out a cat treat, and the little creature let out a milky meow. It immediately got up and came over; when she rubbed its head, it obediently nuzzled against her palm.

But as soon as it finished eating, it instantly turned its back, acting as if it didn't know her, pointing its butt at them and swishing its fluffy tail back and forth.

The store clerk, squatting nearby, saw this and said with a smile, "This little guy is very pragmatic. He's good when there's food, but ignores people completely when there isn't."

Normally, a stray wild kitten like this, especially one with injuries, would be somewhat wary of people and hesitate before accepting food.

But this one completely lit up at the sight of food.

An Ling smiled and tossed the wrapper into the trash can. "Looks like he's quite the little foodie."

"Thanks to his good appetite, his recovery speed is also fast. He's had his vaccines and deworming. At this rate, you can take him back next week." The clerk walked over to the front desk. "It's just that you might need to spend more time with him when you take him back. Kittens don't adapt to new environments that quickly."

An Ling actually really wanted to help, but her workload was heavy next week, and shooting was about to start.

She looked at Shen Linyan. "Are you busy with work next week? I'll be quite busy next week. Should we have Auntie Cheng take care of him during the day while we're at work?"

The man glanced at the cat in the cage.

"It's fine, someone will take care of him."

...

Leaving the pet store, An Ling looked down at the time.

A voice suddenly sounded beside her.

"Wife, do you want to go home for dinner?"

"..." What a familiar conversation.

An Ling didn't say anything, just tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him.

Meeting the woman's suspicious little gaze, Shen Linyan smiled and held her hand.

"I'm not lying to you this time. The food is actually ready."

After getting into the car, An Ling took out her phone. Just as she was about to turn it off and ask An Zhou how his blind date was going, Wen Yuche suddenly sent a reply.

He hadn't sent any messages since her previous reply, and An Ling had almost forgotten about him.

Wen Yuche: [Um, it's nothing major. We didn't really get to eat yesterday, so I'd like to invite you out for a meal again.]

An Ling: [It's okay, no need to invite me again.]

Wen Yuche: [Well, actually, my mother found out about what happened yesterday, and she asked me to invite you again. Miss An, could you help me out just this once?]

An Ling thought this was simple enough.

[Sure, just tell Auntie Wen that we are having dinner together tonight. It just so happens I'm not eating at home tonight anyway.]

When the time came, she could even use this excuse to fob off An Zhou.

It was killing two birds with one stone!

"Are you chatting with President An?"

Hearing Shen Linyan's sudden question, An Ling put down her phone. "No, I'm chatting with the blind date I had dinner with yesterday."

The man's gaze paused slightly. His long, slender fingers tapped against the steering wheel as he stared at the road ahead. With his usual gentle smile at the corners of his mouth, his tone remained normal, "Are you and that person already friends?"

"Not really, I guess?"

Seeing that Wen Yuche had replied with an "Okay, thank you," An Ling typed out "no problem" and sent it. She answered casually, "It seems he was also forced into it by his family. Mainly because my mom and his mom are mahjong buddies, and our two families have a pretty good relationship..."

As she spoke, An Ling's voice suddenly trailed off.

She hadn't told Shen Linyan about what happened during dinner yesterday. Mostly because there wasn't much to say, and besides, Shen Linyan hadn't asked.

She turned off her phone and was just about to close her eyes to rest for a bit.

In the quiet car cabin, the man's voice slowly rang out.

"Wife."

"Hmm?"

"Actually, I was there yesterday too."

"..."

After taking a few seconds to process this, An Ling snapped her eyes open and turned her head in shock. "You were there too?"

Where??

How come she hadn't seen him at all??

Shen Linyan fell silent for a moment before answering softly, "Because I originally wanted to wait for you to finish eating and then pick you up to go to the mall together, but I ended up seeing you go with someone else."

The car parked in the garage. He turned to look at her. "Wife, does just going through the motions require going to the mall?"

"No, it's not like that..."

An Ling's eyes darted around, and she rubbed the tip of her nose. "Because his clothes got splashed with red wine, and he had given me a gift, so I thought I'd buy him a piece of clothing in return..."

Wait, it wasn't like she was having an affair. She had perfectly justifiable reasons for doing that.

Why should she feel guilty?

Thinking of this, An Ling grew a bit bolder. She frankly met the man's gaze.

"Aren't blind dates all about courtesy and returning favors? Didn't I give you a tie before too?"

As her voice faded, the inside of the car suddenly fell silent, an indescribable quietness filling the air.

The man's deep, dark eyes watched her quietly. His eyelids were slightly lowered, casting shadows beneath his eyes, and the light from the window failed to illuminate the heavy darkness in his gaze.

An Ling's expression froze slightly. She pursed her lips, just about to open her mouth and say something.

But the man suddenly lowered his head and let out a soft chuckle. His deep, hoarse voice was laced with an obscure emotion, "So that's how it is..."

"I wouldn't know, because I've never been on a blind date. I've only ever been married to you, Madam."

Click—

The man unbuckled her seatbelt for her, lowered his gaze, and said softly:

"Go on upstairs, Madam."

An Ling: "..."

It seemed she had said the wrong thing.