Daddy, Mommy Ran Away - Chapter 167 - She Has a Boyfriend

“Hey, buddy, spill the beans. Have you lost your mind or taken the wrong meds lately? You’ve turned into a woman’s shadow,” Shen Jun teased as he dragged Mai Shuo into a corner the moment he walked in.

“You know what you remind me of?” Mai Shuo rolled his eyes.

“What?” Shen Jun leaned in curiously.

“Busybody,” Mai Shuo spat out the word with force.

“Busybody, huh? If it weren’t for your sudden personality shift, I wouldn’t even get the chance to be one,” Shen Jun retorted, his grin gleaming mischievously under the dim lights. “Come on, be honest. Do you have a thing for Tianxiang’s younger sister?”

“Me? Like her?” Mai Shuo scoffed at the suggestion, his sharp features practically spelling out “no way” in bold letters. “It’s more likely for it to rain red.”

Shen Jun rolled his eyes, slinging an arm over Mai Shuo’s shoulder. “Then why are you always trailing behind her? This is like the classic ‘no silver here’ scenario.”

“I’m being forced by the old men on both sides,” Mai Shuo sighed, his face full of helplessness. “They keep pressuring me to marry that tomboy. I refused outright, so we struck a deal: I’ll follow her around for three months. If we still can’t stand each other, the old men have to drop the marriage talk.”

“Ah, brother, my condolences,” Shen Jun said, patting Mai Shuo’s shoulder with exaggerated sympathy. “Don’t brood over it. Tonight, we’re drinking till we drop-no going home sober. Otherwise, this frustration will kill us.”

“Fine. Let’s go. Time to sing.”

When Qiuling pushed the door open, she saw four men belting out songs at the top of their lungs. Her gaze swept across Zhan Tianxiang, and for a moment, she froze as if struck by lightning. Then, she quickly composed herself and offered a faint smile. “Brother, where are sister-in-law and Moli?”

“They’re out in the hallway,” Leng Haoyin replied, pausing his singing.

“Alright, I’m feeling a bit warm. I’ll step out for some fresh air.”

“Hey-” Shen Jun nudged Zhan Tianxiang, who seemed momentarily dazed.

The September night breeze was crisp, carrying a hint of chill as it brushed against Qiuling’s face, easing the faint unease rising in her heart.

Standing in the hallway, she tilted her head back to admire the night sky. A few scattered stars dotted the vast expanse, while a crescent moon hung delicately above the treetops, surrounded by a soft halo of light. Lowering her gaze, she took in the city’s vibrant nightscape-the colorful neon lights flickering in the distance. Her slender figure swayed slightly in the breeze.

At night, when you’re alone, loneliness has a way of creeping up on you, unbidden.

“Ling’er-” A deep, resonant voice called out from behind her.

Leng Qiuling’s figure wavered slightly before she turned around. Her gaze met his, and her lips curved into a smile as light and fleeting as a wisp of cloud. She acted as if nothing had ever happened between them. “Mr. Zhan, taking a breather out here too?”

To her now, Zhan Tianxiang was nothing more than a familiar stranger-her demeanor was distant, polite, and detached.

A polite yet distant “Mr. Zhan” reached Zhan Tianxiang’s ears. His tall figure, bathed in the glow of the corridor lights, swayed slightly. The sting in his nose came first, followed by a sharp ache in his chest. Her gentle words, like the edge of a blade, had unknowingly grazed his heart. By the time he realized it, the wound was already bleeding profusely.

For a long moment, his hoarse voice struggled to form words, breaking into fragments that carried a sorrow so deep it was almost palpable. “Ling’er… you’ve lost weight.”

The once dazzlingly handsome face was now clouded with melancholy and grief. Zhan Tianxiang’s lips curled in a self-deprecating smile, but the pain in his chest refused to relent. Even breathing felt like a torment.

His low voice, soft enough to be scattered by the wind, lingered in the air. Yet its echo seeped into her breath, heavy like marble pressing against the most tender corner of her heart. The sadness etched on his face stabbed at her eyes, leaving her unable to think clearly. And then, as if from a distance, she heard her own voice: “I never realized Mr. Zhan had such keen eyes. Even I didn’t notice I’d lost weight, but you managed to see it.”

Her calm smile, paired with the measured repetition of “Mr. Zhan,” was like a dagger to Zhan Tianxiang’s soul. His hands, hanging by his sides, clenched tightly into fists. Just as he was about to say something more, a sudden burst of excitement rang out behind him. Startled, he turned to see a tall man striding down the hallway, his face lit up with an unrestrained smile.

“Qiuling, I finally found you!” Louis Tian’en approached Leng Qiuling in quick strides, his large hand reaching out to take hers. “You scatterbrain! Your medicine-your stomach isn’t well. I was worried you might have had a drink and ended up with a stomachache while I wasn’t around. What would you do then?”

Louis Tian’en’s unexpected arrival threw Leng Qiuling into a brief panic. She instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but her peripheral vision caught sight of Zhan Tianxiang behind Tian’en. Her body froze in place. His eyes-those pained, bewildered eyes-made her heart clench inexplicably. What was that look?

Zhan Tianxiang’s lips pressed into a thin line, his silence heavy. His deep, cold eyes, usually as still as a frozen lake, now shimmered faintly with moisture.

Qiuling? He called her Qiuling so intimately, and he was holding her hand? She didn’t even pull away? Could it be that she already had another man in her life? The thought of her being with someone else sent a wave of jealousy crashing through Zhan Tianxiang’s mind. Images of her sharing tender moments with another man flashed before him, and he couldn’t bear to imagine further. The pain in his chest reached a breaking point, transforming into a sour ache that gnawed at him. His nails dug deeply into his palms.

Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to leave. His gaze remained fixed on them, unblinking.

Finally, Tian’en noticed something was off. Turning around, he saw the man standing behind Qiuling. His brows furrowed slightly as he turned back to her. “Qiuling, is this your friend?”

Leng Qiuling smiled lightly. “He’s a friend of my Elder Brother. We came here to sing tonight. By the way, you were worried about me drinking, right? I’ve been good-I wouldn’t dare touch alcohol. If you don’t believe me, you can keep an eye on me.”

As she spoke, she affectionately linked her arm with Louis Tian’en’s. Her face radiated happiness, a brightness that Zhan Tianxiang couldn’t ignore. Every bit of her joy fell into his line of sight, and even his eyes seemed to ache from the weight of it.

“Sounds good. Your Elder Brother is here too, right? I’d love to meet him,” Louis Tian’en said, his tone brimming with excitement. Her sudden warmth toward him clearly thrilled him. For so long, he had been open about his feelings for her, but her heart had remained tightly shut, not even leaving a crack for him to peek through.

“Let’s go. My Elder Brother will definitely be happy to see you,” she replied, her voice light and cheerful as they walked past Zhan Tianxiang.

As they brushed by, their breaths mingled faintly in the air, leaving behind a bitter trace.