When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 231: Like, But Can’t Have

"Ling, you let me down," the man sighed, "To treat your last encounter with your own son so carelessly."

Lin Zhen mechanically turned his head, his face pale, "He and I have long lost any mother-son affection. I can take anything, just don’t harm him."

Yuan Chong looked at the handkerchief in his hand with a light chuckle, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes, "How would you know if he holds any mother-son affection for you without trying?"

"What are you going to do!" Lin Zhen’s voice grew shrill.

"Don’t be so afraid, you know I always play by the rules."

At that moment, a cellphone rang.

Yuan Chong casually threw the handkerchief aside and answered the call as he walked out of the private room.

"What is it."

"Mr. Yuan, that student with the surname Lu wants to see you."

The man raised an eyebrow, his pupils behind the glasses shimmering with a faint blue glow.

...

The car from the villa was still waiting below; Jiang Shuyao was led by Pei Yan into the vehicle, and they drove away from the restaurant for a long, long time, still unable to recover from the recent events.

Beside her, the man remained silent for too long, prompting her to initiate a conversation, "Do you know much about your godmother’s life in Los Angeles?"

Pei Yan spoke indifferently, "Apart from the fact that she remarried, I know nothing."

He had learned about Lin Zhen’s remarriage accidentally from the lips of a servant.

Everyone at home kept it from him, merely for fear that he couldn’t withstand the shock and would become ill.

Two years ago, perhaps he might have.

But as time passed, his mindset had fundamentally changed; no one, after repeated disappointments, could still retain that foolish hope in their heart.

Jiang Shuyao related to Pei Yan the encounter with Yuan Chong at the Zhuo Cubic art exhibit, including the anonymous painting.

If their guess was correct, the woman standing by the sea in the painting should be her godmother.

And the painter, undoubtedly, was Yuan Chong’s father, who was also her godmother’s current husband.

Connecting the dots, the appearance of the mixed-race man seemed random on the surface, but it was not that simple in reality.

Her godmother had acted too abnormally when Yuan Chong appeared.

With concern growing, Jiang Shuyao looked at Pei Yan with a grave expression, "Anyway, we still have more than half a month before school starts. Let’s stay in the Capital for a few more days."

"Yaoyao," he called her name calmly.

After a brief silence, Pei Yan leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, his lips curling with a faint sneer.

"She made her own choice. Even if she’s unhappy, what can be done?"

He was a bit tired. He had hardly slept all night after receiving Lin Zhen’s call.

The person in the bed slept soundly while Pei Yan took his cellphone outside, sat at the end of the hotel corridor, and silently listened to the voice on the phone for a full ten minutes.

He was surprised at his own patience and even more so that Lin Zhen would suddenly share so many heartfelt words with him.

She assured him repeatedly that upon her return to the country, she wouldn’t disturb his life; she only wanted him to bring Yaoyao and have a reunion meal with her.

The conversation revolved mostly around old matters, without a single mention of her life in Los Angeles over the past three years.

Pei Yan faintly detected helplessness in Lin Zhen’s tone, and a tinge that resembled the dying wish of someone on their deathbed.

In the end, his heart softened again, and he believed her.

Today, upon meeting her, he was relieved that Lin Zhen didn’t cause any trouble, but what caught him off guard was that man called Yuan Chong.

The painter’s son, a regular on the charity auction circuit, yet those eyes, devoid of a trace of compassion.

Seeing his bad mood, Jiang Shuyao swallowed back the words she was about to say.

Never mind, it’s not possible to make judgments based solely on a glance. A person as wise as her godmother, if her current life was truly unsatisfactory, would certainly not just muddle through. Otherwise, she would not have resolutely left Pei Yan behind to study abroad.

Stuck in traffic, stop-and-go, they finally arrived at the airport after an hour.

Both wearing masks, they were practically inseparable the whole way.

In the vast waiting hall, Jiang Shuyao let Pei Yan lead her to check in their luggage, found a place to sit down, and waited to board the plane.

"Didn’t sleep well last night?" she tilted her head and gently touched the corner of his eye with her hand.

Pei Yan wrapped his large hand around her shoulder and lazily smirked at her, "How can I sleep with such a sweet fragrance in my arms?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

She glared back at him irritably, "All you think about is that kind of stuff, and you blame me."

"It’s perfectly normal," he leaned his face close to her ear. "Once a man has a taste, there aren’t many who can resist, especially at night, you know."

Jiang Shuyao silenced herself, smacked away his shameless face, and didn’t want to deal with him anymore.

...

On the second floor of the VIP waiting hall opposite, by the floor-to-ceiling windows, a cold figure stood for a long time.

From this vantage point, one could see everything underneath.

On the way here, Lu Chen couldn’t understand why that man had arranged to meet him here, but now, seeing the intimate couple below, he realized the reason.

Obviously, the other party had found him not by chance but with a premeditated plan.

Yuan Chong’s identity was a mystery. He appeared to be a philanthropist on the surface, but behind the scenes, he was involved in shady business dealings.

He had been behind the sale of the "CRP Financial Encryption System" to the audit company, including planting a data-stealing virus within the system at his behest.

Lu Chen didn’t know what specific purpose Yuan Chong had in doing this, but one thing was certain: He was not a good person.

Initially, dealing with him had been for the immediate benefits, two million, which was extremely tempting for Lu Chen at his current stage.

He urgently needed that money to get his mother’s surgery done without delay.

Unfortunately, things eventually fell apart, and it was Pei Yan who caught him.

The despair of all his efforts going to waste felt just like this.

Lu Chen knew that from the moment he took the first step into the abyss, there was no turning back.

Right and wrong have always been determined by the victor. Just because Lu Chen had failed once didn’t mean he was willing to stay defeated forever.

Footsteps approached from behind.

"Do you like that girl?" The man came up beside Lu Chen, his eyes behind his glasses coldly looking through the floor-to-ceiling window down at the hall.

It was Yuan Chong.

A snake full of ambition and danger, Lu Chen’s next partner in crime.

His hand hanging by his side tensed, and his voice was hoarse, "I like her, but I can’t have her."

Yuan Chong fingered the ring between his fingers, his laughter untraceable, "It’s easy to get someone, as long as you want to."

Lu Chen frowned, wanting to say something, but the boarding announcement for the flight to Rong City from the Capital was already sounding in the hall below.

...

The plane landed late at night, and the two of them went straight to Yasong Residence. Jiang Shuyao was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open. After exiting the elevator, she bid goodnight to someone and pressed the doorbell to her home.

She hadn’t brought much with her to the Capital; her house keys were left in her bedroom. Plus, she hadn’t informed her parents in advance about her return. After waiting a good while with no one opening the door, she suddenly had a bold guess.

She vaguely remembered from a phone call, Old Jiang mentioning he wanted to take advantage of his mother’s week off in mid-July to visit Minle and tend to her grandparents’ graves.

Timing-wise, that would be right about these days.