Marriage Seduction Addiction

Chapter 408 Ordinary Friends

Ji Yan eventually went out.

She didn't reply to Lu Xingyan's message, but went directly to the store Lu Xingyan had mentioned.

When she arrived at the door, she could immediately see Lu Xingyan sitting by the window, talking earnestly to the staff next to him. He seemed perfectly normal, except for... the unusually conspicuous gauze on his face.

Ji Yan couldn't help but recall the scene earlier that day when he was carrying her when they were hit by a car.

It's quite a miracle that he wasn't injured anywhere else under those circumstances.

But when he asked her out to dinner, his tone remained as nonchalant as ever, as if nothing had happened that day.

Ji Yan lingered outside the restaurant for a few minutes before finally letting the caregiver push her inside.

The moment he saw her, a smile instantly bloomed on Lu Xingyan's face. However, perhaps because the smile aggravated the wound on his face, he quickly winked and then got up and walked towards her, saying, "You've come."

He was clearly delighted; his eyes lit up instantly. After helping her to sit down, he first poured her a cup of hot tea himself, and then introduced the restaurant to her: "I was just talking to their manager about roasting a duck for me, so that if you come within the next hour, you can eat right away."

Ji Yan stared at the gauze on his face. "What if I didn't come?"

“We can bake another one in half an hour,” Lu Xingyan said. “Anyway, now that you’re here, there will be food soon.”

Upon hearing this, Ji Yan didn't say anything more for a moment. She took the hot towel handed to her by the waiter, wiped her hands, and unconsciously turned her gaze elsewhere.

As always, Lu Xingyan would find many topics to talk about with her. Even if Ji Yan didn't respond to a word, he could still keep every minute of the meal lively.

When the roast duck was served, Lu Xingyan quickly wrapped one for her. Just as he was about to hand it to her, Ji Yan simply held out her hand and said, "I can do it myself."

"Try this I made for you first," Lu Xingyan said. "All my experience of eating Peking duck over the years is in here. I guarantee it's different from what you make yourself. Give it a try."

He placed the wrapped roast duck on the plate in front of her. Ji Yan paused for a moment, then finally picked it up and took a bite.

"Is it delicious?" Lu Xingyan smiled and leaned closer, waiting for her feedback.

However, Ji Yan put down her chopsticks after taking only one bite.

Lu Xingyan's expression immediately changed slightly. "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Ji Yan paused for a moment before slowly saying, "There are some issues that I need to clarify with you."

Hearing her tone, Lu Xingyan seemed to realize something and nodded slightly, "Go on."

"First of all, I want to thank you for saving me today. If it weren't for you saving me, I probably wouldn't have the chance to sit here and eat roast duck now."

Lu Xingyan, unusually, did not respond, quietly waiting for what would follow.

"After getting to know you over this period of time, I'm willing to believe that you're sincere and that you didn't approach me with any ulterior motives," Ji Yan said. "But I also have to tell you, I'm not the person you think I am. Lu Xingyan, what you went through with her has nothing to do with me, and I can't fulfill any of the things you expect of her. Do you understand?"

After a moment of silence, Lu Xingyan slowly nodded, then surprisingly laughed again, "That's it? Well, whether you are her or not, haven't we gotten along quite well these past few days? Why don't we just continue like this?"

“It’s different,” Ji Yan said. “Just like what happened during the day today… I can’t afford to go through that again.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Xingyan silently met her gaze for a moment before slowly saying, "So you're burdened by this matter."

“Lu Xingyan, to me you’re just someone I’m slightly more familiar with than a stranger, not even a friend,” Ji Yan said. “If it were anyone else today, they would never have come to save me, and you have no reason to come to save me either. Even if you did save me, I wouldn’t feel grateful.”

Lu Xingyan lowered his eyes slightly, as if seriously considering her words, and finally nodded in agreement, "You're right. In today's situation, if it were someone else, they probably wouldn't have saved you. But..."

Upon hearing "but," Ji Yan couldn't help but slightly narrow her gaze and look at him.

The next moment, Lu Xingyan smiled again, "But even if it were someone else today, I would still save them."

Ji Yan was slightly stunned.

“You said it yourself, we’re no longer strangers. Even if we’re not friends, we’ve at least met. I brought you there, and you have difficulty moving around… Under these circumstances, I would have saved anyone else, not just because of you,” Lu Xingyan said. “This is my own business, although it’s really no big deal for me… So, please don’t feel guilty about it anymore, okay?”

Ji Yan remained silent after hearing this.

Lu Xingyan had already bent down and started wrapping the roast duck again. Then he placed the wrapped roast duck in front of her again and said, "The last one is cold. Try it again. I don't have any other expectations for you. Just tell me if the roast duck I wrapped tastes good."

Ji Yan stared at him for a long time before finally picking up the roast duck in front of her again and putting it in her mouth.

After a long while, Lu Xingyan finally heard her voice again: "Delicious."

Lu Xingyan laughed and said, "The world is so big, it's not easy to find someone to eat and play with, even just a regular friend. It's okay to meet up for a meal once in a while, right?"

After saying that, he looked at her again and asked, "What do you think? Just friends?"

Ji Yan finished the roast duck he had personally wrapped, bite by bite, before raising her head again and saying only four words: "I want to eat more."

Lu Xingyan lowered her head slightly and immediately wrapped it up again, but the smile on her lips was impossible to hide.

……

That night, when Yan Shiyu returned home, Tang Xu had already finished washing up, but was still sitting on the sofa waiting for him.

As soon as he entered, Tang Xu immediately stood up and walked towards him. "Are you hungry? I prepared a midnight snack, would you like some?" Yan Shiyu reached out and put his arm around her. "Why did you suddenly decide to prepare a midnight snack?"

Tang Xu said, "You've been working so late, I've been waiting for you and I'm getting hungry. I've been craving Yu's handmade wontons lately, so I had someone buy some for me. I'll go cook them!"

As she was about to go into the kitchen, Yan Shiyu stopped her and said, "I'll cook."

"I'll cook!" Tang Xu said. "I can cook wontons, right? You go take a shower first, and you can eat them when you come out."

Upon hearing this, Yan Shiyu let her go and turned to walk into the bathroom.

When he came out after taking a shower, the steaming chicken soup wontons were just ready.

Tang Xu took a small bowl and a spoon, divided the wontons and half a bowl of chicken soup from the bowl, and gave the rest to Yan Shiyu.

Yan Shiyu did not refuse and sat down to eat.

"Did you go back to the Yan family today?" Tang Xu asked suddenly after taking a couple of sips of soup.

"No," Yan Shiyu replied.

Tang Xu glanced at him before continuing, "Gao Yan should have told you about what happened during the day, right? I went to the hospital to see Lu Xingyan. He has a huge abrasion on his face. It must have been quite frightening... Aren't you going back to see Xingyang?"

"I'm too busy today to think about it," Yan Shiyu replied. "Besides, they had dinner together tonight, so there's nothing going on."

Upon hearing this, Tang Xu's heart finally calmed down a little. "You also know they had dinner together tonight?"

Yan Shiyu said, "It's not a secret."

Tang Xu's mood immediately improved. After drinking two more sips of chicken soup, he said, "Then you should go back and see her tomorrow, so that she knows that you, her brother, still care about her."

Yan Shiyu paused for a moment before slowly raising his head to look at her and said, "So you're starting to take charge of things now?"

Hearing the slight teasing in his tone, Tang Xu raised her chin slightly. "What, am I not allowed to be your home, not allowed to be your boss?"

Yan Shiyu chuckled softly and said, "How dare I?"

Tang Xu gave a slight humph, then said, "Go first thing tomorrow morning. You have to go, do you hear me?"

“Okay,” Yan Shiyu replied obediently.

Tang Xu seemed satisfied at first, and watched him finish the rest of the wontons while resting her chin on her hand. Then she instructed, "Go wash the dishes."

"it is good."

It was still just one word. Yan Shiyu then gathered the dishes and went into the kitchen.

After he finished cleaning up the kitchen and came out, Tang Xu smiled again and said, "So this is what it's like to be in charge, huh? If I'd known—"

"Why didn't you know sooner?"

Tang Xu thought for a moment before saying, "If I had known... I would have proposed first, so I could have taken charge of the household sooner."

"If you propose, does that mean I'll necessarily say yes?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Xu immediately stood up and straddled him. "You still dare to refuse? Come on, tell me your true thoughts—"

As she spoke, she pretended to grab his neck, as if she would immediately reach out and snap his neck if he said anything that displeased her.

"If you had just said so sooner, I would have agreed a thousand times over if you had said it once," Yan Shiyu said.

Tang Xu originally thought he would continue to tease her, but she never expected that Yan Shiyu would suddenly say such serious words.

She was stunned for a moment, and by the time she realized what was happening, her eyes had already welled up with tears.

Yan Shiyu laughed, reached out and touched her eyes, and whispered, "Why are you crying?"

Tang Xu lowered her eyes and buried her face in his shoulder, "Who told you to say something like that all of a sudden? I wasn't prepared at all..."

Yan Shiyu gently took her hand and whispered, "It's my fault."

Tang Xu shook her head gently, but couldn't say anything else for a moment.

After a long silence, Yan Shiyu's voice was heard again: "Let's register during winter break, okay?"

After the wedding was arranged at the hot spring resort, it seemed like nothing happened. No one brought up the topic of the wedding until now.

Tang Xu then looked up at him again and asked, "Why do we have to wait until winter break?"

"I don't want to be disturbed by anyone else," Yan Shiyu said.

Tang Xu immediately realized that he was referring to Song Luobai.

When winter break came, Song Luobai went abroad, so there was no one to bother her, right?

Tang Xu leaned back into his arms and simply replied softly, "Okay."