Wife, please behave yourself.

Chapter 117 I Like Liu Changcun
"It is you."

The two stared at each other as if someone had pressed the pause button. After nearly ten seconds, Liu Changcun came back to his senses and spoke with a smile.

Seeing An Zhaoran dressed in old-fashioned pajamas, with a face mask on and her hair wrapped up tightly, I was struck by her appearance.

"I thought it was your aunt who opened the door, I almost didn't recognize you."

"..."

Liu Changcun's words finally snapped An Zhaoran out of her daze. Her hand, which had been resting on the doorknob, suddenly didn't know where to go.

He hung in mid-air in a panic, as if trying to explain something, but he stammered for a long time without being able to say anything.

He took a step back, turned around, and ran into the house.

Guo Yan was puzzled as she watched her daughter suddenly run away from the door. She got up from the sofa.

"What's wrong with this child now?"

Muttering to himself in confusion, he slowly approached the doorway.

When Guo Yan saw Liu Changcun carefully supporting her drunken husband, she immediately shifted her attention from what her daughter had been thinking and hurriedly stepped forward to take her husband's arm.

After finally adjusting his posture, he looked at Anju Nan, whose head was drooping and who reeked of alcohol.

"How much did he drink?"

The question had barely left her lips when Guo Yan realized that Liu Changcun was still at the door.

He immediately looked towards the door and saw Liu Changcun, who looked completely sober.

He asked in surprise.

"Is this old man crazy? He called you to pick him up?"

"No, no, I just happened to run into my uncle and his family at the restaurant, so I went over to get to know them."

"so far so good……"

Hearing Liu Changcun's explanation, Guo Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When she first saw Liu Changcun, who had brought her husband home, she thought An Junan, who was drunk, had gone on a drunken rampage and was afraid that he would make a fool of himself in front of Xiao Liu.

With her concerns dispelled, she turned her attention back to her husband and prepared to take An Junan back to the bedroom first, but then looked at Liu Changcun and said.

"Come in and sit for a while. I'll take him inside and let Ranran come out to chat with you."

"No need to trouble you, Auntie. I have some things to take care of."

After politely declining the invitation, Liu Changcun made an excuse to leave.

Guo Yan watched Liu Changcun walk towards the elevator. She was about to turn around and help her husband into the house when An Zhaoran, who had run back to the room not long ago, rushed out again.

The face mask was removed, and the covering on her head was also taken off.

In just a few words, she changed into a fairly decent set of clothes.

Wearing slippers, she walked quickly, not even glancing at her parents in front of her, and ran past them toward the front door.

Before Guo Yan could see clearly, the security door, which had been open, was kicked shut.

After a loud bang, she was left standing at the door, supporting her husband.

The sound of the door closing also caught Liu Changcun's attention in front of the elevator. As he was waiting for the elevator, he turned his head and saw a figure hurriedly approaching him.

His originally rapid pace suddenly slowed down after he noticed Liu Changcun looking at him.

She changed her large strides to small steps, as if taking a leisurely stroll, and swayed over to his side.

She raised her hand to brush her still slightly damp hair, her gaze quickly sweeping over Liu Changcun's face before lowering it again and silently turning her face away.

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

The hand that had been tousling her hair fell down, and she nervously rubbed her trouser leg.

"Won't you come in and sit down?"

Wear a casual white summer shirt on top and black sheer trousers on the bottom. Tuck the shirt into the waistband and deliberately pull it out a little to create a relaxed look.

The overall style continues the look of Ahn So-ran on the radio, which is in stark contrast to the image seen when the door is opened.

However, the slippers she was wearing were somewhat unsuitable.

Noticing Liu Changcun's gaze, her plump toes curled up uncontrollably.

"..."

An Zhaoran, her feet in slippers, moved backward, and she secretly noticed the man's gaze out of the corner of her eye.

Seeing that the other person did not respond, she waited for a while before opening her pursed lips.

He muttered quietly.

"Why aren't you saying anything..."

"No need to go inside, the elevator's here."

It wasn't until An Zhaoran spoke for the third time that Liu Changcun, who was staring at her, finally responded.

Hearing the elevator "ding" as it arrived, I greeted them and stepped inside after the doors opened.

"Uncle drank quite a bit today. You and Auntie will have to work a little harder tonight and help pour him some water."

"My mom is taking care of me."

Responding naturally, An Zhaoran also stepped into the elevator.

This caused Liu Changcun, who was about to press the button for the first floor, to pause and look in surprise at the woman who was about to follow him downstairs.

An Zhaoran showed no intention of leaving the elevator again. After waiting a few seconds and seeing that Liu Changcun did not press the elevator button, she simply stretched out her arm and pressed the button for the first floor for him.

Then she stood back in her original position, behaving obediently as if she hadn't pressed the button herself.

As the elevator doors closed, a smile appeared on the man's calm face.

The two did not speak to each other on their way downstairs.

When the elevator reached the first floor, Liu Changcun stepped out first, followed closely by An Zhaoran.

He was half a step behind and silently looked up at the other person.

"My dad went to a party with his friends today, so why were you the one who brought him home?"

"Someone invited me to dinner, and I happened to run into him."

"Boyfriend?"

"Female friend."

The motion-sensor lights in the hallway turned on because of the sound of people talking.

Liu Changcun stopped and turned around to look at An Zhaoran, who was pulling him.

He watched as the other person raised their hand and gripped his wrist tightly.

"who is it……"

"You've met her before, senior."

"Just... the two of you?"

"They all brought their children."

"call……"

An Zhaoran, who had been holding her breath, was able to exhale smoothly as her tension subsided, and she immediately relaxed.

"Oh, you had a child with you. So, since you were invited to dinner by your senior, why did you bring my dad back?"

"It's all because my uncle was so enthusiastic. After we met, he insisted that I sit in their private room."

Did you say anything?

"Besides formally introducing me as his future son-in-law and asking his uncles and elders to give me some guidance in the future, he didn't say anything else."

Liu Changcun let An Zhaoran continue to hold his wrist, without offering any warning.

An Zhaoran realized what was happening after a while and hurriedly let go as if she had been electrocuted.

Looking at An Zhaoran who followed him downstairs, he saw her face, which was still quite pretty despite not having had time to dress up.

Liu Changcun, who had been smiling, slowly stopped smiling and spoke softly after a few seconds of contemplation.

"Are we going to keep lying? Sooner or later, the truth will come out."

"..."

An Zhaoran looked at Liu Changcun in front of her with a puzzled expression. She didn't quite understand why he would say such a thing out of the blue.

The relationship between the two was not real; it was a false relationship that only existed because she suggested it.

However, the fake relationship had lasted for so long over the past few months that even Ahn So-ran, who was directly involved, sometimes forgot about it.

She and Liu Changcun... were not a couple.

"What, what's wrong..."

An Zhaoran had only gone downstairs to chat with Liu Changcun, whom she hadn't seen for a few days, but she never expected him to suddenly say something like that. An Zhaoran felt inexplicably flustered, and even her instinctive question couldn't be uttered as smoothly as usual.

"Why bring this up all of a sudden..."

"My uncle and aunt are both very kind and take good care of me."

Liu Changcun's voice rang out in the corridor, echoing in An Zhaoran's ears.

"Although I have said that I am very professional, if this continues, my conscience will be uneasy."

"you think……"

"Rather than letting things escalate before they get out of hand, let's just leave it at that."

We chatted via text message every day and called each other every night.

Since the two privately discussed and reached this cooperative agreement, their initially fake relationship has gradually become real.

Liu Changcun experienced a failed marriage in this world.

Although the marriage ended in failure, the two children in the family could not simply disappear like the marriage itself.

As a single father, Liu Changcun's primary task is to raise his two children well.

An Zhaoran is different; she has a harmonious family and a happy life.

However, she was never married, and from the beginning, the two were not equals.

Even if the two of them really get together, his uncle and aunt, who seem to like him now, will not agree after learning the truth.

After all, compared to a showdown where everyone is told the truth from the beginning.

Their act of deceiving others before revealing their true intentions is the most egregious.

Liu Changcun put himself in his daughter's shoes. If his daughter Liu Wanqiu did something similar many years later, he would never accept being deceived by her.

As parents, what we want is for our next generation to grow up healthy, happy, and fulfilled.

Normal parents, as long as their child's spouse is a decent person, will generally not object too much.

But deception is different.

This is not something that can be brought to the forefront, nor will it allow his uncle and aunt, who will learn the truth, to maintain their previous good impression of him.

Their gaze fell on An Zhaoran, who was completely speechless, and noticed that her mood had clearly dropped since she was initially quite happy.

Liu Changcun glanced at the other person, but still smiled and comforted him.

"There's no need to worry too much. As long as you tell the truth and put all the blame on me, even if your uncle and the others are very angry, they won't get too angry at you."

"..."

"That's it, the farce is over."

Leaving these last words behind, Liu Changcun turned and walked towards the exit.

In the silent stairwell, the sound of the man's footsteps as he left drifted further and further away until they completely disappeared from An Zhaoran's ears.

Breathing is unusually steady.

The motion sensor light above their heads went out.

Gazing at the exit where Liu Changcun's figure had disappeared from sight, An Zhaoran recalled the bits and pieces that had happened recently.

After not seeing each other for many years, I suddenly received a call from Liu Changcun inviting me to dinner.

After meeting him, she learned from him that he was divorced.

As their relationship deepened, they looked forward to sending each other text messages every day, and would be happy for a long time to see a reply from each other.

Even after making a phone call, no matter how tired I am from work, just hearing the other person's voice over the phone makes me feel exceptionally at ease.

An Zhaoran didn't understand at first.

Sometimes her heart would feel inexplicably uncomfortable, and she didn't know why she felt a tightness in her chest when she saw Liu Changcun chatting with her senior.

He was particularly angry when he saw Ning Mengyao going to his house again.

In her memory, Liu Changcun only ever revolved around Lin Wanran, which she found annoying and repulsive. She also felt that despite coming from a poor background, he didn't continue to work hard to improve his life.

Instead, he gave up his promising future for that detestable woman, Lin Wanran.

She hated the old Liu Changcun.

Very annoying.

But now she can't bring herself to dislike Liu Changcun.

Perhaps due to a failed marriage, the once naive boy has matured, not only taking good care of his two children, but also impressing An Zhaoran.

Whether it's a TV series that's still airing or a program that he casually suggested getting good ratings on a public channel, it doesn't matter.

Although Liu Changsheng had excellent academic performance in the past, he had nothing else to offer that others could envy.

Perhaps An Zhaoran herself knew why she felt uncomfortable whenever she saw Liu Changcun interacting with other women.

She just didn't dare to admit it, or rather, she was afraid to admit it.

Admitting that... during their reunion after many years, through their gradual interactions, they unknowingly fell in love with each other.

An Zhaoran likes Liu Changcun.

She enjoyed being with Liu Changcun, and she enjoyed listening to him talk, even though just a short while ago he had said that it was over.

Liu Changcun has a child, a child conceived together with Lin Wanran.

Looking towards the exit, her initially confused gaze gradually changed, as if two blazing flames were emerging from her eyes.

An Zhaoran suddenly turned around and went back to the elevator.

I raised my hand to press the button, and after the elevator doors opened, I stepped back inside.

They didn't say a word the whole time, just waited quietly.

After a ding-dong, the elevator doors slowly opened.

The pace of his steps quickened as he got closer to his home.

An Zhaoran squatted down, found the spare key her mother had hidden under the floor mat, opened the door, and then put the key back.

As she closed the security door behind her, a loud bang echoed, and her heart felt as if it had been struck by a small wooden mallet.

Looking at the empty living room in front of him, his gaze was fixed on the door of his parents' bedroom.

I strode over to the bedroom door.

I could hear my mother's muffled voice inside the house, and my father's indistinct responses.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

When An Zhaoran opened her eyes again, she raised her hand with a determined look in her eyes.

Turning the doorknob in front of me, I pushed the door open and entered the room.

"Ranran? Has Xiao Liu left?"

"Ah."

Responding softly, An Zhaoran entered the bedroom.

Close the door behind you.

He looked at his father, who was already in bed and being helped by his mother to drink water.

"I like Liu Changcun."

"..."

After vomiting once, Anju Nan's mind cleared up a bit, and his dry throat made him want to drink more water.

Their daughter suddenly burst in and said things that left the couple completely baffled.

You've been dating for months, and now you're only saying you like me?
The couple both turned their gazes toward An Zhaoran, who was standing at the door.

Looking at her daughter's inexplicably nervous yet very determined expression.

"But we are not in a romantic relationship."

"..." "..."

"I asked him to pretend to be my boyfriend."

With her hands clenched at her sides, An Zhaoran had the courage to confront her father for the first time.

Looking at the increasingly grim expressions on her parents' faces.

"He was married, but divorced, and had two children with his ex-wife."

The voice that started speaking grew louder and louder.

Even so, I still like him. I've fallen for him!

(End of this chapter)