Yan froze for a whole ten seconds before she quickly stood up and wiped the drool off the side of her mouth. “What are you guys doing standing here while watching me sleep, and so early in the morning at that? Are you trying to scare me to death?”
Han Muzi crossed her arms in disbelief. “Look at yourself. Why are you sleeping on the couch and not in your room?”
Little Bean nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, Aunt Yan. Why are you sleeping on the couch? Did you come home really late last night?”
That caught Han Muzi’s suspicions and she narrowed her eyes. “You came home really late? How late?”
At that moment, Yan looked uneasy and did not dare to look at Han Muzi in the eyes.
“Last night…” She hesitated. “Last night, nothing happened at all!” Yan stood up and refuted with a flushed face. She then turned around and ran up the stairs as she said, “I’m exhausted. I’m going to take leave from work and sleep all day.”
She did not give Han Muzi time to respond and headed straight into her room. She then leaned against the door and panted. Her ears quickly turned red as she remembered what happened the night before. Biting her bottom lip, she took off her shoes and dove into the covers. Her memories started to return to her.
Last night, she had gone to Han Qing’s company and waited for him there. When he saw her, he had let her in his car without much thought.
Yan was on edge the whole time as they sat together in the backseat. She looked up occasionally at Han Qing who was next to her. He sat there expressionless but his side profile was breathtaking and his strong presence had made him more admiring to look at.
She realized the more she looked at him, the more she liked him. At the same time, she was also grateful for what Han Muzi had told her that day. If… Han Muzi had not told her to go see him if she wanted to, then she probably would not have gone to look for Han Qing in the first place. Then, she would not have had the opportunity to sit with him in his car.
At that instant, she coughed softly and asked in a small voice, “P-President Han, have you had dinner yet?” After she said that, she almost wanted to bite her tongue off. He had just gotten off work. What kind of stupid question is that?
She could not take back her words and there was no point crying over spilled milk. So she just waited bitterly for him to answer her question.
“No.”
To her surprise, he responded to her. However, he was a man of few words and did not say anything more.
She stole another glance at him and saw that his expression had not changed. She was disheartened. Ever since he rejected her feelings last time, his attitude toward her had gotten colder. He had told her not to place any expectations on him because he would never return her feelings. However, Yan could not control her feelings for him.
“Then… shall we eat dinner together?” She got nervous after she asked as she was afraid that he wouldn’t agree so she continued, “Of course, it’s my treat!”
He hesitated, then looked over at her with a calm expression.
Yan was so nervous that she had stopped breathing. She bit her bottom lip and glanced at him with her small pale face. “S-Shall we?”
His eyebrows knitted together at the sight of her trembling pink lips. What is with this woman? However, the desperation in her eyes made it hard for him to turn her away. Before he even realized it, he nodded his head.
At that moment, her eyes lit up like fireworks. She was both ecstatic and doubtful at the same time. “D-Did you just agree?” Unable to suppress her excitement, she looked at him with a look of joy and anxiousness as she asked this.
“Mm.” He nodded his head. It was just a meal. No big deal, he thought.
Yan was over the moon. He, too, noticed that after he agreed to her, her happiness seemed to have overflowed into the space inside the car.
Mr. Nan, who was driving in the front while eavesdropping on the whole conversation, slowly broke into a smile. Good, good. President Han has been alone for so many years. It would truly be wonderful if he had someone as passionate as this young lady by his side. Mr. Nan was overjoyed at the thought of it.
“That’s right! I didn’t get to ask you; what would you like to eat?” she asked nervously. Yan had been so elated that she forgot the most important part of their dinner.
“Since you’re treating, you can decide.”
Yan blinked. “I can’t disregard your preferences. I know of a Chinese restaurant that just opened recently. How about we go there?”
“Sure.”
After fifteen minutes, they arrived at the front of the restaurant. Since it was newly opened, it was packed with people. To provide Han Qing with a pleasant dining atmosphere, she asked for a small private cubicle. After that, both of them proceeded to order several dishes.
Once the waiter left the cubicle and it was just the both of them, Yan realized something serious. It was only the two of them in the cubicle. There was nobody else inside, which made it even more awkward.
That was her first time eating with her crush at the same table, in a small cubicle, and with nobody else. Nevertheless, she felt excited as she saw it as an opportunity.
Yan bit her bottom lip and fidgeted with her fingers under the table nervously. Now and then, she would look up at him, unsure of how to break the silence.
The silence inside the cubicle was suffocating and she would occasionally take peeks at him. As such, how could he not feel her gaze on him? He pursed his lips and, alas, looked up at her. “Do you remember what I said to you last time?”
“Huh?” She nervously looked up into his cold eyes. “W-What?”
“Did you forget all those things I said to you at the Han Residence last time?”
She paused. She realized what he was getting at, and nodded a few times as her face grew paler. “No, I didn’t forget. I remember everything.”
Are you sure you still remember? The expression on his face grew dark. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table as though he had been deep in thought while Yan sat across from him, afraid to even breathe loudly. Is he going to reject me again? She lowered her eyes and did not say another word.
“In that case, why did you ask me out?” he asked.
She was dumbfounded for a moment before lifting her head. “I… I…” Yan did not know how to convey that she just wanted to meet him, so she had plucked up the courage to ask him out, something which he had agreed to.
At that moment, the waiter returned. “Excuse me, miss. The spicy salted duck you ordered is no longer available. Would you like to try something else instead?”
“Oh, sure.” To Yan, the waiter turned out to be her savior in that dire situation. She looked through the menu that was given to her, then made her decision and ordered a bottle of white wine.
“I’ll have this instead.”
The waiter looked at her, slightly taken aback. “Miss?”
“It’s fine. Just give me that.”