After that, Tao Ran started preparing to buy a house. He enjoyed looking through it and he also paid attention to the ambience. Therefore, the house couldn’t be too big or too small, the environment must be good, the traffic must be convenient, and Ruan Jun must like it.
So on that day, after taking a shower, he lay down on the bed and looked up houses online. After seeing a few, he felt they were pretty good so he wanted to ask for Ruan Jun to give some advice.
He found a smiling face on WeChat and sent it, and then waited for Ruan Jun to reply. After waiting for a long time, there was no sign of Ruan Jun’s reply.
What's the matter? Is she busy?
Tao Ran took the phone and clicked on Ruan Jun's avatar. He saw the prompt inside saying the other party was typing...
Huh? Has she seen it?
Then the ‘typing prompt’ disappeared, but he didn’t receive any message. Tao Ran was puzzled.
Is the phone broken or is the signal bad?
The other party started typing again…
She’s started again?
Then Tao Ran kept seeing that the other party was typing but no new message came in. After looking at it for about half an hour, Tao Ran couldn’t take it anymore and finally made a phone call. He noticed something amiss with Ruan Jun when she answered the phone. Tao Ran asked, "Is your phone broken?"
Ruan Jun: "Hmm? No, my phone’s fine."
"Then why has your WeChat been indicating that you’re typing but no message has been sent on my end? Or is your internet not good?"
"Uh..." She was ashamed, because she was entangled here and the other party knew about it.
Ruan Jun’s aggrieved voice said, "It's because of you."
Tao Ran was confused. "What's up with me?"
Ruan Jun complained, "It's because of you. You thought I did not do well so you were mocking me.”
"???" Question marks appeared on Tao Ran’s head. “When did I mock you? "
Ruan Jun: "You still want to deny it. Half an hour ago, you clearly sent me a ‘Heh heh’ emoji."
"..." Tao Ran said in a daze, "That emoji means ‘Heh heh’? Isn't it a smile?"
She finally figured out what happened. Ruan Jun laughed through the phone for making a fool of herself. She laughed so loudly that she almost attracted Mrs. Ruan’s attention, but fortunately, she curbed herself at the critical moment.
Tao Ran was a little embarrassed that he was laughed at and whispered, "I won't express love to you in the future."
Ruan Jun smiled and said, "Just send them if you want, I can teach you if you don't know the expression."
After living for so many years, he was still ignorant about those expression packages. He wanted to be carefree but simply felt shame, so he quickly changed the subject. "I looked through several houses and I felt that they were pretty good. I'll send you pictures, you see how they are."
Ruan Jun: "Okay."
This is a home for the two of them, Ruan Jun would naturally take the selection seriously. In the end, the two people finally chose a small villa. This villa may not be the one with the best conditions, but the villa had a large yard. Ruan Jun wanted a lot of flowers and plants in the yard so she took a fancy to this house at a glance.
After the selection, Ruan Jun said, "We‘ve chosen the house. You can move in soon but, I haven't told my family about our affairs."
Tao Ran: "Let's just say it."
"What do you mean let's just say it?" Ruan Jun rolled around on the bed. "My boyfriend has never been to my house but he’s just going to take me away; that sort of thing?"
Tao Ran suspected Ruan Jun's memory had a problem. He asked, "Are you feeling well? I've been to your house once. You were at home that day."
"..." Ruan Jun was speechless for a while, and decided not to let Zhou Jiayi guess her thoughts again. She very clearly said, "You never came back after that. Have you come to my house to visit my parents as my boyfriend?"
Tao Ran suddenly understood and said, throwing his suspicions, "If you want me to go to your house, just say it, why didn’t you tell me clearly?"
"Humph!" Ruan Jun said with a huff, "Because I'm hypocritical."
Tao Ran didn’t have an answer to that. He could only change the subject. "When is uncle and aunt free? Should I bring a gift to visit them and take away their baby daughter along the way?"
Ruan Jun happily began to roll around on the bed again. She pondered for a while before saying, "I’ll ask them first and then I will tell you."
Ruan Jun bounced downstairs in her nightdress while her parents were watching TV in the hall. She didn’t know how it came to be. Since her brother started taking over the company, her parents had fallen in love with watching TV together at night. Although Ruan Jun didn’t understand its appeal, she liked seeing her parents cuddling and watching TV together.
The sound of her footsteps going down the stairs was not soft. Ruan Xiongfei turned his head when he heard her movements and smiled when he saw Ruan Jun. "Is Junjun here to watch TV with us?"
Ruan Jun was a little bit shy. After all, she was talking to her parents in person. She had said that Zhou Jiayi should not be mentioned in this house again, but now, the person who would be taking the initiative to mention it was herself. Ruan Jun walked over and sat between her parents, pretending to watch TV. Ruan Xiongfei asked, "Would you like a glass of milk?"
"No need." Ruan Jun absently watched the TV and said, "That... There is one thing I want to tell you."
Mrs. Ruan was watching the TV intently. Especially casual, she said, "Really? Did you run out of pocket money?"
"No, I’m not short of money." Ruan Jun carefully observed her parents’ expressions as she said, "That… I’m in love."
Mrs. Ruan said with a very indifferent face, "Oh."
Oh? What does ‘Oh’ mean?
Ruan Jun wondered, "Why are you not surprised at all? Don't you want to know who my boyfriend is?"
Ruan Xiongfei said, "If you want to say who it is, just say it."
Ruan Jun nearly blew her top due to their attitude. Their baby daughter was in love, but they don't care at all. Was watching Korean dramas more important than their daughter? Ruan Jun angrily said, "It's Zhou Jiayi, my boyfriend is Zhou Jiayi!"
"..."
The scene was very awkward. Ruan Jun, who thought it would mean bad news, suddenly found that her parents expressions were very calm. She finally felt that something was wrong and confirmed, "Did you… know something?"
Mrs. Ruan replied, "You made such a big disruption in the Zhou family. What ‘Wild girl from the Ruan Family forcefully kissed the president of the Zhou Family’? What ‘Daughter of the Ruan Family forced herself on somebody’? So many versions have already spread all over City A, how wouldn’t we know about it? Didn’t you notice that we rarely go out recently?”
Ruan Jun then wondered, “What does this have to do with you rarely going out??"
“What do you think?" Mrs. Ruan gave a complex look as she said, "Our daughter became a celebrity because of such a thing, how can we still have the nerve to go out? Besides, we also want to save face.”
".... " Alright, it was my mistake.
Ruan Jun said, "Jiayi also said that he wants to visit you two at our house, I just don’t know when you’ll be free."
Mrs. Ruan suddenly bounced off of the sofa, her eyes flushing excitedly. "When? When will he visit?"
Why are you so excited now? Ruan Jun replied, "He said to ask when you’ll be free."
"We’re free at any time." Ruan Xiongfei added, "You tell him to come quickly."
Ruan Jun was almost frightened by the two of them. She said with uncertainty, "You’re not going to do anything to him, do you? By all means, don’t. I finally managed to chase him after great difficulties, you must not, by all means, scare him away. Otherwise, I will cry to death."
"Tsk, silly child. What are you talking about?" Mrs. Ruan was secretly delighted as she said, "The famous Zhou Jiayi has become my son-in-law. In other words, that means having a special reputation when I go out, how can I scare him? It will just be cordial greetings, more or less."
"..." Ruan Jun was still not at ease, she asked again, "Your daughter's experience of chasing him was simply a history of blood and tears. Don’t let your minds fall into the gutter."
"Okay okay," Ruan Xiongfei and Mrs. Ruan promised, "we can guarantee."
Only then did Ruan Jun let the matter go and said, "I'll tell him to come at noon tomorrow."
*
"Is it tomorrow at noon?" Tao Ran said, "There’s absolutely no problem."
“We can still choose furniture some time in the afternoon.” Tao Ran said, "Let’s go and check the house first. The pictures will always be a little different from reality. I want to see it with my own eyes."
“Okay, I agree with you."
Tao Ran wore very formal clothes at noon the next day. He brought flowers and gifts to the door of the Ruan household.
The person who opened the door was Ruan Zijian. He looked at Tao Ran, smiled, and wanted to greet him but found that he didn't know how to address him. Calling him Mr. Zhou would be too estranged and calling him Jiayi would be too familiar; after all, he just recently got together with his sister. Contrarily, Tao Ran unceremoniously said, "Brother-in-law, this is your gift."
Pft....
Ruan Zijian nearly sprayed water from his mouth. Is this the same aloof and cold President Zhou? God, what did my sister do?
He forcibly endured the mental breakdown and smiled stiffly, "Hehe… please come in."
Tao Ran entered, and then saw a family of three sitting on the sofa. In the past, Long Qiu’s father was hard to get along with and it took awhile for him to fix their relationship; he didn't believe that he could not get along with this whole family.
He walked over and first handed out his gift all whilst blurting out all kinds of flattering words. Ruan Jun saw Tao Ran continuously babbling nonsense in front of her as if he had changed into a different persont. He coaxed her parents into a daze. He coaxed her parents into a daze, and she quite obviously saw that her parents already couldn’t distinguish between North and South.
Finally, Tao Ran concluded, "Ai, Junjun wants to move out. Of course I’m willing. I’m just afraid that I will not be able to take good care of her. After all, I am still very busy at work."
How can I possibly blame you when it’s my daughter who wants to move out?
Ruan Xiongfei said with embarrassment, "It's because Junjun is not so sensible. You’re alone, busy with the Zhou family’s business, and she still wants to inconvenience you. I really don't know what to say about her."
"You mustn't blame her." Tao Ran said as if anyone would dare to blame Ruan Jun. "I am willing to take care of Junjun. A good girl like Junjun deserves to be loved dearly."
The smiling eyes of Ruan Shi and his wife disappeared. What was more important than loving their daughter so much? They originally thought that Zhou Jiayi was a cold workaholic, and feared that her daughter would be lonely in the future, but now it seems that their daughter's future life would be more colorful.
While everyone wasn’t paying attention, Tao Ran quietly gestured to Ruan Jun. His meaning: ‘Your parents have been dealt with by me.’
Ruan Jun couldn't help it and almost laughed out loud. She didn't expect Jiayi to have such a naughty side to him.
Originally, the two of them wanted to go out to see the house after lunch, but it turned out that Father and Mother Ruan could really talk, and they went on talking until after dinner was over. Tao Ran had no other choice but to once again stay at the Ruans’ house for dinner. After dinner, Tao Ran wanted to say goodbye and take his leave, but Ruan Fei said, "It’s already late. In any case, you’re not an outsider, you can simply sleep here tonight."
At the thought of sleeping together with Ruan Jun, Tao Ran instantly had a bit of a headache. He gave a hollow laugh and said, "This… is not appropriate."
"What's not appropriate?" Mrs. Ruan suddenly said with a teasing expression, "What are you thinking? There are many guest rooms in our Ruan family’s house. You don’t need to squeeze in with anyone.”
Tao Ran immediately relaxed, and said with a dry smile, “That’s good, that’s good.”
Ruan Jun gave Tao Ran a fierce look. Is not being in the same room with me that great? That you’re even smiling like this?
While Tao Ran was taking a bath, Mrs. Ruan quietly found Ruan Jun and asked, "Have you done that with him?"
Ruan Jun immediately blushed and said, "What are you talking about? How long have we known each other?"
"My mistake. I think he’s uninterested in anything." Mrs. Ruan spoke with a tone of someone who’s been around the block. "Young men are full of sap, how can he not be interested in this kind of thing? Could it be that he’s not capable?"
Ruan Jun promptly answered, "How could he not be capable? That day he clearly..." Oh no, my tongue slipped.
Mrs. Ruan narrowed her eyes. "What did he do that day?"
Ruan Jun was so embarrassed that she simply couldn’t hold her gaze. "Aiya, don't ask anymore. I don't want to talk about it."
Mrs. Ruan was afraid that her daughter would be unhappy in the future and wanted to use her experience to teach her. She asked, "Is there something you can’t tell your mother? Mom is afraid you don’t understand."[1]
Ruan Jun blushed and said, "You don’t need to tell me anymore. In a word, he’s very good."
As for why Ruan Jun was not very keen on this, she had come to a personal conclusion. She thought of their first time and assumed the psychological shadow she left on Zhou Jiayi was too large, which made him a little scared. After all, no matter who it was, being tied to the bed by a stranger during their first time would probably scar them for life.
Ruan Jun felt sorry for Zhou Jiayi, and at the same time, was afraid that there really was a shadow that remained on Zhou Jiayi. She was completely entangled. Mrs. Ruan’s words on the side went through one ear and out the other; her head was completely full of thoughts about this matter.
Tao Ran has to work this morning and he had a battle of wits with the Ruan couple this afternoon. After taking a shower, he was really a bit sleepy. He lay on the bed in the Ruan House’s guest room and glanced at his phone. Seeing that it hadn’t been updated recently, he decided to use the opportunity to make an update on the app so he just commented and posted.[2] He put down the phone. Yawning, he turned off the light and prepared to sleep.
He was half-asleep and half-awake when he suddenly heard the sound of the door opening, and then somebody called, "Jiayi?"
Is it Ruan Jun? Why did she sneak in?
When Ruan Jun saw that the room was dark and that Zhou Jiayi was lying on the bed silently, she thought that he was already asleep. She touched the side of the bed then stretched out her hands to touch the bulging quilt where Zhou Jiayi lay under.
Ruan Jun motionlessly stood by the bed, watching Tao Ran sleep. On the other hand, Tao Ran was visibly running with cold sweat. Any person would feel scared and upset when someone was standing next to their bed, staring at them fixedly in the middle of the night.
Just when Tao Ran was about to speak, Ruan Jun moved. Ruan Jun put her hand into the quilt, and met Tao Ran's thing.
Tao Ran: "!!!"
He got up with a particularly big reaction. "Ahh! What are you doing?"
"Uh, you weren't asleep? Then why didn't you make a sound?"
Two people stilled awkwardly in the dark for a while, Tao Ran turned on the small lamp beside the bed and looked at Ruan Jun speechlessly.
Ruan Jun also looked at Tao Ran. The two looked at each other in silence for a long time. Ruan Jun thought in her heart: When someone’s already in this kind of relationship, what more is needed? One word; F**king!
She climbed onto the bed, letting Tao Ran catch sight of her transparent nightdress as she said, "Jiayi."
Tao Ran swallowed nervously. "Un?"
"Can you not make that expression that looks like an innocent woman looking at a tyrant?"
Tao Ran: "..."
Ruan Jun blushed and said, "Tonight, we… let’s..."
Tao Ran looked at her calmly, more or less having an idea of what she wanted to do.
He simply listened to Ruan Jun say, "Let's do that.”
Tao Ran: "What’s ‘that’?"
“That; the one we did when we first met." Ruan Jun was already on the brink of dying inside.
Tao Ran was on guard as he asked, "You want to tie me up again?"
"..." Ruan Jun raised her head angrily, rushed forward to Tao Ran, and cupped his face. "Can't you forget about that tying part?"
Tao Ran: "It was obviously you who mentioned it..."
"I don't care." Ruan Jun was helpless with him. She directly held Tao Ran's face, leaned down, and kissed him. Tao Ran stared bitterly, not daring to move.
After a long while, Ruan Jun said, "Weren’t you very skilled before? Why aren't you moving now?"
Tao Ran gasped. "I don't dare to move at this kind of occasion. It’s easy to shoot accidentally while polishing the gun.”
"Pffpf." Ruan Jun's voice was as sweet as honey. "I’ll allow you to shoot accidentally while wiping the gun."[3]
Tao Ran: "But I don't want to— hiss..."
Tao Ran suddenly inhaled in pain as he clutched his collarbone. "Are you a dog? Biting bones?"
"I've wanted to do this for a long time." Ruan Jun gently took off her nightgown. The faint, soft light of a small lamp shone on her body, illuminating her skin that was as smooth as silk.
Tao Ran instantly held his breath. Mayah, why do these female partners like to tease me so much? This is not good. Being a man for decades, I’m unable to bear it. What to do?
***
Nanoni notes:
[1] They’re talking about bedroom matters.
[2] This one guesses that Tao Ran is checking his WeChat Moments, a Chinese app that is similar to instagram.
[3] 擦枪走火: to shoot accidentally while polishing the gun, meaning, creating a minor incident that sparks a war. In this case, Tao Ran meant that if he responded to the kiss, it’ll lead to something else.