"Jin, are you alright?" Wan Ru turned to ask Mei Jin.
"What's 'alright'? I should be asking you. Are you hurt anywhere?"
Wan Ru shook her head.
"Call your father!" Chen Jiancheng told Mei Jin.
"Yes!" Mei Jin stood up to make the call.
"Sorry, Ru, I was late." Ming Jian finally spoke.
Wan Ru shook her head and asked, "How do you plan to deal with her, Jian?"
Ming Jian sighed, "We can't send her to jail. She has the excuse of suffering from a mental illness. I reckon after this incident, her parents will immediately get her a psychiatric certificate."
"Send me her information, Uncle." Chen Jiancheng spoke up.
Mei Jin, Ming Jian, and Wan Ru looked at each other, no one answering.
"My father said he's coming back this afternoon." Mei Jin broke the silence.
That afternoon, Chen Licheng and his wife brought the old man back. Wan Ru and Ming Jian were kept behind to talk with him. Chen Jiancheng, as usual, was busy dealing with the unfinished work of the day. Mei Jin had to go back and recount everything to Chen Licheng.
That day, Chen Jiancheng and his wife bought some good beef, so they invited the whole family to have a barbecue. Wan Ru and Ming Jian were compelled to stay.
"It's like our family faced a disaster, but now that everyone is safe, I'm very happy." Chen Licheng finished speaking, then turned to Wan Ru and Ming Jian and continued. "Uncle thanks you two for caring so much about my daughter. I also consider you two family, so you must stay and let Uncle treat you to a meal." That was the reason he gave.
Ming Jian used this excuse to talk to Mei Jin. Mei Jin was sitting and picking vegetables when he came to help.
"Can you please not be angry with me anymore? I was so worried about you today."
"Isn't this trouble something you brought upon us?" Mei Jin replied coldly.
"It wasn't me. Saying that isn't right."
"Then what is right?"
"I will never, ever harm you. If anything ever happens to hurt you, it definitely wasn't caused by me. I swear!"
"Shut your mouth right now." Mei Jin's attitude had become gentler. In truth, she hadn't been angry with Ming Jian for a long time.
At the dinner table, there was no need for the family to arrange seats anymore, as Chen Jiancheng and Wan Ru were already sitting next to each other. Before the meal began, Chen Jiancheng stood up and spoke seriously to everyone.
"Father, Second Brother! Something unfortunate happened to our family today, but I will handle it thoroughly. However, today's incident has prompted me to do something. Today, I will officially tell everyone."
Wan Ru's heart trembled. Chen Jiancheng reached out and took her hand under the table, pulling her to stand up.
"Father, Brother! Wan Ru and I are dating."
Everyone: "..."
The old man and Chen Licheng seemed to have received the information too abruptly, standing frozen in silence. Mei Jin's mother and Ming Jian seemed quite composed, as if they had known for a long time. In contrast, Mei Jin was so surprised that she dropped the chopsticks she was holding, staring at Wan Ru with her mouth agape. Wan Ru looked at Mei Jin with an expression that seemed to say, "My dear friend, please understand me!" Even she herself was a little surprised by his decision.
"Uh... How long have you two been together?" The old man chuckled, breaking the awkward atmosphere.
"More than four months, Father!"
Mei Jin, who was drinking water, choked and coughed continuously when she heard her uncle's reply. Mei Jin looked at Wan Ru, frowning. Ming Jian laughed at Mei Jin, simply patting her back to help her stop choking.
"This girl." Madam Yun An, Mei Jin's mother, handed her a tissue.
"Why are you so calm, Mother?" Mei Jin asked.
"You're silly. If your uncle has a girlfriend, shouldn't the whole family be happy for him?" She replied cheerfully.
"But your uncle's girlfriend is my friend, aren't Mom and Dad shocked?"
"Mom can tell those two have feelings for each other. Getting together is just a matter of time."
"And you? What are you laughing at? Aren't you shocked?" Mei Jin turned to see Ming Jian laughing and found an excuse to vent her anger.
"No! They're so obvious, how could you not notice?"
What's wrong? It was Wan Ru who first told her about her crush on her uncle, so how come when the two of them started dating, everyone noticed but her? She was so shocked.
"Alright, alright. Sit down and eat, child."
The old man laughed heartily, looking very happy.
"That's right, sit down and eat, child."
Chen Li Cheng also said.
Mrs. Yun Ying poked her husband's arm. Chen Li Cheng realized he had said the wrong thing but still felt a bit awkward, so he just smiled it off.
Who would call their younger brother's girlfriend "child" and refer to themselves as "uncle"?
Since their relationship had been disclosed to the family, Chen Jian Cheng also felt more comfortable openly showing his concern for her. Originally, he didn't want to hide it, but Wan Ru felt shy, so he went along with her. However, seeing the person he loved in trouble and not being able to openly worry about her made him feel very uncomfortable.
After dinner, Chen Jian Cheng drove Wan Ru home. Neither of them was the boisterous type, so they didn't talk much on the way.
"Um... I still feel a bit scared. Can you come up with me for a bit?" Wan Ru pretended to ask him.
Chen Jian Cheng looked at her and calmly agreed. He followed her up to her room. Although he understood what she meant, he still seriously checked around and inside the room.
"What are you doing?" Wan Ru asked, puzzled.
"I'm checking if there's any way for someone to break into your room."
"What for?"
"So I can suddenly break into your room in the middle of the night and kidnap you."
Li Wan Ru: "..."
What a childish old man.
Wan Ru led him by the hand to sit on the sofa. She became serious. Wan Ru turned her body, rested her legs on his lap, and leaned her head on his shoulder. She asked in a low voice.
"Why did you disclose it to your family today?"
When she heard him confirm their relationship to his family, her heart trembled a little. The dark corners of her heart were also illuminated because of it. With Chen Jian Cheng, he always gave her absolute trust. She felt that in her precarious life, just one word from him would make her feel acknowledged.
When she was little, she often saw other children at the orphanage being adopted by other aunts and uncles. Sometimes she heard them say, "Now I am your mother, and you will be my daughter," and she was extremely envious. At least that friend had their identity recognized by others. As for her, she just grew up silently, becoming someone who didn't know where she came from and didn't know where she was going.
"Because we love each other."
Chen Jian Cheng's voice cut through her train of thought. Wan Ru looked at him blankly. He reached out and gently stroked her face, his eyes full of sincerity as he said.
"We just love each other, so there's nothing to hide."
"But..." Wan Ru hesitated, then continued. "I probably can't disclose you to the people in my house."
She used the phrase "people in my house" instead of "family" or "my family." He smiled gently, hugged her, and replied.
"In that case, I'm willing to suffer the disadvantage."
Wan Ru burst out laughing and hugged him tighter. She loved being hugged by him the most. His embrace was incredibly steady, and she could lean on him with peace of mind.
The two remained in that position for a while, their breathing becoming steady.
Seeing that the person in his arms had fallen asleep, Chen Jiancheng chuckled.
He stroked her hair.
Wan Ru was a lively and cheerful person, like the sun bringing energy to others.
But somewhere, he still saw an indescribable melancholy about her.
Yet, she had never once spoken to him about the burdens accumulated in her heart.
He could only hold the little girl tightly in his arms. He truly wanted to share with her, truly and seriously wanting to be with her long-term.