After dinner, Su Ruanruan received a phone call from Bao Ziqi.
She picked up: "Is something the matter?"
Bao Ziqi was distant and detached, "They called from over there and asked you to go to the station at ten o’clock to give a statement."
Su Ruanruan hummed an acknowledgment: "I’ll be there on time."
She waited for Bao Ziqi to hang up, but he didn’t.
Between them, they could hear each other’s breathing.
Bao Jingyan came downstairs and saw that her expression was off. So he went over and wrapped an arm around her waist, his lips close to her ear as he whispered: "Bao Ziqi’s call?"
Su Ruanruan gave him a look, then said to the person on the other end: "If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up now."
She hung up without waiting for Bao Ziqi to respond, and she also gently pushed Bao Jingyan away.
She requested of him: "In front of others, you’re not allowed to touch me."
Having said that, she went upstairs.
But Bao Jingyan wouldn’t let her go and followed behind her.
In the bedroom, he caught her shoulder and pinned her against the door, "Do you often talk to Bao Ziqi on the phone?"
Su Ruanruan bit her lip: "He was just notifying me to go make a statement tomorrow."
"Is he going as well?" Bao Jingyan asked sharply.
Su Ruanruan didn’t actually know and couldn’t answer for a moment.
Bao Jingyan huffed lightly: "He wants to see you."
Su Ruanruan, thin-skinned and getting annoyed, argued with him: "I don’t have such thoughts."
"But that doesn’t mean Bao Ziqi doesn’t have those thoughts." Bao Jingyan pinched her chin, his gaze intense on her eyes.
Su Ruanruan turned her face away, asking him softly, "Are you going to keep bringing up Bao Ziqi with me? You’re not unaware of how I entered the Bao Family, nor are you unaware of his affairs with my elder sister."
Young as she was, she had her own convictions: "Since there is no possibility between him and me, and he hasn’t shown any intentions, on what grounds would I have the right to refuse?"
Besides, she had never liked Bao Ziqi.
Yet, it was always Bao Jingyan who made her cry.
Su Ruanruan’s eyes reddened, feeling wronged.
Bao Jingyan calmed down, his voice much gentler: "Why are you crying again?"
He gently touched the corner of her eye: "You cry all day, like a water baby."
He added: "Why haven’t you cried in front of others?"
He shouldn’t have mentioned it, as it made Su Ruanruan really cry.
Big teardrops slid down, and she didn’t bother to wipe them away.
Bao Jingyan’s heart ached; she was hurt and frightened today. He should be tender with her instead of foolishly getting jealous.
Moved with pity, he held her and set her on the sofa, kneeling beside her, coaxing, "It’s my fault! Go if you want to tomorrow."
"I don’t want to go," Su Ruanruan said with a bit of childlike pique.
Bao Jingyan chuckled softly, whispering close to her ear: "Ruanruan only wants to see me, right?"
"Even less so," she said, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
Bao Jingyan shamelessly drew her hand to his face, urging her to feel him.
"Ruanruan, say you like me."
Su Ruanruan’s face blushed, and she pulled her hand back forcefully.
He held onto her and would not let go, enjoying this little pleasure...
The matter that was interrupted earlier was stirred up again.
Though this had happened several times before, Su Ruanruan still felt immensely embarrassed; she cried and fussed, cursing him for being shameless throughout...
Afterward, Bao Jingyan took a long time to soothe his little one until she stopped crying.
Once she was asleep, he went to the balcony to light a cigarette.
His lips puffed out a ring of smoke, and he smiled.
Still a child, to throw such a fit; in the future, he didn’t know just how she might carry on...