Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It turned out that he had bought not just a few, but many of the apartments near her office where she might live.
Ji Nuan’s heart was not made of iron. Although she still couldn’t accept his love, she was somewhat moved and felt guilty.
After all, in the past three years, he kept finding chances to be sent on business to England and often went to London to help her. She had been so successful in recent years because many people assisted her. Although Mr. Vinse had not been in London for long, he had helped her many times and had often done her a great service.
“I’ll treat you to coffee today.” Ji Nuan thought for a while and said, “Every time I wanted to thank you, I said I would treat you, but every time I treated you, you rushed to pay. This is just a tiny amount of money, but I really owe you a lot in other ways. Please let me repay you a little in this simplest way.”
Mr. Vinse paused and then chuckled. “You would repay me if you are not so polite with me.”
“You treat me to dinner in the evening, and I treat you to coffee in the afternoon. These are two different things. It’s fair.”
“Fair?” Mr. Vinse suddenly stopped the car and looked at Ji Nuan in the passenger seat. “Dear Miss Ji, what I expect is not a reciprocal relationship but deeper feelings.”
Ji Nuan smiled but didn’t answer.
Mr. Vinse continued driving and found a parking space near the mall, saying, “You refused to accept the bracelet I gifted you last time. So, I put it at home, but my mother found it when she suddenly came back to China. She kept asking me if I had a crush on a girl and insisting that I introduce that girl to her. She said she wouldn’t leave China unless she saw me with a steady, woman I want to marry soon. Is it time for me to get married? Look, even my parents are so worried about my marriage.”
Ji Nuan caught a hint of what he had said and looked at him. “You asked me out to dinner tonight to meet your mother?”
Mr. Vinse rubbed between his eyebrows in some distress. “I do have this intention, but I dare not carry it out. How dare I force you in this way without your consent?”
“Is your mother still in Hai City?”
“Yes, she also knows that I invited you to dinner tonight and had been asking to see you, but I stopped her. I didn’t say anything about the relationship between you and me, but she insisted that I had had a girlfriend. A woman begins to worry about her children when she is old. Now she is particularly worried about my marriage. I almost can’t handle her now.”
After Ji Nuan got out of the car, she looked at the coffee shop not far away and then at Mr. Vinse, who had just gotten out of the car. They smiled at each other, and Ji Nuan pointed to the coffee shop, signaling to him that she was talking about this one.
Ji Nuan turned and walked over, not noticing the black Bugatti parked on the other side of the parking lot and the black Ghost behind it, which she could easily recognize at a glance.
When they entered the cafe, they sat down at a table on the ground floor near the bar. Ji Nuan ordered an Americano, and Mr. Vinse said he wanted the same as hers.
It was a leisurely afternoon. Ji Nuan talked about some of the fun things that happened in London that Mr. Vinse had been involved in. They chatted happily. Suddenly, a well-dressed, elderly woman approached. As soon as the woman came, Mr. Vinse, who had been talking and laughing, froze. He looked at the woman and then at Ji Nuan, who did not know what was going on.
The elegant, elderly woman winked at Mr. Vinse, then looked at Ji Nuan and suddenly asked, “Is this the young lady?”
Ji Nuan took a look at the woman. Ji Nuan figured out something from the woman’s eager and excited eyes and nodded politely to her. “Hello, Auntie.”
Mr. Vinse, who was no longer casual and at ease coughed somewhat helplessly and awkwardly, put down the coffee cup, and looked at the elegant woman with a slightly reproachful face. “Mom, how did you follow me here?”
Ji Nuan: “…”
She guessed right. Mr. Vinse’s mother had followed him all the way home.
The elegant woman smiled, sat directly next to Mr. Vinse and smiled at her. “Young lady, how old are you?”
Ji Nuan. “…Twenty-four.”
“Twenty-four? Alas, you are ten years younger than my son. My son has been away from home all year long and is very independent. Now he is in his thirties but hasn’t married or brought a girlfriend home. His father and I live abroad all year round and don’t have the time to come to China and look after him. Several days ago, I returned to China to visit him and found that he seemed to have fallen in love with some girl, but he just kept it a secret and refused to tell me anything about it. Fortunately, I noticed today that he didn’t seem to go to work when he left, so I sneaked in a cab after him. I saw him pick you up, and then you two came here for coffee. I finally got to see my future daughter-in-law…”
“Hic, hic.” Ji Nuan choked on her saliva when she heard ‘my future daughter-in-law.’ Her saliva still had hints of the bitter coffee taste, and she couldn’t help coughing again. Her cheeks turned red.
Seeing Ji Nuan blushing, the elegant woman ignored the embarrassed Mr. Vinse and took Ji Nuan’s hand on the table, asking, all smiles, “Girl, what’s your last name?”
“Auntie, you have misunderstood. Mr. Vinse and I are not…”
“Oh, you do not have to explain it to me. I know young people have their own ideas, keeping their love affair a secret from their families and not telling their parents even if they get married because they are afraid their family will urge them to have a baby, right? If you two don’t want to have a baby now, I won’t urge you, but he goes too far by keeping it a secret that he already has a girlfriend,” The elegant woman said. She retook Ji Nuan’s hand, saying eagerly, “Although my son is more than thirty years old, he’s always earnest about relationships. I can vouch for his morality. Since you two are in love, get married early, and then his father and I won’t be worried about him anymore. Otherwise, we will worry about his marriage all day. This kid has never told us he has a girlfriend, but luckily I saw the bracelet on the sofa at his home that day…”