SDVPP Chapter 34

Uno: Hey guys! I’m finally back~ So sorry for the long absence.

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Rong Xu finished sorting through the documents and only then realized it was already eight o’clock. He rolled his neck to ease the stiffness.

At that moment, the door was gently knocked on.

From the rhythm of the knock, it was clear it wasn’t Chi Han.

“Come in.”

Rong Xu put everything away and stored it in the drawer, then maneuvered his wheelchair toward the door.

The butler pushed the door open and said with a smile, “Young Master Rong, dinner is ready.”

Rong Xu responded with a simple “Mm,” and went downstairs. Not seeing the person who usually sat there waiting for him, he frowned slightly.

“Where’s Chi Han?”

The butler helped him arrange the chopsticks, bowls, and napkins, replying gently, “Young Master Chi went home. He probably has a dinner engagement tonight.”

Rong Xu didn’t pick up the chopsticks. He lifted his eyes, and his gaze was piercing.

“Home? Which home? Didn’t he get kicked out?”

The butler froze for a moment. “Yes… Young Master Chi was kicked out, but those are still his parents. If they ask him to come back, it’s only natural to at least go see them, isn’t it?”

Rong Xu let out a cold, scornful laugh, pulled out his phone, and dialed a number.

If they kicked him out before, then they shouldn’t think they can just summon him back whenever they feel like it.

The call was quickly answered. It was a bit noisy on the other end, and faintly, another name could be heard mentioned alongside Chi Han’s.

It was a girl’s name.

Rong Xu’s face instantly grew even colder.

“Where are you?”

Chi Han seemed to have found a quieter place because his voice finally became much clearer.

“Rong Xu? Have you eaten yet? I asked Uncle Wu to make you some soup. Did you drink it?”

Rong Xu barely held onto his patience. He glanced at the table full of untouched dishes and said in a low voice, “I ate. Where are you now? I’ll come pick you up.”

Chi Han thought about the people inside the house and felt a headache coming on.

He had originally planned to say what needed to be said and leave right away, but tonight turned out to be a setup for him to meet a prospective fiancée!

With a young girl present, there were a lot of things he couldn’t say.

On top of that, Father and Mother Chi had been pulling him to sit down with them the whole time. He missed the best chance to slip away and ended up being stuck there till now.

But just earlier, Chi Han had quietly come to an understanding with that girl. He asked her to say she wasn’t interested in him later, so they could neatly end this arrangement.

Conveniently, the two of them even went to the same school.

Chi Han glanced at the faint light still outside the window and let out a helpless chuckle. “No need, okay? I’ll be back in at most an hour.”

Rong Xu’s voice, cool and slightly distorted through the phone, carried a heaviness like a dense fog that refused to disperse. “The address.”

Chi Han knew Rong Xu was just worried about him. It was already eight, after all, and with Rong Xu’s legs being inconvenient, Chi Han really didn’t want him running around.

But since he insisted on coming, so be it.

It was about time for him to make his escape anyway.

“Fangxinyuan. Tell the driver to drive slower. There are a lot of people on the road right now. I’ll call you when I come down, just take your time.”

Rong Xu gave a soft reply. Only after the call was hung up did he put his phone away.

The butler had already prepared the blanket and coat needed for going out. He carefully wrapped up Rong Xu’s legs before heading to the garage to start the car.

***

When Chi Han returned to the private room, the two families were nearly done with their conversation.

Father and Mother Chi were naturally quite fond of the girl from the Zhou family. After all, it was their interest in the Zhou family’s wealth that had led them to arrange this meeting in the first place.

In contrast, the Zhou parents were far less satisfied.

Arriving just barely on time for the dinner was one thing, but dressing so casually? Not even a proper outfit. Couldn’t he have at least worn something more fitted?

And since the start of the meal, he hadn’t taken the initiative to say a single word. Did he leave his mouth at home?

Mother Zhou picked up a napkin and gracefully dabbed at the corner of her mouth, concealing the flash of coldness in her eyes.

With manners like that, he thinks he deserves to marry their daughter?

Wishful thinking!

But no matter how much they disliked Chi Han, Mr. and Mrs. Zhou couldn’t go against their daughter’s wishes.

The moment she heard she’d be meeting Chi Han tonight, Zhou Ling had lit up with joy, her eyes practically sparkling. She even put on her prettiest dress and spent a long time on her makeup and hair.

Chi Han was currently a star figure at No. 1 High School. Before meeting him in person, Zhou Ling had always thought that photo on the forum had probably been edited a dozen times over.

Until one day during PE class, that boy, his features delicate as a painting, looked in her direction and gave her a faint smile.

Zhou Ling felt her mind go completely blank. A sensation like being struck spread through her chest, blooming into a dizzy, tingling numbness.

In that instant, she understood that she had fallen for this boy.

What surprised her even more was that the person she’d resisted meeting for so long—the so-called disguised blind date—turned out to be Chi Han!

Her heart instantly soared.

But Chi Han didn’t seem to react much to her carefully chosen outfit. On the contrary, when he went out to the restroom earlier, he took the chance to ask her to be the one to reject the arranged marriage.

Zhou Ling: “……”

In that moment, a thousand thoughts surged through her mind.

Saying she wasn’t upset would be a lie.

But looking at it from another angle, this only showed that Chi Han had a good character. He wasn’t the type to casually flirt with girls just for fun!

Thinking of this, a smile returned to Zhou Ling’s face.

It’s fine. She believed that as long as she got more chances to spend time with Chi Han, he would definitely fall for her, too!

When Zhou Ling returned to the private room, she told Mother Zhou that she wanted to continue getting to know Chi Han. Though Mother Zhou didn’t have a good impression of him, it was the first time she’d seen her daughter like someone so much.

As for Father Zhou, who normally would give his daughter anything she asked for, he could only agree for now. He figured if Chi Han turned out to have poor character, then no matter how much Zhou Ling cried or begged, he would never let her see him again.

For now, they would just observe.

“Well, if that’s the case, then you two young people can take your time getting to know each other. Whether it works out or not, just think of it as making a friend.”

Father Zhou said politely, smiling as he spoke.

Father Chi was overjoyed and quickly chimed in, “Yes, yes, let the young people spend more time together. Kids these days are different from our generation—they all have their own ideas now.”

Chi Han’s face darkened as he looked at the few adults who had just decided the course of his life in a few casual words.

He glanced across the table at Zhou Ling. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and she quickly avoided his gaze.

It seemed Zhou Ling hadn’t followed through with what they had agreed on earlier. In fact, she might have said the exact opposite.

Chi Han’s eyes turned cold. He had no interest in knowing why Zhou Ling had broken their agreement, but he was absolutely unwilling to spend time with a girl he had just met.

Even as a friend.

This kind of force-fed arrangement made him sick to his stomach.

Chi Han took a deep breath, just about to open his mouth and refuse.

At that moment, the private room’s door was suddenly pushed open. A server walked in a few steps, then stepped respectfully to the side, revealing the person behind him.

Chi Han blurted out instinctively, “…Rong Xu? Why are you here?!”

Rong Xu leaned against the wheelchair’s backrest, his gaze sweeping slowly across everyone in the room, finally landing on Zhou Ling’s stunning face.

The corners of his lips curved up slightly. Beneath his sharp brows, his phoenix eyes carried a razor-like edge, as if a blade were aimed straight at someone’s heart.

“I came to see what exactly was holding you back.”

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