Chapter 28 Forced to Stay Overnight

“Are you coming in?”

“Yes.”

The lights in the hallway behind him flickered suddenly, making him instinctively step inside. He was afraid that if he lingered any longer, the lights might explode—or fall on his head.

Just like last time, when he refused the water Li Tingting offered, the vending machine almost exploded right before him.

His mother always said he was a domineering CEO protagonist carrying half of the criminal code on his back—a so-called “compulsory love.” But now he really wanted to ask: who exactly is “forcing” whom?

Ahhhhh…

“Coffee or tea?”

“No, thank you. I’ll just stand for a bit and then leave.” Xu Chengyan silently counted seconds in his head, calculating how long standing here would count as “alone time.” Would heaven finally give him a break?

“The wind outside is so strong, and it looks like it’s going to rain… maybe you should stay a little longer, wait until the rain stops before leaving?” Li Tingting’s face turned slightly red, shy.

Xu Chengyan, who had already checked the weather forecast before leaving: “…”

Shut up! Your mouth is even more accurate than the weather forecast!

Last time, you said it would rain soon, and it rained immediately.

Sure enough, the “rumble rumble” of thunder followed.

Things were not looking good.

The car had been towed, taxis were unavailable, rain was coming, and the sky outside was dark. They clearly intended to “force him to stay.”

What, were they planning to make him spend the night here, and cook up a romance with this so-called “female lead”? Xu Chengyan grew anxious.

Li Tingting busied herself, boiling water and preparing the coffee.

Given her circumstances, she clearly didn’t have anything fancy. Xu Chengyan could tell at a glance that this was some no-name brand—possibly even discounted from the supermarket.

For the sake of his own life, he caught the cup just as she was about to throw away the coffee and the packaging.

“No, I can do it myself. There’s no trash can here, so it’ll need to go in a bag…” Li Tingting, thinking he was helping, blushed and pointed to a disposable plastic bag hanging on the side of the table.

Resourceful, he thought nothing of it. But…

Why was this coffee already past its expiration date—last year, no less? No name, long expired—this double violation made the hair on Xu Chengyan’s spine stand on end.

At the same time, he heard Li Tingting, blushing, say: “We don’t have extra cups at home. This cup is mine, don’t worry, I cleaned it…”

No. He did not want to drink your saliva! Xu Chengyan fixed his gaze on the little rabbit-shaped cup. Cute-looking, yes, but terrifying.

“Rumble rumble…”

Rain poured down in torrents.

Li Tingting set him down at the table, and shyly pushed the cup of coffee in front of him, gently suggesting he try it. She even said that a big boss like him probably never drank a no-name brand before.

But don’t worry—the brand being unknown didn’t mean it was bad; it just wasn’t famous.

“I’ve tried this coffee before; it’s very good!”

A cup that was clearly watered-down and expired… Xu Chengyan could not imagine how it could taste “very good.” He just stared at it, willing it to move away from him with sheer force of thought.

No matter how desperate he was, he wasn’t that desperate.

Ah!

Someone, please! Save me! Save me!

Perhaps heaven heard his plea—or maybe a savior truly appeared—because his phone rang at that exact moment.

Xu Chengyan picked it up and jumped.

It had been fully charged when he left work. How could it be nearly dead now? Could someone really steal phone battery too?

Seeing the name “Ruan Yaoyao,” he hurriedly answered: “Mom, come save me, I’m—”

The moment he spoke, the phone died.

Ruan Yaoyao froze. What? She had just thought of Xu Chengyan because it was raining and called him… and he just dropped a bomb on her like this?

“Lianghan, Lianghan, come quickly! Your second brother is in trouble!”

“Mom, what happened?”

“I don’t know! I just called him, and before I could say anything, he told me to come save him… and then his phone went dead.” Ruan Yaoyao panicked. “Could he have been kidnapped?”

Their family had quite a bit of money, so it was possible. Xu Lianghan quickly called the butler to check Xu Chengyan’s location.

He also reported it to the police.

In the end, the police found Xu Chengyan at Li Tingting’s house.

Xu Chengyan wished he could dig a hole and bury himself. He had hoped someone would come save him, but he certainly didn’t want the police involved.

Even if it was a misunderstanding, procedures still had to be followed.

Ruan Yaoyao, braving the heavy rain, could not help mentally scolding him: 【You could have just gone on your date, why do you have to make me think it’s an emergency?】

【The call didn’t go through—are you trying to kill me?】

She glared at Xu Chengyan. 【This kid was born to torment me. I finally gave birth to a son I wanted to cherish, and he got swapped with that trashy little lover, and I raised him as my own for so many years.】

【Then my real son ends up distant, while the one I raised knows the truth and acts like it’s my fault. How dare you! Do you think I’d neglect my own son to spoil someone else’s? I’m not crazy.】

Xu Chengyan didn’t dare speak.

He had been worried that she might have caused harm to his real mother, but he hadn’t meant any of this.

It was her who called the police, not him.

When she came out, Ruan Yaoyao’s face was cold. She glared at Xu Chengyan: “If you want a date, have a date. I won’t interfere. But you don’t need to make me file a false report to get revenge. What were you thinking? You’re an adult—where’s your brain? This isn’t a joke.”

Xu Chengyan opened his mouth to explain but didn’t know where to start.

Ruan Yaoyao turned and got into the car.

Xu Lianghan sighed, walked over, and patted his shoulder: “Don’t take it to heart. Mom was mostly worried. You don’t know how scared she was when your call dropped. She turned pale, fearing something happened to you. The first thing she did was ask me to track you and call the police to rescue you.”

“I know. I’m not mad at Mom. It’s just… I don’t know how to explain what happened today.”

“Do you want to go home alone, or with us? If with us, ride with me and you can tell me in the car.”

“I’ll go with you. Mom probably doesn’t want to see me right now.”

“Okay.”

Xu Lianghan informed Ruan Yaoyao that Xu Chengyan would come with them. He and Xu Chengyan would ride behind, and he could talk to him there.

As Xu Lianghan had said, Ruan Yaoyao was angry at Xu Chengyan but genuinely worried.

She had been truly terrified, fearing that her “golden finger” powers might have backfired and affected him. After all, powers always came with a price.

She just didn’t know who would bear the consequences in the end, or what the outcome would be.