Volume 1 - CH 8

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He Jinxing's orders were executed, causing the hallway to fall into a dead silence. It was obvious that He Ran was taken aback by the outrageous command, while Gou An simply felt a burning sensation where the man's hand had touched her waist just moments ago, as if it had left a blistering mark.

Goosebumps spread from the spot where he had touched her through her back, and the young girl's scalp tingled with fear. She almost immediately broke free from the overbearing male presence behind her and pushed him away.

In the vivid and three-dimensional nightmare about tears behind iron bars, He Jinxing probably had the fewest lines of dialogue...

But he still unfortunately succeeded in making Gou An develop an aversion to him from then on.

She only remembered that he disliked her, but couldn't recall what she had done to provoke him. So, in order to save her life, she wanted to stay far away from him, just like she was doing now.

He Jinxing couldn't help but take a second glance at Gou An's obvious avoidance, but it was just a glance. From his perspective, all he could see was her head tilted down, her entire body pressed against the wall, and a few unruly strands of hair sticking up on her head, along with her wildly shaking eyelashes...

He naturally assumed that she was about to cry.

"She's going to cry," He Jinxing kindly warned He Ran, suggesting that he not be so foolish.

"You're going to have a hard time finding a wife if you keep this up," he added.

Gou An was indeed on the verge of tears, but not because of He Ran's behavior. Rather, it was because of He Jinxing's intimidating presence... After all, anyone who deliberately fell into someone else's arms with a hidden agenda, only to open their eyes and find that it was the King of Hell who caught them, would be terrified and cry...

Things like, "Ah, Ah, Ah, the King of Hell just touched my waist!!!" and so on.

Now, upon hearing He Jinxing's voice, Gou An's legs grew weak.

"In the future, I'm not sure who will become my wife," He Ran showed his loyalty to Lu Wan at a critical moment, suppressing his rage from just moments ago when he was facing Gou An. He lowered his eyes and spoke coldly to He Jinxing, "Little Uncle, please stop saying things that can be easily misunderstood."

"Besides her, who else?" He Jinxing withdrew his gaze from Gou An's long curls, which were now brushing her eyelashes, and glanced at He Ran indifferently, apparently not interested in wasting any more time with him. "Apologize."

He Ran pursed his lips in resistance.

Suddenly, Gou An spoke up, "It's okay."

Her voice softened by eight degrees, drawing the attention of the other two people in the hallway. He Ran raised his eyebrows and looked at her, while He Jinxing seemed a little confused, despite showing little expression.

"Forget it, I'm fine, Mr. He," Gou An blinked, "I'm not angry. I'm sorry for yelling so loudly earlier, did I disturb you?"

He Ran: "..."

This level of meekness from Gou An probably hadn't been seen since she graduated from kindergarten and learned how to speak fluently.

Just like on that rainy evening, she could be intimidating even when apologizing to him.

He didn't know about it, but He Ran grew up with Gou An. He knew her character very well. Now, he looked at her absurdly, as if she were some kind of monster--

"Gou An, what's with your strange tone?"

Why did Gou Miss use all those "ya," "ne," and "oh" particles as if they were free when facing his nephew?

Gou An simply ignored him.

She summoned the courage to look at the friendliness level hovering above He Jinhang's head, sincerely hoping that it would not drop any further.

At that moment, she saw the number "Friendliness Level: 10" above He Jinhang's head tremble and change to "Friendliness Level: 13."

Gou An: "?"

A divine light shone upon the earth.

Ah ah ah ah ah, the friendliness level suddenly increased, though she didn't know why. Maybe it was because he was sick, but the friendliness level suddenly increased by "+3"!!!!

Celebration! ! !

Embrace the likable self! ! !

[Jiao Jiao: ......]

[Jiao Jiao: Since He Jinhang appeared, your overall record with him is -5+3. Can you tell me what that equals?]

...

Perhaps wanting to give young people some space, He Jinhang took the initiative to avoid suspicion and went down the stairs first.

Only Gou An and He Ran remained in the hallway.

Gou An had intended to catch up with He Jinhang and curry favor with him to try to improve their relationship (even if it meant starting from zero again). However, just as she took a step forward, someone grabbed her by the back of her neck, and a cold voice sounded in her ear: "Where are you going?"

"To eat downstairs."

Gou An's gaze still followed the direction in which He Jinhang had left.

He Ran's gaze darkened. "Who were you trying to show off to just now?"

His questioning was imposing, but it lost its momentum when Gou An snapped out of her thoughts. In the next second, her soft, sweet voice returned to normal: "Who was showing off? I was being honest. I don't need your apology. What's the point of having something that's worthless?"

Gou An viciously slapped away the large hand that was gripping her collar.

There was a loud "smack."

He Ran's hand turned red almost immediately, and he frowned. After a moment's thought, he resisted asking her if she had a problem with her attitude. Instead, he spoke in a stiff and awkward tone: "Okay, I was in the wrong today. I just saw them using harsh words to describe Lu Wan and thought she was feeling anxious. So, I said those things to clarify our relationship without consulting you...but that was my decision alone. Don't take your anger out on Lu Wan because of this."

Question: Are all the men in CEO romance novels like this, speaking sincerely and carefully, afraid that their lines won't be convincing enough?

Gou An stared at him. "So, you're afraid that I'll take it out on Lu Wan?"

"I already apologized."

"What kind of apology is that--never mind. Are you afraid that I'll take it out on Lu Wan?"

She asked again.

"She's just an ordinary girl living in Zhai Pi District." He Ran paused for a moment. "Although I don't know why, I feel like she's a little afraid of you."

Zhaipu District, Gou An knew, was the old district of Jiangcheng, also known as the lower city district among some of the population. Everywhere there were old and worn-out residential buildings and resettlement flats, as if they were disconnected from the rapidly developing modern city of Jiangcheng.

Gou An smiled at He Ran and repeated, "She's afraid of me?"

"Uh-huh."

"Because of your messages in the school chat group, now everyone thinks she's the one you really like, and I'm the unexpected one who's throwing myself at you shamelessly and being mocked by everyone... What is she afraid of?"

It was me who was afraid of her, after all, she was the one who would eventually have everything.

Living temporarily in Zhaipu District was nothing compared to what she could have in the future. She could even sit shoulder to shoulder with your younger uncle on the top floor of the Gou Mansion, in the office that should have belonged to my father.

It was a great revenge.

Gou An's heart was beating heavily, but she smiled, willing to accept the absurd logic of the script that required sacrificing everything for the female lead.

- Too bad, she was a real person.

"He Ran," Gou An tilted her head and asked, "when are we going to cancel our engagement?"

She asked again.

In the short half month, she didn't know how many times she had brought up this matter.

He Ran didn't know what had suddenly come over Gou An, but he knew that he had prepared the agreement to cancel their engagement as soon as he found out that the White Moonlight who had saved him back then was Lu Wan, not Gou An. He even printed it out and it was now in his room, casually placed in a book...

He had planned to give it to her on the day of the heavy rain.

But when she brought it up first, he hesitated.

Unaccountably, he hesitated.

That night, for a moment, He Ran felt that there was something strange and completely fading away in Gou An's eyes when she looked at him.

Something was going off the rails, falling apart.

Perhaps it was an illusion.

Maybe.

After waiting for a long time and not receiving a formal response from He Ran, Gou An became a little impatient. The young girl raised her hand and flicked her hair, "Then just keep dragging it out, I don't care... If you feel sorry for Lu Wan, then keep her away from me, so I won't go crazy and bite her, and you'll have to pay for her rabies shots."

Having said that, without waiting for He Ran to say anything, Gou An turned around and walked down the stairs.

The sound of her footsteps bouncing down the stairs, like so many times before when she refused to take the elevator and jumped and ran up the stairs, pushing open the door of the study to pull on He Ran's arms and talk nonsense...

Until Gou An's figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

He Ran suddenly realized that the lively sound of her footsteps was actually different from before.

...

A family banquet was held in harmony, and Gou An poked He Ran's arm with her hand, asking him to pour her some apple juice, as if there was no problem between them at all.

Everyone thought they were about to get married. Grandpa He said, "These two are always bickering, but now they're finally getting along. Hurry up and set a date for the engagement ceremony."

Guo'an smiled flawlessly and said, "Grandpa, I only see He Ran as a brother. Let's forget about the engagement."

Everyone present, except for Guo'an's parents who showed brief surprise, didn't take her words seriously, including He's grandfather who just laughed and pointed at her, saying, "Don't be silly."

Throughout the meal, He Ran remained silent, feeling like the food he swallowed was bitter, but he couldn't quite explain why. One thing was certain, though: he was sure he wasn't eating bitter gourd.

After finishing his meal, He Ran fled in a daze. He grabbed a helmet and rode his newly bought Kawasaki H2 motorcycle to Qimoshan. Qimoshan was located twenty kilometers east of the city and was home to the province's most famous seven consecutive hairpin turns. It was a gathering place for motorcycle enthusiasts.

At this time, the city lights were just coming on, and it was the most beautiful moment of the night with a dazzling galaxy dotted against the yellowish moon halo. There were several scattered motorcycles parked at the top of the mountain, with their owners sitting or leaning around, enjoying the night view and chatting.

Although the city was big, there were only a few Kawasaki H2 motorcycles, which were in the same weight class as He Ran's bike. Just as he had landed on one foot and had not yet removed his helmet, someone recognized him and greeted him.

He Ran took off his safety helmet, frowned, and the first thing he said was to ask the person next to him for a cigarette.

The flame leaped up as the cigarette was lit, illuminating his dark eyes.

A familiar male voice sounded next to him, "Don't ride with emotions."

He Ran turned his head to see Zhou Yanji.

He paused for a moment and moved his lips slightly. He felt that he should say something to his good friend, at least exchange some pleasantries and say "I know" to brush him off. But as he swallowed, his gaze flickered, and what came out was, "You disappeared during the competition this morning. Where did you rush off to?"

"What?" Zhou Yanji was confused by his sudden question.

He pursed his lips and removed the cigarette from He Ran's mouth. When He Ran irritably turned his head back towards him, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's up?"

He Ran refused to say.

Zhou Yanji nudged him with his elbow.

He Ran was annoyed by his persistence.

Finally, He Ran became impatient and pushed him away, his brow furrowed as he finally spoke, "Guo'an wants to call off our engagement."

Zhou Yanji, who had just steadied himself against a motorcycle, exclaimed in disbelief. After reacting, he said casually, "Well, this is a surprise." He didn't have time to show his happiness before he heard He Ran slowly recount the soap opera-like drama between himself, Lu Wan, and Guo'an from the cigarette smoke not far away.

After listening, Zhou Yanji was stunned and didn't know what to say for a while.

At this moment, they heard Young Master He's self-deprecating voice, "The problem is, I suddenly realized that I seem to be a little reluctant... Do you think I'm sick?"

Zhou Yanji asked, "Reluctant to whom?"

He Ran replied, "Guo An."

Zhou Yanji exclaimed, "No way!"

He Ran remained silent.

Zhou Yanji was at a loss for words.

He Ran asked, "= _ =?"

Zhou Yanji remained silent.

The author added a note, "Wild Brother = the male lead in the next book Motorcycle Boy. Always trying to sneak in product placements as the author. Keep pressing the thumbs up button and send red envelopes. Love you all!"

Note: The translation aims to maintain the original rhythm and style while using appropriate English expressions and language conventions. The translation is free and avoids any phonetic transliteration. Also, it is checked for grammar errors and does not include any irrelevant information such as advertisements, promotional URLs, or copyright notices.