Chapter 130
Since the meal at Pei Kuang's house that day, Song Anan had clearly felt subtle changes between them.
For example, Pei Kuang stopped calling her junior sister at some point and started calling her Anan instead.
Also, their WeChat conversations became more and more frequent. Updated chapters at novelhall.com
Previously, their chats were mostly about academic issues, or Pei Kuang asking where to eat when he occasionally came to campus. But now, their chats tended to be more about sharing daily life.
Pei Kuang sent her photos and videos of his dogs almost every day. Sometimes he would share interesting things that happened at the hospital.
Song Anan also shared wildflowers she saw on the way and interesting books she found in the library.
Moreover, since they lived in the same complex, Song Anan would catch a ride with him if he didn't work nights.
Not only that, they had been eating together more and more frequently.
At first Song Anan was confused, but she gradually understood her feelings.
She thought she must have developed some feelings for Pei Kuang.
But looking back, it was easy to fall for him after all.
Pei Kuang was the kind of person who became more attractive the more you got to know him.
If his looks attracted people initially, his personality, speech and knowledge attracted people even more after interacting with him.
They were both medical students with similar interests and hobbies, and they never ran out of topics to talk about.
However, Song Anan couldn't tell what their relationship was now. She vaguely sensed Pei Kuang was interested in her too.
But neither broke through the ambiguity, and they carried on like this for almost a summer vacation.
That day, as usual, Song Anan was in the library. But she had agreed to go home with Pei Kuang after he got off work.
Seeing it was about time, she packed up and left the library.
Their school was close to the hospital, just across an intersection. But the hospital and their home were in the same direction. Song Anan didn't want Pei Kuang to go out of his way, so she always went a little early to the parking lot near the hospital to wait for him.
It was no exception that day, but when she arrived, Pei Kuang was already there.
Song Anan saw Pei Kuang from afar, standing by his car while looking down at his phone, seeming to be replying to messages.
Just as Song Anan walked to the front of the car, a girl suddenly stopped in front of Pei Kuang.
"Dr. Pei, hello. I'm Qin Lin from Cardiothoracic Surgery," the girl said first.
Pei Kuang was stunned for a moment. "Dr. Qin, hello. What can I do for you?"
Qin Lin nodded slightly, hesitated for a few seconds, and said, "Dr. Pei, are you dissatisfied with me in some way? Why did you turn down Chief Zhao's introduction for us to get to know each other?"
Song Anan halted. She roughly understood what was going on.
She had been in similar awkward situations before. Maybe she should leave for now.
But before Song Anan could turn around, Pei Kuang called out directly, "Anan!"
She looked back at him. Qin Lin also turned around to look at her. Their eyes met squarely.
The air was filled with subtle awkwardness.
But Pei Kuang told Song Anan, "Wait for me, I'll be quick."
Song Anan stood there at a loss, not knowing whether to leave or stay. "It's okay. You talk, I'm in no hurry."
Qin Lin seemed to understand something. Her face paled a little. She turned to Pei Kuang again and asked uncertainly, "Didn't you say you don't have a girlfriend?"
Pei Kuang nodded slightly and said, "Sorry, I may not have made it clear before. I don't have a girlfriend, but there is someone I like. I'm pursuing her now."
Qin Lin was stunned for a moment. He likes someone and is pursuing her now?
She looked at Song Anan again. It was clear now.
"Sorry for disturbing you."
She hurried away after that, leaving only Pei Kuang and Song Anan facing each other.
Pei Kuang pointed to the car. "Shall we go?"
Song Anan said, "Oh, let's go."
After the car started, they drove into the traffic in silence.
Song Anan sat in the passenger seat, feeling very uncomfortable.
She kept thinking about Pei Kuang's words just now. Her heart thumped faster.
He likes someone.
He's pursuing someone now.
So who is this person he mentioned?
Song Anan had a rough idea in her mind, but still didn't quite dare to confirm it.
After all, Pei Kuang hadn't said anything or shown any pursuit. It seemed she was reading too much into it.
Could it be someone else he liked?
The more Song Anan thought about it, the more possible it seemed. She started worrying for no reason.
Soon they arrived at their complex, but Song Anan was distracted the whole time.
It was only when Pei Kuang parked the car in the underground garage that she finally snapped back to reality.
"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Pei Kuang asked.
Song Anan was startled for a moment. "Um, I'm not very hungry yet. I'll just go back first."
With that said, she was about to open the door to get out of the car, but Pei Kuang grabbed her hand to stop her.
Song Anan turned to look at him. "Wha-what's the matter? Anything else?"
Pei Kuang looked at her quietly and asked, "Anan, don't you have anything you want to ask me?"
Song Anan pursed her lips, her eyes unconsciously evasive.
Ask what? What if she was just being presumptuous? It would only become more awkward.
Maybe she shouldn't ask.
Song Anan didn't mean to avoid the issue. She just thought it would be best to calm down first for now, and talk about it later if needed.
Seeing the girl's evasive attitude, Pei Kuang sighed softly. But his expression remained unchanged as he continued, "Fine, if you have nothing to ask, I do."
Song Anan was startled. What did he want to ask?
Pei Kuang didn't give her a chance to refuse. He went straight to the point and asked, "Anan, I like you."
Song Anan was stunned.
She had guessed a little earlier, but hearing the affirmative answer still made her heart thump faster.
However, Song Anan didn't expect Pei Kuang to be so direct without any lead-in. He went straight to the point without beating around the bush.
Also, didn't he say he had something to ask her? This wasn't a question at all.
Seeing the girl's mind wandering at this time, Pei Kuang's eyes flashed a hint of amusement. But his expression remained serious as he continued, "You heard what I said in the parking lot just now. I meant every word. Don't get me wrong, I'm not using you as a shield."
Song Anan said, "Oh, I didn't misunderstand."
On the drive over, she had considered many possibilities.
But one thing she was certain of was that the idea of Pei Kuang using her as a shield never crossed her mind.
He wasn't that kind of person.
Pei Kuang murmured in acknowledgement, smiling in his eyes, "So what do you think about it?" "Will you be my girlfriend?"
After the straightforward confession, Song Anan was much more receptive now.
What did she think? Of course she didn't expect things to develop so quickly all of a sudden.
She had thought that with the way she and Pei Kuang interacted now, even if they did end up together in the end, it would be a natural progression. They probably wouldn't even need confessions or anything like that.
Maybe one day they would unconsciously hold hands while walking, and just tacitly become a couple.
But she never imagined there would be an incident like the parking lot today.
Seeing Song Anan silent, Pei Kuang thought she was still unsure, so he said, "It's okay if you haven't made up your mind yet. Go home and think about it carefully. It's alright, I'll wait for you."
But Song Anan shook her head.
"No need to think more. I accept," she said after a few seconds.
Now it was Pei Kuang's turn to be surprised. He paused, then asked again for confirmation, "You've really made up your mind? No regrets?"
Song Anan nodded heavily and said firmly, "Made up my mind, no regrets."
Pei Kuang was steady in speech and behavior, and very well-measured in his interactions with others.
At the dinner table, Song Linchuan asked some questions, and Pei Kuang's answers were watertight.
With this kind of foxy man, how could his little auntie be his match!
Therefore, Song Linchuan decided that next, he would give up all his work and stay close by.
Men understood men best. Whether Pei Kuang was reliable or not, he must stand guard for his little auntie!
And he had to consider from all aspects, not sloppy at all.
So in the next month, Song Linchuan began to look for opportunities to observe Pei Kuang.
Thanks to the convenience of living in the same neighborhood, he did find quite a few chances to test him.
But as he spent more time with Pei Kuang, Song Linchuan gradually realized that he was indeed a decent person.
In fact, after learning that Song Anan was in love, Song Linchuan contacted his dad at the first moment, and used his dad's connections to investigate Pei Kuang's background quite thoroughly.
Even his years of living abroad.
Under normal circumstances, Song Linchuan would definitely not do this, but when it came to his aunt, he had no choice.
Song Anan was too naive, and they didn't want her to get hurt.
That day, it was Pei Kuang's day shift, right before he got off work, he received a WeChat message from Song Linchuan.
Song Linchuan: "Someone just gave me a nice bottle of wine, come over to my house after work and drink with me."
Looking at this message, Pei Kuang sighed silently.
"Hey, who's asking you out for drinks?" Guo Ya walked over from behind him and happened to glance at his phone.
Pei Kuang replied plainly: "You don't know him."
Guo Ya clicked his tongue and didn't ask any more questions, "Some people have to work hard on their shift, but some get to go out drinking after work, alas, people have different fates."
Pei Kuang was a little helpless, he wasn't going to drink wine, clearly this was the banquet at Hongmen that Song Linchuan had set up for him.
But even knowing it was the banquet at Hongmen, he still had to go, what could he do, he had eyes for the other's white cabbage, so he had to get through this hurdle.
After replying to Song Linchuan's message, Pei Kuang also called Song Anan. The two of them had originally planned to go out for dinner tonight, but that was obviously not going to happen now.
He figured out that Song Linchuan had pushed his work aside and was waiting for this moment, so he might as well play along.
Getting through this test a day earlier would be better for both of them.
After hanging up the phone, Song Anan was a little confused. She looked at her phone, and was in a daze for a moment.
In the past month, whenever Pei Kuang had time, it was almost always occupied by Song Linchuan, the problem was, they didn't take her along.
Who was in a relationship with whom?
When Pei Kuang arrived at Song Linchuan's house, he had already prepared the wine and appetizers, the table was full, looking very abundant.
Of course, besides those bottles of red wine on the table, everything else was takeout.
Looking at those bottles of red wine, Pei Kuang instinctively felt a stomachache coming.
It seemed he had guessed right, Song Linchuan was determined not to stop until he drank himself under the table today.
As for what would happen after getting drunk, that went without saying.
The scene that would unfold next was easy to foresee.
Song Linchuan kept urging Pei Kuang to drink, and he almost drank every glass raised to him.
In order to play along, he would even take the initiative to drink.
Soon, Pei Kuang did get a little drunk, and seeing his goal achieved, Song Linchuan stopped aggressively pushing drinks.
He slowly started to observe Pei Kuang's behavior. As the saying goes, the true nature of a person is revealed when they are drunk.
So far it seemed Pei Kuang could handle his liquor pretty well.
Of course, Song Linchuan didn't just have this one goal today. After all, people speak the truth when drunk, so he couldn't miss this opportunity.
"How many relationships have you had, and when were they?" Song Linchuan asked.
Pei Kuang was a flushed drunk, his face was bright red now, but his mind didn't seem as muddled as he looked.
"This is my first one," he answered truthfully.
Song Linchuan paused, clearly disbelief, "Don't lie to me, at your age, how could you have never been in a relationship?"
Who would believe that!
With a face like his, it was impossible!
A hint of helplessness flashed across Pei Kuang's eyes, "It really is my first time, I'm not lying to you."
"How many times have you been in a relationship, we're the same age," he asked in return.
Song Linchuan was rendered speechless.
He was right, in terms of looks he was no less than Pei Kuang, and he hadn't been in a relationship either.
Maybe it wasn't that strange after all.
Alright, he decided to move on from this question. Song Linchuan took the opportunity to ask several more questions.
Pei Kuang didn't show any impatience and truthfully answered every one.
Seeing his clear logic, Song Linchuan also belatedly realized that Pei Kuang was not actually drunk.
"You're not drunk?" he asked in surprise.
Pei Kuang didn't hide it, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Song Linchuan froze for a moment, subconsciously scratching his nose.
Getting caught tricking someone into answering questions while drunk was quite embarrassing indeed.
But Pei Kuang was completely unbothered and said, "I flush when I drink, it's fine, feel free to ask anything you want, I promise I'll answer truthfully."
"Or I can drink some more if needed," he added, about to reach for a glass on the table, but was stopped by Song Linchuan.
Faced with Pei Kuang's candor and sincerity, he felt a little guilty about his own behavior.
In fact, after the previous investigation and his personal observations these past days, Song Linchuan had to admit that his initial hostility towards Pei Kuang had gradually turned into approval.
Whether it was his character or abilities, there was nothing to criticize.
Most importantly, Song Linchuan could see that his aunt really liked Pei Kuang.
"There's something I want to come clean about, I had someone investigate you before," Song Linchuan said.
Pei Kuang nodded slightly and said, "I know."
Song Linchuan was surprised, "You knew?"
Pei Kuang gave a soft "hmm", and explained plainly, "A friend called me earlier and said someone was asking about me, so I guessed."
Seeing his reaction, Song Linchuan was astonished, "Aren't you angry?"
What they did was an invasion of his privacy, after all.
Pei Kuang shook his head, "If it was someone else, or for another reason, I would mind, but you are Anan's family, I'll have to get through this hurdle sooner or later."
Hearing this, Song Linchuan paused.
Get through this hurdle sooner or later.
These words were very meaningful.
If it was just a simple relationship, why insist on getting past the family? Unless he was thinking further ahead.
Like marriage.
Song Linchuan was silent for a few seconds, "You're just dating, isn't it too early to be thinking so far ahead?"
Pei Kuang shook his head, saying earnestly, "It's not too early. From the day I decided to pursue Anan, I didn't come just to date."
What this statement represented, Song Linchuan understood as a fellow man.
He didn't speak, just looked fixedly at Pei Kuang, not knowing what he was thinking.
In some ways, he and Pei Kuang were similar people. They didn't fall easily, but once they did, it was for life.
After a long time, Song Linchuan finally spoke slowly, "Can you promise to take good care of my aunt?"
Pei Kuang knew what Song Linchuan's words implied, but he didn't make any promises or say such things. He simply and concisely replied, "I can."
Song Linchuan looked at him quietly, "I hope you live up to your word."
Pei Kuang's tone was firm as he responded, "I will."