After Dating the President O, I Turned Into a Puppy-Like Lover - Chapter 15

This was where Jiang He first met Dan Sirou.

Dan Sirou would occasionally come to this park. Jiang He, on the other hand, sat here every day, gently swinging back and forth on the swings. Although she never played with anyone else, after sitting there long enough, she had grown familiar with a few faces she’d never spoken to.

Dan Sirou had been beautiful even as a child—long legs, slender arms, her body supple and light. What stood out most were her eyes: peach-blossom shaped, clear and luminous, made all the more lively by her bright personality.

She never came alone. There were always two or three people with her.

Jiang He didn’t know when she first began to notice them.

When they played noisily nearby, Jiang He would sit on the swing, swaying back and forth, never saying a word.

Until one day, their ball was accidentally thrown too far and came flying straight toward Jiang He’s direction. Luckily, no matter how strong children were, their strength had its limits. By the time the ball reached her, it had lost most of its momentum, bouncing stubbornly a few times under gravity before rolling to a stop at Jiang He’s feet.

It was Dan Sirou who came to retrieve it.

She jogged after the ball toward the swings, bent down to pick it up while tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Half bent over, her line of sight naturally aligned with Jiang He’s, who was seated on the swing.

Jiang He’s dark eyes met hers without warning, and in that instant, something fluttered wildly in her chest.

Dan Sirou smiled at her politely. Seeing Jiang He gripping the swing’s chains tightly with both hands, she asked, “Are you here by yourself?”

Jiang He didn’t realize at first that she was being addressed. She shook her head, then nodded again, finally letting out a firm, muffled “Mm.”

“Do you want to play with us?” Dan Sirou asked warmly, pointing toward an open patch of ground ahead. “We’re just one person short.”

Jiang He hesitated.

But faced with those clear, bright eyes—soft under-eyes full, smiling into gentle crescents, Jiang He’s will slipped away before she even realized it.

And just like that, she was led over by Dan Sirou to join the group.

Aside from her, there was one boy and one girl. With Jiang He added, there were four of them exactly.

The other two were friendly as well, explaining the rules of the game to her. It was Jiang He’s first time playing something like this; she only half understood after hearing it once. Noticing her unease, Dan Sirou patiently explained it again.

Her explanation was clearer than the others’. She had a way of grasping the key points, her voice flowing like a gentle stream, making even the rules feel light and easy instead of tedious.

They split into pairs. Since Jiang He had been brought over by Dan Sirou, the two naturally teamed up.

The little boy was mischievous. He said he’d brought a marker and proposed that the losing side had to accept a punishment, otherwise the game wouldn’t be fun.

The punishment was drawing on the loser’s face.

That made Jiang He even more nervous. It was already her first time playing with others, and she was stiff and awkward. Now there was a punishment too. She wasn’t worried about herself, she was worried that Dan Sirou would end up with doodles on her face because of her.

She suddenly wished she could go back to quietly swinging on her own.

Dan Sirou kept encouraging her, and only then did Jiang He suppress the urge to back out.

Sure enough, Jiang He’s fears gradually came true.

Whenever Dan Sirou managed to win back a round, Jiang He would lose the next one.

By the time Jiang He finally got used to the rules, Dan Sirou who had been overly focused earlier and spent too much energy started slipping as well.

Before long, the two of them had lines and marks crisscrossing their faces. The other pair fared better, with only a few light strokes. That boy, however, drew on Dan Sirou’s face with particular enthusiasm.

Jiang He felt deeply guilty. Before the next round even began, she said quietly, “Am I dragging you down? Maybe, I should stop playing.”

She spoke so cautiously, yet Dan Sirou didn’t mind at all. Smiling brighter than the sun overhead, she said, “It’s fine. It’s your first time, you’re already doing great.”

So, Jiang He continued, both ashamed and secretly unwilling to stop.

As the sun gradually sank, the other two were picked up by their parents.

Jiang He and Dan Sirou went to wash their faces at the park’s fountain, then began chatting idly. Jiang He asked when Dan Sirou was heading home. Dan Sirou said later, her mother was coming to pick her up at six. She then asked about Jiang He in return, and Jiang He told her, piece by piece, about her life on the island.

“Then, can you swim?” Dan Sirou asked with interest.

When talking to her, Jiang He felt proud of her experiences. Dan Sirou was good at conversation, she made the other person feel like the center of the discussion, respected and listened to.

Jiang He nodded without hesitation. “Yeah.”

“My mom signed me up for a swimming class,” Dan Sirou said, “but I’m too scared to go. I’m afraid of water.”

“It’s not that hard,” Jiang He replied earnestly.

“That’s only because you’re used to it,” Dan Sirou laughed.

Jiang He pondered for a moment. Then she looked at Dan Sirou and said with unmistakable sincerity,

“If you’re scared, I can go with you. Would that be okay?”

Dan Sirou was taken aback by her enthusiasm and replied politely, “Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you?”

“It wouldn’t,” Jiang He said firmly.

So, Dan Sirou didn’t refuse. She said she would ask her mother to enroll Jiang He in the swimming class as well, so they could attend together.

They agreed to go on Saturday and to meet again at the same park.

On the appointed day, Jiang He waited for a long time, but no one came. She didn’t know exactly how long she had waited, when standing made her tired, she sat on the swing; when sitting grew uncomfortable, she stood again. She watched as the sunlight shifted from gold to deep orange, slowly sinking beneath the horizon.

Only then did Jiang He realize that Dan Sirou probably wasn’t coming that day.

Yet she refused to believe it. Given Dan Sirou’s character, even if something unexpected had come up, she should have said something.

The next day, Jiang He waited again at the park but still didn’t see her.

On the third day, Dan Sirou finally came, accompanied by a boy.

He was very good-looking, with wispy bangs and narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes. From the moment he appeared beside Dan Sirou, there was a faint but unmistakable hostility about him that made Jiang He deeply uncomfortable.

Dan Sirou asked whether Jiang He had been waiting here these past few days. Jiang He nodded, but not wanting her to feel too guilty, she said she had only stopped by briefly and hadn’t waited long.

Dan Sirou still felt apologetic and said that she had a class scheduled today and that they could go now if Jiang He wanted.

Jiang He didn’t object.

But the boy suddenly said, “Can I come with you?”

He smiled pleasantly, carrying himself with an air of quiet insistence, as if the matter was already decided.

Dan Sirou immediately refused. “Didn’t you say you were just walking me out? Uncle won’t let you wander around these days.”

When she had left home, Zhou Tingchen had insisted on asking where she was going. Unable to argue with him, she had reluctantly agreed to let him come along.

“I’ll just tell my dad,” Zhou Tingchen said gently. Seeing that Dan Sirou still looked unconvinced, his expression fell, and he said pitifully,

“Rourou, I got sick because I saved you. That’s why I’m under house restrictions now. My dad only lets me play with you. If you don’t let me go, I’ll be all alone and bored.”

The words “I saved you” struck Dan Sirou squarely in the heart. She instantly lost the resolve to refuse him and could only give in helplessly.

“Would it be okay if he came with us?” she asked Jiang He cautiously.

Zhou Tingchen lifted his chin smugly, looking at Jiang He as if he had just won a contest.

Jiang He already disliked interacting with unfriendly strangers and she particularly disliked the look in Zhou Tingchen’s eyes. Caught between his gaze and Dan Sirou’s, she made her decision because of the former.

“Then you two go together,” she said.

Later, Jiang He spent the rest of her summer in East City before returning to the island.

She didn’t come back again until middle school.

During that time, she never had any contact with Dan Sirou. It wasn’t until a little over a month ago when Dan Sirou, pressed by financial difficulties, was forced to sign an agreement with her that their paths crossed again.

Later, Jiang He heard a bit about Zhou Tingchen from her cousin. She learned that he had gone to the capital three years ago, and that he was obsessed with asserting his claim over the people around Dan Sirou.

And yet, without Dan Sirou’s tacit approval, Zhou Tingchen would never have had the standing to do any of that.

That was why Jiang He had mocked Dan Sirou for being so popular yet choosing to make herself so miserable. When the agreement was signed, Jiang He had even deliberately included the condition that Dan Sirou was “not allowed to interact with anyone harboring improper intentions toward her.”

That was her only request yet Dan Sirou had ignored it entirely.

The memory of being made to wait for days was still vivid. Now, seeing Dan Sirou disregard the agreement again, Jiang He felt increasingly unsettled.

In this agreement, although Dan Sirou had designated her as Party A, Jiang He had never abused that privilege to make excessive demands. Despite their unpleasant history, she was always the first to lower her head when they were together.

Jiang He took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down amid the growing bitterness in her chest.

She briskly stepped out of the restroom. The mall was lined with transparent glass, and even from the central hall, the outside scenery was clearly visible.

Standing beside one of the pillars, she watched Dan Sirou and Zhou Tingchen chatting happily together and coldly pulled out her phone.