After the Arranged Marriage, I Was Pampered by the Powerful Tycoon - Chapter 23

The old man’s tone was firm. Before Cheng Ruan could find an excuse, the other party hung up the phone, giving him no chance to decline at all.

Cheng Ruan sat back on the sofa in distress, staring blankly at the documents on the table for a while, and let out a slow sigh.

This was the inaugural performance since the completion of the Grand Auditorium. Since the old man was attending in person, it wouldn’t be right for him to be absent. However, if he had to go with Luo Mingzhi…

Cheng Ruan opened his phone and stared at Luo Mingzhi’s name, feeling conflicted. By the time he snapped out of it, his finger had already dialed the number.

“Oops!” Cheng Ruan frantically tried to hang up, but Luo Mingzhi had already answered.

Luo Mingzhi seemed to have just stepped out of a conference room; the background noise of people discussing things made his deep voice sound even lower.

“Cheng Ruan, is something the matter?”

For some reason, the way Luo Mingzhi enunciated always gave Cheng Ruan a peculiar feeling. For instance, when he called his name just now, it was a perfectly normal form of address, yet it inexplicably made Cheng Ruan’s scalp tingle.

They were clearly just “intimate strangers,” yet there was a cool, lingering sense of ambiguity between them.

Cheng Ruan had no choice but to bite the bullet and go along with it, forcing himself to extend the invitation: “Um… Luo Mingzhi, are you free tonight?”

“Tonight?” Luo Mingzhi seemed to be confirming his schedule with someone beside him, and soon replied, “I have a dinner meeting with film industry executives tonight.”

“I see…” Cheng Ruan nodded understandingly and said hurriedly, “Then you go ahead with your business, I won’t disturb you.”

“Wait a moment,” Luo Mingzhi stopped him. “Is there something you need me to do?”

“It’s actually nothing much…” Cheng Ruan lowered his head, trying to make his voice sound normal. “The Grand Auditorium has its opening performance tonight. Grandfather wants us to go see it together, just to show our support.”

Understanding Cheng Ruan’s purpose, Luo Mingzhi’s voice remained steady: “Okay.”

“…Okay?” Cheng Ruan didn’t quite understand. What did “okay” mean?

Luo Mingzhi asked, “Do you need me to pick you up this evening?”

“Huh?” Cheng Ruan was clearly still out of the loop. “Don’t you have a dinner meeting?”

“Everything has a priority,” Luo Mingzhi answered his question methodically. “Wait for me after work.”

Sitting in the car, Cheng Ruan glanced at Luo Mingzhi beside him. His lips moved, wanting to say something to liven up the atmosphere, but he found himself unable to come up with a suitable topic.

He realized once again the lack of daily communication between him and Luo Mingzhi.

Cheng Ruan had always disliked awkward silences, so he tried asking, “Luo Mingzhi, do you usually like watching theater?”

“It’s alright.” Luo Mingzhi glanced at him and turned back, saying, “I watch it occasionally, but I wouldn’t say I like it.”

Silence fell over the car again.

Luo Mingzhi was not a man of many words. Although he would occasionally blurt out a sentence or two that caught Cheng Ruan off guard, most of the time, he was calm and self-contained. Even in bed, he mostly expressed himself through action, only occasionally pinning him down to hear a few cries for mercy.

Cheng Ruan found his thoughts drifting in a strange direction. With his cheeks flushing, he turned his head to look out the window: “Aren’t you going to ask me?”

Luo Mingzhi arched an eyebrow: “Ask you what?”

Cheng Ruan felt that Luo Mingzhi was asking despite already knowing the answer, yet he still explained patiently, “Ask me back if I like theater. Usually, with these kinds of questions, isn’t there a back-and-forth?”

He wasn’t sure if he saw it correctly, but Cheng Ruan felt the corner of Luo Mingzhi’s mouth twitch slightly before he asked as requested: “Then, does Mr. Cheng like theater?”

A strange sensation of numbness flowed through Cheng Ruan’s heart. He shook his head with a red face: “I have no interest in it.”

“Is that so?” Luo Mingzhi didn’t seem to believe him. “I heard you used to go to Hu Chuyang’s performances frequently.”

Cheng Ruan didn’t expect Luo Mingzhi to mention this. Holding his face in his hands, he looked ahead: “…Actually, I mostly went because of him. I personally don’t care much for these plays.”

Luo Mingzhi gave a thoughtful “Oh” and slowly closed his eyes to rest. Seeing him close his eyes, Cheng Ruan also relaxed and stopped trying to force a conversation.

He was completely unaware of the shift in Luo Mingzhi’s gaze moments before.

Finally arriving at the Grand Auditorium, Cheng Ruan got out of the car and found a large circle of media reporters and fans gathered at the entrance.

“Is there some celebrity here?” Cheng Ruan looked at the crowd curiously and managed to see the signs they were holding.

“Original heart unchanged, Chuyang sets sail.”

It was Hu Chuyang? He was here too?

Luo Mingzhi’s voice sounded above him: “It’s time to go in.”

Cheng Ruan then realized his attention had wandered. He nodded to Luo Mingzhi and walked side-by-side with him toward the VIP passage.

Their seats were arranged with the organizers. The old man was already seated in the middle of the front row. Seeing Cheng Ruan and Luo Mingzhi arriving together, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

“Grandfather,” Cheng Ruan greeted the old man and took his seat.

The old man nodded to them: “How have things been lately?”

Cheng Ruan personally picked up a cup of tea and handed it to the old man: “Everything has been going quite smoothly.”

The old man took the tea, lifted the lid to brush away the leaves, and looked up at the stage: “I heard someone has been getting restless again lately?”

Cheng Ruan knew he couldn’t hide it from the old man’s eyes, so he admitted, “Just a small issue, it’s already been handled.”

A sharp glint flashed in the old man’s eyes: “It’s best to pull it out by the roots.”

“I originally wanted to use his art gallery to make a move, but you beat me to it by acquiring it first, which made it difficult for me to act.”

“Grandfather,” Cheng Ruan avoided his gaze. “Cheng Jin can’t stir up any significant trouble.”

“Being too soft-hearted won’t get things done.” The old man looked pointedly at Luo Mingzhi beside Cheng Ruan. “Regardless, be careful.”

Cheng Ruan smiled to reassure the old man: “Don’t worry, I can handle it. Besides, isn’t there still Luo Mingzhi?”

Hearing him mention Luo Mingzhi, the old man indeed stopped nagging and nodded with relief.

Cheng Ruan pursed his lips and stole a glance at Luo Mingzhi, who was intently watching the play.

Grandfather really has unconditional trust in Luo Mingzhi…

Cheng Ruan turned back, trying to focus on the theatrical performance on stage.

The old man left to rest after giving his speech. Cheng Ruan drank two large cups of strong tea, but he still couldn’t ward off the wave of drowsiness that hit him, his head nodding forward like a chick pecking at grain several times.

The play on stage seemed to be reaching its climax, but it didn’t affect Cheng Ruan’s tendency to squint and tip forward.

Luo Mingzhi glanced sideways at Cheng Ruan. Just before the younger man’s whole body slumped forward, he reached out and steadily caught his chin with his hand.

“Ah!” Cheng Ruan woke up with a start and let out a small cry of surprise. Only then did he realize Luo Mingzhi’s hand was cupping his face, seemingly to prevent him from hitting the back of the seat in front.

Cheng Ruan was instantly jolted awake, saying apologetically, “I’m sorry, I accidentally fell asleep just now.”

Luo Mingzhi’s eyebrows quirked slightly as he withdrew his hand: “It seems you truly don’t like watching theater.”

“I used to fall asleep back then, too…” Cheng Ruan couldn’t help but yawn. “How much longer until it ends?”

Luo Mingzhi said faintly, “It only started twenty minutes ago.”

“…” Cheng Ruan downed a cup of strong tea and leaned back with his arms crossed. “I’ll listen a bit longer.”

He said “listen,” but in reality, he drifted back into a deep sleep with his eyes closed. Luo Mingzhi looked helplessly at Cheng Ruan—who had claimed he came to show support but was now sleeping more soundly than anyone else—and knit his brows.

Perhaps because he hadn’t slept well the night before, Cheng Ruan’s face was a bit paler than usual. His rosy lips lacked a bit of their previous color, and his long eyelashes cast a small shadow on his eyelids under the lights.

Luo Mingzhi looked back at the stage, but suddenly, a weight landed on his left shoulder without warning.

It was Cheng Ruan, who had leaned against his shoulder at some point.

Cheng Ruan’s chin was a bit sharp, and he found it uncomfortable resting on Luo Mingzhi’s shoulder, so he unconsciously nudged upward. The tips of his hair kept brushing against Luo Mingzhi’s cheek.

Luo Mingzhi suppressed the strange sensation in his heart: “Don’t move.”

But Cheng Ruan couldn’t hear a word he said, selfishly moving up another inch to rest his head on Luo Mingzhi’s shoulder in the most comfortable position.

The scent of freesia continuously wafted to his nose. Luo Mingzhi stared straight ahead expressionlessly until the play ended and the crowd began to disperse.

A few rows away, a man with an excellent physique stood up, pulled down the brim of his baseball cap, and stared intently toward the front.

A manager beside him reminded him: “Aren’t we leaving yet, Chuyang?”

“I…” Hu Chuyang glanced at Cheng Ruan, who seemed to be asleep, and happened to lock eyes with the man who had suddenly turned his head.

The man’s gaze could not be described as friendly. After a moment of standoff, Hu Chuyang shook his head and turned away: “Let’s go.”

“We… will meet again next time.”

Cheng Ruan sat up straight with a sore neck, only then realizing he had actually fallen asleep on Luo Mingzhi.

“My god!” Cheng Ruan stood up and looked around the empty auditorium. “Is it already over?!”

He had actually slept through the entire performance?

Luo Mingzhi stood up nonchalantly, smoothing out the wrinkles Cheng Ruan had slept into his suit: “Congratulations, you slept through the whole thing.”

“…” Cheng Ruan tried to say something to salvage his image. “It’s mainly because I’ve been too tired. Normally, no matter how bored I am, I wouldn’t do this.”

Luo Mingzhi took a long stride toward the exit, asking seemingly casually, “Was it the same when you watched those performances in the past?”

Cheng Ruan walked out side-by-side with him: “Of course not. Even if I slept through the beginning… I’d at least wake up to clap during the curtain call…”

“You too, you didn’t even wake me up. There were so many cameras and reporters inside; what if they caught me on film?”

Luo Mingzhi turned and sat in the car: “You were sleeping so soundly, and drool was almost getting on my suit. How was I supposed to wake you?”

Cheng Ruan was horrified for a second, touched his lips, and said indignantly to Luo Mingzhi, “You’re lying! I couldn’t possibly drool! You clearly just didn’t want to wake me because you wanted to see me caught looking foolish!”

Luo Mingzhi turned his face toward him, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his mouth: “Believe whatever you want to believe.”

Cheng Ruan gave a “Heh,” and turned his face away, not wanting to speak to him.

“Actually…” Cheng Ruan suddenly remembered something and couldn’t help but share it with Luo Mingzhi. “I’ve lacked any artistic talent since I was a child. No matter how much Grandfather tried to cultivate it, I never made any progress.”

Regardless of whether Luo Mingzhi was listening, Cheng Ruan continued to himself, “So I really don’t like watching those plays. When I was abroad, I truly only went because of Senior Chuyang.”

Luo Mingzhi rolled down the car window with a hint of impatience.

“Are you hot?” Cheng Ruan looked at him curiously and continued, “Senior Chuyang was like half my family back then. When I was all alone in a foreign country, he took care of me and helped me get used to everything. So, when his own family didn’t support him, I felt I should be his audience.”

“Although we haven’t been in touch for a long time, I’ve always been very grateful to him—just like how I am grateful to you now.”

Luo Mingzhi’s expression softened slightly, yet he still asked with a bit of distance: “Grateful to me?”

“Yeah, grateful.” Cheng Ruan looked at Luo Mingzhi with certainty, his eyes sparkling. “It’s thanks to you accompanying me today; otherwise, I really wouldn’t have known how to deal with Grandfather’s nagging.”

Luo Mingzhi turned his head away again, expressionless.

Huh?

Cheng Ruan found Luo Mingzhi’s thoughts increasingly difficult to fathom.