Can't Hide My Love for You - Chapter 77

Seeing the look on Cheng Yixin’s face instantly turn indescribable, Chi Yi knew she had said something wrong.

She rubbed her nose and said sheepishly, “Well, maybe not hanging it is fine…”

“No, do you know what ‘hanging on the wall’ usually means?”

“Just the literal meaning,” Chi Yi said blankly. “Is there another meaning?”

Cheng Yixin figured that regional or family customs might differ, so she explained: “Generally speaking… after an elder passes away, we hang their black-and-white memorial portrait on the wall.”

“…” Chi Yi’s expression also became indescribable, tinged with embarrassment.

Cheng Yixin suddenly felt that President Chi’s “sheltered” and slightly out-of-touch side was quite adorable.

“Of course, I know what you meant.” Cheng Yixin suppressed a laugh and pinched her cheek. “But don’t talk about hanging on the wall ever again.”

“Are you laughing at my lack of common sense?” Chi Yi’s eyes were somewhat resentful.

“No, no, I just think it’s cute.” As she spoke, she hooked her arms around Chi Yi’s neck and gave her a bold, uninhibited peck.

“Ahem.” Who could have guessed that this single kiss would be caught red-handed by Mother Cheng, who was just bringing out a dish.

Despite having seen many big scenes in her life, Mother Cheng didn’t bat an eye. “The dishes are mostly ready. Come sit down.”

Like a thief with a guilty conscience, Chi Yi hurriedly pushed Cheng Yixin away and took two steps back. “A-Auntie, we… we…” she stammered in panic.

Only then did Cheng Yixin realize that Chi Yi didn’t know her mother already knew they were dating. That was why she was so flustered at being caught. Watching Chi Yi struggle to explain while being unable to form words, Cheng Yixin gave her sleeve a secret tug.

“Alright! We’ll go get the rice,” Cheng Yixin answered loudly.

Mother Cheng set the dish on the table and sped back into the kitchen.

“Auntie saw us, didn’t she?” Chi Yi felt a lingering fear. “Maybe I should talk to Uncle and Auntie about it first…”

“Don’t be so nervous,” Cheng Yixin laughed. “Actually, my mom has known we’re dating for a long time.”

Chi Yi was stunned.

“It was that time they came to Jingning. I told her.”

Naturally, she omitted the part where she had come out earlier because of Lu Qing; if she mentioned Lu Qing’s name, President Chi would surely have some “little feelings” about it.

The dishes were brought out one by one. Old Cheng took off his apron, and the family gathered around the table. Old Cheng wanted to open a bottle of alcohol, but he was stopped by the mother and daughter. It was only noon; they couldn’t get their guest drunk the moment she sat down.

“Chi Yi, welcome to our home!” Old Cheng was so happy his ears were red, and a heartfelt smile beamed across his face. “I’ll use this soft drink as wine to toast you! Our Xinxin has been well-looked after in Jingning thanks to you.”

“It’s what I should do.” Chi Yi held her cup with both hands and respectfully clinked it against Old Cheng’s.

She had just taken a sip when she heard Old Cheng add, “Oh, our Xinxin is really lucky to have a good friend like you!”

Chi Yi froze. She instinctively glanced at Cheng Yixin, who in turn looked at her mother.

It seemed there was still one person in the house who was completely in the dark.

“Come, come, eat up. Don’t be polite,” Old Cheng urged them to start. “This fish is something I bought early this morning at the market. It’s a wild-caught fish; you can only get it if you’re lucky!”

Cheng Yixin hadn’t expected her mother to keep it a secret for so long. Seeing her father treating her girlfriend like a “bestie,” the atmosphere felt a bit awkward. She shot her mother a reproachful look.

Mother Cheng shifted her gaze to the feast on the table, pretending not to see. Given the current atmosphere, she figured it was better to wait until after the meal to tell him… otherwise, if her husband had an extreme reaction, Chi Yi wouldn’t be able to eat.

“Uncle,” Chi Yi said, putting down her chopsticks amidst the lively atmosphere. “Yixin and I are dating.”

At Chi Yi’s sudden confession, Cheng Yixin nearly sprayed out the drink she had just swallowed.

The smile on Old Cheng’s face froze. “What did you just say?” he asked in disbelief.

Chi Yi took a deep breath and said all at once, “Uncle, I love Yixin. I will treat her well. Please, you and Auntie, feel at ease giving her hand to me.”

Oh my god. Cheng Yixin was awestruck by President Chi’s backbone. This was incredibly brave.

“You two…” Old Cheng looked shocked, his finger trembling as he pointed at them. “Aren’t you best friends? You even made a public clarification…”

Another victim of entertainment news misinformation.

“That was just because it wasn’t convenient to go public,” Cheng Yixin said, leaning over to hook her arm around Chi Yi’s. “Actually, we’ve been dating for quite a while now.”

The atmosphere reached a stalemate. Old Cheng still hadn’t recovered from the shock, so Mother Cheng stepped in to smooth things over. “Alright, let’s eat first. It’ll get cold if we wait.”

After the meal, Mother Cheng insisted they go upstairs to rest, citing the fatigue of their long journey. “I’ve prepared the room for you both with thick quilts. You won’t be cold tonight.”

“Mom,” Cheng Yixin gave a sheepish smile. “I have work tomorrow. We’re leaving after dinner.”

“What?!” Mother Cheng’s reaction was huge. “You came all this way just to stay for a few hours? No, leave tomorrow morning. Traveling back and forth twice in one day is exhausting just to watch.”

“I just wanted to get the travel over with today so we could have a comfortable sleep tonight and not have to deal with it tomorrow. We didn’t even bring extra clothes.”

Mother and daughter argued back and forth until Chi Yi stepped in as the peacemaker. “Auntie, let’s see how things are after dinner. Maybe Yixin will feel tired then and want to stay until tomorrow.”

“Fine, fine,” Mother Cheng waved them off.

“Then I’ll take Chi Yi for a walk nearby.”

After saying their goodbyes, the two left the house. They hadn’t walked even fifty meters before they ran into a familiar neighbor.

“Yixin’s back!” the neighbor auntie said with a smile, then looked at Chi Yi. “Who is this? She looks very unfamiliar.”

Since she had essentially come out to her family, whether to go public to the world depended on her parents’ wishes. She wasn’t home often and could ignore the gossip, but her parents were rooted here.

“My friend,” Cheng Yixin said, taking Chi Yi’s hand right in front of the neighbor.

The auntie didn’t understand the subtext and teased her as usual: “Found a boyfriend yet? Want me to introduce one to you?”

“No boyfriend. But if you’re introducing someone, my standards are quite high. I wonder if the person you introduce could meet my requirements?”

“What requirements?”

“Net worth over a hundred million, a dozen cars, several houses, and a traditional courtyard house. He has to give me several million in pocket money every month and not meddle in my work. If I say ‘east,’ he can’t go ‘west’—absolute obedience. He also needs a great personality, has to be thoughtful and understanding, and must be able to cook and do housework…”

As Cheng Yixin counted them off on her fingers, the neighbor auntie’s smile stiffened. She gave a forced laugh. “Those are indeed very high requirements. It’s hard to say if such a person even exists in this world.”

“Then there’s nothing for it,” Cheng Yixin smiled. “Auntie, if you meet someone who fits my requirements, be sure to introduce him to me!”

Realizing Cheng Yixin was teasing her, the auntie laughed it off with a few words and tactfully left.

Once she was gone, Cheng Yixin saw Chi Yi looking at her phone, fiddling with something. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m transferring money to you,” Chi Yi said matter-of-factly.

“Huh?”

Chi Yi looked up from her phone. “Isn’t there one requirement you mentioned that I haven’t met yet? Giving you several million in pocket money every month.”

Cheng Yixin was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Hahahaha, I was just saying that! You’re actually doing it!”

“But I realized I don’t have your card number,” President Chi said, sounding quite disappointed.

“Oh god, my Yiyi is just too cute. What am I going to do?” If it weren’t broad daylight in public, she would have pinned Chi Yi down and kissed her several times over!

Cheng Yixin led her around the village’s artificial lake. They were halfway around the lake when Li Wenjing called. Seeing the name gave her the feeling that the King of Hell was calling to collect a soul; she feared it was a last-minute work assignment and didn’t really want to answer.

“Answer it. It might be something urgent.”

“It’s because it’s urgent that I don’t want to answer.”

Despite her words, she answered reluctantly. Business was business, and she couldn’t be too lax. Fortunately, Li Wenjing wasn’t calling to give her a sudden task, but rather to ask her to repost a Weibo post. A brand advertisement she had filmed previously was officially launching today. As the spokesperson, reposting was part of her duty.

Since she had uninstalled Weibo, she hadn’t logged into her account for half a month. From the habit of tapping where the icon used to be only to find it empty, to now having broken the habit of scrolling, the world had truly felt much quieter without the internet.

Reposting a Weibo sounded easy—just a tap of a finger. But after so long, there were bound to be countless unread messages. Seeing the icon, Cheng Yixin still felt a sense of suffocation, as if the whole world was still attacking her.

“The ‘Clean Internet’ campaign has already cleared out most of the filth,” Chi Yi said, seeing through her hesitation. “Now, your comment section is full of encouragement from netizens, and your follower count has increased significantly.”

“You can go up and take a look.” Chi Yi paused. “If you really don’t want to, I’ll have Sister Wenjing repost it for you.”

“I can’t keep running away forever. There will be many more times I need to use Weibo for work.”

Cheng Yixin prepared herself mentally, took a deep breath, and hit the login button. The notification list was a sea of red dots, and her private messages had exploded. She cleared all the unread messages and DMs with a single click. Good or bad, rather than keeping them as a reminder of what happened, it was better to wipe them clean and start anew.

After nearly a month, Cheng Yixin finally updated her Weibo. Regrettably, the content was purely business.

“The scenery here is quite nice,” Cheng Yixin said suddenly as she looked at the artificial lake after finishing the post.

“Mhm. The water is very clean; I can see fish inside.”

“Then let’s take a photo together.”

Taking a photo wasn’t unusual, but after they finished, Cheng Yixin asked for Chi Yi’s opinion. She wanted to post it on Weibo.

In the photo, Cheng Yixin’s arm was draped over Chi Yi’s shoulder, their shoulders pressed together. They stood with their backs to the lake, and a large willow tree stood on the opposite shore.

“I don’t mind you posting it,” Chi Yi said, looking slightly confused. “But before, you said seeing people insult me made you unhappy. Maybe it’s better not to post it. I’m worried your mood will sour again if you see those comments.”

Cheng Yixin had posted photos with Chi Yi a few times before. Having CP fans meant having anti-fans as well; many of them were “solo-stans” who hated Cheng Yixin being close to anyone else—male or female. They were the type who would curse at a passing dog; Cheng Yixin didn’t consider such people fans at all and didn’t need them. But Li Wenjing had warned her that solo-stans should be ignored, as “turning fans” (fans who turn against the idol) are the most vicious.

So, gradually, she had stopped posting photos of them.

“I’m posting it if you don’t mind,” Cheng Yixin said, her fingers tapping forcefully on the keyboard to enter the caption.

“I don’t want to be with you and be unable to lead even the most basic normal life.”

“I don’t want to keep you hidden anymore.”

“I don’t belong to them.”