Can't Hide My Love for You - Chapter 92

Feng Nian stayed in Zhenzhou for two days, and Cheng Yixin accompanied him fishing for both of them.

Feeling neglected, Feng Siqi found it boring and returned to Jingning, leaving Chi Yi to handle the logistics for them. On the final day of the trip, Chi Yi suddenly had business to attend to and had to return to Jingning, which left Cheng Yixin and the old gentleman to have lunch alone.

Cheng Yixin and the old man stared at each other. When Chi Yi was there, she could buffer the atmosphere, but with just the two of them left, she didn’t know how to start a conversation.

“Are we going fishing today too?” she asked tentatively.

“No,” Feng Nian replied. “They’ve all gone back. It’s no fun for you to be stuck here alone with an old man like me. I’ve had the secretary book a ticket; I’ll head back after lunch.”

“Alright!” Cheng Yixin was visibly excited. “Then what would you like for lunch? I’ll book it!”

Feng Nian thought for a moment and said, “We’ve been eating according to my tastes for a few days. I’d actually like to ask what you like to eat.”

“Me?” Cheng Yixin instinctively replied, “I like hotpot.”

Thinking about it, she hadn’t eaten hotpot since joining the crew. In this weather, having a delicious meal of swishing meat in a pot indoors was simply perfect.

She was somewhat surprised to hear the old man agree to hotpot. Unlike Chi Yi, the old man didn’t eat spicy food at all and preferred a light diet. This time, Feng Nian’s secretary booked the restaurant, choosing an authentic red-oil hotpot place. Just seeing the pictures of the bright red chili broth on the sign made Cheng Yixin break into a cold sweat for the old man.

Fortunately, this hotpot place wasn’t that “authentic”—there was a split-pot option. One half was red oil, and the other was a clear medicinal broth with red dates and angelica floating on the surface.

Feng Nian picked up a piece of freshly sliced lamb with his chopsticks, swished it in the broth, and skillfully dipped it into the oil dish. After blowing on it twice, the lamb went down, comforting his hungry stomach.

Feng Nian asked, “Did you think I was going to eat spicy food?”

Cheng Yixin gave a sheepish smile. “I almost thought so.”

“Impossible. I don’t eat chili,” Feng Nian replied. “That’s why hotpot is a good thing.”

“Yes!” Cheng Yixin couldn’t agree more. “You can cook any dish in it!”

“My point is that hotpot can accommodate everything; even two people with different tastes can sit at the same table.” As he said this, Feng Nian’s usual kind smile faded.

For some reason… the atmosphere suddenly became serious. She felt the old man was speaking in metaphors, trying to tell her something. Feng Nian, however, acted as if nothing was wrong, cooking another piece of meat, dipping it, cooling it, and eating it.

He glanced at his wristwatch and said quite casually, “I have to leave for the airport in an hour, and I won’t be coming back after that. Do you have anything you want to say to me?”

Cheng Yixin looked at him calmly. “What are you referring to?”

“Having dealt with so many people, I believe in one truth.”

“No one gets close to you for no reason. They must want to get something from you.”

Feng Nian’s chopsticks never stopped. He spoke while cooking the food, as if he were just discussing mundane, trivial family matters.

“…” Cheng Yixin picked up a piece of duck intestine with her chopsticks. Because the red oil was opaque, she had to place the meat separately in a small compartment. The intestine curled instantly in the soup, rolling amidst the spices.

She counted the seconds. One, two, three…

At ten seconds, she lifted the duck intestine out and put it in her bowl.

“I love Chi Yi,” Cheng Yixin said with her eyes lowered. After finishing, she stuffed the duck intestine into her mouth as if to suppress her wildly beating heart.

Feng Nian raised an eyebrow, his movements pausing slightly before he continued picking up food.

“I admit that I do have something I seek. Because I don’t want Chi Yi to be caught in the middle and have a difficult time, I’ve done my best to please you.”

Feng Nian put down his chopsticks and scrutinized her seriously.

“You know about Chi Yi’s parents, right?” he asked, shifting the topic.

Cheng Yixin blinked and nodded instinctively.

“Her parents left her when she was a child. Her grandmother and I have looked after her ever since. As her closest family, in our eyes, as long as she is happy, that is better than anything else.”

“I’m not afraid to tell you—even if she wanted to be a profligate, headstrong heiress who only cared about pleasure without any worries, I would be perfectly happy with that.”

“She said she wanted to go into business, and I said okay. As her grandfather, I didn’t want her to be so tired; my granddaughter doesn’t need to be overly ambitious. But that’s how this child is—she’s never made us worry since she was little. If her parents knew in the afterlife… they would be very relieved to have such an outstanding child.”

“She’s gotten close to you, and seeing the comments from those people online every few days—to be honest, I’m not happy about it. But the child is grown and has her own thoughts. As long as she likes it and can stay open-minded, I’ll let her be.”

“As for the two of you, if Chi Yi is happy being with you, I can turn a blind eye. But if you ever let her suffer a grievance…” At this point, Feng Nian’s eyes narrowed slightly, the sharpness in them unconcealed. “Our methods in the business world are not the ‘playing house’ you imagine.”

Cheng Yixin was intimidated by the aura Feng Nian released. The person before her was not just an easygoing old man; any unimaginable consequence could happen with just a word from him.

“Of course, if you aren’t prepared for that.” Feng Nian withdrew his hostility and said cheerfully, “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything.”

Cheng Yixin snapped back to her senses and said hurriedly, “I’ve long since prepared myself. That’s why I dare to say these things in front of you now.”

“It’s just…” Cheng Yixin hesitated. “Because of the special nature of my work, I have to consider the energy my agency has invested in me. It’s impossible to publicly come out in the short term…”

Fearing the old man would get angry, she hurried to add a promise: “But! But I definitely will…!”

Feng Nian knew what she was going to say and raised a hand to stop her. “A promise that hasn’t been put into action is just a fart. No need to say so much.”

The old man’s attitude allowed Cheng Yixin, who had been on edge for several days, to finally put her heart back in its place. She saw Feng Nian to the airport, and after parting, she couldn’t wait to call Chi Yi.

Chi Yi was negotiating a contract, so Siwen answered.

“Teacher Cheng, if you have something to say to President Chi, I can pass it along for you.”

Cheng Yixin was practically skipping with joy, her grin nearly reaching her ears. “Just tell her I miss her!”

“Uh… okay.” Siwen’s speechlessness practically overflowed on the other end.

Originally, she had asked the director for the whole day off, but now, full of energy, Cheng Yixin immediately returned to the set to film. She had to rush to make up for the progress lost over the last two days, as she would need to take leave to return to Jingning for Chi Yi’s birthday soon.

She worked until nightfall, and only after wrapping up and returning from the set did she manage to contact Chi Yi.

“Grandfather said he’s back home. Thank you for accompanying him fishing these past two days; I can tell he was very happy,” Chi Yi said. “How did you two get along today? Did he bully you?”

“No, I’m Baby Chi Yi’s sweetheart; how could he bully me?”

“Ha.” Chi Yi laughed. “Teacher Cheng is quite arrogant.”

Cheng Yixin’s smile faded slightly, and she said in a serious tone, “I told your grandfather about us this morning.”

“Hmm? What did he say?”

“He didn’t say much, really…” Cheng Yixin picked at the balcony railing, looking up at the night sky and letting out a soft breath. “Grandfather really dotes on you. He wants you to be happy and won’t interfere in your relationship.”

“They’ve wanted to give me the best since I was small.”

“…” Cheng Yixin paused, savoring the moment. “Why do I feel like you aren’t surprised at all?”

“Grandfather’s reaction is very easy to guess.”

“Then why did you act so serious before? You made me so nervous!” she complained.

“When it comes to meeting the family, I can’t be the only one who’s nervous~”

Cheng Yixin poked the screen with her index finger at Chi Yi’s face, which was smiling far too brightly. “Humph, because of that, I’m not celebrating your birthday with you anymore!”

Chi Yi’s smile faded a fraction. “The crew’s progress has been delayed quite a bit over these two days, hasn’t it? You don’t have to come for my birthday; there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.”

“If you say that, I’ll really believe you.”

“I mean it.” Chi Yi held up three fingers. “I won’t have any petty feelings.”

“Fine then. I’ll compensate you after we wrap up filming.”

It even saves me the trouble of making excuses.

Cheng Yixin was still thinking about her unfinished needle felting. With Chi Yi’s birthday getting closer, she didn’t have much time left. They chatted for a while longer before she ended the video call with the excuse of needing a shower.

Before bed, Song Zheng, who is an 8G internet surfer, sent her a screenshot. A certain netizen had witnessed Cheng Yixin and Feng Nian eating hotpot together and sent a photo to a blogger who specializes in writing smear pieces about her. The blogger had then dug up Feng Nian’s identity and, to grab attention, wrote a ridiculous headline:

Cheng Yixin’s Secret Meeting with a Septuagenarian: Is the Financial Backer Behind Her Finally Surfacing?

Seeing the screenshot, Cheng Yixin nearly laughed herself sick. She replied directly with a voice message, which, when opened, was just a string of “goose laughs.”

[Song Zheng]: Are you so mad you’ve gone crazy? Still laughing? This old man is seriously rich! Even if it’s just a normal meal, being unrelated is enough to add fuel to your anti-fans’ fire.

[Cheng Yixin]: Doesn’t matter. My girlfriend’s grandfather will step in. Congratulations to me for losing another hater.

Less than half an hour after that Weibo post went up, it was deleted. Clicking back in, the account with tens of thousands of followers was simply gone. Other unscrupulous marketing accounts, who had screenshotted it and were planning to write grand exposés, instantly fell silent seeing this momentum. Those tens of thousands of followers, seeing the account deleted, were mostly mindless haters of Cheng Yixin; they were even more indignant and rose up in a group attack.

Then, an official announcement regarding a “Clean Internet” campaign came down, and the accounts were all wiped. Those with serious violations might even be held legally responsible. For a moment, the internet atmosphere became much clearer. Without those mindless trolls, Cheng Yixin’s mood was much better every day, and she continued to squeeze in time to make the birthday gift for Chi Yi.

Finally, on the night before Chi Yi’s birthday, she placed the finished little deer into a transparent packaging box. The finished product was larger than a palm, with a base at the bottom so it could be placed anywhere. As it was her first time, it was inevitably less than perfect. What should have been a round body was closer to a rounded square, and the Q-version deer’s chubby cheeks and belly weren’t quite defined enough. But this was the result of Cheng Yixin pricking her hand countless times, and she was very satisfied.

Cheng Yixin had her plan mapped out. The director only gave her a day and a half, and she still had a scene to film tomorrow morning. She expected to arrive in Jingning by tomorrow noon, spend the afternoon picking up the cake, placing the gift, and decorating the venue, then pick up Chi Yi from work in the evening.

For dinner, they would go to that famous restaurant with a night view for lovers. She had booked a private room half a month in advance. A violin troupe would play “Happy Birthday,” and the cake she had spent so much effort choosing would be wheeled in during the song. These plans were kept tightly under wraps to ensure Chi Yi got a huge surprise. It was also an expectation she had been building for a long time—anticipating Chi Yi’s expression when she saw everything she had done.

The night before, Cheng Yixin tossed and turned, only falling asleep at an unknown hour, terrified of any mishap. Fortunately, everything went smoothly. From the moment she stepped off the plane onto Jingning soil, she let out a soft breath. Having been away for a while, she missed it dearly.

“Siwen, what are Chi Yi’s plans for today?” she confirmed Chi Yi’s schedule with Siwen once more.

“Nothing special, she’s at the office.” Siwen paused. “Today is President Chi’s birthday; are you going to celebrate with her?”

The words were at the tip of her tongue, but Cheng Yixin swallowed them back. No, no. Keep it a secret.

“No, I’m with the crew. I won’t talk to you for now.”

According to the plan, Cheng Yixin hid the gift at home and even did some light decoration with balloons. Before heading to the office, she specifically bought a bouquet of flowers—still five roses. The flower language of five roses is “no regrets.”

When Cheng Yixin appeared at the office holding the flowers and saw Siwen’s startled expression, she knew her surprise had worked.

“Chi Yi is in her office, right?” She walked toward that door with practiced ease, saying, “Today is my Chi Yi’s birthday; how could I not come?”

Siwen reacted quickly, stumbling a bit in her haste as she stood up. She hurried to grab Cheng Yixin’s arm and whispered urgently, “Don’t!”

“?” Cheng Yixin was puzzled. “Is she busy?”

“No.” Siwen glanced toward the office and pulled Cheng Yixin quickly toward the pantry. Only when they reached the pantry did Siwen visibly relax, looking at Cheng Yixin with hesitation.

“Siwen, what do you want to say?”

“President Chi… she doesn’t celebrate birthdays.”