His Sunday Substitute - Chapter 5

“What? For me? Huh… Why are you calling me a little hamster?” Su Yinuo’s face seemed to sprout question marks one after another, too embarrassed to take the small plate from Qin Cangye’s hand.

Qin Cangye simply placed the plate in front of Su Yinuo. Gazing into her beautiful eyes, now free of much of their earlier fear, he smiled and said, “Just like my hamster, timid but always hungry.”

The sight of Qin Cangye’s gentle smile was truly lethal. Su Yinuo blushed, quickly averting her gaze as she murmured, “It’s true… it really is delicious.”

She lowered her head and began eating the crab, silently adding in her heart: So good!

After the meal, Qin Cangye paid the bill without hesitation. Su Yinuo stole a glance at the receipt and nearly gasped, over two thousand! So expensive!

She felt a pang of guilt. Not only had she enjoyed a meal-worth-thousands for free, but she had also received a payment of 6,600 from Li Jinmiao. Oh, and let’s not forget the 5,000 yuan she’d earned thanks to Qin Cangye’s chivalrous intervention the other day!

“Miss Li, how about a walk by the river to help digest?”

After leaving the restaurant, Qin Cangye stopped under the warm glow of a streetlamp, showing no intention of leaving.

Su Yinuo tightened her thin blazer and looked up at Qin Cangye, who towered over her. In the dim light, his face was half-hidden in shadow, softening the sharp edges of his features. Yet, his deep eyes still shimmered with an intensity that made her heart flutter.

She immediately lowered her head again. She hesitated, she wanted to find a way to express her gratitude, but taking a late-night riverside stroll alone with him seemed highly inappropriate. After a few seconds of deliberation, she declined, “I’m sorry, Mr. Qin, but I still need to return to the office. Besides, the riverside must be freezing at night.”

“My apologies, that was thoughtless of me,” Qin Cangye said, stepping closer as he removed his coat and draped it gently over her shoulders.

Su Yinuo’s heart skipped a beat. Staring at the endless stream of cars ahead, she felt the light above her dim as warmth and shadow enveloped her.

A strange sensation welled up inside her. Still not daring to look up, she clutched the hem of the coat tightly to keep it from brushing against the dusty ground.

Between them, an odd silence settled, quiet, awkward, yet tinged with something unspoken.

It was Zhang Yifeng’s arrival that shattered the strange atmosphere. In truth, he had been observing them for a while. Knowing how sharp Qin Cangye’s instincts were, he hadn’t dared to get too close inside the restaurant. Only after they stepped outside did he witness the astonishing interaction between the two.

He never expected Qin Cangye to drape his coat over Su Yinuo! Never imagined Qin Cangye would gaze at her with such tenderness! In the past, forget lending a coat, just walking out of a restaurant together would have been unthinkable. A sense of foreboding crept over him, and he quickly hurried to his parked car, driving it right up to the pair.

He got out of the car, first giving Qin Cangye a polite slight bow and saying, “Good evening, Vice Chairman Qin.” Then he opened the rear door, looking at Su Yinuo, and said, “President Li, please get in.”

Su Yinuo gave a soft “Mm” and was about to enter the car when Qin Cangye suddenly grabbed her arm.

Just then, a black Rolls-Royce Cullinan pulled up and stopped behind Zhang Yifeng’s Mercedes. The driver stepped out, bowed to Qin Cangye, and opened the door.

“Miss Li, let me take you back to the company,” Qin Cangye’s tone brooked no argument.

Su Yinuo was startled by his sudden sternness, feeling the grip on her arm tighten painfully, making it impossible to break free.

“Vice Chairman Qin, this isn’t appropriate!” Zhang Yifeng tried to pull Su Yinuo away, but before he could even touch her, Qin Cangye yanked her into his embrace.

Qin Cangye’s icy glare bore into Zhang Yifeng’s face without hesitation, and he spat out a single word: “Scram!”

Zhang Yifeng froze in place, his raised hand trembling slightly. He took a deep breath, withdrew his hand, and slowly forced a professional smile onto his face. “Then I’ll trouble Vice Chairman Qin to ensure President Li arrives safely at the Near East Software Park. I’ll be waiting for both of you at the park’s main entrance.”

With that, he gave Su Yinuo a reassuring glance before turning and leaving.

Su Yinuo didn’t even notice Zhang Yifeng’s look, she was utterly terrified. During dinner with Qin Cangye, her initial fear of him had gradually faded away. But now, his chilling aura and terrifying dominance were on full display again, as if the gentle and courteous man at the dinner table had been nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion.

Su Yinuo didn’t even realize how she ended up in the car. It was only after several minutes, amidst Qin Cangye’s repeated apologies, that she finally calmed down.

“Miss Li, I’m sorry. I was too impulsive just now, I scared you…”

“N-no, it’s fine,” Su Yinuo murmured, keeping her head down as she cautiously shifted closer to the car door.

The car fell silent. Su Yinuo discreetly opened her phone’s map and only relaxed when she confirmed they were indeed heading toward the software park.

However, the car was moving incredibly slowly, so slow that even the electric scooters on the roadside were overtaking them.

“Miss Li, are you still angry with me?” Qin Cangye kept his distance, gazing at Su Yinuo, who was turned away from him, watching the night scenery outside the window.

“No, not at all,” Su Yinuo straightened up slightly and waved her hand. She wasn’t actually angry with Qin Cangye, just frightened of him. During those silent minutes, she had been thinking that perhaps this was just his personality. He wasn’t a bad person at heart, but when things didn’t go his way, he tended to lose his temper. If she thought about it that way, he almost seemed like a child who hadn’t grown up yet.

The car slowly passed through the bustling commercial district, the multicolored neon lights filtering through the gray-tinted windows and casting mottled patterns on Su Yinuo’s tightly clasped hands.

Su Yinuo cautiously tilted her head and met Qin Cangye’s deep eyes. To her surprise, she caught a faint trace of blue melancholy and unease in his gaze.

For some reason, her heart ached slightly, and she quickly said, “I’m really not angry, Mr. Qin.” She paused, then offered a shy but sincere smile. “Thank you, Mr. Qin.”

“Thank me?” Qin Cangye’s melancholy faded, replaced by surprise and bewilderment.

Su Yinuo nodded, looking at him as she said, “Thank you for treating me to such a delicious dinner tonight, thank you for driving me back to the company, and… that’s it.”

After speaking, she gave a sweet smile, silently adding in her heart: And thank you for your chivalry that day.

The lights outside the car window fluttered like colorful veils lifted by the wind, brushing against her clean, soft, and delicate face again and again. The curve of her lips seemed to warm the cold night outside.

Qin Cangye watched Su Yinuo quietly, his expression calm, but inside, his emotions were in turmoil. In his world, in the trajectory of his over twenty years of life, he had rarely encountered such a sincere and sweet smile. His childhood had been filled with screams and beatings, his growth marked by indifference and violence. Only in adulthood had the world quieted down, but what remained for him seemed to be nothing more than hollow, fake smiles.

Qin Cangye found himself helplessly lost in Su Yinuo’s warm smile, an impulse surging within him to pull her into his arms. His fingers tightened on the leather seat, veins bulging in the darkness.

He was holding back, because he wasn’t sure if this impulse was just a fleeting whim, if his fondness for this girl tonight was just a passing infatuation. He knew he needed to step out of this mindset, to find a place where he couldn’t see her, and think everything through calmly.

His grip on the seat loosened, and he smiled slightly. “Then I’ll treat you again next time.”

“Ah?” Su Yinuo hadn’t expected his response to deviate from the standard “You’re welcome.”

Qin Cangye stared at her, the curve of his lips gone, his tone even as he asked, “Aren’t we supposed to have dinner every week? What, is Miss Li not coming next Sunday?”

“She is, she is…” Su Yinuo lowered her head, her tone uncertain, because she wasn’t sure if Li Jinmiao would still let her come for dinner next Sunday. Maybe after she told her that Mr. Qin was actually quite nice, Li Jinmiao would drop the idea of having her as a substitute?

At this thought, a small pang of disappointment rose in Su Yinuo’s heart. Realizing it, she quickly straightened up and smacked her own head, scolding herself inwardly: Why are you upset? He’s someone else’s fiancé! Su Yinuo, what are you thinking?

Watching her strange yet adorable reaction, Qin Cangye burst into laughter.

Su Yinuo felt a little embarrassed…

Qin Cangye leaned against the left car door, propping his head up with one hand, studying Su Yinuo for a long moment before asking, “What kind of books does Miss Li like to read?”

“Ah?” The sudden change of topic left Su Yinuo stunned again.

Qin Cangye smiled lazily. “She didn’t answer me during dinner earlier.”

Su Yinuo felt like a student caught daydreaming in class and suddenly called on by the teacher. Nervously gripping her pants, she scrambled through her mind for the names of famous literary works, but aside from her country’s Four Great Classical Novels, she couldn’t recall any others.

In truth, Su Yinuo hadn’t even read the Four Great Classical Novels in their entirety.

Growing up in a modest household, the only books she had ever read extensively were textbooks and workbooks. In the year since returning home to run a street stall, most of her free time had been spent on grocery shopping and food preparation. Even when she had a spare moment, she would just scroll through trending topics and mindless short videos on her phone, never finding the time to settle down and savor a lengthy literary work.

She truly didn’t know how to answer Qin Cangye’s question. Just as she was floundering, he spoke first. With a casual smile, he asked, “Have you read Grimm’s Fairy Tales?”

Su Yinuo froze, slowly lifting her gaze to meet Qin Cangye’s. The embarrassment in her eyes already gave him the answer: No, she hadn’t…

Of course, she knew Grimm’s Fairy Tales were foreign children’s stories, and she’d heard of Andersen’s Fairy Tales too. But she had no idea which stories belonged to which collection!

Was Snow White from Grimm’s or Andersen’s?
Was The Ugly Duckling from Andersen’s or Grimm’s?

How mortifying! She wished she could vanish into the ground right then and there!

Ahhh!! You uncultured Su Yinuo!!!

Qin Cangye chuckled again, though not mockingly, it was more like the indulgent smile one would give a child. “Do you know the story of Cinderella?”

Finally, something she knew!

Su Yinuo nodded vigorously!

By then, the black Cullinan had pulled up to the entrance of the Near East Software Park. The driver stepped out and stood respectfully by the door on Su Yinuo’s side.

“One day, Cinderella’s father was going to the market. What did she ask him to bring back as a gift?” Qin Cangye seemed in no hurry to get out of the car, smiling as he posed the question to Su Yinuo.

She racked her brain, then suddenly her eyes lit up. “The first branch that brushed against her father’s hat!”

“Brilliant! Correct answer!” Qin Cangye applauded with a grin.

Her cheeks flushed crimson. Glancing out the window, she murmured, “We’re here, Mr. Qin.”

“I’d like to ask Miss Li for a gift, as thanks for treating you to a nice dinner. Would that be all right?” Qin Cangye raised a hand, signaling the driver to open the door, but then he caught Su Yinuo’s wrist, not letting her leave.

“Of course, but…” Su Yinuo tensed, swallowing the words “I can’t afford anything too expensive.” Instead, she stammered, “N-no, it’s fine. Of course.”

“Next Sunday, I’d like Miss Li to give me the first branch that brushes against your clothes when you step outside. How does that sound?” As he spoke, his hand slid down, covering her small one where it rested on the seat.

The warmth of his palm sent a jolt through Su Yinuo’s heart. She yanked her hand away and blurted, “Sure, no problem!” Then she turned and fled the car, vanishing from Qin Cangye’s sight in the blink of an eye.