The Third Year After The Breakup, He Knelt and Begged to Get Back Together - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

He Xian’s mind wandered through miscellaneous thoughts, all of them…

For some reason, Qi Mingfeng could never quite become familiar with Meng Ying. Perhaps it was because Meng Ying strictly adhered to his duties and was loyal to He Xian, never doing a single thing more than necessary.

After a few pleasantries, Qi Mingfeng went back into the shop to continue discussing the styles of the formal wear.

They had covered many items today, and it was already dusk by the time they finished. Qi Mingfeng wanted to treat Meng Ying to dinner, but the other party firmly refused.

He didn’t let Meng Ying drive him home; instead, he got off at a place where it was easy to catch a taxi, bought a jianbing guozi (savory crepe) from a roadside stall, and went to a corner to eat it slowly.

To make the act look convincing, Qi Mingfeng treated every single detail as if it were truly his and He Xian’s engagement ceremony, putting in twelve points of effort.

His mind was filled with He Xian while preparing for the engagement, leaving him both mentally and physically exhausted. Right now, he truly didn’t want to go back and face the real He Xian.

By the time the bustle of the street reached the alley, only a few scattered sounds remained, and even the light was dim.

But at least there was light.

Qi Mingfeng leaned against the wall alone, silently planning for the future.

He couldn’t do live streaming anymore; it would be too easy for He Xian to find him through the platform. It was probably best not to write demos either.

Although he had asked Ruan Zhiyan for three million, he wasn’t certain Ruan Zhiyan would actually give him the money. Fortunately, he had secured the house his teacher gave him; if he sold it, it could be exchanged for a large sum of money—though he would prefer not to sell it if possible.

To him, that house symbolized the most carefree time of his youth, when he only needed to work hard for the music he loved, peaceful and happy.

He could go to a less developed small city with Qi Huan and take up odd jobs where oversight wasn’t so strict. It would be difficult at first, but they would be free.

If they truly couldn’t hold on, the house would eventually have to be sold; dead objects, after all, couldn’t compare to a living person.

Qi Mingfeng loitered outside for half an hour. Estimating that if he lingered any longer, He Xian would start urging him, he finally returned to He Xian’s house with reluctance.

When he pushed open the door, He Xian was in the living room handling work on his laptop.

Hearing the movement, He Xian pushed the laptop forward, crossed his legs, and looked at him.

“Back so late.”

Qi Mingfeng leaned down to change his shoes: “I wanted to clear my head, so I walked on the street for a while.”

He Xian said dissatisfiedly: “What, you can’t clear your head at home?”

Qi Mingfeng started making things up: “I was afraid of disturbing you.”

He Xian: “What kind of way to clear your head would disturb me at home, but wouldn’t constitute a disturbance of public order on the street?”

“…” Qi Mingfeng couldn’t keep up the lie and switched to Plan B. “I’m sorry. I’ll definitely come back as soon as possible next time.”

Before He Xian could continue finding fault, Qi Mingfeng pulled the tablet out of his bag and handed it over: “These are a few styles of formal wear I discussed with the designer. See which one you like. I’m going to charge my phone first.”

He fled the scene, carrying his bag back to the workroom.

After closing the door, he took the property contract from the inner layer of the bag and hid it in the bottom drawer of the cabinet, then found several music scores to cover it. After confirming it looked normal, he returned to the living room.

“Make the color a bit brighter, his skin is fair… right… yeah, send it to my email when you’re done. Accessories? They’re all too ugly…”

He Xian was on the phone. Seeing him come out, he gestured for him to come over.

Qi Mingfeng obediently sat down next to He Xian. While talking on the phone, He Xian held one of his hands and kneaded it.

Lately, many of the things he had chosen had been rejected by He Xian—such as the colors of the clothes, the accessories, and the music to be played at the ceremony.

He Xian was quite talented in design; perhaps the styles he picked were indeed better than the ones Qi Mingfeng picked.

But He Xian had said it would be whatever Qi Mingfeng made of it, only to reject things easily without even asking for his opinion or bothering to communicate.

He knew He Xian was this kind of person—too opinionated and too autocratic.

In the past, he definitely would have had a row with He Xian. Now, surprisingly, he didn’t feel angry; at most, he just wanted to sigh over his recent efforts turning into bubbles.

As Qi Mingfeng listened, he lost interest, his mind wandering far away.

“Mingfeng?”

A sharp pain came from his hand. Qi Mingfeng’s thoughts, which had wandered to renting a house with a yard to grow vegetables, were forcefully pinched back by He Xian.

“What’s wrong?”

He Xian gently rubbed the spot he had just pinched: “What are you thinking about? I called you several times and you didn’t react.”

Qi Mingfeng: “Oh, in thinking about what dishes Auntie Sun will make tomorrow morning.”

“Look at how little ambition you have,” He Xian let go of his hand and took the tablet to look at the engagement ceremony progress report sent by Meng Ying. “Do you want to return to the Ruan family?”

Qi Mingfeng pulled himself together: “It’s not so much that I want to return to the Ruan family, but I just feel that since the He and Ruan families have a marriage contract, we should take this opportunity to fulfill it.”

He Xian: “The marriage contract isn’t for you to worry about. If you don’t want to go back, at worst I’ll just throw Ruan Zhiyan out to accompany He Hui.”

Qi Mingfeng looked down at his hand, which had been pinched red: “You said you’d let me do whatever I wanted. Is President He planning on going back on his word?”

“Calling me President He again, you little ingrate. Isn’t it just because I felt you didn’t like the Ruan family and didn’t need to wrong yourself for such a small matter?” He Xian let out a laugh. “Fine. If you want to go back, then go back. I’ll have Meng Ying go and give them a heads-up.”

It was actually He Xian who had helped find Qi Mingfeng’s biological family.

At the time, He Xian just wanted to get closer to Qi Mingfeng and move him so he could have his way. He hadn’t expected Qi Mingfeng to be the long-lost eldest son of the Ruan family—a testament to the fickleness of fate.

But Ruan Zhiyan had been spoiled into being too willful and couldn’t tolerate Qi Mingfeng.

Later, fearing a loss of face, the Ruan family reluctantly agreed to let Qi Mingfeng return, on the condition that his past as a vagrant be wiped clean—which included cutting ties with Qi Huan.

Qi Mingfeng, of course, didn’t agree, and the matter of returning home was dropped.

He Xian knew Qi Mingfeng had no good feelings toward the Ruan family, and he had never thought of fulfilling the marriage contract through Qi Mingfeng. Now that Qi Mingfeng brought it up, besides feeling it was unnecessary, a surge of emotion and pride rose in his heart.

So, Qi Mingfeng liked him this much.

The person was nestled obediently in his arms, and the familiar body temperature made him feel incredibly comforted.

He suddenly felt that an engagement was a very unnecessary formality. Since they were going to spend their lives together anyway, it would be better to just…

The thought that rose even gave He Xian himself a start, yet it felt perfectly natural.

Qi Mingfeng would have to make a comeback sooner or later. The engagement ceremony would be held grandly, and at that time, he could use the momentum to create a wave of hype for Qi Mingfeng to prepare for his comeback.

But there was no rush for the comeback; his health hadn’t been fully restored yet. Why weren’t the nutritional meals Auntie Sun made working? He’d find two more nutritionists tomorrow.

What about the proposal? Those vows were cliché and boring; he might as well come up with them himself.

What should he say…

He Xian’s mind wandered through miscellaneous thoughts, all of them about Qi Mingfeng.