Try Saying You Don't Like It - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

He Xinglan was still frozen in the motion of reaching for the popcorn in Meng Chixi’s hand.

“He Xinglan, what are you doing?!” Yin Qiuman’s good mood was instantly and thoroughly ruined by the sight of that clearly female hand in the video.

Her hand gripping the suitcase handle creaked.

“I… I’m not doing anything?” He Xinglan quickly stood up straight when she heard Yin Qiuman’s voice. The popcorn in Meng Chixi’s hand dropped directly to the ground.

He Xinglan didn’t stop to apologize to Meng Chixi; she quickly faced the phone toward herself.

“I really didn’t do anything! I was just… well, watching a movie at the cinema.” He Xinglan quickly shook the phone around, eager to prove to Yin Qiuman that she was genuinely at the cinema.

Damn it, why is it Yin Qiuman?

Didn’t she not answer my video calls?

He Xinglan was extremely annoyed, but what angered her even more was that she was truly just watching a movie, a very innocent movie. Why did she feel flustered when Yin Qiuman saw her, as if she had been caught doing something wrong behind her back?

Wait, even if I did, so what? I am single right now, single!

Does she even know what being single means?

She’s clearly being too controlling.

The more He Xinglan thought about it, the more she felt she shouldn’t be afraid. It should be Yin Qiuman who needed to reflect and find her place.

Yet, despite all the self-consolation in He Xinglan’s heart, it was all for naught when she met Yin Qiuman’s eyes.

She was afraid, afraid that Yin Qiuman would misunderstand.

“Yin Qiuman, I truly didn’t do anything.”

Yin Qiuman looked at He Xinglan through the camera and sneered: “If you didn’t do anything, why are you panicking?”

“He Xinglan, aren’t you going to introduce the person next to you?”

“You used an urgent company matter as an excuse to rush back and watch a movie with her.”

“Someone so important to you, I should at least get acquainted with her, right?!”

Yin Qiuman’s sarcastic tone… Hiss. He Xinglan wouldn’t dare to actually introduce Meng Chixi to her.

She wasn’t foolish enough to add fuel to the fire.

“By the way, where are you…” He Xinglan tried to change the subject, and then she noticed the scenery behind Yin Qiuman looked somewhat familiar, like it was… a high-speed rail station?!

He Xinglan’s eyes immediately lit up with excitement: “Yin Qiuman, where are you?”

“Are you at Qingcheng High-Speed Rail Station? Did you come to Qingcheng?”

“Stay right there, don’t move. I’ll come and pick you up.”

Yin Qiuman looked at He Xinglan indifferently and coldly refused: “No need. Don’t trouble yourself. I’m about to buy a ticket to go back.”

“Go back? Don’t! You just got here, why go back? Wait for me, I’ll be there right away, ten minutes, ten minutes at most.” He Xinglan finished speaking and took off running, completely forgetting that she really hadn’t come alone.

Meng Chixi watched He Xinglan’s retreating figure, visibly disappointed. She glanced at the popcorn that had fallen to the ground, paused for a moment, and then picked it up and threw it into the trash can.

She also discarded the two movie tickets she had just taken from He Xinglan’s hand to check the seat numbers.

Now, Meng Chixi had no interest in watching a movie by herself.

At the high-speed rail station, He Xinglan was so afraid Yin Qiuman would buy a return ticket that she hadn’t hung up the video call.

Mainly, she was also worried that if she hung up and called back, the situation from the morning would repeat itself.

So the video call lasted until He Xinglan arrived at the high-speed rail station and found Yin Qiuman at the exit.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” He Xinglan greeted her with a smile, reaching out to take the suitcase from Yin Qiuman’s hand, but Yin Qiuman directly pulled it away.

Yin Qiuman looked He Xinglan up and down with an indifferent gaze and said, “Not accompanying your meimei (little sister) anymore?”

He Xinglan gave an awkward laugh, rubbing her nose: “Where did this meimei come from? I told you I was watching a movie alone.”

Yin Qiuman curled her lips, the smile not reaching her eyes, “He Xinglan, do you know? You have a bad habit: when you lie, your eyelids tend to droop, and you always rub your nose.”

He Xinglan immediately put her hand down.

After a few seconds of eye contact with Yin Qiuman, she surrendered.

“Fine, I admit I wasn’t alone, but that person wasn’t the kind of meimei you’re talking about. She’s the bartender at the bar Lin Yue and I own. I was bored, and you weren’t answering my video calls, so I thought I’d go see a movie. She happened to be near the cinema, and we’re acquaintances, so I just asked her out for a bit.” He Xinglan lowered her head, obediently recounting the entire incident.

“Alright, don’t be angry anymore. Who told you not to answer my video calls?” He Xinglan saw that Yin Qiuman’s expression had improved slightly due to her explanation and began to pick on Yin Qiuman.

Yin Qiuman: “So, you’re saying I should leave?”

As she spoke, she started to push her suitcase away.

“Don’t!” He Xinglan quickly grabbed Yin Qiuman’s suitcase. Her face was full of fawning smiles: “Look, you’ve already come all this way. It wasn’t easy, and you spent so much money. Shouldn’t you at least see the sights and see me before you go?”

“Give me a chance to be a good host, okay?” He Xinglan blinked her puppy eyes at Yin Qiuman, looking eager to please.

Yin Qiuman finally let go of some of her anger at He Xinglan’s appearance and handed her suitcase over to He Xinglan.

He Xinglan immediately gripped it tightly and led Yin Qiuman outside, saying as they walked, “You came in such a rush, you must not have booked a room yet, right? Perfect. I don’t have anywhere to sleep either, so we should…”

“Book one room,” Yin Qiuman finished He Xinglan’s sentence.

He Xinglan: “???”

Is her intention to sleep with me that obvious now?

But then again, Yin Qiuman’s intentions have been quite obvious since we reunited, haven’t they?

He Xinglan thought this and filtered out Yin Qiuman’s statement. She continued talking on her own: “I’ll book you a room at the Bund Hotel? You can see the river view directly through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The view is absolutely stunning; you’ll definitely like it.”

“Book one room?” Yin Qiuman had no intention of letting He Xinglan off the hook and repeated herself.

He Xinglan: “…”

He Xinglan still wanted to bury her head in the sand. She opened her mouth, ready to change the subject again, but this time Yin Qiuman didn’t give her a chance. She grabbed He Xinglan’s chin, forcing her to look into her eyes, and Yin Qiuman said word by word: “Book one room, or I’m going back right now.”

He Xinglan… He Xinglan wanted to throw the suitcase back at Yin Qiuman and tell her with authority, Go ahead, if you leave, don’t come back.

But He Xinglan quickly backed down.

She compromised: “Fine, book one room.”

Worst case scenario, I’ll let her sleep in the bed and I’ll take the sofa, He Xinglan thought.

But what He Xinglan didn’t realize was that now that Yin Qiuman had successfully tricked He Xinglan into sleeping in the same room as her, would she still let her sleep on the sofa?

Besides, this time, Yin Qiuman had come prepared.