WSIDIILMBOCIR Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Visiting

Qin Yuanging was delayed on the road, arriving home at 5:40 PM.

However, Li Chongge, who was supposed to arrive at 6:00 PM, was already sitting grandly in the living room, drinking tea with Qin Haoting and his wife.

Throughout this time, no one had called to urge him.

So Qin Yuanging didn’t know how long Li Chongge had been there.

“Xiaoyuan, come and sit down for tea. I need to oversee things in the kitchen.”

Yu Keci beckoned Qin Yuanging to sit down and went to the kitchen herself. At the same time, Qin Haoting received a work call and temporarily excused himself, leaving Qin Yuanging, who was completely bewildered, alone with Li Chongge, who was calmly drinking tea.

“When did you get here?”

“Five o’clock sharp.”

That meant Li Chongge had arrived right after Qin Haoting got home, and the two had been chatting for about forty minutes.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

Qin Yuanging felt it wasn’t appropriate for him, the host, to be absent when Li Chongge came to visit. But he truly didn’t know that Li Chongge had arrived an hour early.

“I decided to come early on my own. Wouldn’t calling you disrupt your plans? Jiang Muyuan probably wouldn’t be happy.”

Although he didn’t know why Jiang Muyuan was mentioned, Li Chongge’s considerate attitude made Qin Yuanging feel momentarily guilty.

“It’s my fault. I should have asked you beforehand.”

Actually, Qin Yuanging had intended to call Li Chongge midway to confirm the time, but Su Yaoyue and Jiang Muyuan were too keen on shopping. They hadn’t brought bodyguards with them, relying solely on Qin Yuanging and Qiao Gongyu, a total of four hands, which was proving to be quite tiring.

For a moment, Qin Yuanging felt like a long-term worker sold to a landlord’s family, or a donkey pulling goods.

Besides, Li Chongge had a strong sense of time; barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would strictly adhere to the scheduled arrangements.

So Qin Yuanging had only entertained the thought but didn’t act upon it.

“It’s okay. I enjoyed chatting with Uncle.”

Li Chongge was always so generous and considerate. Qin Yuanging earnestly reflected on himself and got up to fetch him some fruit.

When Qin Haoting returned, he saw his son diligently holding a plate of sliced fruit up to Li Chongge’s face, so he teased him, “Xiaoyuan, I’ve never seen you be so attentive to your dad.”

Qin Yuanging instantly felt guilty. Li Chongge reached out to take the heavy fruit plate from Qin Yuanging, his eyes filled with a smile.

Qin Haoting and Yu Keci were both gentle by nature. In raising Qin Yuanging, neither of them had the heart to play the strict disciplinarian, which led to Qin Yuanging developing a somewhat flamboyant personality from a young age.

The couple hadn’t considered strictly controlling him because of this. On the contrary, they were even somewhat happy to see it.

They only had Qin Yuanging as their son. Their only requirement for him from childhood was to be healthy and kind. As for whether he was outstanding or extraordinary, it would be the icing on the cake if he was, but they could accept it if he wasn’t.

But it was clear that Qin Yuanging had become much more composed after returning from Canada. Although Qin Haoting was pleased that his son had grown up, he still preferred his child to be more lively.

“Alright, the child is already so old, and you’re still making these childish jokes?”

Yu Keci, coming from the kitchen, glared at Qin Haoting reproachfully, brought a glass of freshly squeezed apple juice to Qin Yuanging, and went back to the kitchen to work on her nourishing soup.

Qin Haoting continued chatting with Li Chongge. They were discussing business disputes. Qin Yuanging listened for a while and sneaked back to his room.

He planned to change into some… nicer clothes.

When facing Li Chongge, he unconsciously wanted to present his best side.

Qin Yuanging had always been quite satisfied with his appearance, so he liked to dress himself up. His room was large, with a separate walk-in closet containing clothes and accessories that he had carefully picked out.

Although Qin Yuanging had been somewhat neglecting his grooming these past two years, fortunately, his taste hadn’t changed much, and the clothes he had bought before were still to his liking.

Just as Qin Yuanging had changed into a loose, casual gray sweatshirt set, there was a knock on the door.

He thought it was Aunt He telling him that dinner was ready, so he opened the door without much thought.

Li Chongge stood at the door with his hands in his pockets. Qin Yuanging didn’t even look up.

“Is dinner ready? I’ll be down in a minute.”

“It should still be a while.”

Upon hearing the voice, Qin Yuanging was shocked and quickly pulled the door open completely.

“Why did you come up here?”

“Not welcome?”

Qin Yuanging glanced back, making sure the room was tidy before letting Li Chongge in.

Li Chongge strolled in leisurely, carefully observing the layout of Qin Yuanging’s entire room.

The Qin family’s villa had been renovated a few years ago, and Qin Yuanging’s bedroom was laid out strictly according to his preferences, very much in his personal style.

“Where’s my dad? Why isn’t he chatting with you?”

“He’s downstairs. I came up to see why you’ve been in your room for so long.”

“Dinner’s almost ready. Why did you suddenly change your clothes?”

Li Chongge’s observation skills were very keen. He couldn’t help but notice that Qin Yuanging had changed his entire outfit from head to toe.

Qin Yuanging quickly came up with a suitable excuse for himself.

“I have to go out after dinner, so I changed beforehand to avoid wasting time later.”

Li Chongge didn’t say anything else, but his gaze was fixed straight ahead. After observing, Qin Yuanging realized that he wasn’t looking at him but at the painting on the wall.

“I didn’t expect you to still have it.”

The painting hanging in the most prominent place in Qin Yuanging’s room wasn’t a work by a famous artist but a simple sketch of the two of them, outlined in simple lines by a street artist they had encountered.

The artist’s skill wasn’t high, but Qin Yuanging liked it very much, carefully framed it, and hung it up high.

“I think that artist has a lot of artistic talent. Although he painted us rather abstractly, it’s quite unique, isn’t it?”

Li Chongge didn’t criticize Qin Yuanging’s taste, nor could he bring himself to agree against his conscience.

But undeniably, Li Chongge also had some nostalgia for the time period corresponding to this painting.

“Yeah, as long as you like it.”

Li Chongge continued to wander around, walked to Qin Yuanging’s walk-in closet, his eyes roaming before finally settling on the fishnet-like black sweater.

If it hadn’t been hanging up, Li Chongge wouldn’t even have been able to recognize its rudimentary form as clothing.

It clearly didn’t cover anything…

He sometimes couldn’t quite understand Qin Yuanging’s so-called fashion.

“This is a piece of clothing? Have you worn it out?”

Qin Yuanging followed closely behind him, as if they weren’t in Qin Yuanging’s bedroom but in a museum. Li Chongge was the visiting tourist, and he was the guide, responsible for answering every one of Li Chongge’s questions.

“No! This isn’t worn alone; you need an inner layer!”

“Isn’t this bag a little too small?”

Li Chongge pointed to a bag in the glass cabinet that was smaller than the palm of his hand and asked Qin Yuanging, “What’s it for?”

Qin Yuanging: “It can hold a car key…”

“And?”

“Nothing else. It can only hold a car key.”

Li Chongge: “…”

Compared to Qin Yuanging, he sometimes felt like an old-fashioned bumpkin who hadn’t seen the world.