GLIHBN Chapter 33
by VolareXu Chongming rushed back home, where Miao Tiancheng and his daughter, Miao Xinyi, were sitting in the living room.
Jiang Hui was putting on a good show. “Chongming went to help me deliver documents. He’s late. Lao Miao, Xinyi, please forgive him.”
Miao Tiancheng had a daughter late in life, and Miao Xinyi was his only precious pearl, valued more than his own eyes. Seeing Xu Chongming’s handsome appearance, he was slightly satisfied, “Chongming is truly filial.”
Xu Chongming replied respectfully, “Uncle Miao, you flatter me.”
Jiang Hui looked very kind. “Chongming, this child, his greatest advantage is that he’s obedient and respects his mother.” As she spoke, she deliberately glanced at Miao Xinyi, “I just don’t know if he’ll still care about his old mother after he gets a wife.”
Xu Chongming: “Mom!”
Jiang Hui seemed startled. “Oh dear, what’s wrong with that? Are you shy?”
Miao Tiancheng became even more satisfied with Xu Chongming, but Miao Xinyi’s gaze towards Xu Chongming was a little strange.
Miao Xinyi was beautiful, a very aggressive kind of beauty, especially her eyes, which seemed to see right through people. Xu Chongming felt a little guilty after being looked at by her for a while.
Someone who could receive such rave reviews from Jiang Hui, a picky and strong career woman, was definitely not a simple character. Although Xu Chongming was older than Miao Xinyi, he had never been exposed to the deceit and trickery of the business world. In front of Miao Xinyi, he had nowhere to hide.
Jiang Hui had acted first and reported later. Regardless of whether Xu Chongming agreed or not, she had invited the Miao family to her home, claiming it was just a visit, but in reality, it was a blind date arranged in collaboration with Miao Tiancheng.
Xu Chongming couldn’t resist, so he could only do as Jiang Hui had said on the phone, and entertain the Miao family properly.
After chatting for a while, Jiang Hui told Xu Chongming to take Miao Xinyi to see the newly built fountain in the backyard, so they wouldn’t have to sit there with the adults, clearly creating an opportunity for them to be alone.
Xu Chongming did as he was told. “Miss Miao, please.”
Jiang Hui didn’t like that. “What ‘Miss Miao’? That’s too formal. You used to call her ‘Xinyi sister’ when you were little.”
Xu Chongming chuckled drily and immediately changed his address. “Xinyi sister, please.”
Miao Xinyi wore a sharp, white business suit, which accentuated her curves. Her exposed skin was as fair as snow; she was a rare beauty. But unfortunately, Xu Chongming liked men. So, no matter how beautiful a woman was, he wouldn’t feel anything.
But Xu Chongming didn’t dare openly disobey Jiang Hui.
Miao Xinyi was very punctual. She had already been somewhat critical of Xu Chongming’s tardiness. She didn’t believe he had gone to deliver documents for Jiang Hui; Jiang Hui had plenty of secretaries to run errands.
There was only one possibility: Xu Chongming didn’t want to go on the blind date and was deliberately late, or he had forgotten it altogether.
But judging from the situation, Miao Xinyi was more inclined to believe the latter. She said directly, “Brother Chongming, you don’t like me, do you? You don’t want to go on this blind date.”
Xu Chongming didn’t expect Miao Xinyi to be so direct, so he had to admit, “Yes, I’m sorry.”
Miao Xinyi shrugged. “No need to apologize, because I don’t want to go on blind dates either. My dad forced me to come.”
Xu Chongming smiled wryly. “Yeah, I don’t know what they’re in such a hurry for.”
Miao Xinyi looked at him with that strange gaze again. “Brother Chongming, you have someone, don’t you?”
Xu Chongming’s heart skipped a beat. He thought, Miao Xinyi really is a little witch; she can see right through people.
Xu Chongming tried his best to maintain his expression. “I’m curious, why do you ask?”
Miao Xinyi put her hands behind her back and leaned in to sniff Xu Chongming. “Because you have someone else’s perfume on you.”
Xu Chongming breathed a sigh of relief. Su Shi hadn’t worn perfume today, so it was impossible for him to have picked up a scent. Miao Xinyi was bluffing him.
Xu Chongming chuckled lightly. “You’re still as mischievous as you were when you were a kid.”
Miao Xinyi straightened up and didn’t say another word.
The fountain in the Xu family’s backyard was beautiful. Xu Chongming was talkative, humorous, and respectful of women, and Miao Xinyi got along quite well with him.
Chi Ye used to often search Xu Chongming’s Moments for traces of Su Shi, so he developed the habit of checking Moments.
After class in the afternoon, Chi Ye returned to his apartment, lay on the bed, and saw that Xu Chongming had posted Moments a few hours earlier. There were two movie tickets. He didn’t need to guess to know that he had gone to see a movie with Su Shi.
There was a surge of emotion in Chi Ye’s eyes as his gaze lingered on the image until his phone was about to go dark. Chi Ye tapped the screen, accidentally leaving a like.
Chi Ye threw his phone aside and sighed at the ceiling.
Xu Chongming had everything: healthy parents and such a wonderful Su Shi.
Chi Ye had never envied or been jealous of anyone before, but now, he suddenly felt a little jealous of Xu Chongming.
After a while, Chi Ye opened his phone again and saw a small red dot indicating a notification in Moments. He tapped it and saw that someone had commented on Xu Chongming’s post: “Did you go with him?”
Chi Ye looked at the person’s nickname and profile picture. He didn’t recognize them at all. He didn’t know when they had become friends.
Chi Ye didn’t remember knowing anyone with this name. He tapped on the source and saw that they had been added through a business card. But perhaps this person had changed their profile picture and nickname; he had no impression of them at all.
“Did you go with him?” This comment was somewhat ambiguous. Chi Ye became suspicious and tapped on the other person’s Moments.
He realized that he was restricted from viewing their Moments, but on the background image, Chi Ye found their Instagram username.
Out of curiosity, Chi Ye downloaded Instagram on his computer, found the user with the nickname LI, and discovered that their location was the same as where Xu Chongming was studying abroad.
They usually shared posts about eating, drinking, and having fun, as well as some things that seemed like complaints on the surface but were actually displays of affection.
Some of the photos seemed familiar to Chi Ye; he felt like he had seen them somewhere before.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. Chi Ye’s finger trembled as he reopened Xu Chongming’s Moments. He scrolled down for a long time and finally found what he was looking for.
There were several photos that were strikingly similar to the ones posted by Li, just taken from different angles. But the food, the table, the plates, and even the lighting were all the same.
Li had even replied to a fan in the comments: “It’s a date with my boyfriend.”
An indescribable emotion welled up in Chi Ye’s heart, and his heart rate suddenly increased.
After spending an hour going through all of Li’s Instagram posts, Chi Ye hadn’t found the most direct evidence, but he had confirmed his suspicion.
This person was maintaining a close relationship with Xu Chongming, and it hadn’t been for a short time. The two of them were studying at the same school and went on dates from time to time.
Xu Chongming was having a long-distance relationship with Su Shi while flirting with someone else abroad.
How interesting. He wondered what Su Shi would do if he knew. Would he break up with Xu Chongming immediately?
Chi Ye’s hand hovered over Su Shi’s name in the call history, hesitating whether to dial.