SM Chapter 29

Chapter 29: I Had No Intention of Going on a Blind Date

Chapter 29: I Had No Intention of Going on a Blind Date

There was wind at night, making soft sounds as it brushed against the glass windows. The person inside the room was not disturbed in the slightest. Ye Lai nestled in Sheng Mingqian’s arms, sleeping soundly.

In the morning, Yuan Ling and Sheng Dehui didn’t wake them, wanting them to sleep in and rest.

Ye Lai was awakened by a notification sound on his phone. It was a few voice messages from the director of the orphanage. Lying in the warm quilt, Ye Lai directly tapped on the voice message box. The director’s voice came through the speaker: “Ye Lai, have you arrived in Finland? Be sure to be safe outside, take care of your health… don’t catch a cold.”

Ye Lai turned over, rubbed his eyes, coughed lightly a few times, and pinched the front of his neck with his fingers.

Sheng Mingqian had been too rough last night, but it was also his own fault. His throat was hoarse from crying, now it was dry and painful, and even swallowing was difficult. He originally wanted to reply with a voice message, but in the end, he propped himself up and typed.

After replying, he tapped to open the second voice message. He put the phone directly on the bedside table, still unable to fully open his eyes. He wanted to doze off for a while, but before he could settle down, he suddenly sat up upon clearly hearing the director’s voice.

Ye Lai wanted to pick up the phone and turn off the voice message, but in his haste, he didn’t grab it firmly, and the phone fell directly off the table. The director’s voice continued.

“Have you contacted the person on that business card I gave you last time? I originally wanted to arrange a blind date dinner for you, but you always said you were busy with work and didn’t have time. Then, add them as a friend first, get to know their personality and temperament. Anyway, you’re in the same city, so it’ll be easy to meet later if you feel like you’re getting along…”

The director finally finished speaking. Ye Lai endured the tingling scalp and turned to look at Sheng Mingqian.

Sheng Mingqian hadn’t woken up when he was replying to the director’s message. When Ye Lai turned his head, the sight of Sheng Mingqian sound asleep that he had expected was nowhere to be found. Instead, he fell directly into Sheng Mingqian’s deep eyes. There were a few red blood vessels in Sheng Mingqian’s eyes, and the two gazes fixed on him at this moment were quite pressuring, making Ye Lai’s body tense up.

“Sheng Mingqian…” Ye Lai said in a hoarse voice, “You’re awake.”

He wanted to find an excuse to explain, but suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Sheng Mingqian closed his eyes again, as if he hadn’t heard him, and turned his back to him.

Ye Lai reached out a few times, wanting to pat his shoulder, but his fingers retreated before touching him. He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, and explained again in a hoarse voice.

“The director said I’m not young anymore and has always wanted to introduce me to someone. Last time I went back, the director gave me a business card, and I couldn’t refuse, so I took it.”

Sheng Mingqian hadn’t said anything all along, but suddenly turned his head upon hearing this, his cold gaze sweeping over, but it was very weighty, making Ye Lai instantly stop breathing, a breath held in his chest.

“The business card?” Sheng Mingqian opened his mouth, his voice like it had just been soaked in ice.

Caught off guard by his sudden question, Ye Lai didn’t react: “What business card?”

“Where did you put the business card the director gave you?” Sheng Mingqian’s eyes turned a few degrees colder.

“I had it in my pocket before, but then I forgot where I put it.”

Ye Lai frowned and thought, it seemed like he hadn’t seen the business card since that night, guessing that it might have fallen out when he took Xin Xin to find those five children: “I didn’t add that person’s friend request, and I didn’t plan to go on a blind date.”

After he finished speaking, he added as if afraid that Sheng Mingqian wouldn’t believe him: “And we’re still within the agreement period, I still remember the agreement, I won’t go on a blind date with someone during the agreement period…”

Sheng Mingqian looked at him for a few seconds, then turned his head away again.

Ye Lai gripped the quilt with his fingers, waited for a while, propped himself up and got out of bed, walked to the window and pulled open the curtains. The sky outside was already bright, with a few white clouds floating in the sky.

Looking at last night’s “bridal chamber” in the daylight, it was a little different. The flowers on the tea table didn’t seem as fresh anymore.

The light and shadows on the glass window hung on the ground, and a few irregular patches of light also fell on Ye Lai, a patch of light bent. Ye Lai reached out and grabbed a handful of it, but in the end, he didn’t grab anything, and the light spot fell on the back of his hand again.

The floor wasn’t cold, but Ye Lai still felt cold enough to get goosebumps all over his body. He rubbed his arms with both hands, stopped looking out the window, turned and walked back to the bed, lifted the red quilt and burrowed in, hugging Sheng Mingqian from behind, his cheek pressed against his wide back.

Sheng Mingqian’s breathing was even, as if he had fallen asleep again.

A wave of exhaustion suddenly crept into his heart, and Ye Lai exhaled silently. Everything was too dreamlike. This room that he thought was a “bridal chamber” last night was just a psychedelic pleasure ground.

When the day dawned, the dream was over.

–

–

Sheng Mingqian didn’t ask anything else, and Ye Lai spent the whole day in a daze.

Yuan Ling thought that Ye Lai hadn’t gotten over the jet lag, and after eating, she told him to go upstairs to rest and to tell them if he needed anything.

Ye Lai shook his head and said he wasn’t tired, and kept following behind Sheng Mingqian. When Sheng Mingqian went to the kitchen, he followed him in small steps to help. When Sheng Mingqian went to the bathroom, he waited for him at the door. When Sheng Mingqian watched TV, he sat quietly on the sofa beside him. When Sheng Mingqian went to the yard to play with Duo Duo and Coffee, he found two sausages, unwrapped them, handed one to Sheng Mingqian, and took one himself. The two of them squatted side by side on the ground, feeding the cats and dogs.

From a distance, it looked like a picture of harmony.

In the end, Yuan Ling figured out that the two of them had a tiff. She found an opportunity to secretly ask Sheng Mingqian.

“Did you and Xiao Lai quarrel?”

After Yuan Ling asked, she turned her head to glance at Ye Lai, who was drooping his head and sitting on the sofa watching TV in the living room.

The TV program was in Finnish, and from Ye Lai’s expression, it was obvious that he didn’t understand, he was just staring at the TV in a daze.

She nudged Sheng Mingqian’s arm with her elbow, and said in a low voice, “Let me tell you, Sheng Mingqian, I admit that the movies you make are good, but you also have to learn to live life.”

“Mom, we didn’t quarrel.” Sheng Mingqian washed a few cherry tomatoes, preparing to make a salad, his movements were very skillful.

“If you didn’t quarrel, why are you pulling a long face? Xiao Lai has been following you around all day.”

Sheng Mingqian paused with the hand washing the tomatoes: “Is that so?”

Yuan Ling pinched Sheng Mingqian’s face: “Don’t pull a long face, smile.”

Sheng Mingqian forced a smile and continued washing the vegetables.

Yuan Ling thought of something, and her expression became serious: “Your father and I, we used to ignore you too much, we missed many important growth moments in your life. When we finally had time, we found that you had grown so big. Your father and I often have a sense of Trance, we always feel that you were that little child yesterday, how did you suddenly grow so tall, you’re already married, and you didn’t tell us when you got married…”

Yuan Ling and Sheng Dehui used to be foreign correspondents. Sheng Mingqian lived and received his education in China. When he was a child, his grandmother took care of him alone. The couple couldn’t return home often, only a few times a year. It wasn’t until his grandmother passed away that Sheng Mingqian lived with them when he was sixteen years old.

Sheng Mingqian looked at Yuan Ling’s red eyes. Before bringing Ye Lai back, Yuan Ling asked him on the phone who he was bringing back. Sheng Mingqian didn’t hide it and directly confessed to them that it was his marriage partner. He didn’t think so much at the time, but he didn’t expect Yuan Ling to misunderstand.

He put his arm around Yuan Ling’s shoulder and coaxed her: “Mom, Ye Lai and I didn’t quarrel. There was a reason why I didn’t tell you. It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you.”

Yuan Ling didn’t ask anything else. After adjusting her emotions, she patted Sheng Mingqian’s arm: “It’s good that you didn’t quarrel.”

Yuan Ling knew that she couldn’t get anything out of Sheng Mingqian, so she went to find Ye Lai in the living room, found an excuse, and said she wanted Ye Lai to accompany her for a walk.

Yuan Ling and Sheng Dehui liked quiet, so they didn’t live in the city center. The surrounding neighbors were not close. The two of them walked along the small road in front of the house.

“If you keep going straight along this road, you can reach the beach. When you and Sheng Mingqian have rested tomorrow, you can go and have fun together. You can also go to the South Wharf. It’s lively there, with offshore fishing and diving. The scenery is very good, and this is the perfect season for you to come.”

Helsinki is built on a hilly peninsula, adjacent to the Baltic Sea, surrounded by small islands. Before coming to Sheng Mingqian, Ye Lai had already researched a lot of Finnish travel guides.

He had many places in his plan that he wanted to visit with Sheng Mingqian, but he hadn’t had time to mention them to Sheng Mingqian yet.

Ye Lai accompanied Yuan Ling all the way forward. Yuan Ling told him many things about Sheng Mingqian’s childhood, all of which were Sheng Mingqian that Ye Lai didn’t know.

Sheng Mingqian had been interviewed before, but he rarely talked about his life in the interviews, basically only answering questions related to movies. Ye Lai listened intently, forgetting the time.

The evening sunset dyed the sky orange-red, and the orange-red gradually darkened.

“When Sheng Mingqian was a child, he wanted to be a tennis player, but later he suffered a serious injury and couldn’t be an athlete.”

“Where was he injured?” As soon as Ye Lai heard this, he eagerly interrupted.

Yuan Ling answered with a smile: “It’s the ligament in his right shoulder.”

“Was it serious?”

“He had surgery at the time. It doesn’t affect his normal life, but he can’t play tennis anymore.”

“I didn’t even know he could play tennis before,” Ye Lai said softly.

“Later, he wanted to make movies. Sheng Mingqian grew up with his grandmother. His grandmother liked to watch movies very much, and she often took him to the movies when he was a child. Later, he wanted to be a Director, which was also influenced by his grandmother.”

“Sheng Mingqian, this child, has given a lot of his time to his movies, but he always neglects his own life, just like when we were young. Looking back now, we missed too many things at that time, and there are too many regrets… And most of the regrets are because of something that should have been done at a certain moment, but was postponed indefinitely…”

Ye Lai listened carefully. Yuan Ling was right. He wanted to admit it, but he felt powerless.

It was already dark. Sheng Dehui called Yuan Ling and asked her and Ye Lai to come home for dinner. He and Sheng Mingqian had already prepared the meal.

As soon as Ye Lai entered the door, he received a news push on his phone. He didn’t pay much attention to it at first, but the text on it caught his attention. Although the full names of the people inside weren’t written, it could be recognized from the pictures that the person inside was Li Tianfeng.

The news headline was: A certain entertainment company boss, Li, was arrested for suspected rape, intentional injury, kidnapping and other charges.

“Sheng Mingqian, the news says Li Tianfeng has been arrested…” Ye Lai handed his phone to Sheng Mingqian to look at.

Sheng Mingqian put down the plate in his hand, glanced lightly at his phone, and there was no change in his expression, as if he had already known about it.

“Li Tianfeng has been arrested, did you know about it long ago?”

“Yeah, I knew it a long time ago.”

A thought suddenly popped into Ye Lai’s mind. He tilted his head and tentatively asked Sheng Mingqian: “Then this matter, does it have anything to do with you?”

Sheng Mingqian snorted coldly: “Li Tianfeng brought it on himself, the wicked will be punished by heaven.”