Marriage First, True Love Later - Chapter 45

It was only today that Anran learned that Su Yicheng had the habit of getting up early to do morning exercises. This habit was entirely the result of his military upbringing since childhood. Since he had been born in a military family, ever since he had been a child, Su Yicheng had been doing morning exercises and training with his grandpa and father. Therefore, many years later, even after his father had stopped making the exercises mandatory, out of habit, he still continued to do them every morning.

Since it was a workday, after finishing breakfast, Su Yicheng drove Anran toward the city.

In the car, Anran kept thinking about how, during breakfast, everybody kept staring strangely at her and seemed as if they were on the verge of bursting out laughing.

Su Yicheng glanced at the side of the car and watched her contemplating. When he caught sight of the red kiss mark he had left on her delicate neck from the last night’s lovemaking, the corners of his lips curled up even more mirthfully.

She seemed to notice his gaze, and she turned around. When she caught sight of his mirthful expression, she asked, “What are you laughing at?” As she asked this, she touched her face but didn’t find anything on it.

Su Yicheng just laughed, then turned his head toward the front to focus on driving and merely said, “If you’re sleepy, sleep for a little while. I’ll wake you when I get there.”

Hearing this, Anran realized that she was indeed a little sleepy. They had been messing around all night yesterday, and therefore she hadn’t had much time to sleep last night. Then, she thought about how it was an hour-long journey, so she might as well sleep rather than deal with the awkwardness of staying awake with him alone.

With her thoughts on this, Anran leaned back and closed his eyes slowly.

The car slowly came to a stop at the gates of Anran’s company building, and, looking at the figure napping beside him, he felt inexplicably satisfied inside.

Glancing down at his watch, he saw that it was 8:50, and he knew that she would be late if he didn’t wake her up. Seeing her fast asleep, Su Yicheng suddenly felt a little guilty. Perhaps he had overdone it. Two nights in a row really was too exhausting for her. Yet he simply found her too irresistible and had difficulty resisting the temptation. He didn’t consider himself a gentleman in the sense that he was able to suppress all desires, but he had always believed that he was disciplined enough not to be so easily controlled by his urges. Yet, whenever he embraced her, the burning desire he felt inside was so urgent and overwhelming that he felt as if he had been transformed back into a young boy, driven by passion and impulse alone.

As he thought of this, Su Yicheng couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

His laughter awakened Anran from her sleep, and she opened her eyes drowsily. She looked out the window at the familiar building outside, then yawned and asked, “Are we there yet?”

Su Yicheng smiled as he nodded and couldn’t help but notice how adorable she seemed when she had just woken up.

Anran nodded, and, rubbing her slightly sore eyes, she said, “Then, I’ll be going.” Then, she reached out to open the door and get out of the car.

“Anran.”

Just as she held the doorknob and was ready to open the door to get out of the car, Su Yicheng called out suddenly. Anran turned around in confusion, only to see him lean over and mash his lips into hers. An intoxicating and passionate kiss followed, and it all happened so fast that Anran didn’t even have a chance to react.

She didn’t know how long had passed when Su Yicheng finally let go of her. By that time, she was a little out of breath, and he held on to her gently.

Anran panted slightly in his arms, but also enjoyed the comfort and security his arms provided.

“Anran.” Su Yicheng embraced her and held on to her with one hand while he rubbed her white neck with his other hand.

“Um,” Anran responded. Her neck was actually starting to itch because of his rubbing, and she couldn’t help but laugh a little. “I feel itchy.”

Su Yicheng also laughed, but he didn’t immediately let go of her and asked instead, “Is the scarf from yesterday still here?”

“Uh, in the bag.” Anran paused. She didn’t know why he was asking but told him anyway.

Su Yicheng let go of her, opened her bag, and took out the scarf from yesterday. Then, he folded it on her lap and leaned over to wrap the scarf around her porcelain neck. The scarf wasn’t tied very well, and, after staring at it for a while, he finally nodded and said, “Now you can’t see it.”

Anran froze and didn’t quite understand his words at first, but as realization dawned upon her, her eyes widened. “You, you, you mean that there are kiss marks on my neck?”

Su Yicheng stared at her mirthfully without speaking.

“Oh, why didn’t you say so earlier?” Anran blushed, and then realized why her mother-in-law had given her that ambiguous look in the morning. It was probably because she saw the kiss marks. As she thought of this, she couldn’t help but complain resentfully, “This is your fault. Now everyone has seen it.”

“It’s all right, they’re all family. They won’t laugh at you,” Su Yicheng smiled and said.

“They already have,” Anran murmured angrily, then took out a makeup mirror from her bag. She stretched out her hands and was about to untie the silk scarf to see how it looked.

Su Yicheng stopped her, raised the watch she was wearing, and said, “Don’t fret over it anymore. It’s already 8:58. Head up now or you’ll be late.”

“Ah!” Anran screamed. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Then, she grabbed her bag and dashed out of the car.

In the car, Su Yicheng stared at her back for a while as he shook his head in amusement. He seemed to have gotten more mischievous since he actually liked seeing her go crazy.

Just when Su Yicheng started the car to leave, the phone in his pocket started to ring at this time. It was a call from Ye Ziwen, who had flown to Europe for a vacation last week. Since he was calling, it seems like he had returned from his vacation.

“Hey.”

“Yicheng, I’m heading over to your place tonight for a couple of drinks,” Ye Ziwen said over the phone.

“No,” Su Yicheng refused curtly. Unlike the past, Yicheng would be at home at night.

“Er.” Ye Ziwen seemed to be caught off guard, and couldn’t react for a moment. Due to his status and position, it wasn’t convenient for him to show his face at nightclubs or bars, so it was common for them to share drinks at Su Yicheng’s house. “Why?”

“It’s inconvenient,” Su Yicheng said succinctly.

“Special circumstances?” Ye Ziwen seemed to detect something from his words.

“Yeah,” Su Yicheng confessed truthfully without denying.

“Really? Bring her out for you buddy to see,” Ye Ziwen said while laughing. After Bai Yan, he had never heard Su Yicheng mention anything regarding his relationships. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he had known him since they were both children, and they practically grew up together, he probably would have suspected that his sexual orientation had changed due to the trauma from that incident.

“Some other day. I have to ask her first,” Su Yicheng laughed.

“Ah, the more you act like this, the more curious I am about this woman.” It would be immoral to leave such a cliffhanger.

Su Yicheng simply laughed, then as if he suddenly thought of something, he said, “By the way, Zi Wen, help me do a reconstruction design for my property in Jingyuan—the sooner the better.” Their residence was too small, and, due to the nature of Anran’s job, he had to get her a studio.

“Ah-Cheng, has it really been only half a month since I went to Europe?” Ye Ziwen couldn’t help but wonder if he had left for too long, and he wondered how things could change so fast!

“Haha, okay, let’s talk about it another day; I have to rush to the municipal party committee now as there will be a meeting this morning.” Then, Su Yicheng hung up and started the car engine to leave.

“Knock, knock.”

The car window was suddenly being knocked on. Su Yicheng turned his head to see a middle-aged man standing outside.. If he remembered correctly, this man was the Creative Director of “Integrity Construction”, and Anran’s direct supervisor, Huang Dexing.