Chapter 48: Reaching Out
Luo Jing knew Huai Dan meant that he had been gone for a while, so he instinctively replied, “I wouldn’t get lost.”
Huai Dan, however, chuckled: “Really?”
Luo Jing: “?”
Had there been any kidnapping cases in this restaurant before?
Seeing his confused expression, Huai Dan stopped teasing him: “Nothing. Are you done talking?”
“Mr. Huai,” Xie You nodded slightly in greeting.
Then he blinked slightly, looked at Luo Jing, and said seriously, as if having made up his mind, “You must come.”
Luo Jing froze for a moment, then readily agreed.
“I’ll go back now.” Having received his reply, Xie You said goodbye and left.
“What are you looking at?” Luo Jing was staring at Xie You’s retreating figure, lost in thought, when Huai Dan’s voice suddenly startled him.
“Nothing,” Luo Jing explained. “I just think he’s acting a bit strange.”
Huai Dan was silent for a moment, then chuckled softly: “He is strange.”
Luo Jing, holding the concert ticket, followed Huai Dan back to their private room.
Luo Feng and Ye Lin had almost finished eating and were sitting there digesting their food. Seeing them return, Luo Feng looked up from her phone: “You were gone for so long, I thought you two eloped.”
Luo Jing: “…”
Ye Lin: “…”
Huai Dan stood aside, silent.
“Is that how you use that word?” Luo Jing couldn’t help but retort.
He had had enough of his sister tonight.
Luo Feng looked innocent: “You know what I mean, I didn’t mean anything else.”
“…”
Luo Jing experienced for the first time what it meant for words to be unintentionally suggestive.
Noticing something in his hand, Luo Feng raised her chin slightly and asked casually, “What’s that?”
“A concert ticket.” Luo Jing glanced at his hand, then held up the ticket. “I just ran into Xie You outside. They’re also having dinner here.”
“Oh, what a coincidence,” Luo Feng commented.
Luo Jing nodded absentmindedly.
Because, for some reason, Huai Dan’s hand was suddenly on his shoulder.
He discreetly glanced at the person standing beside him and saw Huai Dan looking down, seemingly lost in thought.
Warmth seeped through his clothes and onto his shoulder. He was only lightly touching him, but Luo Jing felt his shoulder burning.
Ye Lin skillfully stepped in: “Alright, are we done eating? Then let’s go… Where’s the waiter? I’ll go pay the bill.”
“I’ve already paid,” Huai Dan removed his hand from Luo Jing’s shoulder, walked to his seat, and picked up their jackets from the back of the chairs. “Let’s go.”
“Mr. Huai is so generous,” Ye Lin flattered him skillfully.
“Thank you for the meal, Mr. Huai,” Luo Feng also teased.
Then they both looked at Luo Jing.
Luo Jing: “…”
Was he supposed to follow suit?
“Huai…” Luo Jing started, but couldn’t say it smoothly, so he ended up saying, “Thank you, brother.”
The dinner lasted for over an hour. The temperature had dropped a bit at night. Standing at the entrance of the restaurant, Huai Dan handed Luo Jing his jacket: “Put this on.”
Luo Jing obediently took it, and the three of them stood outside, waiting for Luo Feng.
Luo Feng was always generous to her employees, especially these who had earned a lot of money for the company in recent years, so she went to pay the bill for Xie You’s group.
Luo Jing consciously stood by his sister’s car, waiting.
When Luo Feng came out and saw Luo Jing, she looked genuinely confused: “What are you doing standing here?”
Luo Jing: “?”
“Should I walk home?” he asked, looking at Luo Feng incredulously.
“You go with him,” Luo Feng pointed to the side.
Luo Jing followed her gaze and saw Huai Dan’s car parked there.
And Huai Dan himself standing beside it.
Luo Jing: “…?”
“Aren’t you going to intern at his company?” Luo Feng said matter-of-factly. “With the distance between our house and his company, you’d have to spend two hours commuting every day. Our family doesn’t have that many drivers to spare… Didn’t I tell you?”
Luo Jing: “…”
“No,” he said with a straight face.
“Oh, then I must have forgotten,” Luo Feng said confidently.
“Get in the car,” Huai Dan said to Luo Jing, a hint of amusement in his eyes, having watched enough.
Luo Feng nodded at him naturally: “I’ll leave my brother to you. I was just worried about him being unsupervised at the company.”
Huai Dan nodded at her: “Don’t worry.”
Ye Lin, standing beside them, looked conflicted for some reason.
Luo Jing’s mind was still short-circuiting.
What was going on?
Why did it go from asking if he wanted to intern at his company in the afternoon to going to his house to stay in the evening?
And it sounded like he would be staying for quite a while.
?
Amidst the overwhelming information, Luo Jing instinctively picked out the most important question: “Wait, what about my luggage?”
“I had someone send it over,” Luo Feng said. “You’re so lazy, you haven’t even touched your suitcase since you came back.”
“…” Being exposed by his sister in front of the person he liked wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Luo Jing’s ears turned red, and he instinctively retorted, “Because they’re all clean. I’ll take them out when I need them…”
“Anyway, it’s convenient. You can just grab it and go.” Luo Feng didn’t want to continue discussing this with Luo Jing and glanced at her phone. “Alright, it’s getting late, let’s go home.”
Ye Lin hadn’t driven, and his house happened to be on the way to Luo Feng’s, so she had to give him a ride.
Ye Lin skillfully opened the passenger door, got in, then rolled down the window and said goodbye.
“Mr. Huai, take good care of our little brother,” he said.
Luo Jing stood there, dumbfounded, still unable to react even after watching his sister’s car disappear from sight.
Huai Dan looked down at him for a moment, then ruffled his hair: “Back to earth.”
Luo Jing blinked. Since his mind hadn’t caught up yet, his words came out before he could think: “Brother, you’re like petting a dog every time you do that.”
Huai Dan: “…”
“Then do you want to pet me too?”
Luo Jing: “?”
He looked up at Huai Dan’s hair.
“What are you thinking?” Huai Dan chuckled and opened the back door of the car.
Luo Jing instinctively looked over and saw Plastic Bag lying inside.
Seeing its owner after a long time, Plastic Bag immediately perked up, stood up from the pink and white floral cushion it was leaning on, barked at Luo Jing a few times, wagged its tail excitedly, and was about to jump out.
Luo Jing: “!”
He instinctively went to the car and caught Plastic Bag to prevent it from jumping down, then reunited with it.
“Bang.”
A soft thud.
His vision suddenly darkened, and the cool air outside was blocked. Luo Jing, holding the dog, looked over and saw Huai Dan had closed the back door.
Luo Jing: “…”
For some reason, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
He looked down at Plastic Bag, which had just been bathed last night and still smelled good.
Plastic Bag also looked at him, its black bean-like eyes filled with innocence, then wagged its tail and nuzzled in his arms.
It was the same car from a few years ago. Although a long time had passed, perhaps because it hadn’t been driven much, or perhaps because it had been well-maintained, it still looked very new.
The stereo was connected to Luo Jing’s phone via Bluetooth. Huai Dan was driving, and Luo Jing sat in the back, holding the dog, finally feeling the excitement and reality of going to his crush’s house to stay.
The time he would be spending with Huai Dan was even double what he had imagined, practically 24/7. Luo Jing, petting the dog, felt his life was complete.
If he couldn’t win Huai Dan over like this, it would be his own fault.
Thinking this, he glanced at Huai Dan again.
The car was driving on the road, and the lights from the streetlights and traffic lights shone through the window, illuminating Huai Dan’s side profile.
Perhaps it was the night, or perhaps the soft light had softened his features, but Luo Jing felt that he looked a bit gentle at this moment.
So gentle that he seemed within reach.
Luo Jing paused, then looked away, lowering his eyes and petting Plastic Bag’s head.
With a little effort, maybe…
He thought.
He had never liked anyone this much before.
And after all these years, his feelings hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
If he couldn’t be with him, he would truly regret it.
This was Luo Jing’s second time at Huai Dan’s house.
Although the reason and process of his visit were a bit confusing, he couldn’t help but feel nervous as he stood in front of the door again.
The door opened, and Luo Jing walked in, holding the dog, feeling slightly apprehensive, but he found that the furnishings hadn’t changed at all, almost exactly the same as the first time he came.
So he voiced his observation.
Huai Dan chuckled: “What did you expect it to look like?”
Luo Jing was stunned by his question, not knowing how to answer.
Did it matter what he wanted it to look like?
It wasn’t… his house.
It was probably just a casual question.
Unlike Luo Jing, this was Plastic Bag’s first time here. As a naturally friendly puppy, as soon as its owner put it down, it started running around the living room, familiarizing itself with the environment. Its white fur strangely matched the interior design.
Huai Dan closed the door, and Luo Jing stood at the entrance, wearing slippers, feeling like his mind hadn’t been working properly all day.
Ever since he saw Huai Dan at the company.
“Come in,” Huai Dan said, lightly patting his shoulder, seeing him still standing there in a daze. “You can think about it slowly.”
Luo Jing: “?”
Think about what?
“If you want, you can change it to however you like,” Huai Dan said. “You’ll be living here for a long time, won’t you?”
Luo Jing froze.
Huai Dan looked at him and couldn’t help but chuckle. He reached out and lightly touched his ear: “Why are your ears so red?”
“I’m wearing a jacket, it’s… it’s too hot,” Luo Jing quickly dodged his touch and stammered, “I’ll go unpack my luggage first.”
Then he dragged his huge suitcase towards the guest room he had stayed in before.
After entering the room and closing the door, Luo Jing sat on the bed, his heart pounding.
He grabbed the pillow on the bed and buried his face in it.
He felt his ability to overinterpret things was getting stronger and stronger.
Although he knew Huai Dan probably didn’t mean it that way.
But… he already liked it very much.
