Chapter 171 - Goodbye, My Love (1)
But Li Chuntao still refused to accept him. Why now when she didn't want him anymore and when she was tired of being hurt by him? He should have just accepted her decision and moved on with his own life.
Soon, she heard Su Mei's laughter from where she was seated. It seemed that Shen Zichen had managed to patch up her broken doll, so now she was happily playing again with the other children at the orphanage.
In the past, she wasn't worthy of his love because of her twin sister, and now that Ying was gone, it was hard for her to believe that Shen Zichen loved her. Perhaps it was also her fault for not correcting his assumption that she was Ying at that time.
Why would he want her anyway when she herself wouldn't choose her?
Shen Zichen looked at her as she sat with the children under the shade of the tree, seeing her troubled expression. He wondered what she was thinking about?
A hint of sorrow crept in his heart. Was she sad? Did he make her sad again? Was his presence troubling her heart?
'Zirui, what should I do to make your Mom happy?'
Since he found out about their child, Shen Zichen had started to feel some sense of familiarity over the child he'd neither seen nor held in his arms. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. It had been days, but Li Chuntao was still ignoring him.
When it was time for them to go home, Li Chuntao bid goodbye to the children and promised them that she would visit again soon. Shen Zichen followed her lead and told them to be kind to each other, behave well and to listen to their elders.
When he saw that Li Chuntao was about to leave, he ran towards her and held her wrist forbidding her to leave him behind.
"Miss Li, I'm sorry for being presumptuous but can I invite you for dinner?" He asked in a gentle tone.
Li Chuntao opened her mouth to decline his invitation when she saw the curious gazes of the children, looking at them. These children were so oblivious and innocent. Weren't they forgetting that their Sister Ying was a married woman while Shen Zichen was a single man?
"Ohh… Brother Zichen is asking Sister Ying for a date!" One of them exclaimed.
Li Chuntao winced inwardly and looked away. She knew that in these children's eyes she was their Sister Ying, but hearing it left a bad taste in her mouth. It was always Ying, not her, Li Chuntao.
Will people ever look at her as the real her and not another Li Xiuying?
Seeing her annoyed expression, Shen Zichen leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
"Just to be clear, I'm asking Li Chuntao and not their Sister Ying," he told her.
Li Chuntao said nothing, her eyes avoiding the curious gazes of the children before she muttered "Let's go" to Shen Zichen. The children squealed and ran towards the main house after sending them off.
Shen Zichen allowed her to drag him away and looked at their twined hands. He let the ends of his lips curl up into a slight smile. After more than two weeks of being ignored by her, at least she willingly held him this time.
They met Su Ling and Yu Lou halfway, who were surprised to see their Miss Chuntao holding hands with Young Master Shen.
"I'll take Chuntao for dinner. Don't worry, I'll bring her home as soon as possible." Shen Zichen told them before opening the door on his car's passenger seat side and let Li Chuntao in. As they drove away, Li Chuntao's bodyguards remained standing there, speechless to what they'd just witnessed.
"You think they'll also patch up things soon?" Su Ling asked Yu Lou.
The woman shrugged and went to the car they brought with them.
"No idea but if it would stop both of them from sulking then maybe it'd be best if they do."
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Li Chuntao wasn't sure if she did the right thing by following Shen Zichen. Her mind was still preoccupied with the divorce she demanded from Mu Jianyu. The man… her sister's ex-husband had been pestering her through endless phone calls, trying to talk to her.
If she thought that Shen Zichen was a stalker then Mu Jianyu was in another level of creepiness. One time, when Shen Zichen wasn't around, Mu Jianyu came to her doorstep, drunk, and made a scene outside. She had been forced to ask for a restraining order and changed her number so the man would stop pestering her.
"We're here," Shen Zichen brought her back to the present.
She looked outside the window and saw that they arrived at the downtown part of the capital where Oriental Bliss was situated. She hadn't been here in a long time and she couldn't help reminiscing the old days with Ying and Shen Yuyan here.
Shen Zichen opened the door for her and she climbed out of the car. They went inside and weren't surprised to see that the restaurant was filled with patrons dining. This place was always busy and had been very popular with the locals as well as tourists.
Since Shen Zichen had already made a reservation, they went upstairs where more dining tables had been set.
Li Chuntao scanned the menu as soon as they sat across each other. From where she was seated, she could smell the delicious aroma coming from the main kitchen of the restaurant. From the scent alone, she couldn't wait to dig into the delicious dishes she hadn't eaten and tasted for years during her absence.
Seeing that she was struggling to choose the dishes herself, Shen Zichen called a waiter and listed down all the dishes Li Chuntao seemed to like when they were younger.
At that time, Li Chuntao would always let Ying order first and just eat whatever her sister picked for the two of them and never bothered to order to her liking. Because of it, Shen Zichen had noticed that she had a specific type of food that she liked and disliked.
Li Chuntao didn't eat much fried food and can tolerate mild spicy dishes. She also prefers to eat fresh greens and disliked pickled dishes.
When the dishes were served, Li Chuntao realized he'd ordered all of her favorites. When she heard him tell the waiter to pay attention to the spiciness of her chicken when he was ordering earlier, she furrowed her brows in confusion. Since when did Shen Zichen know what she liked?
"Eat. You only had a small portion for lunch earlier. You must be starving by now," Shen Zichen told her before passing her a pair of chopsticks.
She raised a brow at him. "You aren't going to eat?"
He'd brought her here but he wasn't going to eat with her? What was he up to?
"No, I'm not hungry." Shen Zichen said and cupped his chin with one hand and looked away, deep in his thoughts.
The two remained silent as Li Chuntao started to eat alone, occasionally sneaking glances at Shen Zichen's face who seemed to be distracted by something with the way his brows meet each other in a slight frown.. He was looking at the distance in a daze.
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