Marriage First, True Love Later

The person that Xiao Xiao had been chatting animatedly with was none other than Mo Fei.

Mo Fei’s lips curled up in a half-smile as he watched the color drain out of Anran’s face. This time, he wouldn’t let go of her. Even if he had to force her, he would keep her by his side, no matter what.

Practically everyone in the room could sense the tension between Anran and Mo Fei. Xiao Xiao smirked, then pretended to be surprised as she asked, “Anran, do you and Mo Fei know each other?”

Anran came back to her senses and glanced at Xiao Xiao without speaking.

Tong Wenhai looked at Anran, then at Mo Fei and asked, “Mo Fei, do you two know each other?”

Mo Fei broke his stare, and turned his head to smile at his father-in-law, then said, “Dad, Anran and I were classmates. We haven’t seen each other for years, and I didn’t expect to meet her here.”

“Oh, I see.” Tong Wenhai nodded with understanding.

Huang Dexing, who had been standing by watching, raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled knowingly without uttering a word.

Mo Fei turned around, extended his hand to Anran, and said with a smile, “Anran, long time no see.”

Anran took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She plastered a fake smile on her face and reached out to shake his hand, then said a little awkwardly, “It’s been a long time.”

Mo Fei held her hand, and his fingers rubbed the back of her hand without the others noticing.

Anran instantly yanked her hands away in alarm and glared at him with wide eyes. The man in front of her felt like a stranger to her, and there was no sign of the man that she had once known six years ago.

Tong Wenhai was slightly confused by Anran’s overly violent reaction and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Mo Fei retracted his hand, then stared at Anran with a faint smile and simply said, “I’m not sure. Perhaps Anran didn’t want to shake my hand.”

Tong Wenhai looked at Anran inquisitively, as if trying to gauge the truthfulness of Mo Fei’s words.

“How could that be, right Anran? Mo Fei is so handsome. If it was me, I would be dying to shake hands with him.” Xiao Xiao said mockingly.

Seeing the situation, Anran smiled awkwardly and defended herself. “No, no, that’s not how it is at all. Mr. Mo accidentally shocked me.”

“Haha, it seems that Mo Fei’s good looks have electrified you, but unfortunately for Xiao Xiao and Anran, he is no longer available. Mr. Mo already has a wife, who is Chief Tong’s daughter, and they are very much in love. A few years ago, Miss Tong went to the United States to further her studies, and Mr. Mo stayed by her side the entire time. They have just returned recently,” Huang Dexing said jokingly.

What they didn’t notice was that Mo Fei’s expression had changed noticeably compared to a moment ago; although he was still smiling, his smile had stiffened a little. His change in expression didn’t escape the perceptive eyes of Anran, who had been with him for four years.

Anran avoided eye contact with him and said, “Let’s sit down, talk, and discuss matters while eating. I’ll go ask the waiter to serve us.”

“Yes, yes, let’s all sit down. Why are we still standing?” Huang Dexing echoed.

Upon hearing this, everyone sat down, one by one, while Anran left the room to find the waiter. Everyone took a deep breath to ease the tension in the room.

After regaining her composure outside the room, Anran entered with a smile on her face and tried not to make eye contact with Mo Fei.

After three rounds of drinks, they finally went into the topic of discussion. Huang Dexing asked Tong Wenhai with a sly smile, “I heard that the city was planning the construction of a tech city. I don’t know if this news is true or not.”

Tong Wenhai glanced at Mo Fei, then turned to look at Huang Dexing and simply said, “Before the final documents are drawn, we can’t say anything for sure. Nothing has been determined yet, so it’s hard to say anything with certainty.” Then, he used the chopsticks to pluck some bamboo shoots to put in his mouth and started slowly chewing.

“Oh well. As long as there is already a proposal, then it’s probably nearing fruition, and when that time comes, we implore Chief Tong’s to look after us.” Huang Dexing smiled and poured a glass of Maotai to toast Tong Wenhai with.

Tong Wenhai blocked the glass that was raised to him and excused himself, “My blood pressure and blood lipids are a little high lately, and the doctor specifically advised me to avoid alcohol as much as possible.”

Huang Dexing froze and seemed to be caught off guard. The glass of wine in the hand was already raised, so he didn’t quite know what to do. He looked to Mo Fei for guidance.

Mo Fei glanced at him, then raised his own glass and said with a smile, “My father-in-law really can’t drink at the moment. If Director Huang doesn’t mind, I’ll drink this glass on behalf of my father-in-law.” By saying this, he was basically giving Huang Dexing an out.

Naturally, Huang Dexing was shrewd enough to realize this. After all, he had been doing this for 20–30 years, so he was already well acquainted with its unspoken rules. He toasted Mo Fei with his wine of glass, then said, “Well obliged, well obliged.”

Anran sat in her seat absentmindedly, and all she wanted was for this to end so she could leave as soon as possible. She didn’t know what Mo Fei planned on doing, but she made a mental note to herself to avoid such events in the future.

Just as Anran was contemplating how she could be excused earlier, someone suddenly placed a piece of fish on her plate. She looked up to see Tong Wenhai smiling at her and saying, “The salmon here is really good. Try it.”

Tong Wenhai’s action startled everyone. They stared at him blankly and were unable to react for the moment.

Xiao Xiao looked a little bit puzzled, while Huang Dexing raised his eyebrow and smiled meaningfully. Mo Fei frowned a little at his father-in-law’s unexpected move, and his hand holding the glass of wine unconsciously tightened.

“Why don’t you try it for yourself?” Seeing her remain motionless, Tong Wenhai smiled and said to her again.

“Uh, thank you, Chief Tong.” Anran was overwhelmed by the unexpectedness of it and nodded a little as she put the fish in her mouth.

Tong Wenhai nodded, then turned around and resumed chatting with the rest of them, as if the scene from moments before hadn’t happened at all.

Mo Fei watched as Anran munched on the vegetables with tiny bites, and his eyebrows drew closer.

After they finished their meal, they chatted for a little while longer, then they finally stood up to get ready to leave.

As they headed out, Tong Wenhai deliberately slowed his footsteps so he could walk side by side with Anran, and he said, “I am truly sorry about what happened last time. I asked them to change rooms because I thought there was no one in that suite. I was unaware that you had already booked it.”

Anran shook her head with a smile and told him that it was all right.

As Tongwen Hai looked at her side profile, he couldn’t help but notice how similar her face was to that woman in his memory. That woman had been in his heart for nearly thirty years, yet he never expected to meet her again. He finally couldn’t suppress the urge to ask what has been on his mind all this time. “How is y-your mother doing? Is she still in good health?”

Anran froze, then turned to him and asked, “You know my mother?”

Tong Wenhai smiled and nodded. “Haha, I haven’t seen her for years.”

Anran nodded and simply said, “My mother is doing fine. She’s in great health, and all is well.”

“That’s good to hear, that’s good.” Tong Wenhai nodded. He was relieved to find out that she was doing well.

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