Chapter 97: What a Coincidence

The snack street was decked out in lanterns and bunting, bustling with people, extraordinarily lively.

Cheng Chen was now standing right beside Yan Danchen, and Yan Danchen's two eyes were fixed tightly on the stir-fry in the wok.

"This girl definitely has two stomachs — one for meals, one for snacks…"

Cheng Chen gave her a helpless glance, then idly looked around.

Suddenly!

His gaze froze for an instant, locking onto a certain spot — a familiar flash of blue had appeared there…

His heart seemed to skip a beat.

They… how did they end up wandering over here!

Cheng Chen recognized Gao Yuanyuan and Wang Tianxiao at a glance; the two were chatting and laughing as they walked in his direction.

The first thought that surfaced in his mind was — run!

But now they were only about ten meters from Cheng Chen, and still closing in.

He could almost hear their conversation already — there was no time to slip away now!

What to do!

Adrenaline surging, he kept glancing around, searching for somewhere to hide.

But all around him was nothing but people, more people…

Suddenly, an idea struck him — he glanced sideways at Yan Danchen beside him, who was fully focused on the stir-fry about to come out of the wok.

With a swift motion he yanked off his own jacket, then amid Yan Danchen's startled cry, swung her body around to shield his front.

Cheng Chen half-squatted on both knees, using Yan Danchen's body to block himself.

Then he reached both arms around her neck, casually pulled the puffy jacket's oversized hood down over her head, and tilted his own face up toward hers as if to kiss…

From Gao Yuanyuan's angle, she only saw a woman in the same style of puffy jacket as hers, head lowered, in a rather comical posture kissing someone…

She glanced once and looked away, but her bestie Wang Tianxiao beside her was watching with great interest.

Gao Yuanyuan tugged her once, then pulled her along toward the path on the left side of the snack street.

"Hey hey hey, Yuanyuan, did you see that just now? Kissing in the street — young people nowadays are way too bold.

Seems like it was that woman who initiated it, but that guy is way too short — at most not over five foot three!"

Wang Tianxiao excitedly grabbed Gao Yuanyuan's arm, gossiping away.

"Mm."

Gao Yuanyuan echoed, and for some reason felt a strange, uncomfortable sensation in her heart.

……

"What are you doing!"

Yan Danchen pushed Cheng Chen away, stepped back two paces, her heart thumping like a startled fawn, glaring at him with a mix of anger and shyness.

Yan Danchen's sudden outburst immediately drew sidelong glances from quite a few people.

"Uh…"

Cheng Chen scratched his head awkwardly, apologetically saying:

"Just now… just now there were too many people, I don't know who pushed me from behind, I couldn't keep my footing for a second — sorry about that."

Listen to that — what a flimsy excuse!

The snack stall owner shot Cheng Chen a look — a man's mouth, a lying ghost; who'd believe your nonsense!

How many women have been sweet-talked into a man's hands just like that.

If apologies worked, what would we need the police for!

Miss, just call the police — that's molestation!

The snack stall owner, a thirty-year-old bachelor, grumbled inwardly with a bellyful of resentment.

"Mm, it wasn't on purpose either…"

Yan Danchen lowered her head and answered softly.

"That's it?"

Hearing Yan Danchen's words that sounded like tacit acceptance, the snack stall owner — who had been hoping Yan Danchen would just slap Cheng Chen across the face — watched the two of them acting all shy and hesitant, and blurted out in sudden frustration:

But when he saw Cheng Chen and Yan Danchen both looking at him, a standard service smile immediately appeared on his face:

"I mean, this order of stir-fried tripe is ready — enjoy."

Cheng Chen looked at him with amusement,

and said:

"They say people from Jingcheng swallow their words when they speak, but yours is way too much!"

"Heh, been talking like that since I was a kid, please forgive me."

With the snack stall owner stirring things up like that, the awkward atmosphere between Cheng Chen and Yan Danchen eased considerably.

"Shall we keep walking around for a bit?"

"Okay."

Yan Danchen kept her head lowered, not daring to meet Cheng Chen's eyes.

In fact, the way the two of them looked just now seemed very intimate, but in their hearts they both knew perfectly well.

Between their mouths were still two layers of mask fabric — they hadn't actually kissed at all.

So at most it was scratching an itch through the boot — they hadn't even gone bareback yet!

Watching the two of them walk away, the snack stall owner suddenly slapped his forehead, a look of sudden realization on his face, and muttered:

So this was Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai — one willing to beat, the other willing to take it!

Cheng Chen led Yan Danchen from the east end of the snack street all the way to the west end.

Only now, Yan Danchen wasn't as uninhibited as she'd been earlier.

Her movements carried a touch of awkwardness, and whenever their eyes met, she quickly looked away.

The moment Cheng Chen made any move, she would shrink back half a step like a startled rabbit.

Cheng Chen was quite helpless about it, knowing his earlier actions had left a bad impression on her.

But he had no choice—if he absolutely had to explain…

Mm… it was pretty soft.

Seeing that Yan Danchen still couldn't quite let loose, Cheng Chen simply suggested they go watch a movie.

But he regretted it soon enough, because the movie Yan Danchen picked, he had already seen with Gao Yuanyuan that morning.

Worst of all, he already knew how some of the plot would play out, yet still had to pretend it was his first time watching.

Laugh out loud at the funny parts, fall silent at the tearjerker moments.

By the time the movie ended, it was already eleven o'clock at night.

The light from outside flickered in and out across the inside of the car, and the faint fragrance drifting off Yan Danchen beside him made Cheng Chen's thoughts wander.

"It's getting late…"

"It's too late…"

They both spoke at the same time, and in the end Cheng Chen gestured for her to go first.

Yan Danchen pressed her lips together, her bright eyes looking at him, and said:

"It's too late, I'll head back and rest first…"

Cheng Chen nodded:

"Alright, I'll take you back."

The two said nothing all the way; after Cheng Chen dropped her off at her hotel, they went their separate ways.

Back home, Cheng Chen lay down on the bed after washing up.

"It's finally over…"

He let out a relieved breath, secretly pleased, and thought:

It was pretty risky, but at least the result wasn't bad—no derailment…

……

Two in the morning.

Cheng Chen tossed and turned in bed, and finally he gave in, taking out his phone and typing away.

"I'm really sorry about today. Even though it wasn't on purpose, I still put you in an awkward spot. I didn't mean to ruin the mood…"

The moment the message was sent, Cheng Chen's phone rang.

A message had come in!

"Sorry about today! I shouldn't have overreacted like that. I'm really sorry I didn't take your feelings into account. I had a lot of fun today, thank you~"

The two had sent their messages almost simultaneously, and what they said was roughly the same.

No wonder she'd been so glum and hesitant afterward—so that was what had been weighing on her.

What a thoughtful, delicate girl.

Cheng Chen held his phone and laughed.

……