324— You Look Like You Really Want To Thank Me
They went silent, each thinking about the latest events. Pei Yueran couldn't help but worry about Han Yichen. She knew it was only a matter of time before they had to inform him, but how to broach the topic was giving her a headache.
At one glance, Li Chuanmo could tell what she was thinking. Slightly bopping her on the nose, he said gently, "You worry too much."
"Chuan, I can't help it. My little boy would be so shocked. What if he can't take it? The worst thing is that if he doesn't even react much, I'll wonder if he's just hiding it from us or if he had been shocked silly." Pei Yueran said, worry etched on her face.
Li Chuanmo used the soft pads of his thumbs to smoothen the frown lines on her forehead, "Do you remember how you felt around the time we first met?"
Pei Yueran thought for a moment, "I was doing better but still grieving."
Li Chuanmo agreed. "The grief was deeply etched in your eyes. But the closer we got, the more it faded away. Times heals most wounds, but even the wounds that cannot be healed by time can be healed with love. We'll shower our son with all the love and support he needs. He'll be fine."
Pei Yueran nodded, looking at him with so much love in her eyes that he inevitably wanted to try his luck.
"You look like you really want to thank me," he said, cradling her face.
That was as dangerous a sentence as it could get, made even more so by his actions.
"Not really," Pei Yueran hedged.
"Seriously? I know you are feeling touched right now. Let me make you feel differently. We've not tried it in a place like this after all." Li Chuanmo invited, his hand landing in her lap.
Pei Yueran swatted his hand away, "I don't plan on "feeling differently" thousands of metres in the sky, so keep your hands to yourself."
This man, always wanting a mile after getting an inch!
Before he could even make puppy dog eyes at her, she promptly closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. Out of sight, out of mind!
Li Chuanmo: "...."
He sat back with a smile. There would always be other days. As long as she was fine, he was content.
*****
When Han Leifeng stormed out of the cafe, he rode on that anger till he got home. He called Gao Tinghua, but he wasn't picking his calls. Frustrated, he dumped the phone somewhere and sat down in defeat.
What was he going to do? In all his simulations about his first meeting with Pei Yueran, he hadn't expected her to react this way.
Sure, he knew she would be angry at him, but he thought her joy at seeing him alive would override her anger and that he would only need to coax her a little before she would forgive him.
He had even planned on telling her to hide away with Han Yichen for sometime, while he swiftly dealt with the loose ends in the Han family, so that they could finally reunite openly. He didn't realize that he wouldn't even be able to mention it at all.
Now, he felt he just built up his fantasies and neglected reality. He probably never really knew her.
At that time, they were so much in love that they hardly ever quarreled. They had no reason to. He was always willing to go out of his way to make her happy, and she reciprocated that love fully.
However, he knew from listening to her talk about her work and friends that she was a person that valued trust very much. It was difficult to gain her trust back once it was broken.
But he thought he was an exception. He felt that if it was for him, she would consider things differently. He had good reason after all.
Now, he wasn't so sure.
His musings were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. Thinking it was Gao Tinghua, he hurriedly picked it, but the voice was one he wasn't expecting, not to mention one he didn't want to hear.
"Leifeng, where are you? Your grandfather wants to see you." Han Likang spoke immediately the call connected.
"I'm busy." Han Leifeng intoned.
"Busy? With what? Have you forgotten your grandfather entrusted an important assignment to you? Shouldn't you come to give us the feedback?" Han Likang queried. This son was good, but he had a mind of his own, which wasn't good at all.
Han Leifeng was totally not in the mood to talk about this with them, "I'll come when I can. Tell him that for me. Goodbye."
Before Han Likang could say anything, he hung up.
"What did he say? Is he coming?" Han Jianfeng asked when he saw Likang drop the phone on the table.
"He said he's busy, but he would come as soon as possible." Han Likang responded as euphemistically as he could, but Han Jianfeng still flared up.
Banging his hand on the table, he spat, "Bold! He has become really bold! He now has the guts to keep me waiting? Ungrateful wolf that bites the hands that fed him!"
"Calm down Father. I'm sure something came up. Leifeng is a very capable young man. He must have his considerations."
"Don't make excuses for him, he's finally showing his true colors now! Capable? It's that very capability that's making his wings hard now!" Han Jianfeng said angrily.
Han Likang poured him a cup of tea from the kettle by the side, "That may be so, but it's not that bad Father. The company could definitely use his abilities to soar higher." Han Likang patiently explained.
He also felt alarmed by Han Leifeng's recent actions, but in his view, he was still his son no matter what. Even though he was stubborn and difficult to control, it was better to have such a healthy and capable son than none at all.
"How can I rest assured to hand over the company to him? What if he rebels? I'm not dead yet, and he's already acting out. When we die, will he change the company's name and give it out to strangers?!" Han Jianfeng argued before receiving the cup and downing its contents in one gulp.
"He would never do that Father. He has the Han blood flowing in his veins."
Han Jianfeng snorted, unconvinced.
After some time, he suddenly said, "Investigate him again. If he has something or someone dear to him, find out. I wasn't thinking it through before. We need to have something on him to make him more obedient."
Han Likang tensed up, then nodded.