pearls

Lin Qi did love Ye Nan deeply, but sometimes he wandered between other girls. Although Lin Qi never admitted it, it could be felt from his usual conversations. However, Ye Nan did not want to pay excessive attention to Lin Qi's every move. After all, men had the nature of not having enough in one bowl to look into the pot.

Moreover, Lin Qi already had a family, and Ye Nan was clear about this before she started dating him, so other women meant nothing to her. Although her relationship with Lin Qi was very close, Ye Nan always kept a certain distance. Liking was liking, but she didn't want to get involved in Lin Qi's life outside of her; as long as the two were happy and blissful when they were together, that was enough.

Ye Nan was able to deal with her relationship with Lin Qi so soberly, perhaps because as a child, she was influenced by her father's search for women outside the home. Growing up, Ye Nan rarely saw his father come home, and his father only came back once in a while when he remembered. When his father came home, he was very kind to Ye Nan, but he was fierce to his mother. However, when Ye Nan was twenty years old, she gradually understood her father's pain. Perhaps it was because her mother was too meek and dependent that prompted her father to seek comfort outside. Men and women are not happy only when they are together every day; if they do not share the same ideals, and if they are not independent of each other, it is difficult for a relationship between a man and a woman to last until the end.

Over the past four years, Ye Nan and Lin Qi's lover relationship had been maintained without any major crisis. This was largely due to Ye Nan's ability to properly handle their relationship.

"Ye Nan's birthday is still some time away."

Suddenly, Lin Qi remembered and said, "It's the 13th of July, right?"

Ye Nan held a piece of crab meat in her salad with her fork and nodded, "You remembered it really well."

"Yes, it was the day before the Paris Festival, so I won't forget."

For her birthday last year, Yenan had received a white gold ring with a large pearl, which now sparkled on her ring finger.

"Gradually, our age gap will get smaller and smaller." Lin Qi said, arguing that the gap between 35 and 20 was obvious, but not much difference could be seen between 75 and 60. As a matter of fact, it is indisputable that the percentage of the age gap does decrease as we get older.

"From now on, I will get closer and closer to you, wait in peace." Lin Qi said.

"By the way, what are the plans for Golden Week?" When the chef served the main dish of pan-fried baby lamb chops, Lin Qi suddenly asked Ye Nan.

"On the 1st and 2nd of May, someone from the UK head office is coming and I need to go to work, the rest of the time is rest." Ye Nan flipped out her notebook and flipped through it a few times.

"Then, we can go to Hakone for a night on the 3rd and 4th." Lin Qi suggested.

Yenan looked at the notebook for a moment.

"It's a rare opportunity this time, but I can't do it on the 4th." Yenan said.

"What's wrong? Didn't you say just now that something was wrong with number 1 and 2?" Lin Qi asked.

"I promised to go to Hongqian to enjoy the flowers with some of my classmates from college." Ye Nan reported the names of a few classmates.

"I've been invited to his hometown many times before, and this time I was finally able to make it." Ye Nan explained.

"Seeing flowers isn't a big deal, it doesn't matter if we change the date." Lin Qi said.

"No, we've already planned it." Ye Nan insisted.

"But, I only have some free time from the 3rd to the 5th during Golden Week." Lin Qi said with a bitter smile.

"..."

"We can book a good hotel room, spend a free night, and go golfing the next day. What's so interesting about you and your girlfriend going to see flowers? Better turn it down now.

It's impossible to say no now."

"Please ...," Lin Qi lowered his head while Ye Nan craned her neck, "I can't default on such a sudden request."

"Just this once, please can you?"

"But we've already planned to go to enjoy the flowers two months ago, if I suddenly back out now, that's too selfish, right?"

"You're such a stubborn girl ...," Lin Qi sighed, while Ye Nan continued to eat the food on her plate as if she hadn't heard him. During the first year of their relationship, Lin Qi had often forcefully disrupted Ye Nan's plans, but now, when she didn't feel it was a good fit, she would firmly refuse.

It was a fact that when he proposed a date, it sometimes interfered with her arrangements. Though his offer was well-intentioned, Yenan had a life of her own. It wasn't that Ye Nan was arrogant or hated Lin Qi, but she didn't want to be drawn into his world or revolve around him.

"We still have time to arrange for days other than Golden Week." Ye Nan said in a comforting tone.

But Lin Qi seemed undeterred:

"This is a rare opportunity for us to take it easy ..."

"But Golden Week is full of people everywhere"It's almost time to go." Lin Qi looked at his watch and signalled to the waiter for the check.

"Thank you for preparing such an exquisite dinner." Today was Lin Qi's birthday, originally Ye Nan wanted to treat him, but considering that he had already given an expensive gift, it would be somewhat inappropriate to treat him to this dinner.

The two walked downstairs side by side, and Lin Qi said:

My car has been sent back." Every time he had a date with Ye Nan, Lin Qi always let his car go back first, ostensibly to distinguish between public and private matters, but actually because he did not want the driver to discover his secret.

They walked outside, the spring night had already descended, and the night was exceptionally beautiful, the bright windows on the snow-white walls of the hotel were particularly striking. Ye Nan really liked the serene and peaceful atmosphere that this ancient building exuded. She greedily admired the scenery in front of her, when a taxi drove up.

Shall I drop you off first?" Lin Qi inquired Ye Nan and sat in the car.

Ye Nan's flat was a two-room house that she had borrowed money from her father to purchase five years ago. In hindsight, she had made a really wise choice at that time, and the property prices had risen a lot. The monthly mortgage is a significant expense, but the appreciation in the value of this house makes her feel satisfied.

"Having your own house at a young age is amazing!" Lin Qi always praised her, but she knew herself that she hadn't bought the house at the time with the idea that property prices would go up, she just felt that she needed a stable place to live at work.

Lin Qi had his own wife, Ye Nan was Ye Nan, they had never met, so there was no talk of jealousy or jealousy or anything like that.

Ye Nan felt that as long as she and Lin Qi felt fulfilled when they were together that was enough, sometimes they had some small conflicts but that was how she had thought about it since she had known Lin Qi, other than that she didn't want to think about anything else.

The car travelled along the direction of Castle Peak Road, the windows of the shops on both sides of the road revealing the flavour of a spring night. Lin Qi hummed softly in a happy mood:

"La ah ... La la la ...

Lin Qi always liked to hum the tune of "Venice Summer" when he was happy. Ye Nan listened silently and felt Lin Qi's hand reach over and hold her fingers. Perhaps it was the effect of the wine and brandy, she felt a little fluttery, her whole body was on fire and she felt very comfortable.

Ye Nan's flat was only a five-minute walk from the metro to the station. She chose this place, which was close to the station and quiet, because as a woman, she wouldn't have to worry too much about returning home late. The flat had five floors, and after entering the front door and turning right there was a small foyer where the lift was located. Taking the lift to the fifth floor, their room was room 501 on the left.

Ye Nan first used the key to open the door and switch on the light, then turned around and took the slippers for Lin Qi. The flat was a two-room, one-bedroom layout, with a living room with a kitchen when they entered, and a bedroom further inside.

"It's a bit messy, sorry." Ye Nan hurriedly tidied up the books and letters on the table, and then went to the balcony to collect in the drying clothes.

Lin Qi wasn't too willing to do it himself, but he was very particular about cleaning. In particular, he had a strong distaste for ornaments that were decorated with small stuffed animals and the like. Once he saw an actress' room being over-decorated and lashed out at it.

The style of Ye Nan's room was not to cater to Lin Qi's tastes, it was just that she herself liked to be neat and tidy, and would feel uncomfortable if the room was even a little bit unclean. The key to keeping a room tidy was to clear out the excess, which was Lin Qi's philosophy. However, it was not easy to do so. Ye Nan was not a stubborn girl by nature, but her naturally dry and sharp character might just be what set her apart from those girls who liked to embellish themselves with all sorts of decorations.

"No matter when I come, this place is always neat and orderly, which puts people in a good mood."

Tonight, Lin Qi was clearly in a very good mood. He took off his shirt and undid his tie as soon as he entered the room. Ye Nan immediately prepared a set of beige pyjamas for him. The XL size pyjamas, specially purchased for Lin Qi's tall figure, were a bit loose on him, with long and wide sleeves, just like a magician who did magic tricks. However, Lin Qi still obediently changed into those pajamas.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Yes. Is there anything that can detoxify the alcohol?"

"Let's drink Ventan juice then."

Yenan walked to the kitchen, took off the ring on her hand and put it in a crystal glass box on the sideboard.

"Oh, so that'