Chapter 43: Lover (Part IV)

Chapter 43: Lover (Part 4)

Upon hearing his question, the woman looked as if she had been suddenly startled awake from a dream. The blood drained entirely from her pale, delicate face, and she bit her lower lip so hard that it turned bluish-purple, a clear sign of how much force she was using.

Song Cheng actually wanted to step forward and pry her lips apart, but he was afraid of frightening her even further.

He could only force himself to calm down, casting a glance around the lavishly decorated, spacious, and bright apartment living room. "Are you a friend of Tang Wan? Where is she?"

Though he asked this, Song Cheng secretly felt it was hardly likely. When had a woman like Tang Wan ever made such a friend—one who was so...

Well, so clean!

Standing at the entrance of the kitchen, the woman heard this, her curled eyelashes trembling slightly. With her gaze lowered, she spoke in a voice that was small and somewhat hoarse, "I... I am... Tang Wan..."

Her hair was loosely gathered at the back of her head into a low ponytail, a mischievous lock of hair having broken free to slip down, resting softly against her ear.

"What?" Song Cheng took a few steps forward, casually tossing his briefcase onto the sofa, removing his emerald cufflinks, and dropping them at random onto the coffee table.

Su Kui's subsequent words had been too soft, and he hadn't heard them clearly.

His sharp, upward-slanting brows furrowed instead. What on earth was wrong with Tang Wan? Usually, when she saw him coming over, wouldn't she have flown over long ago, asking this and that?

And besides, that beautiful, pale woman standing behind...

His nose twitched, and Song Cheng suddenly blurted out inexplicably, "What's that burning smell?"

***

Terrible!

"My meat!"

With the speed of lightning, Su Kui rushed back into the kitchen and switched off the blazing stove.

The braised beef was completely unsalvageable. Stripped of all moisture, the pieces of meat clung pitifully to the bottom of the pot in a pitch-black clump.

Su Kui felt somewhat deflated. She hadn't even begun to rack up favorability points yet, and the mission was already facing an untimely demise before it even truly started?

Having found her pale and timid from the first moment he laid eyes on her, Song Cheng couldn't help but chuckle softly at the rare sight of her looking somewhat abashed and annoyed.

His chest vibrated slightly, and the sound he emitted was both sexy and magnetic.

Resigned, Su Kui had no choice but to carry the other few home-style dishes she had prepared over to the dining room, setting out two pairs of chopsticks and bowls.

In truth, she hadn't been entirely sure whether Song Cheng would come over today, but Su Kui considered her cooking skills quite decent; if he didn't show, she could easily finish the food herself.

A gentle aroma curled upwards from the dining table, gradually diffusing throughout the entire living room, injecting a touch of human warmth into this cold and hollow apartment.

Nervously clutching the Hello Kitty apron she wore, Su Kui moved her lips and whispered in a tiny voice,

"I... I didn't know you were coming over today, the food might not taste very good... Would you... like to try it?"

What do you mean you didn't know he was coming over today? Who on earth is this woman?!

***

Song Cheng was somewhat bewildered. The mild and elegant smile on his face was instantly overshadowed by a sharp edge. He strode swiftly over to Su Kui, pinched her delicate, pointed chin between two fingers, and forced her to look up at him.

The woman's eyes resembled shimmering autumn pools, flickering away in an attempt to avoid his gaze. Song Cheng's slightly harsh gaze didn't miss a single trace of her changing expressions. Seeing her knit her brows in slight pain, he cursed under his breath and released his grip.

"Are you Tang Wan?" As his reason gradually returned, he asked with a trace of uncertainty.

Such a tone of voice had rarely surfaced throughout Song Cheng's entire life. Accustomed as he was to acting with swift resolution, his actions were always decisive and resolute, never dragging his feet.

To be frank, Song Cheng's accuracy in judging people went without saying, but today's situation was genuinely unexpected.

It was because this woman had changed too drastically—she could almost be said to have undergone a complete rebirth. From her temperament and appearance down to her personality, she was entirely different.

That was why Song Cheng had mistaken her for two completely different people.