Nan Chen’s favorite team made a goal, and he was so excited that he leaped out of his seat.
For some reason, he was in a very excited state tonight. Some part in him wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that woman had returned.
Just then, Ning Ran came running out of the kitchen. Seeing the exhilarated look on his face, she felt a little shocked.
Nan Chen was very rarely so excited. Ning Ran stood behind him and stared at the screen to watch the replay of the goal, wondering what had made him so happy.
Afterward, she turned to stare at him.
Nan Chen asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I came out to ask you something, but I forgot what my question was,” Ning Ran said helplessly.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I’ll try and recall… Hmm, what was it?”
“Oh, don’t bother. You’re an idiot, so you probably won’t be able to recall it. Just go and make the noodles.” Nan Chen said condescendingly.
A look of realization dawned on Ning Ran’s face. She let out a loud yelp and said, “I remember it now! I wanted to ask you whether you prefer your noodles with fried eggs and tomatoes or green vegetables.”
Nan Chen had thought she wanted to ask something important, but her question turned out to be something as inconsequential as this.
“Both are fine! Can you hurry up? It’s practically time for breakfast by now.”
Ning Ran turned to look at the clock on the wall. It was already one o ‘clock in the morning. He’s right. It’s almost time for breakfast.
“Forget it. Let’s not have noodles then. I’ll just get apples for the both of us.”
Ning Ran ran back into the kitchen and turned off the stove. She grabbed two apples from the fridge and walked out to the living room, munching on one of them.
She passed one to Nan Chen. However, he looked down at his hands—he wasn’t going to eat without washing his hands first.
Ning Ran ran back into the kitchen and grabbed a wet towel for Nan Chen to wipe his hands with.
Nan Chen’s eyes were fixed on the television screen. He stretched his hands out towards her, indicating that Ning Ran should wipe his hands for him.
Ning Ran had no choice. She agreed and started wiping his hands for him.
After a few wipes, Ning Ran felt that his hands were clean enough. However, Nan Chen ordered her to continue.
“I think that’s enough. Do you want me to wipe your hands until your skin starts peeling off?” Ning Ran asked.
“You have to get it clean, at least.”
Ning Ran continued wiping his hands, running the towel repeatedly over his long fingers.
“Alright, that’s enough.” Ning Ran had finally run out of patience. She stopped wiping his hands.
This time, Nan Chen didn’t force her to continue. His eyes continued to fixate on the television.
“Your hands are clean enough now! You can have your apple,” Ning Ran insisted.
“No thanks. I don’t feel like eating anymore.”
Nan Chen poured another glass of wine for himself. “I’m going to sleep after the half-time game.”
“What? If you weren’t planning to eat, why did you get me to wipe your hands for you? Are you trying to waste my time or something?” Ning Ran yelped angrily.
“What does cleaning my hands and eating have anything to with each other?” Nan Chen retorted.
“You—you’re a shameless man, you know that? Ugh!”
Ning Ran bit into the apply viciously, trying to calm herself down.
Suddenly, Nan Chen asked, “Did they bully you a lot while you were in there?”
“No, they didn’t. In fact, they treated me very well and ensured that all my needs were met. I didn’t suffer much,” Ning Ran said.
“Okay.”
“But there’s something you should probably know. There was a policewoman who kept asking me to tell the police that you were the one who ordered me to hide those pills.
“However, she always wore a mask, so I don’t think she was an actual policewoman. I don’t know who she was, but she must have had pretty bad intentions.”
“Okay.” Nan Chen continued to watch the game.
“Aren’t you shocked about this?”
“Why should I be shocked?” he retorted.
“Don’t tell me you already knew about this!”
“I didn’t. I just heard it from your own mouth.”
“Well, then, why aren’t you shocked?”
“You’re just a small fry. If their main target were you, they wouldn’t have needed to put in so much effort to frame you. Hence, I deduced that their target was probably me. That sounded much more plausible,” Nan Chen explained.
This made Ning Ran feel a little indignant, but there was truth to his words. After all, she was indeed just a small fry. She might as well roll with it.
“But there’s something I don’t understand…”
“Think harder, then.”
“I’ve thought so hard, and I still don’t understand anything! That’s why I’m trying to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Even if they wanted to take you to court, they would’ve needed concrete evidence. Thus, they wouldn’t have been able to convict you even if I turned you in. Why, then, were they so intent on making me confess?”
“I’m taking fault with your language here,” Nan Chen said. “This matter really has nothing to do with me. You couldn’t have turned me in at all.”
“I know that! What I meant is, why did they want to frame you?”
“That’s right. They wanted to frame me, not turn me in to the authorities.”
“Yes, that’s what I mean! What I don’t understand is this—they couldn’t have incriminated you based on my word alone. Why did they keep forcing me to do that, then?” Ning Ran asked.
“What do you think?’
“I just told you, I don’t understand any of it. That’s why I’m asking you about it now.”
Ning Ran shifted closer to Nan Chen and looked up at him expectantly.
He caught a whiff of her perfume. Nan Chen loved the smell, but he wasn’t going to say anything about it.
“Well? Say something, will you?” Ning Ran urged him.
“If you don’t understand it, just consider the consequences that might have happened. You might be able to understand everything then.”
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is, if you had told the policemen that I told you to hide those pills, what do you think would’ve happened?” Nan Chen said.
“I don’t know. The police would probably call you in as a suspect, but I doubt they would’ve been able to convict you. After all, you’re a big shot around here.”
“As long as I get called up by the police, someone will leak this information to the press. By the next morning, I’ll be making headlines in the investment and entertainment sections of the newspapers. Because of that, I would soon become a trending topic,” Nan Chen explained.
“And then?”
“And then the companies under Nanshi Corporation would see a fall in their stock prices. As for how big those falls would be, I have no idea and there’s no way to know either.
“During the meeting with the board of directors, they would all be discussing this affair. Naturally, they would conclude that, under the present circumstances, I would not be fit to lead the company. They would then ask me to step down.”
Ning Ran felt rather shocked. “So serious?”
“This might have been the ending they wanted, but of course, I would never follow through with it. After all, I’ve never liked going along with other people’s wishes,” Nan Chen said.
Ning Ran nodded. “Yes, I can see that. You’re the sort of person who would do the exact opposite of what others expect of you.”
“Am I that hateful?” Nan Chen felt a little unhappy.
“It’s not that serious, but I must admit that you aren’t that benevolent either,” Ning Ran replied honestly.
“Do you understand now?”
“Yes, but at the same time, no.”
“Well, then, do you understand or not?”
“If those people can use a weakling like me to topple you, aren’t you too weak for your own good?”
Ning Ran realized how bad her words sounded and explained hastily, “I’m not saying that you’re weak, of course. I mean, don’t you think they’re underestimating you since you aren’t that weak?”
“They’re not underestimating me. If you had agreed to go along with their plan, they would’ve been able to cause great damage to me,” Nan Chen said.
“Why’s that?”
“For starters, my relationship with you is rather special. Thus, whatever comes out of your mouth will sound truthful to the public.”
“Secondly, they planned everything very well. Even if they couldn’t topple me from power, they would’ve been able to reap a huge advantage from your betrayal anyway.”
“I don’t understand. What advantage would they have gained?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Why don’t you teach me, then? I might be able to understand.” Ning Ran grabbed hold of his arm and shook it a little. “Tell me about it.”
Nan Chen glanced down at her. Under the light, the woman’s face was beautiful beyond comparison.
“It’s time for bed. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.” Nan Chen got up.
