My Groom Ran Away

Cheng Yuelin and Ruan Zhiyin walked out of the Yan family’s banquet and sat in the Bentley waiting by the door.

With Qin Jue suddenly showing up, it would not be good for them to stay any longer.

Ruan Zhiyin sent a message to Gu Linlang, and she followed Cheng Yuelin to say goodbye before they left.

The spacious interior of the car was filled with silence.

Cheng Yuelin adjusted his seat and laid back in the backseat with his eyes closed. His face was calm and his large, well-defined hands rested on his chest.

He had not said a word since they had gotten into the car.

Outside the car window, the bright lights of the streetlamps swept over his handsome silhouette. Ruan Zhiyin turned her head to look at him and she could smell the faint sweet scent of alcohol on the man.

She thought back to the version of Cheng Yuelin she had just seen, mingling with the people at the party, natural and comfortable with the environment. It was at odds with her normal image of him.

Gu Linlang had also said that the Cheng Yuelin in her eyes did not match the brash and arrogant teenager from Ruan Zhiyin’s description.

She could not read the man’s current mood. After thinking for a moment, Ruan Zhiyin decided to speak first—

“You said I did not have good taste, and you were not wrong.”

The man slowly opened his eyes and lazily gazed at her. He seemed barely interested in her words.

As the car drove through the business district, Ruan Zhiyin looked out at the bright lights and neon signs lining the road and thought back to her first Christmas in America.

When she was in senior high, Qin Jue had helped her a lot and she did have a crush on him back then.

But when she learned that Qin Jue and Lin Jingfei were together, she had also decided to give up on Qin Jue.

Later, Qin Jue had also arrived in the States.

He chased her for an entire year. People around her had said that her lifestyle was too boring and straightforward. They had advised her to try dating, but Ruan Zhiyin did not want to accept Qin Jue’s courtship.

That was until she received the jade Buddha from the orphanage director.

The orphanage director was of the older generation and was a little superstitious about certain things. She believed that wearing jade could help prevent disasters, so even though she did not have much money, she would give a jade pendant to every child at the orphanage.

The girls would receive a jade Buddha and the boys would receive a jade Guanyin. The quality of the jade was not good, but it was still very precious to her.

On Christmas eve, she had received a phone call from Grandpa Ruan.

Her grandpa had called to tell her that the orphanage director had passed away.

Ever since she had returned to the Ruan family, although Director Chen had not refused the donations she sent to support the orphanage, she had also seriously asked her to not return.

After leaving the orphanage, one has to live a new life.

For people who are older, there will be a day that they would have to leave and people needed to be prepared for this separation.

Ruan Zhiyin comforted herself with this, but she still mourned the passing of the director even though she did not show it.

On Christmas Day, her professor asked her to come to his place for dinner.

On her way back to the dormitory, every house was brightly lit to celebrate the holidays, but she felt that the scene in front of her was slowly cutting her off from her original self.

Surrounded by cheerfulness and happiness, she did not feel like she belonged.

Not long after, she received a piece of jade that the orphanage director had sent her. The package was sent about a month before the director had passed away.

The people at the orphanage had told her that a boy had called to ask about the jades that the orphanage director had given. Later, he had even asked for people to send the orphanage director to the hospital.

The orphanage director had passed away peacefully, with no regrets.

Ruan Zhiyin had only mentioned the matter about the jade Buddha to Qin Jue, who had then given her a jade Buddha that was very similar.

When Qin Jue went to find her again, it was New Year’s day. Ruan Zhiyin thanked him for the jade Buddha and also accepted his confession.

The car passed a congested intersection and several loud honking sounds interrupted her thoughts.

Ruan Zhiyin sighed and returned to the present.

Her delicate hand supported her chin as she turned her head and smiled. “Cheng Yuelin, you know that I used to live at an orphanage when I was younger, right?”

“Yes.” The man looked over.

“The orphanage director was really nice, just before she passed away, Qin Jue asked the orphanage director to send me a gift. At that time, I felt that this thought was extremely precious.”

So, due to that, impulsively she decided to accept Qin Jue.

Ruan Zhiyin believed that if people were willing to put in a lot of effort to treat her well, she would also reciprocate.

However, it seemed as though…

“Maybe I really do have bad taste.”

“What was the gift?”

Cheng Yuelin’s was filled with a hidden emotion.

Ruan Zhiyin glanced away. “A jade Buddha.”

The man fell into silence as though he was a tired and he raised a hand to slowly cover his eyes.

There was silence for a while.

“If it were not for that jade Buddha, you would not have gotten together with Qin Jue?”

Ruan Zhiyin froze for a moment before pondering for a while before lightly smiling and shaking her head, “I don’t know.”

“But… It was indeed one of the deciding factors that led me to making up my mind.”

Without the jade Buddha, maybe there would have been other things. At that time Qin Jue had put in a lot of effort to chase her. In the words of her Chinese-American roommate, it would fulfill the romantic fantasies of many women.

But there are not that many ‘what ifs’ in the world.

Seeing that the man was silent again, Ruan Zhiyin’s brows furrowed a little, and she asked with concern. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling bad?”

He must have drank a lot of wine just now.

“A little bit.” Cheng Yuelin put down the hand covering his face. His eyes were a bit down. “But it is fine now.”

In the next moment, Ruan Zhiyin heard his lazy laugh.

“Ruan Zhiyin, I was wrong.” Cheng Yuelin turned to look at her. His slightly curved peach blossom eyes appeared to be a little drunk and seemed to hide a smile. “You indeed have good taste… but there is no need to have any delusions of grandeur.”