Chà Chà Novel

“Ahem! If I don’t seem like a rich kid, what do I seem like?”

“A friendly older brother from next door, of course! You don’t put on airs at all. You’re completely different from those spoiled heirs!”

Her answer made Lin Huaiqing laugh.

He agreed. Even dressed in imperial robes, he would never look like a crown prince.

The life of a rich heir really did not suit him.

But that was all right. He would be going home soon.

Once they had eaten their fill, it was time to part.

Although this world’s heroine was not truly a flesh-and-blood person, Lin Huaiqing still felt reluctant to say goodbye to such a bright, radiant girl.

This farewell would be their last.

“Don’t forget. You board at three in the afternoon, three days from now. I’ll come to the airport to see you off.”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t come. If Qin finds out…”

She was afraid of causing him trouble and exposing him to Qin Feng’s retaliation.

“Don’t worry. He won’t find out. Besides, I’m not afraid of him!”

“All right! Once I’m there, let’s keep in touch whenever we have time.”

“Of course. As far as I’m concerned, you’re my little sister now!”

After waving goodbye to Shen Jingyi, Lin Huaiqing felt surprisingly peaceful.

He had almost finished putting everything here in order. Once she escaped the male lead’s clutches, the story should move into the years they spent apart.

He could then bow out with his work complete.

Before long, the day of Shen Jingyi’s flight arrived.

Lin Huaiqing reached the airport early, but he did not dare go down to the boarding gate to say goodbye.

Instead, he stood in a secluded corner, watching the waiting area.

At two in the afternoon, Shen Jingyi appeared there on schedule, wearing a black coat and a baseball cap.

Their private flight was using a departure gate at the capital’s international airport. To avoid attracting attention, she deliberately sat among the other passengers.

Spotting her in the waiting area below, Lin Huaiqing sent her a message telling her to look up.

Across the sea of people, their eyes met. Neither spoke. Wearing sunglasses, Shen Jingyi gave him a sweet smile, all her gratitude conveyed without a word.

Lin Huaiqing’s lips lifted of their own accord. Watching her, he sent a message to his secretary, Xiao Wu.

「Notify the captain. Move boarding forward and prepare for takeoff.」

Within minutes, Shen Jingyi’s boarding gate opened unexpectedly. Although puzzled, she quickly picked up her luggage and boarded.

Only as he watched her hurry away did Lin Huaiqing begin to relax.

The flight had originally been scheduled for three. Moving it forward at the last moment was a precaution against his plan being exposed. Once Shen Jingyi was safely aboard, everything would be secure.

Another ten minutes or so passed. When he saw the private jet beginning to taxi toward the runway, Lin Huaiqing finally felt reassured enough to leave.

Meanwhile, Qin Fan urged his driver to stop outside the airport. He got out and headed straight for the boarding gate without delay.

“I’m sorry, boss. They moved the departure time forward. Our information was wrong. It was scheduled for three, but it’s not even two fifteen yet, and the aircraft is already preparing to take off.”

Qin Fan stopped short. Looking at the private jet already on the runway, his expression darkened like a sky heavy with storm clouds.

His shoulders trembled uncontrollably, as though he were on the verge of breaking down.

He had thought he could intercept Lin Huaiqing at the airport before he left. He had never expected him to change the boarding time at the last minute.

The people Qin Fan had stationed had not even arrived before the plane took off.

He watched through the windows as the aircraft broke through the clouds and vanished from sight. His heart felt as though it were being carved apart, regret twisting painfully inside him.

“Lin Huaiqing… Are you really never coming back?”

“Mr. Qin? Mr. Qin, are you all right?”

His personal assistant hurried forward to steady him as he swayed.

“I’m fine… Let’s go back to the company.”

Qin Fan forced himself to hold together, barely keeping himself from collapsing in public.

There was no despair like a heart stripped of hope. He had torn up their contract, only to give Lin Huaiqing the chance to escape him completely.

He had been wrong. Disastrously wrong.

On his way out of the airport, Qin Fan moved like a walking corpse, heading toward the exit in a daze.

“Qin Fan? What are you doing here?”

Was he imagining it? He thought he had heard Lin Huaiqing calling him.

In fact, Lin Huaiqing had only just spotted him. At this distance, he assumed Qin Fan must have noticed him too.

He had no idea why Qin Fan was here, but ignoring him would make him look far too guilty. That was why he had approached to say hello.

Even if their arrangement was over, they could still be civil.

Yet Qin Fan acted as though he had not seen him, wearing the expression of a man who had just lost his wife.

“Tch! Fine, ignore me. Keep up the act!”

Muttering to himself, Lin Huaiqing was about to hurry away when a hand clamped around his wrist. One sharp pull sent him tumbling into Qin Fan’s arms.

The familiar scent of Qin Fan’s distinctive cologne surrounded him—the one he always wore.

He remembered calling him a peacock whenever he sprayed it on before going out. Yet that scent always brought him an inexplicable sense of reassurance.

The shock of finding someone he had thought lost sent Qin Fan’s heart racing. Overwhelmed with joy, he lost all reason and crushed Lin Huaiqing against him in the busy airport hall.

Without the solid warmth in his arms, he would hardly have believed that Lin Huaiqing was truly there.

“Let go! There are people everywhere!”

Struggling in his embrace, Lin Huaiqing lifted his head and glared fiercely.

Two grown men hugging in public—what did they look like? Society really was going downhill!

“I’m sorry…”

Despite the apology, Qin Fan did not loosen his grip in the slightest. He held him as though he wanted to draw him into his own body.

“Are you out of your mind? What’s gotten into you? Let me go!”

Lin Huaiqing stamped on his foot, leaving a dull gray footprint on his expensive designer shoe.

But Qin Fan seemed determined to squeeze the life out of him. Even the pain failed to make him release his hold.

In the end, only after much coaxing and persuasion did Lin Huaiqing get into the car with him, finally escaping the spectacle of people gathering to stare and take pictures.

“Huaiqing, you…?”

“What about me? I came to pick someone up, but thanks to your little scene, I missed them. What’s wrong with you today?”

Lin Huaiqing hurriedly invented an excuse.

Qin Fan was a Qin too, and he was thick as thieves with his brother. If he discovered that Lin Huaiqing had sent Shen Jingyi away, Qin Feng would certainly come after him!

Judging by the way Qin Fan now clung to him, he seemed considerably better than the apparently bereaved man he had been inside the airport.

His moods certainly changed quickly.

Qin Fan was all smiles, his eyes visibly shining, like a child who had just received his favorite toy.

“Picking someone up… That’s good. That’s wonderful! Then let me drive you back. Are you going to the company or home?”

“Are you all right? Maybe you should go to the hospital and get checked out.”

This was rather unsettling.

“The hospital? We’ll go right now! Put on your seat belt.”

From the driver’s seat, Qin Fan leaned over, drew the seat belt across Lin Huaiqing, and fastened it for him.

But as soon as they drove into the city, vehicles belonging to the Qin family blocked their way.

More precisely, Qin Feng’s men had intercepted them on the road.