Chapter 1176 — The Unexpected Call
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Lingshan, why the long face? What, I come in person and you don't welcome me?" The moment Chen Yuxuan stepped through the door he saw Qiu Lingshan sitting at her desk, brows knitted, lost in thought over something.
"I've told you: while we're working, call me Officer Song; in private you may call me Qiu Lingshan." She glanced at the newcomer and said it coolly.
Chen Yuxuan's expression flickered, but he said, "Lingshan, our families have been close since we were children, haven't they? Even if you won't accept my feelings, there's no need to be so distant with me."
"Then what would you have me do? Act warmly toward you and let you misread it?" Qiu Lingshan's tone remained level.
"That... Lingshan! I admit I'm still stubbornly in love with you, but I already understand where your heart lies. And if you truly marry that man, I'll be entirely at ease — more than at ease, I'll be glad. I admit I, Chen Yuxuan, am not his equal; not now, and never in the future either. So I have buried this feeling of mine deep in my heart. I only want to guard you in silence — so long as you are happy, I'll be content. I call you Lingshan merely as an older brother might address a younger sister; if you'd rather I didn't, then from now on I'll call you Officer Song." Chen Yuxuan spoke to her with perfect seriousness.
Qiu Lingshan was stunned for a moment. She had never imagined Chen Yuxuan could lay his cards on the table so openly. He had hinted at things of the sort before, and had let his admiration for Wei Zhao show, but she still hadn't thought he would broach the matter so solemnly today.
Chen Yuxuan might be woefully short of strength, but Qiu Lingshan knew he was a man of his word. If he said this, then he had truly made his peace with it.
"All right. If that's how you feel, then I'm relieved. I'll call you Brother Yutian from now on." Qiu Lingshan settled the sibling terms between them then and there.
"Heh, that makes the relationships a bit tangled..." Chen Yuxuan scratched his head. Wei Zhao was his instructor — in his heart, if not quite a master, then at least the man who stood at the head of them all. And if Qiu Lingshan really went to Wei Zhao one day, wouldn't that make her not exactly a master's wife, at least a sister-in-law? Still, that was something to be dealt with later.
"What tangled relationships?" Qiu Lingshan blinked, then caught on to something at once. "Brother Yutian, what exactly is your relationship with Wei Zhao?"
"That... you'd better ask him yourself. It's not mine to say..." Chen Yuxuan could not speak behind Wei Zhao's back. If Wei Zhao were there on the spot and didn't object, it would be another matter entirely — but not now.
"All right." Qiu Lingshan didn't press him, but merely nodded and asked, "Brother Yutian, what brings you here today? It's still the holidays, isn't it? RO"