28. The Date (Part One)

Because she wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about watching movies, Chen Ruowen and Bai Jinyan only arranged to meet in the afternoon. The precious morning hours were reserved for the noble pursuit of sleeping in; these past two months had been exhausting, and if she didn’t catch up on rest over the weekend, she felt she’d be letting herself down.

In the end, it was Bai Jinyan’s phone call that woke her. By the time Chen Ruowen had leisurely groomed herself and finished breakfast, Bai Jinyan had already been waiting in her living room for nearly two hours.

“Ruowen, why are you so slow? Jinyan has been waiting for you for almost two hours. You could at least hurry up a little,” her mother, Yang Anxin, chided as soon as she came downstairs. Inwardly, Chen Ruowen rolled her eyes at her mother, who always seemed to side with outsiders. She replied slowly, “He invited me out, isn’t it normal for him to wait for me?”

Yang Anxin quickly grabbed Chen Ruowen and pushed her toward Bai Jinyan, barely stopping short of throwing her straight into his arms. Pan, the assistant, dutifully stationed at the front door, almost rushed forward to act as a human barricade between the two.

“It’s normal for him to wait, but this long is just too much. You should treat Jinyan to a meal to apologize, and don’t come home too early tonight,” Yang Anxin instructed.

Bai Jinyan immediately stood up and waved his hands. “No, no, don’t worry about it. I don’t have anything else to do, it’s fine.”

Chen Ruowen, a bit exasperated, pointed toward Assistant Pan, who was craning his neck to look at them. “Look at my dad, he’d love to send a bodyguard and install a surveillance camera on me. Why are you pushing me out the door?”

Yang Anxin scoffed, muttering, “What does that old man know? Enough, enough, I won’t interfere with your date. Off you go, don’t hang around here and get in my way.”

“…So irritating, but what can I do? She’s my mother.” Chen Ruowen pulled out her phone and sent a voice message to Chen Liwan. “Dad! Mom called you an old man! Aren’t you going to come back and deal with her?”

With practiced ease, she grabbed Bai Jinyan and hurried out, leaving Yang Anxin bewildered in the wake of her departure.

This child really is…

As soon as they stepped outside, Assistant Pan immediately followed, bouncing along behind Chen Ruowen. “Miss, do you want me to come with you? I can help carry your bag, queue up, and even…”

“You.” Chen Ruowen stopped, first pointing at Pan, then at the villa’s gate. “Disappear from my sight immediately.”

“Miss, but… Chairman Chen… I… Alright, I’ll go.”

“Wait.” Chen Ruowen suddenly called out to Assistant Pan, and he turned, hopeful for a change of heart. She pointed at the sky. “Get rid of that thing. I don’t want them following me today. It’s driving me crazy.”

“This…” Pan was clearly troubled. The drone squad was under Chen Liwan’s direct supervision, and normally Zhao Yan handled communication. He had no say in the matter at all.

“What do you mean, ‘this’? Figure something out. If it’s still following me in thirty minutes, I’ll report you to Old Chen. If he disagrees, I’ll tell my mom and make sure you sleep in the living room every night!”

That threat… Tsk tsk, how terrifying…

Today, Bai Jinyan’s family driver was behind the wheel—a man nearing forty, quiet, someone Chen Ruowen had seen a few times, who had watched Bai Jinyan grow up.

Since they weren’t heading to school, Bai Jinyan didn’t bother with an inconspicuous car or a taxi. He used his only luxury vehicle, a Range Rover.

The car slowly pulled away from the villa community and headed toward the commercial district.

Bai Jinyan was someone who liked to mix with crowds. He preferred ordinary schools, ordinary shopping districts. When it came to movies, he never went to private cinemas, nor would he let Chen Ruowen book out a theater; he insisted on queueing with the masses, crowding into the auditorium, sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers under the same roof.

But this time, things were a bit different.

As the car drove out, the streets remained quiet, which surprised Chen Ruowen. “Aren’t we going to the commercial center today?”

Bai Jinyan affirmed. “You don’t like it there, do you?”

Hearing this, Chen Ruowen wanted to throw her arms around him and kiss him. He finally understood—finally thought about her feelings when it came to dates.

Heaven knows, over the years Bai Jinyan had dragged her to all sorts of odd places: crowded cinemas were the best of it, but there were libraries, museums, science centers… She still couldn’t fathom what possessed her to agree to those places.

“The East Street has a new leisure city, only open to select guests. It just opened last month. I thought I’d take you to see it.”

Chen Ruowen’s eyes lit up and she wrapped her arms around his. “Jinyan, you’re wonderful. To repay you, I promise… I promise I’ll try not to fall asleep in the cinema today and watch the whole movie with you.”

Bai Jinyan’s eyebrow twitched. “Could you change that nickname?”

With magnanimity, Chen Ruowen replied, “Just for today, I’ll follow your wishes—Jinyan, Jinjin, Bai Bai… How about Bai Bai?”

“That sounds like a puppy’s name…”

“So Jinyan sounds better, right?”

Bai Jinyan surrendered. “Fine, whatever makes you happy…”

The car stopped at the entrance of the leisure city. After Bai Jinyan presented a special membership card, they drove into the underground parking lot.

The leisure city was different from typical wealthy entertainment districts. There were noticeably more people, the decor was upscale but not ostentatious, unlike anywhere Chen Ruowen had visited before.

The cinema was on the ninth floor of the leisure city, four times larger than a standard multiplex, but with only a fifth of the usual crowd. The auditorium was spacious, and the screens, the seats, and the intervals between seats were all far superior to ordinary theaters.

Bai Jinyan didn’t bother buying tickets. He simply checked the showtimes at the front desk, swiped his card, and entered the auditorium, choosing a double seat in the middle toward the back.

Though Chen Ruowen solemnly promised before the movie began that she wouldn’t fall asleep, she inevitably did, as usual.

Saving the world… She really couldn’t care less.

Yet Bai Jinyan was clearly used to it. If Chen Ruowen could doze off in a noisy regular cinema, why wouldn’t she in this sparsely populated member-only theater? If she actually stayed alert, that would be strange to him.

When the movie ended, Bai Jinyan turned to look at the sleeping face beside him, reached out and pinched Chen Ruowen’s cheek.

“Someone swore she wouldn’t fall asleep, and look what happened.”