Chapter 109: The Bright Moon Enters My Embrace (4)

With a soft “clink”, the heads of everyone at the table turned.

Yan Jing, who had been the picture of composure all evening, had just knocked over his teacup, sending a stream of tea spilling across the polished wood.

“My apologies,” Yan Jing said, his face taut as he fought to maintain his usual calm.

He righted the cup with one hand while stealing a glance at Shi Pengpeng.

“Careful, big brother,” Shi Pengpeng teased, handing him a pack of tissues with a playful grin.

“Didn’t burn yourself, did you?”

“No.” Yan Jing shook his head, reaching for the tissues.

Their fingertips brushed, a fleeting spark of contact.

“Good.” Shi Pengpeng’s smile widened, and she tossed him a knowing wink.

Yan Jing’s heart stuttered, as if a feather had grazed it—light, ticklish, and leaving him breathless.

A strange warmth bloomed in his chest, catching him off guard.

The three elders at the table could barely contain their excitement, their voices overlapping in a flurry of questions.

“Pengpeng, you’re not pulling our legs, are you? Are you and Little Jing really together?” Yan Fengshu asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.

“Oh, you can’t joke about something like this!” Ding Liushui chimed in, leaning forward.

“It’s no joke,” Shi Pengpeng replied smoothly, though she wasn’t entirely sure how Yan Jing had spun the story to his family.

To avoid any slip-ups, she put on a shy smile and said, “Oh, it’s a bit embarrassing. Let my brother explain.”

Three pairs of eyes swiveled to Yan Jing in unison.

Yan Jing froze.

He wasn’t sure if Shi Pengpeng was genuinely embarrassed, but he was certainly feeling the heat.

Wasn’t this the moment where she’d watch him squirm, forced to recount the exaggerated tales he’d told his family?

Utterly mortifying!

And yet, within moments, a quiet joy began to swell in his heart, pushing aside the embarrassment.

Shi Pengpeng’s willingness to play along in front of their elders meant she was ready to claim him, at least for now.

That was a victory worth any amount of humiliation.

Steadying himself, Yan Jing fought to keep his lips from curling into a grin.

“It’s simple,” he said, his voice calm but firm.

“I’ve always liked Pengpeng. I’ve been pursuing her for a while, and she finally agreed to be with me.”

He kept it brief, sticking to the truth without embellishment.

Even so, the revelation left the elders stunned.

“You’ve always liked Pengpeng?” Yan Fengshu’s tone was skeptical.

“Since when? That’s not how I remember it.”

“You’re not wrong,” Yan Jing’s mother added with a pointed look.

“He definitely didn’t talk like that before.”

Ding Liushui, unaware of the stories Yan Jing had spun at home about Shi Pengpeng, chuckled.

“Well, I’ll be! I still remember Old Yan joking about a childhood betrothal for Little Jing and Pengpeng. The boy was so spooked he avoided her for years. I thought she’d scared him off for good!”

Yan Jing groaned inwardly.

Couldn’t they let his past stay buried, just for this one joyful day?

Rubbing his temple, he sighed and admitted, “I was too proud back then. I liked her but refused to admit it.”

Shi Pengpeng, who had been resting her chin in her hand, grinning as she waited to hear how he’d spin this, felt her heart skip.

Her eyes flicked up, meeting his gaze.

Yan Jing’s stare was steady, like deep water—unwavering, with a quiet strength that spoke of his sincerity.

She knew him better than anyone.

Yan Jing, with his prickly pride and sharp tongue, had always hidden behind a mask of indifference, his stubbornness harder than stone.

She’d expected him to dodge with some lofty excuse, but here he was, laying his feelings bare.

The last traces of doubt and irritation in her heart dissolved like mist under the morning sun.

The elders, meanwhile, had their moment of clarity.

“No wonder you kept bringing her up all those years,” Yan Fengshu said, still chuckling.

“I thought you were just spooked, but you were smitten!”

Ding Liushui let out a hearty laugh.

“What do they say? No enemies, no lovers!”

“That boy,” Yan Jing’s mother said, half-laughing, half-exasperated.

“His mouth’s tighter than a clamshell. Fooled us all. No wonder he stayed single so long.”

Yan Jing winced.

Trust his mother to know exactly where to twist the knife.

“But,” she continued, her brow furrowing, “if you two have been together for a while, why keep it a secret? Why not tell us?”

Yan Jing’s mind raced.

His mother’s questions were as sharp as an interrogator’s.

Before he could respond, Shi Pengpeng lowered her head, her voice soft and demure.

“Auntie, please, it’s too embarrassing…”

Yan Jing nearly choked.

His mother, completely taken in by Shi Pengpeng’s act, backed off immediately.

“Alright, alright, I won’t pry.”

Ding Liushui marveled, “Pengpeng, you’ve really grown up. Used to be so bold, and now look at you, blushing like a proper lady in love.”

Shi Pengpeng playfully swatted him with a shy giggle.

“Grandpa, you’re teasing me!”

Yan Jing stared and thought, ‘This girl could win an Oscar.’

He pressed a fist to his lips, hiding a smile as the elders, sensing Shi Pengpeng’s “shyness,” tactfully changed the subject.

Their faces, though, remained lit with uncontainable joy.

Yan Fengshu and Ding Liushui, old friends who knew both families inside out, were thrilled at the match.

Yan Jing’s mother was equally delighted.

Shi Pengpeng was not only beautiful but poised and generous—and, rarest of all, a taoist master.

Yan Jing’s unfortunate knack for attracting trouble had always been a worry, an unchangeable quirk of his nature.

He’d used it as an excuse to avoid relationships for years.

But now, with Shi Pengpeng, that concern seemed to fade.

The meal passed in a warm, cheerful haze.

As they parted, Yan Jing’s mother lingered, reluctant to leave.

If not for an auction she and Yan Fengshu had to attend, she might have dragged Shi Pengpeng off for afternoon tea.

Ding Liushui, too, had a reunion to get to and didn’t stay long.

As the elders’ car pulled away, Yan Jing finally let out a laugh, unable to hold it in any longer.

Shi Pengpeng jumped at the sound, turning to him with a puzzled look.

“What’s with you, brother? Possessed again?”

“If you say so,” Yan Jing replied, not even bothering to argue.

His grin widened, his eyes soft as they met hers.

“You’re my girlfriend now, so you call the shots.”

Shi Pengpeng blinked, caught off guard.

Possessed?

No, more like he’d just passed the imperial exams.

“Speaking of which,” she said, crossing her arms with a sly smile, “don’t you think you owe me an explanation? Just how long have we been ‘together’?”

Yan Jing’s grin faltered.

In his excitement, he’d forgotten that detail.

With no face left to save, he spilled the truth—how it all started with a misunderstanding, how he’d gone to meet her thinking it was a blind date.

Shi Pengpeng’s jaw dropped.

As she pieced together their first meeting, her eyes widened, then narrowed.

“Wait. You thought it was a blind date, and you still went?” She laughed, half-exasperated, half-amused.

“Didn’t you swear you’d only ever gone on one blind date?”

She paused, realization dawning.

“Don’t tell me… that was me?”

“Because it was you,” Yan Jing said, his voice steady but tinged with self-mockery.

He lowered his gaze and continued, “I thought I’d go to turn you down in person. But the truth is, from the very start, I never wanted to say no.”

“Pengpeng, I told you—I’ve liked you for a long time.”

His feelings had taken root years ago, a quiet bud of affection he’d been too proud to acknowledge.

When they met again after so long, his heart had thrummed with anticipation, though he’d masked it with excuses, clumsily finding ways to stay close to her.

Shi Pengpeng was speechless.

After a long moment, she managed only two words: “You idiot.”

Yan Jing didn’t argue.

He’d breezed through elite schools and built a stellar career, a so-called genius.

But in matters of the heart, he was undeniably a fool.

At least, he thought with a nervous chuckle, this fool had finally woken up.

“Pengpeng,” he said, his voice cautious, “now that you know the truth, you’re not going to back out, are you?”

She laughed, tempted to tease him further.

“Back out of what?”

“No way,” he said, his tone taking on a mock-stern edge, the kind of bravado only a CEO could muster.

“You just admitted to our families we’re together. I’m your boyfriend now, and you can’t go abandoning me.”

Shi Pengpeng bit back a grin.

She’d planned to keep him squirming, but the earnest worry in his eyes stirred something soft and warm in her chest.

“Fine, I won’t back out,” she said, clearing her throat and meeting his gaze.

“Boyfriend.”

In the passenger seat, Shi Pengpeng turned to him, her tone serious.

“So, when are we leaving?”

They’d been sitting in the parked car for a while now, engine silent.

“Just a moment,” Yan Jing said, his lips still curved in a smile.

“I need to calm my heart down a bit.”

Shi Pengpeng rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide her own grin.

She’d barely finished calling him “boyfriend” when he’d frozen for a solid five minutes, like a statue struck dumb by joy.

He definitely needed a moment before driving.

‘What an idiot’, she thought, her lips curving upward.

Then Yan Jing’s voice broke the silence.

“Pengpeng, you free this afternoon?”

She blinked, shaking her head.

“Nope. Why?”

“Let’s go to an amusement park,” he said.

Shi Pengpeng’s brow furrowed.

‘Since when did he have such a childlike hobby?’

Her gaze caught the glow of his phone screen, and she glimpsed an open note—a list of “couple’s date spots” with Xiluo’s famous amusement park at the top.

Shi Pengpeng:”……”

Shi Pengpeng stifled a laugh.

When had he made that list?