There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Extra 14.2

Time flew by, and it was time for dinner.

When Qin Ke heard that Huo Shengfeng had specifically requested her, Huo Zhonglou, Huo Jingyan, and Yan An to join him for dinner, she felt a moment of unease.

Especially when combined with Huo Jingyan’s mysterious words, she vaguely felt that the kindly smiling Old Master Huo at the head of the table was preparing to stir things up.

Sure enough.

A few minutes into dinner, as Qin Ke and Yan An were chatting softly, they heard Old Master Huo cut in during a lull in the conversation.

“Ke Ke, when do you plan to hold the wedding ceremony with Zhonglou?”

“…cough–”

Qin Ke barely managed to suppress her choking cough, forcing down a sip of water and catching her breath before looking up at the head of the table in shock.

“Wed-wedding?”

Her gaze shifted to Huo Jun sitting across from her.

Huo Shengfeng smiled, “Yes, I think you’re both of age now. The wedding is just a formality, right? Better to settle it early, and it’ll save me from having people constantly coming to ask about Zhonglou’s situation.”

“…”

Qin Ke was most afraid of dealing with this old master. She knew well that even though she had lived two lives, facing an elder of Huo Shengfeng’s caliber, she might be persuaded in just a few sentences.

She could only smile nervously, “We…”

“We’re not having a wedding ceremony.”

A voice suddenly cut off Qin Ke’s words.

The other four people at the table were stunned, all looking at Huo Jun in surprise or shock.

Clearly, no one had expected these words to come from Huo Jun, whom they thought would be the most eager.

Yan An, not understanding the situation, gave Huo Jingyan a strange look. Huo Jingyan furrowed his brow slightly, worriedly glancing at Qin Ke and Huo Jun.

Among the four, only Qin Ke vaguely guessed at something.

And sure enough, the next second she heard Huo Jun snort lightly, pick up the snow-white napkin beside him to wipe the corner of his mouth, and casually set it aside.

“Only those with outdated thoughts would insist on following such an old-fashioned format as a wedding ceremony, right?”

As he spoke, he gave Qin Ke a pointed look, his eyes full of mockery and jealousy.

Qin Ke: “……”

She knew it.

But his words were a bit too sweeping…

At the head of the table, Huo Shengfeng remained the most unperturbed, only giving Huo Jun an extra glance from start to finish. Now hearing these words, he still smiled.

“Then how do you want to do it?”

Huo Jun thought for a moment. “A travel wedding, I guess.” He raised his hand resting on the table, gesturing towards Qin Ke. “Just her and me, that’s enough.”

Hearing this, Huo Shengfeng finally showed a change in expression. He put away his smile and frowned.

“There should at least be a formal occasion to confirm Ke Ke’s status.”

“Does her status need their confirmation?” Huo Jun showed a mocking smile. He glanced at the head of the table, his tone calm and steady, “As long as I’m alive, she’ll only have me by her side.”

“……”

Huo Shengfeng seemed to have lost his temper with his son. He held back and said, “It’s to confirm her position, not yours.”

“That routine of yours might fool her, but don’t bother trying it on me.” Huo Jun snorted lightly, “How many people in our social circle don’t know she’s my fiancée now?”

“…”

Huo Jingyan nodded with a smile beside them, calmly speaking while eating politely. “Indeed, there aren’t many who don’t know — Young Master Zhonglou has all but written a biography of Ke Ke and handed it out to everyone he meets.”

Yan An burst out laughing.

Qin Ke was inwardly embarrassed but tried to maintain a calm exterior. The person across from her, however, seemed not at all ashamed but rather proud, “A biography? Sounds like an idea.”

Qin Ke: “……”

Huo Shengfeng paused, “Since you insist, we’ll do it your way. Have you decided on a time?”

Huo Jun looked at Qin Ke.

“This summer vacation, then.”

Qin Ke: “?”

Qin Ke swallowed her juice, “Isn’t that a bit too rushed?”

“Is it rushed?” Huo Jun’s lips curled into a cool smile, “Hmm, is it because you’ve just had one and aren’t interested?”

Everyone: “??”

Qin Ke: “……”

Qin Ke resigned herself, “Summer vacation is fine, let’s do summer vacation.”

****

Before the summer vacation was Qin Ke’s second semester of her junior year. Coincidentally, Qin Ke’s undergraduate advisor at A University had a topic seminar at the end of this semester, which lasted about half a week. Qin Ke had to follow her advisor to the city where the seminar was held.

The trip originally planned to depart at the beginning of summer vacation was naturally put on hold.

With the change of plans, Huo Jun simply changed the first travel destination. The new target city was set on a tropical island famous for its beach scenery, next to the city where Qin Ke’s topic seminar was held.

Huo Jun booked a flight and flew over the day before the seminar ended, checking in early, just waiting for Qin Ke to arrive.

Qin Ke, rushing to the last day’s dinner, brought up the matter of leaving the group with her advisor.

“Travel?” At the dinner table, Qin Ke’s advisor asked casually, “Where to?”

Qin Ke mentioned the name of the neighboring island.

At the same table, there were several graduate students from other schools in A City. Some of them heard and joined the conversation.

“Ah, I know, it’s in the neighboring city, famous for its sea view.”

“Speaking of which, it’s so close this time…”

“Do you guys want to go play? I kind of want to go”

“Me… me too…”

Hearing this, Qin Ke’s advisor smiled.

“Since that’s the case, you can all go together. It’s too crowded during the tourist season, and things can happen. I’d feel more at ease if you go together, you can look out for each other.”

Qin Ke was stunned and hurriedly said, “That’s not necessary, Professor Cui. I have a friend already waiting for me there.”

“A friend? You’re all about the same age, you’ll definitely have fun together — if your friend really doesn’t want to, you can split up after you arrive.”

“……”

At this point, Qin Ke really couldn’t refuse anymore. She wanted to use the “travel wedding” as a shield, but was only worried that Professor Cui and others would ask more questions, so she had to give up.

So, early the next morning, Qin Ke flew to the island with four graduate students who had decided to go.

Among the four graduate students, there was a couple, both first-year graduate students from another university in A City. The girl was called Lu Yinong, who had only known Qin Ke for a few days but was particularly friendly, constantly calling Qin Ke “Xiao Ke” “Xiao Ke”.

For instance, at this moment.

“Xiao Ke, is that friend of yours who went ahead a guy or a girl?”

“A guy.”

“Oh? Is he your boyfriend then!”

“Mm.”

“Haha, I knew it, a beautiful girl like you must already have a boyfriend! Yesterday, there was even a guy at the next table saying he wanted to pursue you.”

“……”

“But it’s our first time coming here, it’s good that your boyfriend is there, otherwise we’d definitely be at a loss after getting off the plane, not knowing what to do.”

“……”

Qin Ke frowned very slightly, but in the end didn’t say anything, just smiled.

――

Last night, she had already told Huo Jun the painful news that she would have a few extra companions. Over the phone, she really couldn’t successfully judge Huo Jun’s emotional state, so she was particularly nervous at this moment.

Enduring this torment all the way, the plane finally landed.

Leading the four people out of the agreed terminal, still far away, Qin Ke already saw a familiar figure leaning against the door of a black stretch limousine in the parking area, his long legs casually crossed.

The young man wore beige ankle-length pants on his lower body, showing off a pair of long, powerful legs and exposing half of his sharply beautiful ankles. On top, he wore a loose white shirt, slightly puffed up by the scorching wind, the lines from his chest muscles to his abs faintly visible.

Further up was a handsome face, with black tousled hair above equally fair skin. His beautiful features showed little emotion, emanating a hint of coldness for some reason, which made him even more eye-catching.

At least, outside this terminal, more than two-thirds of the women, intentionally or not, would glance in that direction, many even more than once.

Even Qin Ke, who had become somewhat aesthetically numb after a few years, had to admit after examining him for a few seconds — this version of Huo Jun was really too deceptive.

“My God, tourist attractions really are easy places to encounter top-tier specimens, how can he be this good-looking?”

Qin Ke heard Lu Yinong exclaim to the female graduate student beside her, “Tsk tsk, how many women here must want to sleep with him, it’d definitely be a jackpot.”

“……”

Qin Ke almost choked on her own saliva, looking to the side with a slightly shocked expression — Lu Yinong’s boyfriend still had that wooden expression, showing no reaction to these words.

Just then, Lu Yinong seemed to remember something and quickly walked to Qin Ke’s side, “Xiao Ke, has your boyfriend arrived?”

Qin Ke: “…He has.”

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, the young man leaning against the car seemed to sense something, lifting his gaze towards them.

After two seconds of eye contact, the cold expression on Huo Jun’s face finally faded. He strode over with his long legs, reaching Qin Ke in just a few steps.

Huo Jun stopped in front of Qin Ke.

While the others were still dazed, Huo Jun had already frowned, leaned down to kiss Qin Ke’s lips, and grumbled in a low voice.

“Why are you so late?”

Hearing the thick resentment in his voice, Qin Ke’s bad mood vanished, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“The flight was delayed.”

Huo Jun frowned. “What a lousy airport, can’t they manage just a few planes?”

Qin Ke smiled, “Why are you acting like a child…”

Touching on a key word, Qin Ke stopped abruptly. When she looked up again, she indeed found that someone’s gaze had become considerably more dangerous.

Qin Ke sighed helplessly in her heart: This matter wasn’t going to be let go, was it?

Huo Jun lowered his head slightly, whispering in her ear. “I’ll settle accounts with you back at the hotel.”

Qin Ke: “.”

The young man in front of her had already straightened up, his gaze sweeping indifferently over the four completely petrified people beside them.

“Are these the friends you mentioned who were coming along?”

“Ah, yes.”

Only then did Qin Ke remember to briefly introduce the four people to Huo Jun.

Then she glanced at Lu Yinong somewhat awkwardly, gesturing towards Huo Jun.

“This is my boyfriend, his surname is Huo.”

Huo Jun frowned, correcting her dissatisfiedly.

“Not boyfriend, fiancé.”

Qin Ke laughed, “Alright, alright, fiancé.”

The four people finally came to their senses, their eyes widening, each more shocked than the other.

Among them, Lu Yinong’s expression was the most rigid, asking in disbelief.

“…He is your boyfriend!?”