Chapter 693 : I_m Getting Married
Chapter 693: I'm Getting Married
Chen Fan was somewhat surprised.
He didn't expect to see Fang Ling in Luocheng.
It had been over a year since they last met.
And he remembered that Fang Ling was studying abroad.
How did she suddenly appear here?
Since he saw her, he couldn't pretend he didn't. Chen Fan smiled and waved at her across the street.
Fang Ling crossed the road and walked towards him.
Chen Fan's smile suddenly froze.
Because he noticed the black armband on her arm.
"What a coincidence," Fang Ling said with a smile, greeting him first.
Chen Fan nodded, "Long time no see. What brings you here?"
"My grandmother passed away. I came to send her off on her final journey."
Chen Fan thought to himself, sure enough, someone in her family had passed away.
He suddenly remembered that when he first met Fang Ling, it was in Luocheng.
At that time, she came to Zhou Honghai's computer school to repair a computer, and even gave him a payment for it, which became the initial funds for his startup.
Thinking about it now, it turned out that Fang Ling's grandmother lived in Luocheng.
Fang Ling looked at Chen Fan and asked, "Do you have time? Want to find a place to sit and chat?"
Chen Fan nodded with a smile, "Sure, it's been a while since we last talked."
"Where should we go? You decide."
Fang Ling thought for a moment and shook her head, "I'm not familiar with Luocheng, I only come here occasionally during holidays."
"You decide. Any place where we can chat is fine."
Chen Fan pointed to the car parked nearby.
"Let's talk in the car."
"You bought a car?" Fang Ling was a bit surprised, "You finally decided to buy a car?"
"I still remember when we were in college, you always refused to buy a car. If I didn't know you well, I would have thought you were pretending to be poor."
Chen Fan started the car and smiled wryly, "Not at all. Back in school, I just didn't want to draw too much attention."
"Now that I've graduated, of course I need to buy a car for convenience. I can't always squeeze onto buses, I'm not stupid."
Driving onto the road, Chen Fan thought for a moment and asked, "Are you hungry? Shall we find a place to eat?"
Fang Ling's lips suddenly curled up.
"I remember you refused to treat me to a meal several times before, no matter how much I asked."
"Today the sun must be rising from the west, you're actually offering to treat me."
Chen Fan: "How come I don't remember that? Are you deliberately trying to smear me?"
"Besides, you've come all the way to Luocheng. As a host, it's only right that I treat you to a meal."
Fang Ling: "See? Now you're denying it, aren't you?"
Fang Ling smiled and then said, "I want to eat hotpot."
"Hotpot in this season?" Chen Fan thought for a moment, "Alright. I actually remember a hotpot restaurant."
Driving Fang Ling around the county town for a few streets, he finally found the hotpot restaurant he remembered.
After parking the car, he led Fang Ling into the restaurant and found a seat by the window.
It was just past 11 am, not yet lunchtime, so there were only two tables of customers in the restaurant, making it very quiet.
A waiter came over with the menu, and Chen Fan asked Fang Ling, "Can you eat spicy food?"
Fang Ling nodded, "I like spicy food."
Chen Fan smiled, "I'm not very good with spicy food."
"Let's get a split pot then."
He then asked Fang Ling what ingredients she wanted. Fang Ling simply said she just wanted to eat meat and drink alcohol right now.
Chen Fan shook his head and had to order himself.
"Please also bring us two bottles of beer."
However, Fang Ling said, "Just bring a whole case, give us 6 bottles, and make sure they're cold."
Chen Fan reminded her, "I drove here, I can't drink..."
"Can't I drink by myself?"
Chen Fan had to nod to the waiter, "Just do as she says."
Soon the hotpot and ingredients were served. Fang Ling poured herself a glass and downed it in one go.
"Ahh! That feels good!"
Seeing this, Chen Fan smiled.
"Come on, tell me."
"Tell you what?" Fang Ling glared.
"Tell me what's bothering you."
"How do you know something's bothering me?"
"Come on, sister. It's written all over your face that you're upset and irritated."
Fang Ling suddenly felt a bit self-conscious.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Mm-hmm. It is."
Fang Ling poured herself another glass and stared blankly at the bubbling hotpot broth.
Chen Fan sighed, reached for a bottle of beer, opened it, and poured himself a glass.
"I'll only drink one bottle with you today, okay? I still need to drive later."
Fang Ling looked up, "Thank you, you're really nice."
"Now can you tell me?"
"Is it because of your grandmother?"
Fang Ling shook her head without explaining.
Chen Fan had to ask, "It seems you were very close to your grandmother."
This time Fang Ling didn't shake her head, but lowered her head and said softly.
"When I was little, my parents were always busy with business, so they often sent me to my grandmother's place here."
"So, I spent most of my childhood at my grandmother's house."
"She was very good to me and loved me very much. She often bought me snacks..."
"I just never thought... I should have spent more time with her."
As she spoke, Fang Ling's eyes had already turned red.
She raised her hand to secretly wipe away a tear, then looked up at Chen Fan.
"Do you think... the price we pay for growing up is watching our loved ones get old and even leave us?"
Chen Fan smiled wryly, "Why are you getting so sentimental?"
"Everyone gets old eventually."
Fang Ling said softly with some disappointment, "But... I'm not ready yet."
Chen Fan picked up his chopsticks and fished around in the hotpot, picking up a piece of beef and placing it in her plate.
"Alright, stop being sentimental. Try this quickly."
"Thank you."
They ate a few pieces of meat, and Chen Fan raised his glass to gently clink with hers.
"How did your grandmother pass away?"
"She died from an illness. Cerebral hemorrhage. It was sudden." Fang Ling's eyes reddened again.
"We didn't even have time to get her to the hospital."
"I didn't even get to see her one last time."
Chen Fan comforted her, "Actually, it's not too bad. She didn't suffer much."
"Many elderly people are tormented by illness for years before they pass away. If I had to choose, I'd prefer to go like this when I'm old."
Fang Ling muttered, "You really know how to comfort people."
Chen Fan smiled and smoothly changed the subject.
"I remember you were studying abroad, right? How is it? Are you doing well overseas?"
Fang Ling frowned and shook her head.
"Not so great. The food abroad is terrible. Can't you see how thin I've become?"
Chen Fan laughed, "I thought you had deliberately lost weight to get like this."
Fang Ling rolled her eyes, "Who loses weight to the point where even their chest gets smaller?"
"Cough cough..."
Chen Fan choked on his food and almost spat out the meat in his mouth.
Fang Ling's lips curled into a smile, revealing that her joke had succeeded.
Chen Fan asked somewhat awkwardly, "When are you going back? By the way, you're about to graduate, right?"
Fang Ling stared at Chen Fan, "So you do care about me?"
"I thought you were always trying to avoid me."
Chen Fan stammered, "What are you talking about? Can't I care about a friend?"
Fang Ling pouted, "If you really cared about me, why haven't you called me even once in over a year? You haven't even sent a text message."
Chen Fan felt embarrassed and stammered, "I... I actually don't have your overseas phone number?"
"Tong Yao has it!" Fang Ling stared at Chen Fan, "Aren't you close with Tong Yao?"
Chen Fan quickly waved his hands, "Don't say things like that. When did I become close with Tong Yao? We're just ordinary friends..."
"Then what about me? Are we just ordinary friends too?"
"Well..."
Just as Chen Fan was feeling very awkward, Fang Ling suddenly threw out another sentence that left Chen Fan stunned.
"I'm getting married."