Chapter 48

Here Song Anan bumped into Pei Kuang unexpectedly at this private club. Although the club was relatively proper, it was still a mixed bunch and not a place for an underage student like her to visit. Before Song Anan could recover from her surprise, Pei Kuang had already walked up to her.

Song Anan looked at Pei Kuang blankly, seeming a bit dazed. They hadn't seen each other since the variety show ended filming. Suddenly she felt as if they were worlds apart.

Pei Kuang glanced in the direction Jing Fan had left and asked, "Here with friends?"

Song Anan replied softly, "Yeah, for a senior sister's birthday."

Pei Kuang nodded thoughtfully. He looked down at the bag Song Anan was holding and asked, "Are you leaving now?"

Song Anan lightly murmured "Mm-hmm."

Pei Kuang looked at the time and said, "Alright, I'll take you home then."

Song Anan was taken aback for a moment, and quickly waved her hand, "Don't trouble yourself, I'm fine. I'll just take a taxi home later."

She didn't know who Pei Kuang had come here with, but coming to a place like this, he must be busy. Song Anan didn't want to hold Pei Kuang up because of her. She wasn't a child anymore and could go home by herself. To demonstrate her resolve, she decisively nodded at him.

Pei Kuang looked at her quietly for a few seconds and asked, "Does Linchuan know?"

Song Anan was confused. "Huh?"

Know what?

Pei Kuang casually put his hands in his pockets and lazily said, "Does Linchuan know you came here?"

Song Anan pursed her lips. Her family didn't oppose her going to proper private clubs like this, but the premise was that she had to be accompanied by family, at least before she became an adult. So right now, Song Anan felt a little guilty.

"It's too late. Since I've run into you, there's no way I can let you go home alone," Pei Kuang said.

"Two options. Either I call Linchuan now, or I take you home."

Song Anan suddenly looked up, completely surprised as she stared at Pei Kuang. Was he a kid? How could he tattle like that!

And was he...threatening her?

Pei Kuang smiled harmlessly, "That's right, I'm threatening you."

Song Anan: "......"

How could he do this? But faced with this threat, she was powerless. Linchuan was filming out of town. If Pei Kuang told him now, a scolding wouldn't be a big deal, but she didn't want him to worry.

Song Anan pursed her lips and stubbornly struggled, "I'm the elder, he can't control me."

Pei Kuang's eyebrows ticked up in amusement. "Oh? Shall we test it out?"

As he spoke, he took out his phone as if he was going to call Linchuan.

Song Anan panicked and quickly stopped him. "I'll let you take me!"

Only then did Pei Kuang slowly put his phone away.

Song Anan glared at him indignantly.

Just then, the door of the nearby private room suddenly opened from the inside. Jing Fan hurriedly walked out. "Miss Song, we..."

Seeing Pei Kuang, he couldn't help but pause, then looked back at Song Anan, "Your friend?"

Song Anan was taken aback for a moment, suddenly at a loss for how to introduce Pei Kuang.

Her nephew's friend?

It felt a little odd.

Luckily Jing Fan quickly recognized Pei Kuang. He had seen the live streaming variety show Song Anan did over summer vacation, so naturally he also knew of the relationship between Pei Kuang and Song Anan.

After Jing Fan appeared, Pei Kuang was also silently appraising him. When the other looked over, he slightly nodded.

Song Anan seized this chance to quickly say, "Senior brother Jing Fan, go back inside. You don't need to specially see me off. I'll go back with him."

As she spoke, she returned Jing Fan's phone to him.

Seeing Song Anan actually holding Jing Fan's phone, Pei Kuang couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Jing Fan hesitated for a moment, as if wanting to say something.

But Song Anan didn't give him a chance to react. She turned to look at Pei Kuang, "Shall we go?"

Pei Kuang lightly nodded at Jing Fan. "Let's go."

Then he directly walked past the two.

Song Anan waved at Jing Fan, bid him farewell, then turned to chase after Pei Kuang.

Pei Kuang had come to discuss business with someone, so leaving early he definitely needed to say goodbye.

He brought Song Anan to a private room and asked, "Do you want to come in with me, or wait out here?"

Song Anan hesitated for a moment. "Are you sure I won't be in the way?"

Pei Kuang smiled. "Don't worry, we already finished discussing things. If I don't leave now, all that's left is drinking."

Hearing this, Song Anan didn't feel bad about it anymore. She murmured "Oh," and said, "Then I'll just wait for you out here."

Pei Kuang nodded lightly.

Just as he was about to go in, the door of the private room opened and two people walked out. A director and a producer, the ones Pei Kuang had arranged to meet today.

Seeing the girl beside Pei Kuang, they couldn't help but be surprised. The director looked the two of them over for a while, then meaningfully asked, "Your girlfriend?"

In the industry, it wasn't rare for relationships to be kept secret, but they would usually catch wind of something. They had never heard Pei Kuang had a girlfriend before.

Song Anan's heart lurched. Girlfriend?

"Director Xu is joking. I don't have any girlfriend," Pei Kuang said with a laugh. "A friend's child."

Song Anan lowered her gaze, eyebrows unconsciously wrinkling slightly.

A friend's...child?

She wasn't a child! She was clearly this guy's elder!

Director Xu was also a bit surprised, but soon seemed to understand something. Pei Kuang wanted to introduce this girl to them.

But this was normal too. With Pei Kuang's status, whether bringing a friend's child into the industry or fostering a new star, bringing someone new onto set shouldn't be a problem.

He looked Song Anan over once more, his mind quickly flipping through which role in his current production could be given to her.

With this look, she really should come into the entertainment industry.

"Miss, you're also in the industry?" Director Xu casually asked.

Pei Kuang replied, "No, she's still in school."

Director Xu looked Song Anan over. She did seem young. "Film academy?"

Song Anan blinked and truthfully answered, "No, I'm studying medicine."

Pei Kuang was just about to explain the misunderstanding when the producer suddenly recognized Song Anan.

"She's that little auntie of Linchuan's."

Director Xu froze.

Linchuan's little auntie?

The producer concisely explained in a few words.

Only then did Director Xu realize his mistake. He waved his hand dismissively. "My bad, seeing someone so good-looking, I automatically assumed you were in the industry. My occupational disease is getting worse, I need to get this treated."

Pei Kuang smiled. "It was my fault, I didn't explain clearly."

The two had directly taken the elevator down to the club's underground parking lot. Pei Kuang's car was parked here.

Right before getting in the car, Song Anan suddenly remembered something. She turned to the person beside her, "You didn't drink, right?"

Pei Kuang was startled for a moment. "Don't worry, I knew I had to drive so I didn't touch any alcohol."

Song Anan murmured "Oh," then got in the car reassured.

Pei Kuang smiled and shook his head.

Such a law-abiding good student.

The car smoothly drove out of the parking garage onto the busy streets.

Since getting in the car, neither had spoken.

Song Anan sat in the passenger seat, head lowered, seemingly lost in thought.

Pei Kuang glanced at her. "What's wrong, still upset?"

Song Anan looked over at Pei Kuang. She was confused for a moment before realizing what he meant by upset.

If he hadn't brought it up, she would have forgotten about being threatened at the club.

And she had given in too.

It really pissed her off.

Song Anan couldn't help grumbling, "Linchuan is my junior. He's never tried to control me before."

The corners of Pei Kuang's eyes turned up. So?

"So, since you two are friends, you are also..." Song Anan struggled to bluff, "Also my junior!"

Pei Kuang was stunned for a moment, then chuckled in bewilderment. "You really like being the elder that much?"

Song Anan lowered her gaze and honestly said, "Can't say I like it, but it's how my parents treat me."

Pei Kuang nodded lightly, seeming to acknowledge her reasoning.

Silence filled the car once more.

"That boy you met outside the private room," Pei Kuang paused, seemingly looking for the right words, "is he your...boyfriend?"

Song Anan suddenly jerked her head up, completely astonished.

What boyfriend?

Senior brother Jing Fan?

"Impossible. He's just a senior brother I know. Running into each other today was a total coincidence. We don't normally have any contact."

After speaking, Song Anan belatedly realized she seemed a bit too flustered.

She awkwardly looked away, "Don't wrongly accuse me, and don't even think about tattling to Linchuan."

Pei Kuang was startled. He couldn't help but rub his temples.

Fine, in this girl's mind, he had firmly established himself as a 'tattletale.'

But why did he get the wrong idea?

A boy so casually lending something as personal as his phone to another girl, could anyone blame him for jumping to conclusions?

"As long as that's not the case, it's fine."

Song Anan looked back at him, filled with suspicion. Pei Kuang helplessly said, "Really, I wasn't thinking of tattling. I just feel early relationships aren't good."

Song Anan didn't normally care about things like this. But for some reason today she seemed intent on getting to the bottom of it.

She turned to look straight at him. "Why aren't they good?"

Pei Kuang's eyebrows jumped. He suddenly felt a bit headachey.

He suddenly understood how parents who encountered kids in early relationships felt.

"Underage relationships," he paused, "are illegal."

Song Anan froze.

Although not encouraging underage relationships, what law did that break?

She looked at Pei Kuang very speechlessly.

With an expression of "I may be underage but I'm not an idiot."

Pei Kuang's grip on the steering wheel tightened as he struggled to keep his expression under control. But he failed in the end, abruptly laughing out loud.

What a terrible excuse he had just come up with on the spot.

Song Anan was also infected, unable to hold back her laughter.

The confined space of the car was filled with their laughter.

After a while, Song Anan suppressed her smile and softly grumbled, "It's not really early relationship either."

Pei Kuang didn't catch it clearly. "What?"

Song Anan pursed her lips and said, "I'm saying, I'm already in college, so even if I really start dating, there's nothing wrong with that, right?"

Pei Kuang pondered for a moment: "Didn't you say the workload in junior year is busy, why not wait a little longer?"

He tried to dissuade her thoughts.

But Song Anan retorted unwillingly, "Then senior year will be even busier, and I'll only get busier in the future. Does it mean that just because I'm busy, I can never date?"

Pei Kuang was directly stumped.

He really couldn't refute this - compared to now, it seemed like life after graduating would only get busier.

Indeed, there was no reason not to date just because one was busy.

In principle, this was the girl's private matter, and he shouldn't interfere too much.

But after spending this period of time together, although Pei Kuang really couldn't treat Song Anan as an elder, he did sincerely treat her as a younger sister.

It was also at this moment that he suddenly understood Jing Fan's feelings - no wonder he had reacted so strongly to the topic of Song Anan's relationships before.

Pei Kuang thought for a moment and said, "If you ask for my opinion, I still suggest you consider it after becoming an adult."

By then, she would be more mentally mature and better able to understand her own feelings.

"Also, if you do start dating in the future, you can bring him to Jing Fan first."

Song Anan was puzzled, "Why bring him to see Jing Fan?"

Pei Kuang smiled. Why else could it be?

Men understand men better, and can judge more accurately.

The girl was too naive, wasn't he worried that she would get hurt?

"Let him screen the guy for you." Pei Kuang's face showed an uncharacteristic serious expression.

"Don't worry, Jing Fan is all talk, if the guy is really not bad, he won't really stop you."

Song Anan quietly looked at Pei Kuang.

For some reason, she recklessly asked, "Then I'll tell you, and you can screen him for me, okay?"

Pei Kuang was stunned, seemingly not expecting her to say that. "Of course, I'm very happy that you trust me so much."

After saying that, he added, "Don't worry, if you don't want Jing Fan to know, I promise I won't tattle."

Hearing this, Song Anan lowered her eyelashes, and her eyes flashed.

A feeling of loss suddenly welled up in her heart.

In fact, Song Anan had always known that Pei Kuang, like Jing Fan, really just treated her like a younger sister.

He was so good to her, only because she was Jing Fan's aunt.

It didn't actually have much to do with her as a person.

Song Anan's chest felt stifled.

She turned her head to look out the car window, trying hard to suppress the sour feeling in the corners of her eyes.

The car arrived at B University's entrance unknowingly.

The car couldn't drive onto campus now, so Pei Kuang found a parking spot.

"I won't send you in."

Although it was a bit late, he still couldn't guarantee not running into anyone on campus and causing trouble if photographed.

He added, "I'll wait here, message me when you get to your dorm safely."

Song Anan nodded, and reached to unbuckle her seatbelt.

But halfway through unbuckling, she stopped.

After not seeing each other for so long, she didn't want to part so quickly.

Song Anan suddenly plucked up her courage and looked at Pei Kuang. "Can I go to your place to see Qiuling?"