Chapter 077: Madam, Miss Ran Off with That Kid!

Chapter 077: Madam, Miss Ran Off with That Kid!

“Run… with you?” Su Qingying went blank. She stared at Wu Chen in disbelief, every emotion written plainly across her face. She was more rattled now than she had been a moment ago.

Not merely rattled. It could fairly be called fear.

Out in the world she was the senior vice president of Jinfu Group, a capable, decisive businesswoman, the successor everyone favored. She was very nearly flawless. Looks, family background, ability, upbringing—there was nothing about her anyone could fault.

But at home, with her parents, and above all with her mother, she was afraid.

It was the same fear the children of great families felt toward the old master of the house. Take the Li family. Apart from Li Ruobing, there was no one who wasn’t afraid of the old man, Li Ruotai included.

Yet even Li Ruotai, who feared his grandfather and hated to disappoint him, had a limit.

Su Qingying was different. She had been controlled so tightly from childhood that she had developed a people-pleasing personality.

Li Ruotai had made his share of mistakes. He had done things knowing perfectly well they were wrong, thinking only that it would be fine as long as no one found out, and if they did, he would apologize and take the blame.

Su Qingying, on the other hand, did not allow herself to make mistakes at all.

The reason she didn’t allow it was usually that she feared disappointing the people around her. At the company she feared disappointing the shareholders. At home she feared disappointing her parents. She had been too outstanding from the time she was small—so outstanding that no one would permit her the slightest flaw.

The moment Wu Chen said her mother was on her way, coming to catch him—or rather, to catch the two of them—

Su Qingying’s mind filled with every terrible consequence at once.

Her mother did not permit her to date freely. She wasn’t even permitted to get too close in private to any man her own age.

As Jinfu Group’s successor, her future husband had to pass a family review first. Only once the family was satisfied could she make a choice.

In other words, the family would screen the field, pick out the few men they judged worthy of Su Qingying, and let her choose among those.

She had no freedom in the matter whatsoever.

And everything she had done with Wu Chen on the golf course today—there was no question that once the Su family got hold of him, he would be threatened, bought, and squeezed.

In truth that alone would have been nothing.

Because the two of them weren’t dating.

The problem was that the “truth” was more frightening than dating would have been.

What worried Su Qingying was that Wu Chen, under pressure, would say why she had come here. That he would speak of “that secret.” For Su Qingying, that would be annihilating… or at least, she believed it would be.

A good girl who had worn a halo since childhood, a flawless favored daughter of heaven, was in fact that kind of woman. The higher she had stood, the harder the fall.

Su Qingying genuinely did not know how she would face the people around her once the secret was out.

Wu Chen said to run.

She was still afraid.

Running wouldn’t solve anything, she thought. She had already used the Su family’s resources to look into who Wu Chen was. If she could investigate him, so could her mother. Her mother would learn who he was. Her mother would find him.

But now Wu Chen didn’t only intend to run himself—he was asking whether she wanted to come along.

Su Qingying was thoroughly stunned.

Wouldn’t that make it even harder to explain? Beyond the reach of any lie she could invent?

Knowing full well her mother was coming with people to find them, and running off with a man anyway.

This was something Su Qingying had never dared even to imagine.

“Do you plan to live like this forever?” Wu Chen seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. He caught her hand. “You’re twenty-seven, not seven. You’re an adult with your own mind, your own character. You’re not a puppet, not a marionette. Keep this up and you’ll end with depression sooner or later.”

“But I…” Su Qingying understood what he meant.

“I’d guess your mother arrives within ten minutes. I can get out. But you—have you worked out how you’ll explain this to her?”

“I, I, I…” She got out three “I”s and could go no further.

“We leave first. We avoid her first. Then we come up with something. Once it’s all arranged, it’ll be easier to explain when you go back.”

“I… what else can I… I…”

“Some things have to have a first time.” Wu Chen looked into her eyes again. “Just like you wrote once, in that forum post. You’re living an exhausting life. You should set down the burden and take the first step bravely. Do you want to go on repressing yourself like this? Do you want to live for other people forever? Are your parents always right? Do you honestly believe a version of you like this can run the company well one day?”

He held her gaze.

One second. Two. Three.

Wu Chen released her hand.

“Never mind. I’m going.” He turned to leave.

He hadn’t taken a single step before Su Qingying’s hand shot up and caught the back of his clothes.

Wu Chen looked over his shoulder at her.

“I—I’ll come with you!” It cost her enormous courage to say it. And the instant it was out, her expression shifted rapidly from panicked tension to composure.

It was as though the barrier inside her had been crossed all at once, and the change had completed itself.

“We’ll go together!” she said again, unprompted.

As if she were rallying herself, hardening her own resolve.

She drew two deep breaths, then turned toward the two bodyguards in the distance and took out her phone, apparently meaning to call them.

“What are you doing?” Wu Chen pressed his hand over hers.

“Sending them away,” she said, turning her head.

“Don’t you see you’re still afraid? You’re still thinking for other people. You want to hand them an excuse for failing to keep an eye on you. And at the same time you’re afraid to face them directly. You’re afraid they’ll stop you, so you don’t dare simply walk out…” Every word landed square in her chest. All of it was true.

“Then what do you say we do?”

“Run,” Wu Chen said.

“Run how?”

“Like this.” He grabbed her hand and ran.

Ran.

Literally.

They simply ran.

Su Qingying was hauled into a sprint. Her condition was quite good—she had disliked exercise in her younger years, but she’d taken to it these past few, and she kept up with him without trouble.

They ran toward the road on the far side of Area C.

Off in the distance, the two bodyguards froze for a beat at the sight, then tore after them like madmen.

Wu Chen pulled her out to the road.

A row of open-top electric sightseeing carts sat parked beside it. Anyone here could take one. You could drive yourself, or have club staff drive for you.

The keys were all left in the vehicles.

Wu Chen pulled her onto one, twisted the key, stamped the “gas,” and the cart shot away.

The bodyguards came sprinting up and took a cart after them.

A few minutes later.

The two of them reached the club building and kept running. Wu Chen pulled her through the lobby and out into the great front lot… then into another vehicle. His Lamborghini.

The engine’s roar detonated across the parking lot.

The blue Lamborghini backed out, tail sliding, swung onto the lane, flung its tail again as it hit the main drive, and made straight for the gate.

By the time the two bodyguards burst out the building’s main doors, the blue Lamborghini had already blasted clear of the club grounds and vanished in a wake of dust.

The two bodyguards were about to lose their minds.

They stalled for a moment. Then one shouted, “I’ll get the car!” and bolted off to the side.

The other pulled out his phone and dialed with shaking hands.

It connected immediately.

“Madam! Miss ran off with that kid!” The bodyguard’s voice was urgent, and unsteady.

“What did you say?!” The voice on the other end came close to a shriek.