My Aloof Husband Can't Stop His Devoted Affection-Chapter 396 - 010: Chance Encounter

Chapter 396: 010: Chance Encounter
There are two Yu Hong Food Streets, located on both sides of the Jiangcheng River. Just visiting these two streets takes several hours, not to mention eating and strolling, which is a distinctive local feature of Jiang City, attracting many tourists from out of town.
Ye Lingran didn’t eat much, because Jiang City also has many ancient towns and is a city with the highest appreciation for Hanfu culture. This is greatly beneficial to her design style, as her main design style is new fashion with ancient Hanfu elements. So, most of the time she was browsing various Hanfu stores, occasionally holding one or two extra snacks. In short, she was leisurely eating and sightseeing, and if it weren’t for Yun Qi’s call, she wouldn’t have noticed it was already eight o’clock.
After strolling around this street a little longer, Ye Lingran felt a bit tired, so she chose a very exquisite and unique little café, ordered a cup of coffee, and sat for a while, chatting on WeChat with Cen Jin and Yun Xi.
In the group chat, Yun Xi kept teasing her and Yun Qi. They even looked at the moments she just posted, wondering why her brother was nowhere to be seen and saying it’s outrageous she didn’t include him in the photos. Ye Lingran got teased until she blushed crimson and felt almost too embarrassed to find a crack in the ground to hide. She finally explained that he had a schedule today and wasn’t with her. Yun Xi started criticizing Yun Qi for letting a girl wander alone in such a crowded place at night and joked that Yu Hong Food Street is a holy land for encounters, and what if someone just like Zhong Kui suddenly kidnapped her, Yun Qi would cry for sure, with Yu Feici eagerly egging on from the side.
By the end of the conversation, Ye Lingran found it hard to keep up and went silent, while in the chat Cen Jin reprimanded Yun Xi and Yu Feici for scaring her off, but Yun Xi and Yu Feici still seemed quite pleased, unaffected.
Near ten o’clock, Ye Lingran disembarked from the boat, walked to the other side of the riverbank, and started wandering again. About five or six minutes later, Yun Qi’s call came. Seeing this caller ID, her heart fluttered like a little deer in excitement, and she answered with a smile, "Hey, are you here yet?"
"Yeah, just parked the car, where are you? I’m now at the west exit of Zone A on Yu Hong Street, and you?"
"I’m at the south entrance of Zone C."
"I’ll come over now."
"Okay."
After hanging up, Ye Lingran looked around, confirmed the direction, and then continued to walk forward. The two were slowly approaching each other from opposite directions, passing through the crowd, crossing the street corners, just to meet one another and for a rare sentiment born in their hearts, a sentiment that belonged only to them.
After about ten minutes of walking, Ye Lingran’s clear eyes scanned the crowd for that familiar tall figure. But it was the peak time with the most people, and she didn’t notice her steps colliding with a figure passing by. She stepped back two steps from the collision, and the figure quickly reached out to hold her arm, "Sorry, are you okay?"
This unexpected collision caught Ye Lingran off guard. While stumbling backward, she was visibly flustered. When she steadied herself, she was still a bit dazed until she heard a sunny and pleasant voice above her. Collecting her thoughts, she looked up to meet those starry, hopeful eyes, her expression slightly stunned, red lips gently moving, "I’m... I’m fine."
The man was also stunned when she looked up, his pupils gradually widening, as if his heart had stopped beating. The two stood there in the bustling food street, just staring at each other.
"Uh... it’s good that you’re okay, sorry about earlier, I didn’t notice." The man regained his composure, smiled sunnily, and suddenly realized he still held her arm, quickly letting go and scratching his head apologetically.
"It’s okay." Ye Lingran shook her head with a soft smile, stood firm, and deliberately took a step back to maintain distance from him, "It was my fault too, for not seeing the person coming ahead. Thanks for that." After speaking, she nodded slightly in acknowledgment, intending to pass by him and leave.
"Uh... wait..." Seeing her about to leave, the man hurriedly called out.
Ye Lingran stopped and looked back at him, her eyes showing some confusion and puzzled.
"Uh... are you here as a tourist too?" The man thought for a while before squeezing out a sentence to ask.