Fated Love With the Billionaire
Chapter 63 Marriage Fate

Chapter 63: Chapter 63 Marriage Fate

Cheng Qiaobei chose a restaurant surrounded by huge floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides. He had reserved a spot near the beach. As night fell, bonfires lit up on the beach, and the music and the cheerful crowd attracted Chen Ningxi and her group. They saw people proposing by the firelight, with onlookers clapping and congratulating while holding up their phones to take pictures.

Lin Hanrui looked at the young couple who had successfully proposed and suddenly felt emotional. However, before he could finish speaking, his voice came to an abrupt halt, "Today’s youngsters really know how to be romantic. Back in the day, we..."

Uh...

The smile on his face froze instantaneously, glancing back at Cheng Qiaobei. The latter pressed his wine glass to his lips, gazing coolly at him, slowly sipping the red wine.

In Lin Hanrui’s eyes, Cheng Qiaobei was not drinking wine, but his blood.

Old Cheng, spare me!

Cheng Qiaobei put down the glass and poured himself another, watching with interest how Lin Hanrui would continue to dig his own grave.

Chen Ningxi and Liang Lei both looked expectantly at Lin Hanrui, still waiting for him to continue. Liang Lei, resting her chin in her hand, asked with an innocent expression, "What happened back then?"

"..." Lin Hanrui could only smile awkwardly, unsure how to continue.

Liang Lei might seem carefree, but when it came to important matters, she was anything but vague. If the phrase "playing dumb to catch the tiger" applied to someone, it would be her.

"Not much, just remembered some things from the past." Lin Hanrui wanted to brush it off, but Liang Lei was not someone easily fooled. She smiled slyly and asked, "Come on, I’m really curious."

Lin Hanrui tried to mask it with a laugh, "Hehe, there’s really nothing special, just college kids drinking, laughing, making a fuss, and chatting about idle matters."

Liang Lei didn’t believe his nonsense, sensing he was hiding something. Her friend had just climbed out of a muck-like relationship and didn’t want her to fall into another pit.

"Who hasn’t had a wild youth? But, I think it’s not that simple. Let me guess, did you pursue a girl and get rejected, then drink and vent your drunken madness on Cheng Qiaobei?" Liang Lei intentionally baited Lin Hanrui, "No, it should be more explosive, a girl pursued Cheng Qiaobei, got rejected, then came to you drunk and sobbing, and you two ended up together."

Under the table, Chen Ningxi nudged Liang Lei with her foot, signaling enough was enough.

"How could that be? Old Cheng always liked Jiang Wanyi and never had any dubiousness with other women." Just after he said it, Lin Hanrui immediately covered his face, "Uh, I’ll go to the restroom."

As soon as he left, Liang Lei also left under some pretext, leaving Chen Ningxi and Cheng Qiaobei alone. The atmosphere suddenly quietened.

Cheng Qiaobei lowered his eyes, pushed his tongue against his cheek, and rubbed the rim of his glass with his thumb. The past couldn’t affect him, but bringing up old things in front of his current partner, he worried that Chen Ningxi might mind.

Chen Ningxi, however, smiled lightly, "They meant no harm, don’t take it to heart."

Cheng Qiaobei: "..."

He finally understood what having a calm and stable partner brought him—not only mental comfort and relaxation but also a strong sense of support. This trust allowed him to be real, natural, and not pretend.

Actually, Cheng Qiaobei didn’t intend to deliberately avoid the past. Since she was mentioned, might as well explain.

"Do you want to hear it?"

Chen Ningxi countered, "Do you want to tell it?"

Cheng Qiaobei paused, "I had a girlfriend in college. She’s the Jiang Wanyi that Lin Hanrui mentioned. Later, we both went abroad to study, and she decided to stay after graduation while I planned to return home to develop. After a long-distance relationship, we broke up."

A concise account, without mentioning who initiated the breakup, but the situation wasn’t hard to guess.

Chen Ningxi asked, "Do you still keep in touch now?"

Cheng Qiaobei replied, "We’re still WeChat friends, but apart from New Year’s greetings, we haven’t spoken."

Though she’s an ex, knowing her current boyfriend still had his ex on WeChat made her feel a little uncomfortable.

Cheng Qiaobei noticed her smile faded slightly, so he decisively took out his phone, opened the WeChat chat with Jiang Wanyi, and showed their conversation to Chen Ningxi. Indeed, in recent years, there were only New Year’s greetings. In the next moment, Cheng Qiaobei deleted her.

"Hey," Chen Ningxi widened her eyes, "why did you delete it? I didn’t ask you to. Don’t blame me later."

She turned her head towards the window, looking at the bonfire on the beach.

The fact that he could delete his ex without hesitation made Chen Ningxi feel more at ease.

Cheng Qiaobei teasingly said, "Is that so? You didn’t mind. Should I add her back?"

"Just try," Chen Ningxi snatched his phone, "Deleting and then adding back, what’s the point?"

Cheng Qiaobei laughed, "Wasn’t I teasing you, seeing you get angry?"

Chen Ningxi: "That’s not funny. What if I got upset and ignored you?"

Cheng Qiaobei leaned closer, "Are you easy to appease?"

Chen Ningxi gave him a side-eye, "Whether I’m easy to appease depends on the situation and the issue. For small matters, I’m quite reasonable, but for matters of principle, if violated, there’s no discussion. Like if I did something against my principles and betrayed you, would you forgive me?"

Thinking from the other’s perspective, that’s a definite move.

Cheng Qiaobei already knew her bottom line from Guo Heming. So, he would never do anything that touched the bottom line.

Because the relationship he wanted wasn’t a casual fling, so betrayal wasn’t even an option.

He firmly replied, "No."

That’s exactly what Chen Ningxi wanted to hear: "How you expect me to act, I will expect the same from you. I’m not trying to win over you; since we have the same goals, we’re naturally going to agree, not become victors."

"I agree."

Cheng Qiaobei agreed with her views. Mature individuals make mature judgments and have mature goals.

When being together with someone made him happier than being alone, he realized he had found the one whose soul matched his perfectly.

Chen Ningxi looked towards the beach and said to Cheng Qiaobei, "Look at them. They’re having so much fun."

"Let’s go too," Cheng Qiaobei held her hand, "come on."

With this heartfelt exchange of honesty, their adjustment period was cut even shorter.

Watching them leave the restaurant, Lin Hanrui emerged from the corner, patting his chest with a troubled face, "That scared me, I thought they were going to argue."

Liang Lei stepped up from behind him, giving him a sidelong glance, she smiled, "Ning Xi isn’t like me, she’s not so easily explosive."

Lin Hanrui kept pace with her and said, "They say hot-tempered girls are loyal and passionate, that’s a really nice trait."

Liang Lei took a few steps and suddenly stopped, her back bumping without warning into his chest. His firm muscles were solid and robust, making her heart skip. Slowly, she turned around, smiling as she studied him from the bottom up.

"You can read faces too?"

Lin Hanrui gave a wicked smile, "I know a little palmistry too."

Liang Lei held out her hand, "Can you help me take a look?"

Lin Hanrui lifted her soft hand, the pad of his thumb rubbing along her palm, and asked, "What do you want to look at?"

With a hint so obvious, pretending not to understand would be a bit foolish.

Liang Lei said, "Fate in marriage."