So I Had No Choice But to Stop Being the White Moonlight – Chapter 128
by Little PandaLanlan and Qianqian’s Honeymoon Trip
France
“You are also my Mona Lisa.”
“First Iceland, then Norway.”
“I took you to meet my friends in France, we ate at the best Western restaurant in Ireland, danced under the moonlight at a local folk gathering in Belgium, and finally went to the Netherlands to see the windmills and tulips.”
…
The plane broke through the clouds, painting a swath of azure across the oval windows.
Sunlight shone upon the cloud layer; the sky looked like an inverted ocean.
The stratosphere layered its temperatures—warm above, cold below—and cast a faint blush on the small face pressed against the glass.
Chi Qian gazed eagerly at the scenery outside. The words Shi Jinlan had murmured in her ear when she first returned to this world popped into her mind unbidden.
After the New Year, once the old snow in the mountain ravines had completely melted, Chi Qian and Shi Jinlan’s real honeymoon trip was finally put on the agenda.
Shi Jinlan used a business trip as an excuse, claiming it required ‘wife diplomacy,’ to borrow Chi Qian away from Chi Qingyan.
In truth, Chi Qingyan knew exactly what this so-called wife diplomacy meant. However, since his recent random spot-checks on Chi Qian hadn’t turned up any major issues, and considering her good behavior, he allowed it.
In spring, all things came back to life, and the whole world was filled with vitality.
This was the best season for France, and also the time when tulips blossomed in the Netherlands.
Regarding the honeymoon itinerary Shi Jinlan had originally described to her, Chi Qian made a few subtractions.
She had spent many days researching travel guides online and concluded that it was better not to be too greedy when traveling. Four countries would be comfortable; any more would just be exhausting. So, she removed Iceland and Norway in Northern Europe, leaving only four countries in Western Europe.
After all, her choker had been custom-made when Shi Jinlan flew to France.
Subconsciously, Chi Qian raised a hand to brush against her neck.
The small sheepskin choker rested securely around her neck, a precious gemstone dangling beneath the metallic buckle.
It wasn’t to say that Chi Qian had grown so bold and reckless after spending a long time with Shi Jinlan.
It was just that such a highly unique item paired with her punk-style outfit didn’t look out of place at all; instead, it perfectly brought out a rebellious edge.
“Wow, are we in French airspace now?” Her rebellious facade didn’t last long. Chi Qian’s eyes lit up with a sparkle that completely contradicted the aloof aura she was supposed to be maintaining.
Gazing at the scenery that gradually grew clearer as their altitude dropped, she described it with her limited vocabulary: “The architecture here is totally different from the island. The buildings here are all pointy.”
“Very interesting?” Shi Jinlan followed Chi Qian’s gaze out the window, echoing her words.
Chi Qian nodded emphatically. “Super interesting.”
“If it’s interesting, we’ll stay here for a couple more days,” Shi Jinlan said. She pulled Chi Qian’s wrist, reminding her to sit properly. “The plane is about to descend. Sit back.”
“Okay.” Chi Qian obediently gathered her skirt.
The choker around her neck was never a symbol of trying to be unconventional; it was a leash held in Shi Jinlan’s hand.
She would forever belong to Shi Jinlan.
The cloud layer parted from the horizon as the plane approached.
In a city where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, it was hard to imagine such a vast, open space unblocked by towering skyscrapers. The descending plane slowly, steadily taxied onto the runway, whipping up the wind across the open field.
The cold wind, mixed with an incongruous warmth, chased the plane from afar.
Under the bright sunlight, blond hair fluttered.
Shi Jinlan’s French friend was already waiting at the private airport. Several bodyguards in sharp suits fanned out around him, and a slender female simultaneous interpreter followed closely behind.
The wind blew his hair into a mess, but it couldn’t hide the anticipation in his eyes.
Under his eager gaze, the cabin door opened less than three minutes later.
A cyan hem fluttered like ethereal smoke, swirling and rubbing intimately against the ankle that had just stepped out.
Shi Jinlan walked out unhurriedly. Then, following the wrist she held, she led another person out under the man’s expectant and eager stare.
Chi Qian stepped out wearing a pair of sneakers that completely clashed with the little-leather-shoes vibe of her outfit, her black coat billowing in the wind.
Her face was expressionless. The choker swayed around her neck, the gemstone glinting sharply—like the fiercest hound in the hands of Her Majesty the Queen.
The long wind swept through their long hair, framing the two women of similar height in the exact same picture.
With such a high degree of compatibility, they were the absolute picture of a perfect couple.
“Louis, you don’t have a chance at all,” the female simultaneous interpreter standing beside the man teased with a smile.
Hearing this, obvious disappointment flashed in Louis’s eyes.
He watched Shi Jinlan walk down the steps and offered a faint, bitter smile. His gaze shifted to Chi Qian, holding more appreciation than hostility. “I never thought of claiming this rose for myself. She belongs with that black gemstone.”
“Achoo!”
Perhaps because someone had just mentioned her, Chi Qian sneezed the moment she stepped off the plane.
France wasn’t nearly as warm as the south during this season. Fortunately, she had listened to Shi Jinlan and prepared a heavy coat, otherwise her grandfather would definitely nag her when she got home.
The two of them descended the stairs in sync. Louis had been watching from afar and had started walking toward them the moment they prepared to disembark.
Now, he walked straight up to Shi Jinlan with enthusiasm, moving to hug her. “Lan, long time no see.”
Shi Jinlan wouldn’t have accepted it in the past, and she wouldn’t now.
Faced with Louis’s passionate welcome, she simply extended a hand and said to him in fluent French, “Good afternoon.”
Rejected by Shi Jinlan, a crestfallen expression instantly appeared on Louis’s face.
But the expression was fleeting. Though he looked helpless, he was also open-minded. He adjusted his hand and shook Shi Jinlan’s. “Good afternoon.”
“Why do you look even thinner than the last time I saw you? Something must have happened to you again, right?” Louis observed carefully. Just looking at Shi Jinlan’s wrist made him feel like she had been through something unusual once more.
“Just some minor matters.” Shi Jinlan responded to Louis’s concern with a flat tone, polite and courteous.
But Louis didn’t buy it. He shook his head. “When I met you three years ago, you also said it was just ‘some minor matters’.”
Saying this, he paused, clearly drawing a line between the current Shi Jinlan and the one from three years ago. “But you’re doing much better now than you were three years ago.”
“Of course.” Shi Jinlan received these words well, revealing a rare look of gratification in front of Louis.
Seeing this, Louis understood.
He looked at Shi Jinlan with a mix of loss and relief, then shifted his gaze to Chi Qian beside her. “I know you’ve married your beloved girl. There’s no need to make me feel any more miserable.”
“We have a saying in our country: marrying the girl you love is like winning a victorious battle. How could I resist showing off?” Shi Jinlan smiled serenely, her normally cold face looking exceptionally gentle when she brought up Chi Qian.
As she spoke, Shi Jinlan held Chi Qian’s wrist and took the initiative to introduce her. “This is Louis, my business partner in France.”
“Hello, Mr. Louis,” Chi Qian said unhurriedly, delivering a string of fluent, standard French.
Before coming here, Shi Jinlan had expanded the multi-language functions within Chi Qian’s system. Now, she didn’t even need Thirteen by her side to understand foreign languages—she could even speak them herself.
Louis looked at the woman in front of him, whose aura was completely different from Shi Jinlan’s, and realized he had been a bit rude just now. He shook Chi Qian’s extended hand and said, “Miss Chi, I’m sorry for forgetting to introduce myself. I am Lan’s… good friend in France. You don’t need to call me ‘mister’; just call me Louis.”
“Louis.” Chi Qian murmured the name softly, going along with his words. “Then you shouldn’t call me Miss Chi either. Just call me the same way you call Ah Lan.”
She said this calmly and politely, yet she was subtly declaring to Louis that she and Shi Jinlan stood as one.
The chilling spring wind suddenly blew across the empty tarmac, invisibly spreading an air of declaring sovereignty.
Chi Qian knew that during the three years she had been gone, this Louis knew much more about Shi Jinlan’s condition than she did.
That was the tragic ending she had created for Shi Jinlan. Even though it had ultimately been blacked out and changed into a comma, the blank spaces were still smeared with agony—agony that she couldn’t see, but that others had witnessed clearly.
She only learned of this story when it was brought up by others. The sour ache in her heart was beyond words, mixed with a hint of possessiveness-laden guilt.
Louis saw the possessiveness in Chi Qian’s eyes, but he didn’t pick up on her guilt toward Shi Jinlan.
Only a dangerous aura crept up from the fingers he shook with Chi Qian, acting as a reminder and a warning.
He knew he would never have a chance again. He gave a disappointed smile and said to Chi Qian, “Alright, Qian.”
The man shifted his emotions quickly, naturally transitioning to the topic of their trip to France. “Lan said you really want to go to the Louvre. Do you want to go right now?”
“Isn’t it closed today?” Chi Qian was momentarily stunned.
“It can also be open,” Louis said warmly.
Chi Qian took a moment to process this, and then heard Shi Jinlan speak beside her ear, “Why else do you think I picked this time?”
Right, why?
This was supposed to be closing time, but they had still opened it for Shi Jinlan.
Some rules simply did not exist for people like them.
It was the first time Chi Qian truly and profoundly experienced the perks of this level of influence. Sitting in the car, she watched the towering buildings from the last century slip past her line of sight. It was dazzling, as if she had entered another world.
It was not a public opening day. The Louvre was so quiet that there seemed to be no sound at all.
Used to seeing the dense crowds of people coming and going, Chi Qian found it a bit jarring that the vast exhibition hall now echoed only with her footsteps.
However, it was only at a time like this that she felt she could truly calm her mind and patiently appreciate a piece of art.
“How is it?” Shi Jinlan asked softly, watching her pause before an artwork.
Chi Qian looked at the exquisite oil painting in front of her, then raised her head to look at the massive gallery, and uttered two words to Shi Jinlan: “Just average.”
The words sounded complete, yet also as if she hadn’t finished.
Shi Jinlan turned to look at Chi Qian, and sure enough, she caught a glimpse of slyness in the girl’s eyes.
A smile slowly bloomed on that calm little face as she softly hummed a Japanese song1 into Shi Jinlan’s ear: “When I first visited the Louvre, I felt nothing special, for I had already met the Mona Lisa that belonged to me.”
A cool breeze drifted by. The Frenchmen standing to the side couldn’t quite understand it, requiring the simultaneous interpreter.
Shi Jinlan, perhaps not expecting Chi Qian to suddenly sing, was also taken aback for a moment.
Faced with the surrounding silence and the pairs of eyes watching her from not too far away, a sudden wave of embarrassment rushed to Chi Qian’s head.
She suddenly felt an inexplicable urge to curl her toes into the floor2, unable to stop herself from self-deprecating: “What a cheesy line, right?”
Chi Qian looked at the expressions of forced comprehension on the faces of the accompanying bigwigs and felt that this occasion really wasn’t suited for such abstract romantic antics.
“Let’s go see the real Mona Lisa!”
Eager to escape this place, Chi Qian reached out to grab Shi Jinlan’s hand, wanting to flee the awkward situation she had single-handedly dug out with her toes.
But before she could take a step, Shi Jinlan pulled her back.
Chi Qian looked back blankly, the embarrassment still lingering in her eyes.
Yet Shi Jinlan’s gaze remained gentle, a faint smile shining through her cold eyes.
“Silly girl.”
She spoke to Chi Qian in a voice only the two of them could hear. With a slight pull of her hand, she drew Chi Qian closer.
“You are also my Mona Lisa.”
As she spoke, Shi Jinlan’s lips brushed past the shell of Chi Qian’s ear, as if pressing a kiss against it.
The author has something to say:
Lanlan: In the extras, I’m not Lazy Lan, I’m Flirty Lan OvO
Footnotes
- A reference to a romantic lyric expressing that the singer had already found their own true love—their personal 'Mona Lisa'—long before seeing the actual painting.
- A Chinese internet slang expression (jiǎozhǐ zhuādì) describing a feeling of extreme cringe or secondhand embarrassment, so intense that one's toes physically curl as if trying to grip the floor to dig a hole and hide.
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