“Did they get back together? Or did Jin Qingyan force himself on her earlier?” Long Tianze asked in bewilderment .
“You're so oblivious and insensitive . You could tell they did just from their expression,” Mei Yangyang chastised as she quickly walked outside .
“Aren't you going to the office?” An Xiaoning asked Jin Qingyan .
“No, I'd like to spend the day with you . ”
An Xiaoning expressed assent .
The two of them headed to Jin Qingyan's rooftop where they laid on the couch to do some reading while basking in the warm and bright sun .
Jin Qingyan's phone kept ringing continuously .
However, no one bothered to answer .
More willful than ever, they continued to enjoy their alone time together .
Soon after, Mrs . Jin showed up with her chauffeur to look for them .
Upon the sight of An Xiaoning, Mrs . Jin asked, “You two got back together?”
“Yeah . ”
“May I have a word with you privately?”
“Sure,” An Xiaoning agreed .
The conversation then took place in the living room of An Xiaoning's home while Jin Qingyan waited patiently in the backyard . He was filled with worry that his mother might end up saying some callous things that would make An Xiaoning leave him again .
An Xiaoning poured Mrs . Jin some tea before saying, “What would you like to say? Go ahead . ”
“I've already heard that you can't conceive anymore . ”
Taken aback, An Xiaoning quickly corrected, “It's not that I can't get pregnant anymore, it's just going to be more difficult with the poor state of health I'm in . ”
“You don't have to explain . To sum things up, you just won't be able to give birth to a child . Qingyan is our only son, are you really going to continue being with him?” Mrs . Jin rebuked .
“I've been refusing to get back together with him because of this very reason . I know that this would become a major obstacle for us, but I guess I don't have a choice . If I choose to give him up, I'll only be allowing another woman to take my place and be with the man I love . Besides, no one would thank me for being selfless . In fact, I would be deemed as a fool for doing so, don't you agree?”
Appearing rather upset after hearing her words, Mrs . Jin said sternly, “Xiaoning, I know we've let you down and we're willing to compensate you in whichever way you'd like . But getting back together with Qingyan is out of the question . ”
“Mrs . Jin, do you really think I'm short of money, or a house or a car? I don't need the kind of monetary compensation you're referring to . I would suggest that you speak to Qingyan about this . I won't say another word if he chooses to give up . You don't have to talk to me about the rest . If you continue to harrass me like this, I'll marry Qingyan right away . We were once mother and daughter-in-law for a few months, after all . You should know very well that I mean what I say,” An Xiaoning retorted .
Mrs . Jin was at a loss for words . “Have you seen the news this morning?”
“Yes, I have . You're going to tell me that Qingyan has slept with Lin Mingxi after you've set them up successfully, aren't you? Perhaps you lack some common sense but, Mrs . Jin, intercourse cannot happen when one has lost his consciousness from being drugged . Moreover, what you've done is just going to make Qingyan refrain from going home for dinner in the future . In a nutshell, you've just suffered a double loss, Mrs . Jin . You'd better stop coming up with such tricks, lest you lose your son as well, on top of not getting to have a grandchild,” An Xiaoning said relentlessly .
Speechless, Mrs . Jin stood up to leave .
Seeing his mother, Jin Qingyan hurriedly asked, “Mother, what did you talk to Xiaoning about?”
Mrs . Jin glared at him and walked away without uttering a single word .
Jin Qingyan returned inside to see that An Xiaoning was sitting on the couch, deep in her thoughts .
“Xiaoning…”
“Yes?” She stood up and walked towards him to give him a hug .
“Did my mother say anything inappropriate?”
“She knows I can't conceive easily and she wanted me to leave you,” An Xiaoning said calmly .
“Did you…” He took a deep breath and continued, “Did you agree?”
“Silly, would I hug you if I agreed? Let's just let nature take its course,” An Xiaoning answered .
“Let's go get married now . ”
“I already said no . I haven't made up my mind completely yet . It shall depend on your performance . ”
“Xiaoning, am I not doing well enough?” Jin Qingyan asked in bewilderment, thinking that he had already done his best .
“You are, for now . But we don't know how you'll do in the future . Don't think you can be lawless and sleep over here just because we've gotten back together . You are to return to your house as usual . ”
Staring at the news on his phone screen, Gu Beicheng felt his heart sink, for he had never expected them to get back together .
It was not good news for him .
Gu Beicheng could not help but feel upset and uneasy . To make matters worse, she did not pick up his multiple calls .
Resisting the urge to go look for her, Gu Beicheng went home straight after work .
Mrs . Gu sat down beside him and said, “Son… just forget about Xiaoning . I don't think she fancies you at all . Don't be so stubborn and just continue being her brother, alright?”
“I know . ” Gu Beicheng turned to look at his mother and said, “Mother, in which aspect am I worse than Jin Qingyan?”
“To me, you're better than him in every aspect . Well, that's because you're my son . But your relationship with Xiaoning is different . One of the main reasons why things turned out this way is because you appeared later than him . ”
Gu Beicheng did not answer and returned to his room instead .
He walked inside the room opposite his, which An Xiaoning stayed in for a few days previously .
Sitting by the bed, he turned to look at the bedhead where he spotted an envelope .
Gu Beicheng took the envelope and realized that it contained the letter he had written to her . It seemed she did not open it at all .
As he sprawled across the bed, a smile formed on his face and he began to recall the very first time he had laid his eyes upon her .
All of a sudden, his phone began to ring . He picked it up to see that it was a call from An Xiaoning .
“Xiaoning . ”
“You called me so many times . What's the matter?”
Gu Beicheng no longer felt like telling her the things he wanted to initially . Instead, he answered, “I read on the news that you've gotten back together with Jin Qingyan . ”
“Yeah . ”
She had confirmed the truth with just a single word .
“Um… well, congratulations then,” said Gu Beicheng, not managing to come up with anything else to say .
“Thank you . Beicheng, I'm sorry,” said An Xiaoning, who hesitated for a long while before deciding to call him back .
She had long wanted to apologize to him .
However, she had yet to do so .
“Why? There's no need to apologize to your brother . I just hope he'll treat you well in the future . You'll always be a part of our family,” said Gu Beicheng, filled with misery .
“I still feel a little guilty towards you somehow . I'll go home for dinner in a few days' time . We'll talk then . ”
“Alright . ”
Gu Beicheng let out a sigh after hanging up the phone . Little did he expect to lose the battle even before he had the chance to shine . He won the previous time with Chi Rui'er, yet he had completely been defeated by Jin Qingyan this time .
He could not help but wish that An Xiaoning could swap places with Chi Rui'er instead, so that he could at least win her heart .
Heaven is fair, indeed .
He had initially thought that she would no longer get back together with Jin Qingyan once they got divorced, regardless of how much Jin Qingyan pestered her . To be frank, he simply could not bring himself to be as clingy as Jin Qingyan was . Besides, she was an extremely important person to the Gu family after all .
He stood up and tore up the unopened letter he had written to An Xiaoning into shreds before disposing of it in the rubbish bin .
Gu Beicheng quickly strode out of the room and headed downstairs to drive away from the Gu family mansion .
He put on a pair of shades to shield his eyes from the glaring sun and continued to drive at top speed, seemingly venting his frustration and sorrow .
Chapter end
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