“I know I messed up, Xinyan. Please just help me out.” Su Zhan begged flirtatiously while clinging onto Lin Xinyan’s sleeves. “Have mercy on me and help me talk to Qin Ya. Please?”
Zong Jinghao frowned as he went ahead and pulled Su Zhan away from Lin Xinyan. “Just talk. There’s no need for all this touching!” he exclaimed.
Su Zhan paused.
“Xinyan. If you don’t help me out, I really just might die.” Su Zhan gave Zong Jinghao a glare and dived right onto the couch. “I’m not leaving until I see Qin Ya,” he continued.
Su Zhan was being persistent.
This place was great anyway. It was huge and had spare guest rooms. Not to mention him not needing to worry about food.
“Go ahead,” Zong Jinghao replied and dragged Lin Xinyan upstairs.
She looked at Zong Jinghao with uncertainty. “Are we going to just let him be?” Lin Xinyan asked.
Zong Jinghao kept quiet as he pulled her up the stairs. The issue was not whether she should help him. When it came to relationships, things would get really complicated. Su Zhan should be the one to clear things up with Qin Ya, so he did not want Lin Xinyan caught up in their relationship. If they managed to patch things up, great. But what if something went wrong? Would Lin Xinyan be blamed?
On the other hand, Lin Xinyan could actually tell that Su Zhan was going through a rough time.
But in any case, he should suffer a little in order to understand and cherish this relationship.
“I’m giving Qin Ya a call.” She looked at Zong Jinghao who closed the room door. “I won’t involve myself. I’m just concerned about Qin Ya.”
It was obvious that the separation was not doing Qin Ya any good either. She would not have accepted the marriage proposal if she did not have feelings for Su Zhan.
Lin Xinyan pulled out her phone and dialed Qin Ya’s number.
Qin Ya had moved out of her place with Ellen and no one knew where the new place was. It was not big but the living space was just right for her.
Qin Ya sat at the bay window with a book in hand as rain poured down outside. The book was called ‘What is Happiness’. There was a line in the book that she repeated numerous times. It read, ‘What is happiness? Happiness is but the warmth of sunlight in the cold winter. It is but the refreshing iced tea served under the summer sun. When you are content, the smallest of things grants happiness.”
It made so much sense to her. The more one wanted, the more discontented one became. Happiness was lost in the process.
It was like her current situation. The only things on her mind were complaints and regrets. Why did Su Zhan break his promise? Why did she say yes to his proposal that ended up leaving her in this sorry state?
But come to think of it, it’s actually not that big of a deal. I just have to let go.
Su Zhan was just a passerby in her life. He was just someone who made good memories with her but would not stop her from moving on.
As long as she wanted to, happiness would be an arm’s reach away and she would be under the warmth of the winter sun.
Buzz…
The phone beside her suddenly rang. She looked at who the caller was but did not immediately pick up. The shop’s grand opening was scheduled on the 8th; it was still early. Incoming calls for her before that would most likely be related to Su Zhan.
“Ms. Lin,” she answered the phone after a momentary contemplation.
Lin Xinyan walked to the window. The snow outside had already melted away as water dripped from treetops and eaves. She silently braced herself before she said, “Are you free right now?” Lin Xinyan did not want to jump straight into talking about what happened between Qin Ya and Su Zhan.
Qin Ya pursed her lips and asked, “Did Su Zhan ask you to call me?”
“He’s drunk,” Lin Xinyan replied honestly. “He came knocking on my door and said he wouldn’t leave if I don’t help him. Don’t worry though, I’m not calling to talk about that. There are more than enough rooms here for him to stay. I just wanted to ask how are you?”
“I’m doing alright.” Qin Ya lowered her head.
I’m doing much better when I’ve figured things out.
Qin Ya understood that she should not be avoiding her issues. Instead, in order to let go, she had to confront them.
“If he’s being unreasonable, just ask him to call me.” She had blacklisted Su Zhan’s contact prior to Lin Xinyan’s call but decided to undo that. Although she had not forgiven him, it was time to move on. She was ready to confront him with her composure now.
“He really looks like he’s suffering,” Lin Xinyan smiled as she replied, “I’m not trying to persuade you here. I’m just telling you what I see.”
Qin Ya also smiled. “He really doesn’t let anyone feel secure, does he?”
Maybe he has feelings for me.
“I’ll tell him that,” Lin Xinyan replied.
After that, they proceeded to talk about work. The conversation went on pleasantly. As they hung up, Lin Xinyan went downstairs to let Su Zhan know that Qin Ya would be picking up his calls now. But it turned out that he was already fast asleep.
Aunt Yu covered him with a blanket. Sighing, Lin Xinyan left him alone. We’ll talk in the morning.
She returned to her room and saw that Zong Jinghao was lying flat on his back with his arms and legs stretched outwards. It was truly unsightly. Lin Xinyan gave him a look and suggested, “Su Zhan fell asleep. You wanna get him into a room?”
Zong Jinghao turned to his side with one hand supporting his head and signaled her with his index finger. “Come here.”
As for Su Zhan, the house was heated so he was at no risk of catching a cold anyway.
Lin Xinyan instinctively backed away and exclaimed, “What are you doing?”
Raising an eyebrow, Zong Jinghao grinned. “What are you afraid of? I don’t bite,” he teased.
“You’re weird.” Her lips curled.
Zong Jinghao paused.
How am I weird?
“Come here. I have something for you.”
Lin Xinyan skeptically took another step back.
A sudden sense of defeat welled up from within Zong Jinghao seeing how nervous she was.
He let out a sigh and took out the necklace that Zhuang Zijin had given him from his pocket. “Your mom wanted you to have this.”
“It’s my mom’s?” Lin Xinyan replied hesitantly as she gazed at the trinket in his hand. She went up to him but refrained from reaching out. In fact, Lin Xinyan was still considering the truth of his words.
After all, she had never seen this necklace on Zhuang Zijin, nor was this something Zong Jinghao would buy.
A brief moment later, Lin Xinyan extended her hand toward the necklace. The moment she touched it, Zong Jinghao grabbed her arm and tugged at her, causing her to fall into his arms.
“Are you gonna hide?” He smiled.
“Nope,” Lin Xinyan replied while shaking her head.
She quietly stayed in his embrace and asked, “Did my mom really ask you to give me this?”
“Yes,” Zong Jinghao assured her.
Lin Xinyan inspected the necklace carefully but did not find anything unusual about it. It was just a plain and simple platinum necklace. “Put it away if it makes you feel uncomfortable,” Zong Jinghao said as he cuddled her from behind.
She shook her head. “Help me put this on.”
As a matter of fact, Lin Xinyan already had her closure. She was just saddened by the future trials and tribulations that Zhuang Zijin had yet to face.
Since the necklace was hers, she decided to wear it as it felt as though her mother was still beside her.
Zong Jinghao placed the necklace around her neck and clasped it in place. Although he noticed some tiny wordings on the clasp, he assumed those were the marks of the necklace brand and did not inspect any further.
The chain was very thin but bright at the same time. It stood out brilliantly from Lin Xinyan’s black sweater.
Life after the new year was a peaceful one. The two kids went back to school after the fifteenth. Lin Xinyan’s plans to feature Tea Silk in a fashion show was put aside. On the other hand, Zong Jinghao had gotten quite busy recently. She rarely saw him because he left home early and came home late.
As for Qin Ya and Su Zhan, Lin Xinyan did not concern herself with their issue any further. Su Zhan left on the day she told him about Qin Ya being able to see him. She never saw him since then.
Time flew by and almost a month had passed since the new year. February was near when Lin Xinyan received a call from Zong Jinghao asking her to head to his company.
After she hung up, she got off work. She was getting ready to meet up with Zong Jinghao when she passed by the washroom to see that Qin Ya was throwing up inside.
