All he saw was the faint light that filtered through the white curtains. Pursing his lips tightly, he wondered whether he was seeing things just now.
He supposed Lin Xinyan was still in a state of shock due to Su Zhan’s sudden appearance.
Meanwhile, Lin Xinyan was leaning against the wall next to the window, trembling as she placed both hands on her chest. A strange sense of heaviness in her heart made it tough for her to breathe.
Even though she gasped for fresh air to prevent suffocation, she could not stop the complicated emotions from overwhelming her.
The moment she saw him, she was filled with both delight and apprehension.
With her eyes closed, she took a long time to regain her composure.
She guessed he decided not to visit her himself because he was still dealing with Wen Qing’s matter.
After some time, she opened her eyes, wanting to lift the curtain to take one more peek at him. For some reason, her hand suddenly froze.
It stopped in midair right before the curtain.
She had no idea what was holding her back. Was she afraid that the feelings she used to have for him would come flooding back once she laid her eyes on him again?
Slowly, she put her hand down.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself together and walked back to the wardrobe to pack some clothing for the kids.
They didn’t have any suitcases because she had never brought the kids on a trip since they moved to C City. As a result, she had to stuff all their clothes into a duffel bag. Fortunately, it was summer and their clothes did not occupy much space.
When the packing was done, she walked out of her room and saw Su Zhan chatting with the kids.
He stood up when he saw her.
She then passed the duffel bag to him.
“I’ll bring them back a few days later,” reassured Su Zhan. Zong Jinghao needed him to take the kids immediately so that he could set off to visit his father in Baicheng right away.
He had specially instructed Su Zhan to tell her for how long the kids would be away.
It was because he knew she needed the kids’ company more than he. Her insistence on giving birth to the kids even though she had no idea who had fathered them showed how much she loved them. On top of that, she had never been separated from them ever since they were born.
All in all, she was more attached to the kids than he was.
“I’m fine with them staying there for a longer time because I’m sure the kids miss him a lot,” Lin Xinyan said with a smile, “Are you setting off today?”
Su Zhan nodded. “Yup.”
She looked at the two kids and beckoned them over. “Come here.”
“Yes, Mommy.” The children threw themselves into her arms and clung to her lap.
She caressed their heads as she asked, “Didn’t the two of you say you miss Daddy very much? Are you guys excited to meet him?”
“Yes!” Zong Yanxi nodded vigorously.
“But I feel sad to leave Mommy behind.” Zong Yanchen nuzzled his cheeks against her body.
Seeing how hard it was for the kids to leave their mother, Su Zhan said soothingly, “I’ll bring back you two a few days later. We have to go today because I’m sure your Daddy can’t wait to see you both.”
“Mommy…” Zong Yanchen was reluctant to be separated from his mother. If it weren’t because he had to visit Grandpa, he wouldn’t leave his mother alone at home.
“Well, go on now. It’s not like the two of you won’t be coming back anymore.” Lin Xinyan entrusted the kids to Su Zhan. “Please take care of them.”
“I will.” Holding Zong Yanxi’s hand, he looked at Lin Xinyan and said, “See you in a few days.”
She mumbled her response in return. When the trio reached the door, she called out to Su Zhan at the thought of Qin Ya, who was still inside her room.
“Anything else that I should take note of?” He spun around and asked.
She quickly shook her head and said, “Nothing else. Please drive carefully.”
At first, she intended to talk about Qin Ya with him but she soon dismissed the idea as inappropriate.
After acknowledging her advice, Su Zhan hesitated for several seconds before deciding to inform her, “Wen Qing turned himself in…”
“I’m sorry but I don’t feel like knowing anything about him.” Lin Xinyan cut him off directly before he could even finish his sentence.
At the moment, she only wanted to live a serene life in C City and try to do the things she wanted to do.
She had chosen to go to C City back then in order to free herself from all the trouble and disputes.
How everyone else fared did not matter to her.
People might deem her heartless for doing so, but she really didn’t have much of a bond with her kins. After all, they never spent time together.
She couldn’t and didn’t want to care about too many things. She was tired, and all she wanted was a simple life.
Pursing his lips, Su Zhan did not go on. He only brought that up to make sure she knew that no matter what sort of sentence Wen Qing would receive in the end, it would have nothing to do with Zong Jinghao because he had turned himself in.
That must be the only correct thing Wen Qing did in his life.
With that, the relationship between Zong Jinghao with Lin Xinyan would still be salvageable.
Although Wen Qing had indirectly caused Cheng Yuxiu’s death, he already atoned for his sin by turning himself in.
Su Zhan did not continue the topic with Lin Xinyan, knowing she did not want to dwell on it. He then left the house with the kids.
“Mommy, we’ll be back soon.” The children turned around and waved her goodbye.
Instead of walking them to Su Zhan’s car, she waved back at them at the door. “Okay, I’ll wait for you to be back.”
Soon, the elevator arrived.
“See you,” Su Zhan said.
Maintaining a smile on her face, Lin Xinyan replied, “Bye.” She fixed her gaze on the trio from the time they walked into the elevator to the moment the elevator doors closed.
She stood there observing the decreasing numbers on the screen atop the elevator door.
Six, five, four, three, two, one.
She tried to estimate when her kids would walk out of the elevator, walk out of the building and finally meet their father.
She slowly returned to the living room. She could have watched them leave the main entrance of her building from her balcony, but she didn’t do that.
Not only was she worried that she might feel bitter being separated from her kids, but she was also afraid he might notice her presence.
Hence, she walked to the dining table instead. On the table were the washed carrots and red bean puffs. Unfortunately, she had no appetite for any food.
Feeling dispirited, she sat down in silence.
In the meantime, the clock on the wall ticked away.
At that moment, Qin Ya walked out of her room. Seeing Lin Xinyan sitting silently at the dining table, she took a bottle of water from the fridge and sat down opposite her.
Qin Ya reckoned Lin Xinyan might have already realized that Zong Jinghao knew where she stayed, given Su Zhan’s appearance.
“Are you feeling down because the kids aren’t around?” Qin Ya asked.
“Yes, because I’ve never been separated from them before. This trip is good for the kids because after all, they are still his kids. It’s selfish of me to bring them away with him.”
At a time when he really needed someone by his side, she didn’t even let him have the kids.
“The kids will be back soon. What’s more, you aren’t all by yourself now.” Qin Ya cast a meaningful glance at her belly.
Lin Xinyan, too, looked down at her abdomen and said with a bitter smile, “You’re right. I’m not alone; I still have him.”
As her mind was preoccupied and she was not in the mood to chat, she went back to her room. She sat down at the edge of her bed and stared out of the window.
In her perception, whatever that had happened that night in her room probably took place for real instead of being just a dream.
She lay down on her messy bed but could not fall asleep.
As the sky turned dark, she was overwhelmed by a sense of loneliness which she had never felt before.
Not having to take care of the kids, she had enough time to focus on her career. Orders for Tea Silk were piling up and the old factory could no longer handle the high demand. Hence, she expanded the production scale with Shao Yun’s help.
At noon, Qin Ya visited Lin Xinyan’s office, bringing her a parcel.
Qin Ya was designing a traditional wedding costume for a client at the moment but she left the drawing at home. When she went home to fetch it, she was handed a parcel by the security officer. Seeing that the parcel was addressed to Lin Xinyan, she decided to bring it to her.
“I haven’t bought anything online recently.” Who could be the sender of this parcel?
