He was standing right behind her. His handsome face was expressionless as he stared at Bai Yinning with a cold gaze.
The moment Lin Xinyan saw him, she was stunned as she did not expect him to show up here.
For a brief moment, she stood frozen on the spot.
She had envisioned meeting him in B City or C City. Never in her wildest dreams would she expect them to meet in Baicheng—and even at Bai Yinning’s wedding. Why did he show up here?
If he’s here, where are the kids?
“Mr. Zong, did you rush over to attend my wedding?” asked Bai Yinning with a smirk.
Zong Jinghao strode over solemnly. Briefly shooting a cold glare at Bai Yinning, he snapped, “Have we ever befriended each other, Mr. Bai?”
When Bai Yinning saw how furious Zong Jinghao was, his mood improved considerably. An annoying smirk played on his lips. “We’re not friends, but I am acquainted with your wife. Don’t couples share everything? Or are you saying that you and Yan don’t share secrets?”
Every time Zong Jinghao heard Bai Yinning intimately call Lin Xinyan by her nickname, he had an urge to strangle the man to death.
“Don’t be riled up, Mr. Zong. To prevent you from feeling jealous, I even married someone. You should thank me instead.” Smiling, Bai Yinning continued, “I wish to be on good terms with you, Mr. Zong. However, it seems like you have a grudge against me as if I’m the biggest villain in the world.”
“You overestimate yourself. You’re not a villain—you’re a despicable and shameless man.” Standing beside Lin Xinyan, Zong Jinghao held her hand and mocked calmly, “Compared to evil villains, people who hide their true shameless nature under a genteel facade are more irritating.”
With that, he dragged Lin Xinyan away and left.
As Bai Yinning watched them weave through the crowd, a faint smile played on his lips.
“Yinning, what are you laughing at?” Zhou Chunchun thought they were arguing. However, she was confused over the reason why.
“I’m laughing at that immature man. When he’s angry, I feel very happy.” At the very least, he had managed to get his revenge by getting on that man’s nerves. Turning around to look at Zhou Chunchun, he asked, “Did you think the woman earlier is pretty?”
Zhou Chunchun nodded. “Yeah. Is there a baby in her stomach?”
“Yeah.” Bai Yinning’s smile faded, leaving behind a bitter, melancholy expression on his face.
“Are they a couple?” asked Zhou Chunchun.
Bai Yinning nodded.
“Then, are we a couple?” asked Zhou Chunchun again.
Patiently, Bai Yinning replied, “Yeah. Let’s go.”
He did not want to dwell on that topic.
Grabbing the handles of his wheelchair, Zhou Chunchun offered, “I’ll push you. Let’s go to my father.”
Bai Yinning replied, “Okay, I’ll follow what you do.”
Zhou Chunchun flashed him a smile that was as innocent and naive as a child’s.
As Bai Yinning gazed at her smile, a grin spread across his cheeks.
Outside the hotel, Zong Jinghao continued dragging Lin Xinyan forward as if he wanted her to be as far away from Bai Yinning as possible. Forgetting that she was pregnant, he strode briskly without stopping at all. Lin Xinyan, having returned to her senses, yelled, “Slow down!”
Only then did Zong Jinghao stop in his tracks and turn around to look at her.
When his eyes met hers, he surprisingly found himself at a loss for words.
After a long while, he broke the silence.
“Hug me. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to control my temper.”
When he remembered how Bai Yinning had touched her stomach, fury surged through him. He wished to ask her why she did not push Bai Yinning away and reject him. After all, as the baby was not Bai Yinning’s, he had no right to touch her stomach.
However, Lin Xinyan got even angrier when he mentioned it.
When he was not around, all she could do was sulk silently. Now that he was in front of her, it made her feel even angrier as if flames of fury were raging within her body.
“Are you more upset than I am? If I slept with another man and you saw those pictures, how would you feel?”
Zong Jinghao was rendered speechless.
“Those are fake. I don’t even recognize the women there!” He explained urgently.
“Really? Then, tell me what happened! Also, why are you here? Where’s Yanxi and Yanchen?” Lin Xinyan shot the questions at him.
For the past two days, she was extremely concerned about them, afraid that something bad would happen to them. Hence, she was constantly in a gloomy mood, with worry always clouding her mind.
“Someone sabotaged me. It’s a long story. I’ll explain it to you when we go back. Yanxi and Yancheng are at the old manor. Yan…”
Zong Jinghao’s voice became softer when he called her nickname, his agitation slowly diminishing. He stared at her with a gaze so passionate that it would even trump the heat of the scorching sun.
Lin Xinyan felt like the air around them had stopped moving. Almost forgetting how to breathe, she stood there motionlessly. All the thoughts disappeared from her mind, leaving nothing but a blank slate behind.
Reaching his arms out, he hugged her and whispered hoarsely, “I missed you so much.”
Initially frozen to the spot, Lin Xinyan finally returned to her senses. She felt like she could breathe again, yet nothing could describe the complex emotions that were coursing through her right now.
She raised her arms mechanically, wrapping them around his waist. Burrowing her face into his chest, she tried to hold her tears back to no avail.
She was not heartbroken, upset, nor overwhelmed with emotions at their reunion. For some reason, tears just gushed out of her eyes without any warning. The tears came so abruptly that she could not hide them in time.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to let the kids stay by your side. I know you need them more than I do.” He had never blamed or chastised her for that. As their mother, she needed them by her side more than he did.
The previous days had been torturous. Yet, as he hugged her now, it seemed like those days of suffering were no longer so horrendous.
No one mentioned what had happened in the past.
They simply hugged each other in silence. The embrace was so passionate that even the scorching sun paled in comparison.
It was only until Lin Xinyan’s phone rang that their long hug ended. She whipped out the phone and saw the words “Uncle Er” displayed on the screen. It was Shao Yun.
She accepted the call. Zong Jinghao held her hand as they stood under the Chinese parasol tree. The dense leaves shielded them from the unrelenting sun.
He wiped the sweat away from her forehead and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears.
Lifting her head up, she gazed at him.
Shao Yun’s voice sounded from the phone. “I’ve already investigated what you told me. He’s not at B City. It looks like nothing had happened. However, I heard something else.”
