Lin Xinyan looked away from Zong Jinghao and kept her eyes downcast as she answered the call. “What’s the matter? What do you want to tell me?”
“It’s about your uncle, Wen Qing,” Shao Yun replied.
He knew something about Lin Xinyan’s mother, Wen Xian because she was Zhuang Ziyi’s wife. In the beginning, he had only agreed to help Lin Xinyan find out who might harm Zong Jinghao, but he had found out something about Wen Qing in the process.
He only knew about what had happened to Wen Qing, not his feud with Zong Jinghao.
As Wen Xian’s daughter and Wen Qing’s niece, he supposed that Lin Xinyan had the right to know what happened to her uncle so that she could offer him some help.
Zong Jinghao, who was standing nearby when Lin Xinyan was having the phone call, heard Shao Yun’s voice coming from the speaker. In the meantime, he lay his eyes on her face to see whether she would be irritated to hear about Wen Qing. However, Lin Xinyan held her head too low for him to observe her expression.
However, Lin Xinyan was not that emotional because she had already learned about what had happened to Wen Qing through the news. Even if she felt anything, she wouldn’t show it around Zong Jinghao.
She shifted her body toward the pedestrian lane to maintain some distance from him so that he wouldn’t be able to hear what Shao Yun told her over the phone.
Still keeping her head low, she stared at her feet as she responded, “I’ve got it. I hope you stay away from this matter. Don’t ever tell me anything about it in the future. Since I’m not in C City right now, please help me to look after my factory.”
“But, he’s your uncle…”
“Uncle Er,” Lin Xinyan cut him off, making it obvious that she was not comfortable with the topic of their conversation.
Shao Yun paused; he could sense the repulsion in her voice.
Hence, he steered their conversation away from Wen Qing by asking her, “Where’ve you gone if you aren’t in C City?”
“I went to attend my friend’s wedding ceremony, but I’ll be back soon.”
“Great. Don’t worry about the factory. I can take care of it.”
Lin Xinyan mumbled a response, “I’m hanging up then.” She ended the call after making sure that Shao Yun had heard her. Then, she stuffed her phone back into her bag and looked up to find herself staring straight into Zong Jinghao’s brooding eyes.
There was a trace of inquisition beneath the facade of calmness.
She was standing very close to him during the phone call, so she was sure that he must have heard what Shao Yun told her.
Worried that he might get the wrong idea out of it, she explained, “I asked Uncle Er to do some investigations when I received those offensive photos because I was worried someone might harm you.”
That was how she learned about what had happened to Wen Qing. She didn’t tell him that because the mere mention of Wen Qing’s name was capable of making her uncomfortable. The existence of the man was a massive hurdle that came between them.
Pursing his lips, Zong Jinghao knew what was bothering her. Therefore, he decided not to broach the subject. The great atmosphere they were having at the moment would not be ruined then.
With a crooked smile playing on his lips, he asked, “So, did you say you were worried about me? Were you scared that I would be in danger?”
She glanced at him and explained, “I was worried about the two kids because they were staying with you.”
He draped an arm around her shoulder and teased, “Is it so hard to admit that you care about me?”
Feeling shy, she looked away, but he quickly turned her head back to face him. “Tell me. Did you miss me?”
“I didn’t,” she denied it on purpose.
If she was honest, she had missed him terribly.
She couldn’t wait to see him every single day.
“Are you telling the truth?” Pursing his lips, he appeared unconvinced because how she had behaved that night told him the contrary.
“It’s not the truth.” All of a sudden, she turned her body sideways to wrap her arms around his skinny waist. She had been feeling worn out both physically and mentally lately. “I’m feeling so tired.”
He patted her back soothingly, knowing well that she was bearing a heavier burden than him at the moment. “Let’s settle down in C City in the future. When we get back to the city, I’ll buy a bigger house so that all of us can stay together. How does that sound?”
“Is it true?” Indeed, she had no intention of going back to B City where they would be inevitably reminded of all those unpleasant stuff and people even though they tried hard to forget about them.
After all, it was where everything had happened. It was hard to stop the people from talking about it.
Lin Xinyan had some reservations about the decision considering that B City was where his career was based. “How about your company?” she asked.
“I’ll hire someone to manage it for me.” He grinned and said, “As for me, I’ll do nothing else but keep you and the kids company. If my company ever goes bust, you will have to provide me a living. I’m sure you can afford me.”
Lin Xinyan shot him a supercilious glance and snapped, “I can’t afford you.”
“I’ll start eating less for my meals. Also, you don’t have to prepare a room for me because I’ll be sharing your room and bed. That way, I won’t take much space, and you won’t have to fork out too much money to support me.”
Lin Xinyan was rendered speechless.
“The weather is so hot right now. Why don’t we go back and pick up the kids?” Putting his arm around her, Zong Jinghao tried to hail a cab but found none in sight. “Are you feeling tired? Should we stay for the night and head back to the city tomorrow?”
“I think we should head back as soon as possible. Do you have any clue who’s behind the photos?” Lin Xinyan looked up at him.
She felt uneasy leaving the problem unsolved.
Drawing her closer to him, Zong Jinghao replied, “I have some ideas but not a sure answer yet. However, I’ve already asked Shen Peichuan to get to the bottom of it.” Staring at her solemnly, he emphasized, “You have to know that I didn’t do it.”
She pretended to look puzzled, although she could understand what he meant. “You didn’t do what?”
Zong Jinghao fell silent.
“You know what I mean.” Do I really have to spell it out for her?
“I don’t.”
Even though the photos were edited to look that way, they had still left her traumatized. The photos had shown her how it would be like if he really were unfaithful to her one day.
“I have never slept with any other woman but you,” Zong Jinghao assured, emphasizing each and every word of his sentence. He then lifted his hand to catch the attention of a cab that was coming their way.
“I won’t be able to verify that.” In fact, she believed in him but still felt quite bothered and annoyed because of the photos for some reason.
Zong Jinghao was speechless.
When the cab pulled up beside them, he opened the door and placed his hand on top of her to protect her head. After she slid into the backseat, he followed suit.
They kept mum along the journey because of the presence of the cab driver. After paying the driver and getting out of the cab when they reached their destination, he held her hands and suggested, “Why don’t you do a check on it?”
“Do a check on what?” Lin Xinyan was confused.
In a serious tone, he answered, “To check whether I’ve ever been unfaithful to you.”
“H-How do I go about it?” she stammered. Other than catching him in the act and getting some concrete evidence of it, what else could she do to verify it?
Zong Jinghao tugged on his collar. The swelteringly hot weather had his skin covered with a thin sheen of sweat. With a roguish smile, he said, “Of course, you’ll have to do it in bed.”
She was left stumped.
It was only after a while did she make a comeback, “You’re so shameless.”
Unperturbed by her remark, he reached out to stroke her belly. Through her blouse, he could feel the warmth of her body. “Please stay away from that Bai guy in the future.”
“Are you jealous?” She stared at him curiously.
“I wished I could chop off his hands.” At the thought of that sly smile on Bai Yinning’s face, Zong Jinghao couldn’t wait to slash his face so that he could no longer smile like that.
Lin Xinyan knew she should have kept her distance from Bai Yinning back then. After all, they were of opposite genders, and both of them were married. It was especially inappropriate of Bai Yinning to do so. Regardless of his wife’s mental state, he was not supposed to do something like that in her presence.
“You know what? The girl Bai Yinning married is a very naive and innocent lady.” Although Lin Xinyan put it in a very tactful manner, Zong Jinghao could understand what she meant.
Bai Yinning had actually been audacious enough to flirt with another woman in front of his newlywed wife. If it weren’t because his wife was intellectually challenged, she wouldn’t have been able to accept his behavior.
“Do you sympathize with him?” Zong Jinghao knew what was in her mind at one glance.
Before she could answer him, he added, “He pushed his luck once you started being nice with him. So, you shouldn’t sympathize with him.”
In a domineering way, he held her hands tightly to make sure she listened. “Got it?” he asked solemnly.
Not wanting to make him mad, she nodded obediently. “Got it.”
He pinched her nose, looking pleased. “That’s my girl. Now, let’s go inside because Xichen and Ruixi are waiting for us.”
“They’ve changed their names, you know?” she reminded him, assuming that he had forgotten about that.
Zong Jinghao twisted his head to face her with a serious expression.
