Hearing the familiar voice, she soon realized whose voice it was, and her body stiffened.
She didn’t know if she should turn around or pretend not to hear the person, as she did not know what to say after seeing the person.
At this time, the same person called her again while also scrutinizing her.
Unable to pretend that she didn’t hear it, she had no choice but to turn around.
As expected, Li Jing was standing not far away from her. It had not been long since their last meeting, but Li Jing had changed a lot and became much older. Her appearance, which was initially well maintained, had become older than her age, with a lot of her black hair turned gray.
Li Jing forced a smile. “I thought I’ve got the wrong person.”
When she was speaking, she cast her gaze on Lin Xinyan’s belly. Her bump was very obvious by now as her lower abdomen was slightly bulging. “It’s almost the fifth month, right?”
“Yeah,” replied Lin Xinyan.
“Are you here to get something?” Li Jing asked.
Lin Xinyan nodded in agreement.
“Are you in a hurry? If you’re not, we can have a talk at a cafe on the sixth floor,” she suggested.
Lin Xin pursed her lips and said nothing, twisting herself up not knowing what she could talk with her.
“I don’t mean anything. I just want to talk to you. I’m the only one at home, so I’m quite bored,” Li Jing added with a smile.
Since she had said so, it would make Lin Xinyan look heartless if she turned her down. Even if she didn’t want to talk about the relationship with the Wen family, this woman did nothing wrong after all. Moreover, she used to talk to her and have meals together like a family.
“Find a place to wait for me,” Lin Xinyan said to the driver.
Nodding his head, the driver replied, “Okay.”
“There’s an elevator here.” Li Jing pointed at an elevator.
Lin Xinyan walked over and waited for the elevator with her. The two of them then took the elevator to the sixth floor. Li Jing chose a table close to the window inside the cafe that was very quiet, as there were not many customers at this hour.
A waiter came over, and Li Jing ordered a cup of coffee. Then, she looked at Lin Xinyan and asked, “What do you want?”
“Juice, please.”
Li Jing handed the menu to the waiter and said, “A cup of coffee, and a glass of juice.”
“Okay.” The waiter took the menu and asked, “What kind of coffee would you like?”
“Anything is fine,” replied Li Jing.
“Okay.” The waiter left.
The two of them did not speak for a while, and Lin Xinyan didn’t know how to start the conversation either. Do I ask her how she’s doing?
Obviously, she’s not doing good.
She could not seem to find a suitable thing to say at this time.
In the end, Li Jing was the first to find the topic. “When you move on to the later trimesters, the more tired you’ll be. Do you find it tiring?”
“It’s fine, but I’m feeling more lethargic than before. It seems that others start to feel lethargic in the beginning, but I get lethargic later,” replied Lin Xinyan softly.
Li Jing smiled. After all, she was a mother too, so it was relatable. “When I had Ji, I also got more lethargic toward the end of the pregnancy. You still look like you don’t gain weight at all, but I gained a lot of weight back then, so much so that I was weighing 140 pounds before giving birth.”
Lin Xinyan smiled. “It’s probably because it’s hard for me to get fat.”
Li Jing was about to say something when the waiter walked over and brought the coffee and juice to her and Lin Xinyan. “Please call me anytime if you need anything.”
Lin Xinyan responded in acknowledgment and took two sips of her juice after the waiter left.
Li Jing held the cup of coffee but didn’t drink it, as she was thinking about how to talk to Lin Xinyan about Wen Qing.
However, it seemed that this would only get awkward no matter how she brought it up.
In the end, she gave up.
“Are you still keeping in touch with Ji?” Li Jing put down the cup of coffee and asked.
“No,” Lin Xinyan replied honestly.
After she left, she did not contact anyone because she didn’t want to know how things went. After she returned, she also never discussed this with Zong Jinghao.
Everything about the Wen family was a topic from which the two of them shied away.
“He went to serve in the army.” Li Jing cast her gaze down and turned the coffee cup. “Have you heard about your uncle?”
She did not look at Lin Xinyan while asking the question.
Upon hearing the word “uncle”, she clenched her fists under the table but did not respond to her question.
Knowing that she had heard it, Li Jing said with a smile, in a somewhat ironic tone, “I think everyone would have known about it as it’s all over the news.”
She paused before adding, “I really hated you at the time. No matter what, you should’ve persuaded Zong Jinghao to let go for your sake.”
Lin Xinyan did not agree with what she said, but she didn’t say it out loud, as she didn’t care what Li Jing thought.
She didn’t want to dwell on the past too much and just wanted to focus on what was right in front of her.
It was even more impossible for her to get into a fight with Zong Jinghao over such a matter.
“But I soon figured it out. It was indeed your uncle’s fault. Whether he knew it or not, he shouldn’t have done that, and even killed Cheng Yuxiu. At the end of the day, he just cares too much about Wen Xian.” Li Jing raised her head and looked at Lin Xinyan. “It was your uncle who surrendered himself. You don’t have to feel burdened while being with Zong Jinghao. You don’t owe him anything anymore. Your uncle did this for the sake of your relationship with him. In fact, he has always wanted to see you.”
Toward the end, Li Jing was a little choking up. She once had a perfect family, but now she was the only one left at home. Because of Wen Qing, there had been a lot of rumors and gossips going around, so she rarely went out.
This was the first time she came out after Wen Qing went to jail. As her cousin’s child was getting married, she came out to buy gifts.
Something in Lin Xinyan’s heart stirred, but she ignored it. However, some things still existed even if she could choose to ignore them, just like her relationship with the Wen family.
This relationship still existed no matter how she refused to admit it.
Li Jing wiped the corners of her eyes. “I’ve talked too much. By the way, Ji is doing very well now.”
This was also the only thing that she considered a blessing.
“I’m not asking you to do anything by telling you all this. I just thought that when your uncle is freed, can you see him in person?” Li Jing said in a slightly pleading tone.
This was Wen Qing’s wish.
As a wife, this was the only thing that she could do for her husband now.
Lin Xinyan looked at Li Jing with her mind in chaos. Her feelings were so overwhelming that she could not remain calm.
She couldn’t turn Li Jing down, but she didn’t want to be in any way related to the Wen family.
After all, Wen Qing was directly related to Cheng Yuxiu’s death.
“Is it so difficult?” Li Jing didn’t understand it. Can’t she just go and meet Wen Qing?
Suddenly, she found that Lin Xinyan was a stony-hearted person.
“Do you only care about your husband and not your relatives?” Li Jing tried to suppress her emotions, but her words still carried a questioning tone.
Lin Xinyan stared at Li Jing for a few seconds, and gave her a brief explanation, not because she was afraid that Li Jing would misunderstand her, but to let her know the reason why she had to draw a line with them.
“She was still alive in the car accident, but she died because she wanted to protect me. She used her life in exchange for my safety. How do you want me to face your husband?”
Because of Wen Qing, her kids lost their grandmother, while Zong Jinghao lost his mother, whom he would never have the chance to call ‘Mom’.
This was one of his life’s greatest regrets.
Nothing could make up for it.
Li Jing was stunned. She did not expect things to be like this.
“Umm—”
“Let’s not talk about it. I don’t want to talk about the past as I just want to live a peaceful life with him.” After speaking, Lin Xinyan stood up. “I gotta go.”
Li Jing also got up. “Hold on…”
