She looked at Lin Xinyan with a serious expression. “It’s over between us. I’ll look for someone else to spend the rest of my life with.”
Her mind was clear and her tone was determined. She knew that Su Zhan was not a good match for her, but she did not give up hope in love.
In fact, it was clear that she had pondered over it for a long time. Lin Xinyan realized that there was nothing more she could say to convince her otherwise, so she squeezed Qin Ya’s hand and said, “I’ll support you no matter what.”
That was probably the only thing she could do.
“After I recover, I want to go back to C City. Uncle Er’s taking care of the factory now, but I don’t think I should leave the store unmanned for too long,” she said. “There’s nothing left for me to do at B City, so I’d rather go back to my business.”
“I’ll go back with you,” Lin Xinyan said. Cloud Corporation was her life force, and she could not leave it unattended for too long. After all, Zong Jinghao would be able to take care of things in B City, and there was nothing else she needed to do.
She did not want to lose her career because of marriage, and neither did she want to become a housewife for life.
Qin Ya nodded. “I know you’re happily married to Mr. Zong, but you can’t just depend on him for everything.”
“It’s no wonder we get along. We think the exact same way,” Lin Xinyan remarked with a laugh. “Get some rest. Wear something pretty tonight.”
“Will there be any hot guys?” Qin Ya joked.
“Yes,” Lin Xinyan responded while giving her a pat before getting up. “I’m going to take a nap. I have to prepare dinner when Aunt Yu comes back.”
Qin Ya shrugged. “I can’t help you. All I can do is eat.”
“You’ll be helping me by getting well,” Lin Xinyan replied, beaming. After leaving the room, she went to check on the kids. The little ones were still playing Gomoku so intently that they didn’t notice the door being pushed open. With a smile, she closed the door and headed upstairs to rest.
Despite feeling tired, she couldn’t seem to fall asleep. Aunt Yu and the new maid returned from the supermarket two hours later with a whole bunch of goods. Hearing the noise, Lin Xinyan got up and went downstairs.
“What did you buy?” Lin Xinyan walked over and asked.
“Didn’t you say that there’s going to be guests? I bought everything we will need,” Aunt Yu answered, setting the shopping bags on the kitchen counter and unpacking them.
“By the way, I bought a salted goose on the way home,” Aunt Yu added. “I heard that it’s amazing. I’ll make a soup with it later, and you can have some of it. Don’t eat too much though, it’s not good for the baby.”
Lin Xinyan smiled. Aunt Yu is so caring!
“Alright. I’ll help you,” Lin Xinyan offered, only to be pushed out of the kitchen by Aunt Yu, who told her to take a nap.
Lin Xinyan insisted, and Aunt Yu gave in after a while. She went through the groceries one by one and came up with a dinner plan.
Afterward, Lin Xinyan spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen with them, preparing dinner for their guests.
At around 7 p.m., the three men came back together.
Zong Jinghao headed upstairs to get changed, whereas Shen Peichuan and Su Zhan played with the children in the living room.
Su Zhan tried his best to glean information about Qin Ya from the kids by asking cryptic questions, but Zong Yanchen saw through his plans immediately.
“Aunt Yanyan is in that room,” he said, pointing at Qin Ya’s room.
Su Zhan glanced at it and smiled. “Great to know that she’s doing well.”
He decided not to go and visit her, lest she felt uncomfortable.
Zong Yanchen shook his head and sighed in frustration. “You adults are so difficult.”
“What are you thinking about all day?” Shen Peichuan asked, caressing the boy’s head. “You’ll age quickly if you keep that up.”
Zong Yanchen looked up. “What about you, Uncle Shen? Uncle Su might have gone through a lot, but at least he’s been in love with someone before!”
She Peichuan glared at him wordlessly.
“How pure do you think he is? He’s gotten himself someone long ago,” Su Zhan chimed in and nudged Shen Peichuan with his shoulder. “Why didn’t you ask Sang Yu to come?”
“Who’s Sang Yu?” Zong Yanchen stared at Su Zhan with his large eyes.
“She’s Uncle Shen’s girlfriend, of course,” Su Zhan answered.
“Wow! Uncle Shen is attached?” Zong Yanchen yelled in excitement.
Meanwhile, Aunt Yu came out of the kitchen to set the table for dinner while Lin Xinyan carried the wine bottles to the table. She heard her son’s excited yelps from the living room the moment she stepped out of the kitchen. “What? Who’s attached?”
“It’s Shen Peichuan, of course! The star of tonight,” Su Zhan said.
Lin Xinyan stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Shen Peichuan. “You have a girlfriend?”
“No, of course not!” Shen Peichuan protested. “I don’t know what he’s saying!”
“He’s trying to hide it!” Su Zhan said. “I wonder who had a whole kissing session in front of the school gates…mmph!”
Before Su Zhan could finish his sentence, Shen Peichuan rushed forward and clamped his hand over Su Zhan’s mouth. “Shut up!”
Lin Xinyan laughed. “Why are you hiding it?”
“It’s nothing! She’s a university student, so she’s too young for me,” Shen Peichuan explained. I would have considered confessing to her if she weren’t a university freshman…
He was too self-conscious of their age gap, and he figured that Sang Yu would not be interested in him in the first place.
Besides, Su Zhan’s big mouth could potentially cause trouble to her, and that was the last thing She Peichuan wanted.
Su Zhan shoved Shen Peichuan’s hand away and scoffed, “So what if she’s too young? Don’t you know how many people are dying to get a young and pretty girlfriend?”
Shen Peichuan resisted the urge to punch Su Zhan in the face.
