“Really?” Plain disbelief was written on Qin Ya’s face.
Almost immediately, Su Zhan raised his arm and swore, “If I lied, I’ll never be a real man my whole life. What about this, is this cruel enough?”
Qin Ya stood up. “I don’t believe even a punctuation mark in your words.”
Su Zhan was speechless.
“I still need to work later. I’ll give you a blanket since you haven’t slept all night.” With that, Qin Ya paced toward the bedroom and Su Zhan went after her immediately while he protested, “I’ve come all this way to see you, are you going to just give me a blanket? Where should I sleep?”
Qin Ya turned around with a serene expression and signaled with her lips. “The sofa.”
Su Zhan was speechless again.
I’ve sacrificed a whole night of sleep to come all the way here to see her and that’s the treatment I get? Sleeping on the sofa?
“Ya…”
“There are only three bedrooms altogether in this house. You should know very well to whom the other two bedrooms belong, right? Now tell me, whose bedroom do you want to sleep in?” Qin Ya looked at him with her arms folded.
It was where Lin Xinyan used to stay. Therefore, other than Qin Ya’s bedroom, the other two bedrooms belonged to Lin Xinyan and her two children. Surely, he could not be sleeping in Lin Xinyan’s bedroom even though she no longer stayed around here. As with the children’s bedroom, he could make do.
Nevertheless, he did not want to sleep in the kids’ bedroom either. To him, Qin Ya’s bedroom was still the most suitable one. With a flattering smile, he pleaded, “I suppose yours is the most fitting for me.”
Qin Ya reached out her hand to stop him. “You wish!”
“I don’t get what you mean.” Su Zhan feigned ignorance and outmaneuvered from under her arm. He flopped onto the bed immediately after and grabbed the blanket. “I’m so exhausted; I need to sleep.”
Burying his face under the blanket, he could even smell Qin Ya’s scent and fragrance. Even though her face has changed, the scent on her is still the same.
He clung yearningly to the blanket.
Qin Ya bit her lip in irritation. She wanted to pull him up but considering that her strength was no match for his and if he refused to get up, there was no way she could drag him out from the bed. Hence, she retracted her arm, stood by the bedside, and said, “Su Zhan, I didn’t expect you to be the same scoundrel and sly fox as you were. Fine, sleep tight as you wish. I’ll move first thing in the morning and never let you find me again.”
Su Zhan got up at once. No—
He took Qin Ya’s hand and put on an aggrieved expression. “My kindest and prettiest Ya, do you really have the heart to see me sleep on the sofa after an all-night drive?”
Qin Ya gave him a cold stare. “I don’t buy this.”
Su Zhan looked like a miserably wronged man. He got up from the bed and stood aside with his head bowed.
“Don’t pretend to be woeful.” Qin Ya’s voice toned down a little. “Take a shower before you sleep.”
Su Zhan nodded obediently on the outside but laughed secretly within. Acting pitiful is actually more useful in front of this woman who yields to soft approaches rather than force.
If Qin Ya knew what was in his mind, he would have been kicked out immediately.
“Leave the room for now.”
Su Zhan was unusually meek and left the room right away. He knew all too well that playing it forcefully with Qin Ya would not result in any favorable outcome.
It was almost six in the morning. He went to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. Qin Ya had just bought some groceries the day before. She lived alone there and did not feel like going out to eat so she bought some ingredients home for simple cooking.
Su Zhan rolled up his sleeves to wash his hands. Then, he took out some eggs and bread. He did not know how to prepare delicate dishes but frying eggs and toasting the bread were still within his reach. The ingredients in the refrigerator were also an indication to him that Qin Ya was preparing to make her own breakfast.
After preparing the eggs and bread, he served them on the plate and took out the glasses. He then poured two glasses of milk.
Qin Ya came out of the room after washing up and dressing neatly. When she saw that the breakfast was ready, she raised her eyebrows. Then, she walked toward the kitchen and asked with surprise, “So you actually know how to prepare breakfast, huh?”
Su Zhan replied, smiling, “I’m willing to do anything for you.”
Qin Ya snorted and uttered, “You think a meal is enough to buy me off? What? Does this meal grant me immortality after having it?”
Su Zhan was rendered speechless.
He brushed his nose lightly and smiled. “Let’s sit down and eat.”
Qin Ya pulled the chair out and sat down. “I’ll be going to the shop later…”
“You go ahead and do what you need to. Don’t worry about me. Just let me know what time you’ll be off work in the evening,” Su Zhan replied with a smile.
Qin Ya took a sip of the milk. “Hmm… that’s uncertain.”
“Well, then is it okay if I go and see you?” Su Zhan asked with a grin.
Qin Ya did not reply. It was a silent agreement.
After Qin Ya left, Su Zhan washed up and lay himself on Qin Ya’s bed, fantasizing about time alone with Qin Ya at night. He planned to have dinner at a restaurant with a relaxed ambiance first and take a stroll afterward. Maybe we would even have the chance to hold hands, and dripping soft pecks on each other’s cheeks.
Su Zhan dozed off in his fantasy and was awaken by a series of ringtones. He grabbed his phone and looked at the time. It’s three o’clock in the afternoon. He sat up in an instant. Whoa, have I been sleeping the whole day?
Also, why is Zong Jinghao calling me?
Confused, he took the call. “Hello? What’s the matter? I’m pursuing my wife now; I have no time to give a d*mn about Shen Peichuan’s matter…”
“It’s me.”
“Xin— Xinyan.” Su Zhan pulled himself together upon hearing the voice. “Is there anything?”
“Su Zhan, Peichuan has gone missing…”
Su Zhan was rooted to the ground. It was a long pause before he came back to his senses. “What— What happened?”
He got up to change simultaneously as he was talking over the phone.
The voice on the line was even trembling. “He drove Jinghao’s car and fell from the Xixin Creek Bridge. Up till now, he was still nowhere to be found. Jinghao has been searching for him, but I’m still very worried. Please help him in the search, the longer it passed, the more dangerous it would be for him, so…”
“Xinyan, don’t get too worked up. I understood and I’ll go now.” Su Zhan hurriedly went out. “How did it happen?”
“Jinghao has been occupied with looking for him and doesn’t have the time to investigate the matter yet.” At that moment, Lin Xinyan was carrying Zong Yanxi and her heart was trembling with chills.
When it happened, Zong Yanxi and Aunt Wang were inside the car. Lin Xinyan did not know exactly what happened. She only knew that Zong Yanxi was rescued by others whereas Aunt Wang was killed and Shen Peichuan went missing.
Zong Yanxi was terribly horrified. She lay in Lin Xinyan’s arms silently.
Lin Xinyan kept patting her back, comforting her. “It’s okay. It’s okay now, Mommy’s here.”
“Water, there’s a lot of water.” Zong Yanxi grabbed her collar and added, “Mommy, I’m so scared, so so scared.”
Kissing her forehead, Lin Xinyan tried to calm her down. “Mommy’s here. Mommy’s holding you so you don’t need to be scared anymore, alright?”
At that moment, fear was gripping Lin Xinyan’s heart and she was in intense dread that horrible things would happen to Shen Peichuan.
“How did things turn out this way?” Aunt Yu was frantically pacing up and down in the living room. “Captain Shen was here to deliver the car key and Yanxi wanted to go out with Aunt Wang to buy cakes but it so happened that the driver was on leave. So, Captain Shen drove them out. How did the car go off the track and fall off the bridge?”
Lin Xinyan asked, “What made her think about having cakes?”
She usually prefers ice cream in the summer and there’re a lot of them in the refrigerator at home.
It turned out that Aunt Yu was having a casual chat with Aunt Wang and the subject shifted to Aunt Wang’s age and birthday. It was then that they found out it was actually Aunt Wang’s birthday today. Zong Yanxi heard that and insisted on buying a cake for her.
The driver was on leave and Shen Peichuan came just right then so he took them out. No one had expected something like that to happen.
Then, the villa was left with only Lin Xinyan, her two children, and Aunt Yu.
Zong Qifeng and Cheng Yuwen had both gone out to search for Shen Peichuan.
What really did happen during the accident was unknown. One of the only persons present was dead, while another was petrified and lying in Lin Xinyan’s arms, trembling in horror.
