Zong Yanxi let out a sigh. “You have a lot on your plate, and yet you still show concern for me.”
Suddenly, she looked up at him. “You don’t have a crush on me, do you?”
Zong Yanxi teased him on purpose in an attempt to release her pent-up feelings.
Gu Xian evaded eye contact with her as he replied with a smile, “I like young girls, not older women.”
Zong Yanxi was rendered speechless.
“I don’t look old, do I?”
“But you don’t look young, either.”
Pretending to be angry, Zong Yanxi retorted, “Don’t walk next to me from now on, just in case others mistake me for your aunt.”
Gu Xian chortled. “Are you angry?”
“Will you be happy if I say that you look like an old man?” Zong Yanxi asked rhetorically.
“I really want to be an old man, but do you think I can hide my youth and beauty?”
Gu Xian had once again left her speechless.
“What a narcissist,” Zong Yanxi couldn’t help but roast him.
Grinning, Gu Xian turned her head to face him. “Tell me honestly, am I handsome?”
Zong Yanxi slapped his hand away. “If you want to speak, go ahead. Don’t touch me.”
It was Gu Xian’s turn to be at a loss for words.
“It’s getting late. You should go back,” declared Zong Yanxi as she rose to her feet. She wanted to be alone to clear her head.
Gu Xian glanced at her and replied, “Okay, I’ll leave first then. Feel free to call me if you need me.”
“Okay,” Zong Yanxi agreed.
After Gu Xian left, she lay on the bed without washing up. After a long while of tossing and turning, she was still unable to fall asleep, so she got up to revise the proposal.
Zong Yanxi had started working on this proposal even before she came back. It was deemed a flawless proposal after numerous revisions and confirmations. Any further revision meant that she would have to give up on her original plan and redo the proposal from a new perspective.
Time seemed to pass quickly when she was drowned in work.
She did not even know when the sun was up, and grew so drowsy that she fell asleep at the table in the end.
When it was almost noon, her phone rang and woke her up. Feeling groggy, she felt for her phone and glanced at the screen. It was an MMS. She clicked on it and saw a photo from Zhuang Jiawen.
Seeing the people in the photo, she instantly became awake. Rubbing her eyes, she studied the photo carefully.
The photo was taken at the dining table with four people in it: Zhuang Jiawen, Shen Xinyao, and her own parents who were sitting together at the head of the table.
In the photo, Lin Xinyan was dressed in a traditional Thai costume. Lin Xinyan had not liked to wear makeup since young. Her habit remained and she still had her fair skin today, with the only change being the appearance of some fine lines around her eyes.
Her eyes told of her own story, but there was no sign of aging on her face. This was all because Zong Jinghao had given her a comfortable life.
When Zong Yanxi was ten years old, Lin Xinyan had an unplanned pregnancy. As her health had been negatively impacted when she gave birth to Zhuang Jiawen, the doctor said that she could not have any more children.
Zong Jinghao didn’t want her to go through the pain of labor again so he had been using contraception, but he still impregnated her by accident.
Women are emotional beings. Knowing that the fetus was normal and healthy, Lin Xinyan couldn’t give it up so easily.
However, Zong Jinghao stood firm and brought her to the hospital despite her refusal. Before going onto the operating table, she cried and took Zong Jinghao’s hand. “Doesn’t your heart ache giving up your own child?”
It agonized her because she was the mother. But Zong Jinghao was the father who had to sign the consent form personally to end his child’s life, so of course his heart ached as well.
It was equally painful for him, but Lin Xinyan’s health condition did not allow her to go through another pregnancy as it was too risky.
Therefore, Zong Jinghao didn’t yield to her pleading.
In the end, Lin Xinyan made a request, which was for him to watch her by the side during the operation.
She wanted him to watch it with his own eyes.
While lying on the operating table, Lin Xinyan said to him, “I may blame you for this for the rest of my life.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she closed her eyes and did not look at him again.
After this incident, Lin Xinyan kept blaming herself for killing her own child. Consumed by guilt, she was in failing health.
After Zong Yanxi and Zong Yanchen reached adulthood, and Zhuang Jiawen went off to C City, Zong Jinghao took Lin Xinyan to Thailand.
Thailand had a tropical climate with an average daily temperature of 24°C to 30°C. Even on a cool day it never dipped below 18°C.
Zong Jinghao bought a house in Chiang Mai as he wanted to settle down there. Chiang Mai had the best climate with comfortable weather all year round. More importantly, it was good for Lin Xinyan’s health. After going through labor and abortion, she was prone to feeling cold and often had icy hands and feet during winter.
Zong Jinghao had long wanted to take her there to live a simple life, but he had to wait for their children to grow up first.
After they became adults, he went there with Lin Xinyan and rarely came back.
Looking at the photo, Zong Yanxi thought of the days she spent there. Their house exemplified traditional Thai architecture——with a two-story compound in the center flanked by a glasshouse and a wooden building on each side. Ornamental trees surrounded the house, and workers were hired to prune the plants. The garden was therefore well-maintained and was full of life.
That place had a relaxing ambience.
Filled with a deep sense of nostalgia, Zong Yanxi put away her phone and went to wash up in the bathroom.
After taking a shower, she felt a lot more at ease. As she was starving, she went to the hotel restaurant to eat something, but then Tian Qifeng came.
He told her that Ling Wei’s sentence was officially handed down. As the evidence was conclusive, she was sentenced to life imprisonment for intentional homicide.
Zong Yanxi did not show much emotion. Ling Wei brought this onto herself.
“Have you eaten?” Zong Yanxi asked.
“Do you mean breakfast or lunch?” Tian Qifeng asked.
It was now too late for breakfast, but a little too early for lunch.
“Treat it as lunch then.” Zong Yanxi pressed the elevator call button.
Tian Qifeng followed her as he replied, “Sure, as you wish.”
After a brief pause, he asked, “By the way, have you read the news today?”
Zong Yanxi turned to look at him. Apart from Ling Wei’s sentence, what news is there?
