Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The car sped past her in a flash. Su Qingsang looked at the familiar side profile and instinctively raised her foot to catch up with it.
Before she could catch up, Huo Jinyao had already grabbed her waist. “What’s wrong? Slow down.”
“I, I think I saw a Mengwan.”
Su Qingsang looked at the disappearing silhouette of the car. She had a feeling that the side profile in the car belonged to Shi Mengwan.
But at this time, shouldn’t Shi Mengwan be in Lin City? Moreover, she seemed to have seen another figure in the car. It looked like a man’s back figure.
Would Shi Mengwan be with a man?
“Shi Mengwan?” Huo Jinyao looked in the direction the car had gone. “Are you seeing things?”
“By the way, you haven’t told me where this is.”
“The neighboring province’s Qing City.”
Su Qingsang nodded. She knew about Qing City. It was adjacent to the province where Rong City was located. It took about three and a half hours to drive from Rong City.
Qing City had a deep cultural heritage and developed very well later on. It could be considered a city in the east that had both ancient and modern elements.
It was three hours’ drive from Rong City, but it was still a different direction from Lin City.
Shi Mengwan video called her two days ago. How could she be here?
“Maybe I was seeing things.”
Su Qingsang decided to call Shi Mengwan later. Her decision to come here was also last minute. Shi Mengwan didn’t know yet.
Everything was fine about leaving Lin City and coming to Rong City with Huo Jinyao, except that she had to stay away from her family and friends. It did make her a little lonely.
At the same time, behind the Bentley that had just left, Shi Mengwan looked at Zhan Haoze who was on the phone.
There wasn’t much of a smile on her face, and she turned her gaze away from him. This villa’s environment was particularly good, and it was also close to the city.
The name was even more pleasant to the ear. It was called Cherry Blossom Manor. According to the latitude and climate of this place, the developers had planted a large patch of cherry blossoms here.
Cherry blossoms were on both sides of the road. When spring came, the cherry blossoms on both sides were colorful and beautiful.
Unfortunately, Shi Mengwan came at a bad time. It wasn’t the season for cherry blossoms to bloom. She couldn’t see the cherry blossoms. Even if she could, she wasn’t in the mood to appreciate them.
Zhan Haoze’s voice was beside her ear. She could guess who the person on the other end of the phone was.
Chen Feifei, Zhan Haoze’s fiancée.
“I’ve been a little busy these few days. If there’s anything, wait for me to go back to discuss.”
“Mhm. Take care of your body. Don’t overthink things.”
Zhan Haoze’s voice was clearer than other men’s, and he was speaking to the person on the other end of the phone in a very gentle voice.
Shi Mengwan’s expression didn’t look too pleasant. After Zhan Haoze hung up the phone, she retracted her gaze.
“If you’re so afraid of her overthinking, you can just bring her out.”
Why did he have to drag her along? Shi Mengwan felt a little stifled. The suffocating feeling was very uncomfortable.
“Send me to the airport. I want to go back.”
Zhan Haoze’s reaction was to hug her body, then easily lift her up and place her on his lap.
Shi Mengwan didn’t have time to struggle. She simply passively clung to Zhan Haoze’s body. The two of them had been entangled for almost half a year now.
In his arms, she didn’t have much will to resist. She was already used to his demands, and his roguish behavior.
But no matter how accustomed she was to him, it didn’t change the fact that this man in front of her was someone else’s fiancé.
She didn’t know what went wrong, but the situation in front of her made her feel very conflicted.
She wanted everything about this man, his kisses, his arms, his breath.
But she resisted everything about him. He didn’t admit that she was her big brother. He even had a fiancée.
Just like this time, she chased him away and told him that since he had a fiancée, so he shouldn’t come looking for her anymore.
But what about him? He forcefully broke into her home and invaded her residence. He even brought her to Qing City.
He held her waist tightly. He pulled her into his arms. Very quickly, her lips were sealed by Zhan Haoze’s. She couldn’t say a word.
She frowned slightly. The facial features of the man in front of her were so familiar that she couldn’t be more familiar with them. Even if she closed her eyes, she could still draw his appearance in her heart.
But this man didn’t belong to her. At least —
Her lips suddenly hurt. Her absent-mindedness made the man unhappy. He bit her lips hard.
She came back to her senses. Zhan Haoze was staring at her face. His slightly narrowed eyes had a gloomy look that she couldn’t fathom.
Before she could react, his hand had already reached for the hem of her clothes. The dark-colored glass in the middle of the car had already risen. The driver in front couldn’t see what they were doing behind them.
Shi Mengwan didn’t want to let him have his way in such a place. She held his hands with both hands.
“Zhan Haoze.”
When she suddenly called his name very seriously, Zhan Haoze stopped what he was doing and looked at her silently.
“Do you plan to keep doing this?”
He coaxed his fiancée while imprisoning her. He controlled her with her weakness and didn’t let her leave.
There was an unconcealed sadness in her eyes. She was such a beautiful person, but now her face was full of gloom.
“Say it, Zhan Haoze. Do you plan to keep doing this?”
He wanted to do this, but she didn’t want to continue. She had endured it until now but still couldn’t make up her mind to leave Zhan Haoze’s side. She was just looking forward to the day when Zhan Haoze would remember that she was the little sister that he had vowed to love for the rest of his life.
She was waiting for him to remember that he was the big brother that she had made up her mind to rely on.
They used to depend on each other and were inseparable, but she had lost him. When she found him again, he had forgotten who he was.
That pair of eyes was really too sad. Zhan Haoze didn’t want to look at them anymore. He raised his hand to cover her eyes, lowered his head, and kissed her lips again.
He couldn’t see her eyes, but in the next moment, he felt the wetness in his palm.
Zhan Haoze paused for a moment, but very quickly, he deepened his kiss.
…
Su Qingsang stretched her back and looked at the Cherry Blossom Avenue in front of her with awe in her eyes.
“It would be great if we came in April. We could definitely see the cherry blossoms blooming on both sides, right?”
“Yes.” Huo Jinyao nodded. He put his arm around her waist and said, “If you like it, we’ll come again next April.”
This villa was one of the best-situated ones here, and there were two more villas further inside. Those two villas took up the largest area.
They were booked the moment they came out, and this one had the best location. Not only could they see the Cherry Blossom Avenue in front, but they could also see the largest inland lake in the city behind.
He had built a garden on the other side of the lake. Sitting in the back, he could enjoy the beautiful scenery while enjoying the lake’s breeze.
“We’ll talk about it later.” Su Qingsang had slept in the car for a long time, so she wasn’t sleepy at all.
“Let’s go out for a walk.”
“Sure.” There was another advantage to this place. The environment was very good and the residential area was very large.
Su Qingsang and Huo Jinyao held hands as they walked along the lakeside. They saw another villa. That villa was slightly bigger than the one they were living in now.
“Does that villa also belond to this neighborhood?”
Huo Jinyao nodded. He looked at the villa and suddenly thought of something.
If he remembered correctly, the person who bought this villa seemed to be surnamed Zhan? The Zhan family was one of the oldest families in Qing City.
When he thought of the Zhan family, he thought of the few times he met Zhan Haoze in Lin City. If he remembered correctly, the Zhan family had been in turmoil recently.
“Did your company develop this area?”
Su Qingsang’s words brought Huo Jinyao back to his senses. He smiled and held her hand as they walked up the stairs.
“Not only this Cherry Blossom Manor, but the shopping mall outside, as well as the residential area beside the shopping mall, were all built by Tianyu Group.”
At first, he had thought of building a villa area here. After all, the scenery here wasn’t bad and the feng shui here was good too.
After the villa area was built, he discovered that the nearby space was empty. Coincidentally, the Qing City’s city government was in the midst of recruiting businesses, and Tianyu Group had the power to do so. They simply took over the entire area and turned it into its current busines scale.
“Amazing.”
Upon hearing that, Huo Jinyao moved his face closer to Su Qingsang and said, “Since your husband is so amazing, don’t you want to give me a reward?”
With a “pop”, Su Qingsang leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “My husband is the best. How about that?”
“Too perfunctory.” The kiss wasn’t sincere enough. However, he knew that Su Qingsang wasn’t a very outgoing person when outside, so he decided to let her off the hook.
Looking at the rocking chair in the gazebo in front, he brought Su Qingsang to sit down.
The autumn breeze was refreshing. At this time of year, it felt quite comfortable.
“This area was built by the Tianyu Group. What about Lin City?”
Su Qingsang had forgotten to ask this question. “Why did you go to Lin City in the first place? Also, why were you in the hospital that day?”
“Li Junsheng received a transfer order to become the mayor of Lin City and told me that this was an opportunity, but our company had originally planned to open a branch in Lin City, and a few projects had already been scheduled to start. As for why he appeared at the hospital that day, when I went to inspect the construction site, there happened to be a worker who suffered from acute appendicitis. That day, Yang Wenchang drove my car to the hospital for maintenance, so, I sent that person to the hospital myself.”
Unexpectedly, because he wasn’t familiar with the hospital, after paying the fees and settling the worker down, Huo Jinyao, who called the family and was about to leave, went in the wrong direction.
“I see.”
Su Qingsang thought about it and found it a little unbelievable. “In that case, I have to thank that worker from your company. If he didn’t suddenly suffer from acute appendicitis, we wouldn’t have had the chance to meet.”
“That’s right.”
Huo Jinyao nodded. Su Qingsang smiled and leaned her face close to his chest.
“It’s so comfortable here.”
“Mhm. If you like it, we can come here more often.”
“Sure.” Su Qingsang nodded. She really liked it here.
Closing her eyes, she could smell the scent of osmanthus in the air. “Are there osmanthus here?”
“Yes. There are a few osmanthus trees ahead. I’ll show you later.”
“Okay.” Su Qingsang realized that Huo Jinyao’s choice of place was very satisfying to her. She became a little lazy now that she was pregnant. She didn’t want to go to places that were too tiring or too torturous.
“Later, we’ll go to eat Qing City’s specialty dishes. I know a restaurant here that makes very authentic roasted whole sheep.”
“Sure.” Su Qingsang’s appetite had been pretty good recently, and there weren’t many things that she couldn’t eat. In fact, many things weren’t as exaggerated as they sounded, and it wasn’t as if there were many things that pregnant women couldn’t eat.
She had to pay attention to her portion size and the actual condition of her body. Not being picky was also a kind of prenatal education.
..
Su Qingsang had never been to Qing City before. The place that Huo Jinyao mentioned was in a courtyard near the suburbs. The courtyard was a standard northern courtyard house.
It was spacious and had trees planted in the north. It looked just like an ordinary courtyard house.
Su Qingsang followed behind Huo Jinyao and entered the house in the middle of the courtyard. The inside was completely different from the outside. The decoration was especially elegant. There were only a few tables in the hall, and the corridors on both sides could lead to private rooms. It seemed like there weren’t many rooms.
“How did you know about this place?”
“This boss used to collaborate with Tianyu Group. Later, because he was always socializing outside and his body couldn’t take it anymore, he quit his company. Instead, he came to open this farmhouse. There are a limited number of guests every day, so he doesn’t accept any additional guests.”
As Huo Jinyao spoke, a slightly chubby middle-aged man walked out from one of the private rooms. Upon seeing the two of them, he quickly stepped forward and reached out his hand to Huo Jinyao.
“President Huo, how rare of you to come. You actually have the time to come to my place.”
“I brought my wife here to eat roasted whole lamb.” Huo Jinyao smiled and shook hands with the man. “How is it? Do you have a seat?”
“President Huo, since you’re here, even if we didn’t have a seat, I’ll add one for you.” The man beamed brightly. “This way, please. This is room number one.”
“Thank you.”
Huo Jinyao followed behind the owner, while Su Qingsang looked around. She rarely saw such a courtyard house in Lin City. It was slightly different from the courtyard houses in Imperial City.
After entering room number one, Huo Jinyao asked the boss to serve the roasted whole lamb. While waiting for the dishes to be served, Su Qingsang looked at the courtyard behind her.
“The roasted whole lamb was roasted at the back?”
“Yes.”
“Roasted directly?”
“Yes. Do you want to go and take a look?”
Su Qingsang really wanted to go and take a look. She nodded, and Huo Jinyao led her out.
After they exited the private room, a waiter went to a private room in front to serve the dishes. The moment the waiter entered, Su Qingsang and Huo Jinyao happened to walk into the room.
She saw that the person who came out of the room looked very familiar. It was Zhan Haoze. She froze for a moment. Zhan Haoze was very tall. He was about the same height as Huo Jinyao, so she couldn’t see inside the room.
However, the moment Zhan Haoze came out and closed the door, she felt like she saw a woman sitting inside.
“President Huo?”
Zhan Haoze saw Huo Jinyao and greeted him first. Huo Jinyao nodded. He wasn’t surprised that Zhan Haoze was here.
Qing City was considered to be the Zhan family’s Huo Yangxiu. It was normal for Zhan Haoze to be here.
“President Zhan, are you also here for the roast lamb?”
“Yes.” Zhan Haoze nodded. He looked at Su Qingsang and nodded slightly. “Hello, Mrs. Huo.”
Su Qingsang’s expression was a little cold. Speaking of which, Zhan Haoze had helped her before. She should be thanking him. However, she felt a little uncomfortable when she thought about how this man was Shi Mengwan’s big brother but had forgotten all about Shi Mengwan. He was even with another woman.
“President Zhan, is that Miss Chen inside?” Su Qingsang remembered that Zhan Haoze’s fiancée was surnamed Chen. It was just a casual question.
Before Zhan Haoze could say anything, Huo Jinyao chimed in, as if he was cooperating with Su Qingsang.
“Speaking of which, our company has worked with the Chen family before. If it’s Miss Chen, why don’t you come with us?”
“No.” Zhan Haoze’s expression didn’t look too good. “President Huo, it’s not convenient for me right now. If there’s a chance next time, I’ll pay you a visit.”
“You’re too kind, President Zhan.” Huo Jinyao and Su Qingsang could tell that the person inside wasn’t Chen Feifei.
Su Qingsang’s expression didn’t look too pleasant either. She glared at Zhan Haoze’s back as he walked in the other direction.
“What’s wrong? Why are you unhappy?” Huo Jinyao didn’t quite understand what Su Qingsang was thinking. He turned to Su Qingsang and asked, “Did he offend you?”
“Yes.”
“How did he offend you? Tell me, and I’ll help you vent your anger.”
“Forget it.” Su Qingsang shook her head. Zhan Haoze had forgotten about Shi Mengwan and was with Chen Feifei. Now, he was here with another woman.
Despite her saying that it was nothing, just from how she looked at Zhan Haoze just now, he knew that there must be something fishy going on.
She felt a little anguished. Poor Shi Mengwan had rejected countless suitors for such a man for so many years. She was still single now.
But what about Zhan Haoze? He had his arms around another woman. Shi Mengwan wasn’t on his mind at all.
Although love was a one-sided affair, she had to stand up for her friend, right?
However, Huo Jinyao didn’t need to listen to these thoughts. Looking at the tightly shut door, she saw that the waiter still hadn’t come out to serve the dishes.
She held Huo Jinyao’s hand and said, “Didn’t you say you wanted to see the roast lamb? Let’s go.”
She left with Huo Jinyao, and the door to the private room opened. The waiter came out from the room, and the person standing behind the door to prevent herself from being seen was Shi Mengwan.
Suppressing her heart that was about to jump out of her chest, she placed a hand on her chest. She took a deep breath, leaned her body against the wall, and suddenly felt a surge of sadness.
Was this shady love affair really going to continue?
..
Su Qingsang didn’t know what she had missed out on. She couldn’t take it anymore after watching the lamb being roasted live. The temperature was too high, and she was especially afraid of the heat.
She didn’t bump into Zhan Haoze again after returning to the private room. By the time she had finished eating with Huo Jinyao, the room had already been cleaned by the waiter, and Zhan Haoze had already left.
After returning to the Cherry Blossom Manor, she took the opportunity to send Shi Mengwan a video request while Huo Jinyao was taking a shower.
Su Qingsang froze for a moment when she was rejected. She then thought of sending it again. Shi Mengwan had already taken the initiative to call.
“Qingsang.”
“Mengwan, is it not convenient for you right now?”
“Yes, a guest is here. She’s gone to look at her clothes now. I’m going to measure her later.”
“There’s still a customer at this time of night? This person is too tactless. Doesn’t she know you’re going to rest?”
Su Qingsang’s tone was filled with heartache. Shi Mengwan didn’t reply. She was just saying that she was aware of Shi Mengwan’s workaholic personality.
“It’s fine. I’m used to it. As for you, how have you been recently?”
“I’m pretty good. The child is causing trouble for me now, and I can eat without vomiting. Oh right, guess where I am now?”
“Where?” Shi Mengwan already knew, so her tone didn’t sound too surprised.
“I’m in Qing City. You didn’t expect that, did you?” Su Qingsang didn’t discern anything amiss in Shi Mengwan’s voice. After all, she couldn’t see her expression through the phone.
“Huo Jinyao took me to eat roasted whole lamb tonight. It was really delicious. Mengwan, come over next time. Let’s do it again.”
“Sure.” Shi Mengwan nodded and looked at the man who just came out of the bathroom. “Why did you think of coming to Qing City?”
Su Qingsang noticed that Shi Mengwan used the word “come”, but she didn’t think much about it. “Huo Jinyao said that since my mom left, he was afraid that I would be lonely at home, so he brought me out for a walk. He said it was a honeymoon.”
“That’s great.” Her eyes filled with pure envy, Shi Mengwan smiled.
How many people in the world could be as lucky as Su Qingsang? To meet a man who liked her, loved her, cared for her, and cherished her?
“Mengwan?” Su Qingsang suddenly changed the topic, and her tone became serious.
“Hmm?”
“That.” Su Qingsang wasn’t good at this kind of thing, but thinking about Zhan Haoze’s reaction today, she was really worried for her good friend.
“You, you’re still thinking about your big brother now? Are you not considering other men?”
Zhan Haoze had already walked behind Shi Mengwan. Her heart skipped a beat and she forced herself to calm down.
“Why are you talking about this?”
Su Qingsang rarely mentioned this in front of her. This was a rare tacit understanding between the two sisters.
“I just think that you should try to let it go. After all, the beautiful childhood love in your heart might have been forgotten by the other party already. Moreover, after such a long time, that person might not be the same person anymore. Haven’t you ever thought about it? Perhaps, what you are persistent in pursuing is just an unwillingness in your heart, or a fantasy.
“In fact, that man might already be married. He might even have children. Otherwise, perhaps, he also has other shortcomings.”
“Qingsang?”
“Mengwan, listen to me. I know what you’re thinking, and I’ve always respected your determination to wait. But I feel that no matter if you wait or look forward to it, you should place it on someone who’s worth it. For those who are unwilling to … there’s really no need for you to waste your feelings. That will only increase your pain and emptiness.”
In silence, Shi Mengwan’s body was pulled into Zhan Haoze’s embrace. She almost threw the phone in her palm away.
“Mengwan?”
“Qingsang, stop talking. I know everything.”
She understood the reasoning, but it was too difficult to do it, especially —
Zhan Haoze’s hands had already reached into her collar, and his lips, with slight warmth, landed on the back of her neck.
Shi Mengwan shuddered and couldn’t help but take a step forward, but she couldn’t shake off Zhan Haoze’s hands. She was brought back into his arms. She couldn’t help but let out an extremely soft cry.
“Mengwan? What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not angry, are you? Don’t be angry. I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to keep waiting like this.”
Su Qingsang paused for a few seconds and said in a softer tone, “If you can, forget about him.”
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