"Hmph…" Mrs. Jin sighed. "I hate those mistresses the most in my life. That bitch better pray that she doesn't create more trouble in future. If not, I won't need to wait for your sister-in-law to do something, I will make her pay for it."
—
Chi Rui'er was successfully saved, and she woke up very soon.
Lying on the hospital bed with her left wrist bandaged, her eyes were red and puffy from crying.
Jin Qingyan stood there just looking at her, not saying a word.
Finally, she still could not bear it and asked, "Why did you save me? You should've just let me die."
"Then why did you not hang yourself? It's a faster way of dying. It's difficult to slit deep into your wrist, it's too slow and painful a way to die." His words made her cry even harder. Chi Rui'er watched him and exclaimed bitterly, "You hate me a lot now, don't you? I'm not the same as I used to be in your heart, right?"
"Shouldn't you ask yourself that?" Jin Qingyan continued, "If you really wanted to end your own life, nobody could've stopped you. Is it because you're scared of going to jail?"
"Can't it be because I'm regretful and ashamed?" Chi Rui'er lowered her head and lamented, "I shouldn't have done that. Now, whether she's even dead or alive is unknown, and it's all my fault."
"She's already returned, just suffered some external injuries."
She suddenly raised her head and exclaimed, "She's returned?!"
Realizing her reaction was too obvious, she hurriedly added, "That's great."
"Rui'er, I hope something like this won't happen again in the future. She doesn't owe you anything — I will settle this properly. You won't have to go to jail." As his words came out, the image of An Xiaoning's smile this morning appeared in his head and his heart wrenched slightly.
"Qingyan, I only did that because I didn't want to put you in a spot. I know I have no right to say this, but I want to be with you now. Even though it's too late, I still want to fight for it. I don't want to miss out on you again."
"I won't get a divorce. I'll pretend I didn't hear this today, please don't say anything like that in the future." Jin Qingyan's gaze became colder. "Rui'er, I got Shixin to find you a house. You can go there to rest after you're discharged. I'll send people to guard and accompany you there, the house is a gift from me."
"Mmm…" She didn't know what else to say at this point. She could only smile bitterly and remark, "And they said the power of love is the greatest of all? Qingyan, you love me but don't dare to marry me. I look down on you."
"But if I abandon my wife to marry you, you'll respect someone like that?" He raised his arm to look at the time and said, "Stay here and rest well, I've other things to settle."
Looking at the back of his figure drifting further away from her, Chi Rui'er was going crazy inside. She thought she knew him well, but she realized — even after knowing him for so long — she still didn't know exactly what kind of person he was.
After Jin Qingyan came back from the police station, it was already past four o'clock in the afternoon.
Once he reached home, he thought An Xiaoning would interrogate him, but she was squatting on the ground, helping Maomao, which just bathed, blow-dry its hair. Though knowing that he was back, she didn't even give him a single glance.
Jin Qingyan decided to initiate a conversation. "What do you want to eat for dinner? I'll let Auntie Chen make it for you."
An Xiaoning replied with a grin, "I have a mouth to say what I want to eat. No need to trouble you — Mr. Jin."
He was very annoyed upon hearing the words "Mr. Jin" and pointed out, "We're a family, what's with calling me Mr. Jin?"
"A family?" An Xiaoning laughed and continued to blow-dry Maomao's fur.
Seeing that she couldn't be bothered to talk to him, Jin Qingyan sat on the sofa, playing with his phone but not forgetting to look up at her once in a while.
An Xiaoning blew Maomao's fur dry and sat on another sofa to watch the news. When she saw the report on her own case being declared as closed, her heart momentarily sank.
As expected, the police announced that the instigator previously reported was a fictional person the group of five created to reduce their sentence. After a detailed investigation, An Xiaoning had gone to the teahouse to meet a friend that night. Recognizing who she was, the five were stricken by greed. After robbing her, they attempted to create the false impression that she had driven while drinking and crashed to her death. But they never expected that the truth would be revealed and they were arrested that night.
The comments on this report were largely from netizens who expressed immense satisfaction towards this conclusion and commended the high efficiency of the police in S Nation.
An Xiaoning knew that once this conclusion came out, it would be set in stone.
No matter what she said, it would be meaningless already.
She didn't even have to think about who had incited this conclusion.
It was not a difficult thing at all to settle this issue.
But her heart fell to a bottomless pit. Sure enough, he used his actions to express how he really felt. Between her and Chi Rui'er, he chose the other woman.
Right, because after all, she was the woman he loved most. It was only natural, wasn't it?
An Xiaoning's nail bit deep right into her flesh. The pain overwhelmed her in that instant. She could not bear all that suffering for nothing, she just could not.
During dinner, An Xiaoning cast a glance beside her where he was and said, "Since you choose to protect her at all costs, then I can't lose out either. Transfer me 20 million yuan tomorrow. You know my account number."
Jin Qingyan only muttered a single word, "Okay."
An Xiaoning mixed the fermented beancurd and vegetables all in her rice — mixed them all together vigorously — and finally ate them in huge mouthfuls. Maybe because she'd earned back the amount she spent on her car, or that she felt her life was worth a lot of money, she smiled as she ate. The smile was almost bitter. It was like she had dumped all her suffering and anger into the rice to swallow it down.
—
At night, she lay in bed reading a book while he sat on the couch in the bedroom tasting the drink he concocted, Dreamyanghe.
The blue liquid swirled in the wine glass. While his figure was on the couch, his gaze was focused on her.
An Xiaoning could feel his stare, but she did not look back at him the entire time.
Eventually, Jin Qingyan put down the wine glass and walked towards the bed. He removed the book from her hand and said, "Let's talk."
"I have knowledge on almost any area, from astronomy to geography, gossip, and even fortune-telling. I'm not sure which area you want to talk about with me."
Seeing her playing dumb, Jin Qingyan bent down and moved closer to her. His warm breathing, which carried the faint smell of alcohol, reached her face. He replied nonchalantly, "Hmm… then let's simply just talk about married life, how about that?"
Without waiting for An Xiaoning's reply, he pressed down onto her soft lips like a ferocious tiger. With one hand pinning down on her arm, his whole body was on hers. She was unable to move an inch.
Her ears turned red hot, but the look in her eyes remained unchanged. It seemed to only emphasize the rift between them. She was completely unaffected by his arousal.
Jin Qingyan stared firmly at her. His lips traveled from her lips to around her face and eventually landed around her ears. "Be good, open your mouth."
An Xiaoning gave him a push away and said, with a grin still on her face, "Let's play cards, shall we? Whoever loses shall drink down a glass of wine."
"What about the winner?"
"The winner gets to do as they please tonight."
Jin Qingyan narrowed his eyes. "That's what you said, okay? It's a deal."
An Xiaoning sneered inside. Play cards with me, get ready to lose thoroughly.
And so the two started playing. Never would Jin Qingyan have expected that he would lose so terribly that night. He lost five games to her consecutively.
From drinking only one glass to eventually drinking five glasses, he passed out completely after.