Chapter 113 —Xu Kexin's Story

Pei Yueran stopped and turned at the sound of her name, watching as the woman she defended earlier in the restroom came forward.

Only now did she see her features properly. She looked a bit familiar.

"It's nice to formally meet you, Special Assistant Pei. I'm Xu Kexin."

The slight confusion between Pei Yueran's brows finally cleared up.

"Head designer of LY?"

"Exactly." Xu Kexin answered, pleasantly surprised that Pei Yueran guessed correctly in one try.

Pei Yueran stretched out her hand with a smile. "It's nice to meet you too. I really loved your tasteful design of my apartment. Everything was just right."

"I'm glad you like it." Xu Kexin answered, her smile becoming more genuine. She was very proud of her work as an interior designer and loved getting feedback.

As they began walking back to the party, Pei Yueran apologized. "I'm sorry for butting in back there. I just felt compelled to say something at the time. I didn't mean to intrude." She felt a bit like a busybody.

Xu Kexin brushed her apology away with a slight shake of her head, her light brown eyes twinkling with amusement, "Not at all. It was actually very refreshing to hear what someone else thinks about this matter. I usually just ignore her, but I'm glad you were there today."

Whether due to their conversation, or because Pei Yueran was already fed up of the party, they stopped short of entering the grand hall and went to the smaller room just beside it, which had been set up for those who wanted to rest their legs.

They continued talking, getting to know each other more by the minute. When Xu Kexin was talking about how she came to work in LY, she inadvertently dived briefly into the story behind the farce Pei Yueran had seen in the restroom.

Xu Kexin's story was a bit similar to Pei Yueran's. She was also from an average family, but both parents were from City M and worked in the education sector. They noticed early on that she had an eye for designing and encouraged her to explore her talent.

With their support, she went on to get a degree in graphic and interior design, before specializing solely in interior design. She got a job at LY immediately she graduated, and was able to carve a niche for herself in City M.

Seeing her hardwork and observing her personality, the president of LY decided to arrange a blind date for her, with his son— Du Zimo—who had just returned to the country at the time.

She was not interested at first, but she decided to give it a shot after repeated propositions from the president.

Du Zimo was a handsome and polite gentleman, but he didn't seem very interested in her. She assumed that would be their first and last date, but he surprisingly invited her for another date, then another. They kept in touch and met up frequently. Their parents also met each other and were pleased with their relationship.

Before long, they were engaged.

Xu Kexin herself was not head over heels, but she felt Du Zimo was not bad. He could give her stability, and since he had already promised that she could continue working even after marriage, she had no objections.

Most importantly, since it would be a marriage of convenience, she felt she would be able to keep her secret for a while longer.

Then she found out that Du Zimo had another girl on the side. She didn't confront him at first, she just waited to see what he would do.

He never said anything and just kept being the polite fiance he had always been. She decided that as long as he kept quiet, she would not raise the issue. Since she saw it as a business arrangement, she wasn't really hurt.

But soon, the other lady could not sit still. She came looking for Xu Kexin, at first sobbing about her love for Du Zimo and how society's expectations kept them apart, then threatening Xu Kexin to leave him alone because they were in love.

At this time, she confronted him about it, but he only frowned and said, "I don't know this woman. Just ignore her."

She did as he said, but the lady was a pest, often waylaying her in random places and giving Xu Kexin a headache.

The last straw was about two months ago, when she came to her office to tell her that she was pregnant for Du Zimo. She not only presented the doctor's report about the pregnancy, she also brought pictures of her and Du Zimo in bed for proof.

When she showed them to Du Zimo, he got angry for the first time in her presence. "I said I don't know her. If you want to end our relationship, just say so and stop looking for ridiculous excuses."

Xu Kexin felt angry as well, but she hid it all under her mirthless laugh. "Fine. Let's end it then, so that you can be free to unite with your other woman and unborn baby."

Du Zimo looked like he wanted to swallow her whole, but he barely restrained himself and retorted with gritted teeth.

"If that's what you want, fine. Let me go and see this "woman of mine" then. Since you don't trust me, I should make your words come true. After all, according to you, she's going to make me a father soon, while a certain someone would not even let me touch her!"

He saw her flinch a bit before that perpetual smile came back on, but he was too angry to care. He continued, "I'll inform my parents about it, so you should inform yours."

He took his car keys that he had dropped on the table and stormed out in anger, leaving Xu Kexin standing in the center of the living room.

Less than an hour later, she was called that he had been involved in a car accident. He was promptly rescued and treated, but he still slipped into a coma and was unconscious for more than two weeks.

Because she believed it was their argument that led to his accident, she held herself responsible for his predicament and took care of him as much as she could, setting aside the issue between them.

But when he finally woke up, he was like a different person. Gone was the polite yet distant Du Zimo, and his place was a 182cm cuddly teddy bear who didn't want to step an inch away from her.

If she as much as went to the restroom, he would panic and call her name repeatedly. He couldn't remember his name, job or even his own parents. It was strange that he only remembered her.

She couldn't understand. Both of them treated each other like honored guests, or friends at best. Why would she be his only memory?

She and his parents spoke with the doctor, but he explained it as a temporary sequela of the accident.

Since he had obviously forgotten about their argument as well, she decided to wait until he was well enough to remind him.

She also tried to jog his memory about the lady, even showing him her pictures, but there was no hint of recognition on his face. So she shelved that too and resigned herself to being at his beck and call.

Thankfully, he was now getting better and less clingy, though he still had not regained all his memories. He could now remember his name and that of his parents, but nothing much else. Still, it was a huge improvement.

That was why she didn't have much to say to Ms Lin. The matter was between the two of them, so when he recovered his memory, he would seek her out, if their love story was indeed true.

She would just take it as helping the two fated lovers to reunite. She couldn't wait for him to be back to normal, so that she could move on.