First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 93 Translation

093. Parting calls


In the car, Su Yi Cheng had put on some calming music. He was concentrated on the road before him. The car wasn’t going too fast, but rather very steadily.

At the traffic light, the car slowly came to a stop. He turns to look at the sleeping An Ran beside him, he can see the tiredness and darkness beneath her eyes that couldn’t be concealed. He slightly frowns, feeling sorry for her.

Last night she had spent the night designing, so An Ran did not sleep at all. She drank cup after cup of coffee throughout the night, even though she hated bitterness she was more afraid of falling asleep, so she would rather brave the bitterness. Finally only after 5 in the morning did she finish up her draft. When she got to the bed she immediately fell asleep. As a result, because he was afraid that she wouldn’t sleep soundly, he didn’t go for a morning exercise, but accompanied her to sleep until 8 o’clock.

She was truly tired. Since getting on the car to falling sleep, not even a minute had passed. Actually, with the whole Lin Li debacle, made her very tense, and so she hadn’t slept very well these days.

He sweeps her bangs aside, and calmly gazes at her. The car behind him honks its horn. He looks up ahead of him, and the light had already turned green.

The car slowly starts forward. He doesn’t accelerate, and tries his best to be as smooth as possible, so it doesn’t jolt. This way, it wouldn’t disturb her sleep. Finally when the car stopped in front of ‘Jing Cheng building’, An Ran still hadn’t awaken. She was still against the seat, apparently in deep slumber, even slightly snoring.

Su Yi Cheng looks at his watch. Even though he hates to wake her up, but he knows that if he doesn’t then she would be very late.

“An Ran, An Ran, wake up. We’re at the company.” Su Yi Cheng softly pats her face.

An Ran wakens up from her slumber. Her eyes were still incredibly heavy. She turns to look outside, aware that she was already at her company. She rubs her eyes, and tries her best to sober up, and drive away that slumber. She looks at her watch.. If she doesn’t go up now she’ll be late. She hastily turns around and gets her briefcase from the backseat, and quickly turns to look at Su Yi Cheng, “I’m going first.”

Su Yi Cheng looks at her. He pitied how exhausted she looked, and says, “If you’re too tired just ask for a sick day.” He also couldn’t stand that she was this tired.

“Can’t. There’s a meeting today, and anyways, I've always wanted to do cases like this, and to me this is a huge opportunity, I have to seize this nicely.” She says as she gets out of the car. She leans over to the window, and gives him a slight smile, “Alright, I’m going up. Drive carefully. You don’t need to pick me up tonight, I might need to go to the site tonight with a colleague, so I’ll be late.”

Su Yi Cheng nods. He suddenly remembers that he had bought her milk and bread on the way, and quickly calls out to her, “AN Ran, wait.”

An Ran halts. She turns to look at him, and puzzledly asks, “What’s up?”

Su Yi Cheng carries the bag out of the car. He goes around the car to give her the bag of milk and bread, and softly says, “Eat this when you’re up there. You can’t miss breakfast.”

An Ran accepts the small bag. She has a small smile on her face and nods at him. She steps forward, with a slight blush on her face, she quickly gives him a peck on his cheek, and rapidly says, “I’m going up.” She turns around and avoids looking at him as she enters the building.

Su Yi Cheng stared into space for a while. This was the first time that she initiated the kiss. This kind of knowledge and awareness made the corner of his mouth rise. He rubs the spot that she had just kissed. His mood immediately became joyful, that even his eyes were smiling.

When he was about to start the car to leave, he suddenly heard someone call him from behind.

“Brother Yi Cheng!”

Su Yi Cheng turns around, to see Ling Lin coming out of the car, accompanied by a chauffeur. He was caught off-guard, but immediately nods his head at her. His smile changes into a polite and distant one.

“Brother Yi Cheng, why are you here?” Ling Lin can see that Su Yi Cheng’s mood was rather good, so she smiles back at him.

“I was sending my wife to work.” Su Yi Cheng faintly responds. Then he asks, “Do you also work here?”

Hearing that, Ling Lin’s complexion changes. Unhappiness was written all over her face. She nods slightly and replies, “En.”

Su Yi Cheng just nods slightly. He smiles gently at her and says, “Well I will take my leave first, I should hurry to work.” Saying that, he opens the door and gets in his car. It wasn’t that he didn’t see her emotion, it’s just that it had nothing to do with him. She isn’t anything to him. Strangers - he doesn’t inquire much or cares much about them.

An Ran gave Huang De Xing her draft for him to look over. He looks at the blueprint earnestly. The corner of his eyes rise, and even the corner of his mouth slowly starts to point up. A while later, he couldn’t help but nod and say to An Ran, “Good, very good. Your composition is very bold, new and original. If we open up the ceiling for the children’s area, not only does it allow the children to breath, it gives a fresh atmosphere, and even arouses the childrens’ interest. Not bad, this idea is not too bad.” He puts down the blueprint. Huang De Xing smiles from ear to ear, “I knew you could do it, An Ran, you really did not let me down.”

An Ran holds back her smile, and just says, “If director thinks there’s no problem with the design, then I will modify it, so this afternoon they can start building the prototype and sample."

Huang De Xing nods his head, “En. We should rush, the tendering deadline is close. However, even though we have to rush, the quality should still not be compromised. This is an international project, the quality that everyone is expecting will be very high. If we manage to win this project, to you, to this company, will be of great significance.”

An Ran nods, “I got it.” Saying that, she turns around to leave. However, Huang De Xing calls out from behind.

“An Ran, wait.” Huang De Xing gets up from his seat, and smiles as he makes his way over to her.

“Is there anything else Director?” An Ran asks.

Huang De Xing smiles and looks at her. With intention behind his words, he says, “I heard recently that the municipal committee had officially passed the proposal for Ke Ji City. Construction will probably be starting within the next few months.”

An Ran was taken aback. She naturally heard the meaning behind his words. She bows her head slightly, not giving a reply to his statement.

In response, Huang De Xing smiles again and says, “I heard the committee had selected Special Assistant Su to take over the case. He will probably transfer posts within the next few days, at that time Special Assistant Su will indeed get a promotion.”

Hearing that, An Ran raises her head to look at him. She just smiles slightly, and shakes her head and says, “Actually regarding Yi Cheng’s work, because of the special nature of his work, Yi Cheng very rarely talks about it with me. So, about whether or not the construction of the newly built Ke Ji City was passed, and regarding whether or not Yi Cheng is taking over, to be honest with you, I’m still not too sure.”

Huang De Xing also smiles, and says, “I’m just gossiping. However, if this nomination really does happen, when the time comes please give Special Assistant Su our favour. You also know, these projects, our company is capable of competing for them too.”

An Ran looks at him. She smiles, but doesn’t know how to answer. She understood the meaning behind his words, she isn’t stupid, it was loud and clear. In fact she personally is disgusted by such injustice and unfairness through nepotism. Since you can only obtain these projects if you have the connection, then why bother with the pretence of tendering, toying with those who have no connections and only have this chance during tendering, where is the fairness and impartiality in that. But it seems like society is just like that, not just in relying on connections to fight for projects, even when children go to school to study, if you don’t gift the right people red envelopes, it will be difficult for the child. This kind of practice is very bad, but the present society is already accustomed to it.

“An Ran, don’t be burdened, I don’t have any other meaning, I just want to do good for the company. If the company is well then everyone will be well, besides, the strengths of our company is not lacking, our reputation is one of the best, you know that. Of course, you don’t have to do anything, but just wanted to ask you to pull some strings with Special Assistant Su. Additionally the company board members are also interested in you. When the time comes be prepared to come down.” Huang De Xing laughs.

An Ran doesn’t answer. Carrying her blueprint she has her eyes on the ground. She hates it when he speaks this way, but she can’t refuse to his face. Actually she also knows, nowadays, just knowing that she was Su Yi Cheng’s wife, so long as they know that Su Yi Cheng will be in charge of the newly built Ke Ji City, every single person will try to slyly get close to her, thus holding onto a thread connecting to Su Yi Cheng.

A while later, does An Ran slowly lift her head up. She looks at Huang De Xing, and steadily says, “Director, if there’s nothing else, then I will take my leave first.”

Huang De xing looks at her profoundly. She has been with him for 6 years, so he has some understanding of her. She and Xiao Xiao are two completely different people, it can be said that they are opposites. Xiao xiao was an expert at social interaction, so naturally, he doesn’t care about her methods, but she is very good at interacting with people. She doesn’t have the gift of designing, so even though she is eager to study and work hard, but everything she designs, is too reserved, too rigid, nothing novel, while An Ran was the opposite. An Ran has a unique gift in designing, every time she designs something would make people’s eyes shine, however regarding her social interaction, she was always too stiff, not smooth enough. He reckons that even this time’s attempt at roping Su Yi Cheng through her failed. Perhaps he should try another method, perhaps, another route would be more practical. If he could be a part of the Ke Ji City case this time, at the year-end CEO selections, he will probably have a very big God looking over him.

Only after a while does Huang De Xing nod. He still carries a smile on his face, and says, “Alright, there’s nothing else. You should make the most of this physical activity manor, you should pay special attention to the sample and prototype.”

An Ran nods, and retreats from his office. The moment she closed the door, she let out a long sigh. Then she turns to go back to her own office.

The afternoon was spent with the builder to construct a sample, and the model was beginning to get constructed. Knocking off work, when she left her office, she bumped into Xiao xiao. The two faced each other coldly, remaining silent, both turning their eyes away.

The two silently wait for the elevator. When they left the company doors, Xiao xiao looks at her with a meaningful smile, and says, “I advise you, if you have time you should look after your man better.” After speaking, she turns and leaves.

An Ran bewildered, watches her purposefully swing her hips as she catches a taxi and leaves.

When An Ran returned Su Yi Cheng was already home, speaking on the phone with somebody.

An Ran changes her shoes and enters the room, only to see him hurriedly end the call, “Alright, I got it. I’ll ask An Ran about the move, I’ll get back to you later. Oh right, these past few days Yi Jiao has been hounding me about looking for you, she seemed serious, what did you say to her you rascal?”

Ye Zi Wen was taken aback. Slightly diffident he says, “I, what could I say to her. Alright, alright, I still have matters, not going to talk to you anymore.” He hangs up first.

She places her briefcase on top of the coffee table. An Ran sits on the sofa, staring at the man sitting across from her.

Su Yi Cheng puts away the phone. He looks at her, a small smile hanging at the corner of his mouth. He reaches out to her, “Come.”

An Ran calmly walks over to him. She puts her hand into his large palms, and was pulled by him so she sat on his lap. An Ran was still not yet used to this kind of closeness. She half pushes him, only to have him hug her even tighter, so that there wasn’t much struggle, so she had no other choice but to let him hug her tightly. She sighs. Leaning against him, she says, “I handed in my blueprint.”

“En.” Su Yi Cheng faintly replies. He asks, “What did they say?” His wife had worked so hard all night, if they dared reject her, heng, he won’t stand aside!

“Huang De Xing seemed to be very pleased.” An Ran steadily stated.

Behind her, Su Yi Cheng nods slightly. The corner of his mouth seemed to have no smile, but in fact he enjoyed this moment of quietness and happiness.

An Ran slowly turned around. She looks at Su Yi Cheng, and steadily says, “Huang De Xing says you will be getting promoted.”

Su Yi Cheng subconsciously frowns. He looks at her. Distracted, he asks, “What’s going on? What did he say?” My goodness, news sure does spread fast. His side hadn’t even carried it out yet, and those outside already know it like the back of their hand. As it relates to their interests, always attracting their attention, this is not at all a good thing.

“He wants me to say favours to you, and on behalf of the company entice you, so that it creates more benefits for work, and even promised, if I help the company fight for the project, I would have a chance for promotion.” An Ran honestly confesses to him.

Su Yi Cheng looks at her and gently smiles. He just asks, “Then what did you say?” He can ignore other people’s attitude, as he’s encountered these types of people many times, these issues, he’s heard it countless times. He doesn’t care about anything else, what’s important is her attitude towards this issue.

An Ran looks at her for a while. Finally she shakes her head, forthcoming, she says, “I didn’t say anything. I can’t just carelessly guarantee others in your place.” His status was too special, to be regarded as his wife, she’s afraid to talk too much, to say the wrong thing.

“Besides.” An Ran looks at him. She lowers her head and faintly says, “Besides I don’t really like this kind of thing. I think things should be fair and equal, but what is this, those with the skill and strengths are not considered, only because they don’t have the connections, and can never get what they fairly deserve.” She shakes her head, and whispers, “I don’t like it.”

Su Yi Cheng smiles softly, he reaches out to lift her head. Then he lowers his head and kisses her on the lip, tightly affixed on her lips, he says, “The internal committee has been talking about it. Secretary Zhang had also told me the news, so I can make the proper preparations, but the nomination probably won’t be happening until next week. But no matter if it was me in charge of the city’s urban construction, regarding the project’s tendering, I don’t plan to be swayed by personal affairs, even if it were you asking for favours, or Ye Zi Wen, all should go through the procedures properly, I will not make it easy for you guys, or secretly select you guys, otherwise the tendering will all be but a show for others to see. I have no such plans, you understand what I mean?”

Hearing that, she stares at him. The corner of An Ran’s mouth slightly rises, as if she had worries that existed for a while, but only until now was it completely put to rest. She has always known that the political darkness was no better than the business world, how much officials collude with each other, only for their own benefit. Some even go into the position only for that reason, doing it for their own friends and family to monopolize the business. She hated such behaviour, and it was fortunate that he was not like that. His sense of justice let her worries down.

Su Yi Cheng pinches her nose lovingly. He suddenly remembered of Ye Zi Wen’s call about the apartment, that it was all ready and even the furniture and appliances were already bought and installed, and only need to pack up and move in at any time. With them delaying the moving, he still has to find someone to take a look at the area, this inconvenience was giving him a headache, so these past few days he has been urging them to move soon.

Thinking so, Su Yi Cheng asks without thinking, “An Ran, Zi wen said that the apartment is already finished, when do you think we should move, en?”

After he said that, An Ran only then remembered that Ye Zi Wen had asked the same thing to her, and also remembered that there was another thing he had said. She withdraws from his embrace, and fixes her eyes on him. An Ran’s expression was serious.

Su Yi Cheng looks at her in confusion, not really understanding why she was suddenly looking at him like that. “What’s wrong?”

She looks at him for a while, only then does An Ran start to ask, “Before I met you at the blind date, we met each other, right?”

Su Yi Cheng was surprised, not quite understanding why she was asking, but still thought about it earnestly. He asks back, “You mean when you were forced to kiss and happened to pass by and saved you?”

“Wh-who’s talking about that.” An Ran pouts. “Before that, you’ve met me right?”

Su Yi Cheng stares at her, and asks, “An Ran, what are you thinking?”

An Ran lowers her head and looks at her fingers. She slowly starts to say, “Ye Zi Wen said that you guys were there at my blind date that day, sitting behind me. You witnessed everything during the blind date.”

Su Yi Cheng chuckles, and asks back, “Is that really important?”

An Ran shakes her head, and says, “Sometimes I just think, that if it were another woman who had proposed, maybe you would have also agreed, and if so then you’d be another woman’s husband.” The thought that he could have been another woman’s husband, she started to feel this uncomfortable feeling in her heart. Really, she has to admit, it was easy to fall in love with him. He’s too beautiful, too considerate, it’s very hard to reject this kind of man. Obviously when she proposed to him she did it freely, but recently, from time to time she started to think, if the person he met wasn’t her, if it were another woman who took the risk to propose a marriage to him, then would he have agreed?

Su Yi Cheng stares at her. Only after a while does he shake his head, and pokes fun at her, “Nope. There wouldn’t be anyone else who’d be so brazen, proposing a marriage upon the first meeting.”

“I’m just saying if.” An Ran glares at him. The point isn’t whether or not someone would do that, but if he would agree or not!

Looking at her, Su Yi cheng laughs. He shakes his head, “I wouldn’t, because I knew it was you, so that’s why I said yes.” Thinking about it now, maybe it was because he knew it was her, which was why he didn’t think twice and just said yes. However he was afraid that if he hadn’t agreed, perhaps, she would go find another man to ask.

Hearing that, An Ran looks at him, the corner of her mouth faintly displayed a pretty dimple. Regardless if it was true or not, hearing these words, really does sound nice.

Su Yi Cheng laughs and rubs her head, “Alright, let’s eat. After that you have to get right to bed for me, you have to make up for last night’s sleep.”

An Ran laughs. She looks at him and asks, “Then are you going to go to sleep with me?”

Su Yi Cheng raises his brows. He gazes at her for a while, seeming to struggle for a bit. He then shakes his head, “I’m afraid if I accompany you, we won’t simply be sleeping, you probably would stay up another night, and be even more tired.”

An Ran was shocked, then finally heard the meaning behind his words. She reacts, her face turning incredibly red. She glares at him, “Pervert!” Saying that, she turns around to walk over to the kitchen, her face still incredibly hot, it looked like you could cook an egg on it.

Su Yi Cheng plops down on the sofa and lets out a hearty laugh, you could see that he was in a very good mood.



Today An Ran was discussing about the engineering of the sample building with Constructor Chen, and explained the details about the design, working hard.

At this time Lin Li’s call started to come in. These past two days because of the engineering stage of the project, An Ran hadn’t the time go to the hospital to see Lin Li, but she still called her everyday to check up on her condition. Through the phone she could hear Lin Li’s laughter, and she could finally feel relieved.

“Hello, Lin Li, what’s up?” An Ran used her head to press her phone against her shoulder, at the same time using her hands to give directions to Constructor Chen.

“An Zi, I’m call you right now to tell you that I’m preparing to go back, after that, don’t miss me too much ah, if you really miss me you come over and find me okay.” On the other side, Lin Li tried to speak as softly as possible.

An Ran was shocked. She suddenly stood up, and takes her phone into her hand. She raised her voice and asks, “What’d you say?” Constructor Chen beside her was startled by her action, he looks at her oddly.

“Hehe, I’m already at the station, the 3 o’clock one.” Lin Li laughs weakly. “Because I don’t like parting, so that’s why I didn’t dare tell you the time, so only before going did I call you.”

An Ran looks at her watch. It was already 2:45. She puts down her pen, and leaves the model room, while running she says, “Where are you? Train station? Bus station?”

“An Zi, don’t come. I don’t want to see you cry.” Lin Li says, choking with emotion.

“Tell me where!” An Ran roars. She was really going insane, she unexpectedly, she unexpectedly thought that she could secretly sneak away, not even letting her say farewell. What is this, what is this!

She ran until she got to the elevator. The elevator was still on the first floor, even after she pushed it for a while it wasn’t coming. She can’t take up any more time, so she decided to run down the stairs instead. The her right now, had apparently forgotten that she was on the 15th floor!

“An Zi, thank you for walking with me through this journey all these years, from school to society, because I had you, I wasn’t that lonely. These ten years, we learned, slowly grew up, you gave me so much, so much beautiful memories. Even if the entire world left me, you would still be there with me, encourage me, comfort me, because of you I understand the meaning of ‘true friendship’. From now on we’ll be in different cities, from now on we won’t be able to see each other anytime we want or go out to eat anytime we want, but I don’t believe that our relationship will drift apart because of the distance, because I think when I’m bored I will disturb you from time to time, when I’m lonely and unhappy the first person I’ll think of is you, just telling you first, no matter what you’re doing, you aren’t allowed to ignore my calls ha.” Lin Li purposely tried to speak lightly, but An Ran did not miss the faint sob from the other side of the line.

“Lin Li, don’t give me that damn nonsense, I’m telling you, you can’t go! Don’t go, you hear me!” An Ran shouted into the phone, her tears uncontrollably streams down her face.

Lin Li also couldn’t contain her tears, she was also emotional. She sobbed uncontrollably, “An, An Zi, th-thank you for the ten years, I-I have to go now, forgive me for only calling you now, because, because…..” Lin Li couldn’t hold back her emotions, and only after a while does she take a deep breath. She continues, “I don’t want to see your parting figure, or else I wouldn’t be able to leave.”

An Ran was also weeping. She tried to keep it down, holding onto the phone standing in the corridor of the stairs, she powerlessly leans against the wall, finally squatting at the corner. She chokes up as she says, “Then don’t leave, stay!”

On the other line, a deep breath. With great difficulty, Lin li stops her tears, and pulls out a smile, speaking into the phone she says, “An Ran, goodbye!”

---END OF CHAPTER---

Next Chapter

First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 92 Translation

092. Small emotions


An Ran was also surprised that the person Zhou Han had called over was Ye Zi Wen. However, thinking about it they used to be close friends. Right now Zhou Han was not present, so contacting him wasn’t that out of place.

“Why are you here?” Ye Zi Wen comes forward, looking at her oddly.

An Ran stood there, and explains, “I’m here to see my friend. Just happened to run into this child. Then the nurse said that the child was left at the hospital for a few days, so I called Zhou Han.”

Ye Ze Wen nods. He comes forward and squats down to face the child, smiling as he speaks, “Xiao Bin, your dad is on a business trip. Is it alright if you stay at uncle’s place for a few days?” In fact, after last time, he still stayed in contact with Zhou Han, sometimes even asking him to come out for a drink.

An Ran takes a quick look at the child. She rubs his small head, then speaks to Ye Zi Wen, “Since you’re here, I’ll take my leave first.” She turns around to leave. She has to return and fix up today’s blueprint. The deadline that Huang De Xing gave her was tomorrow, and it looks like she has to stay up all night today.

“Are you familiar with Zhou Han?” Ye Zi Wen asks from behind.

An Ran turns around, looks at him suspiciously. She just says, “If you consider running into each other a few times ‘familiar’.”

Ye Zi Wen frowns, “Has Yi Cheng told you about Zhou Han?”

An Ran nods. She was grateful for Su Yi Cheng’s honesty, because it gave her faith in this marriage.

Ye Zi Wen chuckles and talks to himself, “If he can tell you this stuff, looks like he really is over it.”

An Ran didn’t catch what he had said, and frowns. Puzzled, she asks, “What’d you say?”

Ye Zi Wen shakes his head, and says, “Uh, nothing.”

He isn’t telling An Ran so she doesn’t press on. She nods, turning around to leave.

“Hey, right, the room is ready. When are you guys going to move in?” Before, Su Yi Cheng, that brat, continually urged him like a ghost to hurry up. And now he was all caught up with the project, but he hasn’t even said anything about it. Before he had called to ask if he was moving or not, that it was ready. He said his wife wasn’t in a good mood, so they have to push it back a few days. He never would have thought to see that this brat would become a slave to his wife!

An Ran was stunned, and asks, “It’s ready?”

When Su Yi Cheng had brought her to take a look it didn’t seem ready. According to a normal project progress, at the least it would have to take half a month!

Ye Zi Wen rolls his eyes, and says, “It’s been ready for a few days now. Ah Cheng said that you weren’t in a good mood, so he pushed the moving date back a few days. Anyways, so when is your mood going to improve, I’ll arrange the move for you guys.” Look at how good he is, even following up with the after-sales service.

Being told that, An Ran started to feel embarrassed. It’s probably because of the thing with Lin Li, that Su Yi Cheng yielded to her. He didn’t want to bother her, so he never mentioned moving.

“I’ll ask him when he comes back tonight.” An Ran just says so. She started to feel this sweetness swell up because of Su Yi Cheng’s consideration of her.

Ye Zi Wen nods, and says, “Did you drive here? If not I can send you home, in any case it’s on the way.”

An Ran thinks about it, not declining.

The two handle the outpatient procedure for the child. By the time they left the hospital doors it was almost nightfall.

In the car, An Ran and the child sit behind. The child quietly sat there, head down, playing with the Transformers in his hand. An Ran rubs his head. This child rarely smiled, apart from the time when he was outside at Jun Qu courtyard happily playing by himself, the few times after that, she hasn’t seen him smile at all, and he seemed to be afraid of Zhou Han. He clearly likes him, that she can tell from his expression when he woke up last time and saw Zhou Han.

Ye Zi Wen looks at An Ran through the rear-view mirror. In his mind he has some regrets. He had been interested in An Ran, only he hadn’t made his moves, only to discover that she was already Ah Cheng’s wife. Life is truly full of wonders, he and Ah Cheng had seen her together, but in the end she became Ah Cheng’s wife. For many years Ah Cheng wasn’t one to talk about emotions, did not talk about love, but he didn’t expect that he would suddenly marry her at the spur of the moment. And now looking at the relationship of the wedded couple you can see that they were very good.

“Looks like your’s and Ah Cheng’s relationship isn’t too bad. How did you get to know each other?” He always wanted to know how Ah Cheng made his moves, seeing how easily things went, if one day he also meets someone, perhaps he too could try it out. But whenever he had asked, that dude would just smile and not say anything, so mysterious.

Hearing that, An Ran was taken aback. She truly does not know how to describe their mistakened encounter. Her eyes flicker, and hollowly laughs, “Just, just met through a blind date.”

“Blind date?” Ye Zi Wen frowns and mutters, “Didn’t he always reject those? Or did he go because he knew it was you?”

“En? What’d you say?” An Ran was puzzled. Knew it was her? Did they know each other before?

“I knew that dude was two-faced. He definitely had known earlier that it was you, and that’s why he agreed to meet you for the blind date.” Ye Zi Wen says confidently. He was a little regretful that he hadn’t made the first move that time, if not for this how could he, as a person with such distinguished and excellent qualities, be unable to compete against that moody and uninteresting black bellied wolf. But after experiencing this, next time, next time if he meets someone like this he will strike first too.

“He’s seen me before?” An Ran probes.

“I said me, I saw you before. You insist on not believing me. When you were on a blind date at Da Cheng you met a ‘high quality’ man, who used a coffee coupon to pay the bill. That time, Ah Cheng and I were sitting behind you. When you left, I snuck a look at you.” Ye Zi Wen says. “Didn’t expect that dude was already interested in you, using such underhanded means to strike first and cheat you into marriage. I didn’t even get a chance.” As Ye Zi Wen was speaking, his tone was a little gloomy.

An Ran was taken aback. She did not expect that they would be there behind her, and even witnessed everything. With this realization, An Ran started to feel embarrassment. However if you had to ask who struck first, it wouldn’t be Su Yi Cheng, but her. After all it was she who had proposed marriage upon the first meeting.

“But anyhow, you seem to be quite incredible. You managed to get Ah Cheng under your leash, I’ve never seen him treat women so well.” Ye Zi Wen mutters, “Even when he was with Ling Ran he was never that good with her.”

“He wasn’t good to Ling Ran?” An Ran curiously asks, but deep inside she started to feel this indescribable sour feeling. She doesn’t know if she was feeling envious or jealous, but she doesn’t like to hear about him and Ling Ran.

“How do I put it. Back then when he and Ling Ran were together, it was like a matter of course. Ling Ran had liked Ah Cheng since childhood, everyone had known that. Should say that Ah Cheng didn’t dislike her, and both their parents knew each other. Over time everyone naturally assumed that they would get together, so the two really did get together. If you just look at Ah Cheng from the surface you can see that he is gentle and agreeable, when the fact is he is quite detached to people, doesn’t stay in touch. At first Ling Ran complained to us a few times about it, then after time she slowly got used to it.” As he said that, Ye Zi Wen looks at her through his spectacles, and continues, “But it looks like he’s treating you very well. Is it you that is dominant or was he originally such a whipped man?”

An Ran glares at him, and says in seriousness, “We both respect each other.” She can’t believe that the man before is really ‘Eric’, the acclaimed talented architect Eric! His personal character and his style of designs do not match up at all.

Ye Zi Wen glances at her, and indifferently shrugs. He shakes his head, “Maybe that dude had secretly mapped it out. You just don’t understand Ah Cheng, that dude holds evil intentions behind his smile, he’s a black bellied wolf.” And from his experience from growing up and going through thick and thin with him, Ah Cheng would never do transactions that risk losses, just to take it at face value, to him it looks like, either this dude truly acted on his emotions, or he had schemed something, and Gu An Ran probably doesn't have any schemes up her sleeves.

Being told that, An Ran was taken aback. She didn’t worry about whatever scheming he was talking about, but it really was as he had said. She really doesn’t know him, doesn’t know what he likes, doesn’t know his tastes, she can’t even tell what his mood is from the expression on his face. They are together everyday, obviously they are close, but sometimes she feels that he is really far away. Perhaps it is what Ye Zi Wen had just said, she really doesn’t know anything about him.

When they got back to the apartment it was almost 5 o’clock. Because she had gotten up late this morning, she doesn’t know if Su Yi Cheng has a dinner party or not. But, just in case, An Ran planned to go to the neighbourhood supermarket and buy food, make a simple meal. This way even if Su Yi Cheng doesn’t have a dinner party and comes home, there would still be food, and if he doesn’t come home, she can treat her own stomach.

She pushes her cart into the market. She realizes that she doesn’t know what she should buy. There are some stuff that she can make, but she doesn’t know if Su Yi Cheng would like them or not, so she was hesitating if she should buy or not. And there are some things she can’t make. Even if she buys the ingredients, she isn’t sure how to make it.

In the end she circled around the market, and her cart was still empty. Finally An Ran decided, she should buy things that she could make, even if she doesn’t know if he’ll like it, but at least she can make it, better than leaving an empty fridge until he came back from a whole day of work.

An Ran goes back around with her cart, and goes to the fruits and veggies aisle to grab some fresh veggies and corn. Then she goes to the meat aisle and grabs from fresh pork loin. When she was thinking of going to get eggs she accidentally bumped into another cart. An Ran automatically apologizes, “Sorry.” But the moment she raised her head she was taken aback.

Ling Ran smiles back and looks at her. She was still bright and beautiful. Today she was wearing a light blue striped bohemian style long skirt. Her elegant long hair trailed down her shoulders. She was beautiful like an angel, carried this celestial air, like she appeared from the mist.

“What a coincidence, also here to buy food?” Ling Ran initiates the conversation, her performance appearing to be very generous.

An Ran slightly nods and smiles at her. That smile, was a bit distant. After last time, seeing her again, An Ran always felt slightly uneasy.

“Let me see what you bought.” Ling Ran was cordial as usual, only An Ran had always felt that there was something behind that cordiality, not as simple as it appeared.

Not waiting for An Ran to neither reply nor decline, Ling Ran already went ahead and lowered her head to examine the stuff in her shopping cart. Seeing the corn in the cart, she doesn’t hold back, “Ah, why did you buy corn, Ah Cheng never eats corn. He says that corn has a weird taste, he’s not used to it.” Saying that, she also picks up the rapeseed, looks at An Ran and shakes her head again, “Ah Cheng also doesn’t eat rapeseeds. He says it’s a bit bitter, he prefers rhizome’s bok choy.” She looks at the box of pork loin, and couldn’t help but frown and sigh, continuing, “An Ran, do you not know anything about what Ah Cheng likes to eat? He doesn’t like to eat greasy food at night, otherwise after eating he has to do vigorous exercise to burn the calories.” She finished speaking, and takes the box of pork loin and puts it back on the shelf.

She smiles and says to An Ran, “Let’s go, I’ll show you what to buy. Otherwise if you really do buy that stuff, Ah Cheng will starve and not eat.”

An Ran felt uneasy, especially when she was talking about what Su Yi Cheng does and does not like to eat, as she was hearing it she felt incredibly stuffy. She felt peeved and takes back the box of ribs and puts it back in her cart. She looks at her and says, “What I eat, Yi Cheng will also eat.”

Ling Ran stares at her in shock. Only a while later does she smile and says, “Right. I completely forgot, Ah Cheng is very considerate of people. He always thinks of others, so naturally he will yield to you.”

An Ran stares at her. She speaks right after, “Yes. He really loves me, and is very yielding to me. What I want to eat he will buy, make. Even if he doesn’t like it, he will still eat it very happily.”

Ling Ran looks at her and nods, “He’s just like that. He had also treated me that way, ever since we were kids if I liked it, he would do anything to get it. Sometimes I worry that he is caring too much for my feelings, doing so much for my moodiness, that he will feel like he was wronging himself, so I would always make it up to him as much as I could. For instance what he likes to eat, what he likes to make, I will do my best to satisfy him. After all we can’t be too selfish, only thinking of ourselves and wronging him. Don’t you think?”

She doesn’t know this emotion. After hearing her speak like that, An Ran couldn’t help but tighten her grip on her shopping car, with indescribable strength, so much that her knuckles turned white. She looks at her. An Ran wanted to smile, but she couldn’t manage to bring one up. It turned out stiff, and she says, “I don’t at all think that what he does for me is wrongful for him. I think he takes a lot of pleasure out of doing it.”

“Really.” Ling Ran smiles faintly. She looks at her. There was this indescribable meaning behind her smile. In An Ran’s eyes, it made her even more uneasy.

“Yes.” Clenching her fists, An Ran says indifferently, “I think I have everything I want. Miss Ling can continue buying as she wishes, I will say goodbye first.” She smiles faintly, looks at her wristwatch, and says, “Sorry, Yi Cheng should be coming home from work soon. I better hurry back and cook, can’t chat anymore.”

Ling Ran looks at her and still has a smile on her face, she nods, “As you wish.” Although she was smiling as she spoke, her tone, that smile, was much more rigid and unnatural than before.

An Ran nods, and pushes her cart past her. She doesn’t glance at her, just walks straight ahead.

Ling Ran turns to look at her from behind. The smile on her face turns still, only her grip on the cart was clearly tightened, so much that her fingers turned white.

An Ran returns home. Peeved, she places the stuff on the kitchen table. She stares at it, a while later, she mumbles to herself. She washes the rice and puts it in the rice cooker to cook. While the rice was cooking, she grabs the corn. Her movements were a bit clumsy. She picks out each grain and puts it on a plate, then puts it aside for later.

She then washes each rapeseed and plucks out the leaves. Finally she works on the pork loin, washing it clean, then puts it in a pot of unboiled water to cook. When the loin was fully cooked, there was a half-pot of soup left over. She adds vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and sugar and lets it simmer. She waits until there was only a quarter of the soup left, until it had thickened, and adds two scoops of white sugar. She ups the fire to collect the juice, then transfers it onto a dish.

She grabs ham from the fridge, thinly sliced it, then puts the cooled fat from the pan, directly on the corn grains and ham and uses the cooled fat to stir fry it. She stir fries it until a sweet smell appeared, and loads it onto a pot. Then she puts the cleaned rapeseed and directly puts it into the soup.

She learned how to make these three dishes from Cheng Xiang’s cookbook when she was at Lin Li's place. It was relatively easy to understand, the steps weren’t too complicated, so she was able to remember it after reading it once. However, it was the first time she had made it, as to how it tasted, is unknown.

An Ran arranges the dishes, and at this time the rice cooker began to whistle indicating that the rice was done. She places the dish back down on the counter behind her, and at the same time someone had opened the door.

Su Yi Cheng enters carrying his briefcase. He changes his shoes at the vestibule, then enters the living room. He asks where the sweet fragrance was coming from, raises his head to see An Ran standing behind the counter. She was wearing an apron, hand still balancing a plate that was yet to be placed down. So quietly watching, this kind of scene seemed to have appeared in his dreams. Coming home from work everyday, his home no longer has that cold and lonely atmosphere. He now has someone leaving a warm lamp on by the door, and leave his briefcase down by the living room sofa, he could see into the kitchen, there is someone holding freshly made food smiling at him, gently calling him over to eat.

He smiles as he looks at An Ran. He puts his briefcase down on the sofa, calling her over with a smile. He doesn’t come to take a look at the dishes on the counter, but just stares at her. He wraps an arm around her waist, and chuckles as he asks, “What did you make tonight?”

An Ran stares at him, with a confused look in her eyes, she almost couldn’t come up with a response. She was lost in the warm expression in his eyes. She looks at the dishes on the counter. Suddenly she recalled what Ling Ran had said at the market. She started to feel uneasy, and a little depressed. She reaches out and pushes him away slightly. A little damp, she says, “Take a look yourself.”

Su Yi Cheng doesn’t notice the change in her mood. He turns to look at the food on the counter. He smirks, and only says, “Looks pretty good.”

An Ran doesn’t say anything, and goes to wash a rice scooper from the cupboard. Then she places the bowl of rice on the table. She takes a quick look at him, and only says, “Go wash your hands first and eat.” Then she turns to scoop herself a half bowl of rice.

Su Yi Cheng giddily turns around to the kitchen sink and washes his hands clean. Then he grabs a towel and dries his hands off, and excitedly sits down by the counter. He picks up his chopsticks and starts picking the food. He takes a bite of a piece of sweet and sour pork, chewing it slowly. His brows wrinkle slightly. He looks at An Ran to his side. He was saving her face and did not spit it out, just swallows it down.

An Ran did not miss the momentary frown that he had put on. She was secretly disappointed. Perhaps it was as Ling Ran had said, he really does not like these sort of dishes. Only he is a considerate man, if he doesn’t like it he wouldn’t display it, wouldn’t let everyone see it, he could finish eating it without changing expressions.

An Ran picks up the ladle from the table, and takes a large scoop of ham corn grain and puts it in his bowl. She smiles faintly and says, “Try this one.”

Su Yi Cheng still looks at her and smiles. He nods, and scoops up half of it into his mouth. The unique flavour of corn made him feel a little unwell. He frowns slightly, but doesn’t take too long to chew it, and just swallows it down.

An Ran did not miss that slight frown he made from eating the corn, this confirmed the truth. When Su Yi Cheng stretched out to get some of the vegetable soup, An Ran suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand. She shakes her head, and just faintly says, “If you aren’t used to eating it or don’t like it don’t force yourself.”

Su Yi Cheng stared at her, at a loss for words. He then realizes that she was a bit off tonight. He asks, “What’s wrong?”

An Ran shakes her head. She gets up and says, “I’ll make noodles for you.” Maybe compared to these, soup is better suited for his appetite.

Su Yi Cheng, unconvinced, reaches out to grab her. He gets up, and stares at her, asking, “What’s wrong?”

An Ran lowers her head, and just unenthusiastically shakes her head. She mutters, “Nothing.”

Su Yi Cheng stares at her. He reaches out and lifts her head up, allowing her look at him in the eyes. With a compelling force she couldn’t ignore, he says, “An Ran, tell me. What happened today?”

An Ran looked at him for a while. She turns her head aside. She doesn’t want to look at him, and stuffily says, “I just unintentionally found out that you actually don’t like this stuff.” Just as Ye Zi Wen had said in the car, she does not understand Su Yi Cheng at all. Don’t even mention about what his thoughts were, those vague things, even what he likes to eat, what he doesn’t like to eat those simple issues she had to learn from other people. This kind of feeling felt terrible, and it made her very unhappy.

Su Yi Cheng was taken aback. Her answer was a little unexpected. He catches sight of her face, and sincerely asks her, “Who told you that?”

An Ran stares at him for a while. Finally she slowly says, “When I went to the supermarket I bumped into Ling Ran. She saw that I bought these, and told me that you actually don’t like eating these things.” She lowers her head, and mumbles, “I don’t even know what you like to eat, what you don’t like. It’s as they said, we are married, and I don’t even understand you, even the basic things like your every day habits and what you like, these simple things I had to learn from other people. The more I thought about it the more unfathomable I felt. I don’t like this feeling, and I especially don’t like learning about what your pleasures are, hearing it makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable.” She confesses honestly. Those were the thoughts that came to her.

Hearing that, Su Yi Cheng was speechless for a while. He then reacts, and returns to his senses. He says, “If you want to know, you can just ask me. It’s no biggie.”

An Ran was taken aback, looking at him, neither shaking nor nodding her head.

Su Yi Cheng chuckles as he rubs her face, and asks, “The way you were just now, could I say that you were jealous?”

An Ran looks away, and whispers, “I’m just a little awkward. Also, I feel like some things I could slowly learn on my own, slowly get to know the interesting facts, it’s just meaningful. To learn from another person is a terrible feeling.” Especially when that person was Ling Ran. She doesn’t know what was wrong with herself, but to have this kind of mood in her, clearly she cares about the prior relationship between her and Su Yi Cheng. But to compare their relationship to her own, she starts to feel incredibly uncomfortable, and her mood becomes especially gloomy. She never thought this way, but she can’t control it. She doesn’t like this side of her at all.

Su Yi Cheng smiled. He turns to pick up the ladle from the bowl, and reaches out to scoop up the corn. He takes a mouthful of it. He really could not get used to that distinct flavour of corn, but the thought that she had made dinner for him, made him so joyful that it overrode that flavour. The first time he tasted the corn it had a sweet flavour, fresh and crisp, not at all something that he would hate or cannot have. He looks at An Ran, and chuckles, “It’s really good.”

An Ran looks at him and says, “Don’t force yourself. You being like this makes me feel like I’m selfish.”

Su Yi Cheng shakes his head, and takes another spoonful and puts it into his mouth. Then he swallows, and says, “I actually don’t like the favour of corn, but because you made this, so it’s different. My desire to eat it overpowers the flavour of it, so I’m not forcing myself. I only want to eat it because it’s a meal that my wife had personally made for me, I’m not wronged, but rather I feel blessed.”

An Ran looks at him, and utters, “You really know what to say to coax me.”

Su Yi Cheng laughs and shakes his head, “I’m telling the truth. When people speak the truth it tends to be especially pleasant to hear.”

An Ran sneers at him, and jokingly scolds him, “Twisting words and forcing logic, why does everything you say have to be so reasonable.”

Su Yi Cheng pulls on her. He takes her small hands and puts it against his large palm, chuckling and looking at her, he says sincerely, “An Ran, I know our pace has been pretty fast. You can’t possibly know everything about me in such a short period of time. What’s between us and others is different, others fall in love then marry, we married then fell in love. Our sequence is reversed, you can’t compare yourself to them who had been together for several years. We can only slowly understand each other through our everyday lives. If you feel like this kind of pace is too slow, then whatever you want to know, just ask me directly. I will tell you everything, I won’t hide, okay?"

An Ran looks at him. She fixes her eyes on him, for a long time. Her mouth slowly turns up, and enthusiastically nods her head, “Okay.”

Su Yi Cheng laughs, then pulls her down to sit again. He says, “I’m hungry. Don’t make noodles, accompany me to eat.”

An Ran nods, and sits up straight in her seat. She picks up her bowl, and takes small bites of her food. Then she reaches out get some of the sweet and sour pork. Today’s meal doesn’t look like a lot, and in fact it was the first time she had made this. Even when she was done she didn’t have the time to taste it. He had returned home, so she herself did not know how her dishes had turned out.

An Ran’s chopsticks hadn’t even touched the pork yet, when Su Yi Cheng pulled away the dish. He looks at her and mightily says, “I really like the pork, so all of this is mine. Eat something else.”

An Ran looks at him unconvinced. This kind of mighty attitude was different from his usual self, but she can’t describe what was strange. She frowns for a while, then nods. She reaches out to grab a piece of bok choy.

Su Yi Cheng chuckles and finishes off the plate of pork cutlet, not even a strip was left over. As he ate, he also drank the large bowl of veggie soup, as if he were incredibly thirsty.

Finishing dinner, Su Yi Cheng took the initiative to wash the dishes. An Ran didn’t insist, and only thought that she should catch up on her designs tonight, so she went into the studio.

Soon after Su Yi Cheng enters with his briefcase. He puts it aside and sits down on the rattan chair, opens it up and takes out some documents to look over. Because she really needed to catch up on her drafts, An Ran did not ask out of courtesy if he wanted the room to himself. She was absorbed in the draft she drawn up yesterday and tweaked it little by little to make it perfect. However, as she was drawing she noticed Su Yi Cheng’s oddness. Finally, when he got up to make a cup of tea, An Ran eventually couldn’t help but ask, “What did you eat tonight, why are you drinking so much water?” Was her food too salty? It shouldn’t be, she tried it and it didn’t taste salty!

Su Yi Cheng looks at her. He struggles for a while, finally shakes his head and says, “Wife, the sweet and sour pork, from now on can you not use the salt like it's sugar?”

---END OF CHAPTER--- 

Next Chapter

First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 91 Translation

091 Lin Li's Decision


----This chapter was translated by Joe----

Su Yi Cheng opens the door and enters exhausted, placing his document bag onto the sofa in the living room, he sits down leaning back against the sofa.

Leaning back, his head facing upwards, he seems to have had too much to drink tonight, that Techo City case has already been approved by the committee officially. And within these few days there will be a vote to select who will be in charge of this project. Actually in the official's circle there is such a thing as fixed internal selection, elder Zhang has recently called him and asked him to prepare himself and be ready to finish up his existing work and be ready to take on the directive that will be handed down anytime now.

Seems the new has spread very fast, his business entertain has increased considerably, and although he wants to reject some of them he is unable to do so.

He drank a little too much tonight, although he is not drunk yet but his head is very giddy. He just reach home via a cab that secretary Zheng had helped hailed for him, his car remains in the city hall building.

The study door opens, An Ran sneezes and walks in with a glass in hand. She has been very busy the past 2 days on that 'Activity Manor' design matter. Today being a weekend, she had sat in the study for the whole day and has at least completed a rough draft. Besides working on the design, she has also been worried about Lin Li's matter. Thank heavens that when she visited her in the morning, she seems to have recover a lot from the day before. Although her face still does not have much laughter, but it does not feel as empty as before. Mother Lin told her that Lin Li is feeling much better these 2 days, although her appetite has not returned yet but she has been trying her best to eat more. She knows she is trying her best to not let father Lin and herself worry. Even though this period has been trying, but she believes Lin Li will recover from it, back to that Lin Li that loves to laughs and is without worries.

Actually An Ran can see that Lin Li has not completely let go yet, sometimes she notices that her hand will unconsciously caresses her tummy as if searching for something, then as she continues touching, tears will flow. Then as if afraid of being seen, she will wipe off her tears secretly.

An Ran knows she is already trying her best. After all, it is not easy to simply let go of so many years of relationship. She needs more time, they all need more time.

Heading to the kitchen with blurry eyes, she was just passing by the living room when she discovers Su Yi Cheng has already come home.

"Su Yi Cheng?" With glass in hand, she walks to the couch, placing the glass on the side table, looking at him with his eyes closed and head leaned back, smelling of smoke and liquor.

Hearing no response, An Ran steps forward, lighting patting him, lightly saying,"Su Yi Cheng?"

Su Yi Cheng did not open his eyes, but reach forward suddenly, pulling hard on An Ran onto his lap, his head buried in her shoulder, his hands wrapped around her waist.

An Ran paused for a while before she is able to react, patting him,"Su Yi Cheng, what happened? Are you drunk?"

Gradually frowning,"Didn't I remind you not to drink so much, it's for the good of your stomach."

Su Yi Cheng slowly raise his head, looking at her with half closed eyes and smiling,"I like you when we are outside together."

An Ran paused, not understanding, asked,"What was I like when we are out?" The only time they were out together in a formal setting was for the dinner and even when they were outside together she did not specially dolled up nor do anything special at all!

Su Yi Cheng agains buries his head into the hollow of her shoulders, saying gloomily,"You called me Yi Cheng when we are outside." He likes hearing her say his two word name, the tone soft, gentle and sounds especially pleasing.

After he says that, An Ran realises it seems to be true. When they were together outside, because of his special status, she has to display enough grace and fortitude as his wife. She has always been afraid she would not be able to live up to the image so she has always been cautious when they were outside together. Of course in addition to being cautious she did not forget to play the part of a good official's wife, so she would look at him in a gentle manner, and gently call his name.

But at home, even though he has been really good to her, but no matter how good he has been, perhaps it is due to the short time they had known each other, she still feels weird and not able to fully let go. So she has always been calling his full name at home.

"Do.... do you really mind it that much?" An Ran ask, uncertain.

Su Yi Cheng lets go of her, looking into her eyes steadily. It seems he must really fully communicate with her on the issue of how to address each other. Thinking of this, he asks seriously,"Do you feel, as a wife, it is normal to keep addressing her own husband in his full name each and every time?"

An Ran paused, then at last shakes her head. It does sounds weird when he puts it like that.

Su Yi Cheng nodded then smiles, happy that her negative reply fits into his plans, then asks,"So how will you address me from now on?"

An Ran thought for a moment, reply uncertainly,"Ah Cheng?" It seems everyone calls him that, the in-laws, grandfather, even Ye Zi Wen and Director Xiao does so.

Su Yi Cheng frowns, leans forward to kiss her lips lightly,"I prefer you to call me Yi Cheng."

An Ran smiles lightly, kissing him back, and as she was kissing him calling in a soft gentle tone,"Yi Cheng~."

It's not sure if it is due to her soft gentle tone of voice that sounds so tempting and seductive, or if it is because of the effects of the liquor in his body, this kiss that was originally intended as a form of punishment heated up suddenly. Su Yi Cheng started to pull her harder towards him, as if he wishes her to be melded into him, the two of them blended into one.

An Ran did not think that the kiss will become so out of hand all of a sudden, the strength of his hug became more and more intense, his kisses become deeper and deeper. Although she wants to push him away but she suddenly feels herself not able to summon up any strength. She is somehow aware the two have changed from a seated position to a lying down one and his hands has already started probing from underneath her shirt, setting fire on her body and very soon, the clothes fell onto the floor and his kisses gradually starts to drifts downwards from her lips.

"wOoh~..." An Ran moans out, squeezing the last of her strength to push him aside a little,"You.. you haven't.."

Su Yi Cheng's hands on both sides of her head, eyes looking at her steadily, the burning furnace in his body seems to be immolating him, his forehead beaded with sweat and his hair seems slick and wet, his shirt unbuttoned already, it seems as though the temperature of his entire being is heating up the temperature of the room.

"Are you sure you don't want to?" Su Yi Cheng looks at her as he supports himself from her, his voice tight like a guitar string, hoarse, low.

An Ran looks at him steadily, looking at him restraining himself for her and also saw herself within his eyes, unable to say anything to refuse him. She reach up caressing his face, softly saying,"In the room, can we go back in the room?" Unsure if it is due to the room's temperature or him, she feels her face heated up as well and she feels it burning hot.

Su Yi Cheng gives a low smile, not speaking a word, hugs her up and kicks the bedroom door open, entering the bedroom.

An Ran now regrets it, and regreting it more and more, she regrets her moment of softheartedness that causes her entire body to ache as if her bones had been dismantled! An Ran lies on the bed, the sunlight shining outside the window, the light streams into the room, not forgetting to prompt her that it's already quite late and the person at her side is already long gone by now, the bed cold.

Lying on the bed with her eyes open for a while, An Ran then tries to get up and the pain and aches on her body again reminding her of the craziness of last night. She again starts to scold Su Yi Cheng internally for the upteenth time, but envious of his vitality. The one who did all the work last night was him and if she did not remember wrongly, it was already past 1am when she fell asleep after being ravaged by him. But he still manage to get up for his morning exercise at 6am and even seems to have whispered something in her ear before leaving for work.

"Is morning exercise really that effective to build up body strength?" An Ran mumbled.

Dragging her tired body from bed, reaching for the clothes that Su Yi Cheng has already prepared for her, enters the washroom. She lets the water flow on her body, enjoying a soothing shower and by the time she got out and look at the alarm clock by the bed, it was already 11am. Holding and massaging her neck as she exits the bedroom, she realises she is a little hungry after last night and goes to the kitchen to look for food to fill her stomach. In the kitchen fridge she saw Su Yi Cheng's note on the fridge door, "There's sandwich in the fridge, heat it up before eating."

Her lips curls up in a smile and her heart grows warm and fuzzy because of small considerations like this.

In the afternoon An Ran bought some fruits and visited Lin Li. At the door, she saw Cheng Xiang who continued remaining there. He seems much more haggard after just a few days, the stubbles on his face were not managed, completely unlike his handsome self in the past. If Lin Li had saw Cheng Xiang like this in the past, maybe she would have never dove headfirst into the relationship and not able to venture out. She had always had a thing for handsome guys but who knew they would end up like this.

"Is Lin Li better now?" Before entering the room, Cheng Xiang asks her.

An Ran looks at him, unable to feel indifference towards him, they were all such good friends once, but now......

Plainly saying,"She's better."

Cheng Xiang nodded, a bitter smile on his lips,"That's good."

Giving him a glance, she advises,"You better go back, Lin Li will not see you." This time Lin Li has really given up, after experiencing such utter pain, she has let go completely. Cheng Xiang has really hurt her too deeply this time, leaving the wedding in front of so many people, and losing the baby because of him. Anyone else would not be able to endure even one of those, not to mention he had let her experience both of this at the same time. She has truly given up.

"I'll just wait here, it's fine if she doesn't see me, I just want to know she's alright." Looking at the ward, Cheng Xiang says simply,

"Why do this now after what you've done, the reason for the two of you being like this is all due to what you've done. You've taken Lin Li's love for granted, you've never treasured the feelings she had for you." An Ran accuses with anger.

Cheng Xiang smiles bitterly, "I've never thought of leaving her."

"But look at what you've done instead." Seeing that woman again and again, even leaving and abandoning the wedding for that woman. What will anyone think about what his action meant, what will Lin Li think?

Cheng Xiang sits there, unable to reply a single word.

An Ran stood there for a while, then at last shakes her head and enters the ward.

Lin Li looks much better today compared to yesterday, seeing her, her lips curve with a hint of laughter, "Don't you still have a design to finish, you don't have to come over everyday."

"If you don't want me to come over. then you better get out of the hospital sooner, don't keep staying in the hospital, you'll get mouldy." An Ran placed the fruits by the side, mother Lin had just exited the washroom, seeing An Ran, "An Ran you're here." Then cordially pours a glass of water for An Ran. They do not know anyone here and Lin Li does not have many friends as well. An Ran has helped a lot for Lin Li's hospitalization and everything else while they are in the city. "Come, have a drink first."

An Ran reach over for it, saying,"Mother Lin, you don't have to treat me so formally."

Seated by the sofa at the side, An Ran asked mother Lin about Lin Li's condition today, mother Lin informs An Ran that everything is fine with Lin Li and that she will be able to leave the hospital after 2 days. In addition, she also says that, once she leave the hospital, they plan to go back to their hometown. Lin Li does not have a job here in the city anyways and it's easier for them to take care of her back home.

Hearing Lin Li will be going back, An Ran immediately turns over to look at Lin Li, asking, "You're going back?" She had thought Lin Li will just needs some time to recuperate, but has never thought of her leaving Jiang City.

Lin Li looks at her simply, with a hint of a smile, nodding,"En."

"Lin Li, you...."

Lin Li cut her off, "I know what you want to say, but I've thought it over, my parents are no longer young and there's no other brothers and sisters at home. If I remain in Jiang City and they at home, at such a distance, there would be no one around if something had happen to them. So I think it's better that I go back. They had supported me for so many years, it's time I accompany them."

"Lin Li, you may have a lot of unhappy experiences in Jiang City but there's also a lot of happy experiences, can you really leave all that behind?" That reason about taking care of her parents is just an excuse, she only wants to run away and leave this place of hurt.

Lin Li shakes her head, "The happy memories are all related to him, I really don't want to think of it anymore. It's fine if you say I'm running away, or even if you say I do not dare to face up to it, there are some things I would rather forget in time."

An Ran remains silent, looking at her, speaking only after a while,"Have you really decided?"

Looking at her, Lin Li nodded, "En, it's decided." This place has indeed had many wonderful and happy memories, but these memories are all related to that person, and he is also the one that has given the most painful of memories. Those painful memories, whenever they surface, brought her the most intense of agony. Staying in the city will bring her more agony than happiness. She has lived for someone else for 10 years now and no longer wants to do so, so she will be herself in future.

Knowing she has made up her mind, An Ran did not say anything else, only nodding and respecting her decision.

Perhaps leaving is really the best decision for her. If she wants to start afresh, then staying in a new place will also help her to have a new start. Perhaps she will not get to meet with Lin Li much in future, but if this is what's the best for her, then how could she have protested?

An Ran accompanies Lin Li for a long while and finally left. When she left Cheng Xiang continued remaining on the plastic chair outside, only nodding towards her.

An Ran looks at him again, a little speechless and leaves unable to say anything.

Maybe it's because she knows Lin Li will be leaving soon, An Ran feels gloomy inside, she wanders along the hospital's corridors slowly, feeling a slight hint of depression within her heart.

The hospital's main building blocks out the sunlight and this time at the hospital garden there are many visitors accompanying their family member patients walking around on the grass field, there's also some who are chatting on the stone benches on the side.

An Ran passes by and unwittingly had a look and saw a familiar little figure, a person alone seated by the stone bench at the side, hands holding a toy but his face looked grumpy.

An Ran went up and squatted in front of the child. This child is Zhou Han's son, the same one that had gotten sick after eating the seafood noodles An Ran has given him. She then remembers that she had met Zhou Han 2* days ago in the store near the hospital and he did say his kid was staying in the hospital due to high fever. It's such a coincidence to be able to meet him here.

"Hi, little friend, do you still remember auntie?" An Ran smiles and greets the child.

The child looks at her steadily, and took a while before recognising An Ran. He looked at her for a bit then lowers his head and continues staring at the toy in his hands.

An Ran sat down by his side, asking,"Why are you alone, where's your father?"

Hearing this, the little child looks at her again, not speaking, then shaking his head, then continues staring at the toy in his hands.

An Ran faces a wall of resistance but she doesn't mind, deciding to sit by his side while waiting for the one taking care of him.

A young nurse came over at this time, looking at the surroundings and seems not to be able to find what she wanted, and asks the child, "Zhou Qie Bin, did you call your father yet? When is he coming to take you from the hospital?"

The child raises his head and looks at the nurse, then shakes his head.

The nurse frowns, unsatisfied, mumbling,"How is there such an unresponsible parent? The child has already been well for a few days now and not only has he not come for a single visit but now there's no one to do the outpatient procedure. How can there be a parent like this?"

An Ran listens and finally comprehends the situation, she looks at the child, then hurriedly stood up and asks the nurse,"Nurse, what did you say happen, the child's father did not come for a visit even once?"

The nurse takes a look at her, asking,"You are?"

"Ah, I know the child's father." An Ran explained.

The nurse then nodded, "Since you are a friend of the child's parent, then could you please help to contact him? He hasn't been seen for the last few days and even just left the child in the hospital alone with a high fever. The child has long since recovered from the fever and he is alright for now. Please get him to come do the outpatient process, it's not good to occupy a bedspace like this, what's more, there are more bacteria and such on the hospital grounds so it's really not very good to let the child stay here for long." After saying this, she turns and heads back.

An Ran was a little taken aback, she remembers seeing Zhou Han 3* days ago, has he really not been to the hospital for the last 3* days, has he forgotten his son is staying in the hospital?

An Ran looks at the child, only to see him lowering his head, she asks,"Your father has not been here for the last few days? No one was here by your side?"

The child may be slightly introverted, he did not say anything, only silently nodding.

An Ran only feels that this person is too irresponsible, how can he just leave his own child in the hospital for days without showing any concern, it's too much! She was just thinking to ask the child for Zhou Han's number when she thought of the necklace incident, he had already given her his number!

Taking out her phone and searching for the call history, she calls him back on that number, the phone rang for a while before finally answered by someone. The Zhou Han on the other side of the line sounds surprise at her call, they are not well acquainted after all and does not seem to have a reason to call each other.

"Hello?"

"Mr Zhou Han? Have you forgetten you still have a son staying in the hospital? I'm by his side right now and the nurse had just came over asking when are you coming to take him from the hospital? The child's high fever has already subsided but has continued to stay in the hospital, if he continues to do so he may be infected by other viruses in the hospital."

Zhou Han on the other side paused for a while, then only says,"The company suddenly has issues so I had to leave first and I was out of town the past few days." Because he was out of town he did not come for a visit and did not know of the child's condition.

"Then can't you arrange for someone else to take care of the child?" Even if he does not have the time to come, then should he not then arrange for someone else to come take care of the child? What's more the child is still so young, how can he let him stay in the hospital alone? Hearing this, Zhou Han remains silent for a bit before finally saying, "Can you pass the phone to the child for a while?"

An Ran looks at the child, nodding then hands the phone to the child besides her,"Your father wants to speak to you."

The child pause and looks at her for a bit and finally takes the phone from her, places it on his ears and lightly addresses,"Daddy."

An Ran did not know what they talk about, only seeing the child with the phone answering a few yes and no, after a while then hands the phone back to An Ran.

An Ran takes over the phone, "Hello?"

"Can I trouble you to accompany the child for a while? I've arrange for someone to fetch the child from the hospital. Later I'll get the person to give you a call." Zhou Han on the line told her.

With this, An Ran can only accept, hanging up the phone and continues accompanying the child for a while. Less than half an hour later the phone rang again. It's an unknown number so An Ran knows it should be the person Zhou Han had arrange to come over. Answering the phone, it's a male's voice, asking her directly for their location, saying he is already at the hospital entrance and will get there shortly.

An Ran feels that the voice seems familiar to her but did not think much on it, only saying she and the child are in the gardens beside the hospital's main building.

The person acknowledges and hangs up the line. After another few minutes, An Ran was just caressing the child's head when suddenly someone shouted out her name from behind, she turned and saw Ye Zi Wen looking at her incredulously.

"Gu An Ran?!" Ye Zi Wen was surprise that the person beside Zhou Han's son was actually Gu An Ran! He was just having a meeting at the company when he receive Zhou Han's call, asking him to fetch his son from the hospital as he was out of town at the moment and was not able to do so. He hoped he would be able to help take care of his son for the next 2 days. He agrees immediately, delayed the meeting and rushed over to 1st City Hospital immediately. But he had not expected the contact that Zhou Han spoke about was actually Gu An Ran!


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*2/3 - It's not an error, it was written as such. So let's take it as 2 or 3 days then.




------End of Chapter------



Next Chapter

First Marriage Then Love 《先婚厚爱》Chapter 90 Translation

090 I will never love you again


--This chapter was translated by Joe--


Power and authority can be such miraculous things. After Su Yi Cheng's call to the hospital's Director, Lin Li was arranged to a single ward with a much better environment. In addition the doctors and nurses followed up on Lin Li's case very efficiently, the doctor assured them that Lin Li only needs to rest quietly to recuperate and she will be able to recover fully.

An Ran had intended to stay behind to accompany Lin Li but under the insistence of mother and father Lin, she went back home with Su Yi Cheng eventually.

Along the way An Ran appears to be especially quiet, leaning back on the seat not making a sound, gazing outwards at the passing scenery.

Su Yi Cheng turns to look at her, knowing she must be too tired to say anything at all. So he did not ask anything of her, only reaching out, holding her hand, softly caressing.

Her hand being caressed, An Ran slowly turns her head over, only seeing him giving her a gentle smile.

Looking at him, An Ran's emotions seem to be slightly invoked again, her nose souring and tears form in her eyes. Turning her head up, she tries hard to not let the tears fall.

Su Yi Cheng did not force her, only gently holding caressing her hand, looking at the happenings on the road, focusing on driving, not saying a word.

Back at the apartment, An Ran only says she is tired, took her sleeping clothes and enters the washroom directly.

Su Yi Cheng stared at the closed washroom door for a while and only then turns to go out, removing the necktie on him, placing it on the couch. Koosening up his sleeves and collar, he enters the kitchen.

An Ran came out still drying her hair with the towel. She opens up the blanket on the bed and not waiting for her hair to dry off, covers herself with the blanket and prepares to go to sleep.

Su Yi Cheng carries a bowl of noodles in, only to see that An Ran had covered herself with the blanket from her feet to her head. Walking up to her, placing the noodles on the table beside the bed, he lightly pats on An Ran, lightly calling, "An Ran...... An Ran?"

An Ran did not turn over, only saying miserably,"Tired, want to sleep."

Su Yi Cheng removes the blanket and hugs her up, seeing her tear striken face.

An Ran turns her head over, back facing him,"I'm really tired, I want to sleep now."

Turning her over, hands cupping her face, letting her look straight at him, Su Yi Cheng stared at her, as if able to see through her.

An Ran did not look at him, her eyes looking sideways, looking at the blanket instead but her tears, seemingly not under control, continue to flow down from her cheeks.

Su Yi Cheng sighs lightly then reach over with his hands to try and wipe off her tears, then both hands cupped her face again, forcing her to look at his eyes directly, "An Ran, people will have to go through hardship in order to grow, perhaps the process will be painful and hurtful but that is the price of growing up. To grow stronger one needs to pay the price for that. It's very painful, but it's also because it is so painful that people will remember the lesson they learn from the pain. Sometimes when you think about it like that, it's not such a bad thing."

An Ran looks at him steadily for a while, then quietly mumbles,"I know." But why must it be so painful, 10 years of feelings just disappear like that, and even the child is gone. She has no idea how Lin Li will be able to face everything when she wakes up tomorrow.

Su Yi Cheng caresses her head,"You had nothing to eat at night, come, I cooked some noodles, have some." Then reach over for the noodles to place it in front of her.

An Ran look at the noodles, shaking her head,"I'm not hungry." She also has no appetite to eat. She is only worried about how Lin Li will react once she wakes up and finds the child gone.

"Be obedient, have some, I made it myself, I haven't even showered yet." Su Yi Cheng says in a spoilt manner.

An Ran looks at him, then at the noodles in his hands, shaking her head,"It's too much, I can't finish it all."

"Eat however much you're able to, I will finish the rest."

Hearing him say that, An Ran cannot refuse any longer, nodded and reaches over for the noodles, taking over the chopsticks. Even if she really has no appetite, An Ran still tried her best to eat little by little. Actually his noodles tasted really good, it's just that she really has no appetite to eat.

At last, An Ran, under Su Yi Cheng's gaze, tries her best to finish about half of the bowl of noodles. Her mood has really affected her appetite, she shakes her head at Su Yi Cheng in apology, indicating she is really not able to eat anymore.

Su Yi Cheng caresses her head in understanding, takes over the leftover bowl of noodles and starts eating in big mouthfuls and in a flash, finishes the remaining noodles.

Placing the dishes into the kitchen sink, he returns to the bedroom and took his sleeping attire, went into the washroom for his shower.

When Su Yi Cheng comes out again, An Ran is still leaning against the back of the bed in a daze. Her hands holding a small photo album, inside were pictures of her and Lin Li, there're ones when they were in school as well as when they had gone into society to work, when they're on vacation. In each and every photo Lin Li had a joyous smile and was very happy. Every photo had a smiling face, the kind that just makes people envious with jealousy.

Su Yi Cheng got up from the other side of the bed, then takes the album away and hugs the dazed silly woman into his arms, hugging her, slightly swaying her.

"In the past Lin Li used to smile everyday, I cannot find a single photo of her not happy." An Ran says softly in Su Yi Cheng's arms.

Su Yi Cheng lightly pats her back,"She is a strong person, she will get better."

An Ran shakes her head,"She is very fragile, she isn't strong at all."

Su Yi Cheng lets go of her, looking at her, smiling gently,"It's alright, with you by her side, with mother and father Lin by her side as well, she will get better as soon as possible for all of you."

An Ran looks at him for a while, then nodded.

Su Yi Cheng hugs her again, placing her into his embrace, lowering his head and places a kiss on her hair, "Alright, let's go to bed now, tomorrow we still have to go over to take a look at Lin Li."

An Ran nodded, letting him help her lie down, then in his embrace, seeking a comfortable position, closed her eyes and falls asleep.

When she wakes the next day, she discovers surprisingly that she is still embrace in a warm cocoon, She is surprise that Su Yi Cheng did not go for his morning exercise this morning but was still accompanying her till the day lighted up.

Opening her eyes, face to face with his gorgeous brows, An Ran asks pausingly, "Why didn't you go for your morning exercise?"

Su Yi Cheng lowers his head and kisses her lips, lightly smiling and answers,"I was mesmerised by the way you look when you were sleeping, that I just forgot about it."

An Ran scolds laughingly,"Rubbish." Naturally she knows what he says is to coax her, she knows he is considerate and because he knows she is feeling moody so he takes time to accompany her more. Her heart is enveloped by a warm and snuggly feeling because of his gentle and considerate ways. She feels she is so lucky to be able to be cherish so deeply by someone like this.

Su Yi Cheng kisses her lips, giving her a heated morning kiss.

An Ran pushes him away with some effort, looking at him, pouting her lips, "I haven't brushed my teeth yet." After sleeping for the whole night, there must have been some bad breathe already.

Su Yi Cheng smiles, reaching and pulling her hands over, again kissing her, letting go of her only after a while. His head placed against hers, the tip of his nose against hers, his lips curved in a smile,"I don't mind."

An Ran looks at him with pouted lips for a while, before finally saying,"It's not hygienic."

"Hahaha!" Su Yi Cheng laughs out loud, lowers his head and kisses her again before letting her go, "Let's get up, then washup first. After that remember to give a call to Director Huang, after breakfast I'll send you to the hospital."

Hearing this, An Ran obedient nodded, taking the clothes for the day, she went into the washroom.

Su Yi Cheng takes the time while she is washing up to prepare some sandwiches in the kitchen to serve as their breakfast for today.

When An Ran gave a call to Huang De Xin to take leave for the day Huang De Xin did not say much but dutifully reminded her of the timeline for the "Activity Manor" case. Her deadline is the coming Monday for her to hand the design draft to him, so that he can arrange for the model and showroom to be constructed.

An Ran knows she has delayed the progress for the case for some time now and also knows that all that he says is correct, there really isn't much time left to finish up the design. The model and showroom will also take time to finish after all.

Su Yi Cheng drove her to the hospital and drops her off at the entrance. Just as he was about to alight and accompany An Ran, secretary Zheng's call sounded at this time, reminding him of the meeting this morning which he must attend.

An Ran considerately says to him,"No need to accompany me up, go get busy with your work."

Su Yi Cheng looks at the time, indeed he does not have much time to accompany her up, he just nodded, looking at her, says,"Then I'll be on my way, take care of yourself."

An Ran nodded, giving him a light smile.

When An Ran reaches Lin Li's room, Lin Li is already awake and Cheng Xiang seems to have waited the whole night. He is still wearing the groom's attire he had on yesterday and his pants still have the stain of the blood from when Lin Li fell.

An Ran pushes the door, entering the room, only to see mother and father Lin in a stifling silence. And Lin Li is just lying there on the bed, with her eyes open, staring at the ceiling, quiet not making a sound at all, making anyone who sees it feels bad.

"Lin Li." An Ran went forward, gently calling her name but she did not respond at all, her eyes continue staring at the ceiling, not even blinking.

When mother Lin sees her daughter like this, her heart aches,"She woke up around 11pm last night, after she woke up she felt her stomach and asked if the child is still there." Saying this, tears started falling from her eyes. father Lin at the side also turns his head, unable to face her.

Mother Lin continues,"When she knew the child was gone, she just looked at me steadily and laughed weakly after a while then closed her eyes and fell back to sleep. In the morning when we woke up, we found her like this just staring at the ceiling. Not even responding when we call her."

An Ran caresses Lin Li's hair, her heart aching and tightens in agony.

"knock knock knock..." the room's door sound out at this time.

Thinking it must be the nurse wanting to take her temperature, father Lin turns and opens the door. The door had just open and it was not the nurse waiting outside but Cheng Xiang's parents.

Mother Cheng had a tumbler in hand and father Cheng had a bag in hand with some of Lin Li's clothings.

"In-laws, is xiao Li awake yet?" mother Cheng enters with the tumbler, in it is chicken soup that she had boiled for the whole night, it's especially beneficial for people who had suffered miscarriage. If nothing else, it is most important to let Lin Li recovers as soon as possible.

father Lin looks at them, his expression severe. Thinking that Lin Li is like this all due to Cheng Xiang, a surge of anger and unhappiness from his heart rose up and his reply is cold and hard,"Please go out, xiao Li does not want to see anyone of you from the Cheng family."

"In-law, we know that our Cheng Xiang is at fault regarding this matter, but this is not the time to be placing blame, taking care of Lin Li is the most important right now." mother Cheng answers smoothly, taking the tumbler of chicken soup in,"This is the chicken soup I have boiled for the whole night, it's especially good for the body."

"Go out, our family's xiao Li does not need to drink any chicken soup from your family, we'll take care of our own child, you don't have to put up an act." mother Lin's emotions is a little agitated, and starts to push them out.

"In-laws, don't be like this, we know it's all our Cheng Xiang's fault, but what's happen has already happen. let us take care of Lin Li together and get her to be better. That's the most important thing." mother Cheng explained.

"No need to, you all get out, we don't wish to see any of you." mother Lin insisted on pushing them out.

As they quarrel, Lin Li turns her head over slowly, letting her empty gaze upon them and after a while speaks up,"I want to see Cheng Xiang." that voice sounds severely dry and hoarse to the point of pitying.

Hearing this, the few people quiets down, looking at her, pausing, surprised that she is still willing to see Cheng Xiang at this point.

"Lin Li?" An Ran looks at her worried, her hand tightly holding against hers.

Lin Li turns over, looking at An Ran steadily, after a while, repeated,"I want to see Cheng Xiang."

An Ran looks at her, persuading her, "He did not come, Lin Li, let's look for him after we get out from the hospital." An Ran does not dare to let her see Cheng Xiang, afraid that her emotions will get too agitated.

Lin Li shakes her head, only saying, "Help me call him here, I know he's outside."

An Ran turns to look at mother and father Lin, her eyes seeking for their opinions.

mother Lin came forward hurriedly, speaks in a persuading tone to Lin Li, "xiao Li, we don't see Cheng Xiang outside, why not recover first, alright?"

Lin Li lightly pressed her lips, smiling,"Mom, I'm fine, let him in, I have things to say clearly to him." After being foolish for so long, it's time she woke up.

mother Lin looks at her, pausing and finally nodded, letting An Ran call Cheng Xiang in from outside.

Hearing that Lin Li want to see him, Cheng Xiang stumbles inside, his hair messy, the clothes on him crumpled and with the newly grown stubbles on his chin and his deeply sunken eyes, he looked very miserable and unkempt.

"Lin Li." Cheng Xiang goes up to her, very emotional, his eyes were redden, he reached out for her face but was avoided by Lin Li. Looking at her, Cheng Xiang says in pain,"I'm sorry."

Hearing this, Lin Li's lips curl up in a slight smile but her eyes exudes sorrow. She had loved this man for 10 years, giving her everything to love him, not minding to be the shadow in his heart, not minding that he has another woman in his heart. Because she had believe that, during this 10 years, he will grow to love her a little, even if it is but a sliver, if she had felt even a sliver of his love she would have felt that it was worth giving him 10 years' worth of feelings. But......

"Cheng Xiang." Turning to look at him, Lin Li says out plainly with her dry hoarse voice,"10 years, have you ever really loved me?"

Cheng Xiang keeps nodding his head,"I do!" Maybe he had been uncertain before, maybe xiaoxiao was always hidden within his heart but just from that time, yesterday, when he watch her closed her eyes within his embrace, paled, he realized clearly just how much he is afraid of losing her. It is then that he knew, he had fallen in love with her, he had fallen in love with that girl who loves to laugh, that girl who loves to keep reminding him that she loves him, that girl who is always hugging his neck and seeking to kiss him. He did not know when he fell in love but but by the time he realised it , he is already deeply in love with her.

Lin Li laughs, shaking her head,"You don't love me, don't deceive yourself."

"No I'm not, I do love you, it's true!" Cheng Xiang hurriedly explains but was cut short by Lin Li.

"If you loved me then why did you run away from our wedding, if you loved me then why would you go hug another woman?" Lin Li says it very calmly, but her tears keep flowing from her eyes.

"I......" Cheng Xiang wants to explain but found himself speechless.

"I've loved you for 10 years, I had always known there's a shadow within your heart. You love very deeply, I know that you often stare at my hair thinking about that person in your heart. I don't mind, really I don't, I don't mind myself being a substitute for another person. I don't mind you not being able to love me like I loved you." Lin Li says, looking at him steadily, reaching out, raising it towards him, lightly stroking that man's face, the man that from the time she started to know love, has always been in love with. Her tears flow uncontrollably, she continues saying,"I thought that with enough time, you will forget about the shadow in your heart then you will slowly start to love me. Even if it's only a little, I'm really not that greedy, I only want a little bit of love from you, if I have that, I can affirm my determination."

"I do love you, and it's not only a little." Cheng Xiang holds onto her hands, letting her hand tightly pressed against his face.

An Ran at the side turns her face away in pain, her hands covering her mouth, trying hard not to let herself cry out.

Lin Li shakes her head lightly, her lips in a light smile,"I was too foolish in the past, I only felt like it was a matter of time, if only I was patient enough, if only I was willing to wait a little longer, he will turn back one day, he will look at me then I thought. But I had forgotten, I forgot you are as stubborn as me, we are the same type of person, as I am patiently waiting you are also patiently waiting for the person you love in your heart. Even if you knew that it is impossible between the two of you, you will always reserve a place for her in your heart."

Cheng Xiang clutched her hand, kissing it, shaking his head but did not say a single word.

After being silent for a while, Lin Li retracts her hand, looks at him steadily, seeming to have come to a decision, "I thought about it the whole night, I have finally decided. It's time I let go now, I should not stubbornly hold on to a man that will never love me for the rest of my life, if I cannot let you love me in 10 years, if you cannot forget that shadow in your heart for 10 years, then it's useless even if there's more time."

"It won't be useless Lin Li, I love you, I really do, believe me, please believe me will you?" Cheng Xiang grabs at her hands, tears flowing from his eyes.

Lin Li takes her hand back, shaking her head,"It's too late now." Taking her hand, removing the diamond ring that he had put on her yesterday and placed it in his hand. Turning her head, staring at the ceiling again, saying, "It's already too late, I'm tired, I'm not able to love anymore."

"Then let me love you, this time, let me love you instead, alright?" Cheng Xiang place the ring in the palm of her hand, his palm tightly holding onto her hand.

Lin Li turns to look at him, shaking her head, her hand slowly moving up her own stomach, that still flat stomach, the stomach that used to have a tiny life growing inside, she could even feel his strong heartbeat at one time, but not anymore. Thinking of this, her tears flows down in a torrent,"It's too late now Cheng Xiang, the child is gone, we don't even have a reason to be together anymore, everything is too late now, it's too late. I will never love you again, the love I have for you during these 10 years have been exhausted and will never come again." With that, the tears flow even more.

"It's not too late, if you're willing, it will never be too late. We can have another child, we can have as many as you want, alright?" Clutching her hand, Cheng Xiang says hurriedly,"Lin Li, let's start all over again, this time I will only have you in my heart, let us start all over again, alright?"

Removing her hand, without a sliver of emotion, Lin Li rejects him directly, "We can't go back now, I will never love you again, from when you left the wedding yesterday, from when you pull me aside, from when the child is no more, we can never go back and start over again. And I will never love again."

With that, she took a deep breathe, turning her head not looking at him,"Alright, I have said all that I've wanted to say, please leave now, I do not want to see you for the time being. As for the clothes in your house, I will make arrangements to remove them as soon as possible."

"Lin Li." Cheng Xiang calls out to her, shaking his head not willing to accept all that she has said.

"Xiao Li, don't be like this, Cheng Xiang knows he's at fault now, give him another chance."mother Cheng walks up and thought to speak up for her son.

Enduring her tears, Lin Li did not look at her, only saying,"Dad, please have them leave, I don't want to see them."

Hearing this father Lin nodded, turning over saying to the Chengs,"Please get out, don't disturb my daughter's rest."

"In-law, you___"mother Cheng is still trying to salvage the situation but was cut off by father Lin.

"Don't call that carelessly, my daughter did not get married to your son, if you want to find a daughter in law, go find someone else. Our family does not have the fortune to be acquainted with yours, and we don't want to!" father Lin says, and together with mother Lin hurries the Chengs out the door.

Lin Li slept sideways with her back on the door, tightly biting her lips, her entire self trembling from crying.

An Ran looks at her, going up in front of her, tightly holding onto her hand, she does not know what to say or do but maybe, just maybe, just staying by her side will do.



------End of Chapter------

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