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138. Lin Xiao Fen’s Love 1
The number on the display decreased until the elevator dinged its arrival. Su Yi Cheng led An Ran by the hand out of the elevator, until they got to the Gu family’s front door. Looking at the ‘福’ character pasted on the door, Su Yi Cheng raised his hand and was about to press the doorbell, when An Ran suddenly stopped Su Yi Cheng’s hand.
He turned to look at her, only to see her slightly nervous expression, somewhat frantic. He chuckled and reached out to stroke her head, and said, “You’re just visiting home, that’s all.”
An Ran forced a laugh, swallowing she said, “I, I just don’t know how to face them.” She didn’t know what expression to face them with, didn’t know what to say first after passing through that door, it’s like after what happened yesterday, everything has become a little different. Clearly the same people were present, but now she doesn’t know how to face them, what to say.
Su Yi Cheng jokingly pinched her nose and said, “Silly, this is your home, your parents are inside, you have lived here for more than 20 years and they are the people who have been hurting for more than 20 years. Is it because of yesterday that could change the things and feelings of more than 20 years?”
An Ran was taken aback by his words, and was blanked out for a moment. She could only blankly shake her head.
Seeing her shake her head, Su Yi Cheng added, “You also think that that has not changed, then why are you still confused with how to approach them, just be like before, what you used to do, still do it, because nothing has changed at all, the home inside is still as it was before, the furnishings haven’t changed at all, the people inside are still the same people as before, when you go in you will still call them mother and father, there is nothing to be conscientious about, isn’t that right!”
Hearing those words, An Ran was shocked. She looked at him smiling, and gathered her strength to nod, “Yes!”
Su Yi Cheng laughed, then nodded. He rang the doorbell. Behind the door, they could hear the doorbell ring, “Ding dong….” Echoing melodiously.
Su Yi Cheng put down his hand, and once again held An Ran’s hand. This time An Ran wasn’t as nervous, and faintly smiled towards him.
The door was quickly opened, it was Lin Xiao Fen and Gu Heng Wen who rushed to door. Once the opened the door, they were quickly greeted by two smiling faces. Seeing the two people at the door, they smiled back, “You’re home.” Their eyes were on the girl beside Su Yi Cheng, unblinking.
Seeing An Ran as her usual self, she called out with a smile, “Mom, dad.”
Su Yi Cheng beside her was smiling like An Ran, and called out, “Dad, mom, we’re home.”
Lin Xiao Fen was moved, and used her hand to cover her mouth. She tried her best to contain the tears in her eyes, and nodded continuously, her voice was shaky, “Yes, yes.”
Gu Heng Wen looked at them with a heavy nod, but did not say anything.
An Ran let herself in as always, went up to her mom and just pulled on Lin Xiao Fen’s hand and headed into the house, acting spoiled, “I haven’t eaten mom’s food in so long, what are we eating tonight, I have to eat to support myself!”
Lin Xiao Fen smiled, and quickly said, “There’s baked shrimp, and braised pork meatballs, steamed osmanthus fish, garlic fried cabbage and so on.. all of your favourite dishes.”
Hearing what was said, An Ran’s smile reached up to her eyes, and happily said, “I knew you would treat me best.”
Gu Heng Wen looked at the hugging mother and daughter, smiling while shaking his head.
Su Yi Cheng spoke to Gu Heng Wen, “Dad, why don’t we play a round, I haven’t gotten my revenge yet from last time.”
Hearing that, Gu Heng Wen glanced at him, smiled, and said, “Sure, let us go in the studio.”
In fact, they did not wait for Su Yi Cheng and Gu Heng Wen to finish their game of chess, when Lin Xiao Fen shouted from them to come out to eat. So the two men had no choice but to leave, and return to their game after the meal.
The meal tonight was all hand-made by Lin Xiao Fen who had specially asked for the day off. First thing in the morning she went to the market and bought fresh ingredients, and immediately started to marinate and such so that it’ll have more taste. After lunch, Lin Xiao Fen went back to the kitchen, and was busy in the kitchen until An Ran and co arrived a few minutes ago, truly was busy until a moment ago.
The dining table in the Gu household is a short four sided-table, each person sat on one side. The dishes on the table could be said that 10/10 were all of An Ran’s favourite, all of it was prepared for An Ran.
Adding a piece of fish to An Ran’s plate, Lin Xiao Fen said, “Pregnant women need to eat lots of fish, eat it well and eat lots of it, your child will grow to be beautiful.”
Hearing what was said, An Ran quickly nodded. She took a bite of the piece that her mother gave her. Recently her morning sickness was slowly getting better. Unlike before when she would want to throw up upon smelling something, or throw up everything she ate, right now An Ran’s appetite was much better than before, and would get hungry easily. At home there would always be some biscuits and cupcakes ready, so that when An Ran gets hungry she could just go get some to eat.
This meal was very easy to eat. No one took the initiative to mention yesterday’s matter, everything was normal as usual.
After dinner, the party sat in the living room to chat, only to see Gu Heng Wen’s smiling face slowly close up, then looked at An Ran and Su Yi Cheng and said, “Last night I discussed with Xiao Fen that there are some things we should let you know.”
An Ran sat next to Su Yi Cheng, holding his hand. When she was listening to Gu Heng Wen her body couldn’t help but stiffen, but was also held tightly by Su Yi Cheng. She turned to look at him, only to see that he was facing her, smiling faintly, as if telling her that everything would be okay, he was by her side.
Seeing that neither of them spoke, Gu Heng Wen said, “There are some things.. Perhaps your mother will be more clear about it.” Having said that, he turned to Lin Xiao Fen, who was sitting on the sofa to his left, and nodded at her.
Lin Xiao Fen did not nod back, then slightly nodded at him. She slowly opened her mouth and said, “That year…”
Originally, Tong Wen hai and Lin Xiao Fen were from the same village. There really was some drama, back then, the couple had a similar past to An Ran and Mo Fei. They were both classmates. Actually they did not have much interaction at first, but after they both entered the same university, because they were from the same place, and were both outsiders, the two slowly became more and more familiar with each other. Then they became like those men and women, being so close to each other they naturally became boyfriend and girlfriend.
The relationship between the two developed smoothly, everything was better than what Lin Xiao Fen had imagined. Tong Wen Hai was a man who knew romance, could speak some happy sweet words, but also, in the boring college life, he brought a lot of surprises to Lin Xiao Fen.
Because they were from the same village, because they went to the same university, because they were very close lovers, because their conditions were very average, not rich, and even a little poor, they soon began to save money by living together. That era could not be compared to the present, to be unmarried yet live together, at that time that was a very inappropriate behaviour. Some classmates had also advised Lin Xiao Fen to not be so impulsive, two people who love each other and live under the same roof, we all know too well what will happen, and it is always a bigger disadvantage to the woman. Perhaps it was because Tong Wen Hai’s performance was truly good, he was romantic and considerate, and took very good care of her, even after considering everything, Lin Xiao Fen did not hesitate to move out and live with him.
In those times, a woman could give herself to a man, then it is determined that that man is the man that she could rely on for the rest of her life. So even though she had to put up with the rumours, because she was with her beloved, Lin Xiao Fen was more happy than wronged.
Women were easy that way, while deeply in love they would think that love was all they need, and thus ignored other practical factors.
After a year of cohabitation, the news of their affair reached back home, and Lin Xiao Fen’s father fainted on the spot after hearing that his daughter was living with a man. When Lin Xiao Fen rushed back, father Lin was already dead. It was an acute heart disease, not long after being sent to the hospital he had already passed away. Lin didn’t even get to see his daughter one last time, because of what happened to father Lin mother Lin started to slap Lin Xiao Fen upon seeing her, asking why she did such a shameless thing. Lin Xiao Fen did not say anything, and let her mother scold her. She was still in shock that she had lost her father.
After handling her father’s affairs, mother Lin also knew, since it has already happened, it would be useless to look into it, but she urged Lin Xiao Fen to marry Tong Wen Hai as soon as possible, they could no longer live like that so dubiously, that was her only request, and also father Lin’s final confession to mother Lin.
For her father’s last wish, Lin Xiao Fen nodded. When she returned to school she retold the events of what happened back home to Tong Wen Hai, including her mother’s wish for them to get married as soon as possible.
Hearing Lin Xiao Fen, Tong Wen Hai held Lin Xiao Fen with grief. He whispered into her ears and promised her that he would take care of her for a lifetime, and let her parents know that their daughter did not choose the wrong man, but concerning the marriage, Tong Wen Hai did to directly respond to it. Lin Xiao Fen thought that his promise was basically his answer to it, so she did not bring it up to him again.
After a month had passed, her mother asked someone to deliver a letter to her, asking her when exactly the wedding would be. Lin Xiao Fen then realized that Tong Wen Hai did not directly respond to the marriage issue. That evening, she asked him once again, and Tong Wen Hai went silent for a while. He just replied back, that they hadn’t graduated yet, and wants to wait until after they graduate to think about marriage. Lin Xiao Fen rejected that idea on the spot. In fact, married or not, they were only missing a piece of paper and a wedding. Even if she doesn’t have a wedding, they should get a marriage certificate, because after all that was her father’s final wish. She had done nothing for her father, but this is the one thing that she must fulfill! Moreover, their situation right now, what’s the difference between tying the knot now or after graduation, she only needed that piece of paper, that would assure her mother, and let her father rest contently.
Tong Wen Hai was silent, and that day the two had their first cold war after nearly two years together.
Because she did not want to step back, did not want to compromise, Lin Xiao Fen stayed at the dorm of a close female classmate on the second day of the cold war, hoping that Tong Wen Hai would take the initiative and give in to her wish to get a marriage certificate.
Regarding Lin Xiao Fen staying at another person’s place, for the first few days Tong Wen Hai had looked for her and asked her to move back in, but concerning the marriage, he still did not answer to it, so Lin Xiao Fen was determined to not move back in until he agreed to the marriage. Gradually the times when she would shut the door to his face had lessened. At first Lin Xiao Fen did not mind, until one month had passed since they last saw each other, it was only when a female classmate had reminded her that she sensed something strange. That day she returned to the place they rented out together to look for Tong Wen Hai but did not see him there. She waited until 11 o’clock, then finally saw him coming back with his bicycle with a smile on his face. When he opened the door, he was shocked to see Lin Xiao Fen sitting their on the bed. He couldn’t come up with a reaction, until finally he asked why did she come back?
Upon hearing that Lin Xiao Fen was incensed, asking him if he wanted her to stay away forever. Tong Wen Hai did not want to fight with her, and just took care of himself and put away his coat, then started to wash his face. Lin Xiao Fen saw his cold attitude, and got even angrier. She raised the same topic, asking him again, when does he plan to get that marriage certificate.
Hearing that, Tong Wen Hai was clearly distracted. After a while he avoided her gaze, and just said that they’ll talk about marriage after graduating.
After waiting for so long and not getting that peace that she wanted, Lin Xiao Fen returned to school angrily, while Tong Wen Hai did not chase after her or any of the sort.
Her mother once again got someone to send her a letter and asked when they were getting married. Lin Xiao Fen could not answer, and felt so aggrieved, but she couldn’t do anything.
One day when she was doing her review in the classroom, a female classmate suddenly ran over to her and said that she saw Tong Wen Hai outside, and he seemed to be walking really close with another female, the two were bantering and looked very unusual.
The pen she was holding dropped to the floor. Lin Xiao Fen shook her head in disbelief. She forced a smile and said she probably saw the wrong person.
The female classmate was very adamant, and directly pulled Lin Xiao Fen and ran outside the school, only to see by the school park, Tong Wen Hai sitting closely together with a woman, don’t know what they were talking about, Tong Wen Hai laughed out loud with that woman, and even reached out to remove some of the leaves that fell onto her hair, and that woman shyly bowed her head.
Lin Xiao Fen felt a bolt from the blue. She did not think at all that during this month, the man who had promised to take care of her for the rest of her life, would be laughing and talking so intimately with another woman.
Because she did not want to put herself in such an embarrassing situation, Lin Xiao Fen did not put herself in the scene. That day she returned to their rented room, but this time did not wait for Tong Wen Hai to come back.
Lin Xiao Fen did not leave, until the next day, until Tong Wen Hai returned with a smile on his face. Upon seeing Lin Xiao Fen, that smile on his face vanished, and wrinkled his eyebrows and asked, “Why did you come back?”
Lin Xiao Fen sneered. After not sleeping the entire night she looked haggard, because she had been crying her eyes were extremely red, even bloodshot. Seeing his indifference she asked, “Why wouldn’t I come back? Isn’t this the place we rented out together?”
Tong Wen Hai was taken back. Lin Xiao Fen moved back to school for too long, so long that he had forgotten that fact.
He blankly regained his look, turned his head to avoid looking at her. He started to remove his clothes, and tidied up his messy desk, not saying a word to Lin Xiao Fen.
“Have we become speechless now?” Lin Xiao Fen said slowly, with a sarcastic tone.
The hand that was tidying up instinctively paused, but he did not turn back, and did not say anything. He continued to put away the books and papers on the desk.
From behind Lin Xiao Fen taunted, “I saw you yesterday at that park we used to always go to, you were sitting with a pretty girl.”
This time Tong Wen Hai turned his head back, stared at her, but still did not say a word. Only looked at her, that hand that was holding onto the book clenched tightly then loosened, then clenched again, as if he were struggling with something.
Lin Xiao Fen got up, and slowly walked over to him. She started to talk, “I saw that you were awfully considerate, like how you were to me, tell me did I see wrong, how could you be so tender and considerate to another girl besides me? You clearly said that you would only love me, pamper me, right?” Those were the vows that he made to her, but how long ago was that? Why did everything change so much she couldn’t recognize anything?
Tong Wen Hai did not speak, just staring at her closely. The hand that was holding the book was grasping it tightly, the force was very heavy.
Lin Xiao Fen took each step towards him, asked, “Tell me did I see the wrong person, how could do you that to me, right?”
Tong Wen Hai closed his eyes painfully, the hand that was clenching onto the book loosened. A while later, he opened his eyes and faced Lin Xiao Fen, and calmly nodded, said, “You did not see wrong, I was in the park yesterday.”
Hearing that, Lin Xiao Fen’s whole body started to shake, she couldn’t help but step fall back two steps, her eyes continued to stay on him, she bit her lips tightly. At first she wanted to believe in her own lies, so long as he does not admit it, so long as he says with his own mouth that the man in the park yesterday was not him, that the man who was so tender and considerate with another woman was not him, then she would convince herself that he did not betray her, did not betray their love, he is still the man who was gentle, considerate and romantic. But his answer was yes, he was the man in the park yesterday, with another woman, that man was him!
Tong Wen Hai took a deep breath, looked at Lin Xiao Fen. With some difficulty he said, “Xiao Fen.. you see, us, let’s break up!”
Lin Xiao Fen stared at him, looked at the man in front of her. With some disbelief she started to ask, “You… Are you really Tong Wen Hai?” Is this really the man who loved her, pampered her? Is this really the man who held her saying that he would give her a lifetime of happiness? How long has it been, that because of being apart from one month, or even two months of not seeing each other? How could a person change this quickly!
Tong Wen Hai bowed his head and did not look at her. He was aware that he had wronged her, and just said, “Sorry!” He did not expect it, but things turned out that way. Yesterday he already went to see Chen Wen’s parents, he even stayed the night at the Chen house. In fact if Lin Xiao Fen did not come to find him today, after some time, he would go look for her and get things straightened out, there were some things he did not want to miss.
Lin Xiao Fen shook her head. She suddenly laughed grimly, and plainly asked, “Why? Because I pressured you to marry me? Or because you never wanted to marry me in the first place!” They dated until they lived together, they did everything that should and shouldn’t be done, could it be that marriage is that different? She had always thought that they would marry in the end, always that he wanted to marry her, even though they were in a cold war for a month, she had never thought that he wouldn’t want her!
Tong Wen hai raised his head, looked at her, and finally explained, “That woman is Chen Wen, she is the only daughter of the Deputy Director of the Planning Department.”
Lin Xiao Fen did not understand, shook her head and asked, “What does that mean? I don’t understand!”
“She really likes me. I already met her parents yesterday, they are not against us being together.” Tong Wen Hai said thusly.
Lin Xiao Fen was worked up, just stepped forward, and grabbed him, “I asked you what do you mean! Why do you do this to me!”
Tong Wen Hai doesn’t dare to look at her face. Finally he could only shoot a glance, and said, “To be with her, Chen Wen promised me, after graduation she would ask her dad to directly arrange work for me near the Planning Bureau.” Now work is not easy to find, if one had no background that is even more difficult. He had enough meeting people, he no longer wanted to look at the face of others, he wants to succeed, he wants to excel, he wants money and he wants status! And Chen Wen seemed to be the shortcut to get those, if he were with her, with the strength of the Chen family, he could easily get into the planning bureau or some organization to work, and all of this is something Lin Xiao Fen could not give him.
After a moment of silence, Lin Xiao Fen suddenly laughed out, let go of him, and continuously shook her head, “That’s it? Because she is the daughter of the director of planning?” She thought he was going to say that he was in love with that woman, he would say that there was love between them, but she didn’t think that it was because that woman was the daughter of the directory of planning, and she lost because she had no family background with her! “Tong Wen Hai, could you think of a more ridiculous reason than this?”
Tong Wen Hai turned his head and did not look at her, and now he has nothing to say.
After a long silence, Lin Xiao Fen seemed to settle her emotions, finally opened her mouth and asked, “When did that happen?"
“We met when you went home!”
---END OF CHAPTER---
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