Chapter 37
“Miss, we’ve arrived.”
“Miss?! We’ve arrived at the place!”
When the taxi driver called me in a loud voice for the second time, only then I regained my composure. I took out my purse, paid the fare and got out of the car.
Before my eyes, was where Lin Yu Sen lived.
After coming out from the meeting place with my father, I took a taxi to come here without the slightest hesitation. However after arriving at the neighborhood, standing in front of his house and looking at the wooden door in front, I have been slow to press the doorbell.
I stared at the pattern on the wooden door and stood for no less than half an hour.
What was I afraid of?
Afraid that the truth will be too hard to take?
No, no, I believed him. This kind of thing would never happen on Lin Yu Sen. Even if I cannot trust Lin Yu Sen’s character, I should believe his IQ level.
But why father said it with certainty?
I took a deep breath and decided not to continue to let my imagination run wild, so I lifted my hand and was about to press the doorbell. But all of a sudden, the door was opened from the inside. A few people came out together. A large man who was walking in front of the crowd, was speaking.
“Hey, we’ll take what they’re throwing at us and use it back on them. This time, they definitely won’t even be able to handle it ……”
Seeing me, his voice trailed away. Suddenly, everyone looked at me. Lin Yu Sen who was at the back, was a bit surprised. A smiling expression immediately appeared in his eyes. He stepped forward, “Xi Guang? Why did you come over?”
My gaze fell on his clothes, “I’ve something to ask you.”
He paused for a few seconds then said okay.
Upon seeing this, other people took leave one after another. Lin Yu Sen sent them off, returned to look over carefully at me and heaved a sigh.
“Have you seen President Nie?”
I did not answer him but go straight to the point and asked: “Lin Yu Sen, do you know Ma Nian Yuan?”
I did not ask whether he ‘courted’ Ma Nian Yuan, because I had really eliminated this possibility. Hence I did not even want to say it.
He immediately frowned: “Who is this person?”
My heart-strings loosened all at once and a smile nearly formed on my face. Yet I felt something was wrong. Why would father tell this kind of lie which can be easily detected? Likewise, Lin Yu Sen will also not engage in such low-level deception.
So where was the problem? Although I felt sick mentioning about that mother-daughter pair, I still suppressed my disgust to explain to him.
“Do you know about my family matter?”
Lin Yu Sen nodded, “I’ve sort of heard about it.”
“Thus, Ma Nian Yuan …… can be considered to be my dad’s G.o.d-daughter. My dad said both of you got to know each other at my G.o.dmother’s dinner party in the year before last. Then she invited you to go to Wuxi to view and appreciate plum blossoms ……”
Suddenly his complexion looked frightening.
I was startled by his facial expression until I could not finish my sentence.
Suddenly he grabbed my shoulders firmly, “What did you say?!”
I was frightened by his reaction and was momentarily speechless. He looked at me closely, each word, one at a time, coming out sharply from his lips: “You were not the one who asked me to go to Wuxi?!”
I regained my composure from the shock, “How, how can it be me since I did not know you at that time.”
He scrutinized my face, as if to confirm something. Then he slowly loosened his grip on my shoulders, as if he had understood everything. With a glimmer of hope, he asked: “We met before at Madam Yu’s dinner party two years ago. I went together with my maternal grandfather. Please think carefully. Don’t you have the slightest recollection?”
Di-.. did we?
G.o.dmother’s party has always been very lively with an endless stream of guests. With so many people, I really have no recollection.
“Oh.” He probably got the answer from my facial expression, since he put his hands down completely.
He clenched his fist, as if to control his emotion. In the end, he failed to control it, ferociously punched the wall and slowly spit out four words.
“Extraordinary shame and humiliation!”
A cold glint flashed in his eyes. After taking a few deep breaths, he took out the mobile phone and dialed a number.
I did not know who he called, only heard his voice was frightening cold.
“Where are you?”
……
“I’ll come over right away.”
He hung up the phone, came over and grabbed my hand straightaway.
“Come with me.”
His expression and att.i.tude simply did not allow resistance. With his rapid pace, I staggered to follow him all the way until being pushed into the car. Everything happened way beyond my expectations. After the car moved along for a long way, I only managed to calm my nerve and asked him: “Where are we going?”
“We’ll be arriving very soon.”
He drove without saying a word and was on the highway before long. Based on the roadside signs, I guessed the destination should be Shanghai. More than an hour later, the sky was already darkening, the car stopped in front of a villa in Songjiang suburban district of Shanghai. Lin Yu Sen took out the phone and said two words coldly: “Come out.”
In an instance, a disheveled young man was fastening his b.u.t.tons and running out at the same time.
“Vincent, why didn’t you inform me a few days in advance that you’ll be coming over to let me have time to sweep the couch to welcome you?”
I felt this man was a little familiar-looking. Taking a closer look, he was actually G.o.dmother’s son, Shao Jia Qi. He went abroad when he was very young, lived there most of the time and had only come back recently. Thus I was not that familiar with him.
“Jia Qi?”
“Xi Guang?” He was also surprised, “How do you ……”
He looked at me and also looked at Lin Yu Sen, seemingly unclear about the situation.
Lin Yu Sen interrupted our reminisce, “Shao Jia Qi, before my accident two years ago, did you call me to ask me to go to Wuxi?”
Shao Jia Qi immediately pulled a long face: “Aiya, why bring this up again? I know I owe you for the rest of my life for what I did to you.”
“Please repeat what you said to me on the phone that day.”
“For goodness sake! Brother, please spare me. I know I made a mistake, is it not enough? If I had known earlier that woman is so trashy, I’ll definitely not act as go-between. d.a.m.n it, I have already severed contact with her. d.a.m.n it, I told her that you had an accident on your way to meet her, yet she did not even bother to go and visit you once.”
“Okay, you just need to repeat what you had said without missing a word.”
Jia Qi was distressed and scratched his head in anguish, “How can I still remember?”
Lin Yu Sen’s eyes were very cold, “Well, I’ll paraphrase what was said. You verify whether what I’ll be saying is correct.”
“You said, ‘Brother, you really have luck with women. A beautiful woman took a fancy to you at mother’s party on the day before yesterday. She invited you to go to Wuxi to view and appreciate plum blossoms. Hence do you’ve time on Sat.u.r.day? Come to look for me in Wuxi first, then I’ll take you to meet that beautiful woman.’ ”
He used an icy and calm voice to paraphrase such frivolous words. A strange atmosphere pervaded the air momentarily.
“I said: ‘Not interested as I’ve to perform a very important operation on Sat.u.r.day."”
“Is it like this?”
Shao Jia Qi nodded repeatedly: “Brother, your memory is very good. Yes, it is like this, you’re correct.”
“It is not that my memory is good. After the accident, when I was lying in the hospital bed and could not move, I thought about these words countless times,” Lin Yu Sen said, “Then you said: ‘Indeed a beautiful woman, Nie Cheng Yuan’s daughter."”
Suddenly I raised my head to look at Shao Jia Qi. He glanced at me and said dejectedly: “Yes, I’ve just returned from abroad at that time. That woman pretended to be pitiful. Thus I was misled into thinking that she is Uncle Nie’s illegitimate daughter.”
While saying that, he looked apologetically at me. Then all of a sudden, he realized something and her complexion changed: “Holy c.r.a.p, Heavens, how did you guys end up together now? Do you think Xi Guang was the one who invited you?! Holy c.r.a.p, it is not. You can’t be taking revenge on people!”
I did not know what else to say, so I can’t help looking at Lin Yu Sen. He also looked at me, his eyes cannot conceal the turmoil and pain.
Shao Jia Qi may have been affected by us, as he also did not speak anymore. An oppressive atmosphere enveloped us.
A long time later, Lin Yu Sen started the car and said: “I’ll send you back.”