Qiu Meihui was supposed to meet Liu Nuan at a cafe and when she arrived there, her hands clenched at the sight of the person sitting with Liu Nuan."Huihui! Here!" Liu Nuan called out to Qiu Meihui who walked over with a not so pleased look on her face.
"Is she leaving or should I leave?" were Qiu Meihui"s first words to Liu Nuan as she pointed at the other person.
Liu Nuan"s expressions turned awkward when she glanced at her best friend, Qiu Meihui, and her sister-in-law, Zhou Liqiu. "Huihui, can she stay?"
"Then I should leave," said Liu Nuan as she turned to leave.
"Sister Meihui," Zhou Liqiu stood up and called out to Qiu Meihui. "You don"t have to ruin your plans just because of me. I"ll leave, you stay."
"Then please," Qiu Meihui indicated clearly for her to get away from her sight.
"I"ll see you later, Sister Nuan," said Zhou Liqiu and Liu Nuan nodded her head.
When she left the cafe, Liu Nuan turned to Qiu Meihui, "Did you have to do that? Whatever happened back then was between Dylan and her. Why are you reacting so harshly with her?"
"I don"t care about what happened. But I do care about the fact that my brother cried for the first time on the day they broke up."
Liu Nuan"s brows quirked up in shock, "Are you serious? Dylan can also cry?"
"Shocking, right?" began Qiu Meihui as she took a seat beside her and went on, "I think you are more than aware of how my brother is. Hedi was called the lucky boy, the moment he was born. He had always been carefree and happy because everyone pampered him like a kid. And they still do even though he is so old now. The boy who never cried was actually broken by her. How am I supposed to forgive her that easily?"
Liu Nuan shook her head as she called for the waiter and said, "You are still very protective of your brother."
"I might be the worst sister but I still love him very much," replied Qiu Meihui sincerely. Indeed, Dylan was just as dear to her as he was to everyone around him. She just never let him see that. She ordered a Latte for herself and looked around aimlessly.
"By the way, I was really surprised and happy to hear that you are finally listening to your heart and marrying Brother Xiaoli." Qiu Meihui could literally see Liu Nuan"s excitement on her face. But seeing how Qiu Meihui was silent, she frowned, "Please tell me that you"re marrying him because of your love for him and not for another reason!"
"What if I have another reason?" retorted Qiu Meihui making Liu Nuan"s eyes widen.
"You have got to be kidding with me!" Liu Nuan was frustrated now. "I"m warning you! If you hurt him this time, I"m not letting you go that easily even if you"re my best friend. I will take a stand for my cousin brother this time around."
Qiu Meihui took her latte from the waiter and said in amus.e.m.e.nt, "Your cousin brother? Just how many times have you got the chance to even meet that cousin brother of yours?"
"Hey, just because Uncle Zimen hates my mother doesn"t mean we are not blood-related. Even if Uncle Zimen denies the relations.h.i.+p, how can he deny the blood we share? At the end of the day, mom is still his sister. Real sister!"
Qiu Meihui shook her head at Liu Nuan"s explanation. She really didn"t know why Liu Nuan cared so much about her Uncle Zimen"s family even though their families have bad blood for decades. Even more amusing was seeing how Liu Nuan would always speak in favor of Xin Xiaoli no matter what occasion it was.
"But on a serious note, can you please stop this? Don"t be stubborn again. You have already suffered enough because of your stubbornness. If you had chosen to follow your heart back then, Brother Xiaoli and you"d have had a very happy married life right now," said Liu Nuan as she looked at Qiu Meihui worriedly. "I don"t want you to hurt yourself again."
"Just like you have a happy married life?" questioned Qiu Meihui as she stared right into her eyes.
Liu Nuan avoided her eyes as she replied with a fake smile, "Even though my married life is very happy, I believe yours would have been even better."
Qiu Meihui squinted her eyes at her, "Can you stop lying to me? I"m not that dumb to not realize that you"re not happy." Liu Nuan bit her lip while Qiu Meihui went on, "Back then, I also warned you. Don"t insist on marrying Jinhai, he doesn"t love you. But you said, your love would be enough for the both of you. And you"ll make him fall for you."
Liu Nuan"s shoulders slumped down as her smile vanished, "I was at the delusional stage of love. I thought my love could conquer anything. Do you know his ex-girlfriend said to me at my wedding, "Your tricks can catch him in this cage you called marriage but love is transparent? Tricks can get you a person, not his heart."" She laughed in irony. "I so hated her back then and knowing that she never hated me, makes me even madder. I took everything she had and yet she said to my face, that she doesn"t hate me."
Qiu Meihui"s expressions changed as she was reminded of Ying. She also said she doesn"t hate her. She never did. How? Why? After everything she did to her, just how could she not hate her? Was that really just a pretense as she always thought or was that the real Yan Ying as everyone claimed?
Just what was this mystery named Yan Ying that made her feel insecure for life. She always felt threatened by her presence. Whether it was with her family or love, the threat named Yan Ying was present everywhere. But now if she thinks about it, in fact, Yan Ying was never between her and her relations. It was her own insecurities that she blamed on Yan Ying and made her suffer in every way possible.