"It"s your husband, Chen Linyun." Butler Lee said. "He"s somewhat keeping it under the covers but since I know the man and some of the people he works with, it"s somewhat easy for me to uncover it."Xue Jinxu gasped. She covered her gaping mouth with her hand while her eyes were still wide open. "Are you sure, Butler Lee?"
"Yes."
For the rest of the day, Xue Jinxu was lost in thought. "Chen Linyun is making a move against s.h.i.+ Fan Hai. It"s dangerous." Her eyes flickered with worry.
That night, without being able to calm her nerves, she requested for them to meet up by the playground on the grounds around the lady"s apartment complex.
They were seated in the swings adjacent each other.
The lady slightly laughed nervously. "Hehe, aren"t we like teenagers sneakily in a tryst?" She requested for this meeting to clear things up out of worry, but her heart had become more turbulent after seeing her husband. As if still a maiden so innocent and pure, her face blushed hard and flushed pink, and her actions were so calculated, as if so concerned as to how her man would take it.
Chen Linyun was the same as her, although there"s apparent confusion on his face, and some traces of surprise, and even pain in his visage. "You prefer to meet in secret? We can do this anytime. Just say so." He retorted dotingly.
The lady blushed in embarra.s.sment. "How are you?" She asked tenderly, without looking at him. They were both swinging in their respectively seats slowly.
"Still alive, Jinxu. Somehow, I manage to survive each pa.s.sing day… without you…" He exhaled deeply. He was still in pain. "Will you come back to me now?"
He extended his right hand towards her, palm facing forward, and fingers more spread out than natural. It was a cue.
The lady took his extended hand with her left hand and intertwined her fingers with his. "Not yet. Please give me some more time… Linyun… I"m sorry…"
Chen Linyun exhaled deeply again.
"The other day I saw you and Teng Man Rui talking seriously in a restaurant. I know I shouldn"t but, you know, I felt bad and hurt. Silly thoughts came to my mind…" Her grip on his hand tightened. "But I know I shouldn"t because I trust you both… and because I… I left you… I… I"m really sorry…"
"Stop saying sorry, Jinxu… I hate it." He snapped, but still, he maintained a gentle tone.
"I"m glad to hear that you still care for me, and that you were quite affected seeing me with your friend. I bet you know it within you that we were not doing anything silly." He added to clarify and to set things straight once and for all.
"Chen Linyun, if you want updates about me, I will send you updates. Regularly. You don"t have to ask and bother my friend. I think she has her own troubles, yet she"s still taking care of me. Let"s not bother her any more."
"Chen Linyun… Grampa and I… Our relations.h.i.+p is getting better somehow… I"d like to believe that there will come a time when he will be open to… us…" She looked at his side profile. Chen Linyun kept his head bowed down.
The man did not say a word. The lady continued.
"Chen Linyun… Today, I attended one of the executive meetings at Xue s.h.i.+pping as a consultant. It was just for today because there"s a situation in the market… Guangxi needed my help…" She was sharing her day tenderly.
She smiled wryly. "In the rest room, some ladies gossiped about me. They said something like I"m not mighty after all… That I"m stupid for my decisions… and that I came to the office to curry favor…"
Chen Linyun lifted his head and locked his gaze with hers. "Jinxu, do you want to go back to your family?" They both knew that it would mean divorce.
"Only if they accept us." She stopped swinging momentarily. "Don"t get me wrong, Chen Linyun, I"m sharing my day"s happenings to you because I miss you, honey. I"m not implying anything, if that"s what you think."
"There"s a saying, "Shoot for the moon, and if you miss it you will still be among the stars." Before, Jinxu, I tried to reach for the moon and the stars. You are the moon and the stars… I"d like to think that I did it… I really conquered the heavens – the moon and the stars – when we got married… but now… it felt as if I not only lost the moon and the stars and the whole world, I also felt that excruciating pain of falling down towards the ground headfirst. From this point of view, I couldn"t be optimistic anymore."
"I am forever yours, Chen Linyun… But what good am I when I"m no more than a fallen star… Even the people around me knew that." Xue Jinxu retorted sadly.
"Then don"t listen to them. They don"t matter. Only you matter. Us. Jinxu, when will you return to my side?"
"One day, Chen Linyun, you"ll see me beside you. I"ll surprise you that I have returned to your arms, at last. Just give me more time, love." She caressed his cheek with her free hand. Chen Linyun caught it with his other free hand and kissed her palm. Afterwards he allowed her to stroke his face amorously. Perhaps, in the meantime, this would be the closest he could get physically with his wife. At least it seemed that the lady was not so repulsed anymore. They were still full of love. Anyone could see that.
"Dear, I learned something today… Shuilong Trading…" She trailed off.
Chen Linyun narrowed his eyes. "So you knew…"
"Yes." The lady confirmed. "Be careful, alright? I"m worried. More than anything else, I"m worried. That"s the reason I reached out to you tonight."
"Is there anything I can help you with?" She offered.
"Nope, just stay out of harm"s way. That"s the best help you can give."
"Why didn"t you consider Xue s.h.i.+pping as a partner? Why did you go to Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines instead?"
"Jinxu. You know the answer to that."
The lady sighed. "Grampa was only against us… you… because he thought that you"re such a goody-goody who can be messed up with so easily. Prove him wrong, Chen Linyun and you"ll finally get his blessings. I"m confident in you, honey. I"ve always believed in you."
"Then, I won"t disappoint you."