Chapter Thirty-Eight: The War Behind Them
For a human being, the teacup was light. But for a hamster, it was excessively heavy.
The teacup did not fly off from the kick – the white ceramic cup tilted over the serving tray as the aromatic fragrance bloomed like flowers.
Yan Jin reached out to save his hamster, but it was a tad too late. The boiling hot tea instantly spilled over as the excess liquid overflowed from the serving tray, dripping onto the coffee table. Xiao Yu could not dodge in time as his hind feet got splattered on.
“SQUEAK!”
Xiao Yu screeched in horror as he laid back on Yan Jin’s palm the next moment. He hugged his hind feet and desperately blew on them.
The moment Yan Jin saw Xiao Yu get injured, he didn’t care anymore. The man turned toward the second level and shouted, “Chu Ge!”
When Fan Xiaoge heard that name, her face immediately paled like a sheet. She comforted herself while she slowly turned backwards, saying that it could be a coincidence, that it must be a case of people having identical names.
The man with the gold-framed spectacles instantly ran down the stairs as he panickily instructed: “Get a cold towel and press on the wound. The weather today is humid, so there shouldn’t be much of a problem.”
All of Chu Ge’s attention was focused onto Yan Jin’s precious hamster, completely treating Fan Xiaoge like she was invisible. That naturally meant that he did not notice how Fan Xiaoge’s complexion paled even further.
“C-Chu Ge? Why are you here, you guys…” Fan Xiaoge said in a soft tone as if she were talking for herself to listen.
In fact, the doctor did not hear her – he had to calm Yan Jin down while taking over Xiao Yu for a closer examination.
“Thank goodness, it’s just slightly scalded. There’s no blister.”
Yan Jin came back with an ice cube and a towel. Chu Ge looked at the towel that was larger than the hamster. For a moment, he was not sure how to make use of them. In the end, he wrapped the ice cube with the edge of the towel and pressed it onto Xiao Yu’s lower half.
Xiao Yu screamed as the makes.h.i.+ft ice compress touched him. The hamster struggled off Chu Ge’s hand, spreading his paws out as he ran with his life towards the other end of the coffee table and looked cautiously at Chu Ge.
Chu Ge crinkled his nose and mumbled, “I don’t think there’s a need for an ice compress. There seems to be no problem.”
When Yan Jin saw his hamster quickly scurrying away as if he were flying, his expression softened as he reached out his hand and called, “Fishy”.
Xiao Yu smugly ran onto Yan Jin’s palm. He obediently laid back and stretched his paws out.
“Squeak.” I’m not in pain anymore.
When the hot tea splattered onto him, compared to the pain, the shock was more overwhelming. A normal hamster wouldn’t have much of an idea about getting scalded on as they would only scream tragically when it was incredibly painful. But Xiao Yu was high-cla.s.s – that scream he made earlier actually meant –
HELP, I’M GONNA GET SCALDED!
And thus, he ended up safe and sound because of his quick reflexes at that moment.
Yan Jin watched Xiao Yu roll on his palm, acting cute. He reckoned that the hamster was indeed unharmed and finally felt relieved.
Fishy’s status had already been promoted to Yan Jin’s precious treasure. Even the slightest thing would throw him into a panic attack. Knowing that hamsters were small and fragile, the man really feared that the smallest accident would not spare its life.
While he was thankful that nothing major happened this time, appropriate punishment must still be given.
“The snacks for this week will be halved. If you dare to be naughty again, then I’ll take away a month’s worth of snacks. You hear me?”
“Squeak?!”
Xiao Yu was stunned. Obviously, he was almost injured because he wanted to save Yan Jin from danger. Even if he wasn’t given a reward, why did he have to be punished?
As if understanding what Xiao Yu was thinking, Yan Jin replied sternly, “It’s too early for you to be protecting me – I won’t drink that cup of tea no matter what.”
Chu Ge broke into laughter as he watched the conversation.
“You know, this hamster you’re keeping is so worth it. He can even smell that the tea was abnormal. If I didn’t know beforehand, I would have thought that you were keeping a police dog instead.”
With that, the two men turned their gazes towards Fan Xiaoge, who was ignored all this while.
Fan Xiaoge was not that stupid. The moment she saw Chu Ge appear, she had guessed that her lies had been exposed long ago.
Even so, despite almost flying into rage from the humiliation, she dared not flare up in front of Yan Jin.
“M-Mr. Yan, I didn’t know you still had guests.”
Yan Jin snorted: “He’s my private doctor. Plus, both of you should know each other quite well.”
As if she was had received a heavy blow, Fan Xiaoge started swaying a little. She had her hands in front of her chest as she explained in a pitiful tone, “It’s true that I dated Mr. Chu before, but we’ve already broken up. I-I really didn’t know that you both knew one another…”
“You’re speaking too highly of me, Miss Fan. I wouldn’t dare to date the future mistress of the Yan family. Miss Fan and I are just acquaintances.”
Fan Xiaoge did not expect Chu Ge to speak up for her. Although there was mockery behind the sentences, seeing that Chu Ge was willing to disa.s.sociate himself from her, it was nevertheless better than being entangled in a past relations.h.i.+p.
She immediately caught on: “Sorry, I was just babbling. Mr. Chu and I were indeed just friends.”
Chu Ge was utterly impressed by Fan Xiaoge’s nonsensical shamelessness. He did not plan to expose his real relations.h.i.+p with Yan Jin. At this point, he was just Yan Jin’s private doctor. The doctor pushed his spectacles and replied sternly, “I just happened to drop by to give Yan Jin a routine health checkup. I do not wish that there would be problems right after the checks were done. Miss Fan, if you dare do anything that would harm my employer, then I’m afraid I’ll have to call the police.”
Fan Xiaoge’s eyes widened as she replied in disbelief: “W-what are you saying? I did not, why would I do such a thing?”
“Whether or not there is, Miss Fan, you should know it yourself.” Chu Ge wasn’t planning on arguing with her. Whether Fan Xiaoge left or not, he did not plan to get involved in this ridiculous matter – Yan Jin could do whatever he liked.
The doctor glanced at his watch as he bid goodbye: “It’s about time I leave. I still have a surgery to perform later tonight.”
“Go ahead.” Yan Jin nodded and then turned towards Fan Xiaoge: “The audience is leaving, so I guess Miss Fan should be leaving too?”
Fan Xiaoge clenched her teeth in frustration as she wished that she could have persevered a little more, but she had no idea about what else she could do.
Faye was completely useless, the tea she prepared was also spilled, and her luck was so bad that even Chu Ge had appeared. The fresh and pure image that she had painstakingly built up was almost half-destroyed.
Today was considered a wasted trip – she suffered a double loss instead of making a gain; what rotten luck.
“My apologies, seems like today wasn’t appropriate to discuss our engagement banquet. We’ll speak again next time, Mr. Yan.” Fan Xiaoge naturally and unrestrainedly said her goodbyes as if that clown that had been performing earlier was not her at all.
She knew that Yan Jin did not like her; he even hated her. Which was why no matter what she did, she was just asking to be ridiculed.
But so what?
She would surely become the mistress of the Yan family. Yan Jin was powerless to defend himself right now, the only hope for his breakthrough was to marry her and no one else could help him.
The business community was a cruel environment. Compared to those imaginary emotions, a marriage tied to beneficial gains was clearly a better security measure. Friends? Lovers? Those were all a mirage that could be easily erased. Her att.i.tude was obvious enough, and Yan Jin was an intelligent man – he would not reject the offer.
At that moment, Fan Xiaoge never would have expected that even though Yan Jin was indeed controlled by the Yan family, there was someone out there who would fight for Yan Jin despite sacrificing their own interests to forcefully erase Fan Xiaoge’s existence from this smokeless battle.
Under the dictators.h.i.+p of the major commercial brands, were there really no genuine feelings? Not really.
That was where Fan Xiaoge had lost.
That was the first and last time that Fan Xiaoge had ever met Nan Chan.
The impression that Fan Xiaoge got from this woman was very different from the rumors – the Nan family’s princess, who was ignorant of worldly affairs, and a persistent girl who only insisted to be married to Yan Jin.
Fan Xiaoge was drugged by someone. When she woke up, she found herself battered up on the floor. The surroundings were so unfamiliar that it momentarily made her unsure of where she really was.
There were ring-shaped gla.s.s panels and a wide view that showed all of S City’s night scenery – a brightly lit city that never slept.
She widened her eyes in surprise.
She recognized this place – this was S City’s highest building, the commercial building that was built on the most expensive piece of land. She had visited this place with her parents in her younger days when this building had not been renovated into a commercialized one yet.
But why was she here now?
“You’re awake?”
Fan Xiaoge followed the source of the voice and traced it to a young lady dressed in a cheongsam, leaning on the railings as she lazily watched her.
“My apologies, today’s schedule was completely packed, so I had no choice but to invite you here.”
Fan Xiaoge could not feel any strength in both her legs, so she had no choice but to stand up by using the wall as a support. She did not know what had happened, but fear was consuming her, strangling her like an invisible pair of hands.
“No need to be afraid. I mean no harm. I just wanted to chat with you. After all, I have no one else to speak with.”
The young lady took two steps forward as her s.h.i.+ning black heels landed on the gla.s.s surface, creating a melodious ripple.
Fan Xiaoge’s head felt heavily giddy as the drug still took effect on her body. She may have woken up, but her thoughts were still in a mess. Fan Xiaoge watched as the young lady before her opened her mouth to speak, but she could not make out anything she said.
“The Yan family will be attacking Brother Yan no matter what. Why? If Brother Yan had to do everything, when would they ever be satisfied?”
“The Nan family sure is stupid. No wonder they couldn’t outwit the Yan family after all these years. Can’t they see that I’m already obediently becoming their marionette? Why can’t they be satisfied? I can forgo everything, but they insist on touching and messing with my Brother Yan of all people.”
“In my younger days, I had three brothers. They were all good guys. But the good guys never had good endings. So, I’ve decided to become the bad person.”
“When I lost Big Brother, I did nothing. When I lost my second brother, I couldn’t do anything.”
“This is punishment, which is why I’m going to lose Brother Yan as well.”
The young lady made a sudden, big stride forward and reached her hand outwards for a slap, which landed harshly on Fan Xiaoge’s face.
Fan Xiaoge flinched towards the wall like a pile of dirty mud. Before she could slide onto the floor, her collar was caught by someone else.
“n.o.body can s.n.a.t.c.h Brother Yan from me! No one!”
“Much less a woman who harbors unfathomable motives like you. Brother Yan is such a good person, what the h.e.l.l are you!?”
Fan Xiaoge tried her best to see the lady’s face – maybe she knew who this person was.
But, why…
Wasn’t the Nan family’s heiress a pretty puppet with no authority? Why?
The Nan and Yan families, aren’t they compet.i.tors that couldn’t coexist? Why?
“Let me ask you, do you like Yan Jin? Do you love him?”
As her chin was gripped firmly, the overwhelming pressure was flooding her senses, making it difficult for Fan Xiaoge to breathe.
Her teeth chattered as Fan Xiaoge replied while trembling: “I-I’m sorry, I just, it’s for the Fan family. I-I don’t like him. I’m r-really sorry.”
The young lady smiled from the bottom of her heart: “So that’s the case. How nice.”
Fan Xiaoge had no memories of when she was let off. When she woke up the next day on her bed, she thought that everything that happened last night was just a ridiculous nightmare.
Except for the painful sting on her face that served as a reminder and the last sentence that the young lady had said.
“If there’s still a chance, could I bother you to inform Brother Yan? His little sister has grown up.”