Chapter 741: A Million Times for You (103)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After hearing her words, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou sighed and said, “I think he’s very devoted to you. Xiaoning, you two already have a child together anyway. If you still have feelings for him, you should consider reconciling with him. But the decision lies with you. I won’t give you any pressure. Your happiness should come first.”
“Mother, don’t worry. I have plans of my own. I’d like to live a peaceful life from now on. As for marriage… I dare not carry any more hopes in it. I’m very touched by what he has done for me too, but I just can’t forget about that incident. I guess I’ll just let nature take its course.”
“You’re still young and you’ve got plenty of time. There’s no hurry. Xiaoning, I miss you so much, it’s driving me crazy. I want to go back to S Nation to see you.”
“I want to see you too, but I can’t do that right now. I have to lie low for a period of time. s.h.i.+ Xiaoyu doesn’t know yet that I’m still alive. Neither does she know where you are. Now that her son has become the president, it’d be hard for you to leave S Nation again if you come back, even if you do it stealthily. I’ll go abroad to visit you when I have the chance to, alright?”
“Alright, my mind will be put at ease as long as you’re alive and well,” said s.h.i.+ Qingzhou, who understood her predicament.
“Okay, I will.”
After ending the call, An Xiaoning headed downstairs. As she was making her way down the flight of stairs, she strangely felt a sudden weakness in her legs, which she suspected to be the sequela of having her ankles bound in chains.
Upon seeing An Xiaoning, Auntie Chen immediately instructed the servants to serve the dishes that had already been prepared.
“Young Madam, here are all your favorite dishes.”
“Auntie Chen… don’t call me ‘Young Madam,’ I’m no longer the Young Madam of this house. You may just call me Xiaoning.”
Auntie Chen smiled and said, “How can I do that? I wouldn’t dare to address you by your name without Young Sir’s permission. Besides, you used to be Young Madam and you will continue to be Young Madam again in the future, even if you’re not now.”
An Xiaoning was speechless. “You may address me however you’d like then, Auntie Chen,” An Xiaoning said with a grin.
She then pulled the chair and took a few sniffs of the food. “Auntie Chen, you make the best dishes. I’ll savor them slowly,” An Xiaoning exclaimed in delight.
“Young Madam, you must tell me which dishes you’d like to eat in the future. I’ll prepare them for you. Also…” Auntie Chen lowered her voice and whispered, “Young Sir has been very concerned about you lately. When you were not around, Young Sir would go to the martial arts academy. The house would be empty most of the time. Young Sir lost his sense of humor and would be extremely stern all day. I finally saw Young Sir giggling a few times today now that you’re back. That’s really great.”
Slightly taken aback, An Xiaoning smiled and asked, “Where did he go?”
“Young Sir has gone to fetch Little Sir.”
“They should be home soon then. I reckon Yiheng hasn’t had his lunch yet. I’ll wait for him to come home before eating.”
“Why don’t you dig in first, Young Madam? Little Sir will make it home in time.”
“Sounds good too. Auntie Chen, you may go get some rest. You don’t have to accompany me.”
“Alright, I’ll excuse myself then.” Auntie Chen turned around and handed her ap.r.o.n to the servants.
“Sis!” Mei Yangyang’s voice could be heard even before she showed up.
Mei Yangyang zoomed inside the living room while the rest of them hurriedly chased after her.
There were two married couples.
“We thought we heard Qingyan wrongly. Turns out he was telling the truth. Look at the way she’s holding her chopsticks, she’s alive!” Long Tianze exclaimed.
Mei Yangyang smacked him and chided, “Of course she’s alive.”
“Have you guys eaten yet? If you haven’t, come join me. There are so many dishes on the table,” said An Xiaoning.
“Hehe, I won’t stand on ceremony then,” said Long Tianze, who took a seat immediately.
Jin Qingyue and Ling Ciye followed suit.
“My brother told Tianze about it over the phone, after which Tianze relayed the message to us. We met up before coming here. Indeed, we really received a great shock. Xiaoning, you were really lucky to have survived. You have no idea how elated Brother Ciye and I were when we heard that you were still alive,” said Jin Qingyue, keeping her eyes fixed on An Xiaoning.
“Exactly. I don’t know how I got so dead lucky either. I guess I’m just like a cat with nine lives,” An Xiaoning said in self-mockery.
“You must be.” Mei Yangyang’s cheeks were flushed red as she put her fist in the air agitatedly and exclaimed, “Here, let’s toast to my Sis and celebrate her return!”
“Let’s go.”
“Cheers.”
“Cheers!”
An Xiaoning clinked gla.s.ses with them and downed hers in one go.
Just as everyone was in the midst of boisterous fun, Jin Qingyan arrived home with Jin Yiheng.
Jin Yiheng was practically a chip off the old block. The two of them even had the same expression and were in sync with each other’s paces.
“Mommy!” Jin Yiheng’s eyes lit up and leaped toward her. An Xiaoning put her chopsticks down and turned to face him. Jin Yiheng threw his arms around her neck and said, “Mommy, I missed you so much.”
An Xiaoning could not help but kiss her son’s face. “Mommy missed you too. Quick, sit down and eat.”
“Sure.” Jin Yiheng tiptoed to kiss her back and sat down beside her.
While everyone was in high spirits, Long Tianze began cooking up an exaggerated story about how badly Jin Qingyan had missed her, which cracked everyone up.
It had been long since An Xiaoning last had such a joyous gathering with her family and friends, during which they would chat and crack jokes with each other.
“Ciye and Qingyue, when will your wedding be held?” An Xiaoning asked.
Jin Qingyue glanced at her husband before answering with a smile, “We’re planning to hold our wedding on New Year’s Eve.”
“Great! It’ll be the New Year the day after your wedding,” said Mei Yangyang, who initiated a round of applause.
“Have you done all the necessary preparations for your wedding?”
“We’re in the midst of it now.”
“…”
After the gathering ended, Jin Qingyan sent Jin Yiheng back to the academy. However, the latter was extremely reluctant and threw a little tantrum. He only conceded when Jin Qingyan promised to pick him up again next week.
On the other hand, Mei Yangyang and An Xiaoning lay on the couch in the backyard to sunbathe, during which they chatted and caught up with each other. Gradually, the topic of discussion drifted to Mo Li.
An Xiaoning felt happy for Mo Li upon hearing Mei Yangyang mention that she had bought an apartment in Sanqiao Estate.
“She went through so much hards.h.i.+p. Things are going to get better now that she has her own home,” An Xiaoning remarked.
“Tianze and I have high hopes for her too. We told her to come work as a waitress at the Black Genie once she’s recuperated and that we would be offering her twice the usual wages, as a form of taking care of her. Besides, Tianze can rest a.s.sured since no one will dare to bully her when she’s working there.”
“That’s a good idea. Mo Li can finally live life on her own. Her apartment should be quite near to my place. I’ll go visit her when I move back to Sanqiao Estate.”
“She does have a lot of backbone, though. She didn’t ask for any alimony from Ye Xiaotian during their divorce. I reckon she’ll definitely change a lot after having suffered such a huge blow. By the way, I’ve never seen such a manly side to Mr. Jin before. He’s really outdone himself this time. Sis, aren’t you going to reciprocate to it a little?” said Mei Yangyang.