Chapter 766: A Million Times for You (128)Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Jin Qingyan looked down at her and asked An Xiaoning, “Which floor are you staying on?”
“The second floor.”
Jin Qingyan went toward the staircase, in a bid to check out the second floor.
An Xiaoning followed behind him. As soon as she opened the bedroom door, she was greeted with the sight of him patting the bed and saying, “This bed is bad.”
“It’s not too bad, it’s very comfortable for me.”
He glanced at her and said, “It’s too soft, it won’t be comfortable for your knees when you kneel on the bed.”
An Xiaoning began blus.h.i.+ng red with shyness. “It’s used for sleeping, why… why… would I be kneeling for no reason?”
He knew that she enjoyed asking the obvious and did not retort. Instead, he darted his eyes around the room and said, “The soundproofing effects are bad too.”
“…”
“We still have to make a trip down to the old mansion. I’ll come over again later.”
“You… you’re coming again? Don’t,” she refused.
He did not answer and instead walked out of the room while An Xiaoning followed him downstairs.
Jin Yiheng was displeased about having to leave so soon even though they had just arrived. “Daddy, I want to stay with Mommy,” he said with a frown.
“I’ll let you play with Mommy all day tomorrow.”
“I wanna be with Mommy tonight too.”
Jin Qingyan tried to tempt him by saying, “How about I take you to play with firecrackers? I don’t usually allow you to light up firecrackers.”
“Well…” said Jin Yiheng, seemingly stuck in a dilemma. After hesitating for a long while, he looked up and said earnestly, “Mommy, I’ll come and look for you again tomorrow.”
An Xiaoning nodded and said, “Okay, Mommy will be waiting for you at home tomorrow.”
“It’s a deal then!”
Jin Qingyan and Jin Yiheng got inside the car and left.
An Xiaoning returned inside the living room and had a festive dinner with her subordinates to celebrate the upcoming New Year.
She then lay in bed to read a book.
It was the book her mentor had left her.
She read it through carefully and paid attention to the content for four hours straight.
Feeling a little tired, she put a bookmark in the book and placed it back inside the drawer.
It was past eleven o’clock at night.
She switched off the lights and heater before drifting off to dreamland.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, she felt as if her body was floating in the air.
An Xiaoning tried to open her eyes with all her might. However, the supposedly simple action seemed extremely painstaking and difficult.
The sounds of firecrackers cackling faded, and voices began to fill her ear.
“There’s so much blood, why is the blood not stopping…”
“What do we do? What do we do…”
“She’s had a miscarriage, is she going to die…”
“I don’t know, do we call the physician…”
“No, that’ll cost us money. Who’s going to pay for it? It’s none of my business anyway. I’ll just pretend that I don’t know…”
“Hurry, let’s leave, quick. I don’t want to stay here anymore. Let’s just leave, lest we get implicated…”
“…”
The sounds were loud and incessant. An Xiaoning wanted to tell them to stop, but she could not seem to make a single sound.
She tried to open her eyes again; this time, she succeeded with much more ease.
She was greeted with the sight of a few women leaving. She felt a sudden acute pain in her stomach and struggled to sit up straight while trying to bear with the pain. As soon as she tried to move, the unbearable pain caused her to feel almost on the verge of death.
She took deep breaths and gasped for air while coughing continuously, causing her wound to ache even more.
It felt as if half a century had pa.s.sed.
“Ah!” A girl hurried inside with a bowl of black herbal soup in her hands. An Xiaoning took a closer look at the girl’s face, only to discover that she looked extremely young and thin. Her features resembled those of Mei Yangyang’s greatly.
“Miss… Here, drink this medicine,” the girl said with tears in her eyes.
She then helped An Xiaoning up while the latter opened her mouth to drink the bitter and horrible-tasting medicine. Despite feeling extremely queasy, she curbed her nausea and forced herself to chug it all in one go.
She then lay back down in bed and murmured. The girl reached out to hold her hand while putting the bowl down onto the old and tattered table. “What would you like to say, Miss?”
She placed her ear beside An Xiaoning’s lips while the latter struggled to speak again and again, but to no avail.
Mei Yangyang appeared to be an emaciated, malnourished little girl while An Xiaoning seemed to be terminally ill and on the verge of death.
There was no other way she could explain it.
At the instant that she woke up, she stared blankly into s.p.a.ce in the darkness of the night.
An Xiaoning reached for her mobile phone on the headboard and unlocked it. The glaring brightness of her phone screen made it difficult for her to open her eyes.
It was past twelve midnight.
She no longer felt sleepy all of a sudden.
However, she felt exceptionally lucid, as if her consciousness had been rebooted.
She switched on the lights and headed downstairs after adjusting her clothes.
As soon as she opened the door of the living room, she was greeted with the sight of Jin Qingyan walking toward her from the entrance. She squinted and asked, “Did you climb over the wall?”
“Am I not allowed to?”
“Why didn’t you enter through the main entrance?”
“Because someone’s watching us. I already know who sent those pests without having to guess.”
“He promised me that he wouldn’t monitor me. Seems like he’s sending his people to keep close tabs on you. Didn’t I tell you not to come tonight?” said An Xiaoning.
“My legs refused to listen to me. What can I do?” he said, staring at her calmly.
“Shall we climb over the wall together?” she suggested.
He grabbed her hand and led her to the back of a wall.
“The wall is so high. How did you manage to climb in? Is there a ladder outside?” An Xiaoning asked apprehensively, staring at the four-meter-high wall.
“Do you think you’re the only one who’s good with ropes?” he answered, retrieving a rope from his pocket, which was thin and had a hooked end.
She was not doubtful of the rope’s durability, for her own rope was almost just as thin as his.
He climbed to the top of the wall and said, “Come up.”
“What if everyone climbs over the wall to my mansion like you? I’m contemplating if I should mount some gla.s.s shards onto the top of the wall with some cement.”
“How dare you.”
By the time she made her way up, he was already on the other side of the wall. “Come down,” he said, extending his hands.
Without hesitation, she jumped down and fell straight into his buff arms. He then carried her and walked outside.
“You told me not to come and yet you’re all dressed up. Where are you going at such a late hour?”
“Nowhere. I just wanted to enjoy the breeze in the yard.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“Somewhere only we know. This makes me feel like we’re going on a clandestine rendezvous,” she teased.
“I’m willing to go along with it if that’s what you think.” He put her down and held her hand while walking.
Both of them remained quiet until they reached the car.
Upon the sight of an unfamiliar car that clearly did not belong to Jin Qingyan, she asked, “Whose car is this?”
“My newly-bought Mercedes-Benz.”
“Don’t you prefer driving sports cars?”
“You may take this on a drive occasionally. I’ll bring you to a place where no one can find us,” said Jin Qingyan, helping her put on the safety belt.