To be honest, Yan did not dislike Xu Yanwan. However, she could not make herself to like Xu Yanwan too. This was not only due to Xu Yanwan’s desire for her beloved man, but also due to Xu Yanwan’s previous doublespeak, which she only understood the real meaning after getting to know her identity. Yan indeed believed her at that time.
Nevertheless, since Xu Yanwan had been keeping a low profile and did not bring her any harm these days, Yan didn’t find her to be particularly displeasing, for she had always been a person who drew a clear demarcation between what to hate or love. Hence, Yan still replied to Xu Yanwan’s text message after thinking about it for a while. ‘Is there anything?’
As Xu Yanwan thought that she would never get a reply, Yan’s message gave her mixed feelings. ‘I’m looking for a chance to meet and talk with you. Are you free lately?’
She wants to meet me? Upon reading this text message, Yan could not help but narrow her eyes. Why does she suddenly want to meet me?
‘What do you want to do?’
‘What can I still do when both of you are getting married soon? I only want to tell you something that I’ve been keeping on my mind. It depends on you whether you want to hear it or not.’
‘There’s something on your mind? If what you’re planning to tell me is about Han Qing, then I’m not really interested.’
As Yan’s upfront rejection was under Xu Yanwan’s expectations, she continued replying to her with a bitter smile on her face. ‘I know that you’ll refuse to meet me, but I really wish to have a chat with you. Just meet me for one time and I’ll give up this idea forever. Is that okay?’
When Yan saw this message after being busy for a while, she could almost see Xu Yanwan’s miserable expression and feel her agony through the phone screen. Without knowing the reason, she actually found herself feeling empathy for Xu Yanwan now. Perhaps it’s because Xu Yanwan’s current state resembles the previous me, who didn’t get a reply from Han Qing after confessing to him. Hence, Yan could only reply to her after pondering for a while, ‘Fine. Where shall we meet?’
In the end, Xu Yanwan and Yan decided to meet at a café. Due to her pregnancy, Yan ordered for a cup of juice instead of coffee. There was a glint of self-mockery in Xu Yanwan’s eyes after she stared at that cup of juice for a long time. Lowering her head, she sighed. “I really admire you.”
This made Yan’s hand which was reaching out freeze midair. After a moment, she put her hands on her lap and met Xu Yanwan’s harmless gaze, then she asked, “Why do you admire me? Do you admire me because I’m in a relationship with Han Qing?”
Looking more distressed than before, Xu Yanwan did not say anything but only pursed her lips.
“There’s nothing about me that’s worth being admired. To be honest, you’re the one whom I admire.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Yanwan looked up at Yan in surprise. “What did you just say? Did you say that you admire me?”
“Yeah.” Yan curled her lips into a smile and looked at Xu Yanwan in admiration. “When I heard about you for the first time, I didn’t hear anything about your feelings toward Han Qing; I’ve only heard of your outstanding performance in the company. Not only do you know almost everything, but you’ve also received a good education since young. Moreover, you have good looks too. So, isn’t it normal for me to admire you?”
It was out of Xu Yanwan’s expectations that she would one day be admired by Yan. At first, she thought that Yan would be pleased with herself and despise everyone after being in a relationship with Han Qing. However, she had actually been admiring her and even praised her in the end. Being in disbelief, Xu Yanwan stared blankly at Yan, who was sitting opposite her, and asked dubiously, “I-Is it true that you admire me?”
“What’s strange about this? You’re an outstanding person, so it’s normal for people to admire you.” Upon seeing Xu Yanwan’s shocked expression, Yan felt that she was actually not a bad person. After all, she had never really hurt her despite having deep feelings toward Han Qing. Her previous words to me were probably something she said when she wasn’t in her right mind.
Upon thinking about this, Yan let out a sigh. “About what you’ve told me before, I understand that you must have said them because you were too depressed and dejected at that time. But… since we’re getting married soon, I hope that you can cheer up a bit.”
After a long moment of silence, Xu Yanwan suddenly said with a bitter smile, “I’ve never expected you’ll even console me. I always thought that you must hate me.”
“There’s nothing about you to hate. We can’t always control our feelings toward somebody else, so I really resonate with you. But I have no idea how to talk you out of this too. How about we just end our conversation here? I don’t think that there’s anything else that we can talk about. However, I’ve heard that the company is doing well under your management. Congratulations.”
Since Yan was getting married soon, she had no plans to be in grudges with Xu Yanwan, because she was just a miserable person too. After she had finished speaking, she stood up but accidentally hit a waitress who was delivering coffee. The waitress’ face went pale after seeing that the coffee had been spilt all over Yan. “Sorry! I’m really sorry, Miss. I didn’t do it on purpose. Are you okay?”
When Yan saw the waitress’ pale face and red-rimmed eyes, she couldn’t bear to scold her and could only suppress her frustration. “I’m okay.”
As Xu Yanwan was also surprised at this incident, she subconsciously took a packet of tissue out of her bag to help Yan wipe the coffee stain. While wiping, she said, “There’s coffee all over your clothes. How about I accompany you to the toilet to clean it?”
“Thank you, but I can go there by myself.” Then, Yan took her bag and walked toward the toilet under the waitress’ lead, whereas Xu Yanwan sat down again and cast her gaze down on her feet.
Previously, it was her pride and dignity that stopped her from doing something too mean to Yan despite being jealous of her. However, Xu Yanwan suddenly became hesitant after having the conversation on this day. She actually doesn’t despise me. Instead, she admires me and even thinks that I’m an outstanding person. To be honest, women giving recognition to each other carried more weight than other people’s opinions. In addition, this woman was not some random person, but her love rival. This gave Xu Yanwan mixed feelings.
Suddenly, somebody approached her when she was still deep in her thoughts. This made Xu Yanwan look up in surprise. “Didn’t you go and clean your clothes? Why do you return so…” Xu Yanwan was startled and could not complete her sentence upon realizing that the person was not Yan. Instead, He Lianjing, who told her that night that he would help her, was the one who approached her. On this day, he was wearing an eye-catching red suit and seemed to be in a good mood. With a grin on his face, he sat opposite her.
Xu Yanwan narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Why are you here?”
Upon hearing her question, He Lianjing smiled charmingly and arched his brow. “How about you tell me?”
After Xu Yanwan had seen the malicious intent in his eyes, she felt a bad feeling rise in her heart. “What do you mean with that look?”
However, He Lianjing held her hands suddenly and said in a lowered voice, “Yanwan, I’ve told you that I’ll help you.”
As her guess had been confirmed, Xu Yanwan widened her eyes in disbelief. “Was the waitress just now arranged by you?”
“Mm-hmm. She’s not bad at acting. I think I shall pay her more later.”
