Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – Whose Heart Is Crying? (4)

She walked alone in the dark, her shadow the only thing accompanying her. She couldn’t find Fu Bainian anywhere.

When Lan Jinyao opened her eyes, she discovered that not only had she been unable to find Fu Bainian in her dreams; but he was nowhere to be found when she was awake. Today was the day that they’d be returning home. Where would Fu Bainian possibly go at this time?

She searched all over the room, only to find no sign of him. So, she quickly washed up and dragged her suitcase to the hotel’s front desk to inquire if they’d heard anything. What they told her, was that Fu Bainian had left last night.

The way the hotel staff gazed at her made her feel slightly embarrassed. They seemed to be expressing pity for the newly married couple that had come for their honeymoon, with the husband unexpectedly leaving his wife behind; all alone. Moreover, it had happened in the middle of the night.

She sighed. This could only be blamed on the facade that they’d put on; they’d made their love seem too realistic. However, although their act hadn’t managed to deceive her heart, it had managed to fool those that saw them.

Lan Jinyao dragged her suitcase across the hotel lobby and left the building. She tried to pretend that she didn’t care, but her stiff back divulged her inner secrets.

As soon as Lan Jinyao returned home, she found out that Fu Bainian had switched to an earlier flight to accompany another woman. Not even her face had been photographed, so it seemed like he’d carefully protected her from the paparazzi.

Lan Jinyao was depressed, but she knew that the worst had yet to come, and the next morning, she received a call from Fu Bainian asking her to meet him. Inhaling deeply, she said, “There’s no need for us to go to a cafe; let’s just directly go to the Bureau of Civil Affairs!”

On the other end of the phone, Fu Bainian wanted to say something, but he ultimately hesitated.

“Just come to the cafe! Lan Xin said that she wants to see you. She said that if she was going to be with me, then she had to confirm that you don’t like me. She said that she doesn’t want to destroy someone’s family!”

Lan Jinyao restrained her anger as she asked, “So she knows that you’re married?”

“Yes.”

“Fu Bainian, it appears that your eyes aren’t particularly good. She knows that you have a wife, yet she still shamelessly says that she doesn’t want to ruin someone’s family?!”

Fu Bainian shouted his displeasure into the phone. “Chen Meimei!!”

“We agreed before...”

Lan Jinyao interrupted him, “Yes, we did agree on this previously. After we returned home, I would give your diamond ring back to you, and then we would register our divorce. However, amongst the things I promised, I never once agreed to go and meet that woman!”

“Chen Meimei, I’m begging you!”

This man, who’d always stood above everyone, was actually begging for help? Lan Jinyao tightly clenched the phone in her hand; the poor phone almost crushed by her tremendous strength.

She forced her tears back with a monumental effort and faked a calmness she didn’t feel as she asked, “You know that I like you. Are you sure that it’s really a good idea for me to meet her?”

Fu Bainian didn’t respond.

As Lan Jinyao waited for his answer, her eyes seemed to have a glint of hope within them.

It felt like a century had passed before Fu Bainian said, “Just go and meet her, alright?!”

“Fu Bainian! You’re so cruel!” He was really too much! Lan Jinyao threw her cell phone to the ground where it smashed into multiple pieces.

An hour later, the sound of a horn blared outside her home. Lan Jinyao stood by the window and looked below to see Fu Bainian standing on the footpath, so she quickly hid. It didn’t take long before there was a knock on her door, accompanied by a loud voice calling out Chen Meimei; the sounds resounding throughout the corridor.

“That’s enough!” Lan Jinyao said as she opened the door.

“Chen Meimei, help me, okay?! Don’t forget; I’ve saved your life before!”

Lan Jinyao bit her lower lip, her eyes filling with vulnerability.

True, Fu Bainian saved her. Even if he didn’t like her, he’d almost lost his life because of her. But, that was because of his close ties with the Chen family and their friendship. This was just a little favour, so she had no reason not to lend him a hand, right?

“Fine! I promise that I’ll go.”

She would just treat this like she was acting in a second drama after her rebirth! She would surely perform well. She just had to act like someone who wasn’t in love in with anyone; how difficult could this be? She was the queen of acting after all!

Half an hour later, Fu Bainian drove them to the cafe in the city – a cafe for couples. Lan Jinyao angrily looked at Fu Bainian, her hands tightly clenched at her sides as she was afraid that if she didn’t control herself, she would hit him.

The appearances of the three people instantly attracted a lot of attention.

As soon as Lan Jinyao saw the woman’s face, she froze in place and couldn’t move; she seemed to have lost control over her body. The woman’s face was like a replica of the face she’d had as Lan Jinyao.

At that moment, Lan Jinyao almost believed that she’d lost her mind. Maybe she really was Chen Meimei, and because she liked Fu Bainian, she’d subconsciously started thinking that she was Lan Jinyao. The memory of falling from a rooftop was just a delusion. Then, she imagined that she’d been reborn she as Chen Meimei.

It was an ironic twist that Fu Bainian liked Lan Jinyao!

However, after seeing that woman’s face, Lan Jinyao was so confused that she didn’t know what to think anymore.

Fu Bainian had said that he’d liked a person for a long time now, but that the person he’d liked recently passed away. He’d also said, ‘Chen Meimei, I found her. She didn’t actually die! This time, I want to be with her.’

Lan Jinyao looked at Fu Bainian and whispered, “Fu Bainian, the person you like is Lan Jinyao?”

If one listened carefully, one would notice the odd tone in her voice. However, Fu Bainian was too impatient to sort everything out so that he could embrace his lover and rush towards a happy future together. While that woman, on the other hand, became absent-minded upon hearing the name ‘Lan Jinyao’. So, no one noticed the subtle hitch in her voice.

Fu Bainian glanced at the woman who looked like Lan Jinyao, his eyes full of tender affection as he said, “Yes, I’ve liked her for quite a long time.”

A few hot tears escaped the corners of her eyes and slid down her cheeks. Rubbing at her eyes until they reddened, she found that she couldn’t relax the tightness she felt around her heart. Initially, long before she’d liked Fu Bainian, he’d already been loving her in silence. In the end, it turned out that having Fu Bainian like her wasn’t wishful thinking.

At that moment, she was happy.

However, she couldn’t tell him that she was the real Lan Jinyao! It was an altogether ridiculous situation, and it definitely wasn’t a tale for a cafe!

The ring on her finger caught her eye, and as she stared at the brilliant sparkle of the diamond, she suddenly halted.

Noticing her weird actions, Fu Bainian slightly furrowed his brows. “Chen Meimei, the ring…”

Lan Jinyao shook her head as she smiled. She shifted her gaze to look at the face that closely resembled her previous one, and said firmly, “Miss Lan, do you really like my husband?”

The woman was unsure what Lan Jinyao’s intentions were, so she hesitated.

Lan Jinyao asked again, “Then, were you aware that my husband was actually married?”

This time, the woman nodded.

With her nod, the atmosphere surrounding the cafe became slightly strange. Everyone in the cafe seemed to be staring at Lan Xin; the disgust in their eyes made it seem like they were looking at a pile of garbage.