Chapter 64 â Sowing Dissension (2)
On the small slate stone path in front of the villa, the street lamps on both sides glowed dimly. Two people, one tall and one short, were standing in the mottled shade of a large tree, their shadows shrouding the stone path ahead.
Xu Jinâge hung her head low, while her hands were clasped in front of her body. She uneasily fidgeted with her fingers and didnât dare to look up at the man standing beside her. She stood there quietly like a well-behaved cat.
âItâs getting late!â
âHuh?â She blankly stared at him for a second before saying, âOh! Yes...itâs quite late now.â
Fu Bainian stopped in his tracks and turned sideways to look at her. âSince it's already so late, then why did you show up at Meimeiâs door? Also, youâve got a key to her room. Say, what were you up to?â
Xu Jinâge felt a burst of lingering fear at the thought of the injuries on Xu Yibei's face. When Fu Bainian got angry, he was genuinely frightening.
Xu Jinâge then shook her head and answered, âNothing, Iâm not up to anything at all. I just wanted to check whether she was already asleep or not!â
âAnd then?â asked Fu Bainian.
âAnd thenâ¦â Xu Jinâge lowered her voice and hesitated before she said, âI wanted to see exactly what kind of woman she was, and what traits she possessed that suddenly made you fall for her. I wanted to...learn from her!â
The last three words she muttered were very faint, seemingly as soft as a mosquitoâs buzz.
Fu Bainian immediately guessed Xu Jinâgeâs intention, so he said, âMy Dad likes you a lot, so he may prefer you to be his daughter-in-law, but I have the final say concerning my own marriage. I want to spend all my life with the woman I like. Besides, I'm already married to her now.â
He was implying that even if Xu Jinâge had learnt anything from Chen Meimei, it wouldnât be of any use.
Xu Jinâge understood the hint behind his words, so she clenched her fists and involuntarily raised her voice, asking, âWhy?!â
In the quiet night, Fu Bainianâs voice sounded exceptionally clear and smooth as he said, âBecause, itâs not going to be possible for me to fall for you in this lifetime. Besides, feelings and affection canât be forced.â
Can't be forced? âHaha...â laughed Xu Jinâge.
Her laughter in the silence of the night sounded somewhat spooky.
âYouâve said the same thing to Chen Meimei in the past, but what about now? In the end, didnât you stillâ¦â fall for her?
Xu Jinâgeâs remaining words were caught in her throat as she started sobbing with streams of tears flowing down her cheeks.
Fu Bainian turned his face away from her because he couldnât tell her that things were not the same as before and that someone elseâs soul was residing in the current Chen Meimeiâs body.
Xu Jinâge tugged at his sleeve and uttered while choking with sobs, âBainian, this is unfair! Youâre being unfair to me.â
When Fu Bainian heard this, he removed her hand off his sleeve before calmly saying, âThereâs no such thing as absolute fairness in this world!â
âThen tell me, why did you suddenly fall in love with Chen Meimei? I initially thought that it would be impossible, but it still happened. Therefore, if you donât tell me why, I wonât give up.â
Xu Jinâge stood in front of him, and blocked his way, seemingly not wanting him to leave.
Fu Bainian felt a headache start when he saw Xu Jinâge acting this way. The incident regarding Chen Meimei was outrageous, so he had no way of explaining it.
When Xu Jinâge saw that he wasnât going to utter a single word, she felt as if there was hope. She reasoned that he mustâve had some unspeakable thoughts, or, that he had some kind of secret agreement with Chen Meimei.
The IQ of Xu Jinâge, who was currently blinded by love, seemed to have dropped to an insufficient degree. Because, if she was rational enough, sheâd have been able to guess that if Fu Bainian really had some unspeakable thoughts, or if he really had some kind of secret agreement with Chen Meimei, then he wouldnât have gone to the villa so late at night just to accompany Chen Meimei.
Under the street lamps, the man remained silent while the woman waited for him to answer.
Back in the room.
Lan Jinyao had been dreaming, but then, sheâd abruptly woken up from her dream. She couldn't remember what the dream was about; she just felt that it was a strange one.
When she looked around the room, she didnât see Fu Bainian.
âDid he go home already?â
But, it was already so late, so that couldnât be!
While she was thinking this, she sat up from the bed and soon after, she heard a womanâs voice from not too far away outside. She then put on some clothes and walked outside.
In the dark, Lan Jinyao bent down and moved forward cautiously and stealthily; like a thief in darkness.
After a while, she saw two figures standing on the small slate stone path ahead, which was illuminated by the street lamps. Upon a closer look, she saw Xu Jinâge, whose eyes were watery as if sheâd been crying, and Fu Bainian with his back facing the gate. He stood there under the tree and said something to Xu Jinâge.
It was already so late at night; what was Xu Jinâge doing there instead of sleeping? What were they talking about over there?
Lan Jinyao felt somewhat displeased upon witnessing this scene.
She wasnât standing very far away, but the twoâs voices werenât very loud, so she couldnât quite hear what they were saying. But, judging from her past experiences, it certainly wasnât anything good. Xu Jinâge was a scheming woman, so wasnât everything about how she wanted to get into the Fu family and become the Fu familyâs daughter-in-law?
After remaining silent for a long time, Fu Bainian finally spoke with a faint voice, âThatâs becauseâ¦I like her present temperament and attitude!â
In the end, he decided to tell a lie and fudge the issue.
Xu Jinâge immediately turned her tears into laughter and said, âI understand, so that means that I still have a chance, right?â
Fu Bainian was worried that she would continue nagging at him, so he didnât answer her question and instead said to her, âYou should hurry back to your room and sleep!â
Xu Jinâge fervently nodded. âHmm, I'll go back right away! Can you...give me a hug?!â
Her eyes were sparkling, and her appearance looked quite pitiful as she asked this, but Fu Bainian still didnât give in and refused her request instead.
âSorry!â he replied in a low voice.
Although Lan Jinyao had never said it before, Fu Bainian guessed that she would undoubtedly mind if she knew about this. Last time, he didnât handle that matter for Lan Jinyao properly, so from then on, whenever they interacted with one another, sheâd always pull a cold face and decline his help. That was also the case whenever he approached her.
Xu Jinâge was quite disappointed when he apologised.
She lowered her head, her tone filled with disappointment as she said, âIt's fine!â
Yet, the moment Fu Bainian turned around, she tightly hugged him from behind.
Xu Jinâge then said, "I'm sorry! Just let me hug you for a while, just for a little while longer.â
Lan Jinyao was hiding in the shadow of a tree nearby, so when she saw this scene in front of her, her expression immediately changed. She quickly turned around and returned to her room. She then locked the door and lay on the bed, panting heavily. It looked like sheâd gotten quite mad this time.
âHeâs too much! Fu Bainian, did you come to the villa in the middle of the night just to have a private rendezvous with Xu Jinâge?â
She ferociously hit the bed head a few times, but her anger still didnât subside. How she wished that she could hit Fu Bainian like this several times more.
When Fu Bainian returned to the villa and went to enter the room, he noticed that the door, which had initially been left slightly open, had now been locked.
âWas it the wind?â
He looked around but then realised that there was no wind.