Chapter 12
Edward Quan ·
“Where are you? It's one thing not to see you for months, but I can't even get hold of you.”
“I'm in Britain.”
“Britain?”
Lin Yanan sounded startled.
“What are you doing there? Looking for Shushu? How… how is she?”
“She won't speak to me.”
He watched Ji Shu walk away, his heart aching, but asked patiently, “What do you want?”
“I think you need to come back.”
“Why?”
“Ranran… She's pregnant.”
“What?”
His brows drew together. He hadn't expected Wen Ran to get pregnant from that one time.
“And she's gone to Shushu's parents.”
## Chapter 16
His face darkened further.
“What's she doing at their place?”
“What do you think? She's an orphan. They've always treated her like their own daughter. Now she's pregnant, Shushu's abroad, and you won't give her the time of day. What else can she do but ask Shushu's parents to force you to face her?”
Lin Yanan sighed heavily.
“I've been meaning to ask you something. Didn't you say you only felt sorry for her? That you'd break up after graduation? Why did you sleep with her? How's Shushu ever supposed to forgive you now?”
“If you people hadn't talked me into being with Ranran, things with Shushu would never have got this bad! Do you know there's another man around her now? Do you know she says the sight of me makes her sick?”
“Are you serious? You're the one who wanted more than you were entitled to. Now you're blaming us? I don't care. Get back here and sort things out with Wen Ran. She says if you don't, she'll tell Shushu's parents she's carrying your child. Then you can forget about ever getting Shushu back!”
She hung up.
Jiang Zhixu's grip tightened around his phone.
She was right. He had to deal with Wen Ran.
He booked the earliest flight to Sucheng. The first thing he did after landing was call his parents for money.
“Two hundred thousand yuan? What do you need that much money for?”
“Something's come up.”
“That's not a small sum, Zhixu. You said you'd look for work after graduation. You still haven't, and now you're asking for all this money. We're worried.”
“Haven't you always wanted me to take over the family business? Give me the two hundred thousand. I'll come home soon.”
“All right. We'll hold you to that.”
They transferred the money as soon as the call ended.
He took a taxi to Ji Shu's building.
In high school, he had walked her home every night. He would leave her beneath the camphor tree, watch her go into the stairwell, wait for the light to come on in her third-floor bedroom. Only when she opened the window and waved would he turn away.
Standing here now felt entirely different.
He climbed to the third floor and knocked.
“Coming!”
Ji Shu's mother opened the door. At the sight of him, her face warmed into a smile.
“Oh, Zhixu! What brings you here? By yourself?”
She clearly didn't know about the breakup. Her welcome was as warm as ever.
“Come in. Ranran's here, too.”
She invited him inside and called for Wen Ran.
“Shushu's father has gone shopping. He'll be back soon. Stay for dinner.”
“Zhixu. You're here.”
Wen Ran's eyes reddened.
“I knew you'd come.”
“Come outside.”
He took her arm and tried to lead her out. She resisted.
He turned and glared.
“I said, outside.”
Knowing he was angry, she looked at Ji Shu's mother.
“Godmother, I'll be out for a moment. I'll help when I get back.”
“All right.”
Mrs. Ji didn't know what had happened, but she could tell something was wrong. She nodded anyway.
“We'll wait for you both to have dinner. You too, Zhixu.”
## Chapter 17
On the apartment building's roof terrace, Wen Ran shook him off. Looking at her reddened wrist, she complained, “You're hurting me!”
“Why did you come to Shushu's parents? What are you trying to do?”
“What's wrong with visiting them?”
She feigned innocence.
“They're my godparents. Shushu's abroad. As her best friend, isn't it only natural for me to visit them for her?”
He glared, his expression uglier than ever.
“Are you out of your mind? Were you going to tell them about us?”
“Yes. So what? Don't you want me to?”
She rested a hand on her stomach.
“Our baby's two months old, Zhixu. Would you like to feel it?”