5 The Wedding (2/2)

Once they arrived home, An Xiaoning headed straight to his bedroom to replace the bedsheets. Her imagination ran wild as she got reminded about the plum-red bloodstain from the night before. Images of Jin Qingyan lying on top of her began to flood her mind…

A fuzzy warmth filled her heart as she thought about it.

”Boss, someone's calling you again!” An Xiaoning's ringtone cranked. Looking at the caller display, she felt a strong reluctance to pick up the call.

”Yes, Father?” An Xiaoning answered anyway.

”You'd better come back home right now!” An Xiaoning's father roared with uncontrollable fury.

”Okay.”

An Xiaoning ended the call and proceeded downstairs.

”I have to make a trip back home,” she said while putting on her shoes near the door.

”I'll go with you,” suggested Jin Qingyan.

”It's fine,” she rejected.

”Did you forget that we're already married now? Why can't I meet your parents?” he replied, insisting on accompanying her home.

Seeing how persistent he was, she agreed at last. It was not that An Xiaoning was strongly against the idea of him tagging along. In fact, she was just ashamed of her parents' nasty and loathsome demeanor.

After an hour's journey along the expressway, they finally arrived at a village house situated at the foot of a hill, next to a stream.

The white Bentley sped through the village entrance and gradually came to a halt in front of An Xiaoning's house.

A commotion broke out as the villagers gathered around the car, engaging in a discussion as they scrutinized the Bentley, which was a rather rare sight. Unfazed, An Xiaoning alighted and turned a blind eye to the crowd, not greeting them at all. Her actions caught Jin Qingyan by surprise, for he had always found her to be polite.

”Why did you go ahead with a divorce without discussing with your mother and me, beforehand? It is such a serious matter!” hollered an enraged Mr. An, who was chopping some firewood. He seemed so angry he might throw the ax at her.

”Well, I didn't see a need to. Just like how you didn't, when you agreed to marry me off back then,” argued An Xiaoning. ”You and Mother insisted on having Fang Fang move in with the Shi Family. Now that Fang Fang and Shi Shaochuan have committed adultery, do I not have a good enough reason to divorce him?” she continued.

”Ever since you were born, there had been no peace for you at all in this family. We had a hard time marrying you off, yet you decided to file for a divorce. Xiaoning, it is only normal for a man to have an affair. At the end of the day, you'd still be his lawful wife. What are you going to do now that you are divorced? Who's going to marry you next?” said An Xiaoning's mother earnestly while coming out of the house.

”Greetings Father and Mother-in-law, Xiaoning and I have registered our marriage this afternoon. You no longer have to worry about her being left on the shelves,” said Jin Qingyan, stepping forward to greet her parents.

An Xiaoning's parents looked at each other in dismay, then looked Jin Qingyan up and down. Beaming with pleasure, Mrs. An quickly welcomed Jin Qingyan into their house. ”Hurry, come in. If you didn't mention about the marriage, Xiaoning's Dad and I wouldn't have known otherwise.”

An Xiaoning's parents understood that their daughter had gotten married to Jin Qingyan in the afternoon, shortly after settling her divorce with Shi Shaochuan in the morning. The realization that Jin Qingyan was a far better catch than their previous son-in-law sparked a sudden, significant shift in their attitude. They hurriedly proceeded to prepare a sumptuous feast to welcome him. They even criticized Shi Shaochuan and An Xiaoning's cousin, Fang Fang, for betraying her, agreeing completely with An Xiaoning's decision to divorce him — the complete opposite of their initial reaction.

Just as they were about to leave, Mrs. An pulled An Xiaoning to a corner and asked eagerly, ”Since you've already registered your marriage, when will the wedding be?”

”Next Monday,” she replied coldly.

”What about the betrothal gifts? Or did you pocket it? How much did they offer?” Mrs. An bombarded An Xiaoning with questions, staring at her acquisitively.

Completely ignoring her mother, An Xiaoning turned away and left.

”Hey, hey, hey! You haven't answered your mother!” Mrs. An exclaimed.

An Xiaoning hopped onto the car and instructed Jin Qingyan to start driving straight away, once again disregarding her mother.