182 Yes or No (2/2)
He made a noncommittal sound. He let her chatter for a few more moments before finally hanging up the phone. Slumping on a stool, he felt exhausted all of a sudden.
”Why don't you break up with her?” Lin Dong asked, patting him on the shoulder. ”You're so miserable now. You're clearly not happy. This is not the Jin Chonglin that I know.”
Jin Chonglin sighed deeply. ”You think it's that easy to break up? If it's just her, I would've broken up with her long ago. But there's our families that I need to consider. I personally don't care about the Fans, but my mother adores them. With my brother suddenly distancing Jin Corporation from the Fans, if I break up with Xiao Luo, there's no doubt that our two families will immediately turn hostile and become enemies. My mother will become heartbroken if that happens. I shouldn't have proposed to her in the first place.”
”What a pain in the a**,” Lin Dong commented. ”I often envy you for being born into such a prestigious and rich family but in a situation like this, I'm glad that I'm from a normal household. You can't even break up with your girlfriend, I mean your fiancée, without triggering a war between families. Hai! So complicated.”
”Yeah, unfortunately.”
They were interrupted once again by another phone call.
”Is it her again?” Lin Dong asked.
Jin Chonglin checked, his eyes widening in surprise.
Curious, Lin Dong peeked and saw ”Big Bro” on the caller display. ”Whoa. Is that who I think it is?”
”Yeah.”
”Holy sh*t! Answer it quickly! This is Jin Liwei we're talking about!”
Jin Chonglin gave him a side-eye. ”He's just my brother, you know. Why are you acting so starstruck?”
”Are you kidding me?! I know he's your brother, but he's also THE Jin Liwei! Hurry up and answer! I wanna hear his voice.”
Jin Chonglin rolled his eyes, and then answered the phone. ”Hello?”
”It's me,” Jin Liwei's cold voice said as a greeting.
”I know. It's so rare that you're calling me, Big Bro.”
”I need to talk to you.”
”Alright. What is it?”
”Are you alone?”
Jin Chonglin glanced at the excited Lin Dong. ”No, my manager is with me.”
”Either ask him to leave or you go somewhere else.”
He immediately felt curious. ”Alright. Wait.” Turning to his manager, he told him, ”Sorry, can you go to the living room for now? My brother has something important to tell me.”
”Oh. Okay,” Lin Dong was disappointed but respected the request. He left the kitchen to give the brothers privacy.
”He's gone,” Jin Chonglin said.
”Good.” Jin Liwei hesitated for a couple of seconds before asking, ”Do you really want to marry Fan Luo?”
Jin Chonglin was surprised. ”Why do you ask?”
”Answer me. Yes or no.”
”I…”
Jin Chonglin was indecisive but Jin Liwei waited for his reply patiently. More than a minute passed before he finally answered.
”No, I don't want to marry her.”