Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Five: An Inescapable Past I (2/2)

Xiao Yu was very clear on the reason behind this. He was betting that Yan Jin was more willing to postpone the marriage than the conservative Madam Fang compromising her traditional beliefs for the sake of his happiness.

In the end, this perhaps was why the deepest hurt came from those you loved the most. Xiao Yu had become arrogantly accustomed to Yan Jin making accommodations for him because of his love. He had been confident that Yan Jin would compromise because Yan Jin loved him.

Xiao Yu understood all of this clearly. However, this was the only route available to him. There was no other choice if he didn’t want to lose anything. He was so greedy that he was even disgusted with himself. A single wrong step could take him down a road of no return.

Yan Jin saw Xiao Yu’s abnormal expression and raised a finger to prod Xiao Yu’s forehead. “What are you thinking about?”

Xiao Yu abruptly turned around and blankly shook his head.

“I already told you to stop worrying over such things.” Yan Jin sighed helplessly and pinched Xiao Yu’s waist as punishment.

“Hey, that tickles.” Xiao Yu shirked away. “You haven’t told me what you’ve done yet.”

“What do you hope that I’ve done? Or more accurately, what do you hope for?” Yan Jin shot back.

“I…” Xiao Yu hesitated for a while and pouted. “Isn’t this improper to shove all of my problems to you? Convincing Madam Fang should be my responsibility.”

“No, since my wish is that Fishy’s wishes come true,” Yan Jin replied.

Yan Jin’s familiar words caused Xiao Yu to imagine that he’d gone back to a midsummer’s night dream, complete with shooting stars and fiery skies. It seemed so unlikely and miraculous.

“… I wish that Madam Fang would attend our wedding. I wish that Madam Fang would sit in the front row reserved for family and give me a hug.”

The trembling words fell out of Xiao Yu almost unconsciously as he gazed off aimlessly. He curled up into Yan Jin’s embrace and gripped the front of Yan Jin’s clothes. In a muffled voice, he said, “If you can make that happen, let’s get married.”

Yan Jin’s smile and narrowing eyes revealed his elation.

“As you wish.”

……

The “business trip” hadn’t required more than a month. The only reason Yan Jin had been away for so long was because he had also handled some unplanned issues.

However, this didn’t mean that Yan Jin had been out of the country for several more days. Instead, he had only publicly reappeared several days after he had quietly returned to China.

On August 3rd, Yan Jin had met with Fang Wanqing at a five star hotel in City N.

Yan Jin had been the first to arrive. He waited alone for an hour before Fang Wanqing arrived late.

For business matters, if anyone had dared to make Chairman Yan wait for an hour, they could forget the possibility of any contract agreement. Instead, it was more likely that Yan Jin would blacklist them and perhaps consider some tricks, both obvious and subtle, to mess around with them.

However, this lady was in a special position. Yan Jin didn’t dare comment on her tardiness. Suppressing his complaints, he expressed that he hadn’t waited for too long and pulled out a chair for her.

Fang Wanqing stopped three steps away from Yan Jin. From that distance, she evaluated Yan Jin as if there were a wall separating the two.

After a long while, she slowly sat down.

“Long time no see.”

Fang Wanqing was the first to speak.

“You’re the same as ever.” Yan Jin’s tone was very respectful.

If anyone heard them, they would have been shocked by the apparent relationship between the two.

There wasn’t anything more that needed to be said for Yan Jin’s status. Not only was he YL’s chairman, he was the successor of the Gabriel Family. He was rich and powerful on a global level. Then, who was Fang Wanqing?

She was a widow from a long-since deceased husband and had no stable income. In order to send her own son to school abroad, she relied on the rent from a two bedroom apartment in City S and whatever she could compel her stepson to give. She was a stingy city dweller who haggled over every cent.

These people were as different as heaven and hell. They led completely unrelated lives. Nobody could have expected that they were actually old acquaintances.

“If you have anything to say, just say it. No need to continue with the niceties. I know how much you hate me. I’ve always waited for this day.” Fang Wanqing sighed. “I’ve been having nightmares again recently. None of the medicine works. I know that retribution is coming. My only hope is that you leave my children out; they don’t owe you anything.”

“You misunderstand.” Yan Jin went to appease her. “My intention to come find you today isn’t to investigate what happened back then. But, seeing that you’ve already brought it up, let me add a few thoughts. I don’t think any of the blame for what happened should fall to you. You were a junior researcher working on a very meager salary. You already performed well enough following the higher ups’ orders. I should be thanking you instead. If you hadn’t gone against orders and taken mercy, I fear that I would not be able to stand before you today.”

“You’re still just as cold as when you were a child.” Fang Wanqing lit a cigarette but only held it between her fingers.

In the midst of the heavy smoke, her tone greatly changed.

“I’ve caused too many to die. They called me mother, but I wasn’t one. I was only an executioner… I became a researcher when I was just sixteen. Ahh, in those years, it was such an honor. I took so much pride in being chosen by the Nan Family Research Institute when I was only a middle school student. No one in my class could beat me, and all the teacher had more than me was just some experience. I thought my future was as a top scientist, or chemist, or biologist…”

“But I ended up becoming an executioner.”

Yan Jin didn’t make a sound. He quietly listened to this still-charming woman reminisce about her past.