Eric is here.
Joyfully, accompanied by Qin Hui, who’s window shopping at Zhengyi Dao. The two of them are carrying two boxes of freshly baked pastries.
Eric holding Qin Hui, rings the doorbell while still chatting with Qin Hui,
"Is this your first ti coming to their house?"
Qin Hui nods, "Uh, Xiao ng kept saying she wanted to bring here to play, but never had the ti."
"Their house is really big, though it can’t compare to mine. When... will you co ho with ?"
Qin Hui’s ears suddenly turned red.
What does Eric an by this?
Going ho with him... does this phrase an the sa thing to the British as it does to the Chinese?
If it ans the sa, it’s really embarrassing, isn’t it?
"What are you smiling foolishly about?"
"Nothing!"
Seeing Qin Hui like this, Eric’s heart started racing too.
He ruffled her hair and, seeing no one answering the door, muttered,
"Speaking of which, inviting for hot pot, isn’t this a bit too early?"
Qin Hui glanced at him,
"Just realized now?"
Eric shrugged, "Well, Arthur’s way of doing things can indeed be hard for us re mortals to understand."
Just as he finished speaking, the door opened.
Eric was quick to react, and as soon as the door opened, he exclaid,
"Surprise!"
"Hey there, Mr. Yin!"
Qin Hui wasn’t bouncing around like Eric; Yin Shixiu always had a strong presence, and whenever talking to him, Qin Hui couldn’t help but be cautious.
Even now, her greeting was as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz.
Surprise...
Yin Shixiu looked expressionless, first at Eric and then at the girl beside him.
Yin Shixiu knew about Qin Hui’s pursuit of Eric, but were they really together?
This was sothing Su Xiaong hadn’t ntioned to him.
If he had known, he wouldn’t have called Eric that night.
"Why that expression? Want to introduce? Xiao Hui, your wife’s classmate, whom you’ve t—"
Yin Shixiu raised his hand to signal him to stop.
He knew Qin Hui.
Seeing their intimate actions, Yin Shixiu could pretty much get the idea.
Since when they started dating, he didn’t care to know.
After all, he was too caught up with himself; his wife had started talking about divorce over so trivial matters.
"Co in, please."
Yin Shixiu said flatly.
Eric entered and switched to a pair of guest slippers like he was familiar with the place, then asked Yin Shixiu,
"Isn’t Xiao ng probably not a neat freak?"
Yin Shixiu squinted slightly, "The guest slippers are here."
Implying that, regardless of Xiao ng’s cleanliness, slippers are not to be worn.
Eric puckered his lips and picked out a pair of cute, fluffy slippers for Qin Hui from the guest shoe cabinet.
"Put them on quickly."
Eric, nearly six-foot-three tall, squatting down to help her with the slippers was a bit embarrassing for her, yet it felt sweet.
Yin Shixiu, watching this scene, felt heavy at heart too...
When he called Eric, he didn’t ntion Chu Jiao’s situation right away.
Afraid this guy would try to run away when becoming unscrupulous.
Yin Shixiu speculated that the child Chu Jiao was carrying was most likely Eric’s.
And now...
Regarding the ’Surprise’, he couldn’t be blad; he had only set it up as a trap.
After changing shoes, Qin Hui looked around, her mouth agape; though not inexperienced, she had to admit, Xiao ng’s house’s decor was truly tasteful.
Low-key luxury, at first glance simplistic to the point of sterility, yet the details showed warmth everywhere.
Following the foyer, they continued further in...
Eric sniffed strongly and asked,
"Where’s the promised hot pot?"
Yin Shixiu didn’t answer as they entered the main living room; lifting his eyes again, Eric was startled, seeing two others in the room.
The woman’s back was toward them, that silhouette...
Cherry?
The sedately seated man was soone he recognized—Yin Shixiu’s family doctor.
Upon hearing, Cherry turned her head. Her injured appearance shocked Eric more...
"Cherry?"
Qin Hui was clearly surprised to see Cherry here.
Though Xiao ng had ntioned Cherry living two floors above them, encountering her here during their visit was astonishing for Qin Hui.
Cherry gave Qin Hui no response, staring directly at Eric.
Eric hastily looked to Yin Shixiu,
"Is Cherry joining the hot pot?"
After he asked, another door sound ca from the bedroom direction...
Soon after...
"Xiao ng? Going sowhere far?"
Su Xiaong appeared, having packed her suitcase, pushing it out.
This move made Yin Shixiu lose his composure and hasten forward,
"Didn’t I say to wait till Eric arrives? He can clear all your doubts! Why are you packing?"
Su Xiaong raised her eyes, still indifferent,
"I can’t stay here another minute."
"..."
"I don’t want to hear a word from you or Eric. To , Yin Shixiu, you’re just a liar."
"What have I done to make you so decisively call a liar?"
Yin Shixiu could tolerate Su Xiaong’s uncertainty, distrust.
Given Chu Jiao’s cleverness, he couldn’t definitively say what she’d told her before he returned.
Yet, he couldn’t figure out what Chu Jiao might have said to provoke such anger and disgust toward him.
He was unaware of Su Xiaong’s emotional tornt over the past month.
Unaware of how many tis she cried and wrestled silently.
Unaware that when balancing her intense love for him, she opted to turn a blind eye to endure and ignore...
Unaware that the facade she’d crafted to exonerate him, shattered inside the mont Chu Jiao presented her with a pregnancy test docunt.
She pathetically realized, she’d lost even the ability to cry.
She finally grasped how powerless and ludicrous her self-deception appeared before calculating intentions.
"What’s going on with you two...?"
Eric and Qin Hui were thoroughly confused.
Wasn’t this supposed to be... a hot pot gathering?
Yin Shixiu knew Su Xiaong’s calmness masked an intense, uncontrollable impulse.
"Chu Jiao’s pregnant. She told Xiao ng the child is mine!"
Yin Shixiu turned to Eric, his tone filled with resentnt.
But Eric, hearing Yin Shixiu’s succinct explanation, imdiately grasped the reality.
"You inford Su Xiaong, that night, after dropping Chu Jiao at the hotel, did I call you? Didn’t I leave once you arrived?"
"Who slept with Chu Jiao and got her pregnant?"
Su Xiaong closed her eyes briefly, but didn’t react emotionally to Yin Shixiu’s assertive explanation.
To her, such reasoning was utterly weak.
Before Eric could answer, she coldly questioned,
"That night, you said you stayed at the company."
She didn’t wish to expose his lie, as it lacked any finesse, but at least it was what he’d personally told her...
Using his own words against him, she felt she could easily do so.
She hadn’t refused to give Yin Shixiu a chance.
She didn’t distrust him; he deceived her, repeatedly."
And all lies and concealnt, were nonexistent before Chu Jiao’s arrival, at least she hadn’t discovered them, nor had he revealed them.
This showed Chu Jiao’s unique significance to Yin Shixiu.
Su Xiaong’s casual reminder left Yin Shixiu’s back stiff.
He rembered her questioning him the day she fell ill,
"Where were you last night?"
"At the company."
"With whom?"
"With senior managent from the company, so of whom have visited, you’ve t them."
...
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