Her lips were still some distance away from his when Qin Jiayan inadvertently turned his head away and pretended to be unaware of her intentions. Suddenly, as if he recalled something, he said, "Oh, right. Xia Yi..."
Xia Yi's entire body froze, and her eyelashes quivered unusually hard while her eyes remained closed.
"I have a bag of apples for you in the trunk. I forgot to bring them up to your apartment when I came over this morning. Take them up now." Qin Jiayan's mother had prepared the apples for him to take back to his apartment to eat.
After he said that, Qin Jiayan pushed open the car door. He walked to the back of the car and took the apples out of the trunk before making his way to the passenger's seat and opened the car door for Xia Yi.
Xia Yi had already regained her composure and accepted the apples with a faint smile after she got out of the car.
"Rest well," Qin Jiayan said.
"Alright, you too. Drive carefully on your way home."
"Alright," Qin Jiayan responded. He then stared at Xia Yi for some time before he made his way around the front of the car to the driver's door.
Before he pulled it open, Xia Yi called out to him again. "Jiayan."
Qin Jiayan supported himself against the car door and lifted his head to look at Xia Yi.
Xia Yi looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. It seemed that she wanted to ask him something, but ultimately she didn't manage to ask the question and merely said, "Don't stay up too late working when you get home. Your health is more important."
Qin Jiayan smiled. "Alright, hurry and head upstairs."
Xia Yi nodded her head and looked at Qin Jiayan for a while more before she turned and left.
After her silhouette disappeared into the building, a forlorn expression instantly appeared on Qin Jiayan's face.
He had not done anything tiring the entire day, yet right now his body felt extremely exhausted as he sat paralyzed in the car seat.
He was not a fool, and he obviously knew what Xia Yi's earlier action meant. At that moment, he had tried his best to let himself kiss her, but he simply couldn't do so.
It was his body's instinctive reaction.
Regardless of how great Xia Yi was and that she was the one whom he had carefully chosen to be the one to spend the rest of his life with, but she was not Su Qing and she could never be the best person in his heart.
No matter how much his body rejected Xia Yi right now, he still had to try to change himself.
Because he knew that he had already reached a dead end with Su Qing.
...
The two coincidental meetings with Su Qing did not change Qin Jiayan's life or shake his engagement with Xia Yi.
As the days passed and the day of their engagement approached, two days before their engagement, Qin Jiayan received three pieces of news.
The first was good news.
The second was a story.
And the third was a nightmare.
Qin Jiayan was fast asleep that day when he received Qin Zhi'ai's call at 6.30 a.m.
Qin Jiayan was slightly displeased at having been woken up, but he spoke gently and warmly when he answered Qin Zhi'ai's call. "What's up, sis?"
"Jiayan, didn't I tell you not long ago that I got your brother-in-law to investigate the person who donated the money to us back then? Your brother-in-law found out who it was, and he gave me the name and address today. Mom said that she wants to visit her today, so get out of bed, pack up quickly, and head over here."
Qin Jiayan perked up immediately and acknowledged Qin Zhi'ai. He instantly got out of bed, washed up, and changed his clothes before he grabbed his car keys and headed out.