Su Yanbin gave a cough, then took out a card from his wallet and passed it to her. "I heard that you're going to rent out the house? Here's $200,000. I'm renting it!"
Lin Xi'er did not know what to say.
Lin Xi'er stared at the card in her hand for a few moments. Batting her pretty eyes, she asked, "Hey, do you like Nainai?"
She thought, He likes her, so when he saw that she's reluctant to part with the house, he's now renting it to keep it for her.
Her one question shocked Su Yanbin into coughing. His whole face red from coughing, he waved his hands profusely and replied agitatedly, "What rubbish are you spouting! How could I possibly like her? Born of a low status, dim-witted, having a sharp tongue… How is she even like a girl?!"
Lin Xi'er said, "I was just kidding. Why are you so worked up?"
Su Yanbin was speechless.
Su Yanbin walked back to the house, his heart pounding.
Lin Xi'er's words hovered in his ears. "Do you like Nainai?"
That one sentence upset him.
Damn it!
How could he be the kind of scumbag who likes the wife of a friend?!
Su Yanbin patted his face. Yet when he got to the entrance of the small house, he suddenly dared not enter, feeling a tinge of guilt.
Cursing in his heart, Su Yanbin now felt the need to keep his distance from Zhuang Nainai. He waited for Lin Xi'er to return before entering the house together with her.
The small house having been swept clean, Zhuang Nainai was now boiling water in the kitchen in preparation for cooking.
Su Yanbin settled himself into the living room. Lin Xi'er entered the kitchen, helping Zhuang Nainai out with lunch preparations. Speaking softly, she asked, "Nainai, have you really thought it out?"
Zhuang Nainai paused.
Thought it out?
Probably.
Lin Xi'er sighed. "Nainai, you've liked only this one man for your whole life. In the five years that you've been apart, you've never once forgotten him. Now that both of you are finally married, are you sure you really can't carry on together anymore?"
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Nainai froze.
In these five years, in her memory, her love for Si Zhengting had never once waned. But now, she felt unable to love any longer.
Five years apart had made them no longer the people they once were. Life had made her lose her sharpness while he had lost the haughtiness of his youth.
She lowered her head, cutting the tomatoes. Once again, she nodded.
Lin Xi'er bit her lips. "But would Mr. Si agree to a divorce?"
Would he agree?
Since they were so distrustful of each other, why did they have to stay together?
Zhuang Nainai shook her head and abandoned such thoughts. "Let's make lunch quick! I'm starving!"
Having diverted the conversation topic, they soon managed to cook three steaming-hot bowls of noodles.
As Su Yanbin ate the noodles, he said scornfully, "There isn't even any prawn. Neither is there any scrap of meat. There's only one meager poached egg. What kind of meal is this?!"
Zhuang Nainai immediately stuck out her hands to snatch the bowl away from him. "If you don't like it, return it to me!"
Hugging the bowl, Su Yanbin swallowed the rest of his noodles. Only then did he fling the empty bowl back onto the table, saying, "Damn, I didn't do a single thing the whole morning except to follow you around. It's only a bowl of noodles and you want to snatch it back. I haven't seen anyone as petty as you!"
Zhuang Nainai glared at him, the atmosphere changing for the better because of their argument.
By the time Su Yanbin left Xibali village, it was already half-past five in the evening.
Having gone sleepless the previous night, he was about to head home to make up for lost sleep, but Executive Assistant Ji came calling. Si Zhengting wanted to have dinner with him.