Chapter 81.3: Were You Playing Me All This Time? (3)

Ji Fanyin shook her head. As she put down her phone, she heard Li Xiaoxing’s voice, “You seem to be busy.”

“Not as much as you.” Ji Fanyin chuckled as she slipped her phone back into her coat. “Can we make this quick? I forgot to feed my tropical fish at home.”

The trio walked into a small meeting room.

Secretary Fan took a bow before quietly leaving the room.

“You were that little girl.” Li Xiaoxing positioned himself to face Ji Fanyin. “Were you aware of that all this time?”

“I only remembered it not too long ago, but I don’t think it’s important.” Ji Fanyin calmly locked eyes with Li Xiaoxing with a relaxed body posture. “Is it important to you?”

Li Xiaoxing stared intensely at Ji Fanyin as he subconsciously tightened his grip around the armrests. “Of course it’s important. Why didn’t you tell me if you’ve already found out about it?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Ji Fanyin cocked her head to one side and said, “I might have mistaken you for someone else too. It’s quite a common occurrence, after all.”

Li Xiaoxing choked on her sarcasm. He took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing on, “Do you know how much I wanted to see you?”

“Not much, I’d guess,” Ji Fanyin nonchalantly shrugged. “You had everything you needed to conduct an investigation. If you’d really wanted to find that little girl, you could have easily done so with a snap of your finger.”

If Li Xiaoxing was sincere about finding ‘Ji Fanyin’, all he really had to do was to drop a call to Evergreen Nursing Home. Yet, he only ‘reunited’ with Ji Xinxin five years ago. This spoke volumes about how much he treasured that little girl he kept harping on about. 

“This proves one thing though. The person whom you have fallen in love with is the Ji Xinxin you met after your ‘reunion’.” Ji Fanyin tucked her hands behind her back and looked at Li Xiaoxing questioningly, “Isn’t that good news?”

“...”

“Could it be that your inner perfectionist felt that the relationship was sullied the moment you realized Ji Xinxin has been lying to you? So you don’t feel obliged to sustain the relationship now that it’s no longer pure,” asked Ji Fanyin. 

A tinge of humiliation and anger seeped through Li Xiaoxing’s poker face. 

“Ah, I forgot to bring congratulatory money with me today,” Ji Fanyin said brazenly as she casually tucked her hands into her pockets. “It’s not every day that I get an opportunity to bring a loving couple together. I ought to offer you my sincere blessing.” 

“Ji Fanyin, I don’t need your money.”

“I know that Mr. Li has always been generous. Now that you have fulfilled your wish, I think it’s about time for us to conclude our business dealings.” Ji Fanyin raised her hand and slowly applauded. “Congratulations, Li Xiaoxing. You have finally graduated.”

At her slow applause, Li Xiaoxing’s face slowly darkened bit by bit. “Were you playing me all this time?”

“Wake up, Li Xiaoxing,” sneered Ji Fanyin. “You were the one who got the wrong person. You were the one who knocked on my door to warn me. You were the one who accepted my lessons. You were the one who decided to propose to her. Have I ever forced you to do any of that? Touch your heart. Are you really unsatisfied now that you have Ji Xinxin in her hands?” 

…

The string of accusations left Li Xiaoxing with clenched jaws. He couldn’t refute Ji Fanyin’s claims at all. 

Of course he was happy about attaining Ji Xinxin, but that was only until he realized that Ji Xinxin wasn’t his angel!

Now that he knew the truth, having Ji Xinxin alone wouldn’t enough to shape out the angel he had so fervently pursued. If Ji Xinxin was the angel of his adulthood, Ji Fanyin would be the angel of his childhood. 

He needed to piece these two together to create the perfection he sought. 

That’s right. I need to have both Ji Fanyin and Ji Xinxin in my clutches in order to fill up the empty void in my heart. 

Li Xiaoxing took another breath to calm down.

Ji Fanyin is a cunning woman. I need to slowly plan things out. 

“I know that you need money, Ji Fanyin,” said Li Xiaoxing calmly. “Engagement isn’t the end yet. There’s still marriage, childbirth, and many more events where I might encounter problems with Ji Xinxin. I need your help to maintain my relationship with her. You have already helped me this far, so why not just go all the way?”

He was confident that he could snag Ji Fanyin in his net with sufficient time, similar to how he managed to win Ji Xinxin over within six months. 

He raised his head to look at Ji Fanyin after finishing his piece, only to see her staring down at him. There was a condescending smile on her lips. Eventually, she burst out laughing.