Chapter 71 Retribution

Xu Jialan took Chen Yaoan downstairs to the front desk and booked her another room. After booking the room, he escorted her to her room.

Once the door was closed, Xu Jialan began to interrogate him.

He leaned back on the table in the room, crossed his arms, and looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze. "Tell me, why did you come all the way from Dai County?"

"I just came to take a look," Chen Yao said, pretending to be interested.

Xu Jialan stared at her, a cold smile playing on her lips. "Come on, you're here to personally confirm whether I've cheated on you or not. Don't you trust me?"

He squinted at her.

She took a few steps forward, deliberately keeping only a few centimeters away from him, with an innocent look on her face, "How could I not believe you? Didn't I promise you that I would believe you if something like this happened again?"

She would never admit that there was a moment when she actually doubted him.

“If I don’t come today, it will confirm that she has successfully sown discord between us. I have to see the truth and expose her to her face. Otherwise, she will never stop. You warned her last time, but it didn’t work.”

Xu Jialan thought about it for a moment and felt that what she said made a lot of sense.

"So, I really didn't distrust you. As soon as she finished speaking, I realized what she meant."

He reached out and put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "If that's the case, then I should praise you."

"At least you shouldn't doubt my trust in you."

He nodded.

"Okay, I was wrong. It's getting late, we should rest too."

us?

Chen Yao'an had a bad feeling. "Okay, you should go back to your room now."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" He wrapped his arm around her waist and rested his head in her arms. "But I don't want to go back tonight."

His voice was deep and warm, and when it reached her ear, it seemed to carry an aphrodisiac fragrance, "Don't you want to sleep with me? I can stay at home tonight."

Chen Yao'an suddenly felt hot and her throat went dry. "No... that's not a good idea. Your colleagues will gossip."

"What's there to say? It's perfectly normal for boyfriends and girlfriends to sleep together."

"But...but..." She licked her lips, becoming nervous.

Xu Jialan suddenly squatted down slightly, supported her bottom, and picked her up in one go.

She exclaimed in surprise.

But she realized she was shouting too loudly and was afraid that the people next door would hear her, so she quickly covered her mouth.

Xu Jialan didn't care at all. He picked her up and carried her to the bedside, then threw her onto the bed and pressed himself down on her. "But what?"

"I'm not ready yet," she said very quickly.

"Do we need to prepare for something like this?"

"Or what?" she blinked.

"Of course, it just happened naturally."

Before she could finish speaking, his kiss landed swiftly, giving her no time to prepare; it was fierce and urgent.

Chen Yao quickly lost the ability to think and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

The bedding on the bed gradually became messy, and clothes were thrown under the bed and piled up together, making it impossible to tell whose clothes belonged to whom.

A gentle breeze blew outside the window, and the willow branches on the tree swayed gently at first, but as time went on, the swaying became larger and larger, tapping against the window and making a loud noise until midnight.

The next day, Chen Yaoan slept straight until noon, and when she opened her eyes, Xu Jialan was nowhere to be seen.

She rolled over, and immediately felt sore all over.

She had been up and about all night, and her back was so sore she almost broke. She reached up and rubbed it.

She reached for her phone, but found nothing. The whole night had been chaotic; she didn't even know where she'd lost it.

Finally, after searching the entire bed, she found her phone under the blanket at the foot of the bed.

Thinking of the battle last night, her cheeks immediately turned bright red.

She texted Xu Jialan to tell him she would be returning to Dai County soon, but Xu Jialan said she would have lunch with him before going back.

She agreed.

After they finished lunch together, he saw her off to her car.

—

After that day, Huang Zhaozhao's story spread throughout the company, and rumors about her were everywhere. Her affairs became the topic of conversation for everyone.

After a while, Huang Zhaozhao couldn't take it anymore and took the initiative to resign.

After returning from Lin'nan that day, Chen Yao paid almost no attention to her anymore. It was Xu Jialan who told her about her resignation.

She felt somewhat saddened when she found out; the girl had probably only recently entered the workforce, and working hard was the most important thing for her.

The National Day holiday is just around the corner, and Xu Jialan has a few days off. She asked him to take one day to accompany her to the Guanyin Temple on the mountain.

Xu Jialan asked in confusion, "What are you going there for?"

"I heard there's a century-old tree in the Guanyin Temple. If couples tie a red string to it and throw it to the top of the tree, they'll stay together forever. I heard it's very effective."

Xu Jialan didn't believe in these things and had doubts in her mind, "How can it be effective?"

"I don't know either. I've heard there's another saying: if one of the two people hangs a red string on their arm and then betrays the other, the betrayer will be punished."

"Is there really such a saying? Has it ever come true?" Xu Jialan found it somewhat outrageous.

"How should I know? I haven't tried it." She gave him a nudge. "Why aren't you willing to come with me?"

"What wouldn't I dare to do? I would never betray you in my entire life."

"That's not necessarily true."

Xu Jialan was spurred on and decided she absolutely had to go see it. "Let's go, we'll go tomorrow."

Early the next morning, Xu Jialan drove to the foot of the mountain. He stopped the car and looked at the mountain, which was more than 200 meters high, to see if he could drive up it.

"Have you been up there before? Can you drive the car up here?" So you don't have to climb the mountain and get exhausted.

"I don't know, and I've never been here."

Just then, a young couple walked up behind them, and the girl asked, "Are you also going to make a wish at that big tree?"

"yes."

"We can't drive up there; only climbing up will show our sincerity. Besides, the road up the mountain is too narrow; only motorcycles can go up."

"It looks like we'll have to climb up."

"Come with us, we're going to make a wish under the tree too."

“Okay.” Xu Jialan and Chen Yaoan took their things and followed them up the mountain.

The girl was very talkative, but her boyfriend was rather quiet.

On the way, Chen Yaoan chatted with the girl, "Is that tree really that effective?"

"I don't know about long-term effects, but the curse is quite effective."

"curse?"

"It's not that if a couple makes a wish here for a long and lasting relationship, and one of them betrays the other, then that person will be punished."

She suddenly lowered her voice, "This has really come true for me."

"How so?" Chen Yao'an asked, immediately curious.

"Actually, my ex-boyfriend and I had been here before. Later, he cheated on me and betrayed our relationship, so we broke up. It was a very ugly breakup. Less than a week after we broke up, he broke his leg at home."

"That's not all. He had just recovered from his leg injury when he broke his arm again when he went out. He also broke the leg he had broken before. I guess he's still lying in bed right now."

"Huh?" her boyfriend exclaimed, his face showing fear. "That's terrifying."

The girl looked at him. "What's your name? Did you do something wrong too?"

He quickly waved his hand, "No, and there won't be any in the future."

"That's right, what are you afraid of if you have nothing to hide!"

That makes sense, but Chen Yao'an still felt uneasy after hearing it. She turned to Xu Jialan and asked, "Don't you find it creepy?"

"What's there to be afraid of? I have nothing to hide. I'm upright and have nothing to fear."

"I'm afraid you won't dare to come with me."

He took her hand and said, "Why wouldn't I dare? I'll throw ten or eight sticks with you."

The girl raised her hand and punched her boyfriend, saying, "Look at her, and then look at you."

"What's wrong with me? I came here with you."

The two started arguing.

Half an hour later, the four of them finally reached the top of the mountain.

There is indeed a century-old tree in the courtyard of the Guanyin Temple, lush and green, covered with red ribbons for making wishes. Many of them have faded over time, and their names are no longer legible.

The girl who went up the mountain with them taught them, "Write your names on red ribbons and throw them up. The higher you throw them, the stronger your relationship will be, and of course, the more intense the retribution will be."

Chen Yaoan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Xu Jialan said, "Then let's throw it from the highest place."

Chen Yaoan looked up; the sun was dazzling. "Can it be thrown up there?"

Although the red rope had metal buckles at both ends, giving it some weight, the tree was so tall that few people could throw it up to the top, so there were very few red ropes left.

"You'll know once you try it." Xu Jialan was eager to give it a shot.

Xu Jialan determined the throwing position, took a few steps back, swung the red rope around in her hand a few times, and then threw it. The position was high enough, but unfortunately it didn't land on the tree; instead, it fell to the ground.

He tried several more times, and finally the red rope landed a third of the way from the top of the tree.

"It's pretty good; hardly anyone throws it in that spot," Chen Yaoan commented.

Xu Jialan walked over and put her arm around her shoulder. "Now we're going to be together for life. I don't want to be cursed."

"You know that's good, I didn't want to either."

After saying that, Chen Yao'an realized something was off, "Could it be because you don't want to be cursed?"

Hsu Chia-lan: "Of course it's because I love you."

—

The days that followed remained uneventful. She and Xu Jialan kept a low profile, meeting almost exclusively at his home in Yao'an Town, and rarely appearing together in public.

Yan Shumei remained completely unaware that she was dating Xu Jialan.

After dinner that day, Zhou Yao soon complained of being tired and wanted to sleep. Chen Yao stayed with her until she fell asleep, then closed the door and left.

Yan Shumei was sitting in the living room when Chen Yaoan told her, "I'm going out for a bit."

"What are you going out for?" she asked casually.

"Let's go for a walk," she replied casually.

Not long after Chen Yaoan left, Yan Shumei also felt bored and wanted to go for a walk. She glanced at Zhou Yao's locked door, stood up and walked out.

The weather had cooled down, and everyone was gathered on the street chatting. When Yan Shumei walked over, some people struck up a conversation with her, but it was all just idle chatter.

After talking for a while, Aunt Yang, who lived next door to the Chen family, suddenly remembered something and asked Yan Shumei, "Are your Yao'an and the young man who lives next door dating?"

"Huh?" Yan Shumei was completely bewildered by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Is that not true? I went to the Guanyin Temple to burn incense the other day and saw the two of them making a wish under that century-old tree."

"Make a wish together there? That's practically dating!" someone nearby chimed in.

Yan Shumei remained silent, but her expression grew increasingly grim. She replied, "Ah, yes."

"Isn't he from out of town? Will he stay here with us from now on?"

"Who knows?"

Her tone was unpleasant, and anyone could tell, so she quickly ended the conversation.

After sitting for a while, Yan Shumei said she had to go home and got up to leave.

As Yan Shumei passed by Xu Jialan's house, she stopped, walked up, and knocked on the door.

A little while later, Xu Jialan opened the door and was a little surprised to see her. "Grandma, is something the matter?"

Is Yao'an with you?

".....No."