Chapter 96 My Wife Is Still Here
Xie Xingchen lowered his head, his fingertips tracing the corner of Xie Xingchen's eye: "Whose kiss did you steal?"
Lin Yao looked at him greedily and whispered, "Yours, Xie Xingchen, you can't marry anyone else."
"I never intended to marry anyone." Xie Xingchen realized, "You found out? When?"
“A week ago,” Lin Yao said hoarsely.
His gaze swept over the other man's handsome face. He was wearing a custom-made three-piece suit, which fit his body perfectly, making him look noble and dignified. It made the nineteen-year-old man lose his youthful arrogance and make him look more like a powerful person who could turn the world upside down.
He was wearing this outfit, and he should have been standing on a stage, but he appeared right in front of me.
Lin Yao only then realized how frightening it was.
Xie Xingchen was stunned for several seconds, a wave of heartache spreading through his chest: "You already knew, why didn't you ask me?"
How did he spend this week?
Do they still worry about things changing all the time, or do they start to doubt their relationship?
After all, they haven't really confirmed that they're together yet.
Even so, Lin Yao still came alone, regardless of the consequences.
"I believe you." Lin Yao tightened his lips, then relaxed them, feeling it was contradictory to say he believed her but then show up here. He explained, "But I'm still scared, so I came."
Xie Xingchen reached out and pulled him into his arms, sighing and apologizing, "I'm sorry, it's my fault, I didn't handle it well."
Lin Yao looked over his shoulder at the stage, where the scene was now in complete chaos.
Reporters frantically taking photos, guests whispering amongst themselves, the newlyweds both stiff and awkward, and Xie Hengzhi and Yun Qing, whose expressions hadn't improved since the lights came on—if they weren't in front of everyone, they would probably be furious and start interrogating them.
"Why is Xie Xingchen in the photo, but Mr. Xie Yunhuai was present at the scene?"
"Was this a pre-planned surprise, an accident, or a malicious scam?"
"Where did Xie Xingchen, the originally scheduled engagement bride, go? Did her brother run away from the wedding and step in to take his place?"
"What would Mr. Jiang Qiran like to say about the magic trick where the fiancé suddenly appears on stage?"
"If the Alliance Leader can't even confirm his own son's thoughts, has he failed as a father?"
...
A barrage of random questions rained down on him, and Xie Hengzhi's aura was so low it was as if he were about to shoot each of the questioners one by one.
He turned around, suppressing his anger, and said to the newlyweds, "You two go to the lounge first, I'll answer your questions."
Xie Yunhuai dragged Jiang Qiran, whose face was ashen, off the stage.
Watching this farce unfold, Lin Yao said in a low voice, "Xie Xingchen, we can't just leave like this and leave this mess for our older brother and Senior Jiang."
A week before the engagement, Xie Xingchen convinced his brother to prepare a complete plan and explanation. He originally thought he could get away with it unscathed, and the plan was perfect.
But something unexpected happened.
One was Lin Yao, who arrived suddenly, and the other was Jiang Qiran.
He hummed in agreement, and as the reporter looked toward the side door, he pulled Lin Yao to the adjacent corridor: "You absolutely cannot be photographed by the reporters, understand? I'm going to check on what's going on between the two of them."
"I'll go with you." Lin Yao took out a mask from his pocket and put it on. "It's okay, they won't be able to see my face."
They walked quickly to the private lounge, and as soon as they swiped their cards to enter, they heard a crisp snap, and both of them froze.
In his line of sight, Jiang Qiran raised his hand without hesitation and slapped the other person across the face, clean and decisive.
His eyes were bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth: "Who let you come? Who let you show up? Xie Yunhuai, do you think I'm pathetic, or do you think I'm ridiculous?"
"Xiao Qi, calm down." Xie Yunhuai tried to reach out and hug him, but was pushed away.
"I don't care who I marry, it just can't be you."
Jiang Qiran said, enunciating each word clearly, "Xie Yunhuai, you were the one who said you hated arranged marriages, hated these loveless marital relationships, hated being bound and threatened. Didn't you say those things? Why are you pretending to be a good person with me now?"
Xie Yunhuai kept his jaw clenched and remained silent.
Jiang Qiran turned her face away, suppressing the tears welling up in her eyes: "I want to annul the engagement.
“Xiao Qi, that was before. Back then…” Xie Yunhuai’s throat tightened slightly, unable to defend his past self. “Now I can accept all of this for you.”
"Then should I thank you for your slow response?" Jiang Qiran sneered. "You make me feel like my choice is a joke."
Xie Yunhuai closed his eyes briefly: "I was slow to realize it."
"Do you dare say you can't realize that I like you?"
"Xie Xingchen saw through me the first time we met. I even told him I liked his wife every day, and he never misunderstood. Can't you see it?"
“You said you hate arranged marriages and don’t like being bound by constraints. Fine, I know the Xie and Jiang families are bound to have this. Then I’ll be the bad guy.”
“I chose Xie Xingchen to do this stupid thing for you. You’ve known that from beginning to end. You ignored my feelings. Now you want to go back? Let me tell you, it’s over.”
Jiang Qiran turned around, saw the person standing at the door, and said insincerely, "Sorry, that was a bit rude."
After listening to the argument, Xie Xingchen was speechless: "I want to ask, you two used me as a pawn without asking for my opinion, right?"
He glanced at his brother casually and said sarcastically, "I knew it. You agreed so readily when I asked you to do it for me. You were planning to steal him all along."
"Don't make things worse." Lin Yao reached out and tugged at his sleeve, trying to calm things down. "But at least... at least for now, isn't there still room for maneuver?"
"No room for negotiation, no deal." Jiang Qiran strode out. "I'll tell the reporters right now that both of Xie's sons are sick, and I don't want either of them."
Xie Xingchen sighed: "Fine, whatever disease you want me to have, I'll pretend."
Xie Yunhuai: "........."
"It's like she's sick in the head." Jiang Qiran laughed angrily. "I'm not going to deal with this mess anymore."
"Xiao Qi." Xie Yunhuai had never been so humble. "I know you're angry, but I only realized how important you are to me because you're going to marry Xingchen. I was slow to react, and I deserve it, but can you please not call off the engagement?"
Jiang Qiran glanced at him indifferently and said nothing.
"Senior," Lin Yao called out to him, "Can we talk?"
Jiang Qiran was taken aback, thinking that it was too noisy outside to go out, but turned his head and said, "Sure, you're the only person I still want to talk to in this room."
These guys are all ticking time bombs. Hearing this, Xie Xingchen became very wary: "Don't let your bad mood lead you to steal Lin Yao away. It's my birthday, so leave me something, okay?"
"Don't worry, it's alright." Lin Yao reached out and patted the back of his hand to reassure him, then turned and followed Jiang Qiran into the inner room.
Xie Xingchen slumped onto the sofa, looking utterly hopeless, and lit a cigarette: "I think my wife is about to die."
My birthday celebration was turned into a mess.
Xie Yunhuai leaned closer, mimicking the posture, and sighed softly, "Who isn't?"
"You should think of what to say to the old man first. After the press conference, he'll come after us." Xie Xingchen had a headache. "If Jiang Qiran really wants to break off the engagement, this will cause a huge uproar."
"Then we'll see what Lin Yao can do." Xie Yunhuai glanced in that direction, full of hope. "Can he persuade people?"
Xie Xingchen said coldly, "All he knows how to do is beat people up."
Xie Yunhuai: "........."
Lin Yao, who was filled with hope, closed the door and stood at the window with Jiang Qiran in silence for several seconds before tentatively speaking: "I think we should not cancel the engagement yet."
"You're siding with that bastard too?" Jiang Qiran rolled his eyes. "And I used to like you so much."
"No, I think you really like your older brother. If you didn't, why would you be willing to give yourself to someone you don't like at all, just to please him?"
Lin Yao hardened his heart and pulled out a ring box from his pocket: "This is the ring I planned to give to Xie Xingchen today, but I haven't had a chance to give it to him yet. If you two get engaged today, I'll never be able to give this ring to him."
Jiang Qiran was stunned, and almost wanted to take a picture to remember the moment.
This is something that the cool guy I remember would never do.
Lin Yao rarely opened up about himself: "I'm also a very slow person to react to emotions. For a long time, I couldn't understand what love was, so my relationship with Xie Xingchen was slow to progress. I think it's not that your older brother is deliberately ignoring you, but that he's afraid to take a step forward in an uncertain relationship. Even if Xie Xingchen hadn't asked him for help, he would have shown up today."
"How do you know? You're not him." Jiang Qiran moved his lips.
"Or, instead of rushing to annul the engagement, why not observe him for a while longer?" Lin Yao suggested. "If you really get tired of him, then dump him and let yourself vent your anger."
Jiang Qiran looked him up and down and teased, "You haven't even married Xie Xingchen yet, and you're already speaking up for the Xie family. You're such a love-struck fool."
"No." Lin Yao stuffed the ring box back into his pocket, thankful that he was wearing a mask so his flushed face wouldn't show. "I just feel that it's a pity if two people who are in love miss each other."
Jiang Qiran nodded, confirming again, "You really are a hopeless romantic."
Lin Yao: "......."
Why do I get scolded for saying a few words and doing a good deed?
The two remained silent for several minutes.
Jiang Qiran suddenly asked out of the blue, "Give me your card number."
Although he didn't know what he was up to, Lin Yao still gave him a string of numbers and continued the previous conversation: "Think about it again."
"I'm not considering it anymore." Jiang Qiran pushed open the door to the inner room, and amidst two very serious gazes from the sofa, walked up to Xie Yunhuai. "My phone."
Xie Yunhuai, unaware of what was going on, still reached out and handed it over, asking again, "What did you say? Are you calm now?"
Jiang Qiran ignored him, simply lowered his head to type, then returned the text to him for confirmation.
With a ding, Lin Yao looked down at his screen and saw a transfer record pop up with countless zeros.
Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousand, hundred thousand, hundred...
Lin Yao looked at it three times, then handed it to Xie Xingchen uncertainly, and whispered, "I think I won the lottery? No, I didn't buy one."
Jiang Qiran said calmly, "It's a gift from my elder brother and sister-in-law to my younger brother's wife."
Xie Xingchen breathed a long sigh of relief, reached out and hugged her tightly, and quietly kissed the top of her head: "Thank goodness, my wife is still here."
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I've been revising the text every day until I'm about to collapse. I've submitted it five times and it's still not locked. I'm so frustrated.
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