Chapter 57
Ke Xin walked to the wine cabinet and took out the bottle of century-old Lafite that she had treasured for a long time.
The dark brown bottle exuded the semblance of time. She expertly opened it, and the deep ruby-red wine, with its intoxicating aroma, gurgled into the crystal-clear goblet, gleaming with a mysterious and luxurious sheen under the light.
She raised her glass, her eyes passing over the swaying liquor, and smiled at everyone present as she slowly said, "Thank you all for participating in my Ke Xin's housewarming ceremony." She looked at the staff and nodded, "Thank you for your hard work, brothers. Today, enjoy yourselves and eat and drink well!"
"good!"
The staff present felt full of respect and hospitality. They all raised their glasses and drank the wine in their hands with respect.
Then Ke Xin refilled the glass and said to Jia Qi and Fang Huai, "Jia Qi, besides Bao Bao, you are my only relative. Thank you for watching me through all the hardships I've endured. I toast to you and Fang Huai!"
Her voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard by everyone, with a barely perceptible hoarseness and choking!
She paused, her eyes swept over Fang Huai's instantly moved face, and said meaningfully: "And Fang Huai, you can't bully my Jiaqi, as long as I'm here..." She tapped the table lightly with her fingers, "From now on, this home will be Lin Jiaqi's parents' home. Do you understand?" The last few words were loud and clear.
Fang Huai seemed to be struck by an invisible electric current. He jumped up straight from his seat, holding the wine glass in his hand steadily. His eyes were more solemn and sincere than ever before, staring directly at Ke Xin: "Ke Xin! I understand! I swear to you!" His voice was not loud, but every word was weighty, with an almost sacred sense of promise, "I love her! I cherish her! I'm afraid it's not enough to protect her! In this life, in the next, if I, Fang Huai, dare to touch a hair on her head, bully her or let her suffer the slightest injustice, you don't need to do anything, I will destroy myself first! You can rest assured!"
This resolute and heartfelt oath burned Ke Xin's heart like a hot iron.
At this moment, her aunt's pale and haggard face appeared before her eyes without warning - in her dying moments, her cloudy and lifeless eyes turned towards her with difficulty, and her skinny and icy hands, with their last bit of strength, trembled and tightly grasped her fingertips, as if to convey all their concerns and reluctance to her... The huge sadness swallowed her up in an instant like a tsunami.
A drop of hot tear broke through the defense line without warning, slid down her cheek that was trying to be calm, and with a "plop", it hit the snow-white linen napkin heavily, quickly spreading a small dark, desperate wet mark.
"Mom..." Baobao, who was sitting in the children's chair, was frightened by his mother's sudden tears. The small spoon in his hand dropped "clank" on the plate. Tears instantly filled his big black eyes. His little hand reached out in panic and tightly grasped the corner of Kexin's clothes hanging at his side. His voice was filled with tears, "Mom, what's wrong with you... Baobao is... Baobao is protecting Mom..."
The sweet smile on Jiaqi's face froze instantly. Fang Huai's arm, holding the wine glass, froze in mid-air, and the solemnity on his face turned into helpless panic.
The hustle and bustle at the table, the chatter and laughter, were suddenly paused as if by an invisible hand, and everything became dead silent in an instant.
The air was so heavy that it seemed like water could be squeezed out of it, leaving only Ke Xin's suppressed, tiny and painful sobs echoing in the empty living room.
"I'm...I'm sorry..." Ke Xin hurriedly lowered her head, and hurriedly grabbed a tissue to wipe her cheeks!
"I... I am... happy... I am crying with joy..." She tried hard to force a smile, but the corners of her mouth twitched stiffly, which was uglier than crying. "Everyone... don't... don't mind me... pick up your chopsticks... eat quickly... the food... the food is getting cold..."
Jiaqi and Fang Huai looked at each other in confusion.
She took a deep breath, tried to liven up the atmosphere, and asked everyone to start eating again.
While comforting Hao Baobao, he waited with his peripheral vision for Ke Xin to calm down.
Is it because of depression?
She looked up information and found that people with depression occasionally have emotional breakdowns, especially when encountering stimuli. She had just experienced a cyberbullying incident these days, so maybe it was because of these triggers, Jiaqi guessed while eating!
After the meal, the staff tactfully packed up and left. Aunt Fang took Bao Bao to the children's room for a nap.
Jiaqi almost half-forced Ke Xin into the master bedroom, and slammed the door shut, blocking out the noise from outside.
She placed her hands on Ke Xin's shoulders, lowering her voice to a whisper as she asked with a searching expression, "Ke Xin! Look at me! Something's wrong with you! Very wrong! Tell me, did you miss taking your medicine? Or...what are you hiding in your heart? Hiding from me?"
Ke Xin, as if drained of all her strength, broke free from Jia Qi's hand and slowly walked to the French window. Outside, the afternoon sun was still bright, but it seemed unable to reach the depths of her eyes. She stared silently at the lush treetops below, her back thin and desolate.
After a while, I heard her hoarse voice slowly say:
"My aunt... passed away. Last Wednesday, at 3:17 in the morning."
Her voice was soft, but it struck Jiaqi's heart like a hammer. "And... Fu Xuan," she slowly turned around, her face expressionless, her eyes barren.
She unlocked the phone screen, clicked on a photo with her cold fingertips, and handed it to Jiaqi.
The photo was obviously taken secretly from a distance and is a bit blurry. The background is the revolving door of the city’s most luxurious five-star hotel, the Imperial Hotel.
The time displayed was late at night. The man in the center of the photo, dressed in a crisp suit and standing tall, was none other than Fu Xuan's shadow.
He leaned slightly to the side, one hand gentlemanly blocking the glass of the revolving door, and the other hand very naturally and protectively placed around the waist of a long-haired woman.
The woman had a slim figure and wore a well-cut beige windbreaker. She tilted her head slightly and smiled at him, her gesture intimate and familiar.
The look in Fu Xuan's eyes when he looked down at her was focused and gentle, a warmth that Jiaqi had never seen in him when he looked at Ke Xin, a warmth that was almost indulgent.
"No wonder!" Jiaqi gasped and snatched the phone away, her fingertips almost poking through the screen. She desperately zoomed in on the photo, trying to see the woman's face clearly. Her voice rose with anger, "Dihao Hotel? Late at night? That posture... Ke Xin! This is definitely a problem! Let Fang Huai investigate! He's from the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Municipal Bureau! Check the hotel records! Check the surveillance! Find out who this woman is! He has even a little clue..."
"No need!" Ke Xin snatched back her phone with such speed that it sent a gust of wind through her. Her fingertips were icy cold, but her voice was remarkably firm. "He'll be back tomorrow!"
She straightened her back, striving to maintain a calm exterior, like a jade sculpture straining to the utmost. But the shattered light deep in her eyes, like cracks in ice, was clearly visible. "I'll ask him myself." Every word seemed squeezed between her teeth.
"So..." Jiaqi took a step closer, her eyes sharp as a knife, piercing through her disguise, "You moved out early and moved in in a hurry just to avoid him?
Ke Xin lowered her eyelashes, and her thick eyelashes cast a fragile shadow on her pale cheeks.
She twitched the corners of her mouth in self-mockery, a smile uglier than tears, tinged with exhaustion and a nearly cruel clarity: "Yes... and no." She took a deep breath, as if using up all her strength before speaking the next sentence, "Actually... I knew it from the beginning. I never expected to be with him... Fu Xuan... for a long time."
Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in my heart, as if it was being cut and stirred repeatedly by a rusty, blunt knife.
Raising a dog, living with it day and night for several months, and still being reluctant to shed tears when parting. How much more so is a living man who once gave her warmth and support?
She thought she had already built a high wall in her heart, paved a retreat route, and was ready to withdraw at any time!
But when she really realized that she had to leave, she couldn't help but feel a dull pain in her heart.
Jiaqi folded her arms, leaning coldly against the cold corner of the wall. A hint of worldly wisdom and almost cold irony appeared on her red lips. "Wake up, my silly sister."
Her voice was low, but every word pierced the heart. "Based on my experience with so many men, if you can find even half a man out of ten, you'd be lucky. For the most part, if they don't hold you back or cause you trouble, you're lucky! Most men that ordinary women from the lower classes meet are like that piece of shit that is Chengcheng's ex-husband!"
She approached, changed her posture and leaned against the wall. Her lazy posture just outlined her perfect curves, a posture only suitable for women. She said in the tone of someone who had experienced it, "Listen to me! While you are still young and have the right posture, and Fu Xuan is still useful to you, whether it is resources, connections or anything else, squeeze him dry! Make the best use of him! All the rest of your time, energy, and thoughts, take them back! Spend them hard on making money! Build a career! A man?" She sneered, her tone contemptuous and decisive, "He is only fit to be a stepping stone! Step over him and don't even look back!"
Ke Xin paused, and said with a look of dejection, "Jia Qi, don't you think I'm a coward? At this age, I still dream of getting pure love, especially from someone like Fu Xuan!"
Jiaqi wanted to roll her eyes at her, but then she thought about it. She was also suffering from depression, her mental state was unstable, and she had encountered many bad things, so her mentality was prone to collapse. Then she changed her tone and said gently, "People's ideas will change at any time. What's more, you are doing very well now!"
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself!"
Looking at the unquestionable comfort in Jiaqi's eyes, Ke Xin was like a drowning person grabbing a piece of driftwood.
She took a deep breath, and the excruciating pain in her chest seemed to be temporarily suppressed by the powerful force of reality. She nodded vigorously and was about to speak.
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