Chapter 7 Unexpected Events: "A trace of nervous sweat still lingered on my palms"...
07
After making breakfast, Meng Yao went back to rest. About an hour later, her phone beeped and woke her up.
The three words "Lin Tianhai" flashed on the screen; the peaceful days were finally coming to an end.
Lin Tianhai called her back to the Lin family home. As before, the two sat facing each other at the coffee table. He slowly sipped a cup of tea and raised his chin: "Try it, the tea is freshly arrived."
Meng Yao didn't have time to waste with him. She straightened her back and remained alert: "What is it?"
Lin Tianhai put down his teacup, his gaze lingering on her face: "I haven't had time to ask these past few days, but how are things going between you and Fang Huaixu?"
Meng Yao's heart sank: So that's what it was all about. She answered calmly, "Just like that, we treat each other with the same respect."
Lin Tianhai scoffed: "I know what's going on even if you don't tell me. Someone like Fang Huaixu, who only cares about work, how much kindness can he possibly show you? But don't be discouraged, Yao Yao. Don't forget, you're marrying into the Lin family to pave the way for their future. Your task isn't to keep him in check, but to firmly grasp his resources on our side."
Meng Yao clenched her fingers, her voice turning cold: "Dad, we agreed that I was only facilitating my sister's marriage and maintaining the partnership until it ended. I never agreed to be responsible for keeping anyone in check. How I get along with Fang Huaixu is my own business, isn't it?"
Lin Tianhai seemed to have expected this, and shook his head dismissively: "The marriage is just the beginning; the real purpose is to bind interests together. You're young now, and he can still find it novel, but after this period, how much patience will he have left? Once the cooperation ends, you'll be kicked aside. You must take advantage of the present to help your family as much as possible."
Meng Yao felt a chill run down her spine. From beginning to end, Lin Tianhai had only treated her as a pawn that he could place at will. Sometimes she couldn't understand why he treated her and her sister so differently, even though they were both his own flesh and blood.
“I can’t do it,” she refused firmly. “I did marry him, but Fang Huaixu isn’t stupid. How could he let himself be manipulated? You overestimate me.”
"I won't ask you to do anything too troublesome, just to whisper sweet nothings in your ear and keep you informed," Lin Tianhai said in a gloomy tone, giving a cold laugh. "Don't rush to refuse. I heard your grandmother's condition isn't very good."
Meng Yao tensed instantly, her pupils constricting sharply: "What do you mean?"
Lin Tianhai smiled smugly: "Don't be nervous, Yao Yao, I'm here to help you. Professor Anderson is indeed difficult to contact, but I will definitely do my best to make the connection for you. But..."
He deliberately dragged out his words, looking at her meaningfully as he poured her a cup of tea: "These things require arrangements, investment, and time. If we, as family, can't even work together, why should we go to such lengths to help an outsider?"
Meng Yao's face was pale, as if someone was choking her, making it difficult for her to breathe.
Seeing her distraught state, Lin Tianhai knew he had hit a nerve. He slowed his speech, feigning regret, and said, "Dad is doing this for your own good and for the good of our family. Someone like Fang Huaixu can't be your lifelong support. Once the marriage is over, you're destined to separate. What will you have then? You might as well take advantage of this time to secure some real benefits for yourself and your family. That's the wisest choice, understand?"
Meng Yao felt a buzzing in her ears. His words were like venomous snakes coiling around her. On one side was her grandmother's hope, and on the other was the bottom line of her conscience. In the end, her thoughts became blurred. She met Lin Tianhai's hypocritical smile and saw him reach out to the cup of tea: "Try it."
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, all that remained in her eyes was a cold weariness and numbness.
She forced a smile, picked up the cup of tea, and drank it all in one gulp, revealing an extremely bitter smile: "Okay, I understand... Please do your best to help Professor Anderson."
"That's my good daughter." A victorious smile appeared on Lin Tianhai's face.
As Meng Yao stepped out of the Lin family villa, the afternoon sun was dazzlingly bright, yet she felt icy cold all over.
She glanced back at the magnificent building and felt it was like a huge and ornate cage, with a new chain once again fastened to her ankle.
Back in her apartment, a profound sense of emptiness and confusion overwhelmed her. Lin Tianhai's words echoed in her mind like a curse: Fang Huaixu could not possibly be her lifelong support, but the so-called home Lin Tianhai spoke of was not her final destination either.
Since my grandmother fell ill, the future has been shrouded in uncertainty, like a fog that seems impossible to break free from.
Taking the postgraduate entrance exam? Going abroad? Even if she succeeds, will Grandma live to see that day? Even if she does, will she be able to completely get rid of Lin Tianhai?
A deep sense of powerlessness overwhelmed her. She was so upset that she couldn't concentrate on reading. So she put everything down and went to the bathroom. The warm water washed over her body, as if that would wash away all her fatigue.
After taking a shower, feeling a bit better, she quickly wrapped herself in a silk bathrobe, her hair still wet and draped over her shoulders. Too lazy to dry it, she grabbed her laptop and a few books and groggily headed towards the study, hoping to cheer herself up and force herself to study some more.
Half an hour later, looking at the page full of red crosses on the exam paper, she lost the will to continue studying and sighed silently.
The study was quiet, with only the fading light of the setting sun filtering in through the window. She turned off the main light and turned on only the warm desk lamp on her desk, creating a small patch of light in the large, dim space.
She slumped in the chair, resting her chin on her knees, staring blankly at the city lights gradually dimming outside the window. Water droplets occasionally dripped from her wet hair, the cool touch landing on her collarbone, but she was too lazy to wipe them away.
Countless thoughts swirled and tangled in her mind, and tonight she felt an unprecedented weariness and loneliness.
She sat there quietly for a long time, completely immersed in her own world, unaware of the passage of time.
Until the study door was suddenly opened with a "click".
Fang Huaixu pushed open the door without warning, and under the warm, dim light of the desk lamp, his gaze froze completely.
Meng Yao was wearing an overly casual bathrobe. The soft fabric clung to her body, outlining her slender figure. The slightly open bathrobe revealed a small patch of her fair skin and collarbone. A few strands of her wet long hair clung to her neck and cheeks. She exuded a moist, warm glow and a faint fragrance after her bath.
"square……"
The moment Meng Yao looked up and saw Fang Huaixu, her cheeks flushed bright red, and she sat up almost reflexively.
Before she could even react, Fang Huaixu quickly turned his back.
Meng Yao pulled the cloth around her waist even tighter, stammering in a flustered manner, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were back, I thought you..."
She stammered as she explained, getting up to run towards the door. But just before she reached the shutter, she realized that Fang Huaixu was standing there like a mountain. For a moment, she didn't know whether to call him away or not talk to him at all.
"Wait..."
Before Fang Huaixu could finish speaking, he seemed to sense her approaching from behind, his breath hitched, and he quickly took off his coat and handed it to her behind his back. His voice was much hoarseer than usual: "I'm the one who should apologize. I saw that the light was off and thought no one was in the study. I should have knocked first... You put this on first."
His gentlemanly manners and thoughtfulness calmed Meng Yao's panic slightly, but her shame intensified. She took his coat, putting it on while shaking her head, "No, this is your home, you don't need to knock... I shouldn't have come out so casually..."
"You shouldn't think like that."
Fang Huaixu suddenly interrupted her, still without turning around, but slightly turning his face, his tone more serious than ever before: "Now that we're living together, this is your home too. I won't let you live with me in a way that's worse than when you lived alone. Today was my bad habit, I apologize."
He paused, as if making a decision, and softened his voice, making it sound even more sincere: "So... I've finished most of the tedious work recently, and for the next three months, I'll bring the remaining work home to spend more time with you. It might be too lonely here for you... I can't give you anything else, but at least I hope you won't feel restricted and bored here."
“You…” Meng Yao froze, wrapped in the coat that still held his warmth, and looked up at his straight back in disbelief.
He's been coming back a lot lately... is that why?
Today, she was schemed against by her closest relatives in the most realistic and cold way, but now, this man with whom she only has a transactional relationship is showing her such careful respect and consideration.
She couldn't quite describe her feelings. She gently pulled her coat tighter around herself, and after a moment of silence, she said with genuine gratitude, "Thank you, Mr. Fang. I didn't expect you to think this way."
When she was only half a step away from his back, Fang Huaixu seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. His body tensed up suddenly, and he almost instinctively dodged half a step away, quickly creating distance.
Meng Yao was startled by his sudden movement, but then she realized what he meant and explained, "I've already put on my coat, don't worry."
“It can’t just be clothes…” Fang Huaixu still had his back to her, his shoulders hard and sturdy. He seemed to take a deep breath before squeezing out a few words with great difficulty: “There’s really no need to say thank you now. Go back to your room and change first…”
He paused for a moment, as if he had used up all his self-control, before finally uttering that earth-shattering sentence, his voice hoarse: "I'm just an ordinary man, and my self-control isn't that strong... I can't communicate normally with you right now."
These words struck Meng Yao like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, leaving her speechless. All her gratitude was quickly replaced by embarrassment, and her face burned red. Fang Huaixu's aloofness and politeness were so deceptive that she only now belatedly realized that the person in front of her was also a man with normal desires, and what her clothes and her attempt to get closer meant in the eyes of a normal man.
"Okay...I'll go right away!"
Unable to say anything more, she grabbed her coat and rushed to the bedroom in a panic.
Only when he heard the bedroom door slam shut in the distance did Fang Huaixu feel as if he had finally unloaded a heavy burden. He slowly returned to his desk, and Meng Yao was able to keep the extremely bright red on his face from being noticed.
The study was empty, with only the warm glow of the desk lamp on her desk and the faint floral scent of shower gel in the air.
Fang Huaixu looked up and pinched his high nose bridge hard. His other hand, hanging by his side, had slightly curled knuckles and a trace of nervous sweat on his palm.
He closed his eyes and exhaled a deep breath of hot, stale air.
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