Chapter 54: Lie to him, do you think I would not want our child? ...
There was a lot of noise all around. Zhou Linjin glanced to the side and his gaze fell on her face again in the orange candlelight.
"Would you like to come to my place?" He was a little incoherent. "It's so late, it's not convenient to stay outside."
Chen Lianxiu was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm not inconvenienced at all. If it's inconvenient for you, I..."
"Then wherever you say to go, that's where we'll go." Zhou Linjin didn't know why he interrupted her so eagerly. After he finished speaking, he just looked at her earnestly, as if begging for something.
Chen Lianxiu turned a blind eye. She looked at An An, who was eating porridge behind her with her hands full of syrup, sighed softly, and asked her softly, "Can you not eat the porridge today? I'll take you there tomorrow."
Although An An would sometimes make a fuss, she was indeed a sensitive child. If Chen Lianxiu went back on his word for no reason, she would definitely not agree. However, she now sensed something was not right. The child didn't know what this feeling was or where it came from. She only knew that now was not the time to make a fuss.
An An cautiously glanced at the familiar-looking uncle in front of him and said in a baby voice, "Okay."
Chen Lianxiu immediately said, "Let's go back to the inn first, and then find a teahouse."
She also knew that the safest thing to do was to go to the place arranged by Zhou Linjin to talk, but that would very likely mean she would have to be alone with him, so she would rather go to a teahouse. It would be the same if she could just find a private room to sit down.
As for An An, she naturally would not fall into the trap that Zhou Linjin might set for her. It would be best if he didn't want this child for fear that she would disturb him and Shen Wuyu, but if he refused to let An An follow her, once she went to his place today, An An might not be able to get out.
Zhou Linjin had no objection to her arrangement.
He saw Shen Lianxiu about to walk forward towards the inn, and subconsciously reached out to stop him, then hurriedly said, "Let me hold the child."
Shen Lianxiu shook her head and said calmly, "She will leave on her own."
Although she looked calm, Zhou Linjin still sensed her defensiveness from her actions. He felt a little embarrassed for a moment. After a moment of loneliness, he saw that Chen Lianxiu and the others had already left, so he could only follow behind them.
Chen Lianxiu returned to the inn. She asked Zhou Linjin to wait at the door of the inn, and told him that it would take about half a market time, and then she took An An in.
She asked the store owner for hot water and helped An An wash up first. She finally washed off the syrup that was sticky on her hands, then rinsed her mouth with salt. After she had tidied her up completely, she carried her to bed and tucked her in.
It was fine during the day, but if An An knew that she was leaving at night, she probably wouldn't agree. Chen Lianxiu could only pretend to go to bed, hug her and coax her, wanting to wait until she fell asleep before leaving.
An An suddenly asked Shen Lianxiu: "Who was that uncle just now?"
Chen Lianxiu didn't hesitate and replied, "Don't take someone who comes to ask questions seriously."
An An said "Oh" and asked, "Can I have sugar porridge tomorrow?"
"Okay," Shen Lianxiu patted her back again and again, "Just sleep well now, and I'll definitely give you food tomorrow."
An An giggled, then gradually became sleepy and fell asleep with her eyes closed.
Shen Lianxiu didn't dare to get up until An An fell into a deep sleep.
She opened the door quietly and saw a person standing at the door. At first she thought it was Zhou Linjin, but later she saw that it was Bi Cha.
When Bi Cha saw her, he quickly said, "Madam, my husband asked me to come and look after the child."
Bi Cha was caught by Zhou Linjin from his sleep. Because Bi Cha had never seen Chen Lianxiu, he felt dizzy all the way and thought it was just a dream. Only when he saw Chen Lianxiu at this time, he was shocked to realize that Chen Lianxiu was not dead and she really appeared.
As he said this, he stretched his neck to look inside again. The child inside must be Langjun's. He had never seen him before!
Chen Lianxiu made way for Bi Cha, not making things difficult for him. She gestured for him to go in and reminded him, "Keep your voice down. She's asleep. There are some snacks on the table. If you're hungry, you can eat."
Bi Cha said, "Hey hey," "I know, thank you, ma'am."
The second lady is still so gentle, and the young man is really a little ungrateful.
Shen Lianxiu went downstairs and saw Zhou Linjin standing at the stairs waiting for her.
Seeing that Bi Cha was not driven down by her, Zhou Linjin's heart jumped for a moment. After Shen Lianxiu came down, he said in a deep voice: "It's not good for the child to be alone, so I called Bi Cha over."
"Yeah." Shen Lianxiu responded casually and walked out.
It was indeed unsafe at night, and she had not told An An in advance. If An An woke up and saw that she was not there, and ran out alone, it would be a big trouble. She had no reason to refuse Bi Cha if he came over, as she had no conflicts with Bi Cha.
Chen Lianxiu found a nearby teahouse. It was already late and the teahouse was about to close, so there were not many people inside.
I found a private room and sat down, and the owner quickly served me hot tea.
After the door was closed, Chen Lianxiu told Zhou Linjin everything about Pei Ruoyan.
Zhou Linjin forced himself to concentrate on listening to what she said. After a moment's thought, he said, "Pei Qian has already been imprisoned. I think you already know this."
"I was afraid the Pei family would come looking for me, so I hid in the inn for a few days after escaping. I only heard this news today."
"Pei Ruoyan instructed you, so you originally planned to come find me?"
Chen Lianxiu was silent for a moment, and after a while he said, "If you hadn't realized it was me, I could have continued to pretend to be the mute Doctor Yu, and written it down on a piece of paper for you after I found you."
She was quite calm in her words.
But Zhou Linjin felt very uncomfortable seeing this.
She lied to him like this and wanted to keep him in the dark. If it weren't for the prescription from the Pei family, he might have missed her.
Zhou Linjin was about to say something when Chen Lianxiu continued, "There's one more thing. Back in Baixi Village, after you left, Pei Qian came to see me. Even though you hadn't revealed your identity, he accidentally let it slip. He came prepared and said he had nothing to do with Hu Jun's death. I'm afraid no one would believe him."
Hu Jun was her former patient after all, and Pei Ruoyan was almost killed by the Pei family and King Hui. Chen Lianxiu still wanted to see justice done to them.
"Pei Qian has been refusing to give in. He knows that if he doesn't give in, there might still be a chance of survival, but if he does, the Pei family will be finished. I have also found out some things about Prince Hui and the Pei family, but it's far less than what Pei Ruoyan told you." Zhou Linjin said.
He fully expected that Shen Lianxiu came to him to discuss private matters. They were so entangled and had a child, so they had to make things clear. However, he did not expect that she would talk about these things first.
Before I could feel the bitterness in my heart, Shen Lianxiu stood up and said, "Okay, I'm done, it's time to go."
"You..." Zhou Linjin was so angry that he almost couldn't finish a word. "Don't you have anything else to say?"
Shen Lianxiu shook his head: "No more."
"Why did you lie to me?" Zhou Linjin said, looking at her face.
When they met, she pretended to be mute to deceive him. They almost might have never met or recognized each other.
Chen Lianxiu's expression turned even colder, thinking he was talking about how she had "cheated" on him, so he said, "There's no reason. I'm leaving."
"Where's the child? You won't even tell me about the child?" Zhou Linjin held her tightly, gradually increasing the strength in his grip. "Why don't you come back to find me?"
Hearing this, Shen Lianxiu turned his head, his eyes turned cold, revealing some ridicule: "Will you chase me away again?"
Zhou Linjin's hand trembled, but he still didn't let go.
"Chen Wuyu is your wife, and you want me to go back?" Chen Lianxiu couldn't help but laugh. "You'll let me abort her, right? So why don't I just say nothing? Just pretend you've never seen us. Go back to the capital and continue living with Shen Wuyu. We won't interfere with each other."
Zhou Linjin felt the breath slowly rising from his chest, but it seemed to be stagnant and he couldn't exhale at all. Did she... think of him like this?
He couldn't help but blurt out: "Do you think I won't want our child?"
Thinking of the child with a pair of glass-like eyes, Zhou Linjin's heart was tied into a ball. How could he bear to let her go?
"Whether you want her or not is none of my business," Shen Lianxiu breathed a sigh of relief, "but don't even think about taking her away from me. She's my child."
After saying that, she turned her head away and stopped looking at him.
After a long silence, Zhou Linjin called her out in a hoarse voice: "A Yuan."
Chen Lianxiu did not respond.
"I won't steal her from you, A'yuan." Zhou Linjin's clear eyes were already bloodshot. "I wasn't with your sister at all. She went back to the Shen family a long time ago. Can you please come back? Let's not talk about the past anymore."
"If you don't want it, send it away. If you want it, take it back. What do you think of me and my sister?" she demanded.
Zhou Linjin was speechless for a moment. He wanted to explain that he didn't mean that, but he couldn't say anything. Just as he was hesitating, Chen Lianxiu shook off his hand fiercely and left quickly.
"Ama! Ama!"
Zhou Linjin also hurriedly followed.
All the way to the inn, Chen Lianxiu still couldn't get rid of Zhou Linjin.
Finally, she stopped at the door, afraid of waking up the sleeping child inside. She lowered her voice and said, "Since you made such a fuss, just treat me as a vicious woman with a black heart. I hurt you and my sister. Don't get involved with me anymore."
At this time, Bi Cha heard the noise and came to open the door. He understood the situation a little more and did not block Chen Lianxiu's way. Chen Lianxiu hurriedly nodded to Bi Cha and went in.
Just as he turned around and was about to close the door, Zhou Linjin pushed forward with his palm to block the door.
Shen Lianxiu gritted her teeth: “Don’t wake up my daughter.”
"A Yuan..."
Zhou Linjin was about to speak, but Bi Cha behind him grabbed his arm and whispered, "My dear, forget it tonight. Let your wife rest quickly. She is tired too."
He then let go, and Shen Lianxiu closed the door and locked it from the inside.
Zhou Linjin stood silently at the door for a while. It was quiet inside and the lights were not on. He wondered if she was asleep or what.
Bi Cha continued, "My dear, I know you feel bad, but there's really no need to rush. Don't force your wife. I'm afraid it's been difficult for her these past few years."
Zhou Linjin had been clenching his hands tightly for some time, but when he heard Bi Cha say, "I'm afraid she has had a hard time these years," he suddenly loosened his grip.
What followed was a pain as if my heart was being twisted.
During these years, she gave birth to their daughter alone and raised her to this age. How much hardship must she have endured?
There was a faint taste of rust in his throat. Zhou Linjin resisted the urge to cough it out and swallowed it down. After a moment, he said, "Let's go."
In the dark room, Chen Lianxiu sat on the edge of the bed with her knees hugged, and An An was sleeping on her back next to her.
Chen Lianxiu's eyes were fixed on the door, as if she was afraid that the person outside would rush in. After hearing the sound of that person leaving, Chen Lianxiu finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then sobbed softly.
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