Chapter 44
Before boarding the plane, Shen Huan made an appointment with a gynecologist in Long Island. After landing, she took a taxi to the clinic for a blood test and then returned to Jericho. The door lock of Meng Zixian's house must be connected to the Internet, because when she entered the door, she received a message from him saying that he had just boarded a plane in Rotterdam.
Chen Huan had some time to prepare. She went to the pharmacy to get her folic acid vitamins filled. She folded the pill bottles and blood test results into a suitcase and tucked it into the walk-in closet in the first-floor bedroom. The closet was empty, save for an unlocked safe in the corner. After a few seconds of hesitation, Chen Huan squatted down and opened the safe. She expected to find a pistol and spare magazines, but instead, she found only the title deed, property documents, and several bundles of cash.
Chen Huan thought Meng Zixian probably wouldn't be happy to put his gun in a safe. He would put it where he could get it quickly, such as by the bed in the master bedroom or in the cabinet at the entrance. For him, if he wasted a few seconds getting the gun, it wouldn't serve his purpose of self-defense.
She couldn't imagine how she could convince a man like him to become a father. Would she drag her three-year-old child with her while arguing with him about not keeping a gun in the bedside table? She had never been able to convince Meng Zixuan with reason about anything, and she had given up hope.
Chen Huan pulled out a bill and tucked it into his jeans pocket. He closed the safe, stood up, and walked out, shutting the closet door. He took the hundred dollars and went out, where he had a burger and fries, bought two slow-selling books from a used bookstore, and gave the remaining change to the taxi driver as a tip when he got home.
Over the next few days, she developed a strong interest in spending the cash in Meng Zixian's safe, thinking it was a way to get back at him. She stole a total of $300.
If it weren't for the fourth morning, when she turned around from her squatting position and saw Meng Zixian half-leaning against the doorframe, looking down at her, Chen Huan would probably have continued stealing for a while. Meng Zixian had just returned from a run, his hands stuffed in his trouser pockets. He didn't say anything, but the contempt in his expression ruined the joy she had gained from revenge, and so Chen Huan stopped stealing his money.
Their sex life over the past few days hadn't been enjoyable. When he was inside her, she wanted to be open with him, but the more time passed, the less she dared to tell him about the things that troubled her every day, fearing that her previous concealment would be seen as another betrayal.
Maybe because of hormones, there were always a hundred troubles in her mind that made her worried and afraid. She began to become picky about sex. Soon she asked him to change positions, not wear a condom, turn on the lights, turn off the lights, dim the lights, do it in front of the mirror, not in front of the mirror, don't touch my face, don't touch my bra.
Even if Meng Zixuan complied with all her requests, she was still as exhausted as a salted and sun-dried yellow croaker, staring at the ceiling like a wooden chicken. No matter how much he helped her, she couldn't reach orgasm, even if it took a long time, and neither could he.
This made Meng Zixuan suspicious and difficult to get along with. Shen Huan could understand him, but she couldn't stand it either. He came home later and later, and when he did, he rarely spoke to her.
In the early hours of the morning, Chen Huan woke in bed. The bedroom was dark, moonlight streaming in through the gaps in the curtains. The watch on his wrist beside the pillow reflected a cold light, the hands sliding quietly and regularly. Chen Huan reached out and touched the dial, her index finger sliding along the metal band to his wrist bone. Her movements were gentle, but Meng Zixian was awake.
She had her back to him, but she turned around and rested her head on his arm, burying her face in his arms and crying. Meng Zixuan didn't move. After a long time, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. His voice came low from his chest, and he asked her what was wrong.
Chen Huan said, "I've endured so much alone." Meng Zixuan lowered his head to kiss her hair and asked her what was wrong. Chen Huan wiped her nose with the back of her hand and said, "The kitchen staff at Jingwan Hotel are all very bad people. You must find a way to let them eat all-you-can-eat avocados and salmon you made yourself." Meng Zixuan thought it was funny. Chen Huan didn't laugh. She said, "You never understand my sadness."
In the morning, Meng Zixuan showered and shaved in front of the bathroom mirror. Chen Huan went over to sit on the toilet lid. She was wearing a silk camisole, revealing the skin of her shoulders and neck. The air conditioner in the master bedroom was on low, so she wrapped a bath towel around her shoulders.
She looked at Meng Zixian in the mirror and confessed to him that Li Ting had sent her some money the previous week, and she planned to return it. She said she didn't know why Li Ting did this, whether he thought that this would clear them up. She wasn't sure whether to start the divorce proceedings in New York or Hancheng, which would be more advantageous for her.
Meng Zixuan turned on the faucet and rinsed the blade without saying a word. The shaving cream fell into the sink with the water. He turned off the faucet and continued shaving.
Meng Zixuan's deep eyes in the mirror made her feel a little scared. At first she didn't know why, but after a while she realized that although his hand did not stop, his eyes did not follow the razor. He was always staring at her face.
Chen Huan clutched the corner of the towel in her hand. Returning the money was what she planned to do today, and she told him without thinking. There was no special emotion on his face, but Chen Huan felt that she should not mention Li Ting or anything related to money again.
That evening, Xuan Tao had a cocktail party at his villa in Beverly. They didn't talk much on the way there. In the past, Shen Huan would always wonder what Meng Zixuan was thinking, why he was happy, why he didn't talk, but after returning to the United States, she was always uneasy and her attention was mostly not on him.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Shen Huan would occasionally check the app of a hospital in Hancheng City. She had been in New York for six days, and the culture results of her blood test samples should have come out, so she left a message for the customer service.
At the gate, four or five luxury cars lined up. Shen Huan tried to check the results of her customer service inquiry, but her phone signal was only one bar, and the app was stuck on the refresh screen. She rested her phone on her lap, her index finger tapping the case repeatedly. Thinking of the Wi-Fi in the garden, she felt a surge of resentment towards the slow-moving cars ahead of her.
The annoying "clicking" sound continued. She looked towards the source of the noise and stopped tapping on her phone. She didn't know why her temper had become so bad, she couldn't wait even half a minute. She attributed it all to hormones.
The car drove through the iron gate and around a lawn. It was a warm autumn this year, and most of the men on the lawn were still wearing sweaters and trousers, while the women's skirts exposed their backs and arms.
As Meng Zixian parked, Chen Huan looked at the long silk or thin cashmere dresses not far away. She realized that soon she wouldn't be able to squeeze her belly into the slim-fitting dresses. With this thought, she turned to look at Meng Zixian. The shoulder line of his shirt was fitted, and his neck tightened slightly with the gear shift. After turning off the engine, Meng Zixian turned to look at her. His eyes were a deep brown in the dim light.
After staring at each other for a moment, Chen Huan turned away and unbuckled his seatbelt. Meng Zixuan stood as upright as a flawless mirror, reflecting her own bewilderment. She didn't even want to sit next to him.
The doorman opened the passenger door. She held her handbag in her right hand and bent down to lift the hem of her skirt. Meng Zixian reached out and grasped her left wrist. Chen Huan froze in her chair for a moment. The doorman waited outside the car door, his right hand lightly touching the brim of his hat. Meng Zixian glanced at him through the passenger door. He nodded and closed the door for Chen Huan. The lively conversation on the lawn was cut off outside.
After a long time, Meng Zixuan spoke, "Huanhuan, today is my birthday."
Chen Huan took a deep breath and blinked. It was already the end of October. She wanted to check the date on her phone and instinctively pulled her left hand away from him. She saw Meng Zixuan's empty right hand stiff for half a second before she retracted it.
Meng Zixuan turned his head and looked out the front window. He said calmly, "This morning at the sink, I thought you would come and say happy birthday to me. But you didn't, you talked about something else. I was a little disappointed, so I treated you badly."
Shen Huan lowered her head, and after a while, she said sorry. She raised her head to look at his profile.
Meng Zixuan still stared at the windshield, his voice lukewarm: "You are hiding something from me."
Shen Huan's right hand was still holding the hem of her skirt. She sat up straighter, released her clenched hand, and adjusted the hem of her satin skirt.
After a moment of silence, he spoke again: "No matter what high-sounding excuse you gave yourself, you don't trust me to handle this matter, so you left a way out. Yours, not ours. I want to tell you that this won't work."
He turned his head, his pupils showing a toughness that bordered on rudeness. "I've thought about this during the days you were away. Seven years ago, I gave you a chance to live the life you thought you wanted. I won't give you a second chance. I'll destroy your escape route."
Chen Huan's right hand rested on her knee, her fingertips numb with cold. After a while, Meng Zixian unbuckled his seatbelt, got out, and came over to open the door for her. They passed the lights and jazz music on the lawn, past strangers dancing under the stars. Along the way, people kept coming up to congratulate Meng Zixian and toast him, and champagne flowed like a spring in the garden. If he hadn't held her hand, she would have been pushed aside by the crowd.
Later, Meng Zixuan and Li Ting went to the study to chat, and Shen Huan stood alone in the corner of the garden waiting for him. She looked up at the orange light in the study on the third floor, wondering what they were discussing.
Xiao Jun came over to say hello. After a few casual words, Xiao Jun said, "You don't even know what the party is celebrating." Shen Huan shook her head. Xiao Jun smiled and said, "What a coincidence! I don't know either." He's quite humorous, Shen Huan thought.
At this point, Meng Zixian had already provided Li Ting with the life-saving funds he needed through Weiss and several foreign investors. After Ronghui was revived, he would take all of Xuantao's capital and join Qingyu under a new name.
Meng Zixian brought in a Wall Street capital giant as a strategic partner for Qingyu, which in turn attracted a wave of hot money. Within two months, Qingyu's commitments had already surpassed the size of Ronghui and Chuangtou.
Li Ting, envious, tried to persuade Meng Zixian to continue directing investment to Hancheng, claiming he had a way to invest the money in better places. Meng Zixian agreed, but he demanded that the remaining 35% of Xuantao's shares be transferred between Li Ting, Chang Yueqing, Chen Huan, and the employee stock ownership platform. The two shook hands and reconciled.
At this point, Xiao Jun was left in a limbo. His influence still carried weight within Qingyu, but Chenyue was no longer a prominent investor. Xiao Jun couldn't be considered a loser, as six Chenyue affiliations had been gradually inserted into the management of the Financial Business Group. He also couldn't be considered a winner, as Chenyue Chairman Pu Hongyue hadn't fully acquired Xuantao International as he had hoped.
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