Chapter 96: Chapter 96 – A Devastating Slap

Leng Xiyao gave Leng Haoyun a meaningful look with her red-rimmed eyes and said calmly, “You just slapped me.”

There was a tremor in her voice.

Then, with her hand still on her cheek, she ran into her bedroom.

Leng Haoyun was in a panic. His trembling right hand curled up into a fist, bulging the veins, while his face went pale and helpless.

God, what did I just do? I slapped her, my little princess!

It must hurt a lot. The look she gave me was filled with disappointment.

I have disappointed her…

He hadn’t meant to slap her. Maybe it was indeed because he had brought her up in a wrong way, so that she had become like this.

In the end, Leng Haoyun walked into his study, his face solemn.

----

That night, Leng Xiyao wept under the cover of her blanket.

Her phone started to ring. She sniffed and plucked a sheet of tissue before picking it up.

She couldn’t stop trembling every time she recalled her uncle’s expression when he had hit her. Does he still care about me? I can’t believe he slapped me just because I spoke ill of An Huilin!

The news stories were her doing, but he had clearly decided to ignore it. Leng Xiyao had just wanted him to punish her a little, but he couldn’t hear any of it.

The sharp pain on her face forced the tears out of her eyes again.

I will never forgive him…

Tearful, she looked at the screen that had lit up to show that the caller was Guan Zixuan.

She stopped crying and answered the phone. “What’s up?”

“Are you crying?” Guan Zixuan heard that she had got a hoarse and nasal voice.

“No, it’s just a cold,” Leng Xiyao lied unabashedly.

Guan Zixuan didn’t press the matter. He quickly told her the reason he had called.

“Mo Suqing is going apartment hunting tomorrow. You should go with her. I think her attitude toward you has improved since this afternoon.”

“Really?” Leng Xiyao wondered out loud. Suqing obviously didn’t want to talk to her?today. Maybe Guan Zixuan is trying to make her feel better?

But even if he was, she could feel her mood getting better.

“Okay. I’ll be there tomorrow morning.”

After hanging up, Leng Xiyao got under the blanket again and cried herself to sleep.

-

At Guan Zixuan’s villa.

After calling Leng Xiyao, Guan Zixuan turned to Mo Suqing and said, “Go to bed early tonight. I have told Leng Xiyao. She is going apartment hunting with you tomorrow.”

Guan Zixuan took a look at Mo Suqing, who seemed deep in thought. He was going to say something else but thought better of it in the end. Sighing, he walked out of the room.

After the footsteps were gone, Mo Suqing looked up.

She didn’t want to drag anyone into this mess, especially Guan Zixuan.

When she came back with him yesterday, he had felt like a savior to her.

But, after her fight with Ye Zhongjue this morning, she became worried that his awful possessiveness would lead him to harm Guan Zixuan. Guan Zixuan worked for Mighty Empire, after all. She didn’t want to get him into trouble, she concluded. She must leave here as soon as possible.

Mo Suqing got up and went to the window to draw the curtains.

Then, she saw a figure outside the house.

Even though it was some distance away, she recognized it.

What is he doing here? He threatened me and said confidently that he would make me leave this morning, didn’t he?

So what is he standing here for? To induce my sympathy?

If he thinks he can soften my heart by standing there, he is very mistaken.

Yes, I did fall in love with him helplessly, but I also have my principles! I just can’t stand being lied to, particularly by someone I love!

Mo Suqing drew the curtains resolutely and turned away from the window. The moment she had done so, she plumped down on the floor and, hugging her knees, began to cry.

Why am I feeling so much pain? I want to not care about him anymore, but my heart won’t listen!

Guan Zixuan was standing outside the room. He could hear the soft cries coming from inside. He clenched his fist, sighed, then left her alone.

In the middle of the night, Mo Suqing woke from a start. When she pulled back the curtains, the figure was no longer there.

She sighed, relieved. However, just when she began to turn around, she saw a car not far from where Ye Zhongjue had stood.

The figure was leaning against the car. It was dark, so she couldn’t quite make it out except for an outline of the man and the glow of a cigarette in his hand.

Despite the distance between them, she could sense the melancholy and sadness emanating from him.

She tried to convince herself that he was doing it on purpose, that he was trying to get her?to?soften her heart. She mustn’t be fooled again.

Mo Suqing shook her head, forcing herself to numb her feelings. It is just a part of the act! He is acting again. I can’t let myself be duped.

Have I forgotten how well he knows his stuff? For three months, he has managed to deceive her and hide everything that might?have?given?him away.

At first, she had been confused about why he wouldn’t introduce her to his friends and family. Now, she thought she knew what the reason was.

It’s because he was afraid his lies would be exposed. That must be it…

That must be it!

Mo Suqing kept convincing herself like this, until sleep found her. The next day when she woke up, the car outside the villa was gone.

She got up and went downstairs, wanting to take a walk. She hadn’t left the house in almost two days.

When she went out, Guan Zixuan hadn’t got up yet.

There were a lot of cigarette butts on the ground near the house. They seemed to convey just how restless and upset the smoker had been.

Mo Suqing looked around. Yes, he was truly gone.

However, she had lost the mood of taking a walk. She turned back to the villa.

Guan Zixuan was coming downstairs when she entered the living room.

“You went out?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Mo Suqing replied and started to walk upstairs.

When they passed each other, Guan Zixuan grabbed her arm.

“Talk with me for a while, won’t you?”

Surprised, Mo Suqing nodded.

Right there, that was probably the first serious conversation she and Guan Zixuan had ever had.

Guan Zixuan took Mo Suqing back to the sofa.

“Mo Suqing, do you know why I’m helping you?” he asked without preamble.

Mo Suqing shook her head and ventured, “Because we know each other?”

She didn’t know why, but it was like the time at the pub when she had instinctively known that he would save her and Leng Xiyao.

From the first time they had met at the airport, the time when he had found out that she was a gossip journalist and tried to take revenge on her, the time he had held the press conference and clarified the scandal, to the time he had save her and Leng Xiyao in the pub, they really had experienced a lot together, as if they had known each other for a long, long time.

They surely had become entangled in a way.

Guan Zixuan interrupted her thought, “At first, I was pissed off because I thought you had tricked me…”

Guan Zixuan paused. He raised her brows to see how Mo Suqing would react.

Mo Suqing, without looking up, only said, “I didn’t!”

“I know you didn’t.”

“You?found out?” Mo Suqing was surprised.

“Uh-huh,” Guan Zixuan replied lightly.

“I was pissed off at first, but then I found out by chance that someone had stolen the photo from you…” Guan Zixuan’s mouth curved into a smile. He seemed to be enjoying this.

“Well, that was the first time a woman wanted to have nothing to do with me so badly that she would rather be mistaken. You are very special, do you know that?”

“So?” Mo Suqing looked at him placidly.

“So I began to take an interest in you!” Guan Zixuan spread his arms and shrugged casually.

Mo Suqing said calmly, “You have saved me twice and I am truly grateful for it. I owe you a lot. However, I have to say this: you are silly!”

Guan Zixuan was taken aback. Am I?

“Why? What is wrong with me taking an interest in you? What if I tell you I like you?”

Guan Zixuan’s words struck Mo Suqing like?lightning.

After a while, she finally found her voice.

“But I am married.”

“I know,” Guan Zixuan said flatly; he hated implicitness. Last night when he heard her crying, he could clearly?feel?his heart ache for her.

He also knew that the best way to get someone out of a heartbreak was to get them to plunge into a new relationship.

He was confident he could help Mo Suqing forget about Ye Zhongjue, if she was willing to let him, of course.

“Although you are married, I think you above all others know that your marriage is one not approved by his family and full of lies. Do you really think it will last?”

Guan Zixuan looked at her earnestly. “I am trying to help you. Well, I admit I am thinking about myself, too, because I like you. I have to be a little selfish. However, if you’ll let me, we can conquer all the unhappy memories from the past together.”

Mo Suqing was speechless.

After a while, she said, “Guan Zixuan, is love a game to you? That you can love someone whenever you feel like loving her, and undo it whenever you don’t love her anymore? If love is as simple as that, how come there are so many people being hurt by it?”

Guan Zixuan couldn’t understand. Isn’t love based on the mutual feelings of the two people involved?

If she likes me and I like her, it makes perfect sense we should be together.

How come she would think I see it as a game?

Mo Suqing did not give Guan Zixuan a chance to explain himself. She immediately put an end to his fantasy in a merciless manner.

“You think you like me because you find me interesting, like you said; but, you don’t really like me. Besides, I can’t fall in love with another man in such a short time. Therefore, you should just put the idea out of your head.”