Defeated By Love

Translated by Fairy_Dust

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Shu Nian was woken up by a phone call at noon the next day. 

She went to bed very late last night and had a huge headache right this moment because of the lack of sleep. She unlocked her phone in a daze and glanced at the caller ID with sleepy eyes before answering the call: “Mum?” 

As if she didn’t expect her to be still sleeping at this time, Deng Qingyu asked in surprise: “You haven’t woken up yet?” 

Shu Nian rolled over and buried herself in the quilt again. Her voice was muffled as she replied: “I just woke up.” 

“You don’t have to go to the studio today?” 

Hearing those words, her sleepiness disappeared at once and she sat up. After thoroughly thinking about it, she immediately lay back down and said. “No, I don’t have any work before the seventh day of the lunar new year.” 

“Then you…” Deng Qingyu hesitantly asked her. “Do you want to go back to our hometown with me?” 

Shu Nian became silent in an instant. She didn’t know how to answer. 

“If you don’t want to, mum will bring you something to eat now.” Deng Qingyu sighed. “I didn’t go back last year and I have to return this year. I called your grandmother yesterday and heard that her heart hasn’t been very good recently so I have to go back to visit her.” 

The “grandmother” coming out of Deng Qingyu’s mouth wasn’t Wang Hao’s mother. 

It was Shu Gaolin’s mother and Shu Nian’s grandmother. 

Shu Nian grip tightened on her phone and made up her mind, saying. “When will I be back?” 

“If you’re going, we’re ready to leave this afternoon.” Deng Qingyu explained. “If we drive over there and there are no traffic jams then we should arrive at 6 or 7 o’clock in the evening.”

“Okay, I’ll pack now.” 

“That’s good.” Deng Qingyu said. “We’ll come get you later. By the way, you don’t have to go down too early. I’ll call you when we get there.” 

“Okay.” 

Shu Nian pulled out her suitcase after hanging up the phone. Thinking that she would be gone for a week, she stuffed a few extra thicker clothes and took a makeup bag and some skincare products. She wandered around the house absentmindedly, grabbing everything she wanted to take with her. 

After confirming nothing was missing, Shu Nian zipped up the suitcase. 

She sat on the carpet and looked at her phone, feeling a little perplexed. If it was in the past, Shu Nian would have seriously packed up her things and then sat waiting for Deng Qingyu to contact her. 

Unlike now where she couldn’t concentrate on packing her things and instead was constantly thinking of something—— 

Should she tell Xie Ruhe that she was going to return to her hometown for a while? 

She didn’t know if it was necessary to tell him about this kind of thing though. 

If she told him then it would feel too deliberate but if she didn’t say anything then she was afraid that he would be unable to find her later.  

She struggled for a moment and threw away her phone to the side in a huff. She wondered why she was being so stupid, worrying so much over a single phone call. 

Shu Nian stood up and changed her attire. She went to the mirror and put on a thin layer of lipstick. Then, she knelt and sat down beside the wardrobe to choose her socks and happened to managed to catch a glimpse of her phone on the ground. 

It was completely quiet for a second. 

Then, Shu Nian picked it up and dialled Xie Ruhe’s number.  

It was picked up very quickly: “Shu Nian?” 

“En.” Shu Nian licked her lips. “It’s me.” 

Xie Ruhe asked: “What’s wrong?” 

“I’m going back to my hometown in a bit.” Shu Nian was a little nervous and honestly explained. “So I won’t able to accompany you to rehabilitate during this short period, I just wanted to notify you.” 

Hearing her say those words, Xie Ruhe became silent. 

He didn’t speak and Shu Nian didn’t know what else to say either: “That’s all, there’s nothing else.” 

Soon, Xie Ruhe asked. “You’re going back to Shiyan Town?” 

“Yes.”

Xie Ruhe thought for a moment and said a few words: “Be safe and don’t go out alone. Try to find someone you know to go out with you if you have something to do but never be alone.” 

After saying that, he felt like he was overreacting a little much and added in a low voice. 

“Thieves are more rampant during the Spring Festival.” 

Shu Nian’s gaze fell as if she remembered something and appeared a bit dazed: “I know.” 

The two of them didn’t say much more. Deng Qingyu called her at this moment too. After saying goodbye to Xie Ruhe, Shu Nian dragged her suitcase up and went out. Deng Qingyu and Wang Hao were both downstairs. 

Wang Hao came over to help her lift the suitcase and smiled at her kindly: “Shu Nian has got prettier since we last saw each other.” 

Shu Nian smiled stiffly: “Hello, Uncle Wang.” 

Deng Qingyu came to help her arrange her scarf. She looked at her face and frowned: “When did you sleep yesterday? Why are your dark circles so heavy?” 

Shu Nian vaguely replied: “Just a bit of insomnia.” 

The three of them got into the car. 

Wang Linxi didn’t get out of the car. He had stayed in the car and when she got in, he waved his hand happily: “Sister.” 

Shu Nian nodded to him and sat with him in the back seat. She bowed her head and fastened her seat belt. For some reason though, she couldn’t click it into the buckle. 

Noticing that she was struggling, Wang Linxi blinked and pointed to the other buckle: “Sister, you should insert it in this one.” 

Shu Nian changed to the buckle he said and it successfully clicked in.  

“Thank you.” 

Wang Linxi was 13 years old this year, which was the time for growth. He seemed to have grown taller than the last time Shu Nian saw him. He was very delicate and fair and his round eyes make him look like a little hamster. 

Shu Nian didn’t spend much time with him and the two of them didn’t know each other too well. 

She had always heard Deng Qingyu say that Wang Linxi’s character was very noisy. He looked pure but he was a bully in school. The number of times his parents had to be called in one semester couldn’t even be counted with both hands. 

But in front of Shu Nian, he seemed to be a little lamb. 

He listened to her and his attitude towards her was very warm and friendly. 

Shu Nian remembered that when they first met, Wang Linxi was not like this at all. He had his guard up and resisted her entrance into their lives as if he were afraid that she would take his father away. 

She couldn’t remember when his attitude began to change. 

But she felt grateful. 

Because of his attitude, Shu Nian would occasionally have the feeling that she wasn’t a complete outsider. In addition to her mother, there was someone else in the family who looked forward to her presence. 

Shu Nian didn’t sleep well last night so as she listened to Wang Linxi’s voice, she fell asleep against the back of the seat. After waking up, she looked out and found that they had already entered Shiyan Town. 

It was already dark and there were no pedestrians on the road. It looked lonely and desolate. 

She subconsciously tugged the corners of her clothes and withdrew her sight. 

Wang Linxi wasn’t asleep. He caught a glimpse of her movements and lifted his eyes from his phone. He smiled, showing his neat white teeth to her: “Sister, would you like to drink some water?” 

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