Inextricable

The Gongxin Hall was a suite, consisting of an exterior porch area and an indoor banquet hall. The hall was very large, and when there were few people, their voices would echo very loudly. Before Xu Xingxing stepped into the hall, she heard Xu Mingyi’s words resound clearly. She stopped at the door to listen to this for a while. Obviously, Xu Mingyi’s habit of talking bad about people behind her back had not changed, and this time, not only was she talking about her, but also her brother.

“Xu Xingyuan, that one-eyed man, can marry a wife, and that Xu Xingxing is really willing to pay for a house.” Xu Mingyi sneered, and continued. “The two siblings don’t feel ashamed, one is disabled, and the other met her ex-husband, who is hosting a full moon banquet with Xiaosan. Her being pushed to the corner and being left behind for a third person, wasn’t it because she couldn’t give birth?”

[TL Notes: In this context, a third person (pinyin: xiao san) refers to a woman who has an affair with a married man. It is used as a derogatory term in China.]

“If you can’t give birth to a child, let the man find a mistress, and then adopt the mistress’s son as your own child. What’s all the fuss around that? It’s normal for a man to cheat. Because of her divorce, your brother is being bullied to death in the Shunxing company,” Hou Jingfang complained angrily.

“That’s right, if she doesn’t want Wang Shunsheng, she should give him to me, that way everyone will be better off,” Xu Mingyi muttered.

“What nonsense are you talking about! Although Wang Shunsheng is rich, you can’t lower your standards. Besides, he has already gotten married again, so it is impossible for him to divorce and marry you again. Don’t be stupid.” Hou Jingfang quickly stopped Xu Mingyi’s thoughts.

Xu Xingxing’s eyes moved slightly as the knuckles of the fingers holding the doorknob gradually turned white. She looked down at the memo book at hand, breathed deeply once, took out a pen and wrote the name “Wang Shunsheng” first, and added a series of numbers under the name. After doing this, she walked into the hall calmly, and said to the people inside, “It’s time to go.”

Xu Xingxing’s sudden arrival startled the people inside, especially Xu Mingyi and Hou Jingfang. 

“When did you come here?” Xu Mingyi looked at Xu Xingxing and asked.

“Just now.” Xu Xingxing responded lightly before quietly stuffing the note that she had just written into Xu Mingyi’s pocket. However, Xu Mingyi didn’t look at it, and left after saying nothing.

After sending off the Xu family, Xu Xingxing went home with Lin Meihui.

It was exactly two o’clock in the afternoon when they got home, so Xu Xingxing opened the curtains, allowing the sunlight to shine through the glass windows and cover the entire small living room, making everything brighter.

“Did you meet Wang Shunsheng?” Lin Meihui asked softly.

Xu Xingxing paused and looked back at her mother, noticing a bit of sadness in her eyes. “I met him, and he said a few words.”

“That bastard.” Lin Meihui, who had always been weak, suddenly cursed, “He got married and even gave birth to a child. That bastard…”

Xu Xingxing looked at her mother, who had slightly clenched her fists and was looking away from her daughter with a light sourness in her heart. “You still want me to get married, right?” She asked in a low voice.

Lin Meihui’s jaw trembled slightly, she turned back to look at her daughter, her eyes full of unresolved love and distress. “If you don’t want to get married, I agree to it. But I just want to tell you that not all men are like Wang Shunsheng. You just happened to be unlucky the first time. Don’t be afraid of getting married again because of this.” 

Xu Xingxing’s throat moved slightly, and her eyes became hot. She understood that what her mother worried about was not that she would die alone, but that she would be so afraid of marriage after being hurt by Wang Shunsheng that it would lead to her dying alone.

Her mother was weak, but was also courageous and tolerant. Xu Xingxing felt as if her heart was covered with a duvet right now, it was so soft and warm, making the corners of her lips curl up slightly.

She walked up to Lin Meihui, hugged her tightly and muttered, “I’m not afraid of getting married, and I still continue to believe in marriage, because of you and father, who are my role models.”

Lin Meihui’s body trembled, she reached out and grabbed her daughter’s arm, and cried softly.

After this emotional episode, Xu Xingxing and her mother both went to take a nap. By the time she woke up it was already four o’clock in the afternoon. She then took a basket and went to the vegetable market.

Their community was very old, and the vegetable market had shifted locations to a newer community. Now they needed to walk across two intersections to buy vegetables.

After such a busy day, Xu Xingxing wanted to have a good meal, so she picked out the vegetables her family liked to eat, along with some meat. Putting the vegetables and meat into the vegetable basket, Xu Xingxing started to walk home.

At this time, the sun was still hanging in the western sky. It had rained a few days ago, making the sky much clearer now, with the air being very comfortable to breathe in.

Facing the setting sun, Xu Xingxing walked slowly on the road. After she had walked some distance, she heard noise being made by some children. The schools were off on holidays as well, so children were playing outdoors.

Xu Xingxing walked to the side of the road with the vegetable basket in both hands, and watched the children play together under the sunset.

Most of the children were from the surrounding communities. The weather was good today, so not only them, but also the adults who were watching them were smiling. Most of the old people who were accompanying the children would continually remind them not to fall with a smile.

When Xu Xingxing had first gotten married, she had told her mother that she would be able to bring her grandson here to play with other children. Unfortunately, such a scene never occurred.

Xu Xingxing had never given up on marriage, but she still hadn’t found a suitable person to marry.

While she was watching the children play in a daze, a car horn suddenly sounded from behind her, and Xu Xingxing subconsciously looked back. When she spotted the familiar Bordeaux-red Maserati, her pupils shrank slightly.

Huai Jing was sitting in the car.

Xu Xingxing blinked, and suddenly remembered where the two had met for the first time— it was at this very intersection and in front of this red light.

“Get in the car.” Huai Jing glanced lazily at the traffic light, and said in a deep voice, “I’ll send you home.”

After a while, the car stopped at the intersection in front of Xu Xingxing’s house. The car was too eye-catching, and she didn’t want others to see it. After taking off her seat belt, Xu Xingxing was still a little dazed.

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Huai Jing glanced down at the vegetables in the vegetable basket, and noticed a cleaned fish lying in it too. ‘It seems she really likes cooking fish.’

“Why did you come here…” Xu Xingxing looked at Huai Jing with a questioning gaze. 

Huai Jing met Xu Xingxing’s eyes and replied, “I’m on a business trip, I just arrived at noon today.”

There was a gleam in the woman’s rounded eyes, and she moved her lips, but didn’t say anything much. She just thanked him and got ready to get out of the car. As soon as she was about to leave, Huai Jing grabbed her arm. Xu Xingxing paused, and turned her head to look at him suspiciously.

The man slightly “licked” his lower lip, frowned slightly, and asked, “Are you leaving now?”

“Ah?” Xu Xingxing was taken aback for a moment, blinked and asked softly, “What… what’s wrong?”

Xu Xingxing actually believed Huai Jing was on a business trip because he had come to this city the previous time for such a reason, which is when they met for the first time .

“It’s nothing. It’s just that I’m not familiar with this place. It’s hard to meet an acquaintance. You can’t leave before you chat a little with me.”

Xu Xingxing: “…”

She could believe that he was on a business trip, but this last sentence sounded nonsensical. While holding onto the vegetable basket, Xu Xingxing was left a little speechless, and suddenly became eager to expose him.

“You are familiar with this city, and I’m staying close to the place where, the first time…”

“What first time..?” Xu Xingxing muttered shyly. 

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Huai Jing, who was looking at Xu Xingxing’ cute appearance with a smirk, suddenly leaned over and covered Xu Xingxing’s soft lips, raising her heartbeat.