Free Web NovelChapter 416: Chapter 416: Yanxi 24
That afternoon, Xu Yanxi was in the study, her head spinning from trying to learn physics. Even though she was a math teacher, she had been away from the sciences for so many years. Picking it up again felt like starting from scratch, and it was incredibly difficult.
To help her perk up, Tan You casually shared a piece of gossip. "Jin Taiyuan got hurt. Hong Xiazhen was the one who hurt him."
"Why?" Xu Yanxi was completely surprised. "Didn’t Hong Xiazhen used to be really into Jin Taiyuan?"
"You said it yourself—that was in the past," Tan You said with a smile. "When she had money, she could afford to chase after love. But once the money was gone, the only thing she valued was more money. How could she possibly be content to live a quiet life with Jin Taiyuan?"
"Jin Taiyuan is a capable worker, and he’s earned a good amount these past few years, but he was very cold to Hong Xiazhen." Tan You paused before finally saying the word. "He was tormenting himself in a roundabout way, and at the same time, he was tormenting Hong Xiazhen."
"Hong Xiazhen was never the most emotionally stable person to begin with, so it’s not surprising she’d do something like this."
"Luckily, Jin Taiyuan was lucid enough to call an ambulance for himself. If the doctors had been ten minutes later, he wouldn’t have made it."
Xu Yanxi was silent for a long moment before saying, "I don’t feel sorry for him at all."
"Why should you feel sorry for him? He brought this all on himself." Tan You’s tone was icy. "It’s a shame he managed to survive. Now Hong Xiazhen won’t get a long sentence."
Xu Yanxi was surprised. "He’s going to press charges against Hong Xiazhen?"
"Of course he is," Tan You said with a shrug. "He blames almost all his misfortunes on Hong Xiazhen. Now that she’s made him suffer so much, how could he possibly let her go?"
"Just think about Hong Youcheng, still in prison. I wonder what his face will look like when he hears the news." Tan You gave a malicious smile. "Neither that father nor daughter is any good."
Xu Yanxi stated the facts. "Hong Xiazhen was in the wrong, but is Jin Taiyuan really completely blameless? Maybe he never imagined that one day he’d become the very type of person he despised most."
"He was someone who despised mistresses and cheating men more than anything, yet he ended up becoming one himself. He couldn’t accept what he’d become, so he poured all that anger and resentment onto Hong Xiazhen. When you think about it, the two of them are truly pathetic."
"They both utterly detested their status as illegitimate children, yet they were shackled by it their entire lives. They couldn’t break free or cast it aside, and in the end, they forced themselves into becoming the very people they hated most."
"Actually, I realized later on that even if Hong Xiazhen had never appeared, Jin Taiyuan and I probably wouldn’t have lasted." This was the first time Xu Yanxi had spoken to Tan You about how she felt afterward.
"Because Jin Taiyuan wasn’t honest with you?" Tan You understood Xu Yanxi completely. To her, Xu Yanxi’s past was an open book, and she could even see right through to Xu Yanxi’s own thoughts.
"Yes," Xu Yanxi said, curling into a ball. "He wasn’t honest with me. Or rather, from start to finish, he never truly trusted me. That’s why I say that even without Hong Xiazhen, it would have been hard to maintain our marriage."
"He didn’t believe I would accept his background and his messy family. That’s the most tragic part."
"Forget it, there’s no point thinking about this now." Xu Yanxi pushed the thoughts aside. "But honestly, knowing that he’s not doing well... it makes me feel this strange sense of happiness."
Tan You brought the topic back. "As long as you’re happy. Your head’s not spinning anymore, is it?"
"Don’t mention it! The moment you do, I feel awful all over," Xu Yanxi wailed, flopping onto the large desk. "Forget it, I’m going to go for a walk. Studying day in and day out has made my brain numb."
Leaving the study, she heard Huahua and Shuangshuang meow in unison from the cat tree in the living room. Xu Yanxi looked at the two little ones. "Want to go play outside?"
Huahua rolled over, a clear refusal. Shuangshuang, however, leaped gracefully from the cat tree and landed steadily in Xu Yanxi’s arms.
Xu Yanxi cuddled the half-grown kitten. "Come on, let’s go for a walk. When we get back, I’ll make you guys some salmon."
Shuangshuang meowed, its little whiskers twitching. Xu Yanxi picked up a small bag. If the little kitten got tired of walking, she could put it right inside.
The residential complex was usually quiet. The time Xu Yanxi came out was just around dusk. The warm afternoon sun made both Xu Yanxi and Shuangshuang feel a little lazy.
She sat down on a bench and played with Shuangshuang for a while. Once she was sure she had her wits about her again, Xu Yanxi placed Shuangshuang in the canvas bag. "Let’s go grocery shopping now. Time to buy some salmon."
Shuangshuang curled up quietly in Xu Yanxi’s bag without a sound. But Xu Yanxi’s luck wasn’t great. By the time she got to the supermarket, the last two boxes of salmon had just been taken. Xu Yanxi had no choice but to settle for some beef instead.
Inside the canvas bag, Shuangshuang sniffed the air, shifted slightly, and went back to sleep, curled around its tail.
Back home, Xu Yanxi got busy. Since she hadn’t managed to buy salmon, she had to prepare a proper meal for the cats, didn’t she? Just as Xu Yanxi was in the kitchen making the cat food, the usually quiet Shuangshuang silently slipped out through the balcony window.
Huahua, who was lounging in the cat bed, didn’t make a sound. ’A fall from that height won’t kill a cat.’
Xu Yanxi, busy in the kitchen, was oblivious to all of this. Tan You, however, saw everything clearly. Curious about what Shuangshuang was up to, she decided to follow it.
She watched as Shuangshuang navigated the high-rise buildings as if walking on level ground, its nose twitching every so often. It quickly locked onto its destination and headed straight for the twelfth floor.
As luck would have it, the window of the twelfth-floor apartment wasn’t shut tight, allowing Shuangshuang to enter the premises with ease. It showed no fear of the unfamiliar place, and after a quick tour of the apartment, it swaggered into the kitchen.
On the kitchen island sat two boxes of salmon. Shuangshuang was practically drooling. In no time, one box of salmon was in its belly. As for the other, it clawed open the plastic wrap, snatched the biggest piece in its mouth, and turned to leave.
Unfortunately, it had only taken two steps before it was lifted up by the scruff of its neck. Shuangshuang didn’t panic at all, its mismatched eyes staring intently at the man before it.
Sheng Zhou was also a bit surprised. He rarely had time to cook a meal for himself, but after coming back, he’d had to pop into the study for something. When he came out, he found a little thief?
The little thief was particularly brazen, too—eating one and taking another. ’How could it be so bold?’ Yet, as Sheng Zhou looked at the little kitten with the mismatched eyes, he found that, strangely, he didn’t dislike it.
He then noticed the tag on the kitten’s neck, which even had a phone number on it. Sheng Zhou smiled playfully, placed the little kitten on the kitchen island, and dialed the number on the tag.
