NWWNL – Chapter 78

Jiang Cheng’s funeral was scheduled for two days later.

Old Master Yi went to pay his condolences in person. The gesture showed that the relationship between the Yi family and the Jiang family, which had not been chilly for more than a decade, had finally begun to warm up again.

Xu Xinyi saw that Jiang Nian stood with Jiang Huai the whole time during the funeral. Jiang Huai solemnly received condolences from the visitors and would then introduced them to Jiang Nian as an aside.

The dead were gone but the living continued on. 

The days marched by in their usual orderly way.

Despite the fact that Jiang Cheng had unfortunately passed away, the cooperation with the Jiang family was still imminent.

The whole Yi family was very busy in order to prepare for their cooperation with the Jiang family, and so was Jiang Huai. The very next day after the funeral, he personally approached Yi Yang to renew talks about the cooperation. The terms were the same as those agreed upon by Jiang Cheng before, word for word. He even asked if Yi Yang had any further conditions.

Speaking realistically, Jiang Cheng was dead, so whatever agreement he might have had with Yi Yang now only existed in Yi Yang’s memories.

But Yi Yang did not try to take advantage of this opportunity. He just responded with the words ‘Happy cooperation’.

In the Yi Group headquarters building, Zhao Bin was currently bringing a document to Yi Yang’s office.

“President Yi, the vice president looked over this document and asked me to come and get your signature.”

After taking a moment to carefully read the document, Yi Yang signed his name at the end.

Zhao Bin was about to take the documents and leave but just as he turned Yi Yang stopped him. 

“Wait a minute.”

“President Yi, is there something else I can do for you?”

Yi Yang looked at Zhao Bin with furrowed brows, he seemed to be thinking about something very important.

This was an expression Zhao Bin was very familiar with, he knew that when Yi Yang made this face it was because he had something important to ask him or to explain to him. Instantly, he schooled his face into a serious expression and waited for Yi Yang’s next words.

For a long time Yi Yang didn’t say anything until, “Women, what kind of surprises do they like?”

The impact of this sentence on Zhao Bin was staggering. It was as if a ferocious gangster pointed a gun at him and then asked him if he could borrow some sugar because he was baking a cake.

“What kinds of surprises do women like?” Since the boss asked, Zhao Bin thought about it for a while. He remembered that his girlfriend seemed very happy when he sent her flowers. But if they were discussing Mrs. Yi, just flowers might not be enough. “They generally like flowers or jewelry, right?”

He posed his answer as a question to give himself some leeway.

Yi Yang nodded. “OK, I understand. For now, take this document back to the vice president.”

“Understood.”

After the sound of the office door closing rang out, Yi Yang set down his pen and pondered Zhao Bin’s words.

Flowers? Jewelry?

Judging by Xu Xinyi’s actions at the auction house before, she probably liked jewelry, yes.

And there was no woman who didn’t like roses.

He knew what to do.

————————-

Xu Xinyi had also been very busy recently. She was occupied with talks regarding her scripts and endorsements. And recently, Anya had asked for some time off which made things even busier. Xu Xinyi had no idea what she was busy with.

Today, a large bouquet of roses were sent to the front desk again, but this time there were 999 roses. Several girls who worked in the studio gathered around to gossip about it.

“What’s going on here?”

“Sister Xinyi, Sister Anya told us that all the flowers sent to the studio in the future should be directly thrown away, it’s just that we thought it would be a pity to throw away so many roses.”

Xu Xinyi took a brief look and she assumed that these roses were also sent by Luo Jie.

Leaving aside Luo Jie’s character, Xu Xinyi was a little impressed by the thought of a man who would send flowers every day.

After all, Yi Yang, that dog man, had never sent her even a single flower.

“Anya isn’t here, so you can keep them if you like.”

“Okay!”

After that, Xu Xinyi went into her office.

That dog man really didn’t know anything about romance!

She would just buy some flowers for herself later!

At around four o’clock that afternoon, Anya called her in tears and asked her to come and accompany her for a drink.

On the phone, Anya was sobbing sadly and sounded like a woman trapped by love, which made Xu Xinyi was shocked. Could a woman like Anya still be hurt by a man? Xu Xinyi immediately headed to the nightclub that Anya was at, pedal to the metal the whole way.

Inside a private room, Anya was surrounded by two young fresh meats, one was accompanying her in singing and the other was accompanying her in drinking. The private room was filled with the sounds of loud singing and the atmosphere was decadent. In the center of it all, Anya was almost drunk to death.

“What’s going on?” Xu Xinyi frowned when she stepped inside.

As soon as Anya saw Xu Xinyi had arrived she waved off the fresh meats and sent them away so Xu Xinyi could sit next to Anya.

“Instead of working, you’ve been drinking here these past few days? You drank all this wine? ” Xu Xinyi looked at the bottles and cans that were scattered on the table in front of her and frowned slightly, “Are you heartbroken?”

“Heartbroken? I’d rather be heartbroken.” Anya gritted her teeth, opened a new bottle of wine, and then directly took a swig from the bottle.

“Don’t just drink, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

Anya slammed the bottle down on the table in front of her.

“The day before yesterday, while I was drinking at a bar, I happened to run into Luo Jie in the booth next to mine…” When Anya spoke she sounded like she was so angry that she wanted to directly kill that son of a bitch Luo Jie. She paused to pick up the wine bottle in front of her again. 

“Wait a minute,” Xu Xinyi stopped her hand. “And then? What happened next?”

“And then… I slept with him. “

The twist came so fast that Xu Xinyi couldn’t accept it for a moment. Her eyes widened and she asked with disbelief, “…what? What did you say? Did he force you?”

Anya shook her head in agony. “I forced him.”

“…” This twist came even faster.

“I saw the surveillance footage from the hotel and the car recorder and… and I really forced him.”

Xu Xinyi wanted to speak but didn’t know what to say.

Anya turned to look at Xu Xinyi. Her expression seemed to say ‘I’m not clean anymore, I’m done with everything’. “Xinyi, can you even imagine? I was so hungry that I slept with that son of a bitch.”

Xu Xinyi had a ‘I really don’t know what to say’ expression on her face.

“Anya, although it might seem like you forced Luo Jie from the footage but, as a man, his intentions behind leaving with a drunken woman are just too obvious. Maybe you were framed by him on purpose.”

Even if the heavens were wrong and earth was wrong, good sisters were always infallible.

Anya seemed to consider those words deeply before agreeing, “Yes! You’re right, it’s all that son of a bitch Luo Jie’s fault!”

Suddenly Xu Xinyi’s cell phone vibrated with a message on WeChat.

Xu Xinyi took a look at it. It was a message from Yi Yang asking where she was and if she could come back earlier.

Anya glanced at the message and said, “Are your sister here more important, or is a man more important?”

Xu Xinyi responded in an instant, “You are important!”

“Then don’t go anywhere tonight, stay here with me.”

“Alright.” Xu Xinyi replied. Then she messaged Yi Yang and told him that she had something to do today and she was not certain when she would be able to come back, so he shouldn’t wait for her.

—————————

Lanting had perhaps the best view in all of City A.

The building was built facing the river and several hundred square meters of space on the top floor was designed as a large glass room, with a theme restaurant that had a 360-degree view of the whole City A. The guests inside would have a wide panoramic no matter which direction they looked.

This place could only be used by customers from Lanting itself.

Several violinists were waiting on one side while Yi Yang sat quietly at a table. He was waiting for Xu Xinyi to come back.

Eight o’clock.

Nine o’clock.

Ten o’clock.

Yi Yang checked the time on the watch on his wrist. There was no sign of anxiety on his face at all.

A staff member came forward. He carefully asked, “Mr. Yi, the chef said that if he waits much longer the seafood flown in today will probably not be fresh anymore.”

“Then change it to steak.”

“Alright.”

The staff member quietly retreated.

Yi Yang picked up his cell phone and opened the chat box with Xu Xinyi. The last message was still a message he had sent himself. After three hours Xu Xinyi still had not replied to his message.

It had been many years since the last time he waited for someone else for so long. These days, no one would dare to make him wait.

But he kept waiting.

She was probably on the way.

Inside the nightclub’s private room, Xu Xinyi swayed to Anya’s side and hugged her arm, “Anya, beauty, how long are you going to keep drinking like this?”

Xu Xinyi had been really worried about leaving Anya with those men she was with so she personally dragged her out of the nightclub and took Anya back to Anya’s home.

But this drunkard was so drunk that she was crying and vomiting at the same time, so Xu Xinyi had no choice but to stay at her house to take care of her. She even stayed the night and slept beside her.

After one of Anya’s assistants showed up at eight o’clock the next morning, Xu Xinyi tiredly left and drove back to Lanting, ready to get some sleep.

As soon as she got out of the car, she saw one of Lanting’s staff members waiting in the lobby downstairs. “Mrs. Yi, why are you only back now?”

“I had something to do last night. Why, what’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter? Didn’t you tell Mr. Yi?” This staff member happened to be the one who had stayed with Yi Yang until late last night. It hadn’t mattered how late it got, Mr. Yi had just kept waiting. So this ordinary employee had some thoughts in his mind, he thought that maybe if he showed his face to Mrs. Yi now and extolled Mr. Yi’s virtues a bit, it might be good for his future. “Mr. Yi waited for you until two o’clock in the morning last night. He should still be upstairs now.”

Xu Xinyi was slightly stunned. Her face seemed obviously at a loss, “Waited for me? Until two o’clock in the morning?”

She patted her forehead and suddenly remembered that yesterday Yi Yang had messaged her and asked her to come back early. But she made it clear then that she had something to do, and she was not sure when she would come back, so she told him not to wait for her.

After remembering this, she took out her phone and opened WeChat. Then she opened the chat record with Yi Yang.

The last message was sent by Yi Yang at eight o’clock last night, after she had replied to him.

It said: “It doesn’t matter. Do what you need to do, I’ll wait for you.”

Anya, that woman, was acting so crazy last night that her hands had been full all night. She hadn’t noticed this WeChat message at all.

“Yes, Mr. Yi made special arrangements yesterday and was waiting for you to come back. But then he didn’t see you even after waiting until two o’clock in the morning.”

Xu Xinyi quickly thought things through and then said with a smile, “OK, I know now. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Xu Xinyi hurried upstairs.

He waited for me? Made special arrangements? Was yesterday some important day?

She took out her cell phone and sucked in a breath of cold air.

Yesterday was the 27th. Their wedding anniversary.

Xu Xinyi had patted herself on the chest and swaggered around in front of Yi Yang just a few days ago, saying that he couldn’t even remember their wedding anniversary. Now, only a few days later, and the person who didn’t remember had become her.

Since yesterday was their wedding anniversary, did that mean he had been reservedly waiting for her at home all day to celebrate it together?

Why did he have to be so stingy with his words? Why couldn’t he just generously say ‘Today is our wedding anniversary, I have a surprise for you, come home early’?

If Yi Yang really said something like that, was there any way she wouldn’t have come back all night?

The elevator door opened.

Xu Xinyi walked slowly out of the elevator. She felt guilty for not coming back last night for no good reason.

Only when they had righteousness on their side could a person be strong.

So how could she act strong this time?

Before, when Yi Yang forgot their wedding anniversary she had quickly settled that account with him.

But now, if Yi Yang wanted to settle things with her for the same reason, how could she explain it? She began to run through some possible responses.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see your message last night, so…”

–“Isn’t that just admitting that I forgot about our wedding anniversary? No way! I won’t let him catch me forgetting our wedding anniversary.”

“Husband, you don’t understand. Anya was crying so pitifully yesterday that I really couldn’t leave. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting all night.”

Xu Xinyi thought for a moment.

–“But will that just add fuel to the fire? Yi Yang may get more angry, what should I do if he starts acting even more narrow-minded because of it?”

“That won’t work either. Really, how should I explain?”

Xu Xinyi hovered outside the door, deep in through.

Meanwhile, just inside the door, Yi Yang, who had been about to go out, loosened his grip on the doorknob and listened quietly.

–“Yi Yang is not that petty, is he? There is a wedding anniversary every year anyway. Not to mention that we have never spent them together in any of the years before this. So why is he making a scene of it this year?”

After she had that thought she regained her confidence. Xu Xinyi gritted her teeth and said, “Right, that Yi Yang doesn’t even look at his own actions. He was absent in every previous year but I never mentioned it. Meanwhile, I was absent only once so what qualification does he have to complain about me?”

–“If he really wants to mess with me and try to blame me, then fine, let’s get a divorce!”

Xu Xinyi viciously came to a conclusion and then opened the door only to find that Yi Yang was standing right behind it. Suddenly Xu Xinyi was only separated from him by a few scant inches.

Sight was a bit more sensitive than smell so after Xu Xinyi saw Yi Yang for a second or two, she suddenly smelled the fragrance of roses.

Her line of sight was fixed on Yi Yang but she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the whole room was filled with the color red.

She looked past him into the house.

She saw that the whole house was full of roses. For a moment, Xu Xinyi fell into a trance and she wondered whether she had gone in the wrong door. But then she noticed there was a photo of her and Yi Yang from their wedding day on the wall, framed by the roses all around.

“This…”

Xu Xinyi remembered that the staff member downstairs mentioned that Yi Yang had made some special arrangements for her and waited for her until two o’clock in the morning.

–“Is this the surprise that Yi Yang prepared for me yesterday?”

The strong scent of roses overwhelmed her sense of smell, it seemed that every rose was either budding or in full bloom, as their home had been transformed into a sea of flowers.

She stood at the door at a loss, only vaguely feeling her heart thudding in her chest, and not knowing where to put her eyes.

Distantly, she thought that she must have walked too quickly on the way home just now, otherwise why would her heart beat so fast?

–“Why would he do this? So old-fashioned.”

She turned to look at Yi Yang. “I was really held up last night and I forgot to tell you. I’m sorry I kept you waiting for so long.”

Xu Xinyi quickly reached into Yi Yang’s pocket and took out his cell phone. Then she deftly operated it for a moment before she looked up and asked him, “Are you going to work now?”

“Mhm.” Yi Yang looked at her for a moment.

“But today is our wedding anniversary.” She held the phone up in front of Yi Yang.

Yi Yang saw that the time on his phone had been changed by Xu Xinyi just now. The date now said that it was still yesterday.

“So where are you going?” Xu Xinyi asked him.

Yi Yang chuckled. “Since today is our wedding anniversary. Where could I go?”

Xu Xinyi pushed the phone into Yi Yang’s hand and turned to walk down the rose aisle that had been made for one person, causing rose petals to flurry with each step she took.

Suddenly she was caught off guard and hugged tightly from behind by Yi Yang. Warm breath tickled her ears.

“I’m sorry,” Yi Yang whispered in her ear. “It was my fault to keep you waiting for so long. Please forgive me.”

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tl note: I made a discord. Just sort of testing the waters to see if there’s any interest. You can chat about my current projects or read my gripes about my new projects.

tl note: It’s happening!

Also, I dunno. When you want to make an appointment with someone you need to get confirmation from them. You can’t just say ‘I’ll wait for you’ and then just actually go wait somewhere for hours, right?