51. Officer Jiang, You’re the One Who Tricked Me Into Marriage, Right?

“Then shall I tell you?” Lin Xingzi felt much better.

She didn’t want to argue or have conflicts with Jiang Yan because of that bastard Zhan Yan, but if Jiang Yan truly wasn’t angry or bothered at all, she wouldn’t feel comfortable either.

“It’s actually quite boring, and a little embarrassing. You’re not allowed to laugh at me.”

Jiang Yan promised, “Okay.”

Lin Xingzi lay back in the bedding, starting her story wherever her thoughts led her. There was nothing unspeakable about her and Zhan Yan’s past.

“My English wasn’t good, and I had no friends abroad. Everything was so unfamiliar, and the locals were very exclusive. After three months of being abroad, I wanted to come back, but Dad wouldn’t let me.”

Lin Xingzi still didn’t understand why Lin Xudong’s attitude was so firm back then.

She cried every night she called, knowing Lin Xudong doted on her, so she always called him first. Lin Xudong, though heartbroken, never relented, only repeating, ‘Be a good girl, Jiang Jiang, listen to Dad, study hard, and your parents will come to see you after a while.’

“Then another month passed, and Zhan Yan also went. He attended the same school as me and lived next door.”

He claimed it was for her, but who knew what twisted thoughts were in his head. He was a bit thick-skinned but definitely not a love-struck fool.

“My dad and Zhan Yan’s dad were old schoolmates. I’ve known him since kindergarten. We often fought when we were little, then he learned to let me win, and I found it boring. All the way until high school, although I didn’t particularly like him, I didn’t hate him either. He must have had his own plans for going abroad, but honestly, I was grateful.”

Having a familiar friend by her side in a strange country would make things somewhat easier.

“I didn’t return to China for three years and gradually got used to it. I was originally planning to complete the procedures and come back after college, but it wasn’t because Zhan Yan said it was because of him.”

She glossed over it with a few words, but Jiang Yan could imagine how lonely she must have been, sent alone to a foreign country at such a young age. Zhan Yan could say, ‘she wouldn’t have made it without me,’ which naturally came from a place of confidence. There might have been some exaggeration, but it was an undeniable fact that he had been with Lin Xingzi during those years.

“When did you two get together?”

Jiang Yan’s tone was calm. Lin Xingzi secretly glanced at him. There was no emotional fluctuation on his face, but he was holding the thermometer upside down.

“Just... just... just around graduation. One night, my place was broken into, and besides taking things, he also tried something indecent...”

The rest was unspoken but self-evident. Zhan Yan finally did something decent.

“He saved the damsel in distress, you were moved, and offered yourself?”

“What are you talking about? I’m only shallow in front of you,” Lin Xingzi just closed her eyes and confessed everything. “He took advantage of the situation. Why would I agree when I don’t like him? Then he said I was stubborn and wouldn’t admit it, and wanted to play a twenty-second staring game with me. Ridiculous, my heart rate couldn’t be normal after just experiencing an accident, could it? He cheated, and I... my mind wasn’t quite normal that day either... But it was only two days! He courted disaster himself and disgusted me, so I cheerfully dumped him and returned to China.”

Jiang Yan’s only memories with Lin Xingzi before their marriage were from her first year of high school, which seemed pale and thin compared to her twenty years with Zhan Yan.

“If Lin Ke hadn’t organized that class reunion, or if he had immediately chased after you and clarified the misunderstanding after you returned to China, without a two-year gap, would the outcome have been different?”

“There are no ‘ifs’ in this world. Everything that happens is meant to happen.”

She didn’t hesitate, speaking frankly and directly. Jiang Yan suddenly felt relieved.

“Mhm, you’re right.”

He leaned down, pressing his forehead against hers, his fingers gently rubbing and caressing her earlobe. Their breaths intertwined. Lin Xingzi noticed that he particularly craved this intimacy when no outsiders were present recently.

“I’ve told you so much, surely I can get a chance to ask you a question in return.”

“What do you want to know?”

“My taking the wrong medical report was my mistake, but later you saw the doctor. You should have known before me that I wasn’t actually pregnant... Don’t go, I’m not finished yet,” Lin Xingzi raised her hands and hugged his neck. “When my parents scolded you, you didn’t say a word, until my period came the night we got our marriage certificate.”

Li Qing always said Lin Xingzi used a fake pregnancy to trick him into marriage, but when it came to their marriage, it was hard to say who had calculated whom.

“Officer Jiang, you’re the one who tricked me into marriage, right, hmm?”

She was clearly feverish and lightheaded, yet she was sharper than ever. Jiang Yan couldn’t evade. After a long silence, he raised his hands in surrender.

“I admit it. Are you going to punish me?”

Lin Xingzi struggled to suppress her laughter, her shoulders shaking.

________________________________________

Although Lin Xingzi wasn’t feeling well, she still joined everyone for New Year’s Eve dinner. Lin Ke’s daughter seemed particularly fond of Jiang Yan, constantly trying to climb onto him.

This trait, at least, was inherited from Lin Xingzi.

They both pick the handsome ones.

Lin Xudong looked on, reminded of Lin Xingzi when she was little, his eyes moist with a touch of weary turbidity. “In the blink of an eye, our Jiang Jiang has grown up and is married.”

“You’ll be a grandfather in a few years, still treating your daughter like a child...”

The adults drank tea, played chess, and watched the Spring Festival Gala, while the younger generation stayed nearby.

Lin Xingzi, lacking energy, nestled on the sofa, propping her elbow as she watched Jiang Yan coax the child. Lin Ke leaned over, “Little sister, how’s the husband your brother gave you?”

The grudge of a broken leg was irreconcilable. Back then, Lin Xingzi misunderstood Jiang Yan and Ji Qiuchi, and Lin Ke was also locked up in the small dark room with them.

“If you’re satisfied, do me a favor. Your sister-in-law likes that person from your company. Tell him to play more roles as perverted scumbags, to shatter your sister-in-law’s daydreams, and protect your brother’s marital happiness.”

Lin Xingzi: “...”