Beijing-Hong Kong Confession

Chapter 138: Morning Heat Rising (6)

There were young ladies and young masters from other wealthy families named He Chuyin and Liang Yiying. Zhu Xia didn't want to deal with socializing, so she declined their invitation.

She looked around, found the dining area, and sat down in a quiet place.

The main dishes at the wedding banquet were rich and all made from high-end ingredients. Sunflower chicken and suckling pig, steamed humphead wrasse, fish maw and conch soup, South African abalone, lobster and e-noodles, wagyu beef cubes, foie gras, fried rice and vegetable dumplings... Zhu Xia enjoyed her meal very much. You Feng sent her a message, asking her where she had been.

Zhu Xia said he was in the dining area and asked him to come over.

When You Feng arrived, Zhu Xia had just taken a bite of soft-boiled abalone. He sat down, pulled out the silk scarf folded into the shape of a crane on the table, and casually threw it next to Zhu Xia's plate.

"What to eat?"

"Soft-boiled abalone." Zhu Xia held chopsticks in one hand and a spoon in the other, and said, "Abalone is pronounced as 'bao yu', which means many children and grandchildren. Soft-boiled abalone means sweetness."

"How sweet can a business marriage be?" You Feng snorted cynically, "I thought you would persuade Liang Yiying."

He Mingliang does not have a good reputation outside. He likes to have fun and is a dissolute wine-drinking and meat-loving man. His bad deeds are not numerous, but they have quite a few.

"You don't understand this." Zhu Xia said, "Liang Yiying doesn't want to hold your hand and grow old together."

As the illegitimate daughter of the Liang family, Liang Yiying was not welcomed by the Liang family when she was young. She knew that the Liang family would arrange her marriage one day.

Liang Yiying was not averse to marriage, but her husband had to meet two conditions.

First, it can bring her more status and wealth than the Liang family; second, she must be easy to control and not too cowardly.

He Mingliang completely met her requirements.

"I thought you girls would all oppose arranged marriages and pursue true love." You Feng said lazily.

“You’re stereotyping.”

The waiter brought the dessert of bird's nest stuffed with bamboo fungus. Zhu Xia thanked him, put the dessert aside, and finished the braised sea tiger wings on the plate first.

"Never define girls." Zhu Xia said.

You Feng leisurely asked the waiter to bring a bottle of red wine. He poured half a glass for Zhu Xia. Zhu Xia took it and praised:

"Your ex-wife is so beautiful."

"Really?" You Feng disagreed, "Don't all women look like that?"

Zhu Xia said: "You are blind."

You Feng sneered, suddenly remembered something, and asked her: "Shang Xun's girlfriend has a grudge against you?"

"I think so." Zhu Xia's dark eyes rolled slightly, and she said calmly, "Didn't I tell you about the building collapse accident eighteen years ago? Zhou was also involved in that project, and something went wrong in the link her father was in charge of, which led to the building collapse and killed 27 people."

Among these 27 people are Zhu Xia’s parents.

Zhu Xia later discovered the truth that had been covered up. Zhou Mo's father was imprisoned and her family went bankrupt.

If Shang Xun really wanted to stand up for Zhou Mo, he should have taught Zhu Xia a lesson, not Li Baize. He repeatedly troubled Li Baize, and said that he was just going through the motions to appease Princess Jasmine.

You Feng didn't say anything, but took a sip of wine thoughtfully.

Zhu Xia took out her cell phone and clicked on WhatsApp. Eleven minutes ago, He Lianzhou sent her a message.

"Still at the wedding?"

Zhu Xia wiped her fingers clean with a handkerchief and typed back slowly: "Yeah, I'm eating."

This time he replied quickly: "When will you be back?"

Zhu Xia thought for two seconds and said, "About an hour later."

He Lianzhou said he sent someone to pick her up and wished Xia Ying good health.

Zhu Xia had almost finished eating. Lin Jiayue was tired of socializing, so she came over and took her to the deck to enjoy the breeze for about ten minutes. After that, she continued to socialize.

Before Zhu Xia left, she did not see You Feng. She only received a message from him saying that he had something to do and would stay for a while.

Zhu Xia raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he had discovered some important secret.

The driver arranged by He Lianzhou was a man in his forties, an experienced driver whom Zhu Xia had never seen before. He smiled and said, "Miss Zhu, Mr. He has asked me to take you back."

The destination of the car was not Yangriju, but the villa in Qianshui Bay. Zhu Xia said nothing. She rolled down the car window, put her elbow on it, and looked at the night view of the city passing by.

The evening breeze made her hair flutter. Zhu Xia's butterfly-like eyelashes blinked lightly, and her black jade eyes were filled with the mist of Hong Kong Island.

Three days.

Three days later, she officially left the hospital and returned to the capital.

The time I spent in Hong Kong was like a dream, hazy and unreal.

*

When we arrived at the villa at 11 o'clock in the evening, He Lianzhou was not there.

Zhu Xia took a comfortable bath in the bathtub in her pajamas.

When she came out of the bathroom, it was almost twelve o'clock. The master bedroom was empty except for her.

Zhu Xia felt refreshed, and her mood was as relaxed and cheerful as the birds fluttering in the wilderness. After blowing her hair, she hummed a little tune in joy, walked to the balcony, and looked at the sea view for a while.

There are dim lights all around, and the fishing lights in the distance on the sea are like stars. From time to time, the sound of waves can be heard, rippling like a beautiful melody on the eardrum, relaxing the nerve endings.

Zhu Xia was tired of standing, so she lay on the chaise longue and checked her phone. There was no message from He Lianzhou, so he probably wasn't on a business trip. I don't know what he was busy with.

The [Iron Triangle of Business] group is quite lively.

Lin Jiayue: "I attend a wedding, and the groom finds out that I beat him up, what should I do?"

Li Boze: "Beat him again"

Zhu Xia: “Second the motion”

Lin Jiayue: "Since he is the groom today, I will show mercy and let him go."

There is a new unread email. It is Kelsey who sent me the information about the riots in New York.

Zhu Xia entered the room and quickly browsed through the laptop, but did not see the information she was looking for. Could she have guessed wrong?

At about one in the morning, Zhu Xia closed her computer, turned her head, and stared blankly at the door with a blank look in her eyes. After a moment, she yawned heavily, and without thinking any more, she climbed onto the big bed, got into the quilt, and fell into a deep sleep.

It was nearly three o'clock in the morning when He Lianzhou came back. The lights in the master bedroom were on, as bright as day. He unbuttoned the top three cufflinks, stood under the light, and looked at the bulging quilt on the bed.

Song Chengyu's words were still fresh in my mind. My childhood sweetheart of nearly twenty years...

He Lianzhou walked to the bedside, lowered his eyes, and looked at Zhu Xia without blinking. A fire was burning in his heart and lungs, burning his throat.

He lied.

As for how long he cared about her.

He was jealous to the point of madness because of the time she spent with other men during a period of her life in which he had no part.

He Lianzhou looked at Zhu Xia quietly for a long time, and his jade-like cold white fingers pulled down the quilt, revealing her neck.

At this moment, there was nothing on the snow-white neck.

The wedding ring was not there.

He knew what it was like for her to like him and what it was like for her not to like him.

When you like someone, you would even give up your life for him; when you don’t like someone, you would even give up your life to leave him.

A hint of sarcasm appeared at the corner of He Lianzhou's lips.

Once she made up her mind to leave him, he had no way to stop her.

Zhu Xia didn't know why, but she felt inexplicably panicked in her dream. Her heart beat rapidly, forcing her to open her eyes suddenly and wake up.

I suddenly woke up, and what I saw was the man's obscure black eyes.

"You're back..." She rubbed her eyes and looked dazed.

Zhu Xia sat up in bed, her vision blurry, her upper and lower eyelashes seemed to be stuck together. She blinked hard several times before she could see clearly.

Zhu Xia tilted her head and looked at He Lianzhou, asking, "Why don't you speak?"

Is it fake? An illusion?

She reached out to grab him, and He Lianzhou held out his hand.

Zhu Xia immediately grabbed both hands.

Familiar touch, dry and warm.

it is true.

The real He Lianzhou.