Xu Xiaoya saw Yan Xixi’s face, pale as snow, yet somehow she still managed a smile. "Xixi!" Xu Xiaoya cried.
Just then, Yan Xixi crumpled to the ground.
"Someone... Call a doctor... Quick..."
She vaguely heard a familiar voice. She wanted to turn her head, to look, but she hadn’t the slightest strength. Darkness overwhelmed her, and she fainted.
Behind her, someone rushed up, shouting anxiously, but two men in plainclothes blocked him.
It was Huang Xiaojue. He had rushed over, breathless and sweating, but he was still a step too late. He could only watch helplessly as Yan Xixi was carried into a hospital room. Beside her was the owner of the luxury car he had seen twice before.
He tried to follow, but two large men with menacing expressions firmly blocked his way.
"What do you think you’re doing?"
One of them said in a toneless, mocking voice, "Huang Xiaojue, there’s nothing for you here. Go on. If you keep making trouble, don’t blame us if things turn ugly."
Wan Donglin arranged Yan Xixi’s mother’s funeral.
Yan Xixi didn’t notify any relatives. It’s often when one faces adversity that they discover their circle of friends and family is far smaller than imagined.
Her mother hadn’t been close with many relatives in life, so there was no need for a bustling affair after her passing. The burial plot was large and luxurious, clearly expensive. Yan Xixi watched as her mother’s urn was interred, standing blankly to one side, utterly still. People spoke to her, but she didn’t utter a single word, nor did she shed any tears.
"Xixi," Xu Xiaoya said softly, "Mr. Wan bought this burial plot. It’s said to be worth hundreds of thousands..."
Her eyes remained fixed on the inscription on the tombstone. After a long moment, she murmured to herself, "If only she could have lived in a house worth hundreds of thousands while she was alive."
Xu Xiaoya was left speechless.
It wasn’t until a pair of hands rested on her shoulders that she slowly turned. She assumed it was Xu Xiaoya,
Huang Xiaojue’s heart jolted. He blurted out, "Xixi, how have you gotten so thin?"
She did not answer, shivering slightly as a breeze swept over her.
Huang Xiaojue’s voice was low and hurried. "Xixi, please forgive me. At the time, I didn’t know the situation was so critical... When I saw your mother a few times before the New Year, she always said her condition had greatly improved. I truly had no idea she was in that much danger... Xixi, it’s all my fault... And I didn’t really want to go on that blind date..."
The day Yan Xixi had suggested they break up, he had been consumed by anger and jealousy. After storming off in a huff, he had originally been waiting for her to call him first. But he waited and waited, and she never once reached out.
Huang Xiaojue was heartbroken and dejected. His mother, however, kept nagging him, saying Tongtong was a good catch and that the matchmaker had pestered them countless times. He felt he had no choice but to go through the motions at least once... It was only when he finally met them that he realized the matchmaker was Zhou Xiaoxuan.
"Xixi, I swear I only meant to go through the motions. I wasn’t genuinely going on a blind date..."
He reached for her hand. The moment he touched its bone-chilling coldness, his heart clenched with a pang of guilt, and he found himself unable to say another word.
Yan Xixi remained still and silent, simply letting him hold her hand. Huang Xiaojue’s hands had always felt so broad, substantial, and incredibly warm when he held hers. Today, however, his hand was also strangely cold, carrying no trace of that former warmth.
"Xixi, I’ll never do anything stupid again, and I definitely won’t pick fights with you anymore out of spite. From now on, I’ll take good care of you..."
The future! How distant that future seemed.