Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Yuan Tianxing took a deep breath. He was no longer a boy. He always knew that he was only a friend and a brother to Lin Qiao. Now, he had finally let out the secret that was buried in his heart for years. She rejected him straightforwardly, and he had foreseen that result. He had prepared himself for that.
He was still very sad though. The two zombies who interrupted his conversation with Lin Qiao made him want to both laugh and cry. As they left, his sadness was suddenly eased a little bit, and of course, the slight expectation that he had before faded as well.
Sensing the warmth from his eye sockets, Yuan Tianxing felt embarrassed.
‘Eh? Did I cry? I didn’t even feel it! This is so embarrassing!’
“Eh-hem,” Yuan Tianxing slightly turned his head and coughed awkwardly. Then, he turned back and looked at Lin Qiao, “I’m sorry to make you feel troubled. You’re right. If I don’t give up, I’d be trapped in my feelings toward you. Please allow me some time…”
Lin Qiao sighed. She made a step forward and patted him on the shoulder, then turned and headed toward the stairs. She was a little delighted actually, because her rejection didn’t seem to hit the man strongly. He must have foreseen the result and prepared himself for it long ago.
He was over thirty years old. For many things, he was able to think positively.
Yuan Tianxing watched Lin Qiao’s back blur in the darkness, then disappear into the stairs. Her figure was both familiar and strange to him. As she left, he gave a long sigh, then raised his head to look at the sky. The sky was occupied by the dullish darkness. After the apocalypse, the sky was always like that at night.
The cold wind blew across him from time to time, helping him to calm down slowly.
Lin Qiao went downstairs and gave a long sigh of relief. She had said no to Yuan Tianxing, but couldn’t manage to ask him to pay some attention to Lin Wenwen. Lin Wenwen was a poor girl, but she still had a chance.
Thankfully, Yuan Tianxing came to her to tell her about his feelings. If he didn’t do that, she would have no idea how to reject him and make him give up. He would never notice any other girl unless he gave up on her.
Lin Qiao wanted to help her little sister. So, in fact, she was already waiting for Yuan Tianxing to talk to her before he made the decision.
She went to the kitchen, picked a plate, and washed some strawberries. After that, she put some sweet potatoes on another plate and then went back to Mrs. Lin’s room.
“What took you so long? Where did you get the food from?” Cheng Wangxue looked at her and asked.
“Oh, there was another thing that I had to do,” Lin Qiao put the plate on a tea table.
Lin Wenwen glanced at her, wanting to say something, but she didn’t. Earlier on when Lin Qiao left the room, she saw Yuan flash across on the outside.
“You saw him?” Lin Qiao looked at her and said. Lin Wenwen paused briefly, then dropped her eyes and nodded.
All the others turned to her immediately.
“Did he talk to you? Did Tianxing…” Lin Wenwen looked at the cards in her hands and asked in low spirits. The others instantly wore a knowing face, then turned their eyes away. They turned to Lin Qiao, asking her the same question with their eyes.
Lin Qiao gave them a glance, then sat on the couch near the tea table as she picked up a strawberry and made a bite. Only after that did she look at the others and said, “Yes, I rejected him.”
The others looked at each other while sighing silently.
Lin Qiao swallowed the sour fruit, then glanced at Lin Wenwen and said, “He’s still up there… Perhaps, you can go and see if he’s alright?”
That was only a suggestion.
Lin Wenwen shook her head as she bit her lower lip, then responded, “No. I don’t want him to think that I’m trying to avail myself of the opportunity. Besides, he doesn’t need to be comforted. He is an adult. If he really wants to give up on you, he’ll do it. He just needs some time.”
“You’re right,” Lin Qiao nodded.
“You can’t force a relationship. Tianxing understands that. Since he has told you about his feelings, I assume he had prepared for the result too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t tell you about how he feels. Wouldn’t keeping it secret be better?” Mrs. Lin sighed and said. Then, she looked at Lin Qiao and continued, “Be honest with us. When are you gonna tell us about the father of your baby?”
“What?” Lin Qiao didn’t see that coming. Why was the topic suddenly brought to her? Well… Viney’s father…
“The baby is growing,” said Mrs. Lin with a bland face, “Isn’t the man going to do anything about that? Do you really expect us to believe in your made-yourself-pregnant lie?”
The others all fixed their eyes on Lin Qiao’s stomach. “When exactly will the baby come out?”
Earlier on, Lin Qiao had mentioned that the baby needed a great amount of energy to grow, and would be in a long-term, deep sleep. It had been about five months since she got pregnant, yet her lower abdomen was still flat. When would she have the pregnant belly?
Lin Qiao’s smile froze on her face. She raised her head to look at the ceiling, then quickly glanced at the others and said, “Well… I don’t know who the father is either! My mind wasn’t clear that day. I didn’t know how Viney got into my body from the space either! I really don’t know!”
While speaking, she looked at the others seriously. The others rolled their eyes. Clearly, no one believed her.
Lin Wenwen blinked and said, “Which day was that? Perhaps, we can guess it out.” Then, she started thinking. “Emm, you said that the baby is four or five months old. Is it four months or five months? If it were four months ago, I think it happened in Sea City. We were still in Sea City Base back then, weren’t we?”
Speaking of Sea City… Lin Wenwen suddenly had a faint idea. However, that idea flashed across her mind and soon disappeared. She failed to grasp it.
“Eh… No matter who’s the father, I don’t think he’ll want Viney. She isn’t a normal child after all.” Lin Qiao glanced at her own belly and then continued, “Perhaps, he doesn’t know about the baby. Or, he is probably a zombie too.”
That was not impossible, but the people on the scene were too smart to believe that.
“You’re looking at the ceiling again! You can keep making up stories. We’ll be waiting to see which man will knock on our door and ask about the baby,” Cheng Wangxue gave Lin Qiao a sideways glance.
Lin Qiao was a little speechless.
That could really happen! Wu Chengyue didn’t seem to give up on her currently. He hadn’t been doing anything to her, but every time she saw him, she sensed danger from his eyes.
Also, by reading Wu Yueling’s mind, she learned that Wu Chengyue was probably instilling some strange thoughts into his daughter’s head.