Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Lin Yanhe grew flustered under Zhou Yanning's stare, turned her head aside, and felt uneasy. But this was something she, Yan, and Chen Shutang had all agreed upon, so she could only grit her teeth and nod. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Is that really so?" Seeing Lin Yanhe's flustered expression, Zhou Yanning laughed inwardly. She really was a girl who could not keep a secret; her guess was probably right on the mark.

"Yes," Lin Yanhe said, not daring to meet Zhou Yanning's eyes. It was just as Zhou Yanning thought—she was no good at lying, especially when caught out to her face.

By now Zhou Yanning was utterly certain. She smiled slightly. "Sister Lin, lying isn't the mark of a good girl, you know."

"I—I—" Lin Yanhe flushed red with anxiety. Though she felt she should not deceive Zhou Yanning, she had after all promised Yang Ce and Chen Shutang, and for the moment she was caught in a dilemma.

"Actually, I wasn't Yang Juehuan's girlfriend before. I only had a one-sided crush on him. Isn't that so?" Zhou Yanning asked suddenly.

"Ah!" Lin Yanhe was startled, and an expression of astonishment appeared on her face. "Sister Jiajia, you remember everything?"

"Whether I remember or not isn't important. What matters is that I've kept a diary since I was little. These two days at home, I read the diary I wrote before and found that what's recorded there differs greatly from what all of you told me." Zhou Yanning did not say outright whether she had recovered her memory, but used the diary as an excuse.

"I see." Lin Yanhe sighed. "Sister Jiajia, since you already know, I won't lie to you anymore. It really is as you said."

"But why?" Now that Zhou Yanning knew the truth, she was instead somewhat puzzled. "Yang Ce—doesn't he dislike me?"

"How could that be? Yang Ce likes you very much!" Lin Yanhe said hastily upon hearing this.

"Heh, Sister Lin, I'm not a fool. I could tell what attitude Yang Ce had toward me before." Zhou Yanning shook her head and sighed. "But ever since I was discharged from the hospital, Yang Ce seems like a different person. And you and Chen Shutang—your attitude toward me is frighteningly kind too. It gives me a very unreal feeling."

"Sister Jiajia, in that situation, you were willing to give your life to save Yang Ce. Sister Mengyan and I are both grateful to you, and we truly treat you as our sister, so it's only right that we treat you well," Lin Yanhe said, blushing as she explained. "As for Heng, we don't know what he's thinking either. But he's a lecherous one—he likes any pretty girl."

Likes any pretty girl. Zhou Yanning laughed to herself. Was she not pretty before? Why had she never seen Yang Ce like her then? Still, Lin Yanhe's explanation made sense. As for Heng, perhaps when she was on the verge of death, he had given her a promise. So then, did he actually like her or not? Zhou Yanning felt lost. Was this life not what she had always longed for? Once, even in her dreams, she had dreamed of being with Yan someday. But now that she truly had such a life, she had begun to let her thoughts run wild. Human desire truly knows no bounds—once you have something, you want more. The former Zhou Yanning had never even considered the question of how much Yang Ce would love her after they got together, but now that they were together, she had begun to care.

Still, after this conversation with Lin Yanhe, it was impossible to keep pretending to have lost her memory. It was time to have it out with Yan. Zhou Yanning suddenly felt a sense of loss; all at once she did not quite want this life anymore. This compensatory love made her very uncomfortable—she did not want Yang Ce to be with her out of guilt and pity alone. At this moment Zhou Yanning's feelings were contradictory. Perhaps after she spoke plainly with Yan, their relationship would return to what it had been before—that of good friends. But if she kept playing dumb forever, that was not the outcome she wanted either. Forget it, no point thinking so much. Let nature take its course.

To be continued.

1042. An Awkward Encounter

At the highway exit, Yang Ce finally spotted the car from Zhou Yanning's family and hurried out of his own to greet them.

"There's Yang Ce!" Lin Yanhe had spotted him from afar and excitedly tugged at Zhou Yanning's hand. She had not seen Yang Ce for several days and missed him terribly. Sometimes when she was busy with company matters she too went days without seeing Yan, but since they were both in Songjiang, she had not minded. These past two days, however, the two of them had been in different places, and her feelings were quite different.

Zhou Yanning saw Yang Ce as well, but her mood was complicated—she felt an urge to have it out with Yan, yet feared losing the life she had now.

Living with Yan every day, going to school and coming home together—was this not the life she had longed for? She had once envied Su Ya so much; now that she had it herself, she wanted even more. "Sister Jiajia, what's wrong?" In the midst of her excitement, Lin Yanhe noticed that Zhou Yanning's spirits seemed low and asked quickly.

"Nothing." Zhou Yanning forced herself to perk up, shook her head, and smiled. "Come on, let's get out of the car."

The two got out hand in hand, and Yang Shuoxuan came up to meet them. "Little Yun, my good girl, did you miss me?"

Lin Yanhe's face instantly flushed red. Yang Ce's names for her were growing more and more embarrassing, but still she gave a soft "Mm."

"Then let me have a hug." Yang Ce spread his arms and, before Lin Yanhe could react, pulled her into an embrace. Lin Yanhe gave a little cry and tried to struggle free, but Yang Ce had already let her go.

After all, there were quite a few people around, and Yang Shuoxuan did not want to become a spectacle for others.

"My dear Jiajia, what about you? Did you miss me?" Yang Ce turned and went on asking Zhou Yanning.

Just moments ago Zhou Yanning had felt somewhat let down—Yang Ce had come straight over and gone to Lin Yanhe, leaving her to one side. Zhou Yanning had felt a twinge of envy but could do nothing about it, sighing inwardly that she was indeed different from the others in Yang Ce's eyes. She had never expected Yang Ce to turn and start asking her. Zhou Yanning's heart leaped with joy, delight shining in her brows and eyes, and she lifted her head and gave an eager nod.

"Come on, let's have a hug too," Yang Hengye said. "I've always been fair—no favoritism here."

Zhou Yanning hesitated a moment. Though she had already decided to have it out with Yan, she still let Yang Ce hug her—or rather, she half-voluntarily threw herself into Yang Juehuan's arms. She was infatuated with this feeling; Yang Juehuan's embrace put her at ease and gave her a sense of belonging she had never known before. She wondered whether it would still belong to her hereafter.

Yang Ce moved their luggage into his own car. The BMW that Wang Xiaoniu had wrecked had been repaired, and not a trace of the repairs could be seen, though the cost had been steep. He said a few words to President Hua's driver, gave him some instructions, and sent him straight back, while Yang Ce got into his own car with Lin and Zhou.

They had hardly brought any luggage when they left and had little to show for the return either—Zhou Yanning had a laptop, and Lin Yanhe some business documents; two briefcases were enough to hold it all.

When it came time to get in the car, however, Lin Yanhe and Zhou Yanning went back and forth politely for a while. Lin Yanhe did not feel comfortable taking the passenger seat, and Zhou Yanning felt even less so—by the present state of things, her bond with Yan was the weakest, so she should not be the one in the front passenger seat either. In the end both of them sat in the back.

Yang Shuoxuan had no choice. He gave a wry smile and let them have their way.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?" Yang Yanchuan said once they were in the car.

"I ate this morning," Lin Yanhe answered.