Chapter 2391 — Wang Xinyan's Decision (Part 2)

Yes—were she and Wei Zhao still just good friends? What kind of good friends were always holding each other? What kind of good friends saw each other naked? What kind of good friends felt that flutter of the heart whenever they were together? What kind of good friends breathed faster and their pulse raced whenever they were alone together?

No—certainly not! Wang Xinyan drew a deep breath. She felt it was time she did something.

When Wang Xinyan returned to the women's dormitory, many people looked at her very strangely. After all, the sight of her leaving earlier wrapped in a bedsheet had been truly startling, and now that she had come back properly dressed, plenty of people were still curious—where had Wang Xinyan been all this time?

But Wang Xinyan naturally had no mind for other people's opinions. She hurried back to her room and shut the door.

"Xinyan, what were you doing just now? You were in such a rush!" Chai Xiaoling asked curiously when she saw Wang Xinyan return. "If I didn't know Shen Yushu and Gu Mengyao, I'd have thought you'd been kidnapped again!"

"It's nothing..." Wang Xinyan shook her head. "They were just joking around."

"Joking around?" Chai Xiaoling certainly did not believe it, but since Wang Xinyan did not want to say more, she stopped asking. "Zhao Shengji and Bai Weituo invited me and Meiyue out to eat. Are you coming?"

"I won't go—you all go ahead... Just bring me back a boxed meal from the cafeteria." Wang Xinyan clearly had no appetite for dinner. Besides, Chai Xiaoling and He Meiyue were two couples—what business did she have tagging along?

"All right, then I'll be off." Chai Xiaoling nodded and left the dormitory.

Wang Xinyan hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and dialed her mother Xiao Qinlin's number.

"Xinyan, are you feeling a little better?" Xiao Qinlin picked up quickly. Wang Xinyan had been kidnapped not long ago, and for fear of upsetting her daughter, she had not brought up the matter of her having a boyfriend at school. Now that Wang Xinyan had called of her own accord, Xiao Qinlin naturally wanted to have a proper talk with her.

Her elder brother had called again recently, saying that Kang Jinglong of the Kang family was returning to Donghai Engineering University's medical program to write his doctoral thesis, and that Wang Xinyan should get along well with him. Xiao Qinlin felt it was somewhat improper to interfere with her daughter's freedom to love, but the Xiao family was tottering, and this matter had already been agreed upon beforehand. Xiao Qinlin could only grit her teeth and agree for the time being.

"Mom... I..." Wang Xinyan had already planned it out—the moment the call connected, she would come straight to the point and tell her mother that she would not marry Kang Jinglong. But when the words reached her lips, she could not bring herself to say them. Wang Xinyan rarely disobeyed her parents' wishes, and this time she truly did not know how to say it.

"What is it, Xinyan? Have you run into some trouble?" Hearing the tone of Wang Xinyan's voice, Xiao Qinlin's heart lurched, and she asked at once.

"Mom... I don't want to marry Kang Jinglong of the Kang family. I want to call off the engagement..." Wang Xinyan finally mustered her courage and cried out the words from the bottom of her heart! She did not want to be a good girl anymore. She was going to rebel, just this once.

"What? What did you say?!" Xiao Qinlin was stunned. She had not expected her daughter to lay her cards on the table first! She herself had been preparing to have it out with her daughter once she was in better spirits, to persuade her about the matter with Kang Jinglong. By all accounts Kang Jinglong was quite decent, and a doctoral student besides—marrying him would be no disgrace to Xinyan. But who could have guessed that Wang Xinyan actually wanted to break off the engagement.

"Mom, I... I have a boyfriend at school!" Wang Xinyan bit her lip and said firmly. "I like him. I want to be with him. I don't want to marry Kang Jinglong. I don't want to be manipulated by the family, to become a bargaining chip for the Xiao family to curry favor with the powerful..."

"This... Xinyan..." Xiao Qinlin's heart softened. She had not expected her daughter to be so resolute! The last time, in Yanjing, her daughter had also said she did not like Kang Jinglong and did not want this marriage, but in the end she had still agreed to give it a try. This time, however, Xiao Qinlin could feel her daughter's determination!

In the past, her daughter had been unwilling, but never had she resisted so fiercely. This time, though she neither argued nor made a fuss, her tone was incomparably resolute. Xiao Qinlin truly did not know what to say—especially when she thought of the call her elder brother Xiao Ji had just made. A wave of helplessness washed over her...

"Mom, this isn't a passing impulse. In my heart I can be certain—absolutely certain—that I like him..." Wang Xinyan continued.

"Yanyan, ah!" Xiao Qinlin sighed and said, "The reason I called this time was actually to talk to you about the engagement with the Kang family. But you've said all this first, so I can't bring myself to say what I was going to say..."

"What? Mom, what's happened? Did the Kang family say something again?" Wang Xinyan's heart jolted, and she asked hurriedly.

"Just now, your eldest uncle called and told me about the engagement with the Kang family." Xiao Qinlin did not hide anything and spoke the truth. "Your uncle said that Kang Jinglong of the Kang family is returning to Donghai Engineering University to write his doctoral thesis, and that the two of you should spend some time together while he's here..."

"What? He's here?" Wang Xinyan was stunned. She had not expected Kang Jinglong to come... She had long known that Kang Jinglong was a student at Donghai Engineering University, but because he was a doctoral student he did not need to be at school all day and hardly ever came; she and he had had little contact. She had never imagined that he would choose this moment to return.

"Xinyan, I understand what you mean. I'll explain it to your eldest uncle, and I hope we can call off this engagement..." Xiao Qinlin sighed and said, "Ever since you were kidnapped, your father and I have come to see business matters as much less important. Nothing matters more than you! At the time, your father and I even thought of selling the company to pay the kidnappers' ransom. So in that light, we feel these worldly possessions can be let go. As long as you live happily, that is enough. The Xiao family and the Kang family have nothing left to threaten us with..."

"Thank you, Mom..." Wang Xinyan's nose stung with tears. She had not expected her mother to say such things! Wang Xinyan was no fool; she had even guessed the consequences of breaking off the engagement—her father's company might come under attack from the Kang and Xiao families acting together! But then she thought of Wei Zhao, and hope kindled in her heart once more. "Mom, Wei Zhao—my boyfriend—has deep connections and standing in Donghai City as well. He even knows people from the hidden families. The hidden Pi family are Wei Zhao's subordinates now. If we refuse the Kang family, your business and Dad's may not necessarily suffer..."