PSMD – Chapter 99

Guo Ming’an likely knew Qiu Yang’s identity, so he wasn’t surprised that Qiu Yang could call out Tao Sixian’s name.

But his answer was a bit strange.

-I’m not familiar with her.

If you’re not familiar, why get married?

Qiu Yang couldn’t understand.

Shen Ningruo couldn’t be bothered to talk so much with Guo Ming’an. She furrowed her brow and said, “Move.”

Guo Ming’an nodded. “Okay.”

“Dinner together tonight?” he even extended an invitation.

Shen Ningruo’s eyes instantly turned cold. “Can you get lost?”

“I have legs.”

“I can walk myself.”

Guo Ming’an clearly felt he couldn’t stay any longer. He quickly returned to the sofa as if his feet were greased, only looking away after watching Shen Ningruo and Qiu Yang enter the elevator.

The man sitting opposite him asked curiously, “Brother An, two new beauties you just met?”

Guo Ming’an’s brows furrowed, his expression very different from when he was facing Shen Ningruo. His tone was also cold. “Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask.”

The man awkwardly replied, “Okay, Brother An.”

Guo Ming’an felt a bit irritable and wanted to smoke, but smoking was prohibited in the lobby. He recalled Shen Ningruo’s expression and finally chuckled twice.

He used to think Shen Ningruo was extremely boring, showing no difference in her demeanor towards him and others, only occasionally giving him a smile.

Everyone said he was lucky because he managed to pursue Shen Ningruo, the famous ice beauty. His own vanity was satisfied; every time he was praised like this, it felt as if he truly possessed Shen Ningruo. But deep down, only he knew what it was like to get along with her.

Now, two months after breaking up, he started to find Shen Ningruo interesting. He saw the genuine smile Shen Ningruo showed Qiu Yang, and a hint of unwillingness arose in his heart.

He didn’t have deep feelings for Shen Ningruo, and Shen Ningruo didn’t like him at all. For Guo Ming’an, whose love life had always been smooth, this was somewhat frustrating. Meeting Shen Ningruo again in Xicheng felt like fate hadn’t run out.

He wouldn’t resort to any dirty tricks. He really wasn’t in Xicheng for a business trip, but he genuinely didn’t expect to run into Shen Ningruo.

Well, since they met, why not try again…?

Guo Ming’an wasn’t sure what he was thinking at the moment. He just felt a strange pleasure in seeing Shen Ningruo angry.

Shen Ningruo didn’t know Guo Ming’an’s thoughts, but she was genuinely angry. She hadn’t thought Guo Ming’an was thick-skinned before because his behavior was quite gentlemanly. Now that the surface was peeled away, she found he had many layers of thick skin.

Extremely thick.

Qiu Yang’s brows also furrowed. After returning to the room, she voiced her confusion. “Why does this Guo Ming’an seem to have a bit of a problem?”

Shen Ningruo sat on the sofa and twisted open a bottle of water for herself. “He does have a bit of a problem, but after this brief encounter with him today, I can rule him out for the previous incidents.” She paused. “The matter of someone leaking my phone number, it couldn’t have been him.”

“I think so too.”

“Someone as confident as him probably wouldn’t do something like that.”

Guo Ming’an exuded an air of foolishness, but if you only looked at the surface, you wouldn’t think so. He had a proper appearance, even the kind that looked righteous, which could quickly win people over and make them feel he was reliable.

“He’s very arrogant. One of his hobbies is chasing women, but his actions aren’t dirty or sleazy. He wouldn’t bother with something like leaking a phone number,” Shen Ningruo said, giving Guo Ming’an a rare “compliment.” She finished speaking and looked at Qiu Yang. “And between him and Tao Sixian, it might really be as he said, not familiar.”

“They got engaged and went their separate ways, and now they’re married, and it seems they’re still going their separate ways.”

Shen Ningruo’s lips curved up. “These two rotten people are truly rotten together.”

Qiu Yang sat beside Shen Ningruo. She took the lemon pillow out of her bag and hugged it. After hearing Shen Ningruo’s words, she was silent for two seconds before asking a question that puzzled her. “Will such a marriage be happy?”

“For them, it might be happy,” Shen Ningruo said, expressing her thoughts. “They don’t have deep feelings for each other, they do their own thing, and they aren’t constrained by anything they do. This might be the marriage they want.”

Qiu Yang said, “Oh.”

Qiu Yang lowered her head to look at the pillow in her arms. “I… I heard my uncle talk about my parents’ past. I don’t know if that counts as happiness.”

“Tell me about it.” Shen Ningruo became interested. She pulled Qiu Yang into her arms, letting Qiu Yang rest her head on her shoulder.

“My dad’s family was very rich, and my mom’s family was very poor. My dad fell in love with my mom at first sight, but my grandparents didn’t agree. After some twists and turns, they still got their marriage certificate. Their life after marriage was very sweet, but my grandparents would make things difficult for my mom. My dad, well, he sided with my mom.”

“But sometimes it was difficult for him too. Anyway, in the year my dad passed away unexpectedly, he often had headaches because of family matters.”

“Does that count as happiness for them?”

Shen Ningruo listened quietly. As Qiu Yang spoke, her expression and voice were calm, without much fluctuation, as if the question was more important than the content. Hearing it, Shen Ningruo felt a pang of sadness.

Qiu Yang spoke lightly, but for Qiu Yang, who had personally heard these things and had no parents by her side, Shen Ningruo’s attention was entirely focused on this.

How sad it must be to have to learn about your parents from others’ mouths.

“It was happy,” Shen Ningruo sniffled. “Because they loved each other, and because they had you, their little treasure, they were happy.”

Hearing Shen Ningruo’s words, Qiu Yang’s eyes instantly turned red, and her voice became a little thicker with emotion. “Was I also one of the reasons for their happiness?”

Shen Ningruo turned her head to look at her and said with certainty, “Of course.”

Qiu Yang’s tears fell the next second, landing on Shen Ningruo’s clothes. But her lips curved up, a look of crying and laughing at the same time.

Shen Ningruo quickly wiped her tears, but Qiu Yang raised her hand and pressed on her wrist, looking at her seriously. “Ruoruo, thank you.”

“You’re the first person to say that.”

Shen Ningruo didn’t need to think to know what kind of things Qiu Yang had heard before. She leaned forward and hugged her. “Don’t believe them, just believe me.”

“I believe you.”

“I trust you very much.”

Qiu Yang slowly closed her eyes, but tears still flowed from the corners of her eyes.

Shen Ningruo held Qiu Yang a little tighter, burying her face in Qiu Yang’s neck. As if to make Qiu Yang believe her words even more, she continued, “Because your parents were together for love, they must have been very surprised when your mom was pregnant with you. Because you were their child, they must have been looking forward to your birth.”

“They might have even planned to hold a hundred-day banquet when you were a hundred days old, and a first-anniversary banquet when you were one year old. They might have also thought about which kindergarten and which elementary school to send you to later.”

“Because you were their child, Xiao Yang.”

Sometimes Shen Ningruo didn’t dare to talk about the topic of family because Qiu Yang’s family matters were heavy. Although her own situation wasn’t great either, she had never really worried about money since she was little, and she didn’t have any parasitic relatives.

Occasionally, when holding Qiu Yang’s hand, Shen Ningruo could feel a thin layer of calluses on Qiu Yang’s palms and fingertips. She knew these were left by Qiu Yang’s hard work to live.

And she didn’t have them.

Thinking this, Shen Ningruo took Qiu Yang’s hand again and intertwined their fingers. “We will also be very happy.”

Qiu Yang cried silently, her voice thicker. Hearing Shen Ningruo’s words, she hummed in agreement. “I… I know.”

Shen Ningruo patted Qiu Yang’s back again. Sometimes crying was a good thing, so she kept gently stroking Qiu Yang’s back, continuously comforting her. “There are still many cities we haven’t been to. You have to go with me.”

“The mountain we climbed last time was too short. We’ll climb a higher one next time, okay?”

“The milk tea we had today was just okay. I heard the milk tea in Shacheng is very good. We’ll find a time to go there later.”

Qiu Yang would respond, but in the end, she asked in a muffled voice, “Ruoruo, do you miss your mom?”

“…Yes, I do.”

“I miss mine too.”

“But in my memory, I’ve never seen her.”

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