Nanny Wang shook her head helplessly at Yan Sui, refilled their tea, and then sent the remaining servants who were still in the living room and hallway away.
“Auntie might have misunderstood something; Xiao Zi’s appearance in Haicheng is not because of you.”
Yan Sui sat on the sofa, and the first thing he said was this. As soon as he finished speaking, Zhen Han and Yan Manjia immediately turned their heads to look over. Zhen Han seemed to be pondering, while Yan Manjia still looked puzzled.
Xiao Zi had once told her that he didn’t like Haicheng, and because of that, he didn’t even like staying in Xia Country. When he returned to the country, he would only stay in Beicheng for a few days at most. As for Haicheng, he had no friends there, not even any property. If he wasn’t coming to Haicheng for her, then what was the point of him coming?
“Rather… I drove He Wan out of the Yan family, and he came here for that.” Wanting to win back Yan Manjia was just a pretext he used when he remembered he needed it.
Meng Ting taught Yan Sui a lesson: for those close to you, honesty is better than a well-intentioned concealment, because no matter how close you are, you can never truly know if they need that good intention.
His words were a bit harsh for Yan Manjia, but it was the truth. She had always been overly protected, and now it was time for her to learn to grow up.
“What… what?” Yan Manjia straightened her posture, her expression slightly confused, as if she couldn’t quite understand Yan Sui’s words. “Xiao Zi… how could he have any connection with He Wan?”
The Xiao family is in Beicheng, and their connection with Haicheng is still because of her. The He family is not even in the Xiao family’s eyes, let alone He Wan. As she asked this, her heart was already racing out of control.
“They have been in contact for quite a while. To be precise, he has known He Wan longer than he has known you.”
What does ‘earlier’ mean? Yan Manjia had a crush on Xiao Zi when she was fifteen and just starting to understand love. He Wan is two years older than her, so she met Xiao Zi when she was sixteen or seventeen.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but over the years, these two people have consistently made Yan Manjia, and even more people, think that they don’t know each other. Why is that? This is the key question.
“When He Wan was sixteen, she went abroad with her aunt for a while, and at that time, Xiao Zi happened to be there attending high school,” Yan Sui said, opening the tablet he had been holding. It was a photo taken by a passerby, and in it, Xiao Zi was kissing He Wan.
The angle was slightly off, but Yan Manjia couldn’t have mistaken Xiao Zi, and Yan Sui couldn’t have mistaken He Wan, so strictly speaking, He Wan’s first love should be Xiao Zi.
In terms of feelings, he didn’t know if these two had broken up over the years. But He Wan and Xiao Zi must still be in contact; otherwise, Xiao Zi wouldn’t have come for her.
Yan Manjia looked at the photo, her mouth slightly open, her expression completely dazed.
She always knew that Xiao Zi was a flirt, that besides her, he always had some other lovers, but she never knew that among those people was He Wan. One was the person she loved the most, and the other was the person she still hated to this day. These two people were hooking up with each other…
The more Yan Manjia thought about it, the worse her expression became; her stomach was churning, and she felt nauseated.
She really feels that she needs to go back to the furnace and be remade. If Xiao Zi is dirty, then so is she.
“So, Xiao Zi’s true love is He Wan? Damn it!”
Yan Manjia also started cursing, her expression changing dramatically, with a strong urge to kill.
“Bullshit true love. How could someone like that ever have true love? It’s people like you, with your brain all scrambled, who would think that… How come you haven’t learned even a bit of Grandma’s wisdom? You’re driving me crazy.”
When Zhen Han started cursing, he couldn’t seem to stop. He looked at Yan Manjia’s aggrieved expression, the more he looked at her, the angrier he got. In the end, he concluded it with a sentence: he was so angry that he was going to die from anger[mfn]氣死自己 (qì sǐ zì jǐ): T/N: Actually, this is the same sentence as the one ZH said before this; 氣死我了 (qì sǐ wǒ le), lit. I’m so angry I’m going to die. However, I feel that it doesn’t fit quite well with the wording, so I translate it as ‘You’re driving me crazy’.[/mfn].
After being scolded by Zhen Han for a couple of sentences, Yan Manjia felt somewhat better. She gritted her teeth and looked at Yan Sui, “Go ahead, tell me what you’ve found out. I’ve been blind for most of my life; I can’t stay blind any longer.”
Yan Sui gently nodded, “I can only say my guess; many things still lack direct evidence.”
But who is Yan Sui? His meticulous thinking makes many old foxes ashamed. Even if his guesses are slightly off, it’s only in some details. In the big picture, not only Yan Manjia and Zhen Han would choose to believe him, but even those who know Yan Sui a little would believe him.
“He Wan and Xiao Zi had a relationship in their early years, but it basically ended when He Wan returned to the country. However, the two of them still kept in touch, and a large part of her later actions were influenced by Xiao Zi’s advice.”
In Yan Sui’s words, the so-called actions of He Wan was probably refer to how she sabotaged Yan Yu and He Yue’s relationship. It was even possible that He Wan’s success in getting pregnant with Yan Yu’s child could be largely attributed to Xiao Zi’s contribution.
“You’ve all been speculating about where He Wan got the sperm from Dad… Yan Yu,” Yan Sui said, speaking to Yan Manjia. He couldn’t quite bring himself to call his father by name, but to make his words clearer, he just used the name directly.
“During the university physical examination that year, there was a doctor among the examinees who was someone Xiao Zi met abroad,” as for how he did it, it should have been through the use of drugs or medical equipment, but Yan Sui didn’t elaborate further.
Since returning from Country F, he has been investigating a lot of things, piecing them together one by one and re-investigating them again.
Yan Sui’s gaze suddenly fell on Zhen Han, and after a slight pause, he continued, “Your unexpected pregnancy with Zhen Han is also related to Xiao Zi and He Wan.”
Or perhaps it was He Wan who couldn’t bear to see Yan Manjia become the third young master’s wife of the Xiao family. That night, she stopped Xiao Zi from going to find Yan Manjia, and by the time Yan Manjia discovered she was pregnant, it had already been several months.
What exactly happened that night? Not only did Yan Sui investigate, but even his grandfather looked into it. Everything was wiped clean. The person involved, Yan Manjia, was also confused. To this day, they still cannot determine who Zhen Han’s biological father is, but one thing is certain: it is not someone arranged by He Wan and Xiao Zi.
Yan Sui did not explain further; he pulled out several documents for Yan Manjia and Zhen Han to see. Although they weren’t direct evidence, they were enough to show that Yan Sui hadn’t exaggerated anything.
Yan Manjia’s face turned completely pale. Her mind was in a chaotic state; she didn’t know what role she played in the tragedy involving Yan Yu and He Yue. If she was also an accomplice, then Yan Yu’s refusal to acknowledge her on the streets of Country F would make complete sense.
Zhen Han’s gaze turned towards her, and Yan Manjia held back the tears in her eyes. She didn’t want to use pity to excuse her own mistakes, but her current appearance only made people feel more uncomfortable, at least that’s how Zhen Han felt.
“You’re just foolish. How many times have I told you before that man is unreliable, but you never listened.”
Eight years ago, the relationship between Zhen Han and Yan Manjia was not like it is now. He had already spoken ill of Xiao Zi to Yan Manjia both openly and secretly, but the woman blinded by love couldn’t hear or see any of it.
When he said that, Yan Manjia just thought he was vying for affection, sweetly calling him ‘baby’ a couple of times, and the matter was over.
“Now… you and him are done, and you’re still sad about him? What a joke.”
Zhen Han seems absolutely refined, but when he curses at people, he just says whatever comes to mind. Yan Manjia was scolded by him until her shoulders slumped, and she didn’t dare to glance in Zhen Han’s direction.
“That day, I had a fight with Xiao Zi…” Yan Manjia started speaking. She had never told anyone these story. She had been wandering abroad for more than half a year chasing Xiao Zi, a game of cat and mouse. At that time, she thought she had decided that Xiao Zi was the one for her, and no matter how much he rejected her, she would never give up.
That night was the first time she knew what it felt like to be heartbroken. It was similar to the scene she had just seen in the photo. She saw Xiao Zi kissing another woman goodbye, and she ran over to confront him, shouting and screaming, and they ended up fighting. Finally, she stormed off in anger.
“I thought Xiao Zi would definitely send someone to follow me. I drank a lot, and I think I even kissed someone,” Yan Manjia said, her face turning a bit red as she recalled. She really was reckless and unruly in her youth, completely out of control, and also quite foolish.
“Later… someone tried to drag me away, but I wouldn’t go. I beat him up while I was drunk, and then ran away…”
Yan Sui and Zhen Han both perked up their ears to continue listening, but Yan Manjia had closed her mouth.
“And then?” Zhen Han frowned and snapped at Yan Manjia again.
Yan Manjia gently shook her head, “There’s no ‘then’. I… I just remember running a lot, and then my waist and legs were sore the next day.” She didn’t remember having any passionate memories with anyone, and when she found out she was already three months pregnant, she herself was stunned.
At that time, the Xiao family also knew that Yan Manjia had followed Xiao Zi abroad, so they thought the child in her womb would be Xiao Zi’s. However, no matter whose it was, it could never be his. They didn’t really get together until several years after she gave birth to Zhen Han.
The ‘Zhen’ in Zhen Han was chosen by Yan Manjia herself. The entire name is meant to convey the idea of true beauty. Yan Manjia has always regarded Zhen Han as a precious gift unexpectedly given to her from heaven.
Yan Manjia’s experience can be described as bizarre, but now not only is Zhen Han relieved, Yan Manjia herself is also relieved that Zhen Han is not Xiao Zi’s child. Otherwise, if he had ulterior motives and made Yan Manjia give birth to his child, that would have been a huge loss.
After Yan Manjia finished speaking, she looked at Yan Sui again, and Zhen Han did the same. They might have their suspicions in their hearts, but they still needed Yan Sui to confirm.
Yan Sui’s expression remained largely unchanged; he pondered his words for a moment before saying, “It’s probably jealousy.”
Not only women are terrifying when they are jealous, but men are the same. The person Xiao Zi is jealous of is undoubtedly Yan Yu. As for how these two ended up as enemies, only they themselves know the details.
Therefore, even if he is moved by Yan Manjia, he cannot let go of all the grudges to love her. It’s not that Yan Manjia didn’t do enough, but their feelings are mixed with too many schemes and intrigues. He doesn’t dare to love, nor can he afford to.
“So he played me for so many years, harmed my brother and the eldest brother of the He family…” Yan Manjia said, her eyes slightly reddening. Her hands clenched into fists, her body still couldn’t help but tremble slightly, but neither Yan Sui nor Zhen Han said anything to comfort her.
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 061.1″]
若有所思 (ruò yǒu suǒ sī): as if lost in thought—look pensive; thoughtfully; to look absorbed in thought; appear to be lost in thought; seem to be pondering; look thoughtful; be deep in thought; to be thinking about something.情竇初開 (qíng dòu chū kāi): first awakening of love (usually of a girl) (idiom); budding love; first stirrings of love; first experience of love; just beginning to understand love (mostly referring to young girls, aged 13 to 14).
大喊大叫 (dà hǎn dà jiào): shouting and screaming (idiom); to scream loudly; to shout at the top of one’s voice, to scream loudly, to yell; to kick up a racket; (figuratively) to conduct vigorous propaganda.
大打出手 (dà dǎ chū shǒu): to strike violently; to attack brutally; get into a free-for-all fight; come to blows; get into a fight.
胡作非為 (hú zuò fēi wéi): to disregard rules and do evil as one pleases; to act wildly in defiance or public opinion or the law; to run amok (idiom); to commit outrages; engage in lawless activities; behave recklessly; act unscrupulously; do evil; act outrageously; to do bad things without any scruples, regardless of laws or public opinion.
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