Chapter 30: Chapter 30 (part 2)

The ladies' powder room was as silent as the grave.

Very calmly, Han Yanyan pulled out a switchblade from her handbag and flicked it open. Ding Yao had taught her this. Looking straight into the mirror, she placed the blade right on her jugular.

"Hey!" Leo sounded furious. "Hey, hey, hey! What the hell's the matter with you! "

So he could come when called after all. Han Yanyan tamped down a sneer and put down her knife. "You didn't respond, so I had to use a different method."

"Isn't everything going well? What are you dragging me out here for?" Leo asked angrily.

"I'm just making sure of something." Han Yanyan closed the knife and tucked it back into her bag. "Was what happened just now a sign of the mission about to be completed?"

"Yes, you were so close!" Leo replied. "Just a little bit more. Incite him just a little more and mission accomplished."

Han Yanyan stared at the air.

"...does that mean leaving this world?" she asked.

"Yes. Once the mission is done, this place is terminated."

"What about the other people here? What happens to my parents? My fiancé?" Han Yanyan asked, gazing up at the ceiling.

"Them?" Leo sniggered, "You're not thinking that they're... hmm." He seemed to realize something halfway through his sentence and halted in his tracks. In the end he said only, "They're not important. Only the mission matters. Aside from the mission, you don't need to care about anyone else."

 

Qiao Chengyu was waiting outside when Han Yanyan emerged from the powder room. Compared to her high spirits from before, she looked exhausted, her steps weak.

"Yanyan," he greeted. "Are you tired?"

Han Yanyan stopped and looked up at him. For a moment she looked like she was lost at sea, but soon she hid the feeling away somewhere and gazed for a little while before suddenly standing on tiptoe to kiss him.

"Your place today," she smiled.

She must be tired, thought Qiao Chengyu. Although she was smiling, it wasn't nearly as bright as usual. She had to be exhausted.

 

That night, Han Yanyan was especially enthusiastic and cuddly. After they made love, she kept him from going to the study, but lay on his chest instead talking to him.

She was a woman who was always on the go, free and unfettered whether in business or in love. Her unexpected clinginess made Qiao Chengyu feel soft inside. He liked this version of her.

Holding her in his arms, he listened to the strange words pouring out of her mouth.

"Do you know what I like about you?" Han Yanyan asked, propping up her head.

"What?" 

Her eyes were strangely misty. She exuded both an unexplainable sense of affection and an unspeakable sadness.

"I like how handsome you are."

"I like how you're in good shape."

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"I like that you're tall, and that you have dark hair."

"I like how stoic you look in a suit."

"I like how you focus on your work and can't be distracted."

"I like how serious you are."

"I like how you commit to what you want and don't give up."

"How you're aggressive, but still have principles."

"Oh, and I like your hands too, and the shape of your collarbone and your Adam's apple."

At first, Qiao Chengyu listened with a smile, but as she went on, his eyes changed.

"Yanyan," he asked, his voice deeper and hoarser than usual after sex. "...what happened?"

"Nothing." Chin in her hand, Han Yanyan smiled. "I just wanted you to know that I like you."

Qiao Chengyu was silent.

It had been almost two years since they had first met, formed an alliance, gotten engaged and fallen in love. He was a clever and perceptive man, and he had always had a lingering question in the back of his mind.

He desperately wanted to ask her, who hurt you?

It couldn't have been Qiao Wenxing. Qiao Wenxing didn't have it in him.

Qiao Chengyu was convinced that sometime in Han Yanyan's past, there must have been a man who had hurt her so deeply that even until now, her wounds hadn't healed.

It was because of this man that he had had to put in so much effort to warm her heart.

But in the end he didn't ask. Since she didn't want to say anything, he wouldn't push her. He just touched her face and told her seriously, "I love you too."

What's the difference between loving and liking?

Han Yanyan gazed at her fiancé's handsome face greedily, smiled, and leaned forward to kiss him.

"Which do you prefer, everlasting love or everyday love?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

Then, "Forget it. Seize the moment..." The whisper she breathed out sounded like a sigh.

She wondered if she had forgotten to tell him that she liked how he always knew what to say. There were so many things in his eyes that he clearly wanted to talk about, but he always kept himself from spilling out the words that he shouldn't speak.

Why didn't she choose everlasting love? wondered Qiao Chengyu.

In two months, they would be together forever.

In two months would be the grand, gorgeous, romantic wedding between Han Yanyan, heir to the Han conglomerate, and Qiao Chengyu, heir to the Qiao business empire.