Chapter 386: After the inconceivable revelation
While Xiang Ning was speaking very softly such that those outside were unable to make out her words, all one needed was a single glance, but a single glance to know that this little girl was truly feeling pain, down to the very core as her hurt was no lesser than that of anyone else present.
Really anyone who was seeing her would all realise that perhaps they should not consider this matter through a âdirtyâ, unreasonable perspective.
This girl was so pure. Those tears were so pureâŠ
She was so pure it caused oneâs heart to ache.
âHow about we try to coax her? Tell her that Tingshengâs fine. Otherwise, I think she might just faint at any moment,â Sensing Little Xiang Ningâs sorrow, Mr Xu asked Mrs Xu rather worriedly.
Mrs Xu felt sorry for Little Xiang Ning too as she nodded and entered the room, walking over to her and speaking to her in a low tone.
Little Xiang Ningâs emotions finally eased somewhat.
Feeling greatly reassured, she asked, âCan I still accompany him then?â
Facing those teary eyes that were swollen from crying and that oh so pure gazeâŠhow could Mrs Xu possibly say no?
Li Linlin finally caved in to Old Waiâs pestering as she uneasily revealed, âI think Bro Xu had a crush on herâŠand Little Ning probably came to like him too. Still, I donât think they have been dating or anything. There was one whole year back then when they possibly never even met.â
âCrush?â Old Waiâs attention was focused completely on this word as he asked in shock, âYouâre telling me that Xu Tingsheng had a crush, and on such a young girl tooâŠwhat? How is that even possible?â
âThatâs not it. Apart from being a little young, Little Ning is really very good in all other aspects, like her personality. I myself super like her too,â Li Linlin unconsciously defended Little Xiang Ning whom she truly did like a lot.
âBut you say he just had a crush on herâŠâ
âYeah! It should be the kind where he wanted to quietly take care of her while doing something for her. Thatâs why he became her home tutor, and asked me to take over for him afterwards. Before Xiang Ningâs exams, when that Ning Garden was nearly about to begin its sales, he even wrote some dozens of pages of revision materials and passed them to me. I think he probably must have spent a few days and nights writing themâŠâ
âOh hey, wait a secondâŠNing Garden..the hellâŠâ
Old Wai was already completely flummoxed by now.
Similarly unclear on the situation were Ye Qing, Wu Kun and Fang Chen. They went over to Huang Yaming and the other three to see what was going on.
After listening for a while, Fang Chen laughed.
âWhat the heck are you laughing for? YourâŠwe can understand even that, so whatâs this now?â Fang Yuqing sacrificed kinship for brotherhood as he retaliated firmly against the old demoness.
âBut, really?â Ye Qing asked.
âWhatâs there to be so surprised about? Even you and Tan Yao can be together. The difference in their ages is much smaller than for you two, okay? Itâs just five, six years at most. If even the two of you being together is fine, arenât they perfectly normal thenâŠâ Huang Yaming said, thus earning a kick from Ye Qing.
They were still very protective of Xu Tingsheng in front of others.
Despite that, though, they were actually really thinking: Really too much of a beastâŠwhen Xu Tingshengâs woken up, a trialâs inevitable! It wouldnât be acceptable otherwise! ReallyâŠbeast, beast, what a beast he was!
Yet, as everyone thought about it, consolidating everything that had just been said, coupled with the news that Old Wai had just transmitted over on what Li Linlin had done for Xu Tingsheng and what she knew about this, especially that âStill, I donât think they have been dating or anything. There was one whole year back then when they possibly never even metââŠ
A pure, innocent crush? Despite not even meeting her, he had quietly put in effort and cared for her from behind the shadowsâŠ
While they thought that it was crazy freaking insane, they could already more or less understand that Xu Tingsheng should be serious about this, and wholly serious at that. He was not cheating a little girl to satisfy a fetish or something like thatâŠ
If it had really been something like that, there would have been no need for him to go to such lengths at all. All that had transpired over the past two yearsâŠreally, even the very heavens would be moved.
The sole problem that remained was that the more Xu Tingsheng was devoted to Xiang Ning, the more they were unable to wrap their heads around it as the same question plagued them as did Old Wai: Just what had overcome Xu Tingsheng? Was that young girl really worth it?
âI really canât think of anything. We can only ask Tingsheng after heâs awoken,â Fu Cheng said.
âThe problem is that heâs Xu Tingsheng, the guardian of our rice bowls! What can we do if he just refuses to say anything no matter what?â Tan Yao asked.
ââŠâ Huang Yaming was rendered totally speechless as he could still remember how Xu Tingsheng had previously threatened him when he had wanted to drop out of university.
âI suddenly realised something,â Fang Yuqing said.
âItâs still fine with me, itâs more about you. Wonât you have to call her (elder) sister-in-law in the future? Or is it little (elder) sister-in-law?â
The other four began imagining themselves addressing that young girl as (elder) sister-in-lawâŠ
Old Wai thought about how she and Li Linlin might address each other in the futureâŠâHi, Ms LiââŠâHi, little (elder) sister-in-lawââŠohmygodâŠ
He felt like vomiting blood just thinking about it!
There was actually someone who was basically considering the same issue as Fang Yuqing. It was Xu Tingshengâs little sister, Xu Qiuyi.
âShe should be younger than me, right? Little (elder) sister-in-law?â Xu Qiuyi blankly asked Wu Yuewei beside her before immediately realising her mistake as she now exclaimed, âSorry, IâŠâ
âItâs okay. Iâm actually still fine right now,â Wu Yuewei forced a smile.
She was really doing okay. This was not because she had really already moved on completely from Xu Tingsheng. If that had truly been the case, she would no longer fear seeing him again, no longer fear the aching of her heart.
It was just that it unexpectedly did not hurt as much as she had thought it would. It was strange. She had previously believed that with Xu Tingshengâs newfound success, he would choose the celebrity Apple or the capable career woman Lu Zhixin. As compared to thatâŠthis now actually felt a little easier to bear in all its mystiqueâŠ
That girl who might be an ordinary girl just like her made Wu Yuewei willing to believe that Xu Tingsheng was still Xu Tingsheng, that he never bore underlying motives in his relationships.
And the more inconceivable a relationship was, the more one would easily feel that it might indeed be deep and unshakeable underneath.
Of course, the study queen Wu Yuewei had no way of knowing that not only was Little Xiang Ning an ordinary girl like her, she was even a âstudy flunkieâ.
Wu Yuewei had already previously come to accept the ending between she and Xu Tingsheng. At this point in time, while she inevitably felt despondent, the pure pain from before had been replaced by an urge to just smile wryly at the absurdity of it all as it was no longer so painful.
She shook her head, smiling wryly, âIf senior wakes up, even I would feel like asking him.â
Apple too knew not whether to laugh or to cry as even though Song Ni pulled her far away, she was repeating over and over again that she did not believe it.
Apple did not know how she was supposed to get herself to believe and accept this. When that little girl called Xiang Ning had suddenly appeared before her just like that, it had not been pain but rather an uncomprehending daze that had primarily overcome her.
Actually, Apple had already been faced with the idea of âXiang Ningâ for two years. Even as she had never actually seen her before, she had already mentally prepared herself to painfully face this woman one day, potentially suffering the high-and-mightiness of a victor.
Ever since she had come to love Xu Tingsheng, over these two years, this name had always been like a mountain, a shadow over her heart that she was unable to surmount or get rid of.
Apple had once considered simply waiting for him, always. She had also once been okay with the fact that Xu Tingsheng who had been by her side over that period of time actually also had someone hidden within his heart. She would have no justification in requesting even more from himâŠ
Afterwards, after having suffered and then recovered from depression, she had actually already become a much more optimistic, cheerful person.
Yet, she really felt like crying now, also wanting to laugh hysterically.
She had fantasised countless times what sort of woman âXiang Ningâ would be like. She could imagine a thousand faces, a thousand figures, a thousand personalitiesâŠafter all, that was a woman whom Xu Tingsheng loved but was unable to obtain!
Yet, never would she have imagined that things were actually like this. This was really too inconceivableâŠ
Her broken heart was temporarily replaced by not knowing whether to laugh or to cry.
There would definitely not be any âhigh-and mightiness of a victorâ that appeared.
Even the sense of defeat that she felt was a little strange, no longer wholesome.
Apple already did not know how she was supposed to view and face this matter.
âWhat a time to be unconscious. I definitely canât let him go so easily after he wakes up. If he canât explain even this, that would really be too much.â
âRight, she looks like she still doesnât know anything at all! It looks like I properly âthreatenâ Xu Tingsheng a little.â
Because of how âinconceivableâ it was, along with the fact that Xu Tingsheng was injured at the end of the day, amidst his comatose state, countless varied emotions, everyone around him-all was tinged with a subtle elusiveness.