Chapter 231: A grandma's advice to her grandson

Nana realized that the silhouette she had seen earlier was indeed Jinhai. Her phone buzzed again.

‘What do you think your husband would have felt seeing you together with Chen Jianyu?’

She instantly understood what was going on. That blackmailer wanted Jinhai to doubt her, to make him lose his trust in her.

So the person knew that Jinhai and Chen Jianyu are both going to be here. That’s why she called me here.

‘You must have understood my plan. So, naturally, you must have understood what you shouldn’t be doing…”

She gripped the phone hard in her fist.

—

Serena saw Jianyu from afar and waved her hand. Jianyu asked, “Where were you?”

But he saw the shopping bags in her hands and knew what was going on.

Serena smiled sheepishly. “One thing led to the other, and I got lost in shopping. Hehe~. I didn’t even realize that you weren’t there.”

“Did you leave some stuff for other people as well, or did you already emptied the entire shopping mall?”

“Shut up!” she glared at him. “A boyfriend should never question his girlfriend’s shopping.”

Jianyu’s mouth twitched. “Fine, you win.”

Serena flung her arm in his and said, “Let’s go. I’m starving.”

“Not a surprise since you have exhausted yourself in shopping.” He said dryly.

Serena naughtily smiled and whispered in his ear. Her warm breath itched his ear as she said, “How about we have a passionate round when we return, and I will prove that I’m not exhausted.”

Jianyu was used to her flirting now. He smiled and looked at her with an evil glint in his eyes. “Sure. Let’s see how much ‘not exhausted’ you are. I wanted to let you off the hook since you must be tired, but now that you are offering yourself to me on a silver platter, how can I not grab the chance? Since you are fine with it, I don’t have to bother how intense I would be.”

Serena gulped. Did I just provoke him?

She laughed. “I was just teasing you.”

“But I’m not. So get ready.”

“I’m pregnant.”

“I will be careful.” He snorted. “And don’t you dare give me that reason. You had jumped on me a hundred times when I was telling you to refrain from it for a while.”

She chose to remain silent.

“Let’s go.” She meekly said.

He chuckled. “Your pitiful tone is not going to work on me.”

They left hand in hand, and she slightly turned just once to see her best friend standing at a distance, an expression of distress on her face.

—

At the dinner table, Jing saw Nana coming and excitedly called out. “Sister-in-law! Come have dinner with us.”

She saw Jinhai, who was quieter than usual. 

Nana felt as if she couldn’t meet his eyes. Even though she did it under pressure, she couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Liu Hai asked, “Is there too much work in Natsukashi? You seem to be very busy these days.”

Liu Chunhua agreed. “Yes, Nana. You should be resting these days.”

Nana awkwardly smiled. “Y-yeah. But it’s fine. I’m handling it.”

Yukito said, “Nee-chan, I think you should start hiring some employees. It will lessen your burden.”

Yukira nodded.

“I will.” Nana sat beside Jinhai, and he smiled at her. But she could sense a distance in it. It was not his usual, warm smile he greeted her with. It almost felt like an obligation.

Nana felt her heart crush into pieces.

The maid was watching this from a distance and observed their reactions. She felt elated as their plan was working.

Soon would be the time…

As they came back into the room, Jinhai asked, “Where were you today?”

Nana stiffened. Her back was to him, and she was fidgeting with her fingers. She had never lied to anybody, and today this was the line that she was forced to cross to protect Jinhai.

“I was in Natsukashi. Why?”

Silence.

Jinhai thought back to the time when he saw Nana in the mall. He was there for a meeting and was surprised to see her as she had told him that she would be busy in her work. But, just as he was about to call her, he saw Jianyu standing with her.

He froze.

Then in the next moment, he saw her in his arms, and he wanted to punch Jianyu on his face. It was too crowded, so he couldn’t see that somebody had actually pushed Nana to trip.

He thought that she would immediately leave, but then they started talking and both of them looked so happy. They had a smile on their faces as if nothing ever happened between them.

It forced him to remember the time when they were dating. They were smiling and chatting and laughing just as that time.

‘Did she forgive him?’

And now he wouldn’t have felt aggrieved if she had told him that she met Jianyu today.

But she lied to him.

Why?

Did she feel that I won’t trust her? Won’t I understand? Did she think that I would doubt her?

Nana said, “Anything else?” She was very close to breaking down in tears.

“…No.”

She slightly nodded and went to change.

“Did I do something wrong?”

She stopped.

“I feel like you are avoiding me.”

Trying to make her voice indifferent, she said, “No, I’m not. You are imagining things. If I couldn’t talk to you for a day, it doesn’t mean that I’m avoiding you.”

He said nothing.

“I’m going for a shower.”

She shut the door to the bathroom. Jinhai stood there, staring at it.

—

Two days passed by, and there was still an invisible tension between them that Nana refused to solve. One night, Jinhai was sitting quietly in the garden, a cigarette lit in between his fingers. But he hadn’t smoked it.

He was gazing at the night sky, the stars shining brightly at him. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

“Nana!” He turned to look in anticipation, but it died down when he saw Grandma Liu standing. He thought that Nana came to talk to him.

“Grandma.” He politely acknowledged.

Grandma Liu seemed to hesitate, but then she sat down beside him. 

After a few moments of silence, she said, “I know you must hate me, but I genuinely want to help you. If something is weighing on your mind, then you can tell me. Don’t worry. I won’t unfairly judge Nana.”

“It’s nothing like-“

“Don’t bother lying. You both seem to be in a cold war or something. Are you fighting?”

Jinhai pursed his lips.

She patiently waited.

After what it felt like a long time, he said, “Nana is avoiding me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. One night, she came late, and I might be a little too stern, but I said to stop working so late.” He told her about their conversation.

Grandma Liu sighed. “She is pregnant now. You should take care of her. She might also be having mood swings. It is very common in pregnancy.”

“Really?” He didn’t think about it.

“You cannot imagine how much I tortured your Grandpa when I was carrying Hai. The woman’s body undergoes many changes, and sometimes she just takes it out on you. She is also running her business, so she must be tired, and then you go and annoy her, obviously she would flip out.”

“You must be making her feel that only you care about the child, and she doesn’t. How can she not? She is going to be a mother.”

Jinhai slowly nodded.

“You have to be patient with her. You don’t have to feel bad. She isn’t doing it purposely. If you are already feeling this hurt, then your Grandpa should have divorced me a long ago.” She snorted.

Jinhai nodded. “Thank you. I know what I have to do now.”

She smiled.

“And if possible…please forgive me.” She said softly. “I realized how wrong I was to force you to be with Huian. Looking at you so happy with Nana changed my perception. She is really a good girl. You made the right choice.”

Jinhai stared at her but said nothing.

“Trust me. I only wanted what was good for you.” Her voice choked a bit. “And please don’t be angry at Huian. Don’t misunderstand me! I’m not taking her side. It’s all my fault. I encouraged her to chase after you.”

Jinhai silently listened.

“Xiang Qingge was right. As an elder, I should have guided her and stopped her when it was understood that you wouldn’t return her feelings. But I believed that she was perfect for you, so I didn’t do anything. I’m sorry.”

She slowly raised her hand to pat his head. She thought he would dodge, but he didn’t.

“You may not feel anything about it or not need it, but you and Nana have my blessings. Stay happy.” She softly patted his head.

Grandma Liu didn’t wait for his answer and quickly got up and left.

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