Bringing the Nation’s Husband Home - Chapter 662
Chapter 662: Text Messages on the Phone (13)
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
“After all, Lin Shiyi’s boyfriend invested so much money, which goes to say, he must be quite a big deal…”
“Whether her boyfriend is a big deal or not, is that something you should be worrying about?” Lu Jinnian picked up a piece of fish. As he deboned it, he interrupted Qiao Anhao in a nonchalant voice, cutting off her words. “What if I caused you to have an enemy in the business industry? Then what?”
Qiao Anhao’s words were left stuck in her throat, and she gulped, staring at Lu Jinnian for about five seconds. She then realized what he had meant. Her eyes suddenly twinkled, and she drew her face closer. “Lu Jinnian, are you acting jealous?”
Lu Jinnian turned his gaze from the fish to Qiao Anhao’s face, and stared at her with a neutral look. “Do you really think that a man who set his eyes on Miss Lin is worthy of my jealousy?”
Ayah… She was clearly being looked down on, so why did it make her feel so good?
Qiao Anhao’s eyes were curved as she pouted her bright red lips from the hot chillis. “You’re clearly jealous… It’s because I said that her boyfriend was a big deal that you’re acting jea…”
Before she could say her final word ‘jealous’, Lu Jinnian suddenly picked up the deboned fish and shoved it into her mouth, stopping her from talking once again.
When Qiao Anhao swallowed the fish, she clearly saw Lu Jinnian’s pale face gain a slight tinge of pink. She couldn’t help but laugh whilst eating, which made him glare at her even more intensely. She hurriedly bit her lip and held her laughter in.
She then her eyes into a crescent moon shape. Like this, she looked the most charming and attractive self. Lu Jinnian couldn’t help but turn his head towards the window, and the tint of red on his face grew even more evident.
However, even with Lu Jinnian’s nonchalant words as guarantee, Qiao Anhao still felt uncertain. She was afraid that he would judge her for what she’d said, and so after eating the last shrimp, she asked in an obedient voice, “Lu Jinnian, did I go a little overboard this afternoon?”
Lu Jinnian took the last peeled shrimp and shoved it into Qiao Anhao’s mouth. Then, he grabbed a napkin and slowly wiped his fingers. When he spoke, his tone of voice was rather flat but there was also a mix of infinite affection and pampering. “I wouldn’t mind if you’d went even more overboard.”
I really don’t mind if you went a little overboard.
On the contrary, I really like it when you go overboard.
It gave me a sense that in your world, I am someone who you can’t be without.
I love you, I like you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you… Those were the world’s most sentimental terms of endearment. To randomly spit any one of those lines would touch someone.
But, Lu Jinnian had said “I don’t mind if you went a little overboard”.
Qiao Anhao thought that those words were the most beautiful words she’d heard in the world. The warmest of sweet words couldn’t even compare.
Even though she didn’t believe Lin Shiyi’s words, her one line of “after marriage, he hadn’t even bought you a wedding ring?” had prodded the softest part of her heart.
On their way off set, she had told herself over and over again that Lin Shiyi was just saying it to upset her. She mustn’t get upset, or she’d fall for her trap.
What’s more, wasn’t it just a wedding ring?
Chapter 663: Text Messages on the Phone (14)
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
What’s more, wasn’t it just a wedding ring?
What’s the big deal? Who said that you needed a ring to be married!
She and Lu Jinnian wanted to be special!
However, even if she found infinite ways to comfort herself, she knew deep down in her heart that she was still a little upset.
Yet, at that very moment, she felt so warm and so happy because of his words.
“Lu Jinnian, was I a little overboard this afternoon?”
“I wouldn’t mind if you’d went even more overboard.”
How beautiful were those words…
–
After dinner, Lu Jinnian called the waiter for the bill, but he then suddenly looked like he had remembered something. He reached his hand out towards Qiao Anhao. “Mobile phone.”
She blinked in confusion at first, but then slowly came to a realization. She hastily pulled out her phone from her bag and handed it to Lu Jinnian.
He took it, and after his fingers flew across the screen, he gave it back to Qiao Anhao. “If something comes up, call this number.”
Qiao Anhao responded with an “oh”. When she picked up her phone, she saw that it was an American number. She furrowed her brows, then raised her head and asked, “You’re back in China now, are you not going to change your number to a domestic one?”
The waiter, who Lu Jinnian had called over, brought a card machine over to him. He picked the pen to sign as he replied, “After a while, I’ll get a new number. When I do, I’ll let you know.”
“Why do you need a brand new number?” asked Qiao Anhao confused. “Was the last one not good? Couldn’t you have bought a new sim and asked for your old number?”
The previous mobile number… When Lu Jinnian heard those words, he clearly stopped signing his name for a moment. His expression then ran cold, but only for a split second. He snapped back to his senses and continued to sign, but his writing wasn’t as fluid as before.
After he handed the waiter back his pen, he grabbed for his jacket that hung on the side and said in a flat tone, “Let’s go.” He turned around and walked out of the room.
Why did Lu Jinnian suddenly look a little unhappy, Qiao Anhao wondered. She hadn’t said anything wrong…
Qiao Anhao sat in her seat alone, full of bewilderment for a time. Only then she picked up her bag and walked out of the room.
When she walked out of the restaurant, Lu Jinnian had already started the car up and was waiting by the entrance for her. His facial expression looked normal, just as it was during dinner. It was so normal in fact that when she got into the car, he personally fastened her seat belt. It was as though the flash of annoyance in the restaurant had been all just in her head.
It was late when they got back to Mian Xiu Garden. As usual, Qiao Anhao got a shower first, then left the water on and called Lu Jinnian’s name.
In bed, Lu Jinnian hugged Qiao Anhao, but didn’t do much else.
Qiao Anhao purposefully wriggled in his arms, but eventually he only just kissed her lips while locking her down so she couldn’t move.
She didn’t know how long had passed, but the skies outside had already darkened and everything was silent. Just as she had shut her eyes, about to drift off to sleep, she suddenly felt Lu Jinnian gently slipping away from her.
In that split second, she instantly wasn’t sleepy anymore. With her eyes still shut, she motionlessly pretended to be deep asleep.
She clearly heard Lu Jinnian quietly crawl out of bed, then walk towards the changing rooms. Next came the sound of ruffling clothes.
Chapter 664: Text Messages on the Phone (15)
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
Why was Lu Jinnian getting dressed?
Qiao Anhao furrowed her brows when she heard Lu Jinnian come out from the changing room, and then shut the bedroom door on his way out.
The room fell silent once again, and her eyes were filled with suspicion when she opened them. She soon heard the door open downstairs and her brows furrowed even tighter. She instinctively threw the covers off of herself, jumped out of bed, and ran towards the balcony. From there, she saw Lu Jinnian get into his car. The car lights lit up. He slowly turned the car around and drove out the courtyard.
Why wasn’t he asleep? What did he sneak out on his own for? In the middle of the night nonetheless…
Qiao Anhao stood on the balcony in bewilderment for a long while, before running back into the bedroom. She grabbed her phone, ready to call him when… who else went through her head but Lin Shiyi’s earlier words.
Four Seasons Hotel… a foreign woman… a man and a woman alone in a room… room 1002, the presidential suite…
Those words were as full of impact as an explosive in Qiao Anhao’s mind, going off again and again.
Her hand trembled and the phone fell down and crashed next to her feet. Her delicately white skin instantly became red, but she didn’t seem to feel any pain at all, as she remained frozen there.
Lu Jinnian liked her so much… How could he go look for another woman?
However, for as long as they’ve been married, he had never once made a move on her. Even tonight, she made a move to fall into him, yet he didn’t do a thing. But in the afternoon, Lu Jinnian had looked after her, and when she mentioned another man over dinner, he’d gotten jealous. He clearly cared about her.
No-no-no, she had to trust Lu Jinnian… For him to go out like that, he must have his reasons… She couldn’t let herself be affected by Lin Shiyi…
Qiao Anhao forcefully shook her head, shut her eyes, and took a deep breath. She tried her best to calm herself down, as she continuously told herself to stop thinking about it, but the more she told herself not to, the wilder her thoughts ran. Eventually, she sat by the side of her bed as though she’d lost all the strength in her body and looked around the empty bedroom. Her heart was overwhelmed with panic.
A thought came to mind that impelled her to look into it, but another thought forced her to stop.
The two thoughts fought one another in her mind for a long time, before Qiao Anhao finally stood up and walked towards the changing room.
She had no idea how she got dressed, nor how she walked out the door. In short, when she finally snapped back to reality, she was already at the entrance of Mian Xiu Garden’s neighborhood, having hailed a taxi.
She got into the car, and when the driver asked her where she was headed, she paused for a long moment before saying, “Four Seasons Hotel”.
It was one in the morning. The streets were empty and extremely silent, and the sound of the speeding car traveled through Qiao Anhao’s ears.
She didn’t know for how long they had been driving when the car came to a stop. She just stared blankly out the window without any reaction.
The driver turned his head and patted the back of his seat. “Miss, we’re here.”
With that, Qiao Anhao seemed to nod in retrospect. She pushed open the car door and got ready to get out.
“Miss, you haven’t paid your fare!”
Chapter 665: Text Messages on the Phone (16)
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
After the taxi driver’s reminder, Qiao Anhao took half a minute to understand what he meant, then hastily pulled out her purse and paid the fare.
The taxi driver had stopped the car opposite the Four Seasons Hotel. After waiting for the taxi to leave, Qiao Anhao stared up at the dazzlingly lights of the hotel across the wide road in front of her.
She couldn’t say why, but the nerves started to take over her heart. She kind of wanted to go over, and yet she kind of didn’t.
She stood on the street for five whole minutes before turning around, walking casually toward the Sky Bridge and onward, step-by-step.
She descended the Sky Bridge, and her eyes instantly locked on to the car at the hotel’s entrance.
It was Lu Jinnian’s car.
He had really come to the Four Seasons Hotel…
In that instant, her chaotic heart completely collapsed.
Could it be that what Lin Shiyi had said was true?
Lu Jinnian had come to the Four Seasons Hotel to hook up with a foreign woman?
However, they had clearly fallen asleep together in bed last night… In the morning, it was also her who had woken up first. He rested beside her, in the same hugging pose as the night before.
She stared at his car for a long while, before her gaze honed in on the Four Seasons Hotel. She lifted her head and looked up at the top floor.
The highest floor was the presidential suite… Lin Shiyi had even told her the room number. Could they really be in room 1002?
Qiao Anhao gulped and hesitated for a moment. Eventually she strode over towards the hotel.
In the Four Seasons Hotel, even if you wanted to visit, you had to register.
All she had to do was give Lu Jinnian’s name and ID number, then she’ll know if he was in room 1002.
At the front desk of the Four Seasons Hotel, there were only two members of staff on duty. Perhaps because it was very late, they were slightly dozing off. When they saw Qiao Anhao walk over, one of the gentlemen immediately summoned his energy and smiled. He kindly asked, “Excuse me Miss, are you here to check in?”
Qiao Anhao’s expression seemed calm when she shook her head. After taking her phone out and finding Lu Jinnian’s ID number, she said to the front desk, “I have a friend here. I’m here to see him. His ID number is…”
The gentleman quickly typed the series of numbers that Qiao Anhao had given into the computer.
When he finished entering the eleven digit ID number, he politely asked Qiao Anhao to “Please wait”. He then pressed search. After waiting for about half a minute, the gentleman pointed over to the elevator. “Mr. Lu is in room 1002, allow me to take you up.”
In that instant, Qiao Anhao couldn’t quite describe how she felt.
Actually, the reason for why she came out in the middle of the night was because her woman’s intuition told her that there was something Lu Jinnian has been hiding from her.
As soon as she saw his car at the entrance of the Four Seasons Hotel, she had already felt that there was a possibility that what Lin Shiyi had said was true.
Yet, her heart still hadn’t grasped onto the idea and was reluctant to believe her, so she had to run to the front desk to be certain.
Qiao Anhao felt like her heart had been ruthlessly cut open by someone and the fresh blood poured endlessly out of her. She was so pained that her face instantly turned pale white and her feet got cold.
But even then, her heart still repeatedly argued that everything wasn’t real.
Chapter 666: Text Messages on the Phone (17)
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
“Miss? Aren’t you looking for Mr. Lu? Please.” Seeing as Qiao Anhao stood stunned on the spot for half a day, the gentleman politely reminded her of her goal.
She slowly nodded at him with a pale face. Slightly preoccupied with her own thoughts, she then followed him towards the elevators.
The gentleman helped her swipe her card, then pressed for the top floor. He smiled at her and told her the room number again, before taking his leave.
Qiao Anhao stood alone between the four cold walls of the elevator, staring continuously at the jumping red numbers. Her heart started to race.
It took just three minutes for the elevator to reach the top floor from the first. However, Qiao Anhao felt as thought it had taken several centuries. The elevator doors stopped, but she stood motionlessly until the alarm rang. Just as the doors were about to shut, she stretched out her arm out and pressed the elevator button and slowly walked out.
It was silent in the corridor as Qiao Anhao walked down the red carpets. She stared in front of her and took a deep breath. She turned left and walked past room after room before turning right, and to the very end. There, she finally reached the doors of room 1002.
She stared at the tightly shut door and raised her hand a few times, but in the end she couldn’t bring herself to press the doorbell.
Lu Jinnian was inside… It was said that there was also a foreign woman in there… He had reached here before she did… What could they be doing right now?
Qiao Anhao really didn’t want to turn herself into an angry wife, but these wild thoughts and guesses just wouldn’t stop running through her mind at that precise moment. She was just too conflicted. A part of her told her to believe Lu Jinnian, yet the other part of her couldn’t stop itself from picturing Lu Jinnian and the foreign woman sleeping together.
The two of them had been apart for four months He had been in America. Who in hell had he meet?
In the letter he’d hidden in the porcelain doll, he’d clearly laid out his deep love for her. And he was already married to her…
Qiao Anhao felt that she was truly stubborn. The situation was already at this point, and yet she still had to see it with her own eyes before she could drop it.
Yes. She had to see it with her own eyes. In the end, she could never believe that the man she loved this much would betray her.
Even if… even if he betrayed her… she still wanted to take him home… this was her husband, her legal husband!
At that thought, Qiao Anhao shut her eyes, took a deep breath, then counted to three in her head. She clenched her teeth and suddenly knocked hard on the door.
She didn’t know how many times she had knocked, but it was at least until the back of her hand had started to hurt. Then a familiar voice came from the other side… Lu Jinnian’s voice.
“Who is it?”
Qiao Anhao didn’t utter a word but continued to knock hard on the door. Suddenly, the door in front swung open and her hand froze in the air. She lowered her head silently for a whole half a minute, before raising it up. She saw a well-dressed Lu Jinnian standing before her. His brows were creased, and his eyes carried a hint of astonishment, like he wondered how she had followed him to here.
Qiao Anhao stood motionlessly on the spot, staring into his eyes for a while. Then her eyes fell to his shoulders and into the room, where she discovered two glasses of red wine on the table, a pack of cigarettes, and Lu Jinnian’s jacket randomly chucked on the sofa.
Her pitch-black pupils quivered, before looking up again at Lu Jinnian’s deep, beautiful eyes.
Chapter 667: Text Messages on the Phone (18)
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
Neither one spoke. Instead, they quietly stared at one another.
Qiao Anhao didn’t know how much time had passed when the sound of high heels came from behind Lu Jinnian and a familiar voice, in English, was heard. “Nian, who is it?”
When the last syllable fell, Qiao Anhao saw the blonde woman in the long red dress walk over from inside the room. She recognized her from first glance. It was clearly the woman Lu Jinnian had taken to dinner in America!
Could it be that she had never given up on him even after learning that she was pregnant with Lu Jinnian’s baby? Had she chased him all the way to China?
The instant Lucy spoke, Lu Jinnian snapped back to reality.
Wasn’t Qiao Anhao asleep? How had she follow him to the Four Seasons Hotel? That wasn’t the point… It was the middle of the night, and he was in a room with someone of the other sex…
Suddenly, a hint of panic emerged beneath Lu Jinnian’s eyes. He nervously cried out, “Qiao Qiao…”
Before he could finish, Qiao Anhao, who stood in front of him like a statue looked like she was provoked by something. Her body started to tremble lightly. Then, the next second, she abruptly grabbed onto his hand, as though she was afraid that what he said next would shatter her. She beat him to it and said, “Lu Jinnian, why did you leave by yourself? I didn’t dare sleep on my own.”
In a situation like this, normally speaking, shouldn’t the woman hysterically hit or curse?
Why was Qiao Anhao’s reaction so strange?
Lu Jinnian had clearly not done anything to let her down, but in that moment, he’d completely lost her trust. “Qiao Qiao, listen to me. Lucy and I…”
Lucy looked at the scene before her in confusion, then at Lu Jinnian and asked, “Nian?”
As though Lucy’s voice had set Qiao Anhao off, she suddenly screamed the words, “Lu Jinnian, I want to go home!”
As her voice dropped, she jumped into Lu Jinnian’s arms. She hugged his neck like a little girl, whining in a low and pitiful voice, “Home… home… Lu Jinnian, let’s go home. Please?”
“Alright, alright,” he responded, afraid that she would lose it again. He didn’t even grab his jacket, as he hurriedly left Lucy with a “Sorry” behind him. He immediately stretched his arms out and carried Qiao Anhao with big strides towards the elevators.
On the way down, Qiao Anhao looked like she was afraid of something, for her body trembled in his arms. As she hugged his neck, she wouldn’t stop gripping harder onto him as the time went on. When they reached the final floor, Lu Jinnian’s breathing was a little irregular, yet he didn’t dare say something to remind her.
Just as he carried her out of the hotel’s lobby, Qiao Anhao suddenly spoke. “Lu Jinnian, start up the car. I’m going to the toilets.”
“I’ll carry you.” When he said this, he turned around, about to rush over to the lobby’s restrooms.
“I don’t want you to. I want to go on my own!” said Qiao Anhao in a muffled voice. She struggled out of his arms, then didn’t wait for him to react as she ran over to the restroom.
Lu Jinnian didn’t actually start up the car, but followed behind her.
He stood at the entrance of the restroom for twenty minutes, but didn’t see Qiao Anhao come out.
Chapter 668: Text Messages on the Phone (19)
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
Lu Jinnian waited impatiently, then got up and paced a few steps at the entrance of the restrooms. In the end, he stopped at the women restroom door. He hesitated for a moment, then pushed open the door and walked right in, as though he couldn’t care about this now.
Luckily, it was the middle of the night, so there was no one in the women’s public restroom in the lobby. However, as this was the first time Lu Jinnian had ever entered the women restroom, he still had a mental barrier, and his posture while walking exposed his unease. He quickly sped past, opening every cubicle and carelessly sweeping his eyes across them.
When he shut the final door, his brows furrowed tightly.
Qiao Anhao wasn’t in the restroom at all!
As Lu Jinnian took big strides out of the women restroom. He pulled out his phone, ready to call her, when he suddenly saw the emergency route in the restroom. At that moment, he turned around and walked towards the elevator as though he’d confirmed a guess of his. He desperately pressed the open button by the elevator, walked in, and headed straight for the top floor.
The corridor of the top floor was silent. Lu Jinnian followed the way down it and turned at the corner. Before he could walk on, Qiao Anhao’s calm voice traveled from the very end of the corridor in front of him.
“I came here to see you, because I have something to tell you. Whatever you want to tell me, I don’t actually want to hear it.
“Lu Jinnian is my husband. My legal husband, under Chinese law. I have a marriage certificate here. I believe you wouldn’t understand it.
“I don’t care about what happened between you and him in America, but what I want to tell you now, is the you and him must end it here.
“Because the one who will grow old with him, the one who will give birth to his beautiful children, and the one who will take care of them as they grow up is – ME, not YOU. So I hope that you will stop pestering him. His future will never have you in it. Nor will I allow you to be in his future.
“I’ve said everything I wanted to say. Thank you for your cooperation. Goodbye.”
Qiao Anhao’s voice wasn’t loud, but the clarity in her every word traveled through the silent corridors and into Lu Jinnian’s ears. As he listened, his heart skipped a beat.
It was not until he heard the sound of her high heels draw closer and closer to him that he abruptly snapped back to reality. Seeing as she hadn’t noticed him, he took the opportunity to quickly turn around and walk back to the elevator.
–
After Qiao Anhao entered the elevator, the rims of her eyes couldn’t help but redden.
The Lu Jinnian who loved her so much and who did so much for her… How could he mess around with other women?
She knew that when a wife normally discovered her husband doing such things, they’d hit the mistress, curse out the husband, or even harsher yet, they’d file straight for divorce. Some would even go as far as to ruin their husband’s reputation altogether.
When she had knocked on room 1002, in her mind, she had asked herself that if she saw Lu Jinnian, what would she do? Would she give him a cool slap on the face, then grit her teeth and cry divorce?
Yet when she opened the door and really saw him, she realized that she couldn’t bring herself to divorce him. Even if she understood that this would remain as a thorn in her heart, which she could never pluck. She would mind. She would mind until she reached the end of her life, but she would rather mind, because she couldn’t divorce him.
So, in reality, she chose the most cowardly method. She didn’t cry or throw a tantrum. She pretended to not understand a thing, as if nothing had happened between them.
She stepped out of the elevator on the second floor, and followed the emergency stairway down to the first floor.
