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Side Story 4: Visiting New In-Laws (4)

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Ever since Su Jian was able to get closer to his parents, he had been in a good mood. Not only were his parents showering him with care, but even his younger brother who had been acting strangely initially was also now treating him warmly. His brother frequently called and would always rush home whenever Su Jian visited. Sometimes, he would even call Su Jian out to meet. The two of them would talk about their parents or Su Jie’s girlfriend or other random stuff. They were very compatible. Su Jian felt that they were able to find back the tacit understanding they had before he was reborn, making him feel very happy.

Since they had a legitimate reason, Su Jian and Su Jie’s meetings weren’t kept a secret from An Yize. On one side, Su Jian had his true parents and brother. On the other side, he had the husband he loved and a baby. Su Jian felt that his life was very fulfilling.

Thus, Su Jian who was immersed in his fulfilling life didn’t notice An Yize looking at him with dark eyes when he was chatting with Su Jie on the phone. Recently, Su Jian who rarely compliment men have been complimenting about Su Jie before him. Thinking about this, An Yize couldn’t help but knit his brows.

Also, when An Yize coincidentally heard An Yirou, who came home during the holidays, saying to Su Jian, “No wonder Ah Jie would sometimes ask about you. Third sister-in-law is actually his sister.”  An Yize’s mood sank further.

Yet, Su Jian didn’t notice An Yize’s abnormality. These few days, after getting off work, An Yize mostly hugged the baby in silence or was working silently in the study room. Seeing this, Su Jian only thought that An Yize was tired. Thus, he personally cooked a meal for An Yize. Feeling that he was quite thoughtful, he gave himself a thumbs up!

   ……

This night, Su Jian was lying on the sofa while playing his phone when his phone rang.

Answering the call, he had yet to speak when he heard An Yirou speaking anxiously, “Third sister-in-law, is third brother at home?”

Su Jian answered a little confusedly, “Yes… I can help you call him?”

“Okay.” An Yirou relaxed slightly. With a still anxious tone, she continued, “I called earlier but I couldn’t get through! Third sister-in-law, please hurry up. I’m looking for him urgently!”

“His phone might have run out of battery. Don’t be anxious Xiao Rou. What’s going on?”

“Third sister-in-law, something happened to Ah Jie!”

Su Jian’s expression stiffened and he asked anxiously, “What happened to Ah Jie?”

Sounding like she was crying, An Yirou said, “There was a mudslide! A lot of people died! I called Ah Jie but there was no answer. Third sister-in-law, I’m afraid that Ah Jie…”

   ……

Su Jian then remembered Su Jie mentioning that he would be going to a mountain area for some social activities. Recalling the location Su Jie told him, Su Jian looked it up online immediately. Indeed, that area had a sudden rainstorm which caused the mudslide, killing many people.

Su Jian’s heart sank. Quickly calling back home, he learned that Su Jie has yet to return home. Su Jian’s heart sank further. Fortunately, his parents only knew that Su Jie was out for some activity but didn’t know where he had gone to. Su Jian relaxed slightly.

Running into the study room, Su Jian handed the phone to An Yize. Due to the sudden news, his voice was trembling when he said, “Xiao Rou called.”

An Yize looked at him calmly and received the phone. With a steady voice, he said, “Xiao Rou?”

Perhaps due to anxiousness, An Yirou’s voice in the phone was very loud. Su Jian heard An Yirou crying with a “Wa”, then her pleading An Yize to help her find life-savingng helicopter, saying that she wanted to personally go help with the rescue.

An Yize listened calmly throughout before saying in a low voice, “You can’t.”

Su Jian stood by the side and listened to their conversation. After An Yize hung up the phone, he tried his best to say calmly, “Xiao Rou can’t go for sure. She’s a girl and still young. It’s understandable that she being rash due to anxiousness.”

An Yize looked at him for a moment. Finally, he couldn’t help it and raised his hand to touch Su Jian’s pale white face. Feeling the coldness, he asked with knitted brows, “What’s wrong?”

Su Jian trembled slightly. Holding An Yize’s hand, Su Jian looked at him. He asked, somewhat imploringly, “Yize, you can help can’t you? Why don’t you let me go…”

“You can’t!” An Yize said without hesitation.

Su Jian trembled. Without saying anything, he lowered his head silently and turned around to leave.

An Yize grabbed onto him and forcibly spun his body around. The moment he saw Su Jian’s red eyes, An Yize’s heart clenched. However, he tried his best to speak gently.

“We have a helicopter and it’s easy to find personnel. However, there is still air traffic control and other matters to worried about.” Seeing Su Jian looking at him expectantly, he paused for a moment. Caressing the corner of Su Jian’s eyes, he continued, “I will think of a way.”

“Yize, thank you!”

Seeing Su Jian’s happy expression, An Yize didn’t feel happy at all. Instead, his eyes darkened.

   ……

Although An Yize forced Su Jian to stay in bed and sleep, he was too worried about Su Jie. Additionally, An Yize stayed in the study room the whole night to settle the issue and didn’t come back, making Su Jian feel cold in bed. Thus, Su Jian didn’t sleep for the whole night and only managed to get a moment of sleep the next moment.

Opening his eyes, Su Jian saw An Yize sitting by the bed.

Because of the backlighting, he couldn’t see An Yize clearly. He only felt that An Yize had a rare tired look.

“Yize…” Su Jian rubbed his eyes. Suddenly awake, he asked, “Is there news about Ah Jie? How is he?”

An Yize looked at him deeply and replied, “We managed to contact him. He is fine and can return home soon.”

Su Jian was in a daze. Then, his body relaxed and he lied back down, his limbs all spread out on the bed. He said, “That’s great! Fortunately, Ah Jie is fine. If not, I wouldn’t know what to do…” His family had already lost their eldest son due to a traffic accident. If their youngest son were to meet an accident as well, his parents would not be able to handle it.

He only cared about being happy and wanted to roll around the bed. The next moment, he suddenly jumped out of the bed and personally gave Su Jie a call. After experiencing a period of anxiety, Su Jian’s brotherly love grew. During the call, Su Jian asked about what happened and nagged at Su Jie to be careful a thousand times. Su Jie who was receiving the call was not annoyed at all and even comforted Su Jian from time to time, his voice soft and gentle.

Su Jian was already very happy that his brother was no longer in danger, but felt prouder when his brother was being this obedient. He chatted with Su Jie on the phone for a very long time and his face carried a foolish smile without him knowing.

As for An Yize by the side, he could see the happiness in Su Jian’s smile. Su Jie who was speaking in the phone also sounded overwhelmingly gentle.

However, Su Jian didn’t noticed An Yize’s expression at all. After the exhibition of brotherly love was over, he hung up the phone and laid down on the bed and said pleasantly, “Life sure is beautiful–cough…”

An Yize noticed his coughing immediately, “Did you catch a cold?”

Su Jian laughed with a ‘hehe’ and got up, saying, “It’s nothing, just coughing for a moment. I’m now very happy, optimistic and open minded. I feel very refreshed!”

   ……

However, he spoke too soon.

Cough, runny nose, headache and fever… The symptoms of a bad cold assaulted Su Jian and he lost his previous energy.

Seeing An Yize bending over with furrowed brows to check on his condition, Su Jian lifted his hand powerlessly to push him away, saying, “Don’t come over or you will catch a cold too…” An Yize’s motion came to a halt. Su Jian didn’t notice it and continued, “It would be bad if it spread to the baby…”

An Yize didn’t reply, only holding onto Su Jian’s hand.

However, for the whole period Su Jian was sick, An Yize still took care of him. Because he was worried of affecting the baby, An Yize purposely didn’t approach the baby.

His cohabitant was being so caring. By right, Su Jian should be feeling very happy. However, Su Jian didn’t felt particularly comfortable. He realised that An Yize was a little strange.

Su Jian couldn’t really tell which part was strange. An Yize still treated him well but he seemed somewhat quiet. However, An Yize had always been a man of few words, so it wasn’t particularly noteworthy now. Nevertheless, Su Jian still felt that An Yize was acting strangely. If he had to find a word to describe, it would be… cold?

Su Jian felt that although An Yize always had a poker face, his attitude had been cold recently. Su Jian counted with his fingers. Hmm, that fellow kissed the baby everyday. However, he hasn’t kissed me for a few days! He didn’t need An Yize to be all mushy with him. However, for someone who kissed him everyday with a poker face to suddenly stop being close to him is very suspicious!

After being forced by mother An to accompany her to watch a few melodramatic marriage drama, Su Jian couldn’t help but think: Don’t tell me, An Yize is having an affair?

It was very suspicious after An Yize suddenly told Su Jian he needed to go overseas for a business trip.

Su Jian asked in surprise, “Didn’t you say that it was Mingfei that is going?” He remembered when Ji Mingfei came to see the baby previously, he mentioned he would bring back souvenirs for the baby.

An Yize’s expression didn’t change as he replied, “There’s a change in plan. I will go over personally.”

“Oh.” Su Jian asked dazedly, “How long will it take?”

An Yize gave him a glance and said, “Half a month.” Pausing for a moment, he explained, “It’s a very big project.”

“Half a month?” Su Jian thought back. For the time he had been with An Yize, An Yize had rarely gone on business trips. Even the longest trip didn’t exceed five days. Unexpectedly, the trip this time was so long. Su Jian said jokingly, “So long, the baby may just forget about you when you come back.”

An Yize stared at him and said, “As long as you still remember me.”

Su Jian smirked, “You won’t know about that! Maybe by the time you’re back, I already have someone else. Let me tell you, I’m very popular these days. A few days ago, when I went to a mall, I met a guy who asked from my number. He even said ‘Little sister, let’s be friends’. Hahaha, this is such an old method of striking a conversation, I haven’t used it since ages ago!”

An Yize’s mood sank and he turned around abruptly.

Su Jian shut his mouth awkwardly. Looking at An Yize’s back, he held his chin and thought: He’s not even willing to joke with me. Don’t tell me there’s really something going on?

   ……

This suspicion worsened after An Yize went on the trip.

Although An Yize was overseas, he would call back every day. However, An Yize didn’t call Su Jian, but called home instead. There had been a few times when Su Jian heard the housekeeper talking to An Yize about the baby, but never once was Su Jian mentioned.

The reason why the housekeeper didn’t answer about Su Jian was naturally because An Yize didn’t ask about him.

Initially, Su Jian didn’t gave it much thought. Afterall, An Yize went overseas for a business trip, not for a holiday. It was possible that he was too busy to ask about the others. However, the housekeeper had answered for the baby, for mother An and even once for An Yirou. Su Jian started feeling unhappy.

He wasn’t like many wives who thought that it was normal for their husband to report about their whereabouts everyday. However, he remembered An Yize’s indifferent behaviour before he left for the trip. Other than the incident with Ji Yan before they had fallen in love with each other, it never happened again. And after the two of them started loving each other, An Yize would call back even when he was going to be just a few minutes late getting back, fearing that Su Jian would worry. This is the first time such a situation was occurring even since the two of them started loving each other.

As the saying goes, feelings start to fade after seven years. Their marriage was still far from being seven years long. It couldn’t be his feelings were already fading?^[1]

To be honest, Su Jian didn’t truly believe that An Yize was having an adultery. This faith didn’t come from some female intuition like other wives. He just believes in him.

The uncle An he knew wasn’t someone who would have an adultery.

If he wasn’t having an adultery, then just what was going on?

Su Jian tried his best to think back whether have he done something unintentionally which angered An Yize.

However, he just couldn’t think of anything. He had been respectful and loving to his parents, friendly to his brother, very loving to his husband and doted on his child. He was practically a role model wife and mother. Also, his character was as kind, honest, smart, witty, hardworking, brave, serious and lively as before. He couldn’t think of a reason why uncle An would dislike him.

Leaning over the cradle, Su Jian sighed in annoyance, “Baby, do you know what is going on with your daddy recently? It seems too early to be menopause!”

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Footnotes:

[1]The seven-year itch

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