Yan looked like she was in pain. Han Qing wanted to step forward but she yelled at him to stay away. It was as though his presence had aggravated her, so he stood where he was. “Okay, I won’t go to you. Just calm down; don’t be so fired up.”
Upon seeing that Han Qing did not move any closer, Yan took a few deep breaths before finally stabilizing her breathing and calming herself down. However, the blunt pain in her belly did not completely go away. She used the wall for support as she walked forward with a pale face toward the elevator. Han Qing did not follow her anymore as he feared that she might collapse from being too aggravated.
Meanwhile, Yan did not turn around to see the expression on his face. After she went up, she headed straight into her home. She might have been overly riled up as she crashed onto her sofa as soon as she entered. The pain in her belly gradually faded. She poured herself a cup of warm water to drink then glanced at her belly, feeling slightly concerned. I felt pain twice today. Could there be something wrong with the baby?
The thought of there being a problem with the baby instilled a sense of panic in her, but she refused to feel that way. Things have turned out this way, yet I’m still worried about the baby. She thought that if she had enough reason, she would not keep the baby. On the other hand, the baby did not only belong to Han Qing. It also shared half of her blood. Moreover, it did not choose to be conceived in the first place. If its life got taken away just because she decided she did not want it anymore, then that would be too unfair. She had also been overjoyed and excited for the birth of this child. When she first found out that she was pregnant, she was delighted and even jumped for joy. She felt like she had won the lottery and was even happier than when she was with Han Qing. This hurts. She closed her eyes and curled up into a ball on the sofa.
At midnight, Yan noticed that the car downstairs was finally gone. She pulled out the luggage that was all packed up then put on her coat and a cap. The Zhou couple were very worried as they looked at her.
“Why don’t you let your dad take you to the train station?”
“No need, Mom. I’ve called for a taxi. It should be here soon.”
Luo Huimei was still worried. “Then, let me come with you. I can’t rest assured letting you go out on your own.”
“I really don’t have any other intentions, Mom. I just want to go out by myself and let off some steam and look at the scenery. I’ve been so busy all these years that I’ve never gone on a trip alone. Just take this as a chance for me to relax for a bit.”
“But…” Luo Huimei wanted to say more but Yan went in straight for a hug.
“Alright, alright; don’t worry about me, you two. I promise I’ll be back as soon as I feel better. When that time comes, I will be standing here again in one piece in front of you. Okay?”
“Yan…”
“That’s enough. She made up her mind so stop pestering her now. She might find us annoying. She has spent five years on her own out there. She knows what to do. She won’t get taken away.”
Since Mr. Zhou put it that way, Luo Huimei had nothing more to say. Then, the two of them saw her off.
When Yan sat in the car, she turned her phone on and found countless missed calls from Han Qing. She closed it with a bleak expression and opened her WeChat. Su Jiu had sent her a message, probably to ask her what had happened. There was also a message from Xu Yanwan. She had sent just one message. ‘Did you find out? Don’t think too much about it. I might’ve been set up with him, but the both of you are together now, so he will take responsibility for you.’
Tsk. The both of us are together now so he will take responsibility for me? Is she trying to say that he doesn’t love me and that he just feels responsible? Yan noticed the strange way in which Xu Yanwan looked at her before that did not match up to her words. Who knew there was so much hidden meaning behind them?
Once Yan came to know the truth, everything became clear. She removed the old card from her phone and replaced it with a new one. Without much thought, she tossed the old card out the window. I have yet to contact Muzi and tell her about Han Qing. After all, Han Muzi was living happily now. If she found out how big of a mess Han Qing and Yan were in, she would worry and even act as the middleman between them. She had a rough time in the past and went through many hardships. It was not easy for her to have a beautiful and complete family now with both a son and a daughter.
I don’t want her to have more concerns because of me. I will work my feelings out first, then tell her about it later. By then, even if she worries, I will be completely fine.
Yan had purchased her train ticket without much of a plan. She simply picked whichever had the longest duration. However, she was not able to get a ticket for a sleeper as there were only hard seats left when she bought it. Nevertheless, it did not matter what kind of ticket she had because she could not fall asleep anyway.
…
The train station was packed with people even late in the night. People were hugging each other and saying their goodbyes; some were traveling together, and some were by themselves. Yan fell into the group of people who were traveling by themselves. After waiting in the main hall for a while, she got her ticket inspected and boarded the train. Once inside, she found her seat and sat down.
Compared to being on a plane, the train was a lot noisier. Many of the passengers brought along little children who would not stop crying and there were also people having all sorts of conversations on the phone. All the noise was giving Yan a headache. She put in her earphones and played some music to ease some of the tension. But that moment was short-lived as the person next to her was a woman and her child. The child kept making a fuss and eventually started to cry out loud.
Yan could not help but shoot the child a glance. For some reason, the child stopped crying when Yan looked at him and started to reach out to grab her earphones. Yan automatically reached up to block it.
The woman looked at her and smiled, “Hey, young lady. Are you on the train by yourself?” Out of courtesy, Yan nodded and let out a sound of affirmation.
The child tried to grab her earphones once more but Yan pulled them back so the child would not break them. Upon seeing that, the child started to cry out loud again and hid into the middle-aged woman’s embrace while pointing at Yan’s earphones. “I want! I want!”
The woman looked at Yan, then at the earphones, and smiled. “Excuse me, young lady. My grandchild here finds your earphones interesting. Could you lend it to him to play with?”
Without giving it a second thought, Yan rejected the woman, “Sorry, I’m using it right now.”
The woman was taken aback by Yan’s unexpectedly straightforward rejection. Her expression slowly turned sour. Meanwhile, Yan had already changed to a different song. They were strangers who met on the train. This sort of parental teaching of wanting and taking someone else’s things without care was not something Yan agreed with. The woman even asked to let him play with it. Yan’s earphones were not his toy.
When the child did not get what he wanted, he continued crying. The woman must have had enough of his crying as she slapped him right on the cheek and scolded, “What are you crying about? You just want everything, don’t you? Have you never seen someone say no to you?”
