Volume One, Chapter 14: Severe Hemorrhaging on the Delivery Bed
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At the Pei residence.
Song Nanyi picked up her bag, preparing to make a trip to Anfo Temple.
In her previous life, whenever problems arose in her marriage to Huo Shixu, her father’s heart disease would flare up dangerously. Several times, he had hovered on the brink of death.
She felt like a terrible daughter.
Today was an open day for worshippers, and she wanted to pray for her family’s blessings.
The road from the Pei residence to Anfo Temple passed by the home she shared with Huo Shixu.
From a distance, she saw Su Yu’an flag down a taxi.
Curious, Song Nanyi followed in her car.
The taxi stopped in front of an auto repair shop.
Su Yu’an got out.
A young man waved to her. The two chatted and laughed as they walked inside.
The boy appeared to be about the same age as Su Yu’an.
There was even a slight resemblance between them. Were they family?
Hadn’t she claimed that her entire family was dead and that she had no relatives?
Was she hiding something deliberately?
Why hide it?
Did she have some unspeakable motive?
Song Nanyi’s mind filled with questions.
Then she let it go.
Whatever Su Yu’an was plotting had nothing to do with her.
People often said that a woman’s intelligence diminished when she fell in love.
Men were no different.
Sometimes, even after being deceived, they still felt as though they were the ones who had wronged the other person.
Huo Shixu was not worth worrying about.
On the way to Anfo Temple, her mother, Nan Wei, called.
“Nanyi, Shixu is here. Do you want to come home? He doesn’t look very well. Did the two of you have a fight?”
Song Nanyi turned the steering wheel.
“I know, Mom. I’ll be right there.”
Presumably, because she had not answered Huo Shixu’s calls, he had lost his temper and rushed to her parents’ home to demand an explanation.
The Huo Shixu of the past had never been so unreasonable.
Now that his love was gone, so too were his patience and respect.
Song Nanyi parked the car.
The moment she stepped into the living room, her mother hurried to speak on Huo Shixu’s behalf.
“Shixu said he couldn’t get in touch with you and was afraid something had happened, so he rushed over. Honestly, Nanyi, how can you be so thoughtless? You should at least answer your phone.”
“My phone died,” Song Nanyi explained lightly.
Her mother relaxed. “Then explain it properly to Shixu.”
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Nan Wei left the two of them alone.
Song Nanyi bent down and sat across from him, speaking bluntly.
“You wanted to see me. What is it?”
“Why didn’t you come home? Do you really want to make a scene? Do you have to make the elders worry too?” He was giving her a chance to save face, hoping she would understand the situation. “Song Nanyi, the Song family is working with the Huo Group on an important project. If something goes wrong with our marriage now and the Huo Group withdraws, the Song family will be finished. Do you really want to see that happen?”
He enunciated every word with force.
Like a wolf tearing into flesh.
No.
Calling him a wolf would have been too generous.
He was a hyena.
In her previous life, no matter how badly she fought with Huo Shixu, he had never taken his anger out on the Song family’s company.
This life, Huo Shixu was even more despicable.
“You’re threatening me?” A cold light shone across her delicate face. “Huo Shixu, do you even know what you’re saying? My father once saved your life.”
Back in her previous life, shortly after they married, Huo Shixu had been involved in a serious car accident.
He had nearly died from blood loss.
Huo Shixu had a rare blood type, and only Song Zhiling met the requirements to donate blood.
Song Zhiling had given him transfusions for three consecutive days before Huo Shixu was finally pulled back from death.
How could anyone repay such a debt with this degree of ingratitude?
Song Nanyi’s heart turned so cold that her lips and teeth trembled.
“Huo Shixu, if you really do this, you’re nothing but a beast.”
“So…” He lowered his voice until only the two of them could hear. “…our marriage affects everything. You’d better obediently go home and be Mrs. Huo. Don’t be so willful.”
Song Nanyi clenched her fists tightly.
She had naively believed that the cooperation between the two families involved interwoven shares and deeply entangled interests, making separation somewhat complicated.
A divorce would inevitably cost her something.
She had even planned how she would explain the matter to her parents.
Never had she imagined that Huo Shixu intended to destroy the Song family’s company entirely.
Song Corporation was the product of several generations of her father’s blood, sweat, and labor.
He was nearly sixty and still worked himself to the bone for the company. If anything happened to it, her father would not survive the blow.
Song Nanyi hated herself.
With a single thought, one could ascend to heaven or descend into hell.
She persuaded herself to retreat for now, advance by yielding, and make a long-term plan.
She raised her eyes. Meeting his gaze, Song Nanyi gave a tearful, icy smile.
“Huo Shixu, I truly regret ever loving you so much.”
Song Nanyi got into Huo Shixu’s car.
All along the drive, those words echoed endlessly in his ears.
Again and again.
Leaving him restless and distracted.
“I was only saying it in anger. You don’t have to take it seriously,” he explained.
Song Nanyi rested her chin in her hand and stared silently at the traffic streaming past outside the window.
He glanced at her, then took her small hand into his palm.
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“You know my temper. Sometimes I say thoughtless things. Don’t hold it against me.”
He was trying to make peace.
But to Song Nanyi, it meant nothing.
Words spoken without thought were still words.
They revealed what he truly felt deep down.
In her previous life, even when she had been hemorrhaging on the delivery table, he had coldly said that there was no need to save her.
If he said he would drive the Song family’s company into bankruptcy, he would surely do it.
Song Nanyi found him so unfamiliar that he frightened her.
Her cool little hand slipped gently free of his.
“Just concentrate on driving.”
The atmosphere grew stifling.
They traveled in silence.
The car entered the villa grounds.
The moment Song Nanyi stepped out, she heard the sound of a chainsaw.
A moment later, the thick albizia tree in the courtyard came crashing down.
She had planted that albizia tree herself the year she married.
Whenever it bloomed, pink flowers covered the entire crown, filling the courtyard with their fragrance.
She loved it dearly and often took selfies beneath its branches.
“Brother Shixu, Sister Nanyi, you’re back.”
Su Yu’an hurried toward them. “You came back at just the right time. I’ve just had the tree cut down.”
Song Nanyi’s pupils contracted violently.
Su Yu’an had cut down her albizia tree?
“You cut down my tree? Su Yu’an, who gave you permission? Did you ask me first?”
Song Nanyi shouted in fury.
Frightened, Su Yu’an ducked behind Huo Shixu, her eyes reddening at once.
“Sister Nanyi, I only did it for your own good.”
“For my own good? If you touch my things, shouldn’t you tell me first? Do you really think you’re the mistress of this house?”
Her albizia tree had only just finished blooming, and now it had been cut down without a second thought.
Song Nanyi was furious enough to kill.
Su Yu’an sniffled, looking utterly terrified.
“Sister Nanyi, I really did it for your sake. Please don’t be angry, all right?”
“Yu’an, since you say you did it for Nanyi’s good, explain yourself. Look how angry you’ve made her. That was her favorite flower.”
Huo Shixu gave Su Yu’an an opportunity to explain.
He pushed her toward Song Nanyi.
“Tell your sister Nanyi properly.”
Su Yu’an wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and spoke in a hoarse voice.
“I met a master today. He said that having an albizia tree in the home was not only unlucky, but would also leave the lady of the house restless and troubled. Sister Nanyi, you haven’t looked well lately, so I thought perhaps the tree was the reason. That’s why I had someone cut it down. I’m sorry, Sister Nanyi. I—I…”
“What master? What bad luck?” Song Nanyi raised her hand and slapped Su Yu’an across the face. “Su Yu’an, you’re only a guest in this house. Not a single blade of grass, grain of rice, or piece of property here belongs to you. Get out immediately. I don’t want to see you.”
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