Back Then, I Adored You

……

“I’m pregnant with Wu Hao’s child.”

These few simple words struck Xu Wennuan like a bolt of lightning. Her shock was comparable to the moment when she had opened the door to Jiang Qianqian’s room and seen Wu Hao wrapped in a bath towel, standing next to Jiang Qianqian, with traces of love marks all over his body.

It’s been four months since Wu Hao’s and Jiang Qianqian’s affair. During those four months, every passing day has been torture.

She had wanted to break up with Wu Hao, but she had never been able to bring herself to do it, and then she had used her holiday as an excuse to escape. She had escaped from the issue for a long time, but she eventually still had chosen to come back to be with Wu Hao.

Jiang Qianqian was indeed a thorn in her side. Although the thorn shifted and caused immense pain to her heart whenever she saw Wu Hao now, she had thought that with the passing of time, as long as Wu Hao had stopped contacting Jiang Qianqian, the thorn would dissolve away sooner or later. At that point in time, she would not feel the pain anymore.

But now that she was prepared to forgive Wu Hao, Jiang Qianqian had informed her about her pregnancy.

That day, Xu Wennuan held onto her cell phone and stood dumbly in the bathroom for a long time. She stood there for so long that she did not even know if she was the one who had hung up on Jiang Qianqian’s call or if it was the other way around. By the time she returned to her senses, she saw on her cell phone she had already missed 20 phone calls, all from Wu Hao.

That day, she did not answer Wu Hao’s calls, nor did she show up for their date. She didn’t even eat dinner. She laid flat on her bed rigidly and miserably like a fish that had washed up on the shore. Her mind was completely blank, and she spaced out as she stared dumbly at the ceiling.

Since she had started dating Wu Hao 10 years ago, he had become her life. Now that she had to cut off all ties with him, it was as if she would be cutting ties with her own life. But perhaps God felt that Jiang Qianqian wanted to see Xu Wennuan so badly that, no matter how unwilling she was to face her and how much she avoided her, God still created an opportunity for her to bump into Jiang Qianqian.

……

It was already summer in Beijing, and the temperature rose with each passing day. That day, the weather was brilliant. At seven o’clock in the morning, the sun shone across the city and, by nine, the heat was such that one could break out into a sweat the moment they stepped outside.

Qin Zhi’ai had a pregnancy checkup that day. Because of his mission, Gu Yusheng was not in Beijing so, as Qin Zhi’ai’s best friend, Xu Wennuan went over to Gu Yusheng’s villa early in the morning and ate breakfast with Qin Zhi’ai before accompanying her to the hospital.

Qin Zhi’ai’s checkup results were good. The baby’s appearance was remarkably clear in all the scans. Even though it was not her child, Xu Wennuan still felt very happy. After leaving the hospital with Qin Zhi’ai, they hopped onto the bus and analyzed the scans together for a long time.

After much persuasion from Qin Zhi’ai for her to stay, she left only after eating lunch at Gu Yusheng’s villa. She had planned to head back directly but, on her way home, she received a call from her parents, who urged her about her marriage with Wu Hao. Their nudges bothered her and made her very depressed. As she was passing the SPK mall, she spontaneously turned her car into the underground parking lot.

There wasn’t much for Xu Wennuan to buy, but she did not really want to go home. She wandered around the mall for a few rounds before entering a cafe. If she had known that she would have bumped into Jiang Qianqian by coincidence in that cafe, she would not have gone in.

Initially, she hadn’t noticed Jiang Qianqian. After entering, she chose a seat located near a corner, ordered a cup of coffee, and started playing a game on her cell phone to kill time.