Chapter 185: Give Little Chestnut Away?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Lu Yingxin is probably jealous of our relationship so she did those things,” Huo Zheng said. He did not tell Lin Xiaowan that Old Master Li emphasized that Lu Yingxin deliberately tried to get close to Lin Xiaowan because Lu Yingxin wanted to seduce Huo Zheng.
Lin Xiaowan nodded, looking a little down. “I see. So that’s how it is…”
After a moment, she asked again, “So there’s no trace of Lu Yingxin at all since then?”
Huo Zheng fed Lin Xiaowan a small mouthful of vegetables before he said, “No. We’ve checked the airports, train stations, bus stations, banks, and hotels, but there’s no trace of her at all…”
Naturally, there were ways to get around undetected. Lu Yingxin could have hired an unlicensed car. There were also buses which could be paid for in cash. In any case, it was hard to say if she had left Shengjing.
Apart from that, apart from the kitchen and the counter, there were no other surveillance cameras in Jiyu Courtyard.
After looking through the footage from the surveillance cameras on the streets, they only saw her appearing once for a few minutes before she disappeared again. There were at least thousands of surveillance cameras in Shengjing. It was impossible to look through all the footage.
On the day Lu Yingxin met Lin Xiaowan for lunch, she withdrew 50,000 yuan in the morning. In Huo Zheng’s opinion, as soon as the money was used up, Lu Yingxin would have to go to the bank again. In short, he would be able to find her eventually.
Lin Xiaowan recalled that Lu Yingxin had a role in Gu Yuwu’s movie. Although it was not an important role, she still had a lot of scenes. She asked, “Then will this matter affect the release of the movie?”
Huo Zheng was not familiar with matters regarding the entertainment industry so he said, “You’ll have to ask Gu Yuwu about this.”
Gu Yuwu had visited Lin Xiaowan twice. The first time she visited, Lin Xiaowan had just regained consciousness and was still in the Sixth People’s Hospital. She was understandably furious and kept cursing Lu Yingxin.
After two days, Lin Xiaowan was finally discharged from the hospital. The doctor prescribed medicine for her pulmonary circulation and respiratory system before she left, and she had to take them twice a day. Fortunately, they were in the form of pills so she was not averse to taking them.
On the first day she returned home, Lin Xiaowan lost her temper at Huo Zheng. That was because Huo Zheng mentioned that he wanted to give Little Chestnut away. She looked at Huo Zheng with eyes widened in disbelief as she asked, “What did you say?”
The second floor had been thoroughly cleaned, and it became Little Chestnut’s territory again. With this, it had a wider range of movements.
Lin Xiaowan had not seen Little Chestnut for almost a month. As soon as she reached home, she kicked off her shoes and wanted to go upstairs to see Little Chestnut. However, before she could do so, Huo Zheng stopped her. After that, he said those incendiary words.
Lin Xiaowan’s breathing rate was already rapid, to begin with. Now that she was stimulated, she began to cough and have trouble breathing. Not only that, but her heart rate shot up as well.
Huo Zheng naturally did not dare to make her angry. He quickly held her in his arms and stroked her back as he said, “Qingqing, calm down. Listen to me first, okay?”
Lin Xiaowan pushed him away and shouted, “1 don’t want to listen to you!”
Huo Zheng remained patient and continued to coax her. “Okay, okay. Speak softly, okay? Otherwise, you’ll hurt your throat. Just give me a chance, and listen to me, okay?”
Lin Xiaowan was furious. She turned her head away and ignored him. She knew that Huo Zheng was never enthusiastic about Little Chestnut. He was indifferent to both cats and dogs. However, she had raised Little Chestnut for quite a while now, and she could not accept the fact that he suggested giving Little Chestnut away. She felt that he did not respect her and that he was unreasonable.
Huo Zheng pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead gently. Then, he tried to reason with her, saying, “I’ve spoken to the doctor. With your current condition, raising will increase the burden on your lungs and trachea. If Little Chestnut’s hair enters your lungs, it’s very easy for your lungs to get an infection due to the bacteria the hair might carry…”
Little Chestnut had long fur, after all. It was constantly shedding. Whenever it moved, fur would flutter in the air. Moreover, this was after Lin Xiaowan’s regular and careful grooming.
Lin Xiaowan was very resistant to the suggestion. She said emotionally, “Little Chestnut is very clean! She doesn’t have any bacteria!”
Huo Zheng tried to think of another solution. He said, “1 can’t bear to give Little Chestnut away as well, but we don’t have a choice. Why don’t we get another cat? We can get a hairless cat, a Sphynx?”
Lin Xiaowan’s eyes reddened when she heard him casually talking about getting another cat. She tried to hold back her tears, but it was useless. It did not take long before tears streamed down her face.
Huo Zheng quickly wiped her tears away, feeling his heart ache. He said helplessly, “I was wrong, 1 was wrong. Don’t cry, okay? It’s all my fault.”
Lin Xiaowan took a deep breath. Tears continued to stream down her face as she said stutteringly, “H-how can you replace Little Chestnut casually? I want Little Chestnut!”
Lin Xiaowan grew sadder and sadder as she spoke. At this time, it was no longer purely about Little Chestnut. She was reminded of the puppy she once had.
At that time, she had just moved out of her grandmother’s house, and the condition of the house she rented was not very good. There was no heating during winter, and the air conditioner was broken so they could not be used in summer. The winter in her hometown was bitter and cold. She had covered herself with two blankets, but they were not enough to keep her warm. She endured until late winter before she brought the puppy with her back to her grandmother’s house. She thought that she would stay for two months and leave once the weather was no longer so cold.
Her grandmother hated the dog very much. She constantly referred to it as ‘little bastard’. In fact, Lin Xiaowan felt that she perhaps her grandmother was also calling her ‘little bast*rd’. Apart from that, she was forced to keep the dog in a very small cage when she went to classes. It barely had enough space to stand up and turn around.
Her grandmother had also fed the dog with wild vegetables and dirty water when she was away. She only found out about this when she came home from classes early one day.
In the end, only two weeks had passed when she received a message from her father saying that he had given the dog away. She still remembered it clearly. At that time, it was 7.30 PM. She had just bought some vegetables and a four-inch chocolate cake from the supermarket. It was her birthday. It was also at that time that she received her father’s message.
The more Lin Xiaowan thought about it, the sadder she became. She could not help but worry that Huo Zheng would secretly give Little Chestnut away when she was not home and that she would come home to an empty second floor.
Lin Xiaowan cried very hard. Her face turned red, and she struggled to breathe. Her heart was also beating rapidly in her chest.
Huo Zheng was completely flustered. He hugged and kissed her, trying to calm her down and coax her. He said gently, “I was wrong, 1 was wrong. Baby, don’t cry, okay? We won’t give Little Chestnut away.”
He felt like his heart was going to break from her tears..