Xuxu was full of envy as she listened on.

Furthering her studies overseas had always been her childhood dream.

When she gave up that opportunity, she wept for an entire night. Looking back, she felt that she had done her grandfather wrong and also felt sorry for herself that her hard work in mastering the English language had gone down the drain.

Yet, whenever she was beside Yan Rusheng, she would feel that if she had made the decision to leave for another country, she wouldn't be able to see him every day.

It was truly bliss for her to see Yan Rusheng and share moments with him, even if she had to see his long face on a daily basis. Somehow, it didn't really matter.

At most, she felt a sense of relief wash over her. If she also left the country, especially after Fang Jiayin had left, then Yan Rusheng would be all alone in the city.

"Xuxu, you have always liked Ah Sheng, am I right?"

It was a very blunt, out-of-topic question, one that caught Xuxu off-guard that it made her hands — which were holding on to the cutleries — tremble for a moment.

She recomposed herself swiftly, raised her head, and smiled at Fang Jiayin. "Is there something that I've done which caused you to have some misunderstanding?"

A pang of guilt filled her heart once more. Did Fang Jiayin leave without a word because she had found out something?

That night…

After all, being such a darling of the crowd, she got the rights to be arrogant and willful.

"No, don't be too sensitive." Fang Jiayin shook her head lightly and smiled at her. "I just felt that both of you are so exceptionally good together. You two grew up together, I don't think there's no reason for you two to not fall in love with each other over time."

She sounded earnest but somehow, there's a tiny bit in Xuxu's heart that tells her that Jiayin was being sarcastic. "You are so exceptionally good. There's no reason for you two to not fall in love with each other over time."

In the eyes of her elders and classmates, she was indeed excellent and outstanding. But he had never developed any feelings towards her after all those years. The Ah Sheng that she loved had fallen for another woman instead.

So, what did this prove? It just goes to show that in Yan Rusheng's eyes, she isn't any better than Fang Jiayin.

Xuxu dismissed Fang Jiayin's words with a laugh.

Then, Xuxu looked at Fang Jiayin, it was her turn to ask. "Jiayin, pardon me for asking. Why did you… leave without saying goodbye?"

That was the last thing that she wanted to know, and yet somehow curiosity got the best of her. She wanted to get to the bottom of it once and for all.

"It's for the sake of pursuing my dreams. Romance is not my everything," she spoke and then shoved a piece of steak into her mouth. She was being casual with her answer. "That's why I said that you and Ah Sheng are the most compatible with each other. If I remained by his side, it would mean that I would need to give up pursuing my dreams for a better future, because knowing Ah Sheng, he would definitely want to start a family."

A streak of surprise flashed past Xuxu's eyes. "Don't you… like children?"

Fang Jiayin stopped her chewing momentarily and shook her head with a smile. "Nope."

She lowered her head and continued slicing her steak.

On the way back to the office, all that Xuxu could remember was Fang Jiayin's cryptic smile, and the words 'Nope' kept ringing in her ears.

She sensed that there must be a hidden story from the past for Jiayin's distaste for having children of her own.

Being a teacher, she always poured out her heart and soul in charity works because of the children she worked with. So how could she dislike children? It didn't make any sense.

Furthermore, if she loved someone, wouldn't she want to bear him children?

She wasn't sure if she was merely creating unnecessary trouble and agony for herself. But she just couldn't set her heart at ease.



It was already past 2 p.m. when she returned to the office and she saw that the door to Yan Rusheng's office was closed. Hence, she didn't bother to walk over to his office and went back to her own workstation.

She sat down and turned on her laptop. While waiting for the system to start up, she closed her eyes to recompose her emotional state and peace of mind.

Stop thinking too much and just focus on work.