Chapter 56: Must it be her?

Zhou Yinhe took the umbrella Aunt Zhou handed over and leisurely walked into the rain curtain.

The rain eased, Wen Ling wrapped herself in a shawl and stood on the balcony watching his car drive away, then returned to bed to continue lying down.

Aunt Zhou had already tidied the bedroom with help; taking a nap on an overcast day was a wonderful thing for Wen Ling.

Zhou Qiyue woke up as Zhou Yinhe left; seeing her brother rush off anxiously, she didn't even notice him sitting in the living room, and rolled her eyes hard.

The rain was too heavy outside, so she had the driver drive to the underground parking lot to pick her up; when they arrived at Feng Qi Yuan, Ning Qing, who had only just fallen asleep in the early morning, was still asleep.

Zhou Shuanglin was sitting in the living room leisurely drinking tea and reading the news; seeing her daughter return, she smiled and asked, "I heard you were so angry last night you couldn't bear it—didn't you get revenge?"

Zhou Qiyue sat beside her father, annoyed, and said, "Still talking about revenge? Your little son is about to go marry into the Wen Family!"

"Oh, it's fine—anyway, with you four here, one more or one less doesn't matter." Zhou Shuanglin held her tea and shrugged indifferently.

Zhou Qiyue gave her father a helpless look: "Dad, dare you say that in front of Mom?"

Zhou Shuanglin chuckled glumly; he really didn't dare.

Ning Qing was still asleep; the father and daughter, with nothing else to do, could only read the news and drink tea.

By the time Ning Qing woke up, the father and daughter had already finished lunch.

Ning Qing hugged her little daughter and exclaimed happily, "Oh my precious, you've gotten even prettier!"

Seeing her mother also made Zhou Qiyue happy; she hugged her mother and whispered, "Mom, you're even prettier than I am."

"That's for sure—who made you inherit your father's looks, not mine?" Ning Qing glanced at the unmoved Zhou Shuanglin and let out a soft hum.

Zhou Qiyue was long used to her mother's self-admiration; hearing that, she gave a light laugh, let go of Ning Qing, and sat together with her on the sofa.

Ning Qing rubbed the skin under her eyes and complained, "It's all because of that brat Xiao Wu—I've been worrying about him every day until I got fine lines."

Zhou Shuanglin interjected with a flat expression: "Then hit him."

Ning Qing twisted his waist hard; Zhou Shuanglin winced in pain before she let go.

While rubbing his sore waist, Zhou Shuanglin complained, "You said you were angry at Xiao Wu, so I let you hit him—why twist me?" He looked at Zhou Qiyue watching the drama: "Look at your mom! She's always abusing me!"

Zhou Qiyue pressed her lips to hold back laughter: "Who made you let Mom hit Xiao Wu? You know Xiao Wu is Mom's sweetheart."

Zhou Shuanglin gave a cold snort and got up to go to the study.

Watching her father's resentful back, Zhou Qiyue told Ning Qing, "Mom, don't keep bullying Dad."

Ning Qing was doing a facial lift for herself; hearing that, she gave a soft hum: "Your dad just can't stand Xiao Wu."

"So you know where your sweetheart went?"

Ning Qing turned and glanced at the pouring rain outside the floor-to-ceiling window, wondering, "Where did he go?"

"In this downpour, he went to find Wen Ling." Zhou Qiyue said lightly, "He said he only wants Wen Ling, even willing to marry into the Wen Family."

"What did you say?!" Ning Qing sprang to her feet, staring at Zhou Qiyue in disbelief.

Zhou Qiyue nodded, indicating she was correct.

"Is he crazy?"

"Maybe, Mom, you really should think hard about how you and Dad raised Xiao Wu."

Ning Qing gritted her teeth: "Ask your second brother! Xiao Wu was always taken care of by your second brother when he was little."

She picked up her phone and sent Zhou Yinhe a threatening message, demanding he return to Feng Qi Yuan before dinner tonight.

When Zhou Yinhe arrived at the Zhou Family residence, he was just cutting it close to the deadline Ning Qing had set.

The butler went to the car with an umbrella to meet him, handed him the umbrella, and whispered, "Fifth Young Master, Madam looks quite angry."

"Got it." Zhou Yinhe nodded, opened the umbrella, and walked slowly toward the villa.

At that moment, Ning Qing sat upright on the sofa, saw him sauntering in, narrowed her eyes, and said, "I heard you're going to marry into the Wen Family."

Her tone was sarcastic; Zhou Yinhe frowned and glanced at Zhou Qiyue sitting nearby with an indifferent expression.

Zhou Qiyue caught his gaze and said lightly, "You can say that, but I can't still file a complaint?"

Zhou Yinhe disdainfully withdrew his gaze, sat on the sofa, poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and said calmly, "Mom, if you have anything else to say, say it quickly—I'll be leaving soon."

Ning Qing hissed, strode over to Zhou Yinhe, grabbed his ear tip, and said, "Are you being excessive? I've raised you this big—being a lapdog is bad enough, but now you want to marry into another family?"

Zhou Qiyue saw Ning Qing missing the point, called out softly, "Mom, you've missed the point."

Ning Qing blinked, then said, "Right, tell Mom why you must have Wen Ling."

"Why can't I insist on Wen Ling?" Zhou Yinhe took Ning Qing's hand away and countered, "Give me your reasons."

"So what do you say? She dumped you three years ago, you were in the hospital for a week—do you even remember your state then? How did you talk to me back then? You said you were in pain, you said you couldn't get over it, you said you hated her; now she's back and hasn't done anything, yet you rush to insist on having her—why do you insist on her?" Ning Qing recalled the scene of her son lying in the hospital bed three years ago, her eyes red with anguish, and choked, "If you don't feel sorry for yourself, at least feel sorry for me—can I bear it if you keep doing this?"

Zhou Yinhe lowered his eyes, his tone even, showing no emotion: "Mom, back then it wasn't her fault."

He lifted his gaze to the grief-stricken Ning Qing, took her hand, and said softly, "I can't tell you the reason; I can only tell you that back then it wasn't her fault."

"Must it be her?" Ning Qing asked, her voice trembling: "Does it have to be her?"

Zhou Yinhe gave an affirmative hum; Ning Qing shook off his hand and said weakly, "Fine, if you're not afraid of going through that pain again, Mom won't stop you."

"Thanks, Mom, rest assured."

He didn't stay for dinner; after chatting with Ning Qing he hurried off. Ning Qing stood by the window watching him stride to the car, and still couldn't hold back—tears welled up in her eyes.

Zhou Qiyue stood behind her and said helplessly, "You shouldn't have agreed."

"What can we do if we don't agree? Keep arguing with him over Wen Ling?" Ning Qing shook her head: "Forget it—you know his mood's been low these three years; if he's happy, let him be with Wen Ling."

Zhou Qiyue recalled that over these three years, because everyone was busy, they only got together during holidays; then the siblings would be noisy, only Zhou Yinhe was always listless.

"Okay." Zhou Qiyue nodded: "I just hope Wen Ling lives up to him."

Zhou Yinhe didn't know what his mother and sister talked about after he left; he drove back to Chen Yue Fu, packed a few clothes, and headed together to Lang Po Wan.