Chapter 825: Extra 14

"Welcome back."

At the City airport, Li Kun wore a faint smile as he watched the young woman walking from afar; she wore a white top, black and white striped trousers, and a pair of high heels, with sunglasses on her face and crimson lips curled into a subtle, elusive smile.

Time had passed quickly; she had been away from the City for three years already.

He spread his arms, habitually waiting for that young woman to come running over.

"What are you doing? Want to hug me?" Huang Ying stood before him, patted his shoulder, and a string of silver-bell-like laughter spilled from her lips, "I'm a public figure now, Brother Li Kun."

Especially that word "brother," which she emphasized in her tone.

Li Kun didn't know why, but a trace of sadness brushed through his heart, leaving him feeling empty and filled with a complex mix of emotions for a moment.

That feeling of loss appeared and disappeared, always disturbing his heart in the dead of night, when he was alone, after drinking at social engagements, or by the lonely seaside.

The girl didn't care what he was thinking; instead, she gave a chuckle, tilted her head, and said, "Let's go, An Jie is waiting for me."

She had already taken a few steps in her high heels before turning back to look at him with a puzzled expression; only then did Li Kun snap out of it and hurry to catch up.

The girl who used to always follow behind him seemed to have changed.

He looked at that confident back; she was no longer the spoiled girl from before, but radiated a confidence from the inside out that she had never possessed; she seemed to glow now, making people's gazes unconsciously converge upon her.

During these three years, he had used various excuses to travel to the country where she was, just to see her.

Half a year after she went abroad, he woke up with a start one night.

Because in his dream, the girl he kept protected in the depths of his heart had married someone else.

Regardless of anything else, he boarded a plane in the middle of the night and flew to where she was, just to catch a glimpse of her from afar: her studying diligently, her working hard to communicate, every one of her report cards, her flower-like smile after dining with friends, and her reading quietly under the parasol tree.

She...

It seemed she had left, yet his side was still filled with her shadow.

Inadvertent mentions, inadvertent longing.

He couldn't help but think of her, feeling that something was always missing from his side; it turned out that over the previous twenty-plus years, he had long grown accustomed to her being by his side, and knew that no matter what, she would never leave him.

But...

Now she had left!

It made him panic, made him unable to control himself, and also made him see through his own heart; it turned out that unknowingly, when he wasn't aware, she had long been in his heart.

His body contained his father's vile blood; he hated it, and he was afraid this vile bloodline would hurt her, yet he couldn't let her go.

"An Jie!" When Huang Ying saw An Yinan, her eyes lit up, and she rushed straight over, pouncing on her like an octopus.

An Yinan had a smile on her face, "How is it? Are you back for a visit, or are you planning to stay?"

Over these three years, she and Li Kun had met quite a few times and often talked about Huang Ying; she had discovered something, but that was a matter for the two of them.

Her own girl—if she had missed out, then she should use her own strength to win her back; she would not step in to help.

"I don't know yet, I'm waiting for information from my Tutor."

Huang Ying answered with a chuckle, then hugged An Yinan's arm, "An Jie, I missed you so much."

In that strange country, she had been helpless, mocked by others, and encountered robbery; with gunshots ringing out outside, she had curled up in a corner and cried alone.

However, when she had walked through it all, she was surprised to find that she seemed to have been reborn.

A man—one could have one, or one could not.

But... the knowledge learned and the life experience gained were her most precious wealth.

"I missed you too." An Yinan pinched her little face, a doting smile on her face.

"An Jie, the chicken legs from your company are so delicious; they were the key to me not going hungry in a foreign land." Thinking of that taste, Huang Ying still couldn't help but lick her lips.

"Chicken legs, huh!" An Yinan smiled, then raised an eyebrow at Li Kun; Li Kun pressed his palms together in a gesture of begging for mercy.

"I never mailed those."

Only doing things silently without saying a word—is he a wooden block?

No wonder Le Rong told her to speak when it was time to speak, otherwise she was afraid her son would suffocate himself!

"Ah?" Huang Ying widened her eyes, blinking them, "Then the cookies?"

An Yinan nodded, "Oh, the cookies were, the instant noodles were not, the Spicy Strips were, the chicken legs were not, the ham sausages were not, the baked mo were, no wait..."

Was...

Was not...

Huang Ying was a bit dizzy from the back and forth, then she suddenly looked behind her, "It wasn't An Jie, it was you?"

Her own family was a mess, with her parents making a huge scene over fighting for assets; she figured they had forgotten there was still a daughter in a foreign land.

It couldn't be them.

And in all her years in the City, she had no friends, and certainly no one would mail her food; she had previously thought it was An Jie, but she hadn't expected that half of it was Li Kun?

"Mm." Li Kun coughed unnaturally twice, then nodded.

"Oh." Huang Ying nodded, then turned back around to continue chatting with An Yinan.

Oh?

That was it?

Fine! That was it!

An Yinan smiled to herself: tormenting one's wife is fun for a moment, but chasing one's wife is a crematorium.

Li Kun was called away by a phone call from the company; there was an urgent matter to handle, and he had to leave.

In the private room, only the two of them remained; An Yinan took a bite of food and looked at the girl beside her, "Have you decided?"

"What?" Huang Ying looked up, blinking her eyes.

"Not to forgive him?" An Yinan clarified.

Huang Ying put down her chopsticks and sighed, "I just don't want to become that person I was before again—the one without a mind of her own, chasing after him, humble to the point of being in the dust."

"It has nothing to do with him."

"Besides, my parents' constant fighting turned everything upside down, filling me with fear toward marriage. I'm afraid that if one day I end up like that, I won't have the courage to leave again."

She had been away for three years, and upon returning, she had learned to think and knew what she wanted. She had her own career plans; as for love, she was afraid and had not yet seen her own heart clearly.

An Yinan smiled and gently smoothed out the furrow between her brows with her finger.

"Life is very long, why be in such a hurry?"

"The journey is full of scenery, why care about the ending?"

"Walk and stop as you please, just follow your heart."

Huang Ying's eyes brightened, then she nodded solemnly, "An Jie, there have been countless moments where I felt so fortunate that the headstrong me met you."

Because she had found herself.

As for Li Kun, the road is long; the girl he lost is someone he needs to win back himself.

Everything is scenery, so cherish the journey as you go.