Chapter 250: Once again in Japan…(1)

Serena said nothing. Huo Xiao Fan was expressionless.

Nana and the twins were stunned.

Yu…

Yukito asked in bewilderment, “Brother-in-law, what are you saying?”

Jianyu said, “Bro, you misunderstand something. Who is Zhilan? She is Serena. And what did you say about Mrs. Huo being her mother? How is it possible?”

Jinhai glanced at him. “How can it not? Let me ask you. What do you know about your girlfriend? About her family?”

He was stumped. He remembered the night he saw Serena quietly crying in the balcony talking to her mother.

Nana couldn’t make anything out of this. How could Serena be Huo Xiao Fan’s daughter? Wasn’t it herself?

Nana said, “Jinhai…Why do you-“

“I will tell you everything,” Jinhai said. He looked at her. “So, tell me. When did it all begin?”

“But you didn’t say why called Serena as Yu Zhilan?”

“You will get your answers soon.”

Nana said, “It started almost twenty days back. I got a mysterious call where that person said to do whatever she says or else she would harm you. I didn’t pay any attention to it. But then that night, you came with your hand hurt by an electric shock, and then I realized that it wasn’t a joke.”

She proceeded to tell everything about the maid Qian Mei, her attempt to tap into their conversation by using a listening device, how her meeting with Jianyu in the mall, and then at Natsukashi was all a part of the plan.

The twins and Jianyu were shocked to know that she had been going through so much trouble all by herself.

“Wrong.” Jinhai calmly said.

Nana was confused. “What is wrong?”

“You are not wrong as in what happened. As in when it all actually began. Aren’t I right, Mrs. Huo?” He smiled.

She simply stared back at him.

“This is not something that started just twenty days back. This is something where your hatred for Nana had already taken its root in your heart twelve years back.”

She said nothing.

“When Yu Tengfei committed suicide.”

Silence.

Jianyu frowned. “Yu Tengfei? Nana’s adoptive father?”

“Yes. Her adoptive father. But, not only Nana’s father. He seemed to have many other relationships too.”

He paused.

“Like Mrs. Huo Xiao Fan as his mistress. They were having an affair.”

“Shut up!” Huo Xiao Fan roared and glared at him in anger. “It was not an affair!”

“Then how do you explain your relationship?”

“Because Yu Tengfei was never married!” Her eyes stung in tears.

The twins looked dumbfounded.

Nana was speechless. “No, he was legally married to her. How is it possible? How many years were you in a relationship with him? And you never knew anything?”

“Yes! It is the truth! I will tell you!”

She looked away as she reminisced the past. “I met him for the first time twenty-five years ago in Japan.”

*Flashback*

After a bitter heartbreak in her past, Huo Xiao Fan had moved to Japan to live with her Grandma. She wanted a change of place, away from that man and that life, so she started anew here to forget everything.

A month later, while she was out shopping for groceries, she saw a drunk man walking completely off balance. He wore an expensive suit and shirt and had nice shoes on.

Then suddenly she saw a car coming. That man was now almost at the center of the road.

“Hey! Look out!” Huo Xiao Fan shrieked. But he wasn’t in his senses. She threw her bags on the ground and ran forward. She pulled him to her side just in time and saved him.

The man looked confused. “Hm…?”

The car driver came out and yelled. “Hey, are you blind!? Can’t you see a big car coming? Don’t drink if you can’t handle it!”

He wasn’t in any state to apologize, so she did. “S-sorry.”

“Hmph!”

Huo Xiao Fan settled him on a seat. “Hey, can you hear me? You were about to die stupid!”

“Uh…my head…” He grabbed her hand. “Don’t go…”

He wasn’t even answering correctly.

She tried to free herself, but his grip was tight. She had no idea what to do. “Hello? Do you know your way home?”

“My home…I don’t want to go home…”

“Any friend?”

“Mhmm…? I don’t know…”

She searched his pockets but didn’t find any mobile phone or address card.

She sighed.

The next day, the man woke up with a terrible headache. He found himself in an unfamiliar room.

Huo Xiao Fan came in. “You up?”

“This…” he was puzzled.

Huo Xiao Fan snorted. “My place. Yesterday you were drunk. You were about to be hit by a car! Are you insane to drink that much! I brought you here since I had no choice.”

He faintly remembered what happened. He quickly got up and said, “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“Hmph! First, have this soup. Your headache will be much better.”

He finished it and got up. “Thank you so much, miss… “

“Xiao Fan.”

He nodded. “Thank you, Miss Xiao Fan. Oh, and my name is Yu Tengfei.”

“En.”

“I should leave now. I have troubled you enough.”

She nodded. “Take care. And drink a little less Mr. Yu. Next time I might not be there to save you.”

He awkwardly nodded.

Just like that, the first meeting was over. Both of them didn’t think much of it until one day; four months later, they bumped into each other again.

Yu Tengfei looked at her in surprise. “Miss Xiao Fan, right?”

She also recognized him. “Mr. Yu Tengfei?”

“Yes.” He smiled. “How are you?”

But then he noticed her slightly puffy eyes. “Anything wrong?”

She was a little uncomfortable.

He said, “Sorry, if I asked something personal.”

“N-No. It’s just my grandma is hospitalized. I have used all my savings but I’m still short on fifty thousand yen. And her treatment is getting delayed.” Her eyes turned misty. She really loved her.

Yu Tengfei thought about it. He took out a cheque book from his bag and signed an empty cheque leaf.

She widened her eyes. He handed the cheque to her. “Please take it.”

“No!” She vehemently denied.

“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to hurt your feelings. But that night you saved my life. You helped me even though I was a stranger to you and on top of it a man, and now it’s my turn. I always wanted to return your favor and today I have got the chance. Please accept it.”

“We hardly know each other. I cannot-“

“But you still saved me. You don’t have to think so much. And you need it. Even after the surgery is over, you will need some money for her medicines and post-treatment care. You are going to need more than fifty thousand yen.”

She hesitated. That was true.

“I’m not lending you money. It’s a fair exchange. You saved my life, and I’m saving your Grandmother’s.”

Just to make her accept it, he sounded a little mean. But Xiao Fan understood his intentions.

She softly chuckled. But she couldn’t be stubborn when her grandmother’s life was on the line.

“Alright…But no matter what you say, I will return the money to you. You cannot say no!”

Yu Tengfei sighed. “As you wish.”

With that second meeting, they grew just a little closer. Since Xiao Fan had decided to return his money, they began to meet often whenever she earned from her part-time job. Although he primarily stayed in China, they still kept in touch.

But their meetings one after the other slowly turned them from strangers into friends. She grew fond of him more and more, and his presence made her forget the sadness of her heartbreak. She was finally able to move on.

She missed him whenever he would return to China. And then it wasn’t difficult to fall in love with him.

One day, she confessed. “Yu Tengfei, I like you.”

She could see the shock on his face, and the hesitation. His face had turned a little pale.

“I…”

But she got her answer.

Xiao Fan thought that maybe he liked her too. They enjoyed being with each other. That is why she was a little confident with her confession. But now she was scared and nervous as she realized it.

“I-I am sorry!” She was trembling, and she felt embarrassed.

I was completely wrong! And now I also ruined our friendship!

She couldn’t stand there anymore and ran away, holding in her tears.

“Xiao Fan, wait!” Yu Tengfei saw those tears, and he felt guilty. But she was already gone.

After that, they stopped meeting. Yu Tengfei made three more trips to Japan, but Xiao Fan had no courage to face him. But she would still send the money via post to his office.

She once again lost in love. Second time…

She lost her appetite and became too thin. She stopped smiling. She became too depressed. Maybe she could have chased after him, but she didn’t want him to hate her for being clingy.

Time passed, and almost two months later, one night, somebody knocked at her door.

Xiao Fan was puzzled as to who would be so late at night. She opened the door and stiffened as she saw Yu Tengfei. She quickly tried to close the door, but he stopped it.

“Don’t avoid me any more, please…” He softly whispered. He looked tired and exhausted. His eyes were a little red.

“Please…look, just like you said, I only drank a little.”

She bit her lip as she was about to cry when she eventually broke down.

The next morning, Xiao Fan laid in Yu Tengfei’s arms, both naked under the covers.