My Alleged Husband

Chapter 40: Chapter 40 Uninvited Guest_1

Li Jiayuan searched several times around the airport but never caught a glimpse of Zhang Zhentian. She understood that Zhang Zhentian must have sneaked away during the commotion earlier.

”Zhang Zhentian, do you dislike me that much? To avoid me, you actually sneaked away. Why don’t you ever consider my feelings?” Li Jiayuan’s eyes brimmed with tears as she couldn’t help but think, ”Zhang Zhentian, very well, since you want to play it like this with me, I can only say sorry to you.”

When Li Jiayuan got home, she didn’t say a word and went straight upstairs. Li Haixiao saw that Li Jiayuan had returned and asked, ”Jiayuan, where have you been all day? Why are you just getting back now?”

Seeing that Li Jiayuan didn’t turn around to speak with him, Li Haixiao felt it was a bit strange. He slowly walked over and took hold of Li Jiayuan’s shoulder. He turned Li Jiayuan to face him and was all the more astonished to see her eyes were red.

”Jiayuan, what happened to you, have you been crying?”

When Li Jiayuan heard her father ask her this, she felt even more wronged, and she immediately broke into tears. When Li Haixiao heard his precious daughter crying, he felt his heart shatter. Li Haixiao gently wiped away Li Jiayuan’s tears with his hand. He thought Jiayuan would stop crying, but instead, she cried even harder, leaving him unsure of what to do.

”Alright, alright, no more crying, you won’t look pretty if you cry!” Li Haixiao coaxed Jiayuan as though comforting a child searching for their mother. Seeing her father like this made Jiayuan chuckle despite herself. Seeing his precious daughter laugh made Li Haixiao feel much more at ease.

”Jiayuan, can you tell Dad what happened? Why are you crying like this?” Li Haixiao ultimately couldn’t help asking Li Jiayuan when he saw that she had stopped crying.

”Dad, it’s nothing. Look at me, I’ve been jumping around all day, how could anything be wrong?”

Li Jiayuan didn’t want her father to worry and lose sleep over her, so she didn’t tell Li Haixiao about what had happened at the airport today, nor did she mention that she had gone to the airport to pick up Zhang Zhentian, and she certainly didn’t relay the words of the middle-aged man to Li Haixiao. Li Jiayuan knew her father better than anyone; she was aware that her father was proud and saw her as the apple of his eye. How could he tolerate his precious daughter being called a homewrecker and ”the other woman”?

”It’s good to hear it’s nothing. Jiayuan, are you hungry? Come, join Dad for dinner!” Li Haixiao said with a smile to Li Jiayuan.

”Dad, I have no appetite. I won’t join you for dinner tonight; I’m going upstairs.”

”Okay then, if you get hungry, remember to come down and make something to eat.” Li Haixiao affectionately ruffled Li Jiayuan’s hair, and she replied with a giggle before turning to go upstairs.

Li Haixiao sat alone in the living room, pondering, ”This child has really grown up. She used to tell her dad everything, but now that something has happened, she doesn’t even bring it up when she gets home, sigh! Jiayuan, Dad truly hopes you can always be happy and never sad like you were today.”

Li Haixiao sat on the sofa, sighing. He thought Li Jiayuan had already gone upstairs, but how could he know that Li Jiayuan had not gone up at all and was now squatting on the stairs, listening.

Listening to her father’s considerate words, Li Jiayuan felt a complicated mix of emotions. She was thankful she hadn’t told Li Haixiao about today’s events; otherwise, he would have done more than just sigh, he would have been furious. Jiayuan knew all too well that she couldn’t hide anything from her father, yet she still felt it was much better not to tell him. She knew Li Haixiao’s health couldn’t take the strain, and she didn’t want to break her father’s heart over her issues, especially now that he was over fifty.

Li Jiayuan tiptoed softly to her room, buried her face in her pillow, and began to cry.

”Dad, thank you for everything you’ve done for me. From now on, your daughter won’t let herself cry again,” Li Jiayuan silently pledged to herself.

After Zhang Zhentian had slept for a while at home, he groggily picked up his phone and called Xia Jing. The mechanical voice from the phone said, ”I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is switched off. Please try again later...”

Upon hearing the mechanical voice, Zhang Zhentian felt overwhelmed, and with a sudden movement, he sat up and tossed the phone onto the bed.

Li Jiayuan had just fallen asleep when she dreamt about the incident she encountered at the airport during the day. She slowly opened her eyes and muttered to herself, ”Zhang Zhentian, you just wait!”

After saying this, Li Jiayuan fell back asleep.

”Achoo!” Zhang Zhentian sneezed and complained, ”Who lacks such public decency to curse me in the dead of night?”

Li Jiayuan continued to sleep like a pig, snoring loudly. After cursing, Zhang Zhentian covered himself with the blanket and went back to sleep.

The next day.

”Oh~ That feels good!” Zhang Zhentian stretched lazily, hurriedly got dressed and ran downstairs. He hadn’t had dinner the night before, and he was starving.

As he went downstairs, he saw Li Jiayuan sitting on the sofa in his house. He thought he was seeing things and rubbed his eyes, but once certain he wasn’t hallucinating, he quickly approached her and blurted out without thinking, ”Li Jiayuan, what are you doing at my house this early in the morning?”

Li Jiayuan stood up nonchalantly and retorted, ”What, I can’t come to your house if there’s nothing wrong? I came to see uncle, not you. Why are you so full of yourself, thinking I came for you?”

Zhang Zhentian found himself speechless upon hearing what Li Jiayuan said. He didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t just say, ”Yes, you can’t come to my house.” But that wouldn’t be right either. If he didn’t say that and Xia Jing found out Li Jiayuan had visited while she was away, she would surely get angry again.

Old Master Zhang knew Zhang Zhentian was in a tight spot, so he didn’t say anything either.

Ever since Old Master Zhang had approved of Xia Jing as his daughter-in-law, he’d taken a disliking to Li Jiayuan.

Old Master Zhang coughed and looked at Zhang Zhentian, who also looked up at him. Old Master Zhang made faces at him, so Zhang Zhentian mistakenly thought his dad was telling him not to say anything unpleasant, so he said to Li Jiayuan, ”Why not? Of course, you can come to my house when there’s nothing wrong, especially since you’re not here to see me. Why would I mind?”

After saying this, Zhang Zhentian felt quite clever for understanding his dad’s signals. Old Master Zhang, however, wanted to slap Zhang Zhentian right there and then. What he really meant was for Zhang Zhentian to ask Li Jiayuan to leave, yet Zhang Zhentian had just told her he didn’t mind her being there.

Thinking to himself, ”How did I end up with such a foolish son?” Old Master Zhang was then forced to tolerate Li Jiayuan sitting on the couch.

Zhang Zhentian had no idea he’d done anything wrong and actually thought he had acted properly. But how could he know that Xia Jing was standing at the front door just as he spoke those words to Li Jiayuan?

Xia Jing hadn’t told Old Master Zhang she’d be visiting the Zhang Family nor had she informed Zhang Zhentian about her return. She intended to surprise both Old Master Zhang and Zhang Zhentian, but instead, Zhang Zhentian had given her an unexpected shock.

Xia Jing saw Li Jiayuan at the doorway, smiled, and winked at Xia Jing. Li Jiayuan had seen Xia Jing standing at the door all along, which is why she had asked Zhang Zhentian that question.

Xia Jing was upset at Li Jiayuan’s smug look. She dropped what she was holding and turned to leave. Zhang Zhentian heard a noise at the door and quickly went to check. Seeing the ground littered with gift boxes, he suspected Xia Jing had returned, so he hurriedly followed, but not finding her outside, he came back in. Li Jiayuan, seeing the deepening misunderstanding between Xia Jing and Zhang Zhentian, felt delighted.