Chapter 299
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"When he came out, he told us that he wished to discard everything which remained in those containers. Surprisingly, there was hardly anything that he had retained from the boxes since they were brimming to the top, just as they had arrived. That night…" he stopped to compose his voice which was wobbling with emotions now.
"That night, I went to check on him before going to bed. It is like a ritual now, something that I used to do in his childhood. Maybe all the effort during the day had tired him out and he was fast asleep on his bed. The laptop was right next to his head. So I picked it to move it away lest it hurt him and accidentally clicked open the screen. A bunch of Lin Jia Li's photos had been placed on, as the screensaver. He probably had a whole bunch of them back home and that's why…" his voice trailed.
"Well, this doesn't surprise me. You know how he feels about her, how he has always felt about her. Maybe he is missing her, more so now when he finds himself alone with his thoughts more often than not. But I can understand his reluctance to allow her to see him in this way. I may not agree with it but I think we should respect that," Ethan replied.
Mr. Xie said in an anguished voice, "you dont understand. I am the person responsible for his unhappiness for the longest period of time. Up until now, I convinced myself that the girl would have moved on with her life but her visit to our Shanghai house proves otherwise."
Ethan prodded him, "what is on your mind, Uncle Xie?"
"I was, uh, wondering if one of us speaks with her to explore the reason for her visit to the house, maybe test the waters. It's just that I am unsure about her reaction towards all of us. More than us, I am hesitating because I can't stand the thought of my son getting hurt any more by someone's words or actions. But the problem is that I can't stand to see him long for someone so bad as well. If he wants, I can get him the moon also."
Ethan put a calming hand on his father in-law's shoulder.
"Please don't get so worked up. It will not do us any good. I think at that time, Jia Li had been hurt by Chu's and my involvement in that fake amnesia scheme along with Tang. So I don't want to call her directly. Let me try and reach out to her via Li Jie. He had called Chu recently. Maybe he would know her current state of mind," he assured him.
"Yes, thank you. You have taken a big load off my head. I just wanted to aprise you of this. But I dont want you to fret on it now. Just concentrate on the wedding. Reach out to Li Jie after this fortnight, post the festivities are over," Mr. Xie told him.
Shanghai
"So where are we going? Have you told her that you have invited me along with? Will it be ok? I mean…" Sam was chattering away nervously.
Wei couldn't stop grinning at her cute insecurity. But he converted it into a cough lest he gets a punch on his face. Now that he was aware of her capabilities first-hand, he was wary of triggering Sam's anger.
"Don't worry. Jia Li is an easy going person. I promise she wouldn't mind your coming along," he replied.
It looked like that she wanted to say something more but stopped herself at the last minute. She had paid a lot of attention to her dressing choice, tonight. There was something about the other woman which was making her feel inadequate. But she didn't want to say it out loud.
"Who in their right mind would tell her guy that another woman looks better than her? It's a sure shot way of getting his attention focussed on the other person, right?" a sarcastic voice in her head lectured her.
"Well, he isn't my guy yet, at least not technically," she reminded herself.
They reached the restaurant before she could finish sorting her muddled thoughts. Taking a fortifying breath, she alighted from the car.
As they were being seated, Jia Li entered the place as well and made her way to the table.
With a surprised but knowing smile, she acknowledged both of them. Sam's face burned as she thought back to what had transpired in the afternoon.
"I guess you both know each other enough for me to skip introductions. Let's all sit down," he said, breaking the ice.
Before they could begin any conversation though, a nasal voice penetrated their ears.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the new love birds. Fancy seeing you guys here. How are you doing, Samantha?" Zhu Cheng walked upto their table, his nose still cast in a small bandage.
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"When he came out, he told us that he wished to discard everything which remained in those containers. Surprisingly, there was hardly anything that he had retained from the boxes since they were brimming to the top, just as they had arrived. That night…" he stopped to compose his voice which was wobbling with emotions now.
"That night, I went to check on him before going to bed. It is like a ritual now, something that I used to do in his childhood. Maybe all the effort during the day had tired him out and he was fast asleep on his bed. The laptop was right next to his head. So I picked it to move it away lest it hurt him and accidentally clicked open the screen. A bunch of Lin Jia Li's photos had been placed on, as the screensaver. He probably had a whole bunch of them back home and that's why…" his voice trailed.
"Well, this doesn't surprise me. You know how he feels about her, how he has always felt about her. Maybe he is missing her, more so now when he finds himself alone with his thoughts more often than not. But I can understand his reluctance to allow her to see him in this way. I may not agree with it but I think we should respect that," Ethan replied.
Mr. Xie said in an anguished voice, "you dont understand. I am the person responsible for his unhappiness for the longest period of time. Up until now, I convinced myself that the girl would have moved on with her life but her visit to our Shanghai house proves otherwise."
Ethan prodded him, "what is on your mind, Uncle Xie?"
"I was, uh, wondering if one of us speaks with her to explore the reason for her visit to the house, maybe test the waters. It's just that I am unsure about her reaction towards all of us. More than us, I am hesitating because I can't stand the thought of my son getting hurt any more by someone's words or actions. But the problem is that I can't stand to see him long for someone so bad as well. If he wants, I can get him the moon also."
Ethan put a calming hand on his father in-law's shoulder.
"Please don't get so worked up. It will not do us any good. I think at that time, Jia Li had been hurt by Chu's and my involvement in that fake amnesia scheme along with Tang. So I don't want to call her directly. Let me try and reach out to her via Li Jie. He had called Chu recently. Maybe he would know her current state of mind," he assured him.
"Yes, thank you. You have taken a big load off my head. I just wanted to aprise you of this. But I dont want you to fret on it now. Just concentrate on the wedding. Reach out to Li Jie after this fortnight, post the festivities are over," Mr. Xie told him.
Shanghai
"So where are we going? Have you told her that you have invited me along with? Will it be ok? I mean…" Sam was chattering away nervously.
Wei couldn't stop grinning at her cute insecurity. But he converted it into a cough lest he gets a punch on his face. Now that he was aware of her capabilities first-hand, he was wary of triggering Sam's anger.
"Don't worry. Jia Li is an easy going person. I promise she wouldn't mind your coming along," he replied.
It looked like that she wanted to say something more but stopped herself at the last minute. She had paid a lot of attention to her dressing choice, tonight. There was something about the other woman which was making her feel inadequate. But she didn't want to say it out loud.
"Who in their right mind would tell her guy that another woman looks better than her? It's a sure shot way of getting his attention focussed on the other person, right?" a sarcastic voice in her head lectured her.
"Well, he isn't my guy yet, at least not technically," she reminded herself.
They reached the restaurant before she could finish sorting her muddled thoughts. Taking a fortifying breath, she alighted from the car.
As they were being seated, Jia Li entered the place as well and made her way to the table.
With a surprised but knowing smile, she acknowledged both of them. Sam's face burned as she thought back to what had transpired in the afternoon.
"I guess you both know each other enough for me to skip introductions. Let's all sit down," he said, breaking the ice.
Before they could begin any conversation though, a nasal voice penetrated their ears.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the new love birds. Fancy seeing you guys here. How are you doing, Samantha?" Zhu Cheng walked upto their table, his nose still cast in a small bandage.
"When he came out, he told us that he wished to discard everything which remained in those containers. Surprisingly, there was hardly anything that he had retained from the boxes since they were brimming to the top, just as they had arrived. That night"he stopped to compose his voice which was wobbling with emotions now."That night, I went to check on him before going to bed. It is like a ritual now, something that I used to do in his childhood. Maybe all the effort during the day had tired him out and he was fast asleep on his bed. The laptop was right next to his head. So I picked it to move it away lest it hurt him and accidentally clicked open the screen. A bunch of Lin Jia Li's photos had been placed on, as the screensaver. He probably had a whole bunch of them back home and that's why" his voice trailed."Well, this doesn't surprise me. You know how he feels about her, how he has always felt about her. Maybe he is missing her, more so now when he finds himself alone with his thoughts more often than not. But I can understand his reluctance to allow her to see him in this way. I may not agree with it but I think we should respect that," Ethan replied.Mr. Xie said in an anguished voice, "you dont understand. I am the person responsible for his unhappiness for the longest period of time. Up until now, I convinced myself that the girl would have moved on with her life but her visit to our Shanghai house proves otherwise."Ethan prodded him, "what is on your mind, Uncle Xie?""I was, uh, wondering if one of us speaks with her to explore the reason for her visit to the house, maybe test the waters. It's just that I am unsure about her reaction towards all of us. More than us, I am hesitating because I can't stand the thought of my son getting hurt any more by someone's words or actions. But the problem is that I can't stand to see him long for someone so bad as well. If he wants, I can get him the moon also."Ethan put a calming hand on his father in-law's shoulder."Please don't get so worked up. It will not do us any good. I think at that time, Jia Li had been hurt by Chu's and my involvement in that fake amnesia scheme along with Tang. So I don't want to call her directly. Let me try and reach out to her via Li Jie. He had called Chu recently. Maybe he would know her current state of mind," he assured him."Yes, thank you. You have taken a big load off my head. I just wanted to aprise you of this. But I dont want you to fret on it now. Just concentrate on the wedding. Reach out to Li Jie after this fortnight, post the festivities are over," Mr. Xie told him.Shanghai"So where are we going? Have you told her that you have invited me along with? Will it be ok? I mean" Sam was chattering away nervously.Wei couldn't stop grinning at her cute insecurity. But he converted it into a cough lest he gets a punch on his face. Now that he was aware of her capabilities first-hand, he was wary of triggering Sam's anger."Don't worry. Jia Li is an easy going person. I promise she wouldn't mind your coming along," he replied.It looked like that she wanted to say something more but stopped herself at the last minute. She had paid a lot of attention to her dressing choice, tonight. There was something about the other woman which was making her feel inadequate. But she didn't want to say it out loud."Who in their right mind would tell her guy that another woman looks better than her? It's a sure shot way of getting his attention focussed on the other person, right?" a sarcastic voice in her head lectured her."Well, he isn't my guy yet, at least not technically," she reminded herself.They reached the restaurant before she could finish sorting her muddled thoughts. Taking a fortifying breath, she alighted from the car.As they were being seated, Jia Li entered the place as well and made her way to the table.With a surprised but knowing smile, she acknowledged both of them. Sam's face burned as she thought back to what had transpired in the afternoon."I guess you both know each other enough for me to skip introductions. Let's all sit down," he said, breaking the ice.Before they could begin any conversation though, a nasal voice penetrated their ears."Well, well, well, if it isn't the new love birds. Fancy seeing you guys here. How are you doing, Samantha?" Zhu Cheng walked upto their table, his nose still cast in a small bandage.
