Xian Zihao nodded, locked the car, and walked towards her. Just as Jiang Ruolan was about to enter the house with him, a familiar scent assaulted her nose. She endured her trembling heart as she walked inside.
Jiang Ruolan bent down to open her heels. Suddenly, her foot hit the toy that was on the floor. Her eyes widened, and she couldn't stop herself from falling.
Xian Zihao quickly stepped forward and supported her. The moment Jiang Ruolan wanted to say thank you, he pulled her into his embrace.
Jiang Ruolan didn't know whether to push him away or not. She just silently let him hold her, burying her face in his embrace and breathing the familiar scent.
Her heart filled with too much reluctance.
"Zihao, I'm sorry …" Jiang Ruolan whispered, "You must hate me."
Even though she couldn't bear to part with him, she had already chosen this path and even though she was sad, it was still her choice in the end. She cannot blame anyone. Over a year, her suppressed longing had been turned into a love for Xian Chiahao and Xian An Na.
"Ruolan, why are we doing this? Now that we have children, shouldn't we go hand in hand? No matter what, if you can't let go of what my grandfather and father did to your mother, one year is enough time for you to get out of a feeling which you can't control."
"You don't have to apologize, you're not wrong. If I were you, I would not be able to be rational too. Everyone has emotions, and if you don't have any reaction towards your mother's death, then you are not the Jiang Ruolan that I know. But it's already been a year. If you still can't face it, then we will go to the United States. Two years, three years, five years, ten years, I don't care how long you'll need. I will always be by your side and one day, we will leave it all behind. When you have a nightmare, I will accompany you. When you miss your mother, I will accompany you to the grave to visit her. Let me heal all the injuries caused by my grandfather's mistakes. Give me this chance, okay?"
Jiang Ruolan lay in his embrace, she was speechless.
Xian Zihao leaned close to her ear and kissed it gently, "It's been a year. I've given you a year to be alone and calm, but now, since I'm back, we better be together again. Ruolan, don't leave me."
Xian Zihao whispered into her ear. Then, as Jiang Ruolan sobbed, he suddenly grabbed her face, bent down to find her lips, and kissed her forcibly.
The bags she held in her hand fell at her feet, and tears ran down her cheeks. It was salty and bitter tears.
However, the strength of his embrace caused her to be unable to breathe. Instinctively, she returned his hug while choking with a sob, "Zihao, I'm sorry."
And every time she cried out those words, he kissed her even more deeply.
Surrounded by a familiar warmth, this feeling of attachment caused her will to collapse eventually. Jiang Ruolan forcibly wanted to hug him more tightly, but out of sudden, she felt the space in front of her getting empty until suddenly she found that there was no one by her side.
Jiang Ruolan opened her eyes and looked at the emptiness in front of her. There was no Land Rover, no Xian Zihao.
She looked at her raised arm, and her entire body froze.
Suddenly, Jiang Ruolan opened her eyes from her sleep and discovered that she was sitting in a taxi that was stopped by Beidou Avenue. The taxi was still moving forward steadily, getting closer and closer to Greenville Residence.
So it was just a dream.
She raised her hand and touched her forehead.
Ever since Xian Chiahao and Xian An Na spoke, Jiang Ruolan had spent a lot of time with her work and her two children, so much so that she hadn't had time to think about other things.
She stopped dreaming about the bloody nightmare. In the following few months, she rarely dreamt about it and when her children would wake up at night, she would coax them to sleep before she's going back to sleep again.
Once she was at the Greenville Residence, Jiang Ruolan got out of the car and walked toward the residential area. The lights in the residential area were dim, just like in her dream. When she reached the door, she subconsciously looked at the spot in front of the window. There were no cars there.
Of course Xian Zihao wouldn't have the time to come here. Even if he wanted to see the children, he wouldn't let her know.
The familiar warmth had long since left her life. Dreams were only dreams, but in reality, no one was that weak.
When Jiang Ruolan went inside, she immediately hugged Xian Chiahao and Xian An Na, who was giggling non-stop while sitting on the bed. After changing their clothes, she washed the toys clean and put them on their bed.
Before she went to bed, she took a shower and drank the milk Jia Zhenzhen had prepared for her. After that, she sat on the edge of the small bed, looking down at the sleeping faces of the two adorable little ones.
Xian Chiahao was slightly fatter than Xian An Na by a little bit. The two babies' faces were fair and clean, and their eyebrows and eyes were very similar to Xian Zihao's. They both had beautiful double eyelids and looked even better than those babies in the baby powder commercial.
Xian Chiahao was more similar to Xian Zihao, but his nose and mouth were very similar to Jiang Ruolan. The little girl first gnawed at her fat brother's hand every time she fell asleep. Every time Xian Chiahao was bitten by his younger sister, he would not make a sound, just laugh as he looked at her.
Before going to sleep, Xian An Na liked to nibble on her brother's hand. When she slept, she would put her fat arms and legs on Xian Chiahao from time to time.
Now, these two little things could sleep soundly. Before, they would often wake up in the middle of the night, but now, they could sleep until morning.
After looking at them for a while longer, Jiang Ruolan turned off the light and went back to bed.
****
A month later, the construction of a large institution in Imperial City began to be formally implemented. Jiang Ruolan often takes pictures of scenery and models at construction exhibitions in H City.
This year was the year in which natural disasters often occur in every province and city. There was a typhoon in M City in late June, flooding in F City in July, and an earthquake with six Richter in S City.
The staff members working in business reporting were busy every day reporting the names of the deceased compatriots.
As of early August, Imperial City was rumored to have been hit by a series of more devastating earthquakes. The earthquake was on a magnitude of 7 Richter, and a lot of damage and loss of life occurred.
Imperial City was not far from H City. H City's citizens felt a strong tremor on the day of the earthquake.
That day, Jiang Ruolan was sitting in her office, reviewing the news reports, when suddenly, the cup of water on the table vibrated non-stop. All Fengyu Media's staff rushed out of the building. Seeing that many people were running out of the nearby office building, everyone's faces turned pale.
Although the vibration in H City wasn't too strong, Jiang Ruolan immediately took a taxi home as soon as she ran out. When she saw Jiang Yijun was standing outside with both of the twins in his arms and Jia Zhenzhen, she sighed in relief.
Just when all the citizens of H City sighed in relief at the lack of vibration, many companies, including Fengyu Media, decided to shut down their offices. Jiang Ruolan took this chance to stay with her children at home.
The TV opened on the news broadcast. Xian An Na was lying on the couch, rolling around wildly. Xian Chiahao had just finished taking a shower and Jiang Ruolan was looking for clean pants for him when she heard the news on TV.
"At 12:17 PM today, a devastating earthquake struck Imperial City. All rescuers have begun their rescue operations quickly. The death toll is still unknown and five surrounding provinces were affected. It was reported that more than half of the main road to the Imperial City has collapsed."
Imperial City!
Jiang Ruolan abruptly raised her head and stared at the television screen.
