In the end, Yin Shulan got into Yan Haikun's car and returned to his residence with him.
Yan Haikun had an apartment in Jincheng, located on the top - floor duplex of Deshun Building in the city center. It wasn't very large in area, but boasted a great view. One could enjoy a beautiful night - scene.
After arriving at the residence, Yan Haikun finally had the time to check her injuries. A look at them sent a surge of anger coursing through him.
He had still come a bit late. After Qi Silei kicked open the bathroom door and found that Yin Shulan was on the phone, he immediately launched a violent attack on her in the bathroom.
It was only when Qi Silei thought the bathroom was too cramped to carry out his violence that he dragged Yin Shulan out, just in time for Yan Haikun to see and stop him.
"Saying he's a scumbag is already flattering him," Yan Haikun cursed angrily. He secretly made up his mind to make Qi Silei pay the price so that he could never come out to harass Yin Shulan again!
There was no first - aid kit at home, so Yan Haikun asked Lu Bo to buy one for him. After getting the medicine, Yin Shulan thanked Yan Haikun and then took the first - aid kit into the bathroom by herself to treat her wounds.
Yan Haikun waited outside. While flipping through the financial news in his hand, he couldn't help but keep thinking about the woman's extremely cold yet extremely beautiful expression. For some inexplicable reason, it made him feel a bit restless.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of something breaking coming from the bathroom. Before he knew it, he had already pushed open the bathroom door.
Inside the bathroom, Yin Shulan had fallen to the ground. At her feet was a medicine bottle that had been accidentally broken, and the pungent iodine had spilled all over the floor.
There were several obvious wounds on her back, which were scratched when Qi Silei dragged her out of the bathroom. However, because of the private location, she didn't tell Yan Haikun about them.
Seeing those wounds on her snow - white back, Yan Haikun gritted his teeth tightly. With an inexplicable anger, he stepped forward, ignoring the woman's resistance, and picked her up. He carried her back to the bedroom and threw her on the bed. Pinning her down, he said menacingly:
"I've said before, don't be so stubborn. If you're in trouble, just say so. Are you trying to play hard - to - get with me, Miss Yin?"
Seeing her turn her head away in embarrassment and her body trembling uncontrollably, he suddenly remembered what she had been through before. He immediately let go of her and said apologetically:
"Sorry, I just..." He just felt a bit heart - ache.
In the end, Yan Haikun helped her apply medicine to the wounds. While applying the medicine, even if he pressed a bit too hard and hurt her, she endured it silently, not wanting to cause him any trouble, and even less wanting to confirm the charge of "playing hard - to - get".
No one knew when the spark had been struck. Maybe it was his gentle actions, or her stoic expression beneath her cold and glamorous exterior, or her delicate and snow - white skin, or the low groans that escaped her mouth involuntarily because of the pain.
Yan Haikun felt annoyed.
He was clearly the father of two grown - up children, but today he felt as if he had become a hot - headed young man just out of adolescence. He just couldn't keep his composure.
This accident wasn't about any feelings. It was more of a primitive exchange and a long - standing "conquest".
The next day, when Yin Shulan woke up in the glaring sunlight, the space beside her was already empty.
Sitting in the bright sunlight, she was a bit dazed. Recalling the experience of last night, her cheeks gradually became hot again.
Both of them had been very sober last night. It wasn't the impulse after drinking, nor was it just a task to be completed. So it gave her a completely different experience.
Qi Silei never cared about her feelings. She always had to cooperate with him. But Yan Haikun was different. She could just be herself, and he would take care of all her feelings.
Remembering his promise that he would go with her to get the marriage certificate after the verdict came out, she curled the corner of her lips and was full of expectations for the future.
Because of her happiness, she even went to the supermarket downstairs to buy some ingredients. She consulted her best friend Xie Shi, who was far across the ocean, about cooking skills and specially prepared a table full of dishes for him.
Seeing her friend's face through the video call, Xie Shi immediately started scolding Qi Silei when she saw the bruise on her friend's face. Yin Shulan said, "A Shi, I've divorced Qi Silei."
"Good riddance! You've finally left that scumbag!" Xie Shi was extremely excited. But then she asked curiously, "You're divorced from him. Now who are you cooking for?"
Yin Shulan smiled shyly and said, "I've met someone..."
After learning about Yan Haikun's character from Yin Shulan, Xie Shi was sincerely happy for her friend. "That's great."
Yes, it was really great.
Fighting off sleepiness, Xie Shi taught Yin Shulan how to cook a table full of delicious dishes. But that day, she waited until two o'clock in the morning and still didn't wait for Yan Haikun.
She wanted to call him several times to ask when he would come back. But thinking that they hadn't gotten the marriage certificate yet, she didn't have the right to inquire about his whereabouts. So she could only pour everything out and go back to her room to sleep alone.
The next day, she followed the recipe from yesterday and prepared another table full of delicious dishes and continued waiting for Yan Haikun.
But he still didn't come back.
Yin Shulan sat alone in the living room, looking at the night - scene outside the French windows. She thought for a whole night and finally figured it out.
She had been being self - indulgent. He had told her that he still had his ex - wife in his heart. She was his childhood sweetheart and his first love. Even though she had passed away, no one could replace her in his heart.
Maybe he was avoiding seeing her because he felt that he had betrayed his ex - wife. But he didn't have the heart to reject her to her face, so he chose this way to express his attitude.
Yin Shulan was a proud person with her own principles. After figuring this out, even though she was reluctant to let go of that bit of gentle treatment, she didn't linger. She simply packed her things and left Yan Haikun's house.
In fact, she guessed right. Yan Haikun really felt that he had betrayed his ex - wife and their once unwavering love.
After it was all over, as he watched Yin Shulan sleeping soundly in his arms, with an expression of complete trust and peace, he shamefully felt his heart come back to life, beating fast and strongly.
He was deeply bound by a sense of guilt.
Before dawn, he left home. He drove to a famous temple in Jincheng.
After entering the temple, he knelt down in front of the Buddha statue overlooking all sentient beings. Along with the sound of the wooden fish and the chanting of scriptures, he apologized and repented to the deceased Huang Cen in his heart again and again.
He neither ate nor drank. He knelt like this from dawn till nightfall. Among all the pilgrims coming and going in the temple, only he remained bent over on the kneeling cushion like a stubborn rock without any movement.
The abbot of the temple noticed him. Out of concern, he walked up to him and asked if there was anything he could do to help. After asking several times, Yan Haikun finally responded.
Under the banyan tree that covered most of the sky, Yan Haikun and the abbot sat facing each other.
In the curling fragrance of tea, Yan Haikun's voice was a bit low.
"Since my wife died, I felt that my heart had gone with her. It lost its vitality."
"But half a year after her death, I met another woman here. I felt that my heart came back to life again."
"I feel that I'm sorry for my ex - wife. We've known each other since childhood and supported each other for decades. Her position and the feelings I have for her in my heart can't be replaced by anyone else. But I'm sure that I'm now attracted to another woman, and I've done something I shouldn't have with her."
He closed his eyes painfully.
"I'm afraid that I'll forget my previous relationship because of this."
The abbot smiled and said, "Everything in the world has its own fate. Since you've met and done something good, it's a good - willed fate. In any case, benefactor, you should create a good outcome for this good - willed fate. Don't hurt another person's heart again."
Yan Haikun's thoughts gradually became clear.
The abbot was right. Since he had done it, he had to take responsibility.
One of them was a widow and the other was divorced. At their age, it was normal for such things to happen.
People talk about fate. After his wife's death, there were women in Fengcheng who wanted to take the opportunity to get into his bed, but he just wasn't interested in them.
Admitting that Yin Shulan was attractive to him, facing up to this relationship, and not shirking responsibility was the best way to deal with the situation.
As for matters of the heart, he could think about them later.
Yan Haikun left a generous donation for the temple and drove back home. But when he pushed open the door, he was faced with an empty house.
She was gone.
The moment he found that she was missing, Yan Haikun was very disappointed and even a bit at a loss.
He knew that he had hurt another woman's heart again because he didn't know how to face himself, how to face her, and how to face his deceased wife these past two days.
However, after sitting in the house for a while, he still made a choice.
Dialing his assistant's phone number, he said, "Help me find out where Yin Shulan is. Once you find her, notify me immediately."
But since that day, the people he sent out couldn't find any trace of her. They couldn't get in touch with her on the phone either, and there was no news of her from the Yin family.
She seemed to have disappeared from the world.
Even when the verdict between her and Qi Silei came out, she didn't show up.
Since the person had left, the agreed - upon arranged marriage that Yan Haikun and she had planned naturally fell through.
After finishing his work in Jincheng, on the day he left Jincheng and returned to Fengcheng, Yan Haikun looked at the big bed where the two of them had once slept together and sighed in his heart - maybe their fate ended here.
Back in Fengcheng, about two months later, he suddenly received a call from his assistant.
"Sir! We've found Miss Yin's whereabouts!"
"But, there's some bad news to tell you..."
Yan Haikun immediately stopped what he was doing and asked, "What bad news? Spit it out quickly!"
The assistant said, "Miss Yin was found to be pregnant. She submitted an application for an abortion to the hospital."