"Did they find Xing Bi?" Guiying asked in a troubled voice. Along with her was Zixin in the Chen villa and Yating who came to visit them after Zhan Yahui was kicked out of Shi Publishing.
Yating said, "I got Chyou's message that she found Hou Lin's location. She also said that violence probably won't be necessary because Hou Lin has agreed to release Xing Bi," he said with a silent sigh of relief.
It was a shocking chain of events to know how deep Zhan Yahui's involvement was. From Sky's anniversary celebration, he was aware of how Zhan Yahui had something to do with humiliating Sky in the public, but to learn that she had such a connection with the Liu family in the past and that she aimed for revenge by hurting so many innocent people was difficult to digest.
"That's good, that's good…" Guiying said with a strained smile, which Zixin didn't fail to notice.
He thought for a moment and asked, "Do you still feel some for her? Even though she betrayed you and mockingly exposed your alter personality today?"
That was another commotion Zhan Yahui caused after 'Guiying' took over the Shi Publishing and failed her plan. Along with Zhan Yahui, Guiying herself, too, became the talk of the town because of her split personality, doubling the damage on Dream High.
Being a part of the company's staff as an editor, it was a PR disaster on Dream High's reputation and image due to Zhan Yahui's evil deeds. But Guiying's condition got added on top of it though the consensus wasn't clear if it became a sensational topic in a negative light or a positive one.
Zixin clearly knew 'Guiying's' emotions but he never got to know how Guiying really felt about Zhan Yahui.
Guiying lowered her gaze at Zixin's question. "Indeed, she has hurt me a lot. When I grew distant with Ai, I never felt totally alone because I felt that Zhan Yahui would always be beside me. She…" her lower lip slightly tremored, "she was like a sister to me how Xing Bi is to Ai."
Yating and Zixin looked at each other in silence.
"In that sense, it's difficult to accept that Zhan Yahui will be gone from my life now. She has committed many mistakes. She hurt you and put your life in jeopardy. I cannot forgive her for that. But…I also understand…that it must be so agonizing for her to lose her parents and live a life of loneliness. I know because I have been in that place…" a tear slid from her left eye. "She must be punished for all the crimes she did. But I also feel hateful that why…was fate so cruel on her…?"
Zixin gently wiped away the tear from her cheek and asked, "Do you want to meet her?"
She slightly stiffened. She wasn't sure if she wanted to meet her because it would only cause her heart to ache even further.
"I…don't know. She wouldn't bother with me anyway," she wryly smiled. "I will only miss her more if I see her."
"But you have many things to say to her too, right?"
She pressed her lips in silence, her heart trembling in her chest.
"Yes, I do."
—
Jun wanted to come alone to meet Hou Lin and then take Xing Bi with him and return. But as soon as he proposed this three certain people protested. Ai, Nian and Jin remained stubborn in accompanying him.
"Xing Bi is like my sister. How can I not come with you?" Ai said, troubled.
"Xing Bi is my girlfriend. Like hell I will be left behind!" Nian passionately claimed.
"Bro Jun is my brother so yes, I am coming with you," Jin gave an answer that puzzled Ai and Nian.
"What about Xing Biiiii?" Nian asked.
"I am worried about her too, but you two are enough to take care of her. I will be there for Bro."
Ai knitted her brows in strain. "Do you think Jun will remember the past…"
Jun sighed loudly and finally made space in their conversation for his own answer. "I won't remember my kidnapping incident or feel traumatized over it. I want to go because Hou Lin is-..." He cleared his throat and corrected my answer, "was my employee. I just want to talk about a couple of things to him as he was an ex-employee of Sky."
Ai and Nian tilted their heads and stared at him, apparently not quite satisfied with his answer. Jin rolled his eyes, scooping Jun-cute and Ai-chan in his arms. "Figure it out later. Let's go."
The cats too, refused to stay behind and fiercely clung onto Jin, making him release a sigh. Xuan Hui and a few guards straightened up to get ready and left with them on Jinhai's orders.
"Where are you taking me!? Take your filthy hands off me!" Zhan Yahui screamed and violently kicked the guards but to no avail.
Jian sneered. "Don't resist so much, Zhan Yahui. Consider this as your last chance to breathe the fresh air of the outside world because this is the last time you will be stepping out."
—
On the other side, the air was still and pensive as Xing Bi waited for Jun and the group to arrive. She wasn't sure why but her heart grew unsettled as more time passed. She was twiddling with her thumbs restless when she found something poking out of a beneath the couch she was sitting on.
She blinked and picked the dusty object which turned out to be a picture frame. She looked closely and figured that it was a family picture. There were two adults, a mother and a father with their two little boys. The elder brother looked to be around seven to eight years old and the younger brother just two or three years behind him.
Xing Bi shuddered with an eerie feeling tingling her. She whispered, slightly sweating a bit. "This house doesn't have gh-ghosts, right?"
Hou Lin replied. "No."
"Was this family murdered here then? Because I am getting a very creepy feeling."
"They are very much alive."
"How do you know?"
"Because that is my family and this was my old house."
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