Beg Me to Remarry
Chapter 566 - 567: The Café from Years Ago

Chapter 566: Chapter 567: The Café from Years Ago

But today, this cafe was exceptionally quiet, with only one table occupied by guests, two young girls who were both very beautiful.

Their styles, however, were quite different: one wore a cream-colored sweater with lace trim, paired with a plaid skirt and knee-high boots; the other, a form-fitting knitted dress with small leather boots; one had egg-curl hair, the other had waist-length big waves.

These two were none other than the always adorable Xia Ning and the mature and charming Qin Nuan; together, they made a stunning scene, very pleasing to the eye, so much so that even the meticulously dressed female bartender couldn’t help but give them frequent glances.

Qin Nuan’s neatly combed and especially curled eyelashes fluttered like fans as she elegantly picked up her coffee for a sip, "Lady Xia, Yi Lixing has already arranged everything, you don’t need to worry; I really don’t think there’s any need for you to drag me here to wait for news."

"That won’t work on me," Xia Ning’s eyes landed on the coffee cup in front of her. The white porcelain cup was adorned with gold threads, intricately woven into the shape of a gardenia, her gaze tracing the pattern with every line and stroke: "If Fu Han were really that easy to deal with, would I need to ask for your help?"

Xia Ning spoke those words aloud, but her thoughts had already drifted far away.

Du Wanting loved gardenias, so the Xia Family always grew gardenias, except back then they hadn’t lived in a villa, and the gardenias were just potted in small flowerpots.

After Du Wanting’s accident, the He Family’s assistance in business to the Xia Family grew ever greater, the Xia Family became increasingly wealthy, and finally moved into a luxurious villa.

When moving, Xia Guoxiong didn’t come back at all; he just left one instruction: dispose of everything from the old house; make absolutely sure the new villa stays untainted by any shabbyness.

In the end, Xia Ning packed all her princess dresses and dolls; Xia Cheng took all his various car toys, and they left everything else behind, including those two pots of gardenias that were blooming exceptionally vibrantly on the balcony.

Oddly enough, ever since Du Wanting died, no one had cared for those two pots of gardenias, not even Xia Guoxiong, who often dumped tea leaves into the pots. Yet the gardenias remained vigorous, growing lusher and lusher without showing any signs of wilting.

Xia Ning, under the influence of her mother, had actually liked gardenias as a child. Before she left the old house, she hesitated over whether to take the gardenias with her. But Xia Guoxiong called up to her from downstairs, threatening to leave without her if she didn’t come soon, and frightened, she ran downstairs without any thought to the gardenias swaying in the breeze on the balcony.

When Xia Ning left the old house, her nose was filled with the scent of gardenias in her hands.

The villa they moved into originally had no gardenias, but about a year later, Xia Guoxiong suddenly had two large gardenias transplanted. They were lush with branches and leaves, the white blossoms had a texture to them, and their fragrance was as striking as ever.

A few days later, the elder Mr. He was invited over with He Xing to the Xia Family home. As Xia Guoxiong led He Xing around the yard, Xia Ning followed. She heard her father recounting to He Xing the story of Du Wanting and the gardenias, emphasizing how he had cared for her mother’s gardenias after her death, so they had grown as tall as they were now.

Listening to her father’s lies as a child, Xia Ning had already learned to keep a straight face and play along, convincing He Xing that both Xia Guoxiong and Xia Ning genuinely missed Du Wanting.

Not long after that day, Xia Guoxiong suddenly gave Xia Ning a supplementary credit card as a reward.

It was only later that Xia Ning found out that, with the He Family’s help, Xia Group had secured a major project, and it was this project that established their current status.

The Xia Family’s relationship with the He Family was never sincere; just like the two gardenias that still grew in the Xia Family’s yard—they still looked good, but no one bothered to care for them.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Qin Nuan’s impatient voice rang out.

Xia Ning immediately snapped out of her inappropriate reverie, coughing awkwardly, "What were you saying? I’m sorry, could you repeat that? I didn’t catch it just now."

"It’s nothing much." Qin Nuan smiled, extending her jade-like white fingers to point at the coffee cup in front of Xia Ning: "I see you like this cup, I can tell you they’re for sale here, you can buy one directly."

"I don’t want it," Xia Ning declined decisively, even pushing the untouched coffee cup to one side to show her genuine dislike: "The coffee cups at my place are all custom-made; what would I need that for?"

When did she begin to dislike gardenias? Perhaps it was after they had all grown up, during one visit when He Xing stood gazing at the two luxuriantly blooming gardenias.

Xia Ning, eager to please, had asked, "Brother He Xing, do you like gardenias?"

"I like them," He Xing responded quickly.

Joy flooded Xia Ning’s heart, and she couldn’t wait to say, "That’s great, I also like..."

Before she could finish, He Xing spoke again, "Gardenias are pure and unblemished, yet they possess a unique fragrance, just like Fu Han—innocent, radiating charm from the inside out."

That was the first time He Xing had openly praised Fu Han in such a manner. Before that, Xia Ning had been certain that He Xing liked her, but his words dealt a huge blow to her confidence, and by now, she was absolutely sure that He Xing’s affections lay with Fu Han.

Yet, in her heart, she clung to one last hope: if Fu Han no longer existed in this world, then surely He Xing would like her.

At that thought, Xia Ning’s expression turned particularly ugly as she turned to Qin Nuan, "Are you reliable or not? Why is there still no news?"

It was unclear how many times Xia Ning had uttered these words, but Qin Nuan had gone from being initially impatient to now being calm. She took out her phone to check the time; indeed, it was past their expected time, and they should have succeeded by now.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sky had darkened completely, and the street lights had been lit one by one. The signs of the shops on both sides of the streets were also illuminated; the city, as always, had turned into a city that never sleeps.

"I’ll make a call and ask," Qin Nuan’s face looked exceptionally beautiful under the light as she took out her phone from her small handbag and dialed a number.

The phone rang for a long time with no answer, and Qin Nuan hung up, listless: "Yi Lixing might be driving right now."