Chapter 783: A Million Times for You (145)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Lin Shishi was filled with disappointment, for that was not the answer she wanted to hear.
“My mother often used to tell me that lots of men are attracted to chaste women who save their virginities for their husbands, but my mother has never told me that there’ll also be men who love unchaste women. Hubby, why do you think some men enjoy dating filthy women?”
“By filthy, do you mean women who have a prim-and-proper private life despite having lost their virginities or those who are promiscuous?”
“The former. Why do some men fall head-over-heels in love with such unclean women?”
“Men ought to reflect on themselves before despising others. If they’re no longer virgins themselves, what right have they got to demand that the woman they’re dating be a virgin? If a man is still a virgin and he falls in love with a non-virgin, I guess he must be attracted to her soul,” Tuoba Gucheng answered.
“Hubby, will you ever love a woman like that?”
Tuoba Gucheng retorted, “You’re beating around the bush just to find out if I would fall in love with An Xiaoning, aren’t you? I didn’t answer you directly just now so you decided to ask me in a different way.”
Lin Shishi pouted her lips, feeling a little ashamed and guilty for being exposed. “I just wanted to know,” she said softly.
“What are you going to do after you find out?”
“Huh? What…” she stammered.
“Didn’t you want to know the answer? I’m asking you, what happens after you find out the answer? Don’t you find your question really pointless? My preference in women doesn’t set the standards for everyone. Perhaps I might fall in love with a woman who doesn’t fit the societal norms of a good woman. Maybe there’s more to a woman who’s deemed to be an ordinary plain jane by everyone else. There’s never a clear line, it’s all subjective,” Tuoba Gucheng said with a smile.
I’m the woman who married him first, which puts me in a favorable position as his lawful wife and the mother of his children. It’s unlikely that he’ll fall in love with another woman instead of me, since I face him almost every day. He definitely fancies me too. Otherwise, how could I have managed to marry him so smoothly? I’m sure he’ll genuinely fall in love with me one day , Lin Shishi thought to herself.
Lin Shishi felt much more at ease after some self-reassurance.
Tuoba Gucheng put his hand down as an icy cold stare formed in his eyes.
He had begun to find it harder to understand Lin Shishi. Although his feelings and opinions toward her were neutral at the start, he could not help but feel a little repulsed and annoyed by her.
He was especially disgusted by the sarcastic comments she had just made.
Unfortunately, she had no idea how he felt about her.
——
The sky was pouring heavily in the morning.
An Xiaoning did not catch any shuteye and instead spent the entire night memorizing the content of the book thoroughly before setting it on fire and watching it burn to ashes.
She did not bring a single bodyguard with her and boarded a plane to B City together with Shi Qingzhou and Tuoba Shuo.
They arrived at the entrance of the Autumn Palace at nine o’clock sharp.
Shi Qingzhou and Tuoba Shuo were both wearing a GPS tracking device on their wrists, which Jin Qingyan’s bodyguards had delivered to them the night before.
An Xiaoning was filled with panic and anxiety the moment she stepped foot inside the Autumn Palace.
She was rather concerned and worried about the fact that Shi Qingzhou and Tuoba Shuo’s wounds were yet to heal.
They were then brought to a mansion that An Xiaoning immediately recognized to be the same mansion that Tuoba Gucheng had lived in before he became the president.
She had once lived there for a period of time before.
Everyone was present in the mansion, including all the important family members of the Tuoba family.
A large crowd filled the room.
All eyes were on the three of them the moment they stepped inside.
Tuoba Rui rose from his seat in utmost agitation at the instant that he saw Shi Qingzhou.
She had changed drastically after years of him not seeing her.
Tuoba Rui had yet to calm himself down ever since the last time he’d spoken to her on the phone. This time, he could not help but feel agitated and overwhelmed with emotions upon seeing her in the flesh.
Shi Qingzhou kept a straight face and walked toward the crowd alongside her daughter and her lover.
She shifted her gaze onto the elderly Mr. Shi and said with a smile, “So sorry to have disappointed you by showing up before you again after so many years, Father.”
“I don’t have a daughter like you! You don’t have to address me that way!” Old Mr. Shi barked, glowering at her.
Shi Qingzhou was not at all bothered and retorted sarcastically, “It doesn’t matter to me even if you don’t acknowledge me as your daughter, Father. After all, I’ve never seen you as my father ever since the day you chased Mother out of the house. I only addressed you that way because I can’t change the fact that we’re related by blood. Your existence doesn’t concern me at all. The more you wish for me to drop dead, the more I’d strive to stay alive. The only thing I can do is to go against your wishes!”
Old Mr. Shi was boiling with anger as soon as he heard her words. However, he held his anger back and refrained from blowing his top, for fear that he would embarrass himself in front of the Tuoba family.
Tuoba Rui knew that that was who she was — fearless and intrepid regardless of the situation.
Old Madam Tuoba glared at Tuoba Shuo and said, “Shuo, are you standing on that woman’s side?”
Tuoba Shuo answered, “If you and Father had agreed to let me marry Qingzhou back then, she wouldn’t have had to suffer so much for so many years, and I wouldn’t have had to wait in vain for decades either. Mother, you’re just asking the obvious. Since I love her, I’m obviously going to stand on her side.”
Seemingly having already guessed the outcome, Madam Tuoba said, “Fine, surrender that book and the Tuoba family will allow you to live the life you want in the future.”
The three of them were displeased to hear how patronizing and condescending she sounded.
“What book? I don’t know what you’re referring to, Mother,” Tuoba Shuo said in puzzlement.
Pointing at Shi Qingzhou, Madam Tuoba said, “Ask her, the culprit behind her mother’s deranged and ballistic behavior.”
“I’m afraid you might be mistaken, Old Madam. The book wasn’t what made my mother behave that way. It was merely a lie I told my father, just so he and my grandmother would stop accusing my mother. Yet, I didn’t expect that this misunderstanding would continue to live on to this today. How amusing. My mother only behaved so strangely back then because she was possessed by a spirit,” Shi Qingzhou explained.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment and were momentarily at a loss for words.
“You clearly said that such a book existed. Do you think that we’ll believe you just because you refuse to admit it now? Hand the book over and we’ll spare your lives. Otherwise, both you and your daughter must die!” Mr. Shi hollered.
Tuoba Rui scowled at him and screeched, “Do you think you call the shots here!?! You don’t get to decide who dies!”
“You clearly know the troubles and danger that that book will bring! You’re only going to cause a calamity by doing this!” Mr. Shi retorted.
“Why did you believe her when she said that such a book existed but decide to accuse her now that she denies it!?! Have you ever seen that book? Has anyone else ever seen it!?! You’d actually wish death upon your own daughter all because of an illusory object. I bet you’re the only person in this world who’s so absurd and ruthless!” Tuoba Rui sneered.