The grand banquet hall was filled with laughter and cheerful voices as everyone celebrated Fu Shiyan’s return with great joy.
Looking around, An Yan saw that many people were in pairs, radiating happiness.
Lu Minglan and Song Jian Ning had married and were expecting their second child.
Bai Qinghan and Teng Rui had also gone through various difficulties and were planning to marry at the beginning of next year.
Shang Wenhang had gotten engaged to the Zhou family’s youngest daughter.
These two "thousand-year-old sea turtles" had finally landed ashore.
But of her four brothers, aside from the third brother Mu Qianfan who was preparing to marry at the end of the year and the fourth brother Mu Shaoze who was already engaged, the eldest and the second brother seed to show no signs of settling down.
Seeing Zhou Ziqiao picking desserts in the sweet section with tears rimming her eyes, while her own fourth brother was indifferent, An Yan felt sowhat worried for the two of them.
She approached Zhou Ziqiao, "Ziqiao."
Zhou Ziqiao turned with a smile on her face, "An Yan, congratulations, you finally found Fu Shiyan. It was like waiting for the clouds to part to see the moonlight."
"Thank you. But why are you crying? Did my fourth brother bully you?"
Zhou Ziqiao shook her head, "No, it’s just that seeing your family reunited and happy together makes feel so touched."
Her words were heartfelt. She was truly shocked when she saw Fu Shiyan stand up from the gift box.
She was happy for An Yan, who had suffered greatly over the last five years.
Although An Yan appeared strong on the surface, living as a powerful woman, the reality of being a woman raising two children without her husband by her side was incredibly tough.
An Yan knew that Zhou Ziqiao’s words were genuine but could also see the bitterness in her eyes.
"Ziqiao, we’ve known each other for nearly six years now. You can tell if sothing is wrong," An Yan sighed softly, placing the plate of desserts she was holding onto the table. "Do you think by eating sweets, your heart will feel sweeter?"
Zhou Ziqiao felt a sourness at the tip of her nose. An Yan had hit the nail on the head with her words.
That’s just what she had thought: a bitter heart might be sweetened with sothing sugary.
Yet even with the sweetness in her mouth, the aftertaste was still bitter.
An Yan took her hand and headed towards the lounge. Suddenly, she rembered she hadn’t greeted Fu Shiyan yet and had given her handbag to Jinqiao to hold, with her phone inside it.
Turning her head back, she saw Fu Shiyan’s gaze was fixed on her.
Her lips curled up slightly, and she mouthed the words, "Wait for ."
Fu Shiyan nodded, his handso face carrying a bewitching smile, looking very much like a male siren.
An Yan and Zhou Ziqiao went to the lounge and sat side by side on the sofa.
"Tell what’s going on," An Yan asked.
Over the years, An Yan had co to know quite a bit about Zhou Ziqiao and Mu Shaoze’s dealings.
Since Zhou Ziqiao and Mu Shaoze shared a kiss, the two of them had beco archenemies, the kind that never wanted to deal with each other.
Zhou Ziqiao accidentally heard her parents ntion Fu Shiyan’s disappearance and that was when she learned of An Yan’s premature delivery.
She ca to Hua Country at once, and the person who had co to pick her up was none other than Mu Shaoze.
As archenemies, their eting inevitably led to bickering, but as they interacted more because of their squabbles, they discovered they had so common interests.
Gradually, they stopped arguing and actually beca friends.
However, it was quite clear that Mu Shaoze saw Zhou Ziqiao as just a buddy, yet she had developed feelings for him.
Under the guise of friendship, she followed Mu Shaoze around for three years wherever he went.
She told her parents she wanted to be a travel blogger, but in reality, she just wanted to be closer to Mu Shaoze.
There weren’t that many coincidences; they were all deliberately orchestrated.
She later found out that the reason Mu Shaoze had not been in a relationship for so many years was that he had his "First Love," He Xiyue, in his heart.
He Xiyue didn’t understand Mu Shaoze’s family background back then and thought he was tall and handso but immature. Therefore, she chose a mature-minded, art-loving sculptor with a stable financial status. They fell quickly in love, got married, and emigrated to Country C.
That rejection had hurt Mu Shaoze deeply, which made him quite resistant to relationships.
Zhou Ziqiao thought that if she spent more ti with Mu Shaoze, she might slowly heal his heart, and perhaps he might co to like her.
However, she hadn’t expected that three months ago, Mu Shaoze ca to Country C to visit her, but by the riverside, he had an unexpected encounter with He Xiyue.
At that ti, He Xiyue was enduring a difficult life.
Her romantic sculptor husband not only loved art but also had a fondness for beauties, having affairs with many won after their marriage and often committing dostic violence against her.
Mu Shaoze even got into a fight with He Xiyue’s husband at that ti.
One evening, He Xiyue invited Mu Shaoze to a bar, saying she had sothing to discuss.
That night, Mu Shaoze stood up Zhou Ziqiao, claiming to have an urgent matter, so their movie plans fell through.
Zhou Ziqiao was quite bored, and just so happened to be invited by a friend to go to a bar.
There, she saw Mu Shaoze talking with He Xiyue.
Zhou Ziqiao was actually quite angry. She hadn’t expected He Xiyue to be the "urgent matter" Mu Shaoze spoke of.
Feeling indignant, she went over and sat next to Mu Shaoze. Mu Shaoze thought she was tracking him, which made him sowhat displeased, but he didn’t say anything.
During that ti, Mu Shaoze went to the restroom. When he ca back and drank a glass of water, he soon started feeling hazy, and He Xiyue prepared to help him leave the bar.
Of course, Zhou Ziqiao disagreed and directly confronted He Xiyue about what she had done to him.
He Xiyue began to cry pitifully.
Zhou Ziqiao’s friend held He Xiyue back, allowing Zhou Ziqiao to take Mu Shaoze to the hospital.
However, half-way through the drive, Mu Shaoze beca clingy.
Zhou Ziqiao had no choice but to pull the car over at the roadside, where she was then dragged to the back by the man.
The two of them had relations in the back seat of the car.
After sobering up, Mu Shaoze’s first reaction upon realizing he had slept with Zhou Ziqiao was to suspect she had set him up.
But the deed was done, and Mu Shaoze, not one to shirk responsibility, got engaged to Zhou Ziqiao.
However, their relationship cooled down to freezing point.
Mu Shaoze went to check the surveillance footage, but the visibility was poor, and he couldn’t make out anything.
But Zhou Ziqiao understood that Mu Shaoze believed she was behind it all, as it was clear from their subsequent attitudes towards each other.
An Yan waited for quite a while before Zhou Ziqiao finally spoke up, "I sent you a ssage earlier."
An Yan was surprised. She and Fu Shiyan had been engrossed in their car, not noticing the ssage.
"Sorry, my phone was in my purse the whole ti. I didn’t see it."
Zhou Ziqiao sighed lightly, "He Xiyue has already divorced. She’s preparing to return to Hua Country."
An Yan, seeing her dejected expression, asked, "So you’re worried she’ll steal Fourth Brother away?"
"Isn’t that obvious? That’s Mu Shaoze’s first love. What am I in comparison?" Tears stread down Zhou Ziqiao’s cheeks.
An Yan took her hand, "Ziqiao, you’ve already lost yourself over these years.
Do you really want to continue like this?
The Ziqiao that I know is brave in love and hate, lively and cheerful, not soone who grovels like you are doing now.
If He Xiyue’s return causes your relationship to fall apart, then breaking up isn’t a bad thing.
Soone who loves you will cherish you, and if he doesn’t love you, even if you stay, his heart won’t be with you.
If Fourth Brother lets you down, it only ans he’s blind."
Zhou Ziqiao lowered her gaze, hot tears falling onto the back of her hand, "Actually, I’m just waiting for him to say let’s break up, because if I say it, I won’t bear to."
An Yan took a napkin and gently wiped her tears, "I support whatever decision you make, as long as we give it our all, we won’t have regrets. Just like when I pursued Ayan, if I had bent over backward to win him over and he still didn’t love , then I would decisively leave."
Zhou Ziqiao bit her lip lightly, "I understand."
anwhile, Mu Shaoze, drowning his sorrows in alcohol, pulled out his vibrating phone from his pocket.
Looking at the na on the screen, he answered.
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