Chapter 58: Having an Affair

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Having an Affair

’Wasn’t she in an accident in Africa? Bitten by a hyena?’

’Is a hyena really that similar to this little puppy?’

Yan Ziruo glanced at her utterly confused brother, then noticed that Wang Chuan was also stone-faced and not stopping the woman’s accusatory questions.

She understood immediately.

It was clear that giving the puppy as a gift had been a bad idea.

"Mr. Wang, I’m sorry. This is all my fault."

"Feifan doesn’t care about social etiquette. I’m always the one who handles these things."

"I’ll take the puppy out right now!"

Taking all the blame upon herself, Yan Ziruo hugged the little puppy and was about to turn and leave.

Suddenly, a hoarse, grating voice drifted down from the second floor.

"Oh, what a cute puppy!"

Yan Ziruo stopped in her tracks. Following the sound, she saw a slender girl with long, flowing hair, wearing a half-veil and a beautiful pink dress, hurrying down the stairs.

It was the star of today’s event, Yanyan.

Yanyan walked right up to Yan Ziruo, held out her hands, and asked somewhat timidly, "Is this little puppy for me?"

A brilliant smile spread across Yan Ziruo’s face as she held the puppy out to her.

"If you like it, it’s all yours."

Yanyan took the puppy, carefully cradling the little creature as its paws scrambled in the air. She even snuggled her right cheek against its fur.

She looked at Yan Ziruo, her eyes curving into happy crescents. "I love it. Thank you for the gift."

"Does it have a name?"

Visibly relieved, Yan Ziruo beamed. "It’s only a month old, so it doesn’t have a name yet."

"You can give it a name!"

Yanyan lifted the puppy high and announced with great seriousness, "I hereby name you Helen."

"Helen, I’ll take you on a tour of your new home now."

She then looked at Yan Ziruo and invited her, "Would you like to come and see my room?"

"Of course!" Yan Ziruo agreed happily.

Cradling the puppy, Yanyan paused as she passed the astonished-looking Wang Chuan. "Dad," she said, "I’m grown up now."

"Just because I didn’t like something before, doesn’t mean I don’t like it now..."

As he watched Yanyan and Yan Ziruo disappear around the bend in the staircase, Wang Chuan seemed to have an epiphany. "I’ve been too cautious."

"Yanyan’s grown up. I can’t keep treating her like a little kid."

He turned his gaze to Yan Feifan. "Yan Feifan, I apologize for my attitude earlier."

Before Yan Feifan could even react, Jio Xin jumped in. "Mr. Wang, I’m the one who should be apologizing."

Wang Chuan waved his hand dismissively. "You can’t be blamed for this. You were just worried about Yanyan."

"Ultimately, it’s my fault as her father. I was too oblivious to notice how much Yanyan has changed."

Wang Chuan couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.

"Yanyan is starting to like pets. This place is about to get a lot livelier..."

Yan Feifan had expected the birthday party to be a lively affair with at least seven or eight guests.

But by the time Yanyan was called down at 4:30 p.m., the only guests who had arrived were the Yan siblings and Jio Xin. Just the three of them.

When Yanyan reappeared, her veil was gone, and she was holding hands with Yan Ziruo.

The proceedings were simple. The small group sang "Happy Birthday," Yanyan blew out the candles, and the party began.

The spread was lavish, with no fewer than twenty different dishes, large and small.

Though the dishes were all either stews or otherwise soft and tender, every one of them was delicious.

At least, Yan Feifan ate his fill and then some...

Since the house was some distance from the city, the Yan siblings stayed for about half an hour after the meal before taking their leave while it was still light out.

Only after the MINI rounded a small hill and merged onto the main road back to the city did Yan Ziruo finally let out a small sigh of relief, her tension easing.

"Feifan, I feel so bad for Yanyan. Her mom does business overseas and only sees her once or twice a year, at most."

"And Mr. Wang is always leaving early and coming home late, and sometimes he doesn’t come home at all."

Yan Ziruo sighed sympathetically. "She doesn’t have any friends, either. Reading is the main way she passes the time."

"Feifan, you have to hurry up and master your plastic surgery skills. Make her beautiful again so she can leave the house with confidence."

Yan Feifan rolled his eyes. "I’m trying."

"You need to do more than just try. You need to give it your absolute all."

After her little lecture, Yan Ziruo’s tone turned gossipy. "Feifan, is there something going on between that Jio Xin and Mr. Wang?"

"I felt like the way she was looking at me all afternoon..."

Yan Ziruo thought for a moment, then said with conviction, "And the way she looked at you, too. It was just... odd."

"It was a look of... suspicion."

She added her own theory, "It was like she was afraid we were going to steal Mr. Wang and Yanyan away from her."

Yan Feifan explained, "Jio Xin is the scrub nurse on Mr. Wang’s surgical team. She’s very competent."

"The fact that she dared to question us shows she’s very close with his family."

"Her wariness toward us is a perfectly normal, territorial instinct."

Yan Ziruo pressed him again. "Feifan, you still haven’t answered my question. Is there something going on between her and Mr. Wang?"

Yan Feifan shot his sister a look. "How would I know about something like that?"

He then warned, "Sis, focus on driving. Remember what happened last time. We won’t be so lucky every time we have an accident."

Yan Ziruo puffed out her cheeks and muttered something under her breath, but she didn’t press the issue...

Before entering the city proper, Yan Ziruo pulled over, inspected the car, and gave it a quick cleaning...

They returned the car to the rental agency, and it passed the inspection without any issues.

This allowed Yan Ziruo to finally breathe a huge sigh of relief...

Leaving the rental agency, Yan Ziruo linked her arm through her brother’s and said with a sly grin, "Dearest brother, it’s not even eight p.m. yet."

"Come on, let’s go shopping!"

Yan Feifan refused flatly. "We’ve been out all day. Let’s just go home..."

Seeing his sister’s eyes start to bulge in a glare, Yan Feifan knew what was good for him and quickly changed his tune. "A reasonable amount of shopping is good for one’s physical and mental well-being."

Yan Feifan was dragged into a Wanda Plaza, where he was forced to accompany his sister as she browsed summer clothes in shop after shop.

Yan Feifan absolutely loathed his sister’s habit of going into every single store and only window-shopping.

But she was his sister, and one who was prone to violence, so all he could do was endure it.

After nearly an hour and a half, Yan Ziruo finally bought two new outfits for the spring and fall for both herself and Yan Feifan from a store having a massive clearance sale. Only then did she contentedly board the subway home.

The subway wasn’t too crowded at this hour.

The siblings easily found seats.

They had barely sat down when a pretty young woman with delicate features walked up to Yan Feifan and showed him a card.

Yan Feifan glanced down at the card. It read: "I am deaf and mute, holding a charity sale for a foundation for the hearing impaired."

"Please open your heart and support people with disabilities."

He then watched as the self-proclaimed deaf-mute girl pulled about a dozen fairly intricate-looking phone charms from her shoulder bag.

Each charm had a price tag attached, marked with prices like 20, 30, or 50 yuan.

Left rather speechless, Yan Feifan said with a completely straight face, "I’m a surgeon at the Affiliated Hospital, and I’m quite skilled."

"Believe it or not, I can make you a normal hearing and speaking person in an instant."

The young woman shook her head, signaling that she didn’t believe him.

This left Yan Feifan even more speechless. He decided to simply ignore the so-called deaf-mute, whose intelligence was clearly lacking.

Her face flushed red, and she scurried away...