426: A Guarded Heart (1)

A Guarded Heart (1)

Su Xiaofei alighted from the car and glanced at the grand manor that was isolated from the other estates. It was her first time coming to the Li family manor with the intention of visiting her best friend. Their small talk during the party wasn't enough for her and knew that she needed her best friend at a time like this.1

The old housekeeper of the family led her to the gardens to wait for Xi Qian. Su Xiaofei walked slowly to the shaded patio as she took a good look at the place. It seemed that the lady of the house had been paying attention to the garden as she had seen familiar varieties of flowers along the way.

"Feifei!"

Su Xiaofei turned her head and found Xi Qian rushing towards her with a hint of blush on her face. She was dressed in a light blue blouse and white skirt that reached above her knees with her shoulder length hair tied in a ponytail. She looked happier and healthier now that she wasn't working the graveyard shift in the hospital.

"You look good, Qian. How's work?" She smiled at her best friend, allowing Xi Qian to drag her to the deepest part of the garden where they could have a private talk.

"It's fine. They are treating me well and I now have the time to focus on my notes." Xi Qian replied. "But sometimes I feel like time is passing too slow here."

Without the adrenaline rush she usually experienced in her previous workplace, Xi Qian was starting to find the silence deafening at the Li manor.

"So do you want to quit then?" Su Xiaofei raised a slender brow at her in question.

"God, no." Xi Qian exclaimed. "I like my job. It's not everyday I would be given a chance to work and study at the same time. I just need to get used to it."

They took a seat next to the fountain. Su Xiaofei gracefully tucked a stray hair behind her ear as they sat.

"So what about you and Lu Qingfeng? Is everything alright? He's not pressuring you into something you don't like, is he?" Xi Qian asked in return.

Su Xiaofei gave her a weak smile. She couldn't tell if it was a problem, since Lu Qingfeng hadn't raised the issue of his memories again. She wasn't sure of how much he could remember of the past, but she knew she owed him an apology for everything he'd gone through because of her.

"We're fine. He's treating me well. He's been patient with me."

"Even in bed?" Xi Qian asked with a grin, earning a blush from Su Xiaofei.

"We're good. We're learning together."

Su Xiaofei couldn't possibly tell her best friend that she and Lu Qingfeng couldn't keep their hands off of each other and were doing it more frequently now, like bunnies in heat. If Lu Qingfeng hadn't been using protection, she would think that he was trying to put a baby in her, given how affectionate he was recently.

Lu Qingfeng had been extra clingy on her these days and she didn't have to deny him of her touch, not when she knew that it could lessen the worry in his heart. She wanted to assure him in any way that she wouldn't come to hate him. Never. Not when she had witnessed all those sins with her own eyes.

"That's good then. But have you already talked about having a kid in the future?" Xi Qian asked.

Silence was the answer she got from Su Xiaofei.

Lu Qingfeng had told her that she was not under any obligation to give him one, but Su Xiaofei knew that the Lu family would pressure them into it.

"We're not ready for that yet, Qian. So many things have happened these days."

"Like?"

Xi Qian waited for Su Xiaofei to explain and the other could only sigh and rest her head against her best friend's shoulder. Su Xiaofei briefly wondered why she wasn't as tall as her husband or Xi Qian.

"Qian, I'm adopted. I'm not my Mama and Su Haoran's real daughter."

Su Xiaofei had avoided talking about her adoption or her real parents, except with her mother and Lu Qingfeng. However, now that Qiao Fengying was aware of her identity, the possibility of Bai Qingyue finding out had risen.

Xi Qian opened her mouth to say something but she found herself speechless from her best friend's admission.

Su Xiaofei filled her in with the recent happenings in her life and how she found out that her Uncle Qiao was her birth father, making Qiao Yuhan her little brother.

Xi Qian remained silent and listened to her, her hands gripping Su Xiaofei as she saw the latter's eyes glistening with tears.

"That's probably why you get along with Xiao Han. Uncle Qiao has also been extra patient with you."

"I don't know, Qian. I don't blame Mama for keeping the secret from me, but I wish she didn't keep me in the dark for so long."Su Xiaofei sighed.

"But you did." Xi Qian couldn't say that she understood what Su Xiaofei was feeling, but it was hard for her to think of Yun Qingrong in a bad light. She hadn't met a person as selfless as Yun Qingrong.

"Perhaps Aunty Qing was worried that they wouldn't treat you right, or even turn you away if you went to see them. She's probably worried about you. So what will you do now?"

"We decided to visit each other once in a while. Uncle Qiao hasn't forced me to move in with them, which I appreciated." Su Xiaofei chuckled. "I'm already a married woman anyway and I doubt Lu Qingfeng would allow it if I say I want to live with them. What about you? Are you seeing someone? Don't forget our promise, Qian."

Xi Qian rolled her eyes. She hadn't been on a date after her last disastrous relationship and she wasn't looking for one.

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