5. Suffering Before Marriage

... She acting like this would turn herself into 'a common rival'... A woman's heart is most unpredictable... If someone were to secretly harm her behind her back... The best shot hits the leader bird...Chapter 5 (Part 2) The Agonies Before Marriage

Yan Luoxi recalled what had happened the previous night and was both angry and frustrated. Her lips were bitten white, her eyes filled with anger and confusion.

She struggled to break free from Li An's embrace, but he held her too tightly for her to move. She could only kick his calf fiercely, shouting uncontrollably: "Let me go! You unpredictable devil! Get away from me! I never want to see you again!"

"No... Luoxi, don't be angry... Last night was my fault. I shouldn't have acted that way towards you... I'm sorry..." The domineering Li An from last night had vanished; he now held Yan Luoxi tightly and pleaded softly.

"Did you forget what you said yesterday You said you didn't care about me, telling me to leave... You treated me like that in the bedroom yesterday. What do I amount to" Yan Luoxi grew more infuriated with each word, turning to glare at Li An.

At such close proximity, she clearly saw beads of sweat on Li An's forehead and noticed his furrowed brow and pale lips—none of it seemed like the result of fear or tension.

"What's wrong with you" Yan Luoxi felt a twinge of worry. She held his hand and found that he was cold, making her even more concerned: "Are you feeling unwell somewhere"

"Mm." Li An responded vaguely.

"Tell me what's wrong!" Yan Luoxi asked urgently, momentarily forgetting their huge argument from the night before.

"My stomach hurts a bit," Li An said miserably.

Yan Luoxi was taken aback, "How come my stomach hurts"

"From noon yesterday until now, I haven't eaten anything."

"Oh!" It then occurred to Yan Luoxi that she and Li An had been arguing all day yesterday and hadn't thought about eating. Since Li An used to drink a lot of alcohol, he already had some stomach problems, so she was both anxious and slightly annoyed at him, "Are you a child You don’t even remember to eat yourself but know only how to play around with me!"

"Because you don't care about me," Li An pouted.

"Then you still blame me!" Yan Luoxi answered sarcastically. But her hands were gentle as she tried to free his arms from around her waist.

“Where are you going" Li An asked, unwilling to let go.

"I'm going to wash up and then get something for you to eat," Yan Luoxi shot him a glance. He was such a grown person but still so troublesome.

"Just now I told the maidservants to prepare food for us. Let's go wash up together, and we can have our meal right after that," Li An was secretly delighted to see his little trick work so well. He wrapped his arms around Yan Luoxi’s waist like a koala bear as they both got out of bed and went to the bathroom.

Yan Luoxi couldn’t bring herself to be rough with sick Li An, so she let him stick to her. They washed up together before eating, then watched TV, listened to music, and took a walk like usual.

No one brought up the heated argument they had earlier, nor did anyone try to figure out who was right or wrong. This sudden tempest seemed to have dissipated into thin air, leaving no trace of conflict behind.

Lai An, with Yan Luoxi's tacit approval, started enthusiastically organizing their wedding. Every day he would make countless calls—to his brother Lai Yi, to the secretaries under him, to Uncle Xin, and Ming Zixi...

He said he wanted to give Yan Luoxi a huge surprise, a wedding unlike any other. Therefore, most of the time he made these calls without her knowledge, then looked at her with a mysterious smile as she happily chuckled, teasing him that he looked like a fox who had stolen a chicken.

In fact, Yan Luoxi hadn't agreed to marry Lai An yet; if not for their previous argument, she would have rejected his proposal. She felt they were both still quite young and her brother Lai Yi wasn’t married either—what was the hurry

Her personality didn't mesh perfectly with Lai An's, and they needed time to get used to each other. Moreover, she had a sense that their relationship was somewhat opportunistic.

Lai An’s life had been smooth sailing; apart from himself, his privileged background left him little opportunity to experience being blocked or rejected.

So Yan Luoxi often wondered if this was why Lai An felt so passionately about her, unable to let go—she was the sole exception in his life, and because he hadn't fully possessed her, he couldn’t bear to part with her.

Yan Luoxi still had many reservations about marrying Lai An. Originally she could have come up with countless reasons to persuade him not to marry so soon, but after that heart-wrenching argument, she found herself unable to speak up.

She feared that if she told Lai An she didn't want to get married, the rift left behind would develop in a destructive manner.

When Lai An was busy making calls all around town, Yan Luoxi would occasionally walk on the streets of Hainan. Yet she never encountered He Yufan again; that day when they parted, neither had exchanged contact information. In such a big city, running into each other by chance wasn't an easy thing.

At times, thinking about her own feelings for Zhou Guangtao compared to how much He Yufan loved him, she realized she might not love Zhou Guangtao as deeply as He Yufan did.

If one day Zhuangtao Zhou were in trouble and I had to submit myself to Jianghai Fang to save Zhuangtao Zhou, I don't think I could make such a great sacrifice.

Yan Luoxi now recalls the complicated relationships between her, Zhuangtao Zhou, and Yufan He. The sentiment she feels cannot be described as merely complex.

After returning from the street, Yan Luoxi felt tired and leaned against the sofa drinking a cold beverage. She noticed Li An making a call in the greenhouse area; however, due to the glass door separating them, she couldn't hear what he was saying. But by looking at his stern face, she could imagine his tone wasn’t pleasant.

When Li An finally ended his call, Yan Luoxi quickly hid her head under a cushion on the sofa and closed her eyes.

Li An had just negotiated with his older brother regarding their wedding date. Due to his older brother's insistence, they agreed that the actual wedding would be three months later. They planned to hold an engagement ceremony a month from now before proceeding to marriage.

Right now, Li An wished he could marry Yan Luoxi immediately; all these formal procedures and long wait felt like torture to him.

He put away his phone and turned around to see Yan Luoxi lying on the sofa. He was delighted when he saw her and walked over lightly, bending down to look at Yan Luoxi sleeping on the sofa.

Yan Luoxi faced away from him, eyes tightly closed, long dense eyelashes slightly trembling, black hair scattered haphazardly across the back of the couch. Her skin looked even more fair and translucent against this backdrop, like jade.

Li An bent down and first kissed her smooth delicate cheek with his lips before suddenly biting down without warning.d at Zhōu Guangtāo’s hand, urgently saying: "Brother Guǎngtāo, let’s go. Don’t pay attention to this madman."Lǐ'ān wouldn't give them the chance to leave. He quickly interrupted, "But do you know when...