Because I Cannot Hurt You

Xinyi stiffened, but she quickly snapped out.

"Yes," she gently smiled as she pulled Siying in her hug.

"I knew it. He is shy and reserved just like you. Easy guess." 

Xinyi cleared her throat.

Qin Fuhua asked, "What's your name, champ?"

Siying nervously smiled. "Han Siying…I am three years old."

Now that was another shock he just got. Only he knew how he managed to steady himself.

Han? Han Zhiyuan and Xinyi's son? 

Zhiyuan and Caihong were in a relationship, but in the end, Zhiyuan and Xinyi got married while Caihong married Xiaosi. This is so complicated, yet they are enjoying together like this without any awkwardness. 

"Nice to meet you too. I am Qin Fuhua, your mother's classmate back in the college days."

Siying leaned in, feeling interested. "Classmate?"

"En. Just like how you and Leina must be. So I know a lot of stuff about your mom."

His eyes sparkled. "What? What do you know?"

Qin Fuhua chuckled. "What do you say, Xinyi? Should I tell him about you? Or how I used to bully you? There are so many interesting things he could learn about his Mama."

Xinyi grimaced. "There is nothing to talk about me. You talk about yourself."

He sighed. "My life was nowhere interesting as compared to yours."

"I guess you know her really well."

Suddenly, a slightly cold and unfeeling voice came from behind him. Xinyi was startled to see Zhiyuan and so were Caihong and Ah Cy.

Zhiyuan stared at Qin Fuhua with a complicated gaze. The moment he saw talking all friendly to Xinyi, he couldn't stop himself any longer from meeting this new guy that suddenly barged into their group.

"Zhiyuan…"

He smiled and gently nodded at her. 

"Liang. You are here too," Ah Cy was surprised. Liang said, "Ah yes. Zhiyuan and I came for lunch here and then we saw you."

Xinyi realized that this situation didn't look good. She talked about Qin Fuhua this morning and not only she met him today but Zhiyuan too!

Liang raised his brow. "Such a surprise to see Qin Fuhua here…" he said as he sneakily eyed Zhiyuan. As expected, Zhiyuan was shocked to know his identity. It felt as if thunderbolt struck him, meeting the man who Xinyi always loved.

Qin Fuhua…

He stared at him in a stupor while he slowly clenched his fingers into a fist. His gaze slowly fell upon Xinyi who seemed anxious and worried. Just Qin Fuhua's presence was enough to rile up his heart into a frenzy.

Xinyi's past love was right in front of her. The man who she wrote about in her diary. The man who was once dear to her was standing right in front of her. Zhiyuan was at a loss. He felt completely shaken and numb. An uneasy feeling threatened his heart while he stood speechless.

Qin Fuhua curiously raised his brow. "Han Zhiyuan. What's wrong? You seem pale."

Qin Fuhua's question brought Zhiyuan back from his daze. He wanted to act normal and greet him, but his sudden appearance had messed up his heart pretty badly that he failed to respond.

His lips lifted in an awkward smile as he said, "Nothing is wrong, Qin Fuhua. You changed a lot so had a hard time recognizing you."

Caihong glanced between Zhiyuan and Xinyi and felt tension between them. Xinyi seemed especially fidgety and jittery, restlessly shifting in her place. Zhiyuan also seemed too zoned out for some reason ever since he met Qin Fuhua.

Something is going on, she wondered.

"Phew!" Qin Fuhua shook his head. "For a moment I thought you seemed really hostile towards me and I had no clue why."

Zhiyuan didn't comment.

Liang slyly said, "Well if I were him, I would be more than just hostile to you, seeing you so close to my wife."

Ah Cy raised her brow and silently observed her husband.

He knows something that I don't. I will have to grill him thoroughly when we return.

Qin Fuhua raised his hand. "Point taken." As he observed the five of them, he was actually impressed that even after Zhiyuan, Xinyi and Caihong were here together, the atmosphere wasn't that sharp and edgy.

They seemed to have come to terms with the situation...

"By the way, I read that the Han Corps bagged the deal with Mu Constructions. Congratulations. It will surely reap you great profits."

Zhiyuan nodded at him. "Thanks. So...you were Xinyi's classmate, right?"

Xinyi averted her gaze.

"Yup. Not just a classmate, but her neighbor too, he chuckled. "Remember Xinyi? I used to sit one desk behind you."

Xinyi coughed but didn't respond. Zhiyuan's intense stare was making her heart thud faster and faster.

Ah Cy said in disdain, "And then shamelessly bullied Xinyi."

His mouth twitched. "I didn't bully her. I just used to tease her a bit here and there."

"Your teasing counts as bullying, Qin Fuhua. Hah! Don't act all innocent now."

Siying interjected cheerfully, "Uncle! You still not say what you know about Mama!"

Zhiyuan slightly stiffened. The discomfort inside grew more and more. He wondered what he knew about Xinyi. He wondered what he wanted to share about her that he didn't know.

Xinyi quickly said, "Siying. That will take a long time a-and we have to leave now."

Siying's lips pouted. "But I want to know about Mama!"

"Me too!" Leina and Chyou agreed as well.

Qin Fuhua said, "Well sure, why not? We will have a good time. Though Xinyi will try her hardest not to let us talk."

Her mouth twitched.

Just then, his phone buzzed and he widened his eyes, seeing the caller's name. "Oops. I stayed for really long and someone is growing impatient. Damn, I am dead. Let us all meet some time together again," he smiled.

Before Zhiyuan could say anything, Liang patted his shoulder. "Why not! I think we will have our reunion soon too. Maybe after our kid's picnic."

Ah Cy nodded. "Ah yes. I heard about it too. Some of our classmates are arranging for a reunion maybe next month."

Caihong asked, "Is that so? I lost all touch with the others," she shrugged.

Qin Fuhua said, "That's great! We will meet soon then."

As he turned to leave, he felt Zhiyuan's pointed stares at him once again. 

Seriously, there is something with Zhiyuan today. Why is he giving me the killing stares?

After a pause, Liang coughed and said, trying to ease the atmosphere. "You ladies must have had a lot of fun, huh?"

Ah Cy got the cue and nodded. "We talked about many things that mainly included how awesome my hubby is," she grinned.

"Aish!" An arrow struck his heart.

Leina chirped. "We have lot of fun too!"

Siying nodded hard. "En!"

Liang turned cold. "You don't need to have that much fun with Siying…" he grumbled that earned him a glare from his wife.

Caihong narrowed her eyes and understood their intentions. 

"Dada! I bought many things too!" He diligently showed him his shopping.

Zhiyuan smiled. "That's good, Siying." He glanced at Xinyi and didn't show any change in his demeanor. "I guess then Liang and I should leave."

"N-No," Xinyi hastily said. "I mean we can head home. I have to start working on Shuang's designs anyway."

Zhiyuan paused for a moment and nodded. "Alright."

Caihong said, "I am heading to the ladies' room. Xinyi, will you come with me?"

"Sure," Xinyi said, "Zhiyuan, you hold Siying. I will be back."

"En."

As Caihong walked past him, they slightly stiffened for a moment. But she quickly passed by him, averting her gaze.

---

Inside the ladies' room, Caihong quietly stared at Xinyi, trying to collect her thoughts. Xinyi softly asked, "Is there anything you want to talk to me about?"

"I just felt that…there seemed to be some tension between Zhiyuan and you ever since he came to meet us today."

She stiffened. Her heart thumped in her chest.

"Zhiyuan seemed really troubled for some reason and you were really anxious as well. Is there something going on?"

Xinyi bit the corner of her lip as she fiddled with her fingers. She wondered how to tell her about their conversation this morning and Qin Fuhua.

Caihong observed her and frowned. "Did you two have a fight?"

She widened her eyes and quickly said, "No, no. Nothing like that. I…"

Caihong said, "I am sorry. I am just concerned. It's okay if you don't want to share it with me-"

Xinyi shook her head. "Nothing like that. I just don't know how to put it out to you."

"Don't think too much and say whatever transpired."

Xinyi slowly explained how she lied about liking Qin Fuhua in college.

Caihong looked at her, stunned. "No wonder, it seemed so odd. That is quite a coincidence but…" she sighed, "why aren't you telling your real feelings to him? You are married, you have a son and you deserve a happy life. What is stopping you?"

Xinyi froze.