CHAPTER 258: CHAPTER 245: EFFORTLESSLY2

"I can’t drink anymore." Lin Zhenxin looked at the half-full glass of water in her hand and handed it to him.

Li Yanan didn’t mind and directly drank the remaining water in the glass.

As if it was the most normal thing to do.

Lin Zhenxin turned her head to look at Li Yanan, and he casually unbuttoned two buttons at the collar of his shirt, revealing a small patch of skin.

Seeing her looking at him, Li Yanan turned back to look at her.

Not long after, Lin Zhenxin burst into laughter, and her expression changed from cloudy to sunny.

"Today, I feel so vindicated!" Lin Zhenxin recalled the expressions on the reporters’ faces, and the He family’s expressions... she couldn’t help but want to laugh.

Honestly, she really felt that for what He Nuoxin did to Haohao, for her to be disgraced was getting off lightly.

"Didn’t you say you wanted those people to swallow back the dirty water they poured on me, sip by sip?"

Li Yanan reached out and touched her head, as if treating a beloved child.

Lin Zhenxin nodded vigorously, but after nodding, she felt a bit sad.

Sad for Li Yanan.

As soon as this thought arose, Lin Zhenxin reached out and hugged Li Yanan.

"From now on, no one will bully you again, no one will say anything bad about you..."

She spoke in a very serious tone.

"Li Yanan, it’s all in the past now."

Li Yanan didn’t say anything or make any moves, letting her hug him tightly.

Feeling the fragrance from her body, he strongly suppressed the surge of emotions that arose in his heart after hearing Lin Zhenxin’s words.

"Since it’s all in the past, why are you crying?" Although he let her cry, she cried for so long, it made his heart ache.

Lin Zhenxin awkwardly wiped the corners of her eyes at his words, not responding.

"Even if you don’t say it, I know it’s because of her defense of He Nuoxin and her attitude towards you."

Li Yanan didn’t let Lin Zhenxin escape the topic.

Lin Zhenxin’s expression instantly turned cloudy, but she quickly calmed down.

"Yeah." She had nothing to hide from Li Yanan.

"Do you hate her?" Li Yanan asked.

This time, Lin Zhenxin remained silent for a long time, seemingly seriously contemplating his question.

"I don’t know..." After an unknown amount of time passed, she finally gave her answer.

"But, I think there’s no need to think about it anymore."

Lin Zhenxin said.

She genuinely thought so.

Earlier, out of impulse, she almost revealed her relationship with Susan He, just to help Li Yanan shift his focus.

This was definitely not a wise move, and it might even drag her into an even deeper vortex.

Not to mention, the media would dig deep into how she was related to Susan He, Susan He’s identity and background, her relationship with the Tu Family, her relationship with Tu Haohao, and so on, would all be uncovered layer by layer.

In this world, after all, there is no wall that does not let the wind through.

"She said she treated He Nuoxin as if she were me. Seeing her treat He Nuoxin so well, shouldn’t I be happy?"

Lin Zhenxin’s words were full of sarcasm, even her smile lost its usual warmth.

"He Nuoxin has always been the little princess of the He family... but what about me?" Lin Zhenxin subconsciously rubbed the scar on the back of her neck.

Those days of hardship due to lack of money, those days of inferiority because of the scars, those years of experiencing the coldness and warmth of the human world...

But in contrast?

He Nuoxin was pampered in New York, He Bainian loved her, Susan He indulged her, and she lived a life of luxury and comfort.

Thinking about these, she wasn’t envious of He Nuoxin, but rather disappointed in Susan He.

That sense of disappointment deeply embedded itself into Lin Zhenxin’s bones, like marrow, hard to separate.

"Yanan, in this world, even though blood ties are such close relationships, why do we both end up being hurt by them?"

Suddenly, Lin Zhenxin laughed again.

"Look at me, why am I saying all this? Today is a day worth celebrating, we..."

Before Lin Zhenxin could finish her sentence, Li Yanan already cupped the back of her head with one hand and kissed her deeply.

Such gentle force, yet with such resolute warmth, kissing her deeply like this.

Me and you, equating with us.

Li Yanan always felt that the word ’us’ should be the most intimate word in the world.

"Zhenxin, I, the child, Grandma, Aunt Xu, Eldest Brother Mo Chi, Little Kui, Xun Chen, and so on... will all be family from now on! Let’s not be sad anymore, and you should never cry for others again, okay?" Sealing it with a kiss, Li Yanan pressed his forehead against hers, and soon, rested his face against her small belly.

In this world, he could be ruthless to anyone but her.

Lin Zhenxin’s eyes grew warm again.

Even though he was ten years older than her, and normally so mature and steady, yet in front of her, he always appeared so childlike.

She reached out and gently caressed Li Yanan, whose face was resting against her belly.

Over and over again.

"Alright, I won’t cry for others anymore." Lin Zhenxin forced back the swelling sensation in her eyes and pulled herself together.

The child in her belly was also a blood relative tied to them.

But Lin Zhenxin was certain that she and he would never let the child in her belly walk the same path they did...

Struggling out of the besiegement of media reporters, He Nuoxin was escorted into the car by He Bainian.

"Have you given up?" Susan He’s voice rang out from the front seat.

He Nuoxin’s hair was disheveled, her eyes were red, and outside the car window, reporters crazily blocked the road.

"He actually chose Lin Zhenxin over me..." He Nuoxin felt as if everything had been a dream just now, her whole body trembling.

He Bainian, sitting beside her, hadn’t spoken since getting into the car, his expression growing more sullen.

"Aunt, he actually slandered and harmed me for Lin Zhenxin, I want to find him, I want to confront him!"

He Nuoxin trembled uncontrollably, Susan He looked at her through the rearview mirror, her eyes filled with an inexplicable gloom.

"He Nuoxin." Suddenly, He Bainian, who hadn’t spoken, spoke up.

"The facts are in front of you, and you still say Lin Zhenxin slandered and harmed you?"

He looked up at his sister, whom he had always doted on since she was a child.

No matter how unreasonable her demands in the past, as long as it was within his capability, he would always pave the way for her without hesitation.

Even against his conscience!

But what did it result in? He Nuoxin repeatedly pushing boundaries, trampling on his moral bottom line.

She is his sister, and Tu Haohao was also raised lovingly by the Tu Family, wasn’t she?

"Back then, when the engagement was made, it was me who kept begging Yanan not to expose you, and later when that incident happened, I unconditionally stood by your side, even at the cost of breaking off with Yanan! But now, thinking back to that night Tu Haohao was sent to the ER, what Zhenxin said in the hospital..."

Mentioning Lin Zhenxin’s name made He Nuoxin’s expression instantly distorted.

"Lin Zhenxin Lin Zhenxin! Your mind is full of Lin Zhenxin... I am the victim..."

Before she could say ’here’, a loud slap was heard, and He Nuoxin’s face, already full of crisscrossing scars, was forcibly slapped aside by He Bainian.

Realizing belatedly, He Nuoxin clutched her face, looking back at her older brother, who had always doted on her, in disbelief...

"Nuoxin, how do you have the face to say that you are the victim?"

He Bainian looked pained, even he couldn’t accept He Nuoxin’s rhetoric.

"You hit me... you actually hit me for Lin Zhenxin..."

He Nuoxin’s eyes filled with tears, her emotions clearly becoming agitated.

"If my and Aunt’s indulgence has made you into someone overconfident, then I don’t mind waking you up myself!"

He Bainian forced himself to be ruthless.

Susan He remained silent, her deep eyes revealing profound thoughts, unclear of her mind.

He Nuoxin’s delicate features twisted with rage, her hands rummaging through her bag, soon finding a gleaming fruit knife!

He Bainian couldn’t believe it; she actually carried something like this?

"You force me too... you are not my brother... I know you love Lin Zhenxin... you force me..."

Her eyes widened continuously, even the red veins in the whites of her eyes became clearly visible.

As she finished speaking, He Nuoxin made a motion to slash her own wrist fiercely.

But before she could approach, He Bainian already reached with an empty hand to seize her sharp blade.

The sharp blade sank deeply into the flesh, and instantly blood seeped through the skin’s texture and spread.

Drip... drip...

"Bainian!"

On the way back, Lin Zhenxin fell asleep on Li Yanan’s lap.

After getting pregnant, she was already drowsy, not to mention she had been highly tense just now, completing the entire press conference with him.

Acting as the driver, Xun Chen took advantage of the red light and glanced at Li Yanan through the rearview mirror.

He lowered his head, intently watching Lin Zhenxin sleep.

His usually grim eyes now overflowed with tenderness, making Xun Chen involuntarily purse his lips.

Almost instantly, Li Yanan raised his head, glancing lightly at Xun Chen, making the latter’s hair stand on end in near synchrony.

"Whipped husband..."

Li Yanan seemed not to hear it, simply reaching out to tuck her fallen long hair behind her ear.

Those soft, white little ears, the previously pierced holes had long since healed.

"Help me get that jewelry box from the front drawer." Li Yanan deliberately lowered his voice to avoid waking Lin Zhenxin.

Xun Chen grumpily tossed him the jewelry box.

Li Yanan carefully opened the jewelry box, finding a pair of delicate pearl earrings quietly lying inside.

At the time, it seemed fitting, so even knowing she didn’t have pierced ears, he still bought them back.

Seizing the opportunity with Lin Zhenxin asleep, Li Yanan clumsily reached out to put the earrings on her.

As Li Yanan expected, the pearls made Lin Zhenxin’s already radiant skin look even more delicate, so beautiful that he couldn’t bear to look away.

Today at the press conference, when Li Yanan sensed Lin Zhenxin was about to reveal her secret just to divert attention from him, he couldn’t help but feel distressed.