Black Prayer Beads Part 1

When Xie Yanli left the hospital, it was just when the city lights were coming on.

The hospital was located in the southernmost part of Bei Cheng, in a quiet and sparsely populated area. Under the scattered lights, the black Maybach looked a bit solitary on the road.

Looking out from the hospital's huge window, one could clearly see the Maybach driving away.

Xiao Tu turned her head and looked at the beautiful young woman on the hospital bed, who was calmly reading a script. She hesitated for a few seconds, "Sister Fanfan, President Xie has really left."

Qin Fan's fair face showed no sign of sadness. She lazily lifted her eyelids, "Mm."

"Close the curtains, the moon is flashing in my eyes."

Xiao Tu: "..."

'President Xie was angered away by Sister Fanfan, yet she's still in the mood to joke.'

Sighing, Xiao Tu closed the curtains and walked to the bedside to pour water for Qin Fan.

Just then, Qin Fan's phone suddenly rang. It was a video call from Jiang Rong.

Qin Fan answered the video call, and the first thing she saw was Jiang Rong's face with a cheerful smile. This was the first time Sister Jiang had smiled so happily since she got injured.

Qin Fan couldn't help but raise her delicate eyebrows, "What's making you so happy?"

"Hahahaha, Director Pei posted on Weibo!"

"Those two gifts you sent today weren't in vain, it's killing me!" Jiang Rong was in her hotel room with a laptop on her lap, operating it while laughing. "Is Xiao Tu there? Have her search on Weibo and show you."

Xiao Tu quickly fetched a tablet, "Coming, coming!"

Qin Fan looked at the page displayed on the screen. It was Pei Feng's new Weibo post, published about five minutes ago, and it already had several thousand comments.

Pei Feng V: A few days ago, my childhood friend made it to the trending topics for splurging 1.8 billion. As his good brother for over twenty years, I didn't even get eighteen yuan. Who knew that right after I complained to the couple, his wife personally bid on a winery and a vintage car for me that very day. I'm so happy~ She even specially considered my preferences. My friend must have burned a lot of incense in his past life to marry such a considerate, beautiful, and charming wife.

Photo.jpg Photo.jpg

The two photos were of the winery donation contract and the actual vintage car that Qin Fan had sent to Pei Feng.

Netizens, each more perceptive than the last, flocked to leave comments—

"1.8 billion? Director Pei's childhood friend is actually that unspeakable big boss."

"A winery and a vintage car, and it's still trending. Didn't that big boss bid on those for the socialite with the surname Cheng? How did it become Mrs. Xie bidding for Director Pei?"

"So is the socialite surnamed Cheng Mrs. Xie or not? If they're the same person, wasn't she present at the international auction? She didn't bid on anything."

"Sisters, do you remember those 123 trending topics? Let me do a reverse analysis. First, the airport pickup was just speculation, maybe it was just a coincidence they were at the same airport. Second, the 1.8 billion big boss said 'wife' but didn't specify that his wife's surname was Cheng. Third, Director Pei himself has debunked it, what more is there to say! In short, this might just be someone intentionally guiding public opinion to ride on our big boss's popularity!"

"The sister upstairs summarized it well, I agree, but saying she's riding on his popularity is a bit harsh. Miss Cheng hasn't said a single word from beginning to end."

"How has she not said anything? Didn't she post a picture on ins of the same prayer beads as the big boss? Don't you guys use a VPN?"

"Yeah, the matching prayer beads have also been crazily analyzed on the CP forums."

"I feel like so many coincidences can't be just coincidences. Even if the socialite Cheng isn't Mrs. Xie, she must be his White Moonlight, right? A reunion between a White Moonlight and her love is also beautiful."

"What kind of values does the person upstairs have? If President Xie is married, that's not a reunion, that's being a homewrecker!"

"..."

When Xiao Tu saw the last message, she almost burst out laughing and immediately used her side account to give it a like: "This young lady has such good values, and she's even your fan, sis!"

Xiao Tu had thought Qin Fan would be happy to see Cheng Xi's downfall.

But unexpectedly, Qin Fan just calmly finished scrolling through Weibo, then said goodnight to Jiang Rong and hung up the video call.

Xiao Tu opened her mouth: "..."

Qin Fan glanced at her, her voice still clear, soft, and pleasant, "There's a family lounge inside, you should go rest too."

"Sis, are you okay?"

Xiao Tu was worried and leaned closer to Qin Fan, "President Xie came to see you today, which means he didn't cheat."

Qin Fan knew Xie Yanli. Cheating was something that would never happen with him. He was ambitious in his career and wouldn't allow any stain on his reputation or any negative impact on the group.

What Qin Fan cared about wasn't the cheating. Initially, she thought that the cold and indifferent family environment Xie Yanli grew up in had made him incapable of managing a family or a relationship.

But after seeing how her mother-in-law and father-in-law interacted, she discovered it wasn't as she had imagined. His family was happy, and his parents were deeply in love.

So Qin Fan thought he was naturally cold-hearted, emotionless, and desireless.

Later, after seeing the prayer beads cherished by Xie Yanli, a matching pair worn on another woman's wrist, Qin Fan understood that it wasn't that he didn't know how to manage a relationship, but rather that he was unwilling to do it for her.

What naturally cold-hearted, emotionless, and desireless? It was just that he didn't care enough.

It made sense. Theirs was a business marriage from the start. What right did she have to ask Xie Yanli to care about her feelings?

In the eyes of others, his willingness to delete all the news and his fidelity were probably the greatest respect he could show her, the trophy wife Mrs. Xie.

Isn't it good to be the cold and emotionless Mrs. Xie? Spending his money, sleeping with his clean, young body, and then focusing on her own career—how great is that?

Qin Fan didn't want to let herself think about him, but after closing her eyes, the sound of him gently calling her by her pet name inexplicably surfaced in her mind.

After her father passed away, no one had ever called her that again.

Her father said she was the brightest, most precious, and most brilliant gift heaven had given him, so he called her Cancan.

Qin Fan slowly covered her eyes with the blanket:

But Dad, you're gone, and I'm no longer anyone's Cancan.

The night at the Yuge Club was as brilliant and splendid as ever.

Inside the private room, Xie Yanli sat wearily on the inner sofa. The glass in front of him was filled with clear, strong liquor, but he hadn't touched it.

His usually indifferent and cold face was tinged with a rare expression of confusion.

Xie Yanli picked up his phone from the coffee table and sent a WeChat message to Secretary Wen: "Find out why my wife doesn't like the prayer beads."

Secretary Wen: "Why don't you ask your wife directly?" 'Does this kind of thing even need to be investigated?'

Xie Yanli: "If she were willing to tell me, would I be asking you?"

Secretary Wen: "Understood, I'll go investigate immediately. Zipped-lips.jpg." 'Got it, the wife has blocked President Xie again!'

Actually—

After putting his phone away, Xie Yanli's expression was inscrutable, but the scene from the hospital room that afternoon flashed through his mind.

Qin Fan was like a little hedgehog covered in spikes: "President Xie, are you the only one who dislikes explaining things? I don't like it either."

......

When Pei Feng walked in, the exquisitely and elegantly decorated private room was already filled with smoke, so thick it almost made him choke to death on the spot.

Besides the smoke, there was also the smell of alcohol.

Didn't Xie Yanli dislike gatherings like this? When Jiang Aozhou said he was here, Pei Feng didn't believe it.

It wasn't until he saw Xie Yanli's figure by the floor-to-ceiling window that he believed the man had actually come!

"You have nothing better to do than to smoke and drink here instead of accompanying your beautiful, pitiful little wife in the hospital???" Pei Feng slapped him on the shoulder from behind and said irritably.

From this angle, one could clearly see the night view of Bei Cheng. Pei Feng glanced at it without much interest.

If he hadn't known Xie Yanli was here, he wouldn't have come.

During work periods, he refused to attend such gatherings.

"She doesn't want me to accompany her." Because Xie Yanli hadn't spoken for a while, his voice was slightly hoarse.

Although his tone was as cold and casual as usual, Pei Feng keenly detected something else in it. "Tsk tsk tsk, got kicked out?"

"The young lady is injured, what's wrong with her throwing a little tantrum? As a man, you have to be tolerant."

"What's more, it was your fault today in the first place. She was working hard on set and got injured on the job, while you were all lovey-dovey with some White Moonlight, making it to the trending topics. It'd be strange if she were happy."

"And you're not even tolerant. She says she doesn't need you to accompany her, so you don't? Women sometimes say the opposite of what they mean..."

'Since I received so many good things from my sister-in-law, I have to be a decent person!' Pei Feng thought.

Xie Yanli brushed off the paw resting on his shoulder, his long legs in suit trousers striding toward the sofa.

He raised his hand, picked up the full glass of strong liquor on the coffee table, and took a light sip.