Embracing My Wife - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Confession

With things on her mind, Xu Anran hadn’t slept well. She woke up a little late, with faint dark circles under her eyes, which she covered with concealer.

When she left the room, she ran into Fang Xiaoxiao again.

Fang Xiaoxiao was closing her door. She had layered on several coats of powder to cover the bruises, so only some redness and swelling were visible.

To be fair, Fang Xiaoxiao was quite pretty. Especially in college, she was tall, with skin so delicate it seemed to drip water, and her eyes were big and bright. Many guys and girls in their department were interested in her.

They lived in the same dorm, and although their relationship wasn’t super close, it was decent. They would sometimes eat together and talk about the future.

Honestly, she never expected Fang Xiaoxiao to become so lazy and materialistic, turning into someone so unlikable.

After a short wait, the elevator arrived. The two stood inside together. Fang Xiaoxiao turned her head to look at Xu Anran and sneered, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. You’re just proud because you hooked up with Gu Nanbei, right?”

“I don’t think that at all. I’m just curious…” Xu Anran looked at her. “How did you become this way after college?”

Fang Xiaoxiao tilted her head, pulled a cigarette out of her pocket, and lit it. She took a couple of hard drags, as if a bad memory had just surfaced. “What do you know?” she said angrily. “Wait until someone takes care of you for a few days, and then you’ll understand why!”

The elevator stopped. Xu Anran waved away the smoke and said, “I won’t be like you, because I won’t wait for someone to take care of me. I have hands.”

Then, she stepped out of the elevator before Fang Xiaoxiao. Hearing Fang Xiaoxiao’s curses from inside, she stopped. “If you don’t come to Mr. Carter’s studio with us today, I’ll report it to the company. You’ll have to pay for your round-trip airfare and all your expenses yourself!”

“Xu Anran!” Fang Xiaoxiao yelled furiously, her voice sharp and piercing from inside the elevator. But Xu Anran ignored her. Fang Xiaoxiao chased after her, getting burned by the cigarette and making her face contort in anger.

Xu Anran went to the hotel restaurant. Everyone was already there, waiting for her to eat. Soon, Fang Xiaoxiao arrived, sitting at the next table and making a show of slamming her plate down.

“What’s her problem now?” Ren Qingtian sniffled. She had a fever all day and still felt a bit heavy-headed. Thinking about what had happened, she felt like giving Fang Xiaoxiao a good beating.

“She probably ran out of money. Look at her face; it’s so swollen. In the past, she would have gone to the hospital multiple times,” Cheng Xiaoai said. “A few days ago, I saw a text message about a debt on her phone. She probably took out one of those online loans.”

“Tsk, she’s so dumb.” A few colleagues sighed. You shouldn’t even touch those. The interest rates are so high that they’re impossible to pay off. They’re incredibly harmful.

Cheng Xiaoai continued, “She wasn’t like this before. She used to have a girlfriend who was very good to her and bought her all sorts of luxury goods. It made her a bit of a spoiled princess. After they broke up, she couldn’t get used to it and started borrowing money.”

After a while, the food arrived, and Xu Anran interrupted them. “Stop gossiping. Let’s eat first. Let’s not be late like yesterday.”

“Okay!”

Xu Anran was actually very curious. What they were talking about must have happened after Fang Xiaoxiao entered the workforce. As for the girlfriend they mentioned, she thought it sounded like the woman Fang Xiaoxiao had cheated with.

That woman had indeed bought Fang Xiaoxiao a lot of nice things and seemed to really like her. Even after she found out Fang Xiaoxiao was two-timing her, she didn’t break up with her and even had her move in.

However, Xu Anran remembered a recent conversation with Fang Xiaoxiao. Fang Xiaoxiao had said her girlfriend was a liar and had sounded incredibly angry when she said it.

Xu Anran had a feeling that this whole situation was more complicated than it seemed.

To be precise, anything involving Gu Nanbei was complicated.

After dinner, Xu Anran called a taxi and took everyone to the studio. Ray was already waiting at the entrance and smiled as he shook Xu Anran’s hand.

He said, “Mr. Carter is here today. He’s waiting for you inside. I’ll take you in to say hello, and then we can tour the place. How does that sound?”

Mr. Carter was a person with a lot of character. He always wore a black hat, a sharp black suit, and shiny leather shoes, much like a classic English gentleman.

In this regard, he was a lot like Gu Nanbei. Their similar personalities probably made it easier to communicate, which was why their relationship grew so strong over time.

But there was one big difference…

Mr. Carter always glared at her with his bulging eyes.

He looked incredibly intimidating.

Xu Anran went to shake his hand, and she was trembling.

She said politely, “Hello, I’m Xu Anran, the representative of the Chinese company Jingling. It’s a pleasure to be working with you. Please give us your guidance.”

Mr. Carter grunted in reply, still scrutinizing her with cold eyes.

The atmosphere became very awkward. Thankfully, Ray was there. He quickly stepped in. “Mr. Carter, I’ll take them to tour the works in the back first.”

Only then did Mr. Carter withdraw his gaze and nod.

Ray led them to the elevator. Xu Anran still hadn’t recovered from Mr. Carter’s coldness. Ray laughed. “That’s just Mr. Carter’s personality. The more he values someone, the more serious and strict he is.”

“It’s just… a little too scary,” Xu Anran said, not wanting to say that the way Mr. Carter looked at her was less like he was looking at a student and more like he was looking at a daughter-in-law…

They soon reached the entrance of the exhibition hall. Ray introduced it. “This place houses all the masterpieces from the past eighty years, of course, all of them are unfinished. That is, works that have not been released to the public. For example, the work of the French design genius Bruce… And of course, the works of CEO Gu from your Gu Group.”

Everyone’s curiosity was instantly piqued. Even Fang Xiaoxiao, who had been quietly playing with her phone in the back, looked over in surprise. “Gu Nanbei’s work is here too?”

“Yes.”

Ray pushed the door open and led them in. “You can look around on your own first. If you have any questions, you can ask me.”

Xu Anran nodded, her eyes scanning over all the display cases. She was searching for Gu Nanbei’s work, and so was Fang Xiaoxiao.

Unwittingly, it had become a competition.

The collection room was huge and had a great atmosphere.

After about three minutes, Xu Anran finally found it. In a display case near the staircase, she saw a black dress.

The dress was made of very simple materials, so it was easy to miss. It had a mysterious, restrained feel, with black tulle and white handmade camellias. The skirt was pleated and had some small blue buttons.

Overall, it was very graceful and ladylike.

From a distance, she couldn’t see the designer’s name.

But she could feel it.

Xu Anran rushed over. And sure enough, the name “Gu Nanbei” was written on it.

The dress looked different up close. She stood on her tiptoes to look. Unlike the other pieces, this one was not missing any parts. It was perfectly made and could have been put on display at any time.

As she looked, Xu Anran felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if she were back in college, in the time when she had a crush on Gu Nanbei.

“What do you think?”

A cold voice suddenly sounded behind her. Xu Anran was so engrossed in her thoughts that she jumped in surprise. She took a deep breath and turned around.

“Mr. Carter?”

Mr. Carter grunted. He rested his hands on his cane, his head slightly tilted back, his white beard hanging down. “What are your thoughts after seeing it?”

She had a lot of thoughts.

Xu Anran slowly began to speak. “At first glance, it doesn’t stand out. It’s a very understated, ladylike style that would look quiet and gentle on a model. But if you look closely, the colors and the flowers are very vibrant.”

Mr. Carter nodded in satisfaction, motioning for her to continue.

A designer’s work is always related to their mood at the time.

Xu Anran said, “I think the designer made this dress for a girl she saw as quiet and gentle. But her own emotions were very passionate, even to the point of being suppressed, so she used black to hide herself.”

This time, Mr. Carter shook his head. “Have you ever thought that maybe she used black because the girl likes black? For example, the Doraemon on the cuff and the butterfly-tailed fish on the hem.”

Yes, the dress also had some very cartoonish elements.

And that was what made Xu Anran remember college.

Xu Anran squeezed the charm on her backpack. She felt she was getting closer to the answer. “I have something else I don’t understand that I’d like to ask you about.”

Mr. Carter said, “Go ahead.”

Xu Anran said, “No matter how you look at it, this dress is a finished work. Why is it here in the collection, marked as unfinished?”

The usually serious Mr. Carter let out a chuckle. “Because it was never sent. It never completed its mission, so it is unfinished.”

After a moment, Xu Anran had a realization. “I see… so that’s it.”

What had stopped Gu Nanbei from confessing?

What had kept the dress here for five years until someone appreciated it?

She wanted to ask Mr. Carter more, but he had already turned and left the room, as if to tell her to find the answer herself.

Xu Anran looked up at the dress.

It felt so familiar.

As if she had seen it somewhere before.

“Heh, so it’s this one.” Fang Xiaoxiao walked over and said in a condescending tone, “I’ve seen the sketch for this dress. Gu Nanbei was going to give it to me, but I cheated on her and hooked up with someone else, so she didn’t.”

Xu Anran’s brow furrowed, and her eyes flashed with a cold light.

“You don’t believe me?” Fang Xiaoxiao said triumphantly. “What other reason could there be for her not to give away this dress?”

Xu Anran felt an eruption of frustration. Was there really no other reason?

She asked coldly, “Okay, let’s talk about this dress. Do you like wearing black? Do you like Doraemon? Do you like raising fish?”

The answer to these questions was obvious. Xu Anran was wearing a black dress today, and she had a Doraemon charm on her bag.

She said fiercely, “Do you want to go confront her with me?”

Fang Xiaoxiao was stunned by her barrage of questions. Of course, she didn’t dare. Gu Nanbei would kill her. How could she go confront her?

She bit her lip. “You just wait. I won’t let you have an easy life!”

Xu Anran ignored her. She took out her phone, snapped a picture of the dress, and just like yesterday, sent it directly to Gu Nanbei. “Are you there? I have a few questions for you.”

She had so many questions to ask Gu Nanbei. She wanted to know if Gu Nanbei had also been secretly in love with her for a long time, and if she had once planned to confess to her!

But Gu Nanbei didn’t reply instantly like she had before.

There was silence. Xu Anran didn’t know if she had seen it and wasn’t replying or if she was busy.

Even so, Xu Anran’s heart didn’t calm down. It continued to pound in her chest as if she had discovered a huge secret, and it was cheering with joy.

She was so excited.

For the rest of the day, Xu Anran was distracted. She would check her phone from time to time and didn’t hear what people were saying to her.

Finally, after the tour ended in the evening, Gu Nanbei’s message arrived. “If you want to know, come outside. I’ll tell you.”

Xu Anran clutched her phone and ran outside.

She felt like she was finally getting close to the answer.

Support Embracing My Wife