Marriage First, True Love Later - Chapter 60

On Monday, Anran was in the office busily sketching the layout of the city government building. The phone on her desk suddenly started ringing without previous warning, so Anran, whose attention had been absorbed in sketching, was caught off guard by the sudden ringing.

She grabbed her phone to discover that the number was unknown, but nonetheless, she pressed the phone to answer.

“Hello?” Anran clutched the phone between her head and shoulders while she continued to sketch back and forth on the paper. The sketch needed to be handed in by Wednesday, and it was already Monday, yet only one-third of the full sketch had been completed. She really needed to catch up on her work during these two days.

“Is it Miss Gu?” A gentle, feminine voice sounded over the phone. The soft and feathery voice was particularly soothing and was especially relaxing to listen to.

Anran stopped twirling the pen in her hand, put the tool ruler aside, and lowered the phone from her ear. Then, looking at the caller ID one more time, Anran once again confirmed that it was indeed an unknown number, so she said into the phone, “Who is this?”

The person on the other end of the phone started to chuckle. “Perhaps you might not know who I am, but I know who you are. Would Miss Gu be interested in getting coffee together sometime?”

Anran frowned upon hearing this. She was not the type of person that would be open to getting coffee together and chatting with strangers. “Sorry, I don’t have the habit of drinking coffee together with strangers.” Two people, who didn’t know each other, sitting together sipping coffee? What sort of situation was that?

“Perhaps Miss Gu might not know me, but I am certain that Miss Gu knows my husband,” the other person said over the phone.

Anran’s brows wrinkled in bewilderment. The other person’s words started to sound more and more unfathomable and mysterious in Anran’s ear, so she replied, “I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“Mo Fei.” The person on the other end of the phone spit out two words, then said with a smile, “Mo Fei is my husband. My name is Tong Xiaojie.”

The hand holding the phone stiffened. Anran hadn’t expected at all that the person on the other end was Tong Xiaojie. She had always known of her. During their university days, she was known as the most beautiful girl in school. She studied art in college and had a unique, artistic vibe about her. The very definition of gracefulness, she was practically a living goddess with her heavenly looks and her signature flowing white dresses. Besides her stunning looks, she was well known in school for being the daughter of a high-ranking, senior government official. While Tong Xiaojie was still in school, rumor had it that she had an endless supply of suitors. However, despite being plagued by such rumors, in all four years of college, never once was there a rumor about her actual relationship. No matter how affluent and well-connected her suitors were, not a single one of them succeeded in his pursuit. For all four years, there were never any rumors of her actually dating anyone.

To be honest, Anran had only heard of Tong Xiaojie since she was such a legendary figure in school; she had never actually come into personal contact with her. Yet the real reason Tong Xiaojie had left such a strong impression on Anran was because of Mo Fei. Before graduation, there was a rumor in school that Tong Xiaojie had gotten quite close with a boy from the architecture department, and rumor had it that they were even spotted walking hand in hand together as they chatted happily. Since Anran had been busy with internships at that time, she really couldn’t have cared less about such trivial gossip. Yet she was also barely seeing Mo Fei during that time due to her internship. Therefore, by the time everyone confirmed that the rumored boyfriend was none other than Mo Fei of the architectural department, Mo Fei and Tong Xiaojie had already established their relationship status as an official couple and started dating exclusively. When Anran finally sought out Mo Fei to demand an explanation, all Mo Fei did was apologize profusely with his head down without offering any explanation.

At that time, Anran felt ridiculous and bitter amusement at the absurdity of the situation. They had been dating for four whole years, yet his graduation present for her was to end their relationship—not to mention that the reason for their breakup was infidelity. The lofty aspirations and dreams that he had told her as he held onto her in his arms in the past suddenly seemed so quixotic and unrealistic. She asked him why, yet all he did was smile bitterly without offering an excuse. In the end, the two of them had sat in a cafe near the school for an entire afternoon without saying anything to each other. Yet, the moment Anran turned her back to him to leave, the tears started flowing down nonstop. From her school to home, during the entire, hour-long journey, the tears never stopped. When she got home, her mother had asked her what was wrong with great worry, yet despite her grievances inside, she had refused to mention a word about the breakup. Anran had simply locked herself in her room, and no matter how much her parents had pleaded with her, she had refused to open the door.

Finally, the day before the graduation ceremony, she had heard her classmates saying that Mo Fei, along with Tong Xiaojie, was going abroad to France. Along with this news, she had also received a letter left by Mo Fei, which detailed everything that had happened between the two people during those past few years and contained much more detail than Anran remembered. In addition to relating everything about their relationship during those past few years, he had also written about his ambitions and expressed his burning desire to achieve success. He had written about how society was competitive and consisted of harsh realities. Competence was always second to power in terms of success. Although he had had no feelings for Tong Xiaojie, dating her had been a necessary sacrifice he had had to make in order to achieve his greater goal because behind her had been the power and influence that he had craved so deeply, and such power would have served as a stepping stone for his future success. Therefore, he had chosen to forsake love in the name of career ambition. Although he had no other choice, his choice was still frighteningly realistic.

“Miss Gu? Are you still there?” Since Anran hadn’t responded for a while, Tong Xiaojie called out tentatively over the phone.

Only then did Anran snap out of dwelling about the past, and the hand holding the phone unconsciously tightened as she replied, “Yes.”

“So does that mean Miss Gu will agree to meet me?” Tong Xiaojie asked, still in a sweet tone.

Anran closed her eyes and firmly refused. “I don’t think it’s necessary. I do know Mo Fei, indeed, but that’s just because we were classmates, nothing else.”

Tong Xiaojie laughed lightly, “Someone sent me a very interesting photo, then attached your phone number with it.”

“Photo? What photo?” Anran was puzzled. Where did the photo come from? Who was playing such a prank?

“How about this, Miss Gu, I really do think there is a need for the two of us to meet, no matter how you feel about Mo Fei at the moment, because there are some things I want to say to you. Of course, before that, I think I should apologize to you first because, due to my relationship with Mo Fei back in the day, you and Mo Fei didn’t end up together. For that, I am truly sorry.”

“That would be unnecessary. If there is really anything Ms. Tong needs to say to me, Ms. Tong should clarify it on the phone now.” Anran promptly refused. She had never wanted to meddle in the affairs of Tong Xiaojie and Mo Fei since she had her own private life.

“Is Miss Gu scared?” Tong Xiaojie chuckled on the other end of the phone and said, “I promise I won’t bite, so there is really nothing for Miss Gu to worry about. It’s just a cup of coffee.”

“I’m not used to drinking coffee or chatting with people I don’t know,” Anran said frankly without leaving any room for compromise.

Tong Xiaojie chuckled, then said only, “To be honest, it’s nothing really. The reason I wanted to meet with Miss Gu was just to say that, regarding Mo Fei, I won’t let go of him.”

Anran wasn’t the slightest bit interested in what she had to say, and her stance had always been clear. “It’s your marriage, so you don’t need my endorsement.”

“Oh, I just wanted Miss Gu to remember what I said today.” Tong Xiaojie said, yet her tone was significantly more hostile than before.

“Then I’ll have to ask Ms. Tong to keep an eye on her man because I don’t want to be harassed.” Anran’s tone was also a bit belligerent. What was this? Was Tong Xiaojie insinuating that she was a marriage wrecker?

Tong Xiaojie said frostily, “Thank you, Miss Gu, for reminding me. I certainly will.” After that, she hung up the phone abruptly.

Anran threw down the phone on the table in anger. What was this situation?!