MAPF Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Still Like Me? No.

Xie Shiwei gave Bai An a sum of money, asking him to answer Xie Tian’an’s questions truthfully when necessary.

Then, he picked a weekend and contacted Xie Tian’an in advance, saying he wanted to come home for dinner and had something to discuss with him.

Chen Ning wasn’t there during dinner, probably because her mind was no longer on this family.

After dinner, Xie Shiwei solemnly called Xie Tian’an to the study, closed the door, and handed over the paternity test and the recording of Chen Ning and Bai An at the cafe. He briefly explained the situation and played the recording.

The recording ended.

For the first time, Xie Shiwei saw a kind of helplessness brought on by the passage of time on Xie Tian’an’s face.

Xie Tian’an had always been full of vigor. Wrinkles would only make him look mature and wise, but at this moment, they made him look a little dispirited and old.

Xie Tian’an sighed and closed the paternity test: “Son, how did you find out about this?”

Xie Shiwei said that Bai An had taken the initiative to tell him, and that Bai An would cooperate with his requests and was available anytime if a meeting was needed.

“I understand, Shiwei, go home. I’ll handle this matter.” Xie Tian’an coughed.

Xie Shiwei poured him a cup of flower tea, wanting to offer comfort, but Xie Tian’an waved his hand and repeated, “Go home.”

His voice was also very tired.

Xie Shiwei glanced at him and had no choice but to leave.

.

He Qin came to pick him up.

Xie Shiwei waited at the door for a while. Before long, a Porsche drove over, and He Qin got out of the driver’s seat, inviting him to drive.

Rarely without the mood, Xie Shiwei sat in the driver’s seat, hesitant to start the car, and felt a bit guilty thinking of Xie Tian’an’s lonely expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Xie Shiwei sighed: “I don’t know if I did the right thing? Actually, I guess someone as successful as Xie Tian’an couldn’t be stupid enough not to see through Chen Ning’s intentions. Even if he didn’t know Chen Ning was so vicious, he should know that Chen Ning definitely didn’t marry him because of love, but only because of money.”

“He knew all this, but he still didn’t divorce Chen Ning. Doesn’t that mean he needs Chen Ning? Whether as comfort or as a wife who can appear in public, Chen Ning has meaning to him. So, by exposing this, I’m probably putting him in a difficult position.”

“You’re not wrong, Chen Ning is the one in the wrong.” He Qin said concisely, “Your father, or rather, Xie Tian’an, has his own considerations, but his considerations may not be correct. Maybe he just needs someone to give him a push, to help him make a difficult decision.”

“You’re great, your novel reading wasn’t in vain.”

Xie Shiwei was amused and finally started the car.

The car had navigation, and Xie Shiwei followed it, driving about halfway before realizing this wasn’t the way home.

“Where are we going?”

“I’ll take you to see Jiangcheng.”

Xie Shiwei’s heart stirred, and he nodded in agreement.

The navigation ended in an underground parking garage.

There were many cars in the parking lot, making it a little difficult to park. Xie Shiwei, worried about damaging He Qin’s car, took the initiative to switch the driver’s seat to He Qin.

“It’s really not that my skills are bad, it’s that your car is too expensive. Although I didn’t drive often before I came here, my skills were still up to par.”

“Do you have a car?” He Qin turned the steering wheel, and the Porsche precisely slid into the parking space.

“No, I used to drive for my boss. He was the one who made me get a driver’s license.”

He Qin was very interested in everything about Xie Shiwei before he arrived: “Was it tiring?”

“Of course it was tiring! Always on call, being a workhorse for the boss. You capitalists wouldn’t understand.” Xie Shiwei’s eyes were full of resentment.

He Qin turned off the engine, locked the car, and shook the car keys in his hand: “Don’t count me in. You’ve seen it yourself, I mostly drive myself.”

Xie Shiwei said “oh” and realized that He Qin really rarely asked the driver to drive.

“Sorry, I used to despise every rich person equally. You are indeed a breath of fresh air.”

“Let’s go.” He Qin smiled, “I’ll take you, a foreigner, to see the most beautiful place in Jiangcheng.”

Xie Shiwei and He Qin took the elevator upstairs.

The first floor was a space similar to a creative hub, filled with various artistic and cultural works, with a bustling crowd.

Xie Shiwei looked left and right, feeling it was nothing special. The things on display were mediocre, and frankly, some of the paintings weren’t as good as what Bai An used to casually draw.

He turned his head to ask He Qin if he was sure this was the most beautiful place in Jiangcheng, but he couldn’t find He Qin anywhere.

He had no choice but to call.

“Stay where you are, wait for me for a moment.”

“Okay.” Xie Shiwei didn’t know what he was up to, and then He Qin, who suddenly returned, stuffed an ice cream into his hand.

“Don’t worry, the destination isn’t here, I just came to buy you ice cream.”

“Rose flavored.”

Xie Shiwei’s heart skipped a beat, his eyelashes trembled, and he met He Qin’s dark eyes.

He was already very handsome, and buying him his favorite ice cream made him look even more handsome.

Xie Shiwei realized he was being a lovesick fool again and stamped his feet twice in powerless anger.

This appearance, in He Qin’s eyes, only seemed cute, and he silently curved his lips.

.

Xie Shiwei followed He Qin out of the creative space, climbed a long flight of stairs, and arrived at a platform, where the view suddenly opened up.

It was the estuary.

Xie Shiwei slowly walked to the platform railing, holding onto the railing to gaze into the distance.

The river surged eastward, turbulently merging into the sea. The sea spray was lifted by the wind, and the distant sea was an even more magnificent, deeper blue. In the wide sky, the sunset glow was like a painting, the clouds dyed gold by the setting sun. The distant opposite shore was an industrial port, and huge freighters became black silhouettes in the sunset.

Magnificent, resplendent.

Xie Shiwei was stunned. He had been to Jiangcheng for half a year and had been to the beach many times, but the sea he had seen before was beautiful, while the sea here was fierce and vibrant.

“Beautiful?”

“Beautiful!” Xie Shiwei smiled, “Do you come here often?”

“Not often, I’ve only been here once.” He Qin said, “Bringing you here is only the second time.”

Xie Shiwei nodded, strands of hair were blown into his eyes by the wind. He reached out to fix them, but the wind was incessant, always making his efforts futile.

Seeing this, He Qin took out two small pink hair clips from his bag and asked Xie Shiwei if he needed them.

“I do!” Xie Shiwei replied, staring at the hair clips, “How do you have pink hair clips?”

They looked like a woman’s belongings.

“Xiao Yue left them at home.” He Qin explained, “Don’t misunderstand, I don’t have a lover at the moment.”

Why did it feel like catching someone cheating? Xie Shiwei’s face burned: “I just asked how you got them, I didn’t ask if you have a lover, you don’t need to explain to me specifically!”

“What about you?” He Qin smiled, “Do you have a lover? In the previous world.”

Xie Shiwei’s face burned even more.

A lover? In two lifetimes, he hadn’t even kissed a man.

This question was a bit embarrassing to answer. Xie Shiwei didn’t want to seem so inexperienced, so he simply made something up: “Of course, I’ve been in love before.”

He Qin’s tone was steady: “For how long?”

“A year and a half.” Xie Shiwei cleared his throat, quickly fabricating a fake boyfriend.

He rattled off the conditions of the male lead in the matchmaking post he had browsed this morning: a financial worker, handsome and rich, gentle and considerate.

Suddenly, he had an inspiration: “He Qin, actually, I’ve never forgotten him. The reason I don’t agree to be with you is also because of that, not just because I’m not the real Xie Shiwei.”

He Qin said with a fake smile, “You can’t forget him, you don’t agree to be with me, but you can hook up with other men at the bar, finding a new love?”

“What, am I your enemy in the parallel world? Do we have some kind of feud?”

Xie Shiwei secretly thought, “Oh crap.”

He was carried away with his lies and forgot about that.

The sunset glow was even more intense, and the sea spray kept splashing onto the shore, a little bit of seawater wetting Xie Shiwei’s calves. It was icy cold.

He tried to salvage the situation: “Hey, those were just casual flings, not serious. But I know you’re serious, so I can’t waste your time like this.”

He Qin lowered his eyes, speechless.

It was laughable, he had always received love letters and confessions to the point of being overwhelmed, but the first person he truly fell in love with repeatedly stated that there was no possibility for them.

He couldn’t forget his ex.

This reason left him speechless.

He Qin’s dark pupils reflected the surging waves, even more concealing the surging jealousy.

He admitted, he was jealous of everyone Xie Shiwei had met in that world. If he could, he should also go to that world, find Xie Shiwei before that man, protect him, love him, and make him fall in love with himself too.

But even if he couldn’t go there, only meet and get to know Xie Shiwei here, so what?

Xie Shiwei had already come, and he couldn’t go back. Whether he could forget or not, it was already in the past.

He Qin collected his complex thoughts, helped Xie Shiwei put on the hair clips, his fingers brushed his cheek, hooking the strands of hair flying in the wind, and pressing them behind his ear with the hair clip.

The pink clip made Xie Shiwei look very cute.

He Qin looked at him, hesitated for a moment, and still said: “People need to look forward.”

Xie Shiwei vaguely nodded in agreement, but felt a little guilty.

He Qin was comforting him because of the ex-boyfriend he had made up.

People were coming and going around them. When there were finally fewer people, Xie Shiwei quickly struck a pose, asking He Qin to take a photo of him. He Qin’s photography skills were quite good, and he took a pretty good picture of him.

Xie Shiwei praised him a few times, and He Qin asked again: “Will you leave?”

“Leave? Go where?”

“Return to your original world, or go to another parallel universe.”

Xie Shiwei hadn’t thought about this question yet, and was momentarily stunned, beginning to ponder.

Logically speaking, he probably wouldn’t go back, because the original him was already completely dead, and, the reason he was able to transmigrate in the first place was probably because he had read the novel and had a connection with this world.

He told He Qin his speculation.

He Qin said “mm.”

Xie Shiwei wanted to make a joke: “What, haven’t gotten over me yet, can’t bear to see me leave?”

At the same time, he also tested He Qin. Because He Qin seemed certain that he still liked him and cared about him.

Otherwise, why would he care about his ex-boyfriend?

“I can’t bear it.” He Qin replied.

Xie Shiwei was shocked: “You still like me??”

“No.” He Qin said casually.

“Then why are you acting so ambiguously?”

“Taking a friend from out of town to visit Jiangcheng, it’s not that ambiguous, right? You think it’s ambiguous, could it be that you have feelings for me?”

“…” Xie Shiwei was speechless.

He Qin smiled into the wind: “It’s better to just enjoy the scenery, don’t think about other things. Thinking too much will make life very boring.”

Xie Shiwei said okay and didn’t want to think anymore, wholeheartedly immersing himself in the appreciation of the scenery, of Jiangcheng.

After a while, He Qin told him to leave and took him to several more beautiful and niche places.

The night view was colorful, and the summer night was like a dream.

Xie Shiwei looked at the beautiful scenery all night and had a good night’s sleep in the apartment. Early the next morning, the aroma of breakfast wafted in from outside the door.

He went out with messy hair, and He Qin was toasting bread, telling him to go wash up first.

After washing up, Xie Shiwei returned, and a breakfast for two was already laid out on the table. The dishes weren’t complicated to make, but they tasted very good.

“Your cooking skills have improved.”

He Qin smiled: “I practiced specifically. Living in your apartment, I have to do something. I’m glad you like it.”

Xie Shiwei’s ears turned red, and he buried his head in his oatmeal porridge.