Bringing the Nation's Husband Home

”Zhao Meng, I’ve decided! Crash your car into mine, but you have to act convincingly. Lu Jinnian will definitely run out to save me, and then, I can grab him and never let go...”

With a single pack of cigarettes, how could she be sure that Mr. Lu had been the one there?

Zhao Meng looked at how enthusiastic Qiao Anhao was, and didn’t say a word in the end, because she couldn’t bare to trigger her. Even though these days she didn’t look any different from before, filming and having meals as she was supposed to, Zhao Meng knew something was off. After being friends with her for so many years, she could tell that Qiao Anhao was unhappy every single day. So much so that she would wake up in the middle of the night and hear her secretly crying in bed on her own.

-

No matter what Zhao Meng thought, Qiao Anhao was certain that Lu Jinnian had been there last night. She was certain that this pack of cigarettes belonged to him.

She had finally found a clue after four whole months of looking for him. She felt like the weight of a mountain had disappeared from her chest and her breathing became a lot smoother.

After she packed her suitcase, she carefully placed the treasured pack of cigarettes into her bag.

On her flight back to Beijing, Qiao Anhao didn’t know just how many times she pulled out the pack of cigarettes and stared at it.

-

The day after Qiao Anhao returned to Beijing, she received a call from Qiao Anxia.

Qiao Anhao consistently told herself not to blame her sister for not telling Lu Jinnian about her being in the hospital when he was looking for her. She knew that, if Qiao Anxia realized that Lu Jinnian liked her, then she definitely would feel uncomfortable about it.

But understanding was one thing. She still wandered if her sister had told Lu Jinnian that she was in the hospital in the first place, would the end result have been the same or would it have been different now?

She really didn’t resent Qiao Anxia, but she still felt devastated from the bottom of her heart. And so, every time her sister called her, she would always hesitate for a long time. When she finally composed herself, she picked up the call.

”Qiao Qiao, what took you so long to pick up the phone?” The sound of Qiao Anxia’s voice was crystal clear as always.

Qiao Anhao quickly came up with an excuse. ”I was just in the shower.”

”It’s twelve in the afternoon. Did you just get up? You haven’t had lunch yet, have you?”

Qiao Anhao replied with a single ”Uh huh”, then said ,”Sis, did you call me for something?”

”Can’t I call you if it’s nothing serious?” asked Qiao Anxia in return. She then continued with a cheerful smile, ”Qiao Qiao, I’m calling to remind you that tomorrow night is Aunt Xu’s birthday. Don’t forget to come over.”

When Qiao Anhao heard this, her eyes instantly became cold, for she remembered that it was Han Ruchu who had killed her baby.

Qiao Anxia waited on the phone for a while, but didn’t hear anything from the other side. ”Qiao Qiao?”

Qiao Anhao snapped back to her senses. ”Got it.”

Perhaps it was the overly cold tone in Qiao Anhao’s voice, but Qiao Anxia felt an indescribable sense of unease creep into her heart. In that instant, she remembered the image of Lu Jinnian waiting three whole days and nights at the doors of the Qiao family estate for Qiao Anhao.

When she first woke up, Lu Jinnian had already went missing. Qiao Anxia knew perfectly well that Qiao Anhao didn’t know that Lu Jinnian had asked her for her whereabouts. Yet whenever she faced Qiao Anhao, she could hear a flatness in her tone of voice, which made her feel randomly guilty.