Chapter 209: Soon to be Born
Chapter 209
Zhao Runze also did not expect to see Pei Jing at his own doorstep.
At this moment, his mood was complicated, both excited and apprehensive.
Enduring his temper, he walked to Pei Jing and asked, "Comrade, are you here looking for me?"
With An Jingzhi still waiting for her at the hospital, Pei Jing also had no time to beat around the bush with him. He said directly, "Hello Teacher Zhao, I'd like to have a chat with you, may I?"
"Of course, let's find a quiet place to talk. There's a bench by the river not far ahead, shall we go there?" Zhao Runze didn't live alone, his parents were at home, and his brothers who were married also lived in the cramped house. Clearly it was not a place for conversation.
Pei Jing pushed his bike along, following Zhao Runze to the riverside, where the two of them sat down on the bench.
Compared to Zhao Runze's awkward gestures and restless hands and feet, Pei Jing, who had seen storms, still did not show any ripples on his face.
"You are Comrade Pei, right? I've heard of you. You came to see me today because..." In fact, he had found out everything he could about An Meixia, so he lamented the tricks fate had played.
She married Pei Jing when Pei Jing did not have those awakened memories.
"I just wanted to ask Teacher Zhao, what was the meaning of that note you gave my wife at the hospital yesterday?" Pei Jing said bluntly.
This was something Zhao Runze did not anticipate - that An Jingzhi would show Pei Jing that note.
That was his secret that he had kept for many years. If it weren't for An Meixia, he would never have taken it out. And now it was exposed to someone else's eyes.
"It was meaningless, just some random gibberish. Comrade Pei, don't overthink it." Even though those memories were awakened, Zhao Runze was still just an ordinary elementary school teacher, thinking a bit more than others at best. But his own life experience was laid bare - trying to fool an old hand like Pei Jing was almost impossible.
Pei Jing spoke unhurriedly but with oppressive force. "Teacher Zhao Runze and Miss An Meixia. Teacher Zhao sure knows how to make up stories. Don't I have sufficient reason to suspect that you harbor improper intentions towards my wife, so you fabricated such a story, and now you still want to try to get close to her?"
"I don't have any intentions, and your wife is not An Meixia." He wanted to say that he didn't make up stories, but he couldn't deny that he did want to get close to An Jingzhi.
The story of Zhao Runze and An Meixia was too tragic. He had been waiting for four years, and had long merged those memories into his own heart.
He had fantasized countless times that if they were reunited, they would definitely have a wonderful time together. But suddenly, just when he was fully prepared, the woman of his dreams had become another man's wife, and had given birth to several children too.
Who could understand such a blow?
"Comrade Pei, I don't know how to explain this to you, but I will never harm Mei..." He paused, having to accept that his Meixia no longer belonged to him, but had become someone else's An Jingzhi. "I will not harm Comrade Jingzhi. No one hopes more than I do that she can live happily."
Pei Jing's emotions did not seem to change at all, if one could ignore his constantly rubbing thumb.
He looked tense and unsmiling. Even in such circumstances, he remained steady and composed.
Zhao Runze couldn't help thinking that if his memory self could have acted like Pei Jing, perhaps things would not have ended so bleakly between him and Meixia.
"Let's change the subject." Some things didn't need to be said too bluntly. If it were before, Pei Jing might not have thought in certain directions, but since there had already been a Shen Hongmei with some special abilities, what else was impossible in this world?
Pei Jing's gaze sharpened slightly as he looked up at Zhao Runze coldly and aloofly, with distant dispassion in his brows. "Teacher Zhao, may I ask where that note came from?" Although his tone was questioning, it also carried an irresistible force.
This man was too powerful. Although the note did not spell everything out, when Zhao Runze awoke those memories, he had heard Pei Jing's name from An Meixia's mouth.
On the day An Meixia and Pei Jianguo were schemed against, Pei Jing was tricked as well. The An family originally wanted Pei Jing to marry An Meiyun, but Pei Jing presented evidence of An Meiyun's past humiliation in rural areas to the An family. This caused a rift between the Pei and An families.
Later An Meiyun married another man. It was because Pei Jing couldn't bear being separated from An Meixia due to her scheming that on An Meiyun's wedding day, he gave a letter to the groom, leading to her divorce on the very day of marriage.
By then, he had decided to accept An Meixia and the child in her womb, but was still forced to leave her.
Perhaps the him at that time was still not firm enough.
So heaven punished him by afflicting him with a terminal illness, leaving him with lifelong regrets for his remaining years.
Pei Jing had no mind to look at Zhao Runze's pained expression. He spoke to wake Zhao Runze up, "Teacher Zhao, is my question difficult to answer?"
Only then did Zhao Runze suddenly come to his senses, but he was still contemplating whether he should say anything.
He wondered if Pei Jing knew about those things, would he struggle even more than he himself did back then over marrying the niece of his past life? How would Pei Jing choose in this matter?
If Pei Jing was also not so firm, would that prove that his choice to stand by those memories was also just human nature after all?
Or if Pei Jing could not accept it, would he himself have another chance with Meixia in this life?
At this moment, Zhao Runze did not consider the issue of children, perhaps subconsciously ignoring the fact Jingzhi said she had 5 children. He placed this matter on the choice he made back when she was pregnant in his memories. Back then, he had hesitated.
This time, he didn't want to have any more regrets.
He just didn't know if Heaven would give him another chance to choose again.
...
When Pei Jing returned to the hospital, An Jingzhi was lying in bed. She did not look very well, her brows tightly knitted together, enduring something.
He quickly walked over to see her hand trembling over her belly, a thin layer of sweat also emerging on her face.
"Jingzhi, what's wrong?" Pei Jing hurriedly grabbed her hand, finding it shaking badly.
But An Jingzhi withdrew her hand from his palm, asking in a quivering voice, "Where did you go?"
"Didn't I tell you I had something to do? How are you feeling? Is the pain severe?" Pei Jing gently explained while regretting leaving her alone in the ward, otherwise he could have discovered her agony earlier.
Although no one could replace a woman in the pain of childbirth.
"Endure it a little longer, I'll go get the doctor right away."
As Pei Jing was about to leave, An Jingzhi endured the pain to ask him, "Why did you ask about An Meixia?"
He probably didn't know that after hearing from him that An Jingzhi was alone at the hospital, An Jingzhi had come to see her. Also hearing the three words "An Meixia" from Pei Jing's mouth, he thought perhaps An Jingzhi didn't hate those three words that much, and casually brought it up.
"I didn't mean to ask about An Meixia, I just wanted to get to the bottom of where that note came from." Pei Jing quickly explained, "Jingzhi, I don't know what you're trying to hide, but that note clearly has extraordinary power, and the matter is related to you. So we must find out its origins. If there's nothing else then fine, but if there is, we have to deal with it cleanly and early, otherwise no one can be sure if some uncontrollable things might happen because of this. Trust me, you're my wife and the mother of my children, I will never harm you."
Pei Jing's heart was racing, extremely worried about her condition. He simply picked her up and carried her out the door.
"Nurse, my wife is going into labor..."
Two nurses jogged over. Seeing Pei Jing easily carrying the pregnant woman, one directed him, "Carry her to the delivery room, over here."
[I'll give an explanation - the first life's story will be interspersed in the plot, which is why Zhao Runze appears.
Also, don't be confused - this is a double purity story, faithful in the past and present lives.]