Chapter 48: Something Special about An Ya

Book:Beloved by the Hardhearted Avenger Published:2024-5-1

Hearing An Ya’s words, Ding Manman’s face turns colorless. Although she has lowered her head to beg Mrs. Fang to help the Ding’s company, the latter has already left before hearing her out, which makes Ding Manman, who even sees the mocking expressions of the receptionists at the front desk, very embarrassed. But An Ya comes forward and hugs Ding softly, as if giving comfort to her who feels very grieved, in which case Ding feels slightly consoled. After calming down, Ding realizes that it is impossible for her to meet Mrs. Fang in a short while. In despair, she remembers the doubt in her heart and she asks An Ya directly, “An’an, when were you getting so close to Aunt Fang? I remember that you didn’t know her before.” Hearing her question, An Ya calmly tells Ding how she saved Mrs. Fang, which wins Ding’s trust completely.
“Today in return for my help, Aunt Fang invites me to this beauty spa, but I never thought I could see you here.” An Ya sounds pleasantly surprised, as if Ding were really a good friend who she hasn’t met for long. “I really admire your relationship with Aunt Fang. To be honest, Aunt Fang never shows her smile to me, although I have been Fang Hao’s girlfriend for such a long time and been engaged with him.” Ding Manman’s voice is full of admiration without any jealousy or hostility. “By the way, where have you been during last few days? No one knows your whereabouts after you ran away from the wedding. According to Aunt Fang’s reaction, she must feel dissatisfied with your escape.” An Ya keeps asking Ding Manman, making the latter too awkward to answer. Even in face of her best friend, Ding Manman has no idea how to mention that memory which she only wants to escape from in her subconscious, let alone describing it in detail as this will be more painful than killing her. “I encountered something and was not able to attend my wedding. Now I really don’t want to recall what happened in those days, and it was actually a narrow escape for me to go back. To be honest, I thought I could never see you again.” However, after hearing this, An Ya still keeps asking without caring about Ding’s reluctant look.
At last, An Ya sees clearly Ding’s unwillingness to tell, so she has to change the topic. But secretly she keeps it in mind and is determined to figure it out as now she is not going to miss anything, especially negative news about Ding Manman. “But according to Aunt Fang’s attitude, I think you are not going to solve this problem simply. To tell the truth, on your wedding I saw Aunt Fang get extremely angry.” It sounds as if An Ya were showing her care. But if one listens carefully, her gleeful delight can be discovered. Nevertheless, at this moment Ding Manman is worrying about Mrs. Fang’s attitude, so she totally ignores An’s subtext. At the thought of Mrs. Fang who even doesn’t want to listen to her, Ding Manman feels extremely upset, as her problem will be very difficult to solve if Mrs. Fang keeps refusing to offer help. “An’an, could you please put in a good word for me? Without your help, I will absolutely fail.” Ding Manman feels sad but sheds no tears and she turns to An Ya for help. Instead of turning her down, An Ya nods to Ding with sincerity.
“OK, although I haven’t known Mrs. Fang for very long, I’ll try to persuade her.” An Ya’s promise makes Ding Manman kind of relaxed since there is at least a little hope. Feeling slightly better, Ding invites An to an exquisite cake shop in order to express her appreciation. “Choose whatever you like. This is my treat.” Looking at those delicate cakes, which are like works of art, Ding Manman says generously and starts to pick her favorite ones as well. Compared with emeralds, these cakes are much cheaper and she can totally afford them. In the end Ding Manman picks up two cocoa flavored cakes and a cup of coffee, after which she and An sit on the chairs and start to chat. When their cakes come, Ding Manman becomes confused after seeing what An Ya has chosen. “An’an, you like sour food the least, don’t you?” Being close for so long, Ding and An clearly know what the other likes and dislikes. An Ya can’t eat sour food because she has her teeth cleaned. Besides, she is not interested in sour food, either. So An usually orders sweet drinks and cakes, but today she picks up three lemon flavored cakes in different shapes, what’s more, even the drink she orders is lemon flavored as well, which makes Ding’s teeth feel sour.
“And your appetite looks increased, have you stopped being on a diet?” Ding Manman asks again. An Ya is easy to gain weight if she eats a little much, and such body constitution is not welcomed by the public, but being different from An Ya, Ding Manman can always keep slim no matter how much she eats. So, in order to keep slim, An Ya has been on a diet since senior high school, and every time she would only have one little cake or one drink. But right now there are three little cakes before An Ya, Ding Manman knows how high they are in calories and accordingly feels more and more curious. To An’s surprise, Ding Manman has such a sharp observation, by which An is kind of shocked but immediately she comes to herself. “Today I was invited by Aunt Fang to lunch, but the food was too oily, so I didn’t have enough. Now I want to eat something sour to fill my stomach and to get myself refreshed.” An Ya’s excuse is so flawless as to totally clear up Ding’s doubt. But Ding forgets what Fang Hao once told her that Mrs. Fang only likes food of mild taste and she seldom eats oily food, so what An Ya said is entirely false.
The two start to chat again, and An Ya still attempts to dig out what Ding Manman has been through during those days, but Ding, who always followed An’s every word in the past, now firmly refuses to say, which greatly increases An’s curiosity. During their talk, as if suddenly seeing something terrible, Ding Manman opens her eyes wide and then hides herself under the table, which greatly confuses An. When squatting down carefully, An finds Ding’s face full of fear. “Manman, what’s wrong with you?” Looking at Ding who becomes so strange, An keeps a distance to ensure her own safety, and then she asks Ding. “He…he is coming…” Lowering her head, Ding Manman murmurs with panic and sits huddled under the table. An Ya feels it fortunate for them to sit in the corner of the cake shop, where there are few people, otherwise she will absolutely lose face due to Ding’s behavior. An Ya wants to know who the person Ding speaks of is, but biting her lower lip tightly, Ding Manman only trembles without saying anything.