"......" "Lingzhi, are you listening?"
Receiving no response from her, the gentle voice on the other end of the line spoke again.
As if struck on the back of the head with a stick, her mind buzzed with a loud ringing.
Chu Lingzhi stood there in a daze, her mind not only a complete blank but her complexion turning slightly pale.
"Are you surprised?" A warm, spring-like chuckle came from the other end.
Surprised?
Indeed, she was very surprised.
"Sorry, I just stepped out of a restaurant."
Chu Lingzhi forced herself to calm down, apologized, and pretended not to recognize him, asking, "May I ask who this is?"
"Ye Xi."
"Ye Xi, long time no see." Chu Lingzhi put on a relaxed smile as she spoke.
Ye Xi, her college sweetheart.
Back then, after being kicked out of the house by Chu Jianjue and Li Meirong, she had gone to him, holding Chu Junyu in her arms.
Before she could even speak, his first words upon seeing her were, "Let's break up."
She already knew the answer, yet she still had to ask why.
His reply was like a sharp sword, mercilessly stabbing into her heart.
He said he didn't need a dirty woman by his side, and he certainly wouldn't help her raise some bastard child.
She could endure others calling her child a bastard, but this man, who had professed his love for her, also called her child a bastard.
That day, disheartened and despairing, she didn't cry—not a single tear fell.
With the help of Luo Zifan, she raised the child on her own.
Two months after their breakup, he started dating the campus beauty.
Later, they got married, and as a son-in-law living with her family, he smoothly took over the position of president of the Yang Group after his father-in-law passed away.
Now, he was a well-known elite in the business world, occasionally appearing on TV and in magazines.
Chu Lingzhi never dreamed that five years later, he would seek her out.
This man, who had once given her a beautiful romance and then trampled her underfoot, had thought of her today.
Every time she thought of him, Chu Lingzhi's heart couldn't help but ache.
"Lingzhi, I just got back from Xia Kingdom."
His voice was always so gentle, except for that day when he called her dirty, his tone icy and full of disdain.
She had never heard his voice so cold before.
Chu Lingzhi smiled faintly: "And then?"
Whether he came back from Xia Kingdom or Nanwei Kingdom, what did it have to do with her?
"I want to see you." His tone carried a hint of anticipation.
"No time." Chu Lingzhi refused outright.
He was part of her past now, and she didn't want to see him again, especially since she really had no time.
This afternoon, she still had to go give Old Master Mo moxibustion, and then return to the Nangong Estate to be with her two sons.
Thinking of her two sons, Chu Lingzhi's previously heavy heart instantly lifted.
In this world, no one was more important than her sons.
Especially this man who had hurt her, called her dirty, and labeled her child a bastard.
"When will you have time?" Ye Xi wouldn't give up.
"I never have time."
"Lingzhi, are you deliberately avoiding me?"
"Mr. Ye, I don't think we need to see each other again. You're already married, with a beautiful and capable wife. As for me..."
Chu Lingzhi smiled: "I still have to go home and spend time with my children and their father."
"You remember who the children's father is?" Ye Xi's tone carried a hint of surprise.
Chu Lingzhi deliberately laughed, sounding happy. "Yes, we're already living together."
The other end was silent for a moment before he said, "Lingzhi, are you lying to me?"
How ridiculous—did she need to lie to him?