Chapter 37: Eyes in the Dark (2)

Qiao Jiuyin looked over. It was indeed Lin Wanwan.

Lin Wanwan stood at the entrance of a coffee shop beside two girls with a large cup of coffee in her hands.

After graduating in her fourth year of university, Lin Wanwan had successfully taken the graduate entrance exam again. She lived in a rented apartment outside the university. Today was Saturday, so she had come out to have lunch with her friends and buy coffee.

When she saw an old friend from the university, Qiao Jiuyin naturally greeted her.

“Wanwan!” Qiao Jiuyin imitated Qiao Jiusheng’s tone and demeanor as she greeted Lin Wanwan.

Lin Wanwan looked up in surprise. When she saw that it was Qiao Jiusheng, she smiled. With the cup of coffee in her hand, she walked over and greeted Fang Mu. Then, she asked Qiao Jiuyin, “What have you been busy with recently? I haven’t seen you in the WeChat group.”

Qiao Jiuyin smoothly answered, “I’ve been busy recently, so I haven’t been on WeChat much. Don’t drink too much instant coffee! It’s not good for your health.”

Lin Wanwan placed the coffee on her back before asking, “What are you doing here?”

“I came to have some rice noodles.”

“Heh, you’re really a loyal fan of rice noodles. The last time I saw you, you were also eating them.” Lin Wanwan smiled at Fang Mu and made a bold joke, “Brother Fang, why don’t you open a Five Grains Noodles chain for Xiao Sheng?”

Fang Mu raised his eyebrows and seriously thought about this possibility.

Qiao Jiuyin, on the other hand, frowned as if she were deep in thought.

Noticing Qiao Jiuyin’s strange expression, Lin Wanwan asked, “Xiao Sheng, what are you thinking about?”

Qiao Jiuyin retracted her thoughts and pretended to be calm. She asked, “When did you see me eat rice noodles last time?”

“Huh?” Lin Wanwan thought that Qiao Jiuyin had forgotten about it, so she unhappily said, “You have such a bad memory! Did you forget that you treated me to a bowl of rice noodles the last time we met?”

Qiao Jiuyin seemed to be deep in thought as she absent-mindedly answered, “They say that pregnancy makes one foolish for three years. My memory is terrible right now.”

Lin Wanwan widened her eyes. “You’re pregnant? Didn’t you say that you were not pregnant last time?”

Qiao Jiuyin’s pupils shrank. She was afraid that Fang Mu would sense something was wrong, so she quickly tried to regain her composure. However, she felt very uneasy. She had never eaten rice noodles with Lin Wanwan, nor had she mentioned anything about her pregnancy to her. Then, who was the person eating rice vermicelli with her?

Afraid that Fang Mu would see a problem, Qiao Jiuyin quickly stopped her wild thoughts. She replied, “Yes, I’m pregnant.” She touched her stomach, and her face brimmed with happiness. “It has been more than 40 days, and they’re twins.”

“Congratulations!” Lin Wanwan was genuinely happy for her friend.

She bent down and gently touched Qiao Jiuyin’s stomach, feeling amazed. “So fast. Last month, when we met, you said there was no movement, but now you’re pregnant. And you’re pregnant with two at once! Good fellow!”

Qiao Jiuyin smiled as well, feeling flustered.

We met last month!

She did not remember meeting Lin Wanwan last month. The last time they had met was at her wedding with Fang Mu.

The person eating rice noodles with Lin Wanwan was definitely Xiao Sheng!

Xiao Sheng is still alive, and she met her former friend. Why did she come to find her? Could it be that she really knows the truth behind the accident?

At the thought of this, Qiao Jiuyin felt a chill down her spine.

She could not help but turn her head and look around. She kept feeling that a pair of eyes kept staring at her from the dark. The gaze was calm and collected, and the owner of the gaze could jump out at any time to catch her off guard.

Fang Mu noticed that Qiao Jiuyin was looking around with an uneasy expression. So he asked her with concern, “Xiao Sheng, what are you looking for?”

Qiao Jiuyin immediately retracted her gaze and revealed a puzzled expression. She said to Fang Mu, “I remember there was a fruit shop in the front here. Why is it missing?”

“You want to eat fruits?”

“Yes, I suddenly feel like eating grapes.”

Fang Mu looked around but did not see any fruit shop. Lin Wanwan then said, “That shop has closed. Someone took over and opened a breakfast shop in its place.”

“No wonder!”

After hearing Qiao Jiuyin say that she wanted to eat grapes, Fang Mu bade farewell to Lin Wanwan and brought Qiao Jiuyin to the supermarket to buy fruits. On the way, Qiao Jiuyin remained silent. She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, frowning from time to time. She slept uneasily.

On the way home from the supermarket, Qiao Jiuyin had a strange dream.

In her dream, Qiao Jiusheng transformed into a venomous snake. When Qiao Jiuyin was asleep, Qiao Jiusheng crept into her bed and crawled up her thigh. The snake’s scales were smooth and cold to the touch. Qiao Jiuyin could see her climbing up. She wanted to throw Qiao Jiusheng away, but she could not move her limbs. She wanted to scream, but she could not open her mouth.

The snake that Qiao Jiusheng had transformed into finally reached her lower abdomen. The long snake then tightly coiled itself around her lower abdomen.

Qiao Jiuyin helplessly watched as her lower abdomen tightened due to the snake’s entanglement. As she could not struggle, she could only watch anxiously.

She was in so much pain that her forehead became drenched in sweat. She was so scared that even breathing felt painful to her.

My children!

In her dream, Qiao Jiuyin tried her best to scream, but she could not make a sound no matter how hard she tried. The snake admired her terrified look enough, so it slowly raised its head. It flicked its tongue at Qiao Jiuyin and darkly said, “Good sister, you are not qualified to carry his children!”

As soon as the snake finished speaking, it suddenly retracted its body. An intense pain immediately spread from Qiao Jiuyin’s abdomen and ran all over her body.

“Ah!”

Qiao Jiuyin screamed in pain.

She could finally open her eyes.

The moment she opened them, she saw Fang Mu’s puzzled and worried gaze.

Fang Mu tightly held Qiao Jiuyin’s arm and stared at her sweaty face. He worriedly asked, “Xiao Sheng, what’s wrong? You’re sweating so much. Are you feeling unwell?”

Qiao Jiuyin blankly stared at Fang Mu. Her eyes were blank and dull.

Fang Mu felt extremely uneasy.

“Xiao Sheng, where are you feeling unwell? Is your stomach hurting?”

Qiao Jiuyin panted a few times, and her eyes gradually regained some spirit. She weakly smiled at Fang Mu and replied, “I had a nightmare.”

Fang Mu heaved a sigh of relief and asked again, “What did you dream about?”

A pair of cold snake eyes suddenly appeared in her mind. Qiao Jiuyin closed her eyes and weakly replied, “The dream was very scary, but I can’t remember anything after waking up.”

Fang Mu said, “Forget it then. We’re home. Let’s get off the car.”

He opened the car door for Qiao Jiuyin and watched her get out. He then pushed his door open and got out as well.

The two of them walked side by side into the house. They had only taken two steps when Qiao Jiuyin suddenly clutched her stomach and cried out in pain. Her brows were tightly furrowed.

Fang Mu immediately hugged her waist. “What happened to you, Xiao Sheng?”

“Brother Mu, my stomach hurts…” Qiao Jiuyin placed her hand on her abdomen and bent over in pain.

The coldness on Fang Mu’s handsome face was instantly replaced by panic.

Without saying another word, Fang Mu carried Qiao Jiuyin and ran toward the car.

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctors did a series of emergency checkups on Qiao Jiuyin. In the end, they only said that Qiao Jiuyin had been frightened, and this had affected her pregnancy. To prevent more serious situations from happening, the doctor suggested that she stay in the hospital for a few days under observation. Qiao Jiuyin and Fang Mu naturally had no objections. They immediately carried out the hospitalization procedures.

The news of Qiao Jiuyin being hospitalized reached the Qiao family.

Xu Pingfei went to the hospital every day with fruits and nourishing soups.

After hearing about this, Fang Yusheng asked Qiao Jiusheng, “Do you think I should visit my sister-in-law? She’s pregnant with the Fang family’s children. It would be a pity if she accidentally lost the children.”

Without thinking, Qiao Jiusheng shook her head. “Forget it. Don’t scare her to death.” Qiao Jiusheng had already figured out the connection between Qiao Jiuyin, Fang Yusheng, and the eggs.

Qiao Jiuyin was probably scared of Fang Yusheng. It would be fine if he did not go. However, if he did, Qiao Jiuyin might get too frightened and lose the baby in her stomach.

Glancing at Fang Yusheng, Qiao Jiusheng thought, This man is so horrible. He’s a big man, but he can’t get a wife with such a bad heart.

At this thought, Qiao Jiusheng fell silent again.

Did I not just marry him?