Chapter 128: That Was Destiny (Part Two)  

Shangguan Ning had washed the shirt and kept it neatly folded.The color was still bright as before, and the buttons were still intact too.

Obviously, Shangguan Ning had kept it with a lot of care.

Jing Yichen had a very vivid memory of the shirt, so he recognized it as soon as he saw it.

He placed the blouse on the table, carefully and then swept Shangguan Ning into his arms. Eyes twinkling with love, he asked her, “You have kept it with you since then?”

Shangguan Ning nodded and smiled. She replied softly, “Yes, I have kept it. At that time, Uncle Jing... father said that it would fit me. He said it was new, so I could keep it. You know I was very curious. I wondered which kid would this shirt belong to. It was big enough for me to use as a dress.”

“I really wanted to meet that kid and give him his shirt back and thank him for lending it to me. A part of me also wanted to see how huge was this guy.”

Shangguan Ning was only ten years old then and was very scrawny, whilst Jing Yichen was already sixteen years old and was almost 170 cm then. It was no surprise then, that his shirt didn’t fit her.

Jing Yichen couldn’t help but laugh. He was in such a good mood. He didn’t even remember when was the last time that he laughed so much.

Shangguan Ning always brought him unexpected joy.

He held Shangguan Ning and gave her a kiss. He said, with smile, “You are probably the only child who wore one of my favourite shirts, like a dress and then you have the cheek to think that there was something wrong with me because my clothes were so oversized.”

Shangguan Ning wrapped her arms around his neck. She said innocently, “It is true that I once wore your clothes, but that doesn’t mean that I was your wife back then.”

“Oh yeah?” Jing Yichen pinched her cheek and continued, “Then whose pink shoes were lying in my house? ”

“Ha? Weren’t those yours?” Shangguan Ning distinctly remembered the pink shoes she saw,in Jing Yichen’s house. She had even asked him about them, and he had said that the shoes weren’t his. He had provided no further explanation.

Jing Yichen said gently. “I told you that those weren’t my shoes. How could I have worn pink shoes with flowers? I only got to know today that those shoes were yours.”

“Mine?” Shangguan Ning was even more astounded. She asked anxiously, “How did my shoes end up in your house? Did Uncle say something to you, about them? Tell me please.”

She had numerous pairs of shoes and she had already forgotten that she had a pair of lovely, pink shoes that had gone missing.

Jing Yichen nodded. “Yes, your uncle mentioned the events of that day to me, today. He said that you fell into the river. Your clothes and shoes were completely wet. You forgot your shoes in my father’s car. He said that that particular pair of shoes were your favorite pair and you cried for days because you misplaced them. You didn’t stop crying until your uncle pacified you by giving you a huge bag of white rabbit candies and a pair of new shoes.”

“I did remember that I left my shirt in my father’s car but I just couldn’t find the shirt. All I found were a pair of pink shoes. I was very annoyed back then, because I thought that he had given my shirt to Jing Yiran. So when I demanded to know where my shirt was, he explained that he had given my shirt to my wife and in exchange my wife had left her pink shoes in the car.”

Shangguan Ning burst into laughter, hearing the story.

She could imagine Jing Yichen’s anger when he asked for the shirt and his reaction on hearing Jing Zhongxiu’s reason for being unable to give him the shirt. She realised that Jing Zhongxiu just needed to get his son off his back, so he had come up with a story to keep him quiet.

Jing Yichen smiled thinking of the entire incident. “Don’t laugh at me! I was completely dumbfounded back then. My father never jokes and he always speaks and behaves so seriously. He was especially strict with me. I never joked with him either, so when he told me all this, I assumed it to be true.I thought that he really had found me a little girl who would be my wife. Your shoes were so little back then, which was obvious because they belonged to a child! How could I have married a little girl? So I kept the shoes, hoping that someday I would be able to exchange them for my shirt. It’s been more than fifteen years, and I have still kept them with me.”

Shangguan Ning couldn’t stop laughing after hearing what he had to say. She laughed until her stomach hurt.

No wonder he refused to say anything when she asked him about the shoes.

He was afraid that if he told her about the shoes, she would get jealous. It never occurred to him that the shoes in fact, belonged to her.

They both couldn’t believe what a strange coincidence all of this was.

They wondered about the games that destiny plays. They had known of each other since so many years, without really knowing each other.

Time flew past and years passed. After all they had been through, over the last seventeen years, they, who had never met before, were brought together by fate and went on to become husband and wife. They knew now that the things that they had so carefully preserved, for so many years, belonged to the people they loved and that their seniors had already set the ball rolling, in their favour. This wonderful feeling made them both feel extremely special.

Shangguan Ning leaned in, in Jing Yichen’s strong arms, feeling extremely happy and secure. She loved hearing his heartbeat.

She thought to herself that things had a strange way of working out. That fickle Xie Zhuojun had never been in her destiny. He had never been deserving of her love. Her meeting with Mr. Right had been arranged by God, a long time ago.

She even believed that even if Zhao Anan hadn’t hooked them up for a blind date, she would have eventually run into Jing Yichen somewhere or the other and married him after all.

They were meant to be together as a couple, and they might still be a couple for the next life and the life after.

Jing Yichen also loved holding Shangguan Ning in his arms. He felt like he was this umbrella that was protecting her, someone who was his entire world.

He kissed her forehead and looked at her longingly. He then went on and said something that was totally out of context. “Honey, tonight feels just right. Let’s make a baby tonight,you and I.”

Shangguan Ning blushed instantly.She was torn between playing coy and accepting his proposal. “So shameless! Can’t you just be a little more conventional...”

“I shouldn’t be conventional. You were already my wife when you were ten but I didn’t get to enjoy my right as a husband, until you turned 27. If I stay conventional any longer, you might make me wait until I become 72. You know what, I should have asked my father right then, about who my wife was. I would’ve approached you directly.”

Shangguan Ning bit his shoulder softly and said in a soft voice, “You are such a monster to have thought about flirting with a ten-year-old!”

“Hugging and kissing would have been fine. If I had known you back then, who knows... our children might have been able to walk by now. But not all is lost. Its not too late even now. If we put in some effort, we can make up for lost time. We can get at it several times today and you mustn’t complain about being tired. You have owed me this debt for 17 years and you’ve got to start paying it back from tonight on!”