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nZi Yi was noncommittal. Have you chosen the materials and potted plants?”

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n“Not yet. Ian shrugged his shoulders and said, “Dou Xiangling and I did not fancy any of those materials and potted plants. We had a discussion. We’ll customize the materials, while I’ll take care of the potted plants problem.”

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n“You?”

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nZi Yi became interested. “What kind of potted plants do you plan to prepare for our art gallery?”

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n“Of course, we have to get potted plants that are worthy of the art gallery. Those available at the flower and bird market are all ordinary potted plants. For the gallery, we should at the very least buy expensive types.”

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nSpeaking of this, Ian turned around and glanced at Zi Yi’s garden.

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n“For example, like those in your courtyard.”

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n“…” Zi Yi declared. “These plants were gifted to me by Ah Jing. I will not take them out.”

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nIan gave her a look as if saying: “You’re so stingy.” He then turned to Lu Jingye. “Lu, where did you get these potted plants from? I’ll go and purchase from there.”

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nLu Jingye gave him the details of a few places that specialized in selling these famous and expensive potted plants.

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nIan recorded them all down.

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nZi Yi saw that there was nothing else to stay for and was about to head outside.

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nIan suddenly called out to her. “Zi.”

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nZi Yi stopped and turned around to look at him.

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nIan said, “I feel that Xiangling is acting weird these days. You can check up on her if you have the time. Moreover, her complexion did not seem good either.

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nZi Yi furrowed her brows. “She still hasn’t recovered from her cold?”

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n“She said she’s fully recovered.”

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nZi Yi thought about it and planned to phone Dou Xiangling shortly. “I got it.”

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nShe headed outside the front door after saying that.

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nIan had something to talk to Lu Jingye about and the two of them headed to the soda and sat down to talk.

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nWhile Zi Yi was walking back, she took out her phone and gave Dou Xiangling a call.

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nUnexpectedly, she did not answer and Zi Yi felt a little worried. So, she checked up on her exact location.

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nDou Xiangling was currently in M.Uni. Zi Yi thought about it and felt that she should be busy right now, so she then put away her phone.

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nDou Xiangling was currently carrying an easel together with another female teacher as they headed for the office building.

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nTeacher Wang said with a smile, “This group of students are pretty self-aware. They have all submitted the homework given to them on time.”

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nDou Xiangling also smiled in response. “It’s just that many of the students like staring into blank space during lessons.”

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n“Let me guess, the students that Teacher Dou mentioned should be male students, right? Haha… they aren’t staring into blank space. It’s just that Teacher Dou is very pretty and that the male students are sneaking secret glances at you?”

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nWhen faced with Teacher Wang’s teasing, Dou Xiangling awkwardly laughed. Teacher Wang then said with a slightly exaggerated expression, “See, especially when you smile, you look extremely elegant and lady-like. If only I had half of your demeanor.”

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nDou Xiangling did not respond to her.

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nTeacher Wang continued to speak. “Teacher Dou, your leave starts tomorrow, you should have a good time and enjoy yourself.”

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nThe news of Zi Yi’s wedding was not widely spread around M.Uni. Only the deans and some professors knew of it.

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nDou Xiangling would be Zi Yi’s bridesmaid during the wedding and she would certainly have to apply for leave in advance.

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nThe two of them soon arrived outside of Dou Xiangling’s office.

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nThey bade farewell to each other, and after Dou Xiangling entered the office, she put the easel down. Just as she was about to organize the painting materials, she heard her phone ringing.

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nShe walked over to grab her phone, only to see an unfamiliar number calling.

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nEver since she became a teacher in M.Uni’s School of Arts, the number of calls from strangers she received was not small. They were mostly from some mischievous male students but after she started a relationship with Zhang Hanyu, those phone calls stopped.

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nNow that everyone in the School of Fine Arts knew that she had broken up with Zhang Hanyu, some of the male students called to give her some words of comfort.

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nShe was not surprised to receive the call and swiped to answer.

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n“Hello.”

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nUnexpectedly, there was no response from the other side.

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nDou Xiangling asked curiously, “Hello, may I know who you are?”

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nAs soon as she asked that question, panting sounds could be heard from the other end. Shortly after, Dou Xiangling felt as if her heart was being gnawed on by countless worms. It hurt so much that she released a muffled groan. One of her hands subconsciously held her chest while her complexion turned pale in an instant.

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nJust then, a familiar, yet unfamiliar voice sounded. “Xiangling, does your heart hurt a lot right now?”

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nWhen Zhang Hanyu was speaking, he was clearly also in pain.

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nHe said in a certain excited tone of voice, “Because my heart hurts right now too.”

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nDou Xiangling was in so much pain that she gritted her teeth and cold sweat trickled down from her forehead. She tried her best to suppress the heart palpitations and asked, “Zhang Hanyu, what do you mean by that?”

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n“You don’t know yet? Haha, our hearts are connected right now…” Zhang Hanyu panted as he said, “To be with you, I have forked out so much effort. Just because of a small mistake I committed in the past, I got chased down by that ‘good cousin’ of yours… Xiangling, can you feel my heart that is in pain?”

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n“Ugh…” Dou Xiangling was in so much pain that she groaned. Her waist was pressed against the table as she gasped for breath in hopes that it would lessen the pain in her heart.

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nZhang Hanyu’s gentle and chilling laughter sounded again from the other end. “Xiangling, return to my side and get married to me. This is the only way my heart will not hurt and this way you don’t have to suffer together with me.”

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nAs soon as Zhang Hanyu said that, he breathed heavily, clearly showing that he was also in so much pain that he could not take it.

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nAll of a sudden, his voice had traces of a cry. “I love you so much and you have clearly accepted me. Why did they separate us… but everything’s fine now. The moment my heart hurts, you’ll be able to feel it too.

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n“You… what do you… mean?”

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nDou Xiangling was in so much pain that she was about to lose consciousness. Hearing what Zhang Hanyu said, something seemed to have exploded in her mind.

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n“Zhang Hanyu, what did you do to me?!”

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n“Take a guess.” Zhang Hanyu’s voice was as gentle as water. “Xiangling, your cousin’s wedding is the day after tomorrow. If you faint during the wedding, would she think of a way to save you and delay her wedding?”

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n“You-” Dou Xiangling’s hand that was holding onto her chest clenched tightly. Cold sweat had clouded her eyes and she took a deep breath, trying her best to keep calm. “Zhang Hanyu, what did you do to me?”

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nZhang Hanyu did not answer but continued to groan in pain.

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nDou Xiangling could not take it anymore and bit her tongue. However, even if her tongue was bleeding, it could not stop the gnawing pain coming from her heart.

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nShe shouted at him while panting, “Zhang Hanyu, what did you do to me?!”

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nZhang Hanyu started laughing out loud on the other end. However, he did not reveal anything of importance. “As long as you promise to be with me, I’ll tell you.”

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n“In your dreams!”

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nShe would rather die than be together with someone like him!

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n“Then… we can just die in pain together.”

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n“Ugh…”

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nPA!

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nThe moment her phone fell to the ground, Dou Xiangling finally lost consciousness due to the pain.

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nHowever, she was not unconscious for long.

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nBy the time she woke up, the pain in her heart had already disappeared.

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nHowever, that type of heart pain had left lingering fears within her.

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nShe looked at her phone that had dropped to the side and her complexion was as pale as paper.

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nJust then, her phone suddenly rang again.

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nHer body shivered uncontrollably.

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nAfter noticing that there were no feelings of heart pain, she reached out to pick up her phone.

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