Proofread by Zhou Zhijie
Just then Sun Ling’er comes in and finds her watching the news. She thinks Ding Manman is worried about Zhong Shaoting’s company, then she says carelessly.
"You are also watching this. Don't worry. Other companies may be unable to survive the crisis, but you can set your heart at rest since my brother is fully capable of coping with the crisis confronted by our group.”
However, hearing Sun Ling’er’s words, Ding Manman gets less spirited. She is not worried. On the contrary, she hopes Zhong's company is in trouble, so she might have more chance to escape. The fact is that Zhong Shaoting is surely busy recently.
"Isn't your brother very busy these days? I thought your group was affected by the crisis.” Ding Manman asks the tentative question with a little hope, while Sun Ling’er answers directly.
"You can stay at ease then. Our group can successfully pull through with my brother in management, but many companies cooperating with us do not have such a manager as my brother and have consequently been affected by the financial storm. Therefore, my brother is busy solving problems of such companies recently. There are so many of them that he is kept incredibly busy."
There is a sense of tenderness in Sun Ling’er’s tone. He is her brother after all. Seeing her brother working so hard, Sun can’t help showing her pity for him. Ding nods her head with understanding, but
"By the way, I thought you were indifferent to my brother. But seeing you care about him so much today, it's easy for me to misunderstand the relationship between you two." Sun Ling'er looks very funny and cute when she is grinning and winking at Ding. Ding doesn't answer for she doesn't want to talk about Zhong.
"You thought too much. I had no particular intention in my question." She goes on watching TV after saying that, without much enthusiasm in her eyes any more.
Seeing this, Sun Ling'er doesn’t say anything, either. When she is turning towards the TV, she keenly finds a necklace placed on Ding's nightstand. Sun looks at it intently and recognizes that it is the right one that she gave her brother to please Sister Manman!
"Sister Manman, that necklace was presented to you by my brother, wasn't it?" Sun Ling'er unfolds an expression that you two have an affair, which makes Ding rather confused. Turning back, she finds that the necklace “Eternal” hasn't been put back in place. She puts it away immediately. The more she tries to hide, the more is exposed. Seeing this, Sun Ling’er tries to make fun of her.
"You said that you don't love each other. If you don't, why did you accept the necklace from him?" Sun laughs complacently like a sneaky cat who has stolen some fish. But her words arouse Ding's doubts.
"This necklace belonged to me originally. It was just found by your brother and returned to me. How do you know about it?" This necklace is known only by Fang Hao and her. And she is not surprised that Zhong knows for she wore this necklace next to her skin before. But how does Sun Ling'er know about it?
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"Because I bought this necklace from the mall and gave it to my brother." Sun Ling'er says definitely.
"I noticed that you stared at this necklace for so long that day so I thought that it must be special to you. Then I bought it before I left and gave it to my brother when I got back to the hotel. I intended to let him give it to you to make you happy. But I didn't see you wearing it during this period, which made me think that you didn’t accept it."
Ding is stunned by Sun's words instantly. She has been believing that Zhong picked up the necklace somewhere which Fang Hao gave her. That's why she still picked it up where she had thrown it before
After all, it's the necklace that Fang Hao gave her. If it's lost, there's really nothing left between Fang Hao and her. She has always regarded this necklace as a good memory between them. But after being humiliated by Zhong with such words, she has always hated him for that.
But now Sun Ling'er tells her that this necklace is not her original one, instead it was given by Zhong Shaoting to please her. Moreover, Zhong still has no idea about the story behind the necklace. It is like that you have been hating someone for destroying your thing. But it turns out that the person you hate didn't destroy it, instead he only wanted to make you happy--- you just hated the wrong person.
Ding Manman has a kind of unspeakable feeling---she has been blaming someone wrongly for this period of time and she feels a little sorry for it.
Before she comes to herself, Sun Ling'er proceeds to say, "As for my brother’s personality, I didn’t expect that he would give it to you. You know, he’s never given a gift to a girl. It must be the first time he had done it. Was he particularly awkward at that time, or was he too nervous to speak?" Sun's big eyes are full of curiosity.
When Ding Manman hears that it was the first time that Zhong had given a gift to a girl, she is shocked and comes to have an unspeakable feeling, which isn’t bad. But Sun's words remind her of what Zhong said that night after throwing her the necklace. The feeling disappears instantly.
"He didn't say anything. He just gave me the necklace and left." In Ding Manman’s subconsciousness, she doesn't want Sun Ling'er to hear those words concerning sex. After all, she is still very pure. Sun Ling'er gives an I-know-it-is-like-that look after hearing that.
"As I just said, he's such an arrogant guy. It's amazing that he can deliver a gift to a girl successfully for the first time. You can’t expect him to say any sweet words anymore." Sun Ling’er shows no mercy in listing her brother’s shortcomings, which makes Ding raise the corners of her mouth.
On hearing Sun’s words, Ding recalls the occasion that night. When Zhong threw the necklace to her, it seemed that he did look a little awkward. But she was too surprised at that time to notice this.
"Well, Sister Manman, in fact, I came to ask you for a favor today. Can you draw?" Sun Ling'er suddenly remembers something important. She jumps to Ding’s side and asks curiously. Ding has no idea why Sun suddenly asks this question. She still answers it truthfully.
"Yes, I learned painting before, but I haven't painted for a long time. I'm afraid I am a bit out of practice." In fact, Ding Manman used to draw so well that she even once won the championship of the national competition. But when she was in relationship with Fang Hao, she heard that Fang Hao liked the girls who could play the piano, so she gave up painting and began practicing the piano. She has not touched the paint brushes for a long time and she thinks she may not know how to draw.
But when Sun Ling’er hears that Ding is able to draw, her eyes twinkle with excitement. She stares at Ding with passion, which makes Ding uneasy all over.