Chapter 144 There is no right to refuse
The small villa is installed with a large European-style carved door, and the security guard on duty usually locks it on weekdays, only today because of the rain did not take care of it. Reading Pavilion
Seeing that Bai Muqing was about to open the door and go out, the security guard on duty immediately rushed up and grabbed her arm, and said angrily: "Miss Bai, you can't go out!" Get me inββ! β
It's the past. Bai Muqing usually doesn't embarrass him, because she knows Nangong Chen's personality and understands his difficulties as a worker.
But today, she really couldn't take care of his difficulties, she struggled and screamed: "Let go of me!" I must go out today! You let go! β
"Miss Bai, don't blame me for being rude if you do this again!" The security guard on duty was forced to throw an umbrella. Grab her with both hands. Boogie throws brother.
The rain fell on both of them, and each other's clothes and hair were soaked.
Bai Muqing was not frightened by his warning at all, but hugged the thick big iron door tightly and threatened him: "If you don't let go of me again, I will die to show me, and I will crash here to show you .......!" β
Bai Muqing didn't forget to slam her head against the door after threatening, and Bao'an on duty was really frightened by her. Immediately reach out and block the door.
Bai Muqing hit his head on the back of his hand, the security guard found out that she was actually real, and stayed in place in fright, Bai Muqing took the opportunity to squeeze out from him and quickly disappeared into the rain.
*****
Assistant Yan walked in from the door of the conference room, leaned in Nangong Chen's ear and said, "Young Chen, the security guard over there in the small villa called and said that the young lady had run away." β
Nangong Chen's deep pupils narrowed: "What did you say?" β
"It was said that the young lady originally saw a news story during dinner that a mother and son committed suicide by jumping into the river in the Hongli section of Binjiang, and then ran out like crazy." Assistant Yan said: "I have already asked Lao Wang to look all the way to the villa, and I have also asked Xiaolin to go to the riverside to have a look." Such a heavy rain, you see....... Would you like to come over for a while? β
Nangong Chen groaned for a moment and said, "You help me host the meeting." β
"Okay." Assistant Yan responded.
When she went out the first two times, Bai Muqing deliberately memorized the route, and from the villa around a seawall was the main road, so she stopped a taxi and got in.
The driver looked at her soaking wet, and finally reluctantly started the car.
When Bai Muqing rushed to the riverside, although it was already dark, she still saw at a glance that the bodies of the mother and son had been salvaged and placed on the shore, and had been covered with a white cloth.
She was so frightened that her legs went limp, and she sat on the side of the road and cried loudly, and the cry scared away even the taxi driver who chased after her to ask for the fare.
Because it was heavy rain, there were not many onlookers. The policeman on duty saw her crying so sadly and came over and asked, "Miss, are you a relative of the deceased?" β
"I don't know, I don't know........" Bai Muqing shook her head and cried.
"Is your family missing?"
Bai Muqing nodded again.
"Then do you want to go over and identify the corpse?" The police lifted her up from the ground.
Bai Muqing looked at the two bodies covered with white cloths, nodded and shook her head, she didn't have the courage to go up to identify at all, she was afraid that what she saw was her mother and Xiaoyi.
"Miss, you'd better take a look." The policeman said helplessly.
"I don't dare ........"
"What then? Do you have any other dependents? Call them over? β
"No, I don't have any family, I'm left alone........" She leaned limply against the policeman, crying so hard that her liver and intestines were broken.
"Miss, if you don't look at it. We're going to take the body to the funeral home. β
"Nope! I look, I look at ........ Bai Muqing grabbed the policeman's clothes tightly, and walked into the cordon with his half-help and half-dragging.
Just when the two crossed the cordon together, Bai Muqing's other arm was suddenly buckled, and his body was pulled out of the cordon and crashed into a person's arms in an instant.
She was blindfolded, lifted her little face that was drenched in rain and tears, and vaguely saw Nangong Chen's handsome face appear in front of her.
"What are you doing here?" Nangong Chen held her waist with one hand and a big umbrella with the other, and the expression on her face was very bad.
"My mom and Xiaoyi ....... him." Bai Muqing was so sad that she couldn't speak.
The police saw Nangong Chen hugging Bai Muqing, looked at him and asked, "Sir, are you a friend of this young lady?" β
"I'm her husband." Nangong Chen said.
"That's great, this young lady doesn't dare to come forward to recognize the body, you can go up and recognize it on her behalf."
Nangong Chen glanced at the corpses in the cordon, and said with a cold face: "No need, it's not our family." β
"But, just now the young lady said....... Her mother and brother are missing. Mr. Policeman looked back and forth at the two of them in bewilderment.
Nangong Chen's tone remained unchanged: "She was mistaken, her mother and younger brother are not missing. β
"Ah.......?" Mr. Policeman was surprised.
When Bai Muqing heard Nangong Chen's words, she was also stunned for a moment, staring at him with tears in her eyes.
After a while, she choked up and asked, "Is it true?" β
"It's true." Nangong Chen pulled her into his arms to prevent the heavy rain from falling on her.
Bai Muqing whined and shook her head: "I don't believe it, you lied to me." β
"Since you don't believe me, let's go in and see for yourself." Nangong Chen said that he was going to drag her in, but Bai Muqing hugged his body and refused to approach. Nangong Chen looked at her and wanted to see it and was afraid to look at it, took a breath helplessly, and said, "Bai Muqing, I'm not as shameless as you, and I'm not full of lies like you, I said that it's not them, it's not." β
Listening to his words, Bai Muqing finally stopped crying, leaned on his arms and cried, slowly calming down.
was so frightened that her whole body became weak, and she cried so sadly, Bai Muqing's whole body was about to collapse, and she was unconscious even when she was taken back to the apartment by Nangong Chen.
The Xiangdi apartment was on the edge of the riverside, and both of them were drenched in soup, and Nangong Chen was afraid that she would catch a cold, so she found a nearby place to change her clothes.
After returning to the apartment, Nangong Chen pulled her directly into the bathroom, poured hot water into the bathtub, and began to take off her wet clothes.
Bai Muqing realized what he was going to do, and hurriedly pulled his clothes and said, "I'll do it myself." β
Probably because of the weakness of her body, she couldn't pull the zipper on her back with her hands behind her back, Nangong Chen saw that she couldn't pull it, so he helped her pull the zipper down, and helped her solve the buttons of her underwear by the way.
The clothes fell off her body, and Bai Muqing hid in the bathtub ashamedly and ashamedly. She hugged her body, buried her head and waited for him to take the initiative to exit the bathroom, and after waiting for a long time without moving, she looked up and found that Nangong Chen had actually taken off only a pair of underwear.
Before she could exclaim, Nangong Chen had already stepped in with her legs raised and sat down opposite her.
Seeing that she was half-open and looked surprised, Nangong Chen didn't feel anything wrong at all, and said calmly: "There is a bathtub here, I'm more afraid of catching a cold than you, what's so surprising?" β
"You said earlier, I can let it be for you." Bai Muqing hugged her body tightly and whispered shamefully.
"I've been waiting for you here for so long, and I haven't seen you." Nangong Chen leaned over and narrowed the distance between him and her: "Does this mean that you don't care about me at all?" β
Bai Muqing was silent, she had been in a state of confusion just now, and she didn't realize these problems at all.
Nangong Chen looked at her underwater shadowy body, her body tightened slightly, in order not to make her body swell even more, he tore a bath ball from the shelf and threw it on her: "Come and help me wipe my back." β
With that, he turned his back to her.
It is a large bathtub, more than enough for two people to soak in it.
Although Bai Muqing wanted to put on her clothes and escape as soon as possible, he had already asked her to help wipe her back, and he was ready, so it was impossible for her to refuse.
She fumbled around and wiped his body.
Bai Muqing didn't pay much attention, and forgot to be shy, and kept replaying the scene by the river just now in her mind, two pairs of mother and son who were covered with white cloth.
She took a light breath, stared at Nangong Chen, who was facing away from her, and said, "Young Master, you won't hurt Xiaoyi, right?" Xiaoyi likes you so much, adores you so much, and brings you breakfast on time every morning. β
Nangong Chen opened his eyes faintly, turned his head, and Bai Muqing hurriedly sank his body into the water.
"Switching to the sympathy card?"
Bai Muqing was silent, Nangong Chen suddenly reached out and pulled her into his arms, pinching her waist with one hand and lifting her chin with the other: "I warned you, don't put the name 'Xiaoyi' in front of me." β
The bodies of the two were so close that Bai Muqing could feel that his body was changing, thinking of what happened on the stairs two days ago, she didn't doubt that Nangong Chen would ask her here.
In order to prevent this from happening, she hurriedly said: "I'm not feeling well, can you let me go?" β
"What's wrong?" Nangong Chen glanced at her, and pointed to the wound on her forehead that had fallen off the scar: "Here? Or is it here? His fingers slid back and forth, stopping on the tooth marks on her shoulder.
Bai Muqing looked at his mocking face, and said a little speechlessly: "Seeing that I have scars all over my body that were made by you, are you very proud?" β
"Not much at all." Nangong Chen shook her head, and her gaze swept over her body again: "In the next few days, I will make your body incomplete." β
Bai Muqing was frightened by him, and then broke out of his arms.
Nangong Chen didn't embarrass her, and let her grab a big towel around her body and escape from the bathroom.
After escaping from the bathroom, Bai Muqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and turned her head to glance in the direction of the bathroom. Even she herself didn't expect Nangong Chen to let her go, if it was in the past, he would have pressed her under him and bullied her.
Maybe he's tired today and doesn't want it.
After escaping from the bathroom, Bai Muqing was shocked to realize that she had no clothes to wear, and the wardrobe was full of Nangong Chen's clothes, not even a single women's dress.
You can't always wrap a big towel around like this, can you? She rummaged through the closet for a long time, and finally pulled out a white shirt and put it on her body. Fortunately, his shirt is relatively long, barely covering the thighs.
Once dressed, she walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out through the glass. The rain was still falling, and the river was dark, and she secretly prayed in her heart, hoping that everything was okay with Xiaoyi!
When Nangong Chen came out of the bathroom, she saw her standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window wearing her shirt, and her hands kept pulling down the hem of her shirt. However, no matter how she pulled, the two slender white long legs were still exposed.
Bai Muqing was stared at by him uncomfortably, and hurriedly said: "I have no clothes to wear, so I ...... Lend me one night, and I'll pay you back tomorrow when the clothes are dry. β
Nangong Chen withdrew his gaze from her, and walked towards the living room while wiping his hair, ignoring her.
Bai Muqing stayed in the bedroom for a while, and when she heard Nangong Chen calling for takeout, she walked out quickly and snatched the mobile phone from his hand, and said to the takeaway operator on the other end of the phone: "Please bring a few pieces of ginger, thank you." β
The operator on the other end of the phone readily agreed, and she handed the phone back to Nangong Chen after reporting the address.
Nangong Chen took the phone and asked, "What do you want ginger for?" β
"Cook ginger soup to prevent colds." Bai Muqing looked at the mobile phone he threw on the side of the sofa, and secretly thought about how to borrow his mobile phone to call.
Seeing that she was still pulling the hem of her shirt, Nangong Chen finally couldn't help but remind: "If you pull my shirt again, it will be deformed." β
After speaking, he immediately said: "Also, I'm not interested in you tonight, don't always swagger in front of me." β
Bai Muqing was a little speechless, as if she did it on purpose.
But even though he said so, she was relieved, and walked back to the bathroom to clean up their clothes.
The takeaway was quickly delivered, Bai Muqing cut the ginger into slices and boiled it on the pot, and then came out to have dinner with him face-to-face.
Nangong Chen seemed to be very busy, even reading documents during meals, and the two had almost zero communication after a meal.
After dinner, Nangong Chen turned to the computer to get busy with work, Bai Muqing put the boiled ginger soup on the corner of his table and said, "Remember to drink it while it's hot, the effect is not so good when it's cold." β
"Did you drink it?" Nangong Chen didn't raise his head.
"I'll drink it in a moment."
Nangong Chen stopped squeaking, and after a while, he found that she hadn't left yet, so he looked up and stared at her not so friendly: "If you have something to say, just say it." β
"Nothing." When Bai Muqing saw his face, she instantly dispelled the idea of borrowing a mobile phone to make a phone call with him.
"That'........ I went to sleep first. She pointed in the direction of the bedroom, then turned to leave his study.
Bai Muqing walked to the bed in the guest bedroom and lay down, but she couldn't sleep. Next door is where she lived with her mother and Xiaoyi, and she also got married from the next room that day.
At the beginning, she promised Xiaoyi that when she got married, she would often come back to accompany him and make grilled chicken wings to eat. I didn't expect to get married, and I would never see Xiaoyi again, and I didn't even know where he was.
Bai Muqing suddenly sat up from the bed, I don't know if the room next door has been cleaned? There were phones, there were clothes, she could sneak over and look at them.
With her mind in mind, she carefully locked the door to the guest bedroom, creating the illusion that she was asleep. Then he sneaked into the living room, and after standing in the living room for a moment without hearing any movement, he continued to sneak towards the door.
To her surprise, the password of the door next door had not been changed, and she carefully pushed open the door, and it was pitch black inside, apparently unoccupied.
There was no one living here, and naturally there will be no one now, she raised her hand and pressed the light button, and the room immediately lit up.
Unfortunately, the house had been cleaned up, everything they had used was gone, and even the clothes in the closet had been emptied.
Standing in front of the empty wardrobe, Bai Muqing took a light breath in disappointment.
She remembered the real purpose of her visit, so she walked quickly to the bedside table, picked up the extension phone on it, tried to dial the number, and it was actually connected.
The phone rang for a long time, and Su Xi's weak voice came from the other end of the phone: "Mu Qing, are you free?" β
Bai Muqing was stunned for a moment, and asked with concern, "What's wrong with you?" Why do you look like you're weak? β
"It's nothing, it's just a little uncomfortable." Su Xi changed his words and said, "You want to ask about the appraisal results, right?" I'm going to disappoint you again, that kid has nothing to do with you. β
"It's okay?" Bai Muqing's heart sank, and she was really disappointed.
"I told you that you weren't born when people were thrown at the door of the orphanage, you don't believe it, and you tossed this scene in vain." Su Xi sighed: "But don't be too sad, take your time." β
Bai Muqing's hand holding the earpiece tightened, and she endured her sadness and said, "Okay, I know." β
"Mu Qing, are you okay now?"
"It's good." Bai Muqing felt a lot of pain in her heart, and said: "Xiao Xi, thank you, take care of your body yourself, I'll hang up first." β
"Okay, goodbye."
Bai Muqing hung up the phone and sat slowly on the edge of the bed.
In fact, she didn't have much hope before she went to the orphanage, but now she is still disappointed to hear the news that the child has nothing to do with her.
The only clue was broken, and she didn't know where to start.
After hanging up the phone, Bai Muqing began to sit on the edge of the bed and think about things, even thinking about it so much that she forgot the time, and she didn't even notice the sound of footsteps coming from the bedroom door.
When Nangong Chen just finished her business and went back to the bedroom to sleep, she found that she was not in the master bedroom, so she went to the guest bedroom to find someone and found that the door of the guest bedroom was locked. I don't know what kind of psychology it is, but he found the key and opened the door to the guest bedroom.
When he found that there was no one inside, he almost lost his breath.
At that moment, several thoughts flashed through his mind, maybe she took the opportunity to escape, maybe she just wanted to go downstairs because the rain stopped. He preferred to believe that it was the latter, and walked out of the terrace and began to look down at the garden below.
However, when he saw that the lights were actually on in the next room, the anger that had finally calmed down in his heart came up again.
He walked over, typed the code for the door from memory, and when he entered the room, he saw her inside.
That's right, she's in it.
Sitting alone on the edge of the bed, I don't know what I'm recalling, I'm so obsessed with recalling.
She didn't even feel him standing in the bedroom door for three minutes.
"What? When people are gone, they can only rely on memories to feel the happiness and contentment of the past? His tone suppressed great anger.
Bai Muqing was taken aback, stood up from the edge of the bed, and glared at him: "Why are you here?" β
"What if I don't come? Are you going to reminisce about dawn here? Nangong Chen took a few steps forward, grabbed her thin waist with one hand and pulled her into his arms, then turned around slightly and glanced at the big bed in front of him: "Are you recalling the scene when you lingered on this bed and were as passionate as fire?" β
When Bai Muqing heard that he had misunderstood, she hurriedly said, "No! β
"Not? Then why did you sneak here at night in a daze? β
"I came here mainly to see if my previous clothes were still there, and I was in a daze...... It's because I think of a little thing. β
"This is obviously the master bedroom, why don't you go to Xiaoyi's room to think about it?"
"I ......." Bai Muqing was speechless.
She was originally a person who was not good at arguing, and when he asked her like this, her brain crashed directly.
"What? Speechless? Nangong Chen's palm covered her buttocks, and when she stroked it slightly, the big shirt on her body was touched to her waist. His lips bit at her ear, "You say...... Shall I erase your memories in this bed? β
With that, his body turned, and a twist pressed her down on the soft big bed.
Bai Muqing struggled to push his body anxiously, and said loudly: "Nangong Chen! How many times do you want me to say it before you can believe that I am innocent with Lin Annan?! β
"I don't believe it no matter how many times I say it!" Nangong Chen gritted his teeth and said.
He only knew that she and Lin Annan had been together for three years, only that they had been happy at the beginning, and he also knew that she had a happy smile on her face when she stood on the stage and exchanged rings with him.
All he knew was the best of her and Lin Annan.
He didn't believe in himself, and Bai Muqing could only be helpless, she turned her face away and closed her eyes, with an attitude of letting him vent.
Anyway, these days, it has been common for Nangong Chen to do this kind of thing to her, and the more she struggles, the more it will stimulate his possessiveness.
Although he said that he wanted to erase the memory of the two of them in this bed, when he actually did it, Nangong Chen still felt awkward. I've never even sat on another man's bed before, let alone done something like this on it.
He rolled over from the bed and sat up, grabbed the disheveled Bai Muqing from the bed, and dragged her towards the door. After taking her all the way to his house, he grabbed the shirt on her chest with his other hand, and pulled it hard, and the buttons of the shirt were instantly ripped open by him, exposing his slender and well-proportioned body in front of him.
Bai Muqing let out a low snort, and before he could protest, he was pressed down on the bed, followed by his lips kissing and biting her neck.
Every time he gets angry, he will possess her with strong emotions, as if this is the only way to make her remember it for a long time, to make her realize that she is his, and can only belong to him forever. Whether it is the identity of his wife or her lover, she does not want to escape from him.
She only wore a shirt, but Nangong Chen saved a lot of trouble, he quickly took off the bathrobe on his body, and completely blended his body with her.
He didn't want her tonight, but she wanted to provoke him, and succeeded in arousing all the lust he was hiding in his body.
If you can't escape, there's no need to escape, and it's not the first time. Bai Muqing raised her hand to hug his waist, catering to all his heat.
Until he was satisfied, tired and tired.
And at this moment, Bai Muqing had already softened into a ball, and he was not even able to pick up the clothes he threw under the bed. The two fell asleep with each other in their arms, and soon fell asleep.
The next day, Bai Muqing woke up early, she moved, and the first thing she smelled was a unique and familiar masculine atmosphere. She opened her eyes in a daze, only to find that she was nestled in Nangong Chen's arms.
She leaned back a little and found him sleeping soundly, his handsome face quiet and peaceful.
The morning sun fell on the two of them through the window screen, and Bai Muqing only felt that he looked as good as fireworks that did not eat the world. Looking at him this way, he is obviously vigorous and sunny, why is he always so hot and cold on weekdays?
"Is it pretty?" A faint sentence suddenly sounded in my ears.
Bai Muqing came back to her senses, and then she was shocked to realize that Nangong Chen had opened her eyes at some point, but the cold emotion in her eyes instantly made the vitality of this room lose its color.
"Beautiful." She replied stupidly.
"Compared to your family, Lin Shao?"
"Better than him."
Nangong Chen stared at her, and Bai Muqing hurriedly said: "Look, you don't believe me to be honest, and you are unhappy when I tell a lie, I don't know how to communicate with you." β
Nangong Chen smiled mockingly and glanced down at her body.
Bai Muqing felt his gaze sweep over, and hurriedly pulled the quilt to cover his bare chest. By the way, half of the quilt was lifted to cover him to avoid embarrassment.
Bai Muqing felt that his gaze gradually ignited a touch of desire, thinking that he wouldn't want to have a morning luck again, right? It's better not to, because her body is still soft.
Fortunately, at this time, Nangong Chen's mobile phone rang.
Bai Muqing reached out to help him take the phone off the bedside table, his eyes swept over the number on the screen, and found that it was from the old mansion.
Nangong Chen took the mobile phone and pressed the connect button, and Sister He's voice came from the other side of the phone: "Young Master, the old lady asked you to bring the young lady back for dinner tonight." β
"Why?" Nangong Chen lowered his head and glanced at Bai Muqing.
"No why, let's have a dinner on the weekend." Sister He said with a smile.
Nangong Chen thought for a while and said, "Okay, I know." β
Hanging up the phone, Nangong Chen put one palm under his head, and gently turned the mobile phone that had been hung up in his hand.
Bai Muqing vaguely heard something, stared at his side face and asked, "The old lady asked me to go back for dinner?" β
Nangong Chen turned his head sideways: "Don't want to go?" β
"I really don't want to, after all, it's ...... now."
"Now what?"
Bai Muqing hesitated for a moment, and then replied cautiously: "Now the identity is different, it's not suitable." β
She knew that as soon as she said this, Nangong Chen would definitely remember the matter of being deceived again, and she would get angry again, so she hurriedly added: "But if you let me go, I will go too." β
Fortunately, Nangong Chen did not get angry, but sat up from the bed, got out of bed and said calmly while getting dressed: "I will ask Secretary Liu to accompany you to Huamao for a walk, buy a decent set of clothes, and wait for me to get off work in the office after shopping, and then go back to the old house together." β
Bai Muqing was embarrassed to look directly at his naked body, and lowered her head for a long time.
Nangong Chen turned his head and saw that she was buried in her head and didn't know what she was thinking, and frowned: "Are you listening to me?" β
Bai Muqing hurriedly raised her face and said, "I heard it." β
"Do you hear that, why don't you get up and change your clothes?"
Bai Muqing immediately got out of bed, put on the shirt he threw on the ground last night, and then walked to the balcony to see if the clothes that were drying outside were dry.
Seeing her walking out of the terrace like this, Nangong Chen was angry, and he chased her back from the terrace, and said in an annoyed tone: "With your little figure, do you still want the whole garden to see it?" β
Bai Muqing was stunned for a moment, then lowered her head and glanced at herself.
Although the shirt looks sexy on her, it doesn't seem to show off too much anywhere except for a pair of legs, right? Besides, the distance between the buildings is so wide, and there are guardrails blocking it, so the people on the opposite floor can't see this side clearly.
But it was always what he said that was right, and she didn't bother to argue with him.
"I just want to bring in the clothes outside." She said.
Nangong Chen let go of her, took the clothes hanging on the terrace and threw them at her.
After Bai Muqing changed her clothes, Nangong Chen was already dressed neatly.
The two left the apartment together, and had breakfast at a nearby Hong Kong-style breakfast restaurant, and when they came out, Bai Muqing thought that Nangong Chen would throw herself to Secretary Liu, but he didn't expect him to ask her to get into his car.
The route of the car was not the direction of Nangong Group, nor the direction of Huamao, but Bai Muqing didn't care too much, anyway, no matter where she went, she didn't have the right to choose.
It wasn't until the car stopped that she looked out the window.
Through the windshield, she saw the big words of the Civil Affairs Bureau in front of her at a glance, and she leaned forward a little, trying to see more clearly. That's right, it's the Civil Affairs Bureau of City C.
She turned her head to the side suspiciously, stared at Nangong Chen, who was unbuckling her seat belt, and asked, "What are you bringing me here for?" β
Nangong Chen didn't look at her, and said in a calm tone: "Didn't you say that your identity is not suitable and you don't want to go to the old mansion?" β
"What do you mean?" Bai Muqing was stunned for a moment.
What does he mean? It's not going to take her to get married, is it?
"Register." Nangong Chen found that she was still wearing a seat belt, so she reached out and pressed it on her seat belt buckle, and the seat belt that was originally stuck on Bai Muqing's body was immediately retracted.
"But....... I didn't have anything with me, not even my ID. Bai Muqing was a little flustered.
"Don't worry, I've got everything for you."
"How do you have my information?"
Nangong Chen raised his wrist and looked at the dial, his face was already impatient: "Miss Bai, are you sure you want to talk to me about this issue here?" I'm going to work. β
Bai Muqing stared at him, and finally spoke: "Marriage is a lifelong event, don't you even ask me if I agree to marry you?" β
"So what do you mean now? Don't agree, do you? β
"I have the right to refuse, right?"
"You don't."
β.......β