Pretending to be a couple

Looking at Xie Yu kneeling in front of him, Liu Jianchun was thinking of another man.

Even though she stared at Xie Yu intently, the other person's affectionate eyes would still appear again and again in front of her.

She was very confused. On the one hand, she felt that life and death were more important than anything else, and telling a little lie was nothing to let an elder pass away in peace. On the other hand, she was thinking, if she agreed to him today and pretended to be a couple with him, what would Jian Zhaonan think when he knew?

Maybe he would blame her and hate her, or maybe he would do nothing but keep his true feelings to himself and leave quietly.

While Liu Jianchun was still hesitating, Xie Yu seemed to be crying bitterly because of her father's serious illness, but in fact, he had already put away his sadness and was secretly looking at her.

Although she didn't agree, she didn't reject it outright either. Knowing her well, he knew she must have reacted this way because she couldn't bear it, but also felt that agreeing was too much trouble...

The cunning in his eyes flashed away, and when he raised his eyes, only innocence remained: "Jianchun, I won't let anyone else know about this. Besides me, my mother is the only one in the ward. I have already made our relationship clear to her in advance. My mother also likes you very much and will definitely not tell anyone else. We are just putting on a show in front of my father, so that he can see with his own eyes that I am very happy before he passes away. Don't you even agree to do me such a small favor?"

As he spoke, he was about to stand up. He had been kneeling on the cold, hard floor for so long that his knees ached and he could not move his body. He could only hold on to the sofa beside him for support. While his legs were aching, he pretended to be in a mess to show her so that she would feel more guilty.

"To some extent, you are also responsible for my father's serious illness."

She was stunned and looked very calm, but her heart beat faster unconsciously.

He walked slowly towards her, and she did not retreat, but just silently digested the meaning of his words.

"That night, I went out to answer a phone call. It was my dad's secretary who said he had suddenly fainted and asked me to rush to the hospital. So, even if Jian Zhaonan hadn't come that night, I wouldn't have been in the mood to do anything to you. But because he came, the whole incident got to my dad's ears, and he made the already critically ill patient even more anxious and sick."

She pressed her thin lips into a line until he finished speaking, then she could no longer bear it: "You should have your father in your heart. Whether he is seriously ill or not, you should worry less about him. It was you who did something wrong, how can you blame others for complaining?"

He gently held her hand and cried as he said, "I don't mean to blame you...I was too talkative. I shouldn't have told you."

"I promise, this is the last time I'm begging you. From now on, we'll go our separate ways, okay?"

It's said that being coquettish is a woman's best weapon. In fact, a man who acts coquettishly is even more irresistible. Even if she doesn't want to have anything to do with this man anymore, seeing this guy who is usually extremely arrogant and now humbles himself to her to make his father happy, she can't continue to refuse.

One last time... I hope he can keep his word.

She closed her eyes and sighed painfully: "I promise you, but don't bother me again in the future."

"Okay, okay, okay! I'll listen to you." He seemed to have suddenly become a different person. The tears in his eyes could not suppress the upturned corners of his mouth. He held her hand skillfully. She subconsciously wanted to pull it back, but he held it tighter.

She glanced at him coldly: "That's enough, don't go too far."

Hearing her rebuke, he realized how inappropriate the worthless smile on his face was, and quickly suppressed his smile: "You always have to rehearse beforehand before acting, so as not to expose yourself in front of the old man when you enter the ward."

"You don't want him to have regrets when he takes his last breath, do you?"

Xie Yu really knew how to control Liu Jianchun. Nothing he said was what she wanted to hear, but she couldn't refuse. She could only comfort herself that all this would soon be over.

He took her hand and walked into the ward with confidence, but the scene in the ward was not as he had described in advance. In addition to his parents, there were also several nurses. These people kept looking her up and down since she entered the door. It didn't seem like they were cooperating with the two of them in the play, but more like innocent spectators who were unaware of the inside story.

But there was one thing Xie Yu did not lie about, Xie Yunfei's condition was indeed very bad.

Xie Yunfei, lying on the hospital bed, had sunken cheeks, was skinny, and was covered with monitoring devices all over his body. He was completely different from the energetic Uncle Xie in her memory.

For a moment, she thought of her father.

He and Xie Yunfei were of the same age. Uncle Xie had become what he was in just a few months. When her father's turn came, perhaps...

She was still in a daze and didn't notice that Mrs. Xie pulled her son aside and asked in a low voice about their situation. Facing her mother, Xie Yu was vague and covered everything up with a smile.

Xie Yunfei suddenly woke up. The nurse thought the old man wanted to drink water, so he stepped forward immediately. However, he pointed at Liu Jianchun who was standing in front of him.

After the nurse called her three times, she finally came to her senses, wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes, forced a smile and walked forward. Seeing the old man want to hold her hand, she took the initiative to reach out and hold it. Even without Xie Yu's request, she automatically put herself in the shoes of his daughter-in-law. Even when Xie Yunfei asked about Xie Yu's recent situation, how the company was running, and whether she was good to her, she would try to make up for it and praise Xie Yu to the skies.

While she was trying her best to restore Xie Yu's image, she didn't know that the caregiver standing not far away was secretly recording something with his mobile phone.

Xie Yunfei's energy was very limited. He just replied to her in a low voice for a few words before he became a little breathless. He had to continue resting under the care of the nurse. Seeing this, Xie Yu also walked forward and took her away.

From the time she entered the door to the time she left, it was only ten minutes, but she felt like she was in another world.

It was not until she walked out of the ward that her tense nerves finally broke down and tears could not stop flowing out. She wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, but found that her wiping speed could not keep up with the speed of her tears. She had to hurriedly search her bag for tissues with her vision blurred.

Before I could find a tissue, someone in front of me kindly handed me a handkerchief: "It's okay, birth, aging, sickness and death are the laws of nature. I haven't cried yet, why are you crying?"

He patted her shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work today. I'll ask someone to take you home."

She felt like she was in a dream. She came here inexplicably and was sent away inexplicably. But this dream contained a story about death.

She was still crying while sitting in the car, not crying for Xie Yunfei, but because she suddenly thought of Jian Zhaonan's mother.

As Jian Zhaonan's ambiguous partner, she hadn't cried as deeply as she had at Xie Yunfei's bedside when his mother passed away. She suddenly felt so regretful, but there was nothing she could do except regret...

Because time cannot be reversed.

When the car was about to drive back to the stadium, she calmed down. She opened her phone and saw the message from Jian Zhaonan: Did you go to the hospital to visit Xie Yunfei?

When she saw the message, the guilt that had surged in her heart suddenly disappeared, leaving only a hint of embarrassment. Living under surveillance wasn't pleasant, but now was a sensitive period for them as they transitioned from a breakup to a reconciliation, so Jian Zhaonan's concern about her was understandable.

She told Jian Zhaonan truthfully what she had seen and heard today. When the message was about to be sent, she reread the content and deleted the part about pretending to be a couple.

The brief message came back quickly and the content was very concise: You lied to me.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she instantly understood what he was referring to, but at this moment, it was impossible for her to recognize it, so she could only play dumb.

She was still organizing her words, thinking about how to put it more tactfully, when the other party called her directly. She picked up the phone tremblingly, ready to be baptized by a storm, but unexpectedly his tone was quite calm.

"Xie Yu's confidentiality work is truly terrible. He even let a reporter into his father's hospital room. Someone filmed a video of you and Xie Yunfei. I only heard about it, but I haven't seen any actual evidence. I don't know who has the video. Please remind Xie Yu to have his PR staff work overtime to get the information as soon as possible to avoid any complications."

From the moment she met Xie Yunfei until now, she had always felt like she was floating in mid-air and had not fallen back to the ground. Listening to his words, she could hardly tell whether he was jealous and angry, or simply concerned about her and Xie Yu.

She could only reply woodenly: "I understand, thank you."

In the past, he might have refuted her words and questioned why she was still so polite to him, but today, he simply responded with a "thank you" and hung up the phone.

Nowadays, the beeping sound of a hung-up call is gone. For those who are slow to react, it takes a long pause before they suddenly realize the other person has hung up. Liu Jianchun was in that moment. She was still anxiously waiting for him to speak, but after waiting, she realized the call had already ended. She called back, but all she heard was, "The subscriber you dialed is powered off."

She had encountered this situation five years ago. It was only a long time later that she found out that this was because the other party had blocked her number.

What does it mean that he blocked her at this moment...

Cold violence.

Or is it a silent breakup?

The car pulled up in front of the arena, but she felt so limp she didn't even have the strength to open the door. She barely managed to open it, holding onto the handle before getting out. She stood in front of the door for a long time before mustering the energy to walk in. She looked the same as always, but now she was just a shell, her movements relying on muscle memory. She had no idea what this body was doing, or why.

She changed out of the clothes that were restricting her uncomfortably, wiped off the delicate makeup she had put on to meet Xie Yunfei, and relayed what Jian Zhaonan had told her to Xie Yu. After doing all this, she put down her phone, supported herself on the edge of the pool with both hands, suppressed all her emotions, and weighed everything alone.