Chapter 78 Without you, my life is meaningless...

The tea room is quiet on weekdays, and the private rooms are even more tranquil.

Lin Xi lowered her head, gazing at the mountain spring water being heated in the glass kettle. The bubbling bubbles slowly rose to the surface as the temperature increased, and the sound of them bursting upon contact with the air was startling.

Fu Wenxun sized up the girl in front of him.

In his eyes, Lin Xi was no different from six years ago; she was still helpless and penniless, and easy to manipulate.

No matter how much Fu Qingli persists, if Lin Xi disappears again, even the most steadfast heart cannot withstand repeated betrayals.

Just like the tea leaves in this teacup, after being steeped in boiling water time and time again, the flavor slowly fades.

There will come a day when Fu Qingli can't hold on any longer.

After the spring water boiled, Fu Wenxun calmly washed, brewed, and poured the tea.

As the aroma of tea filled the room, Fu Wenxun's previously restrained imposing presence grew stronger, and the air gradually became tense and strained.

As the cup was placed in front of Lin Xi, Fu Wenxun finally spoke slowly and deliberately: "Miss Lin."

Lin Xi immediately straightened her back, sat up straight, and looked up at him with a forced calmness, but the ripples in her eyes betrayed her nervousness.

Fu Wenxun smiled slightly, a smile that hinted at a victor: "I think you already know that Fu Qingli has severed ties with the Fu family."

Faced with his rather imposing gaze, Lin Xi subconsciously nodded, but then realized she had followed his lead, and looked away in annoyance, avoiding eye contact with him.

As expected, she's still inexperienced and easy to manipulate.

Fu Wenxun's smile deepened, and his words became sharper. "His grandfather called him home that day to discuss his marriage to Yi'an. It was well-intentioned, after all, you know what he's been up to lately. He actually wanted to compete with the deeply rooted Su family for the Haicheng project. You know, the Su family has been preparing for that project for three whole years. How could three greenhorns like them possibly shake it? Just having this idea has already angered the Su family's top management, who threatened to unite with the industry's leading companies to cripple Qingyuan. Our arrangement for his engagement to Yi'an was entirely for his future. Do you really want to watch Qingyuan, which he worked so hard to build, be destroyed in his own hands?"

Lin Xi didn't reply, but her hands, which were resting on her knees, were clenched tightly together. The tension in her whole body caused her head to tremble slightly, clearly indicating that she was tense.

Fu Wenxun knew immediately that his words had worked, and he chuckled to himself. Women, indeed, cannot bear to see the man they love see other women, and they are always swayed by so-called love in their choices.

He picked up his cup, took a leisurely sip of tea to moisten his throat, and continued, "You should remember that six years ago I asked you what you, with your family background and circumstances, could offer Fu Qingli? Now you see for yourself what you can offer him. If you marry him, he will be abandoned by everyone and suffer setbacks in his career. But if he is with Yi'an, he will gain not only the Fu family, but also the Su family. The resources of two top-tier families—this is a life that ordinary people can only dream of."

"Your marriage with him will only bring him pain and leave him with nothing. Are you sure you want to ruin him for your own selfish desires? Miss Lin, I've been through this before, and I know love can make people blind. Shouldn't loving someone mean making them live a better life, not constantly making them sacrifice for you? Since you know being together is a disaster, Miss Lin should cut your losses now!"

"I'm not forcing you to leave Fu Qingli. I just hope you'll relinquish your position as his legal wife to Yi'an. You can name your own terms. Afterward, you can continue to stay by Fu Qingli's side as his lover or mistress, and bear him children. As I've said before, with his status and wealth, it's impossible for him to have only one woman by his side. Of course, your children will enjoy the same resources as Yi'an's children. This way, you can both support Fu Qingli's career and your love. Isn't that good? Since you love him, what your status is when you're by his side doesn't matter, does it?"

Seeing Lin Xi's increasingly embarrassed expression, Fu Wenxun was convinced that he had victory in his grasp.

He could tell that the girl in front of him had her own principles and did not want to be a burden to others or an obstacle to their marriage.

Given her moral bottom line, she wouldn't even stoop to being a lover, and would leave Fu Qingli directly, just like before.

That would be best. Given how much Fu Qingli values ​​her, staying by his side would only disturb his peace of mind.

But clearly she miscalculated this time.

The girl in front of him looked up, her expression one of impending tears, but she spoke of a topic unrelated to himself: "So, Mr. Fu, did you treat Aunt Shen the same way before? Did you think that as your legal wife, she should be grateful to you and accept all the other women you had outside?"

Fu Wenxun's expression changed. He hadn't expected to be criticized for matters of the heart by a junior he looked down upon. He struggled to maintain his composure: "My affairs are none of your business, nor are they related to today's events!"

“Since your affairs are none of my business, then Fu Qingli and I are none of your business either. Marriage is a matter between two people, and it only concerns the two of us. No one else can interfere. Now that Fu Qingli and I are married, I will not allow a third person to appear in our marriage! This is such a simple truth. Mr. Fu has lived for so many years and exhausted Aunt Shen's life. Doesn't he understand this truth? Of course, if Fu Qingli chooses someone else, then I will not be the third party in their relationship.”

“As you said, he can gain a lot from being with Su Yi’an, but the initiative in this matter is not mine, it is his. What you are saying to me is useless. I have no right to make decisions for him. Six years ago, I chose to leave him because I believed what you and Su Yi’an said. But after being separated for six whole years, he still firmly chose me. I will accompany him all the way until the day he gives up on me.”

"That day will never come!"

The door was violently pushed open from the outside, and Fu Qingli rushed in, pulling Lin Xi off the cushion and shielding her behind her.

His face was grim as he looked down at Fu Wenxun, who was still sitting. "I've said it before, I'm not you. I will never be with another woman in this life. I only want Lin Xi. I don't care about the wealth and glory you talk about. The announcement of severing ties with the Fu family has already been sent to the newspaper. Soon, I will have nothing to do with you anymore."

Fu Wenxun slammed his fist on the table in shock and shouted angrily, "Fu Qingli, you are truly beyond saving! Are you prepared to spend your entire life trapped in these romantic entanglements and accomplish nothing?"

"That's better than you spending your whole life surrounded by women, ending up with a broken family!" Fu Qingli gripped Lin Xi's hand tightly, their fingers intertwined. "Fu Wenxun, no matter how I live, I'm happier than you, because the person I love will always be by my side!"

With that, he took Lin Xi's hand and left the elegant room without looking back.

-

The car was silent. The two were separated, but their hands, which were clasped together, had not been separated since the beginning. Fu Qingli held them tightly and placed them on his lap.

He gripped it very tightly, and his knuckles ached.

Lin Xi shifted uncomfortably, trying to get him to loosen his grip, but he seemed oblivious, showing no sign of weakening.

After getting on the bus, Fu Qingli kept looking out the window with her jawline taut and prominent, her face expressionless, and her dark eyes deep and still, as if no light or shadow could penetrate them.

Even through just a layer of fabric, Lin Xi could clearly feel that his muscles were tense and he was in a state of high tension.

She hesitated for a moment, then raised the partition in the middle, mustered her courage, moved closer to Fu Qingli, reached out and took his arm, her fingertips stroking his taut muscles in an attempt to soothe his emotions.

Fu Qingli felt a gentle force on her arm, and her body trembled slightly, as if she had suddenly woken up.

He turned back to look at Lin Xi, forced a smile, and loosened his grip on her hand.

"Brother, are you angry with me?"

She was angry at herself for knowing that he disliked Fu Wenxun, yet still coming to see him alone, arguing with him, and even involving Aunt Shen.

Fu Qingli saw through her thoughts, sighed helplessly, reached out and pulled her into his arms, ruffling her hair haphazardly: "Yes, I'm angry with you!"

Lin Xi's heart tightened, and she was about to apologize when she heard him continue, "I'm angry. Why didn't you tell me when they humiliated you like that? Why didn't you ask me if I loved you, how much I loved you? Aren't you usually quite confident in your actions? Why are you so insecure about our relationship?"

Lin Xi, having been accused of harboring such thoughts, finally couldn't hold back her tears any longer and they fell.

The unease in her heart, if you really want to talk about it, probably goes back to the very beginning of the two of them being together.

This relationship started out of nowhere; neither of them confessed their feelings.

That was in the second semester of my senior year of high school, when the results of the third mock exam were being released.

Fu Qingli, as always, scored nearly a perfect score, ranking first in the city.

But Lin Xi's score was only thirty-something points above the previous year's cutoff for key universities. With Fu Qingli's help, she made rapid progress that year, but she could never catch up with Fu Qingli's grades.

She had already exceeded the admission scores of previous years. With her grades, she couldn't get into a key university in Beicheng. If she applied to a lower-ranked university, it would be too wasteful. As calm as Fu Qingli was, she would never allow her to do that.

Unfortunately, He Xiaduo casually remarked, "Young Master is originally from Beicheng, so he will definitely choose Tsinghua University and return to Beicheng in the end."

At that time, Lin Xi had already realized her feelings for Fu Qingli. The thought of parting with him after the college entrance examination filled her with reluctance.

Fu Qingli, however, seemed completely unconcerned about the difference in scores and the separation.

Lin Xi felt increasingly aggrieved. She didn't even bring her books after school, nor did she wait for Fu Qingli. She ran home and locked herself in her room.

Not long after, Fu Qingli returned home. Her footsteps stopped at the door, but there was no other movement.

Lin Xi was certain that he heard her crying when he came in, but he didn't even offer her a word of comfort. The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, and she couldn't help but burst into tears.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Fu Qingli's deep voice came through: "Xiaoxi, don't cry, I will go to Jin Gong University with you."

Jincheng is a city that Lin Xi likes, and Jincheng University of Technology has always been her dream school.

Lin Xi couldn't believe her ears. Ignoring her tear-streaked face, she rushed over and opened the door anxiously: "What did you say?"

Fu Qingli reached out and cupped her face, his eyes filled with tenderness like spring water, and gently wiped away her tears with his fingertips: "I said, let's go to Jin Gong University together, let's be together for the rest of our lives."

What seemed like a natural progression of love, Lin Xi always felt, was more of a responsibility to Fu Qingli; he chose to be with her simply because he didn't want to be sad.

So when she heard what Fu Wenxun and Su Yi'an said, she didn't dare to ask, afraid that the answer was really as they said: Fu Qingli was only with her out of gratitude and responsibility.

So she could always find clues in the details that he loved her, but she found that he didn't seem to have the desire of a couple for her, and was more like taking care of a younger sister.

After hearing her silly words, Fu Qingli was both amused and annoyed: "You have no idea how happy I was when I found out you liked me too. Mutual affection is not enough to express my joy. That day, standing in front of your door, I hesitated a lot. I was afraid that I was not yet capable enough to take good care of you. Later, when I heard you cry, my heart was torn apart. I thought that my future could not be without you. No matter what happens, I have to be with you. I vowed in my heart that in the future I would do my best to be good to you and love you well. That's when I mustered up the courage to knock on your door."

"Xiaoxi, everything I do is for you. Without you, my life is meaningless!"