Heartbroken

The evening breeze was very cool, and the drizzle was bone-chillingly cold.

The raindrops hit the black umbrella and instantly shattered into countless water splashes, bang bang bang, reflecting Fang Huai's troubled thoughts.

Fang Huai was wearing a light gray coat at this time. The cold wind blew through the thin coat, carrying a few drops of drizzle into his high-necked shirt. He shuddered and his hand holding the umbrella handle trembled.

Fang Huai stood downstairs of Li Xuan's house, looked up and saw that there was no light on inside. He wrapped his clothes as if he had made some kind of decision, took a few steps forward and rang the doorbell.

Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong.

About ten minutes later, Fang Huai heard some noise inside.

A burst of hot steam with the scent of shower gel came towards him. Li Xuan's hair was still dripping with water. He opened the door tiredly and looked at Fang Huai lazily.

"Why are you here?" Li Xuan turned sideways and motioned Fang Huai to come in.

Fang Huai's coat was thin, and he couldn't help but pat the raindrops on it before walking into the door.

He had just put on his slippers when he heard Li Xuan ask calmly, "Have you seen those things online?"

"Yeah." Fang Huai responded.

Fang Huai slowly walked into the living room and looked around. Everything seemed normal, but the stone in his heart still did not fall. Li Xuan's reaction and attitude were too normal, so normal that it seemed as if he didn't care about this matter.

The words he had pondered countless times in his mind stagnated on the tip of his tongue before he slowly came out of his mouth: "How do you want to deal with this matter? Do you need my help..." Fang Huai wanted to say, I know some information, maybe I can help you clarify it.

But before he could finish, Li Xuan interrupted him and refused: "No need."

Facing Fang Huai's puzzled gaze, Li Xuan sat on the sofa and poured Fang Huai a cup of coffee. He looked at Fang Huai like an unaffected king, "Fang Huai, I haven't fallen to the point where I need your help."

Fang Huai took the coffee and sat quietly, repeating in his mind: "Hasn't it reached the point where you need my help?"

"Why?" Fang Huai put the coffee on the table. The bottom of the cup made a crisp sound when it hit the coffee table, which attracted Li Xuan to look back.

"Why are you in such a state and need my help?" Fang Huai looked at Li Xuan, trying to get an answer from him.

A feeling of powerlessness surged in his heart, and Fang Huai finally understood at this moment that in Li Xuan's eyes, they were never equal from the beginning to the end.

Li Xuan didn't understand why Fang Huai kept harping on this sentence, just like Fang Huai didn't understand why Li Xuan had never treated him as an equal. So, why was it?

Li Xuan frowned, "Because that's not the fact, let alone the truth."

"I'll issue a statement to clarify. I can do it without your intervention." Li Xuan touched his empty wrist. He leaned his head to observe Fang Huai's mood changes. Suddenly, he smiled and said, "Xiao Huai, can you help me dry my hair?"

Fang Huai was confused and asked, "What?"

Li Xuan was lying on the sofa, slowly closing his eyes, covering his eyes with his long, slender arms, and said tiredly, "I'm very tired now."

Fang Huai took a deep look at Li Xuan's wrist, found the towel with ease, walked behind Li Xuan, and gently helped Li Xuan dry his hair.

There was only a dim light in the quiet living room, shining on the black hair. It was like white onion fingers and a towel moving through the black hair, the hair entangled with the fingertips, and the fingers hooked and twisted to escape from the hair.

The towel and hair made a rustling sound when rubbed gently. After the hair was completely dry, a clear voice broke the silence of the living room.

"Is it because I'm not strong enough?"

Li Xuan raised his arms and met Fang Huai's gaze. His eyes were firm: "I can handle this matter."

Li Xuan didn't want Fang Huai to interfere in his affairs, especially something that seemed insignificant to him, so trivial that he found it ridiculous.

"The ridiculous rumors will be self-defeating without me having to spend a lot of energy and time."

The relationship between them had been fixed since they met. In his eyes, Fang Huai would always be protected by him, and that would never change. He was the protector, and Fang Huai was the protected.

At least for now, he couldn't imagine himself being protected by Fang Huai. His pride wouldn't allow it, and he himself wouldn't allow it.

Li Xuan suddenly thought of a curse in Cheng Wanting's text message, and sneered inwardly, thinking that if their roles were reversed, he would be reduced to the point where he needed Fang Huai's protection.

Then he must be very useless and has really become a rat that is not worthy of being on the stage.

Li Xuan also said this, and Fang Huai paused, his lips curled up. Li Xuan saw himself in those clear eyes, himself in Fang Huai's eyes.

"Then I am the mouse? Li Xuan."

The two of them stared at each other's eyes, but Fang Huai's eyes were slightly misty and he turned away in embarrassment, "Wipe it dry."

His voice was low, but it hit Li Xuan's heart hard.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Yeah." Fang Huai blinked quickly to force the tears away, but his nose was so sore that his eyes turned red and his voice became choked.

He used the gesture of putting down the towel to hide his unbearable vulnerability. "Li Xuan, the rumors you think of will be self-defeating. The innocent will be cleared. But these may come very late. When the truth arrives late, everything will be really too late."

"If you have evidence and facts, present them in advance. Without your support, rumors could become a sharp sword that pierces you. Isn't that what you taught me?

Fang Huai said: "When the incident becomes more and more serious, even if the evidence is presented, it will not be able to undo the damage. By then, no one may really care about the truth."

Li Xuan's expression turned cold. He sat up and asked, "You don't believe me?"

"I believe you." Fang Huai's tone was firm and stubborn: "I just want to cut the Gordian knot."

Li Xuan stared at Fang Huai, and Fang Huai, feeling uneasy, met Li Xuan's gaze, not knowing what had offended her. Li Xuan bent down and pulled out a file bag from under the coffee table, chuckling sarcastically.

"Fang Huai, I don't believe you."

All the photos in the file bag were scattered on the table. Li Xuan spread them out one by one, showing photos from all angles and in all kinds of places. The only thing that remained unchanged were the two protagonists in the center - him and Kong Lingyu.

Li Xuan picked up the photo in the middle and handed it to Fang Huai.

Fang Huai took it. In the photo, he was sitting beside the hospital bed, peeling fruit with his head down, and Kong Lingyu was lying on the bed, looking at him with a smile.

Then he understood what Li Xuan meant. Fang Huai looked away from the photo. He could hardly find his own voice.

"Li Xuan." Fang Huai squeezed out Li Xuan's name from his throat. He looked at the familiar lover in front of him, and the chill spread from his fingers to his whole body. He felt cold all over. "Is this why you don't believe me?"

Li Xuan didn't say anything, but his silence had already told Fang Huai the answer.

Fang Huai raised the corners of his lips stiffly and smiled: "Have a good rest, I'm leaving first."

As he almost fled out the door, Li Xuan's voice sounded behind him.

"Fang Huai, do we still have a future?"

Fang Huai was unsteady, holding onto the door frame, and said in a low voice: "What do you think of our conversation this time?"

Li Xuan still didn't answer, and Fang Huai didn't wait. He picked up his umbrella and stepped into the drizzle. "Li Xuan, I don't think it's very good."

Fang Huai's figure completely disappeared in the rain, and Li Xuan withdrew his gaze. Suddenly, he overturned the coffee table, and all the annoying photos were scattered on the ground.

The rain was not heavy and although it was dark, Fang Huai did not want to go home.

He walked aimlessly, and when he came to a park, the rain stopped. He found an empty bench and sat down, staring blankly at the vast artificial lake.

Under the dim street lights, the artificial lake seemed to have no boundaries, and his shadow was elongated by the light and reflected on the lake surface.

A cold wind blew, the surface of the lake began to ripple, and the shadows became distorted. Slowly, the two shadows in the lake began to overlap. Fang Huai turned around and looked at the man beside him.

"You're following me?"

Fang Huai bent down, picked up a stone on the ground, and threw it into the lake, breaking up the overlapping shadows. Kong Lingyu stood aside and watched him quietly.

The sound of wind whistling came from his ears, and light rain fell on the tip of Fang Huai's nose, but no more drops came.

Fang Huai looked up, and an umbrella above him covered him tightly. Kong Lingyu squatted down and threw a stone into the water. The lake surface, which had returned to calm, became turbulent again, and he merged with Fang Huai's reflection.

He raised his hand to wipe away the tears from Fang Huai's eyes. The distance between them was getting closer and closer, so close that he could clearly see Fang Huai's trembling eyelashes and the tension in his eyes.

Suddenly, Fang Huai turned his head, and Kong Lingyu's hand gently brushed across his cheek but missed.

"I'm worried about you."

The people Kong Lingyu ordered have already found out the identity of the person who was following Fang Huai, Cheng Wanting, a seemingly harmless woman.

Since the day he started making games, Kong Lingyu has met all kinds of people. Especially after establishing his company, he's become even more aware of the industry's abundance of dirty tricks and dirty people, and the abundance of vile and filthy tactics. Seemingly simple cases of cyberbullying and stalking, if you dig deeper, you'll uncover a slew of rotten roots.

When it comes down to Tengfeng Group and Lingyun, all the blame may be directed at his company.

Cheng Wanting's video was trending, and it was no wonder someone was behind the scenes fanning the flames. This woman had so many people involved: Li Xuan, Qiu Lingfeng from Tengfeng Group, and Fang Huai. He had also discovered that Cheng Wanting had been living in Heishui Lane and often hung out near Fang Huai's home.

He was worried that the woman would harm Fang Huai.

After Fang Huai walked out of Li Xuan's house, Kong Lingyu followed him from a distance. When he saw Fang Huai walking towards the artificial lake, his heart suddenly ached violently. He ran over frantically, and when he saw Fang Huai was just sitting on a bench, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Kong Lingyu held up an umbrella and sat down next to Fang Huai.

Fang Huai suddenly stood up, his face cold, looking down at Kong Lingyu condescendingly. Kong Lingyu also stood up and tilted the umbrella towards Fang Huai. The rain hit Kong Lingyu's shoulders - dripping, dripping, and soon his shoulders were wet.

"Kong Lingyu, please stop liking me, okay?" He had a splitting headache, his voice was hoarse, and he choked with sobs: "Why do you like me? I don't like you. We are not suitable. It's impossible."

"I don't like you, I don't like you!"

Fang Huai repeated it over and over again, telling not only Kong Lingyu but also himself.

He tried to make his voice cold and his words sharp in an attempt to make Kong Lingyu dislike him. He looked at Kong Lingyu stubbornly, but there were tears in his eyes.

He didn't want Kong Lingyu to see his miserable state, so he raised his head slightly and continued, "Kong Lingyu, please stop liking me, okay? Don't appear in my world again, I beg you."

"My world is a mess. I just want to..." I just want to live a simple life. "I can't give you any response. There's no possibility for us."

Fang Huai originally thought that he would feel relieved after saying these words, but in fact he didn't.

His head felt as if it were being madly pressed down by a pair of huge hands, and his heart was being violently torn apart, causing him to feel so much pain that he could hardly breathe.

He covered his chest, his eyes confused and painful, and murmured, "I'm sorry, Kong Lingyu."

"Kong Lingyu, I'm sorry."

Fang Huai's painful look was deeply imprinted in Kong Lingyu's eyes. He just held the stone in his palm, and the sharp edge pierced deeply into his palm. The piercing pain made him restrain the urge to wipe away Fang Huai's tears.

"Maimai, you don't need to apologize."

"It was my fault."