82 Wen Haijing and Xu Junheng's Night

As night deepened, Wen Haijing curled up in the soft bedding in her hotel room, feeling Xu Junheng's fingers gently stroking her back.

This was the first time they had been together.

Wen Haijing saw Xu Junheng take a condom from the bedside table and then carefully put it on.

However, when he entered, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Afterwards, Xu Junheng leaned against the headboard, lit a cigarette, and asked, "You...had a boyfriend before?"

She did have a relationship when she first entered university. Her boyfriend was Li Zhifeng, a high school classmate whose family background was similar to hers, so they had a lot in common. That summer, they worked at the same restaurant, rode shared bikes to and from work together every day, and ate ice cream together on the street in the evening. At that time, even the evening breeze felt sweet.

One night before closing time, the middle-aged owner of the fast food restaurant tried to take advantage of her, but Lai Chi-fung arrived in time and punched him.

They officially started dating after the start of the semester. For the first three months, there was indeed a pure attraction. Li Zhifeng would remember that she didn't like cilantro, and would line up at the school cafeteria to get her food. But on Li Zhifeng's birthday, Wen Haijing somehow got drunk and woke up in a small hotel on campus. That morning, Wen Haijing considered calling the police, and also thought about a future together.

But reality quickly ripped away the veneer of warmth. Lai Chi-fung's stinginess with money reached a suffocating level. Three months later, he insisted on splitting the bill precisely on every date, even demanding she transfer 3 yuan on the spot for a six-yuan discounted milk tea. What she found even more unbearable was his extreme possessiveness: checking her phone, interfering with her social life, and even demanding she dress conservatively.

On the rainy night before the breakup, Wen Haijing returned to school late because of tutoring. Li Zhifeng called her more than a dozen times and finally rushed to the subway station to block her, loudly questioning her about whether she had gone to see another man.

"I am not your property," she said, breaking up with him.

Looking back now, Lai Chi-fung was not only poor, but also calculating and restrictive in every way. Xu Junheng, on the other hand, is composed and generous, and has given her ample freedom and respect to this day. The contrast between the two is stark.

"Yeah, we broke up a few months ago." She snapped out of her reverie.

Xu Junheng exhaled a smoke ring and said nothing more. But the next time that night, he never used any protective measures again.

He felt that since it wasn't her first time, she should know to take the medication herself.

Wen Haijing noticed the change and a sense of unease crossed her heart. However, the feeling of being cherished that she sensed from Xu Junheng, or perhaps it was an illusion, made her willing to ignore those subtle uneases.

Moreover, after giving her 20,000 yuan, Xu Junheng did not make any further demands.

In the quiet of the night, Wen Haijing would calmly analyze her situation. A man like Xu Junheng, even if unmarried, might not necessarily marry a girl from her background. Between them lay two completely different worlds.

However, the little things that had happened these past few days had moved her deeply. The umbrella he handed her that rainy night, his patient companionship when she had a high fever, the time he stayed alone in the living room the first time they booked a hotel room, reminding her to lock the bedroom door and not disturbing her at all, and then taking her back to school early the next morning.

That night, Wen Haijing looked at Xu Junheng sleeping soundly beside her. His cold, hard features appeared much softer in the moonlight. She gently reached out and lightly traced his eyebrows and eyes.

Perhaps this is fate. She felt she had been lonely in this world for too long, unable to receive all of his love, but even these moments of tenderness were important to her.

Wen Haijing quietly moved closer and gently pressed her face against his firm back.

Let her savor this moment of warmth, even knowing that this relationship is doomed to fail. To her, Xu Junheng's tenderness surpasses a thousand times the suffocating "sincerity" of Li Zhifeng.

In the early hours of the morning, Xu Junheng got up, dressed, and transferred money to her, saying calmly, "I won't get a divorce. I remember telling you that."

He spoke with a calm expression. Wen Haijing looked into his deep eyes and saw that there was indeed no deception or concealment.

"I understand," she whispered, and kissed his lips.

This kiss carried too many complex emotions: a compromise with reality, a cherishing of this relationship, and perhaps even a resolute determination like a moth drawn to a flame.

After Xu Junheng left, Wen Haijing lay alone on the hotel bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Growing up in a family that favored sons over daughters, she longed to be loved and valued. What Xu Junheng gave her was precisely the care and acceptance she had always lacked.

Wen Haijing curled up, like a stray cat that had found its home. Even though this warmth came with danger, she accepted it willingly.

After Xu Junheng left the room, in the early morning, Wen Haijing's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the previous night.

After her weekend tutoring session ended, the rain outside showed no signs of stopping. Xu Junheng offered to drive her back to school.

As they approached the school, Wen Haijing mustered her courage and asked, "Mr. Xu, could I... borrow another sum of money from you?"

Xu Junheng's fingers tightened slightly around the steering wheel: "Have you already used up the 20,000 from last time?" His voice carried a hint of caution.

“It was used to pay off my brother’s dowry debt.” Wen Haijing lowered her head. “That 20,000 yuan is only a temporary relief. The debt collectors will come again next month. And… my mother accidentally fell and broke her leg at the construction site yesterday. I hope to find a way to help them pay off the remaining 190,000 yuan debt completely so that they don’t have to do heavy work at the construction site anymore and can find an easier job in the future.”

What Wen Haijing didn't say was that only her cousin objected to her working at the bar, while her parents were very supportive. Her feelings towards her parents were also complex, containing both filial piety and a sense of distrust.

Xu Junheng was silent for a moment: "You shouldn't keep filling the bottomless pit in the family like this."

His tone was both reproachful and helpless.

“I know…” Wen Haijing’s voice choked with emotion, “but I can’t just stand by and watch them be driven to the brink of despair.”

Xu Junheng parked his car on the side of the road, turned around, and looked at her seriously: "190,000 is not a small amount; it needs to be transferred through a bank. Do you have a bank account number?"

He paused, then said, "More importantly, why do you think I should give you this money?"

Wen Haijing met his gaze: "I can write an IOU, but I cannot promise a specific repayment date because I really don't have the ability to repay in the short term."

Xu Junheng did not answer immediately.

The car was completely silent except for the soft sound of raindrops hitting the roof.

Wen Haijing mustered her courage, extended her trembling fingers, and gently touched his wrist resting on the steering wheel. The touch was very light, like a feather brushing against him, yet it made Xu Junheng's body visibly stiffen.

He turned sharply to look at her, a look of shock flashing in his eyes. The next second, his warm hand gripped the back of her neck, and with an irresistible force, he kissed her lips.

This kiss was not as gentle as before, but was filled with wildness and some indescribable anger, as if punishing her recklessness, or as venting his own inner contradictions.

Wen Haijing did not resist, but obediently closed her eyes and savored the faint tobacco flavor between his lips and teeth.

When he finally released her, Xu Junheng gazed into her moist eyes: "Are you sure you know what you're doing? Are you sure you want this?"

Wen Haijing nodded slightly.

"Go get something to eat first." His tone had lost its usual composure. "You're too thin."

They arrived at a French restaurant. The head waiter led them directly to a quiet spot by the window. Wen Haijing nervously looked at the prices on the menu, her fingers accidentally knocking over a water glass, which shattered.

"It's alright." Xu Junheng pressed down on her flustered hand and gestured for a waiter to come and clean up. "Relax, I'll pay for the broken cup."

These words were like a warm current, slowly melting away the unease in Wen Haijing's heart.

When the dessert arrived, Xu Junheng put down his napkin, his expression suddenly turning serious: "You can still back out now." He looked directly into her eyes, "I can take you back to school after you finish eating, and we can figure out another way to solve the money problem."

Wen Haijing's fingers tightened slightly as she gripped the dessert spoon. At that moment, she clearly realized that Xu Junheng had given her one last chance. She thought of her mother's leg in a cast, her father's hunched back, and the helpless state of her home. She resolved that after giving this money, she would never accept any more requests from her parents.

“I’m sure,” she said softly.

Xu Junheng gave her a deep look, then waved to pay the bill.

In the hotel corridor, Xu Junheng's fingers, holding the room key, suddenly stopped just before touching the sensor area.

"Just a moment." He took back his room key and pulled a cigarette case from his suit jacket pocket. "I'm going to have a smoke."

He walked towards the floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the corridor, the flickering flame from his lighter briefly illuminating his taut jawline. Wen Haijing followed behind him.

As the smoke rose, he spoke, addressing her by her full name: "Wen Haijing, are you really sure? Let me have one more cigarette, and you can think it over carefully for five more minutes. I told you, don't treat me like a good person. If you turn around and leave now, I won't stop you."

Wen Haijing gazed at his tall, straight back, and suddenly thought of her cousin, Wen Xueyan. Although Wen Xueyan's family was also struggling financially, her mother never asked her for money. And what about herself? With a father who had been to prison, she wasn't even qualified to take the civil service exam.

She had excellent grades in high school, but on the morning of the college entrance exam, her mother, Wang Suying, felt that going to university would affect her chances of getting married and receiving a dowry, so they had a big argument. This caused her to fail her first exam that morning, and she forced herself to calm down and continue in the afternoon. However, her final score was still much lower than her usual mock exam scores, and she could only get into an ordinary second-tier university. Moreover, she had an older brother who was a burden to her, making her seem like a flawed product in the marriage market.

In that instant, she remembered Fan Shengmei from a drama she had watched before.

She remembered her penniless ex-boyfriend, the greasy Mr. Qian from the bar, and the small restaurant owner who tried to take advantage of her.

But Xu Junheng seemed different. He stood calmly by the window, even maintaining a perfect distance while smoking. The choice he offered was a level of respect his ex-boyfriend had never given him.

Amidst the swirling smoke, Wen Haijing suddenly understood why she couldn't move her feet.

The door to the room closed behind her. Xu Junheng walked up behind her, but didn't touch her immediately. He just said softly, "Go take a hot shower. You're still carrying the chill of the rain. Make sure you don't catch a cold again."

The thoughtfulness in those words brought a slight warmth to Wen Haijing's eyes.

This gentleness, more than the 190,000 yuan, frightened her, because she began to wonder if she was standing there for the money or for something else.

After that day, Wen Haijing considered taking the pill, but she also read about the side effects of emergency contraceptive pills and the concept of the safe period online, so she didn't buy it.

Subconsciously, she felt that if it were Lai Chi-fung, she would definitely take the medication because she was worried that she wouldn't even have the money for the surgery in the end.

*

Stepping out of her memories, Wen Haijing finished showering in her dormitory and came out of the bathroom to call her cousin Wen Xueyan again.

This time, the call was answered quickly.

"Sister, there's something I want to tell you."

She tried to narrate as concisely as possible, from Xu Junheng's gentlemanly aloofness on that rainy night, to his meticulous care when she was sick, and then to the two sums of money. She omitted some details, but it was enough for Wen Xueyan to understand the outline of the whole thing.

Wen Xueyan held her phone on the other end. She had initially thought her cousin was a naive girl who had been deceived, but now she realized that things were more complicated than she had imagined. Wen Haijing's narration contained helplessness, struggle, and even a conscious descent into depravity.

At this moment, Wen Xueyan suddenly recalled Cheng Boyan's earlier judgment. It turned out that he had long since seen through the ways of the world and understood that in this kind of relationship, it was difficult to judge it with simple right and wrong.

"Jingjing," Wen Xueyan began, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"I know. Sister, you're the only person I can confide in. Thank you for supporting me all these years. You probably guessed what happened when you saw me at the hospital that day. I need you to keep this a secret. If my parents ask anything, just say you don't know."

Wen Xueyan sighed softly: "What do you plan to do about the child?"

"I'll decide for myself," Wen Haijing paused, "but I haven't made up my mind yet."

"What about Xu Junheng? What's his opinion?"

"He said it's up to me. If I don't want the baby, he respects my choice and will pay for the surgery and nutrition. He said if I want to keep the baby, he will cover the upkeep costs, but regarding safety, he told me to think it through myself."

"Jingjing," Wen Xueyan carefully chose her words, "this matter concerns your entire life, you need to think it through."

A hint of stubbornness suddenly appeared in Wen Haijing's voice, "I'm realistic. I know what kind of person Xu Junheng is, and I know that he will never marry me. But..."

She paused, then said, "Sister, I'm different from you. Although you grew up in a single-parent family, your mother gave you all her love. I have both parents, but they favor boys over girls and always say I don't contribute enough to the family. Sometimes I feel like an orphan, or even worse than an orphan, because orphans don't have to pay off their brothers' debts. You know what? This is the first time in my life that I've had someone accompany and take care of me when I was sick."

Perhaps for Wen Haijing, she had been lonely for too long, and the little bit of warmth that Xu Junheng gave her was enough to make her ignore the risks behind this relationship.

"If you plan to have this child, then your future marriage..."

"Sister, I've always felt that my future marriage wouldn't be very good. I used to look up to you as a role model, but later I realized that although your family wasn't wealthy, it wouldn't be a burden. Otherwise, my ex-brother-in-law, Song Tiancheng, who had a car and a house, would probably have hesitated more when discussing marriage... But I'm different. From childhood to adulthood, the words I heard most often were, 'You're a girl, and the family has to support your brother,' because he's the boy in the family. You know, you helped me through high school."

Wen Xuejing paused, then continued, "Sister, my father has been to prison, and that stain will prevent me and my child from taking civil service exams. Our family is also in debt because of my brother, who is still working as a temporary security guard and can't even support himself. I don't want a family with poor financial conditions, like my ex-boyfriend's, because I don't want to suffer twice as much. And in well-off families, even if the man is temporarily blinded by love, his parents will object without hesitation after a little research."

Wen Xueyan listened quietly, a pang of sorrow rising in her heart; what she said was indeed the truth.

My cousin's voice gradually lowered, carrying a world-weary melancholy: "Call me foolish, call me depraved, but for me, this warmth is like a traveler in the desert finally finding water; knowing the water isn't pure, I still can't help but drink it."

Not long after hanging up the phone, her roommates returned. Wen Haijing buried her head in her knees and cried silently.

Wen Xueyan concisely edited the situation into a message and sent it to Cheng Boyan.

But five minutes later, there was still no reply.

She was somewhat surprised, because even when Cheng Boyan was in a meeting, he would always give a brief reply as quickly as possible.

She tried to reassure herself with reason, thinking he might be in a meeting or socializing. But her emotions spiraled out of control, heading in the worst possible direction.

She put down her phone and went to the nursery. The baby was sleeping soundly, his little hands curled up beside his cheeks, breathing evenly. This little face was looking more and more like his father.

Three minutes later, Wen Xueyan refreshed her WeChat Moments again and saw a new post.

It was posted by Rao Wanyi. Under the dim light, the red wine in the stemmed glass gleamed, accompanied by the caption: "The wine doesn't intoxicate people, people intoxicate themselves. I love this tacit understanding created by our similar backgrounds."

The other person's name was not mentioned, but every word implied a sincere admiration for someone.

Below is the location, showing the InterContinental Hotel in Jingzhou.

What made Wen Xueyan's pupils contract was an inconspicuous detail in the corner of the photo: a dark blue patterned tie casually draped over the sofa armrest.

She knew that tie all too well; it was the same style that she had tied for Cheng Boyan yesterday morning, even the subtle pattern was the same.

Wen Xueyan clearly remembered that Cheng Boyan's destination on this business trip was Jingzhou.

Wen Xueyan had never understood why some people would experience postpartum depression. But now, experiencing it firsthand, her emotions were fluctuating wildly. At this moment, hormonal fluctuations were like an undercurrent, overshadowing her reason and causing those unsettling thoughts to grow uncontrollably.

Wen Xueyan decided to make the call, but it was Rao Wanyi's voice on the other end: "Xueyan, is that you? What brings you to see President Cheng so late?"

Welcome all readers and fans to leave comments and vote! Thank you for your support.

This part is so realistic, it almost made me cry T﹏T

Thank you for your message.

Will there be an update today?

Waiting for updates

Thank you for your comment. (Just updated)