(eighty)

Lin Tingfeng remained calm and said, "I am sincere towards you. The villa in Hangzhou was built for you. As long as you are willing to let me take care of your life, I can transfer the property rights of the Hangzhou house to you. You can rest assured."

Taking care of her life? Making "keeping a woman as a mistress" sound so elegant?!

Ye Wenyu felt it was all ironic. She mocked him, "Haha, yes, this is the treatment of a mistress. She gets a golden house and then feels at peace with her conscience, right? Lin Tingfeng, I am poor, I am suffering, but I am a student at Q University! I can support myself. Don't look down on me!"

She angrily shouted at the old English boatman, "Stop, stop!" and then said in English that she wanted to dock. The boatman looked at Lin Tingfeng, who nodded, and the fisherman docked.

Ye Wenyu stumbled off the boat. In her haste to escape, she jumped into the water, soaking her pants. Lin Tingfeng was very nervous. Fortunately, the boat was close to the riverbank and the water was not deep. Ye Wenyu waded through the water and ran towards the shore.

She forced herself not to let her tears fall. Lin Tingfeng followed her off the boat. Compared to her emotional outburst, he seemed calm and collected. He seemed to be just a little surprised and troubled. He was surprised because he didn't expect her to react so strongly, and troubled because he was about to lose her.

What was supposed to be a sure thing turned out to be completely unexpected. For the first time, he was thrown into a panic. He silently followed behind her, heartbroken, his heart burning with anxiety.

Ye Wenyu looked at him and sneered. Ha! He said he liked her, liked her from the very first moment, but the result of his liking her was to keep her as his mistress! Discovering this terrible truth was like drinking ice water on a cold day, each drop hitting her heart like a knife. She had never been deceived or hurt like this before. She had endured eighteen years of hardship, experiencing the full spectrum of human nature, but now, thinking back, those who had bullied and hurt her before were nothing compared to Lin Tingfeng. Those who had hurt her before were like a minor cold, while the harm Lin Tingfeng had inflicted was like a fatal cancer—she would never forget it!

She glared at him angrily, desperately fighting back tears, and cursed him through gritted teeth, "I have never seen such a cold-blooded, despicable person as you!"

He toyed with the feelings of a young, poor girl, even extinguishing her only source of warmth!

This scheme ruined her feelings, during her most pitiful moment—

Lin Tingfeng looked at her, but he did not defend himself.

Ye Wenyu looked at him, her hands trembling, feeling only pain.

She thought about her feelings, the sweetness of her first crush, her unspoken girlish thoughts, her silent anticipation, and looking into his star-like eyes. For more than half a year, she liked him, loved him, and wholeheartedly wanted to marry him, have children with him, and be together forever. She was so foolish. He always mentioned in front of her that he was an old man, which was actually a reminder to be aware of his married status, but she instinctively refused to investigate, which allowed her to fall so deeply in love, leading to such pain now!

Instead of blaming him, blame yourself. Scammers set up traps for everyone, but smart people won't fall for them.

Ye Wenyu said to Lin Tingfeng, "Lin Tingfeng, you are a big liar. The romantic love I thought I had turned out to be a complete fraud from beginning to end. For the rest of my life, I never want to see you again. Goodbye!" Then she turned around and left like a whirlwind, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Lin Tingfeng watched her fleeting figure disappear as she ran away. He stood there for a while, his body as still as a pillar. Several hours later, he took out a cigarette and lit it, then slowly lowered his head and walked towards the parking lot.

At first, Ye Wenyu ran frantically away from Lin Tingfeng, like a wounded little animal. In the instant she turned around, knowing he couldn't see her expression, she slowed down, her steps decelerating. Tears streamed down her face like a burst dam, blurring her vision instantly. But she restrained herself from wiping them away, afraid he would still see her actions; she didn't want him to see her sadness.

After running for half an hour, her tears had dried up, she was completely exhausted, and she didn't know where she was. She was certain that Lin Tingfeng would never appear in her sight again, so she finally stopped. Her legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and her heart ached as if it was about to burst. She supported her knees with her hands, bent over, and gasped for breath. Sweat poured down her forehead and face like rain, and the pain overwhelmed her like a tidal wave.

This kind of pain is like major surgery. When the laser scalpel cuts through the flesh, you don't feel pain at first. It only gets more and more painful as time goes on.

Before going abroad, because of the story he told her about "Lin Ye Ju," she had sweet longings and beautiful dreams for the future. Little did she expect that in the end, it was all a deception, and all her efforts were in vain. She was like a monkey in a circus, always thinking that she could catch the moon in the well. He said he liked her and loved her, but at most, he just wanted her to be his mistress. This was his so-called love and liking. He loved her, but he wanted to treat her as a plaything!

Anger and humiliation made Ye Wenyu tremble all over. It was May, the sun was bright and warm, and even after a while, especially with vigorous exercise, one could feel the heat of summer. But Ye Wenyu felt a chill rising from the depths of her heart, invading her entire body. She felt as if she were in the dead of winter, in a frozen wasteland. She was unbearably cold, her whole body icy, as if even her blood had frozen. She was becoming a frozen person. The hot sweat on her body turned into cold sweat. She felt like someone who had just been pulled out of cold water; she felt like she was seriously ill.

She remained bent over, hands supporting her waist, for a long time. Memories flashed through her mind like ice, and pain, like a cycle of reincarnation, gnawed at her heart again and again, like a venomous snake.

She was hurt after all!

Although she was intelligent, she had considered from the beginning that her relationship with Lin Tingfeng could lead to two possible endings. One was a happy ending like a fairy tale, where the prince and princess fell in love, eventually married, had children, and lived happily ever after. The other was a bad ending in reality, where she would become his mistress, his concubine, and be kept in a gilded cage until he grew tired of her and abandoned her, leaving her old, faded, homeless, and childless.

She always knew that the two outcomes were each fifty-fifty, but she decided to gamble until the end, until the answer was revealed, after all, there was a fifty percent chance of winning, right? Unexpectedly, she still lost the gamble.

Over the past ten days, she had repeatedly prepared herself mentally and made mental preparations, but she was still hurt, and hurt very badly.