Chapter 61: Will Bitter Seawater Turn into Orange Soda?

As if struck by an invisible lightning bolt, Li Wenjing's entire body went cold. She stared at him on the stage, like a person who couldn't swim drowning. Although it was useless, she still swam towards him desperately.

"No! This can't happen! Stop!" The voice in her heart was shouting frantically.

"We should be happy for Charles. He's finally back on track." Gustav had come to her side without her noticing, his arm firmly pressing down on her trembling shoulders. His voice was like stones hitting the ground, low and slow. "You two kids always gave me trouble, but you're all fine now."

No! You are destroying him now! You are forcing him to death!

Li Wenjing had just opened her mouth, before she could utter a rebuttal, when she felt a passionate gaze fall upon her. She instinctively looked up, meeting Gu Weiyi's gaze on the stage. His lips, on his young, beautiful face, once again smiled at her. It was warm, bright, a smile she was unfamiliar with. Perhaps it was something she had longed to see deep in her soul, something beyond the pain of life, the loneliness and solitude of life, something vaguely discernible, something she had always sought: a passionate desire to be human, something beyond the numbness of animal existence.

She felt that every drop of blood in her body was beating towards him.

He paused. "This honor doesn't belong to me. In fact, there are many who are more deserving of this place. First and foremost, it belongs to every single person struggling to survive in the refugee camps. They taught me the value of life, and taught me, even in desperate situations, to clench my fists and fight to stay alive."

He stared at the two people standing closely together in the audience. Gustav was the first to applaud, and then thunderous applause swept the entire hall. Only Li Wenjing remained motionless, like a frozen statue.

"Secondly, I want to thank my fiancée, Ms. Li Wenjing." His voice suddenly became extremely personal, as if the people around them had instantly evaporated, leaving only the two of them in the world. "Without Ms. Li, I wouldn't be who I am today."

"She is an excellent engineer. She brought us the most precious water and saved me. What she did is more meaningful than what I did, and she is more qualified to receive this honor than I am. As for why I received it, I believe everyone knows..."

The muscles on his face drooped. "Because my father is Gustav."

A few scattered laughs echoed from the audience. The smile on Gustav's face froze instantly, and he and Li Wenjing both froze in place.

"I've long pondered the meaning of life. The answer is often nothing, that perhaps our existence is inherently worthless. I even considered ending it all, until I fell in love with a girl, the best girl in the world. We talked about many stories, boring and interesting, about whether one can return to the sea, whether the bitter water will turn into orange soda, and from what planet our hearts are made... She gave me the courage to keep going, allowing me to face my own pain. It turns out that I am just an insignificant bubble, shattered by the waves at any moment, and disappearing without a trace. Even so, I must tell everyone..."

The sound in the microphone was suddenly cut off. Li Wenjing suddenly came to her senses and found that Gustav was no longer there.

"Wait me a moment!"

Regardless of whether Gu Weiyi heard it or not, Li Wenjing immediately plunged into the crowd and asked them where Gustav was. Like a fish swimming upstream, she squeezed through unfamiliar faces until she stopped in front of a dark-skinned woman.

"Nika..."

Before she could ask, Nika twisted her waist and squinted her eyes, "He went over there."

Li Wenjing followed her gaze and rushed to the backstage studio. Before she even entered, she heard Gustav roaring at the staff inside. Li Wenjing also rushed in and asked them to restore the microphone sound.

Despite her request, it was obvious no one would help her, so she squeezed directly to the console, looking for the microphone switch.

"Tell me how to do it?" she asked the staff member next to her. He glanced timidly at Gustav at first. She pretended to fiddle with the buttons, but he immediately glanced at the control panel. Following his gaze, Li Wenjing quickly flipped the control from "off" to "on." There was a hissing sound, and the microphone restarted.

"Get out of here!"

Gustav looked as if he wanted to eat her alive. His face instantly turned purple, and he rushed towards her with rage in his eyes. No matter how he pushed her or tore her hair, she firmly protected the console and refused to let him get close. Gu Weiyi's unfinished speech came clearly from the speakers:

"I must speak out about Philip's crimes. As far as I know, he forced, raped, and harmed countless people in Africa alone. I once met a girl in the countryside who was pregnant but refused to reveal the father of her child because she knew that if she did, both she and the child would die. When I was in school, he and his friends bullied me and others for a long time because I disobeyed him... One of the victims I know is still unable to leave the house and suffers a panic attack when she goes out in front of a crowd. I dare not think about how many more people he has harmed, and what I find most unbearable is my own cowardice - I knew everything, but I could only hide in fear."

At the same time, Gustav slapped Li Wenjing in the face with such force that Li Wenjing's head was buzzing like countless flies.

Li Wenjing gritted her teeth and finally couldn't bear it anymore and yelled at him, "You don't understand, you don't understand anything. If I don't move away, he will suffer more than death!"

"Get lost! Ciel is my child, bitch..."

As the two argued, Gu Weiyi continued, "My present and future are built on these crimes. Out of my inner conscience, no matter how uneasy it is, I must separate myself from these crimes, including Gustav. I will sever all ties with him, so this award does not need to be given to me. Goodbye, everyone."

As he finished his speech, Gustav's movements suddenly stopped, as if the microphone had been snatched away. He froze in place, only the tense muscles on his face twitched slightly. An unknown amount of time passed before Gu Weiyi arrived backstage and gently helped Li Wenjing to her feet. As they reached the door, Gustav, as if awakening from a dream, hoarsely called out his name.

"Dad, that's it. We have nothing to do with each other anymore. This is the last time I'm going to call you. I'm leaving. Thank you for raising me, but," Gu Weiyi's voice grew colder, "I'm also very angry because you hit Wen Jing. If something like this happens again next time, I will fight back for her."

"Why? You...you're completely bewitched by that woman. Don't push me anymore and hurt your father..." His voice was already hoarse, breaking into dust particles floating in the air. The wind made it impossible to hear what he was saying. "Wen Jing, I'll give you whatever you want and how much money you want. Please return my child to me, okay?"

Gustav no longer had the fierceness he had just now. His voice was choked with sobs, like a bitter plea. As soon as Li Wenjing turned her head, Gu Weiyi put his arm around her shoulders and leaned his head against her ear, blocking her view.

"I am no longer your child."

"Don't go. If you leave here, I won't be able to protect you anymore!"

"I don't need that kind of protection—being treated as a mental patient and locked up in a hospital? I want to be free, to bask in the sun, to do what I like, and to be with the people I love."

With these words, the two of them left the venue, the coolness of the night quietly set in. Sitting on a bench outside, waiting for the bus, Li Wenjing shuddered. He seemed to have lost all support, his head buried in her shoulder, as if he were bearing the weight of his entire body. She raised her hand to stroke his hair, her fingertips tangled in the soft strands, and suddenly she let out a low laugh.

"That's great. We have to go to work tomorrow, and we're still in Nairobi. How are we going to get back? We can't take Gustav's private jet. We need to think of a way!"

He opened his eyes, still bright, and his smile to her, even in the pale blue light of the night, was as bright as a newborn baby's. He only had eyes for her. After spending the long night of life and crossing countless desolate deserts, he finally found her. She was an oasis, the water of his life.

"There are planes and trucks bringing in supplies every day. I'll call my friends later. I'm too tired right now. Sorry."

Suddenly, a chill and stinging sensation came over her cheek, and she instinctively shrank back. He raised his handkerchief and put it on her cheek.

"I grabbed some ice when I came out. It helps reduce the swelling."

Li Wenjing was also very tired, too tired to think about anything. Now she only had him.

"Do you know the saying 'A poor couple has many sorrows'?"

"What's the meaning?"

"It means that if you stay with me, you will have nothing and will have to live a hard life. We will live day by day, and in the end, it will all be a mess."

"I don't know. I don't know what to do next. I only know that I have to return Maria's dress tomorrow morning and then go back to work. As for whether this will be a mess..." She could clearly hear the sound of his heartbeat. He said, "At least I have a good temper and am ambitious. I will work hard and hand over all the money I earn to Miss Li Wenjing. Even if I starve to death, Miss Li Wenjing will definitely live a good life..."

"Don't say 'die'!" She pinched his mouth. "How could I be that cruel? It makes me sound like an unscrupulous capitalist exploiting workers like you."

"Do you think I'm better now?"

Li Wenjing nodded, "I originally thought... you were going to do something with Gustav, selling your soul, so I was particularly anxious to find you."

"Isn't it because you never believe that I love you?"

"No way! You always misunderstand me..."

As she spoke, the headlights of a black car pierced her eyes as they cut through the night. Gu Weiyi immediately stood up and protected her tightly behind him.