Chapter 82 Collapse [VIP]

Chapter summary: "It's too hot to use a thermos."

The car was driving through the night.

As Fu Xianyin looked out the car window at the scenery receding into the distance, she suddenly realized that Shao Yang seemed to be driving a bit too fast this time.

Before she could think of anything else, Shao Yang had already arrived downstairs at the company.

He parked the car, opened the door on Fu Xianyin's side, and then locked the car in one smooth motion.

The elevator gradually ascended.

As Fu Xianyin watched the shrunken people and cars on the street, the strangeness and unease in her heart grew stronger.

bite

The elevator stopped on the seventeenth floor, and the two metal doors slowly opened.

Shao Yang politely reached out to hold the elevator door open for her, gesturing for her to enter.

Fu Xianyin's feet seemed to be rooted to the ground.

She couldn't take a step; she just stood in the elevator.

Shao Yang was extremely patient, holding the elevator door open for her without ever withdrawing his outstretched hand.

The two remained locked in a stalemate.

After an unknown amount of time, Fu Xianyin was the first to be defeated.

She lifted her foot and stepped out of the elevator.

Shao Yang led her to the door of Fu Dongyuan's office. He reached out and gently knocked on the door. After a "Come in" came from inside, Shao Yang pressed the doorknob and opened the door.

He said, "Miss Fu, please come in."

Fu Dongyuan's office was still as magnificent as ever.

The floor-to-ceiling windows take in the night view of Beichuan, where a brightly lit cityscape illuminates the entire area.

Fu Xianyin walked into the office, and with a "click," the heavy wooden door behind her was closed by Shao Yang.

Fu Dongyuan sat at his desk, his expression even somewhat gentle.

He tapped the table and said, "Come and sit down."

A large, sturdy leather swivel chair sits in front of the desk.

Fu Xianyin sat down, the soft chair sinking slightly. She sat up straight, not even placing her hands on the armrests, but rather tangled up in front of her with her clothes.

In contrast, Fu Dongyuan leaned comfortably against the back of his chair and even poured Fu Xianyin a glass of water.

The cup is a cut glass, it feels quite heavy in your hand, and it looks very valuable.

Fu Xianyin took the water, but didn't drink it; she put it aside.

She felt her nerves were stretched taut like a precarious thread, pulled tightly at both ends, about to snap.

She stared at Fu Dongyuan, her eyes fixed on him without blinking.

After a long pause, Fu Dongyuan asked, "Are you in a relationship?"

His tone was casual, as if he were just having a casual chat with a child.

Fu Xianyin did not deny it, and said, "Yes."

She didn't think Fu Dongyuan was trying to persuade her to focus on her studies and break up with him immediately.

She didn't even think that Fu Dongyuan's real reason for calling her over was just because she was in a relationship.

There must be something more important waiting for her.

So she didn't try to argue, nor did she try to steer the conversation away with meaningless, roundabout talk.

She simply looked at Fu Dongyuan quietly, waiting for him to say what he was about to say.

Unlike her nervousness, Fu Dongyuan was extremely relaxed.

He pointed to the glass of water and said, "You've come all this way, have some water and rest for a bit."

Fu Xianyin picked up the cup, took a symbolic sip, and then put it down.

The water did not soothe her throat; instead, it made her even more agitated.

Fu Xianyin dug her fingers into her palm, feeling the clarity that came with the pain.

After some time, she heard Fu Dongyuan ask, "Do you know who your little boyfriend is?"

For some reason, Fu Xianyin suddenly recalled Zou Yuqin's cold snort and the fleeting look of disgust on her face during her coming-of-age ceremony.

Her throat tightened, and she asked with some difficulty, "Is it the child of your business rival?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Dongyuan suddenly burst into laughter.

He picked up a pen, twirled it in his hand, and then said, "An opponent? I wouldn't call them an opponent."

The black pen twirled in his hand as Fu Dongyuan casually remarked, "Your Aunt Yu Jing is that child's aunt."

My heart felt like it stopped for a moment.

The blood also stopped flowing in the body.

Fu Xianyin felt her brain buzzing. She opened her mouth, but found that she couldn't even breathe.

Everything was blurry before her eyes; she couldn't even make out Fu Dongyuan's expression. All she could see was a phantom patch of color before her, constantly swaying, twisting, and deforming.

The thin air rushed into her nostrils, her chest heaving violently. She no longer had the strength to sit. She braced her hands on the desk until her fingertips turned white from the effort, barely managing to keep herself from sliding off the chair.

Why.

Fu Xianyin wanted to speak, to question, to grab Fu Dongyuan's collar and punch him in the face.

But the truth is, she can't even speak; all she can make are strained, unpleasant breathy sounds.

Fu Dongyuan did not let her off easily.

He said, "The news of your relationship reached my ears, and it also reached their family's ears."

He looked at Fu Xianyin calmly, as if he were just an observer, offering constructive advice for Fu Xianyin's future from an objective perspective.

But he was clearly the culprit.

Fu Xianyin didn't understand.

He was the one who cheated, he was the culprit, he hurt everyone and ruined everyone.

Why can he remain so indifferent? Why can he still do this?

With tears welling up in her eyes, Fu Xianyin could no longer hold back; her throat tightened and her voice trembled.

She said, "Why, why won't you even leave me a way out?"

Fu Dongyuan burst into laughter as if he had heard something ridiculous.

He said, "A way out? Fu Xianyin, get this straight, I know all this first, and I'm here to remind you so you can take the initiative. Once that boy finds out, what do you think he'll do?"

Fu Xianyin was trembling all over.

Now that the last fig leaf has been torn away, Fu Dongyuan can still say with a high-sounding voice: Look, I'm the one who gave you the initiative, you should thank me.

Fu Xianyin completely broke down. She almost screamed at Fu Dongyuan, "You cheated on me during our marriage! You're the one who wronged everyone! You're a scumbag! All the mistakes are your fault! How could you... how could you..."

She could barely continue speaking.

Fu Dongyuan looked at her indifferently and said, "All the mistakes are on my part? Fu Xianyin, you still haven't realized that."

"Yes, I made a mistake, but is Chen Huimei without fault? If you insist on saying that, then everyone is at fault."

"Including you."

A torrent of tears soaked Fu Xianyin's eyelashes, and she looked up at Fu Dongyuan in disbelief.

The man's expression was cold, but the words he uttered were extremely cruel.

He said, "Fu Xianyin, you were a mistake from the moment you were born."

“Your birth was the biggest mistake. Bigger than my mistake, bigger than Chen Huimei’s mistake.”

"You are the culprit."

"No one expected you to be born. You were an unplanned mistake, and your existence made everything worse."

A surge of nausea rose in her throat, and Fu Xianyin could no longer stay in this room, or in front of Fu Dongyuan, for even a second longer.

She used the table for support to stand up and stumbled as she ran outside.

Shao Yang stood at the door, and Fu Xianyin stumbled and bumped into him, then continued walking forward.

She finally collapsed to her knees, exhausted, when she reached a secluded corner.

She lay on the ground, retching, her forehead pressed against the cold tile floor, and burst into tears.

But she didn't actually have the strength to cry out loud; she was just convulsing, lying on the ground in a sorry state, making hoarse and unpleasant sounds from her throat.

Tears streamed down her face as Fu Xianyin lay on the ground, feeling her surging emotions gradually subside.

No, that can't be considered a resolution.

It is helplessness, it is despair, it has become a stagnant pool, a pool that will not be disturbed even by a raging storm.

She looked up and saw Shao Yang standing not far away.

Fu Xianyin no longer had the mind to think about how much of her disheveled state Shao Yang had seen.

She mechanically looked away, crawled to the wall, and then, supporting herself on the wall with her hands, slowly stood up.

She was so weak that she could barely stand. Shao Yang quickly came over to help her, and she grabbed his arm, struggling to prop herself up.

Shao Yang helped her back to the car, and Fu Xianyin scrambled in, then clung to the car door, panting.

Shao Yang saw Fu Xianyin huddled up in the rearview mirror.

Having served as Fu Dongyuan's secretary for so many years, he had attended countless social events and important occasions, and there were very few times when he was speechless.

But at this moment, looking at Fu Xianyin, he couldn't utter a single word.

After escorting Fu Xianyin into President Fu's office, Shao Yang waited at the door.

Through the office door, Shao Yang heard almost everything.

This includes Fu Dongyuan's cold and cruel accusations, and Fu Xianyin's complete breakdown when she could no longer hold back.

Shao Yang handed Fu Xianyin a bottle of water. He loosened the cap and watched as Fu Xianyin took the water and gulped it down, seemingly feeling a little better.

He started the car and asked softly, "Is there anywhere you'd like to go? I'll take you there."

The car drove through the night.

After Shao Yang asked that question, Fu Xianyin thought for a while and then gave him an address.

It was the place where Gu Linzhao had taken her to see the stars on New Year's Eve last time.

Shao Yang adjusted the navigation, played some music, and drove onto the highway.

Throughout the journey, Shao Yang was multitasking.

She had to watch the road, drive, and also pay attention to Fu Xianyin in the back.

Fu Xianyin remained completely silent throughout, focusing intently on looking out the window without uttering a single word.

Actually, when Shao Yang asked her where she was going, she really wanted to say sarcastically that Fu Dongyuan was really putting on a show, driving her to the brink of collapse and then having Shao Yang clean up the mess.

But she simply didn't have the strength to speak.

If she said that, Shao Yang would say, "Actually, that's not true."

Fu Dongyuan didn't even bother to clean up the mess, or to put it another way, he didn't care at all whether Fu Xuanyin, whom he had driven to the brink of collapse, lived or died.

It was Shao Yang's own conscience that was stirring within him, driving him to do this.

Shao Yang drives very steadily.

Even on the winding mountain roads, Fu Xianyin didn't feel any bumps while sitting in the car.

The car stopped at the top of the mountain, and it was pitch black outside the car window.

Fu Xianyin pushed open the car door and got out of the car. The moment her feet touched the ground, she fell to the ground with a thud.

Shao Yang heard the noise and rushed over. He saw Fu Xianyin clinging to the car window and standing up again.

She staggered to a spot and sat down, then looked up at the sky.

Thick clouds completely covered the sky, so you couldn't see the stars or even the moon.

The Starry Sky Camp was closed due to the bad weather, and apart from her and Shao Yang, there was no one else on the entire mountain.

Fu Xianyin just sat there.

Shao Yang, standing behind her, felt like a frightened bird; every movement Fu Xianyin made made him worry that she was going to jump off the mountain.

But she didn't.

She just sat there, looking at the sky.

She didn't know how long she had been watching before she got up from the ground, dusted herself off, and said softly:

Let's go.

It was already past midnight when Shao Yang took her back to school.

Shao Yang greeted the gatekeeper and they exchanged a few words before the gatekeeper let them into the school.

Shao Yang escorted her all the way to her dormitory building, and then told her, "If you don't want to go to school tomorrow morning, then don't. I'll ask your homeroom teacher for leave during the day. Take a good rest. If you have any questions, you can call me."

Fu Xianyin nodded and went upstairs.

She thought she would have a sleepless night, but perhaps because she had used up too much energy during her breakdown today, she actually fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes again, it was already bright daylight. Fu Xianyin checked her watch and found that it was noon.

She left in a hurry yesterday, without even taking her backpack; all her belongings were still in the classroom. There wasn't much to pack in the dorm, so she washed her face and headed to the classroom.

It was lunch break, and when Fu Xianyin pushed open the door, there were only a few students scattered around doing their homework in the classroom.

She returned to her seat and began to tidy up her somewhat messy desk, only to find that the pens and papers that had been scattered around yesterday had already been neatly organized by Gu Linzhao.

She paused for a moment, then opened the book and began to study.

Gu Linzhao arrived just as the lunch break bell rang. He walked quickly to his seat and tapped the table lightly with his knuckles.

Fu Xianyin ignored him.

He had no choice but to sit down, and the chair made a noise that caught Fu Xianyin's attention.

She turned her head and looked at Gu Linzhao.

Gu Linzhao asked, "Why didn't you reply? How was last night?"

Fu Xianyin, a beat late, exclaimed "Ah!" and said, "I forgot to check my phone."

She did not answer the second question, and it is unclear whether she deliberately avoided answering or accidentally ignored it.

Seeing Fu Xianyin's somewhat dazed expression, Gu Linzhao had no intention of letting the conversation end there.

He wanted to continue asking questions, but when he glanced around, he froze on Fu Xianyin's unusually empty desk.

That spot used to hold that pink bear-shaped thermos.

A part of his heart was pounding, but Gu Linzhao forced himself to ignore that feeling of unease.

He pretended to be natural and said:

Where's your cup?

Gu Linzhao deliberately concealed the probing intent in his words, speaking calmly as if it were just a casual question.

But Fu Xianyin's answer sounded like a casual remark.

She looked up at her empty desk and said:

"It's too hot to use a thermos."

[Author's Note]

The high school storyline is officially entering its final countdown!

As expected, this kind of sour and bittersweet feeling suits me better. I felt much more at ease when I wrote about the young couple who were about to separate and started to struggle with each other!

God knows how difficult it was for me to write the first few chapters about the two of them falling in love, sob sob sob.

The fact that Lin Yujing is Gu Linzhao's aunt was actually foreshadowed a little bit when Yinyin returned to Linlan last semester. However, it wasn't very obvious. But then again, it's precisely because it wasn't very obvious that it's called foreshadowing (unconvinced, yet still confident, hands on hips).

Yinyin's breakdown was actually quite understandable. She was already under immense pressure, and being with Gu Linzhao brought her more happiness and hope for the future. However, this hope stemmed entirely from Gu Linzhao, not from any expectation or expectation she herself had for the world. Telling her at this moment that her hope for the future was completely shattered, and that an abyss of despair awaited her, even more so than before, made her collapse quite natural. She knew how happy Gu Linzhao's family was; she couldn't, or rather, she dared not, gamble with that.