Chapter 57

The drive to Macedonian Mountain Lodge takes an hour and a half. Zuo Xutong and Peng Kun are in the same car. This is the second time she has driven to this place, but her mood is completely different.

Peng Kun sat in the passenger seat, gazing out the window, lost in thought.

"I went to the dog kennel just now, but I didn't see Junior Three." Zuo Xutong broke the silence.

"He must have gone to another room to freeload again; he's very popular at the nursing home," Peng Kun said.

Zuo Xutong smiled and said, "It's been a long time since I've seen it."

"I bet if you see it, you'll suspect I've changed dogs again."

"ah?"

"It has gained ten pounds."

When I first came to the nursing home, I weighed only eight pounds in my third year of junior high school. In just six months, I have gained weight to 18 pounds, more than doubling my weight.

“I believe you now,” she said.

"Believe me about what?"

"I believe you, I'll be happier being your girlfriend."

Peng Kun turned his gaze to the window again and chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Just pretend I didn't say that."

"Why?"

"In my current state, I can't even take care of myself, so who else can I take care of?"

The car gradually slowed down. Zuo Xutong glanced at him and said seriously, "Maybe she doesn't need you to take care of her. She can not only take care of herself, but also the company, you, and your dog..."

"She's so amazing, why is she with me?" Peng Kun's tone was somewhat helpless.

"Because she likes you."

Peng Kun remained silent, and the car fell silent once again.

After arriving at their destination, everyone walked towards the hotel in twos and threes, with Zuo Xutong and Peng Kun lagging behind.

At this moment, the glass door of the lobby was pushed open, and Geng Yue came out with Luan Mingfeng on her arm. She said something, and Luan Mingfeng laughed.

Despite being mentally prepared, Zuo Xutong still unconsciously frowned when she saw them. She quickly turned her face away and walked forward without looking to the side.

Luan Mingfeng glanced up and saw Zuo Xutong; his smile instantly froze on his face. The two brushed past each other, and he stopped, turning back to stare at her retreating figure, his expression extremely unpleasant.

He didn't come to his senses until Geng Yue called him twice. They had arrived last night and were preparing to return today.

After getting into the car, Geng Yue fastened her seatbelt and couldn't help but glance out the window: "They're together?"

"I don't know." Luan Mingfeng shook his head. He guessed that such a large group of people probably hadn't come here for a romantic getaway.

"I heard that General Peng was seriously injured some time ago."

"How did you do that?"

Geng Yue recounted what she knew, and finally sighed, "What a pity, the handsome young man has become disabled."

Because there were many guests, their rooms were spread across two floors. Before dinner, everyone planned to take a stroll in the garden. Zuo Xutong went upstairs to put down her backpack, tidied herself up briefly, and then went to the lobby on the first floor to wait for others.

Peng Kun quickly came downstairs and, seeing her standing there, said, "Let's go first."

The two left the hotel and walked side by side on the gravel path leading to the garden. In the distant sky, the enormous setting sun was slowly sinking, its crimson afterglow spreading across the sky and dyeing everything in the world red.

Their shadows stretched long behind them, cast by the setting sun. The distant mountains and the nearby grasslands were bathed in a soft golden glow. The birdsong seemed to come from near and far, and everything was breathtakingly beautiful.

Zuo Xutong was so captivated by the beautiful scenery that she tripped and fell forward.

Peng Kun instinctively reached out his right hand to grab her, but as soon as he grasped her clothes, the force of the fall caused him to lose his grip. He watched helplessly as she fell to the ground.

Zuo Xutong got up from the ground, dusted herself off, and smiled at him, "It's okay, I didn't hurt my face."

He gave a bitter smile. The more indifferent she seemed, the more guilty he felt. They walked a little further when he suddenly stopped. He hesitated several times, then finally managed to say with difficulty, "Let's forget it. We... aren't right for each other."

Zuo Xutong was stunned; she hadn't expected him to be so direct.

"I can't lend a helping hand when you're in your most critical moment. Instead, I'll become... a burden to you." His expression was unusually cold, but his voice was weak and powerless. He spoke those two short sentences in a fragmented way.

Zuo Xutong looked at him, her heart sinking deeper and deeper.

“There are still more than thirty elderly people in the nursing home… waiting for me to take care of them in their old age and see them off in their final days. Your life shouldn’t be burdened with so much responsibility.” After saying that, without waiting for her to react, he turned and walked towards the back mountain, leaving her alone there.

Peng Kun did not appear until dinner time. Fang Zeduan called him and said that he was at the farm in the back mountain and told everyone not to wait for him, to eat, drink and have fun, and that the company would reimburse all expenses.

After dinner, everyone went to see a performance and soak in the hot springs, but Zuo Xutong wasn't in the mood for fun and went back to her room alone.

At 10 p.m., the corridor outside gradually quieted down. She turned off all the lights and was about to go to bed when the landline on the bedside table suddenly rang.

She answered the phone, and a female voice came through: "Hello, this is the front desk. The guest in room 308 needs to see you. Please come over when it's convenient for you."

Only Peng Kun and Yuan Liang lived on the third floor. Zuo Xutong put down the phone, didn't have time to think, took the room card and went upstairs, knocking on the door of room 308.

The door opened quickly, and Luan Mingfeng stood before her in a bathrobe. He had just finished showering; his hair was still wet, and the white bathrobe hung precariously on his body. He leaned against the door, deliberately opening the bathrobe a little to reveal his well-defined upper body muscles.

When Zuo Xutong saw it was him, she turned to leave, but he pulled her into the room and closed the door behind her.

“Let’s talk.” Luan Mingfeng blocked her way in the aisle.

"Didn't you leave?"

"They're back again."

She stared at his bare upper body and asked expressionlessly, "Are you going to switch careers and become a male model?"

Luan Mingfeng reluctantly pulled his bathrobe tighter. He had intended to release his male hormones, but to his surprise, she remained unfazed and even made sarcastic remarks about him.

"What do you want?" Looking at the man before her, she felt no longer any emotion. Only after encountering a mountain did she realize that what she had previously traversed were merely hills; only after encountering the ocean did she realize that what she had once admired were merely streams.

"I heard that Huacheng Technology secured funding using your patented technology?" Luan Mingfeng asked tentatively.

She neither confirmed nor denied it. He hadn't believed it before, but now it seemed the rumors were true.

Luan Mingfeng's face darkened, his voice tinged with displeasure: "What exactly are you thinking? You ignore such an outstanding man like me and chase after a disabled person?"

“Excellent? What makes you excellent?” Zuo Xutong thought to herself as if she had heard a joke. “If I hadn’t been your assistant for a few days, I wouldn’t have known that you haven’t improved at all over the years.”

"Zuo Xutong, don't go too far!" Luan Mingfeng said angrily.

"I'm being unreasonable? Didn't you confuse the company's lithium battery and fuel cell R&D models? Didn't you use RMB instead of USD when negotiating contracts? Didn't you misattribute the names of many middle-level managers? Didn't you lay off the most technically capable recycling department and send them to competitors?"

"Oh right, you didn't know, did you? Huacheng Technology was built by the group of people you personally laid off." Zuo Xutong ruthlessly ripped open his wounds, no longer caring about his feelings, venting all the pent-up resentment and subservience she had endured during that time, feeling a sense of satisfaction in avenging herself. "Of course, you don't care about any of that. You only care about whether your new office is decorated in a high-end and classy style, whether the world-famous watch you bought from Europe is a limited edition, and whether the great physique you built at the gym can attract the opposite sex."

Luan Mingfeng was stunned by her words, his shoulders slumped, and he weakly defended himself: "I... I'm at least a healthy person, unlike him..."

He was injured while saving someone.

Seeing that she was still protecting that person, Luan Mingfeng was furious: "Saving someone? You just wanted to play the hero, but you went too far, didn't you?"

Zuo Xutong glanced at him with disdain. Some people, with dark hearts, do not believe that there is any light in the world. They desperately dig out the evil in good people and look for lice on the robes of saints to prove the ugliness of human nature.

She was too lazy to argue with him anymore and said dismissively, "So what if I want to chase after him everywhere? It's none of your business anyway."

“Wake up. Be with me, and the entire Luan Group will be mine. After we get married and have children, all my assets will be yours.” Luan Mingfeng understood that with her current net worth, small favors like a house wouldn’t sway her. He could only use his vast fortune as bait, pointing out to her “the splendor of all nations.”

"Your entire fortune is mine?" Zuo Xutong was quite surprised. "How many billions do you have? Can I possibly spend it all in my lifetime?"

Looking at her expression, Luan Mingfeng thought she was moved, but then he heard her say, "Do you want me to die with my eyes open in disbelief?"

What are you saying?

"Haven't you heard the saying, 'The greatest pain in life is dying before you've spent all your money'?"

Even his ultimate weapon seemed to have failed him. Luan Mingfeng panicked a little and softened his tone: "I admit that I was a bit harsh on you before and set up a lot of obstacles for you, but that was all because I love you."

"I'm sorry, I don't love you," Zuo Xutong said without any mercy.

He stared at her unmoved face and finally exploded: "What else do you want from me? There are plenty of women who like me. I won't wait for you forever!"

"Yes, many women like you, but what do you think they like about you? Do they like your ruthlessness? Your superficiality? Your excessive indulgence? Or do they like that you, as the CEO of a tech company, spend all your time in the gym working on your eight-pack abs and pecs?"

Zuo Xutong glanced at his muscular physique and said in one breath, "President Luan, this is the age of technology. Even wars are fought with missiles and drones. There's no need for close combat anymore. So what if you've trained like this? If you go out and punch someone, won't you start at 20,000? Oh, I forgot, you have plenty of money. Even if you beat someone into a punching bag, you can afford to pay for it."

Luan Mingfeng's face turned pale, but he had no way to refute it.

Zuo Xutong continued, "Yes, you are indeed very handsome, but your handsomeness is utterly useless, and you are also very poor, so poor that all you have left is money. What do you think women like about you? They only like your wealth and status, not this soulless empty shell of yours!"

“You…” Luan Mingfeng clenched his fists, his face turning red and white in turns.

"You say you love me, but you don't really understand what love is. You must have heard the story, right? Two women went to the king with a baby, each claiming to be the child's mother. The king couldn't tell the truth, so he ordered them to have a tug-of-war. He had the baby placed on a table, and they stood at opposite ends, each grabbing one of the baby's arms. Whoever snatched the child would have it. At the king's command, one woman pulled hard on the baby, causing it to cry loudly in pain, while the other woman let go." Zuo Xutong stared into his eyes and asked, enunciating each word clearly, "Tell me, who loved the child more?"

Seeing that he was speechless after her rebuttal, Zuo Xutong's emotions calmed down and her attitude softened. She said earnestly, "Mingfeng, sometimes love is about letting go, not demanding, much less possessing. If you truly love me, then let go and leave each other with some respect and dignity."

After saying that, she pushed him away and left without looking back.