Chapter 51. Half an hour ago. The corridor...

Half an hour ago.

The passionate kiss in the corridor was abruptly interrupted by the sound of children's laughter as the elevator doors opened on the same floor. Afraid of being seen, Li Li hastily raised her hand and slapped Tan Su's face away.

He did stop, but maintained his original posture, pinching her chin, his body close to hers, looking into her clear black and white eyes, lowering his head to near her nose, and asking, "What were you busy with with Tan Yi, hmm?"

Tan Su was a man of deep and unpredictable thoughts. Li Li did not want to involve Tan Yi's mother, so she protested, "It's none of your business, Tan Su."

“How can it not concern me?” Tan Su said. “Both of you sound like you’re both of my business.”

He looked at Li Li's stubborn expression as she bit her lip, refusing to utter a word, and sneered inwardly, "You've been cuckolded for so long, and now you've forgiven me? You're all fired up again, going to be on his side, aren't you?"

Only those who truly understand you know where to stab you to hurt the most. Li Li's expression changed instantly, but Tan Su continued to press for answers.

He actually knew it wasn't true. If their old feelings had truly rekindled, he wouldn't have let Li Li return to the hotel alone at this time.

But a burning anger was raging in Tan Su's chest. He had traveled a long way to find her but got nowhere. She had even argued and fought with him because of Tan Yi. Now, with just a flick of Tan Yi's finger, she had eagerly taken a plane back. The contrast between the two was too stark.

He had to force Li Li to clarify and explain herself, to admit that there was nothing between them; he wanted Li Li to say it herself.

However, Li Li was not under his control.

The more Tan Su tried to respond to her, the less he got.

It has always been this way.

Under Tan Su's dark gaze, she confidently raised her vibrating phone high, displaying a message from Li Zhoudu.

"My brother is coming back, aren't you leaving?"

She ignored Tan Su, pushed him away, turned around and swiped the door open. As she slammed the door shut, he caught her from the outside, and Tan Su followed her inside.

That concludes the monitoring.

No one came out.

——

Li Li admitted that her intentions were impure; her feelings for Tan Su were just so-so, and she probably used him more than she cared.

Whether it's during an emotional breakdown, or fighting against the unbearable pain and sense of unworthiness caused by Tan Yi's betrayal;

Even abroad, he used it to relieve the boredom and loneliness caused by the immense academic pressure in a foreign land.

Tan Su is a perfect bed partner—generous, mature, and stable. Li Li would rate him a 90 out of 100 based on their past interactions.

But today, she has decided to let go of what happened before.

This means that her relationship with Tan Su has become meaningless to her.

If he had agreed to keep their relationship in this state, it might have been able to be maintained, but his burning jealousy today made Li Li afraid.

She could reach out and touch a cat's teeth, but she wouldn't dare put her arm in the mouth of a hungry lion.

After hanging up Li Zhoudu's call, Li Li stirred her coffee in a state of turmoil, wondering how to appease Tan Su and make things clear to him that perhaps the two of them should end things here.

Adults should be dignified and not pester someone relentlessly after they reject them, right?

She cleared her throat.

"Have you thought about how to explain this?" Tan Su stretched out his arms from behind to support himself on the table, as if capturing prey, and wrapped them around her.

Li Li thought coldly to herself: I'll explain you my ass!

Tan Su looked down at her fair neck, so slender it seemed he could bite it off in one bite. His emotions had slowly subsided, and his affection for her had surpassed everything else.

His lips slowly drew closer, his breath brushing against Li Li's skin.

She noticed Tan Su's movement, slightly dodged away, and said, "I don't want to do this anymore."

"What?" Tan Su asked.

“Yes, continue like this,” she said cruelly.

Tan Su felt his heart sink heavily, and turned the person around: "How are you now?"

“I don’t like having to explain anything to you, Tan Su,” she said, “because I’m not in a relationship. I don’t want to be in a relationship for a long time to come, and I don’t like you trying to control me like this.”

"Because I have no stance."

“Yes,” Li Li repeated, “you really have no stance.”

Even if two people have kissed or slept together countless times, it's all the same.

Tan Su remained silent in front of her, and Li Li felt uneasy, as if she were a heartless and treacherous woman who would turn her back on someone.

But ultimately, it was just that Tan Su was overthinking things.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Li Li subconsciously thought it was the dinner Li Zhoudu had ordered for her that had been delivered. She pushed Tan Su's arm away, walked around him, returned to the bedside, answered the door, and said, "Leave the things at the door."

“It’s me,” Li Zhoudu’s voice said.

Like a thunderclap out of nowhere, it shattered Li Li's thoughts of how to peacefully separate from Tan Su. She panicked. She could have fooled him by pretending to be asleep, but now that she had spoken to him, things were really going to get out of hand!

She swallowed hard, pretending to be sleepy: "Brother, I'm still sleeping."

"I'm here to get something, open the door."

"How about tomorrow?"

Li Zhoudu said, "Isn't he awake?"

She truly felt that her life was over. The embarrassing situation at that moment almost caused her brain's processor to explode, teetering on the brink of crashing.

While surfing the internet, Li Li also came across posts about beating up mistresses, and she just smiled at those bare thighs and arms.

Now she suddenly found herself in a similar situation, and apart from copying them by covering her face with a blanket and screaming wildly, her mind went blank and she couldn't think of any other way.

What to do? What to do? What to do?!

There was another knock on the door from the outside.

She paced anxiously, looking at Tan Su who remained motionless. Suddenly, she unleashed a powerful force and shoved him into the bathroom, saying that what they had said earlier was negotiable, and begged him to make sure to lock the door properly.

Even if the Earth explodes now, you must not come out.

After finishing all that, Li Li took a few deep breaths, trembling as she went over and turned the lock. The person standing at the door was backlit, and she didn't dare to look up.

Seeing her silent and timid like a quail, Li Zhoudu asked her without changing his expression, "Why do you look so pale?"

"I'm sleepy, brother."

Li Zhoudu remained silent. He stepped into the house, and Li Li, forcing a smile, asked, "Brother, what are you looking for?"

"The watch you gave me is gone," he said.

Li Li forced a smile and said, "I saw you looking at the time when I was eating breakfast this morning. How come your watch is in my room?"

“Really?” Li Zhoudu said.

Li Li wanted him to leave quickly, so she chimed in, "It's alright, it's alright if you lose it. I'll give it to you again if you like it."

Li Zhoudu chuckled enigmatically, "Oh, so you just let it go like that?"

Following his gaze, Li Li looked at the bed, which was still covered by the blankets, and then at the clothes she was wearing that she hadn't changed since returning home. She felt that she was full of flaws.

She closed her eyes, held her breath, and wondered if she could faint at a crucial moment like in the movies after holding her breath for more than ten seconds.

At this moment, Li Zhoudu said, "Then go to my room and help me find my watch."

Me?

Li Li asked in a flustered manner, "Now?"

"Not going? Or we can look for it in your room."

Li Li choked up. She admitted that she was a coward and didn't have the courage to stay at the crime scene. Even if she had to die, she wanted to die somewhere else.

She made a snap decision, abandoned the mess, and ran off to the next house.

Li Zhoudu watched her leave, looked around, twirled the handle of the coffee cup on the table, stared at the dark liquid inside, and said, "Aren't you coming out yet, Tan Su?"

After a moment of silence, the latch clicked and someone opened the door.

As Li Zhoudu heard the approaching footsteps, he raised his eyelids and said, "Why are you just like Tan Yi? Is this how the Tan family raises you to be a coward?"

"But let's play a game together with Li Li," Tan Su said calmly, yet ambiguously.

"Are you worthy?" Li Zhoudu looked him up and down.

Tan Su said, "I'm quite curious, why do you think I'm unworthy?"

Li Zhoudu sneered: "I overestimated your family's moral character. Tan Yi didn't finish what Tan Huiming ordered you to continue? Are you trying to rip me off?"

Tan Su smiled and said, "You're overthinking it, Zhou Du. Li Li and I are both unmarried; it's just a normal relationship between a man and a woman."

The coffee on the table suddenly flew out, and Li Zhoudu took a few steps over and grabbed Tan Su by the collar.

"She's just a child!" He suppressed his anger and hatred, which erupted like a volcano, making him appear furious.

At that moment, Tan Su was certain that Li Li was telling the truth when she said that Li Zhoudu could help her kill someone.

Li Zhoudu's eyes were terrifying: "Tan Su, you are an elder, but you are completely using your age and experience to deceive, coerce, and mislead her! This is not what you call normal."

"What is her relationship with Tan Yi? And what is your relationship with Tan Yi?"

For your own selfish desires, you dragged her into your family's filthy, stinking mess, ruining her reputation and wasting her youth. And you still think you're doing her a favor?!

Tan Su replied calmly, "All of this is just your imagination. Li Li is already in her twenties; she has the right to choose, and she's certainly not a child who doesn't understand anything."

“But I find it strange, Furutari.”

He said, "You're so angry now. Is it because you're overprotective as an older brother, or because of your own unspoken, not entirely legitimate feelings?"

He looked into Li Zhoudu's eyes and asked, "Can you answer me?"

When Li Li arrived next door, there were two cleaning staff looking for something. She followed them and squatted down to rummage through Li Zhoudu's suitcase, anxiously glancing repeatedly at the door, wondering when he would come in.

What will they say?

She felt her legs go weak and her head was sweating. After what seemed like an eternity, her phone rang in her pocket, and she picked it up tremblingly.

Li Zhoudu said, "Go back to your room and pack your things. You're leaving tonight."

Where to go? Where to go? Li Li's flight is from here tomorrow afternoon.

But she didn't dare to argue with him and simply said, "Okay."

Back in her room, she passed by Li Zhoudu in the hallway, as if he didn't see her.

When Li Li returned to her room, the bathroom door was open and the room was empty.

She knew in her heart that things were going badly.

Half an hour later, Li Li dragged her suitcase into the car in the underground parking lot. Li Zhoudu drove off without saying a word and got on the highway around 9 o'clock, heading towards S City.

Li Li was a little flustered and said, "Brother."

"He gave you those things, right?" Li Zhoudu seemed very calm. "Go back and smash them, throw them away, don't use them anymore."

"……good."

She knew how absurd this matter seemed to outsiders, and she felt incredibly guilty, thinking that she was supposed to clean up her mess with Tan Yi today, so how did she end up being caught by Li Zhoudu?

Li Li was extremely frustrated, but quickly comforted herself by thinking, "Nothing really happened today, right?"

It was just that Tan Su came to her room to talk, so she made up an excuse to fool him, since Li Zhoudu hadn't seen anything.

She convinced herself, made up a reason, and began to explain: "Actually, he came today because..."

"Don't say anything for now," Li Zhoudu said, gripping the steering wheel. He was completely enveloped in darkness, and no emotion could be discerned from his eyes. "I don't want to hear anything."

Upon hearing this, Li Li shrank into the passenger seat, trying her best to minimize her presence.

There were very few cars on the highway today. Li Li noticed that he was driving faster and faster, and the trees around him became fleeting blurs. When he occasionally encountered other cars, he was left far behind in an instant.

The speedometer reading reached an unprecedented number, and Li Li was a little scared. She said, "Drive slower."

Li Zhoudu has not responded.

Li Li said with a sob in her voice, "You scared me, Li Zhoudu!"

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Author's Note: I'm stuck! This is the first time I've filled an entire chapter with just one plot point.

Please!