Chapter 37 Chapter 37 The Truth

Time seemed to stand still at this moment, with only the bare branches rustling in the night.

Across the sparsely populated road, Wen Li stood in the shadow of a neon sign. The cold wind blew the fine hair on his forehead away, but it couldn't blow away the complex emotions in his eyes.

Guan Mi tightened her grip around the plastic bag. She looked at the man with whom she had shared her youth, yet now he seemed to be separated by an insurmountable winter.

She lowered her head almost in panic, took a breath of the biting cold air, and then took heavy steps towards him.

Wen Li saw Guan Mi move, and unconsciously took a few steps forward. As he watched the face he'd imagined countless times approach, his heart filled with a sour, swollen pain that threatened to burst.

Guan Mi stood in front of him, only one step away from him.

She looked at his thin face, the tips of his ears that were red from the cold, and the white scarf around his neck that was the same as hers. She also clearly saw the unreserved heat in his eyes, which instantly collapsed a corner of the defense she had built up for a long time.

"Long time no see." Wen Li spoke first, his voice hoarse and dry, as if they hadn't had a good conversation for a long time.

An unfamiliar smell of tobacco drifted into Guan Mi's nostrils, replacing the familiar, youthful minty fragrance in his memory. Guan Mi's heart sank. When did Wen Li start smoking?

"Are you...doing well?" he asked cautiously.

Guan Mi came back to his senses, lowered his eyes slightly, opened his mouth, and replied softly, "I'm fine."

"What about you?" she couldn't help but ask.

Before he could speak, she continued, "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you... I'm deeply sorry."

Wen Li's Adam's apple rolled, and he whispered, "It's all over."

There was silence. Only the sound of the wind rustled through the streets.

"Is there something that brings you to Beijing this time?" Guan Mi raised her eyes, but was unexpectedly caught in Wen Li's sight. She panicked and immediately avoided him, looking at the community gate behind him.

"I've submitted my resignation," Wen Li said. "It should be approved after the new year."

Guan Mi looked at him in surprise, almost thinking he had misheard, "Why did you suddenly resign?"

Wen Li is a man of outstanding work ability. He has a bright and promising future in this field and carries the high expectations of his family. How could this happen...

Wen Li lowered his head and let out a light breath. When he looked up again, the smile on his face could hardly hide the sadness. "Resigning is the thing I've thought about most clearly in recent months. After the process is completed, I will come here and work while preparing for this year's national examination."

Wen Li's words were like a thunderclap, exploding in Guan Mi's ears, "You want to stay in Beijing?"

"Yeah." He looked at her with a burning gaze: "Mimi, let's start over, okay? I won't force you to go back to Jiangcheng like before." He smiled bitterly, "The biggest obstacle between us is gone. This time I will lean on you completely."

After saying that, he suddenly remembered something very important, "Mimi, actually I wasn't married. At that time, I just put on a show with someone else for grandpa to see so that he could leave with peace of mind."

These words made Guan Mi's heart clench. She looked at the man in front of her who had given up everything for her. Her throat felt like it was clogged with cotton, making it difficult for her to make a sound.

She knew better than anyone that there was no possibility of starting over between her and Wen Li.

At this very moment, in the plastic bag in her hand, there was a box of condoms that she would share with another man. She was no longer the same person she was a few months ago. With Chen Yanfeng by her side, even if she didn't like him that much, the days and nights they spent together over the past few months, the physical intimacy, had become a fait accompli that could not be erased.

She is no longer just Wen Li's Guan Mi.

"Wen Li, I..." She spoke with difficulty, feeling as if every word was tearing her internal organs apart, "I already..."

Before she could finish her words, she caught a glimpse of a figure slowly approaching from the right. In the dim light, the person was holding a scarlet in their hand, and their steps were as leisurely as if they were strolling in their own yard.

Her heart suddenly tightened and she turned to look at the man who was supposed to be in Hong Kong.

Wen Li looked in the direction Guan Mi was looking at in confusion. When he saw who it was, hatred flashed across his eyes.

The ghost lingers.

Chen Yanfeng stopped a few steps away from them, his gaze sweeping past Wen Li before finally settling on Guan Mi, whose eyes flashed with panic. He took a puff of his cigarette, the white mist curling away in the chill air.

"Are you done talking?" His voice was strangely calm. "Mimi, it's cold outside. We should go home."

This affectionate "Mi Mi" was like a needle, completely piercing Wen Li's last doubts. He abruptly withdrew his gaze, staring intently at Guan Mi's face, which was so pale that it told everything. Suddenly, he remembered the words of the convenience store clerk in Jiangcheng. The light in his eyes flickered violently for a few times, then dimmed little by little, and finally returned to a dead silence.

It turned out that he was too late. When he arrived, there was already someone else by her side.

But how could he accept this?! How could he just watch their four-year relationship being snatched away by a wicked person?

The reason his family, he, and Guan Mi had come to this point was all thanks to this unscrupulous man! He would never let Guan Mi be deceived by Chen Yanfeng again!

Seeing Guan Mi motionless, Chen Yanfeng pinched out his cigarette and took a step forward, "Aren't you leaving? Mimi." He gently emphasized the tone of "Mimi".

And the next second, he saw Wen Li standing in front of Guan Mi.

This scene seemed familiar. But, on what basis did Wen Li do this?

His eyes narrowed slightly, and his voice turned cold: "Get out of the way."

Wen Li forced out a cold smile: "What qualifications do you have to ask me to give in?"

“The one who is not qualified now,” Shen Yanfeng raised the corner of his mouth in contempt, “is you.”

This sentence completely infuriated Wen Li. He thought of the deceased old man, Guan Mi's desperate tears on the day of their breakup, and the trap set by Chen Yanfeng. All the images flooded into his mind, and his anger instantly overwhelmed his rationality.

He suddenly threw a punch at Shen Yanfeng.

Chen Yanfeng looked at the incoming fist, but surprisingly, he didn't move at all. He even tilted his head slightly, allowing the punch to land firmly on his cheekbone.

With a "bang", he staggered back half a step and stood firm. He raised his hand to wipe the corner of his lip, where blood was oozing.

Guan Mi covered her mouth in shock. Seeing Chen Yanfeng heading towards Wen Li, she almost instinctively rushed up to him, hugged his waist, and pushed him back hard.

"Don't hit him!" she shouted urgently.

The air froze at this moment.

Chen Yanfeng's body stiffened, and he looked down at the hand around his waist. His voice was filled with disbelief and bitterness: "Guan Mi, I'm the one being beaten now."

Wen Li stared at Guan Mi's back as she hugged Shen Yanfeng tightly, and felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Guan Mi then realized how hurtful her actions were, and she quickly let go of her hand. But in the next moment, the man in front of her grabbed her wrist and pulled her to his side.

The corners of Shen Yanfeng's mouth were still bleeding, and his eyes swept towards the pale Wen Li: "Look carefully, the one standing next to her now is me, and the one without status is you."

Wen Li looked at Guan Mi's hand that didn't break free, forced himself to look away, and said with a last glimmer of hope in his voice: "Mi Mi, tell me, is what he said true?"

Tears silently fell from Guan Mi's eyes: "Wen Li, can you go back first?"

Wen Li gave an extremely bleak smile, turned around and disappeared into the lonely night.

Guan Mi looked in the direction where Wen Li left and felt Shen Yanfeng's hand tightening.

She pursed her lips and quickly wiped away her tears. When she looked up, her smile was uglier than crying. She met Chen Yanfeng's cold black eyes and said hurriedly: "I'm sorry, I... I just thought you were going to fight back, so, that's why I did this..."

In a word, he was shaking like a mess.

She saw the bright red at the corner of his mouth, and her heart began to beat violently. She reached into her coat, took out a tissue, and stood on tiptoe to wipe away the blood.

Chen Yanfeng watched her actions indifferently, his lips tightly drawn. He found her hypocritical attempts to make amends ironic. No matter how she explained, her first reaction was to defend another man.

He pushed the hand away, pulled her away and turned away.

"Where to go..." Guan Mi struggled subconsciously, not wanting to leave with Shen Yanfeng. She knew too well that he was the calm before the storm, and that tonight was destined to be a night that would not let her get through safely. Her mind was in a mess, and she had no mind to deal with him at all.

"My roommates are still waiting for me to come back from shopping. I can't go with you."

However, Shen Yanfeng turned a deaf ear to her words and almost half dragged and half hugged her as he hurried to the front of the car. He suddenly opened the back door and stuffed her in.

The car started quickly and drove away from this dangerous place like an arrow.

Guan Mi looked at the rapidly receding street scene outside the window, silently wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, took out his mobile phone and sent a WeChat message to Zhuang Shuimo.

After arriving at Qingtao Garden, Guan Mi didn't stay in the car. At this moment, she was ready to face everything. No matter what Chen Yanfeng said, she would obey and didn't want to resist in vain.

The elevator rose steadily, and the mirror showed two silent figures.

Chen Yanfeng looked at Guan Mi's calm face, his eyes falling on the convenience store bag in her hand. Judging from the outline, it was alcohol. He took the bag and looked down. In addition to beer, there was also a box of condoms.

He took it out and asked knowingly, his voice full of deliberate sarcasm: "I'm out of town, why did you buy a condom?"

Guan Mi paused, his tone becoming colder: "Because I expected you to come back suddenly. Are you satisfied with this answer?"

Chen Yanfeng's smile turned cold: "So everything just now was your true feelings?"

bite--

The elevator reaches the top floor.

"Yes." Guan Mi didn't want to lie.

Shen Yanfeng's face immediately darkened. He walked straight out of the elevator, unlocked the door and pushed it open. When Guan Mi's figure appeared in his peripheral vision, he threw her slippers at her feet.

"Don't talk to me for now."

After saying this, he went upstairs without looking back.

Becky was at the entrance, looking around confusedly, not knowing who to go to. In the end, she chose to go to Guan Mi because she saw that she seemed to be crying.

"Meow." It raised its head and rubbed her legs gently with it, as if comforting her in its own way.

Guan Mi changed his shoes, went to the bar to wash his hands, washed away the tears that could not be wiped off his face, and then picked up Becky and sat on the sofa.

The cat and the man sat in the living room for a very long time, until Becky couldn't hold on any longer. She found a comfortable place not far from Guan Mi, curled up into a ball and fell asleep.

Guan Mi pulled herself out of her thoughts and blinked her dry eyes. She stood up and walked back to the entrance, picked up the bag of wine, found a bottle opener at the bar, and finished it all in less than an hour.

She fell drunkenly on the countertop, her eyes empty and lifeless, and finally walked back to the master bedroom to sleep, reeking of alcohol.

Shen Yanfeng swam in the pool until he was exhausted before coming out of the water. He lay on a lounge chair with his upper body naked, a towel covering his face. He was soaked to the skin, and the cold wind blew towards him without a care in the world.

After a long time, he snatched the towel away, stood up and walked downstairs.

The living room was brightly lit, and Shen Yanfeng only saw Becky sleeping soundly and the messy bar.

His heart tightened and he quickly walked to the entrance, opened the shoe cabinet, and confirmed that the shoes Guan Mi wore were still there before he breathed a sigh of relief.

He walked into the master bedroom. There was no light on. The dim moonlight shone on the figure curled up on the bed. He looked at it with anger and helplessness.

How could she just fall asleep like nothing happened?

If he didn't come back tonight, would she leave with Wen Li?

Why was he the only one trapped in pain? Was she regretting these past few months with him?

Is Guan Mi's heart really that hard?

He gritted his teeth, closed the door, and forced himself not to think about it anymore. He strode towards the bathroom, letting the cold water wash over his head.

Guan Mi was half asleep and half awake when she heard someone calling her name repeatedly. She couldn't ignore the feeling that she was very full. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the man standing in front of her.

"What are you doing? I'm really sleepy..." The dissatisfied muttering was interrupted by Geng Yongli's action.

Chen Yanfeng whispered in her ear, "Since you've already bought it, wouldn't it be a waste if you don't use it? If you can't use it all tonight, continue during the day. Use it until you can't think of anyone else, until your whole body is covered with my marks. And let Wen Li see that this is how you love him."

"Chen Yanfeng, you are a lunatic! You are sick!" Guan Mi was so angry that he began to struggle.

"Hmm?" Chen Yanfeng continued to charge, even faster than before. He laughed coldly, pinching her chin with his tiger's mouth. "Speaking of him, you bite even harder."

Guan Mi's tears were streaming down her face. He was moving too fast now, and she couldn't think of anything else.

He knew her well enough to know when she would come, so at that moment he froze in his tracks.

"Do you want to get back together with him?" he asked.

She covered her eyes with the back of her hand, feeling uncomfortable all over, and didn't want Shen Yanfeng to see the desire in her eyes.

"Guan Mi, do you want to get back together with him?"

"Why aren't you talking?"

She bit her lower lip and remained silent.

"Guan Mi, look at me!" Chen Yanfeng grabbed her wrist and pressed it against her head, desperately trying to hold her. His voice was filled with an irrepressible madness. "After hearing him say that his marriage was fake, did you ever think of returning to him? Even for a moment?"

"No... no!" Guan Mi's voice was fragmented. At such a speed, she couldn't finish a sentence. "I didn't... think... about it like that."

These words were like a breeze, soothing Shen Yanfeng's emotions.

He began to be gentle, in his usual way. Guan Mi couldn't help but hug him, his fingertips digging into the texture of his back.

/

The next day, Guan Mi woke up first. She opened her eyes with a headache and quickly realized that Chen Yanfeng hadn't left yet. Everything that happened yesterday flooded back into her mind. She calmed down and turned herself without hesitation.

In the morning light, the room still lingered with the scent of wild revelry. The floor was littered with things left untied from last night, a rare sight for the usually tidy Shen Yanfeng.

Guan Mi tiptoed downstairs, stepped over the messy carpet, and wrapped himself in a blanket.

When the sound of water came from the bathroom, Chen Yanfeng opened his eyes, gently stroked the place where Guan Mi had been lying, buried his face in her pillow, and took a deep breath of her scent.

Guan Mi left after washing up. Chen Yanfeng watched her walk away. He didn't speak to keep her. Instead, he waited until she went out and made a phone call: "Follow me from today on. Don't get caught."

Before hanging up, he remembered something, "There's another person you need to follow."

In the evening, Guan Mi received a call from Shen Yanfeng, saying that he had cooked dinner himself and asked her to come over to eat.

"Can I not go?" she whispered. "I'll go over on the weekend."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while before he said, "Okay. But you have to promise me not to meet Wen Li."

"I know." Guan Mi hung up the call, put down his phone, and browsed the emails on his computer.

Zi——

A text message came in. It was from an unfamiliar number, but the address was Beijing. From the content, it was clear it was from Wen Li.

[Mimi, can you come out? I have something very important to tell you. It's about Chen Yanfeng. I think you have the right to know this.]

Guan Mi lowered her head and looked for a long time. After the screen automatically turned off, she continued to look at the computer screen.

Less than five minutes later, she picked up her phone and typed: [location]

I took a taxi to the coffee shop where Wen Li was. As soon as I got off the car, Guan Mi received a WeChat message from Chen Yanfeng:

[Are you in the rental house? I want to come see you.]

She quickly replied: [Don't come over, I'm going to sleep, you should also go to bed early.]

After replying, she put the phone in her coat pocket and walked towards the cafe.

When Wen Li saw Guan Mi come in, he stood up, waved for the waiter to come over, and ordered a hot drink for her.

After sitting down, they looked at each other in silence for a long time.

After a long time, the waiter came over with coffee and politely placed it in front of Guan Mi: "Hello, your matcha latte."

Guan Mi nodded, "Thank you."

She lowered her head and took a sip, then looked up at Wen Li: "Go ahead."

Wen Li looked a little dejected. "When we broke up, it was Chen Yanfeng who forced you to do it, right? He said on the surface that he was helping my family through a difficult time, but in reality, he was taking advantage of my family's difficulties at the time, coupled with my family's opposition to our relationship... He had already figured out everything and took the opportunity to intervene and took you away from me."

Guan Mi tightened her grip on the cup. She was silent for a moment, neither admitting nor denying. A weak smile pulled at the corner of her mouth: "It's been a long time since that happened."

Her reaction made Wen Li more certain of his guess. He glanced outside the glass wall, suppressed his emotions, and then looked back at Guan Mi: "Mi Mi, you've been deceived by him all this time, do you know?"

Guan Mi frowned and looked at him in confusion.

"What happened with my dad," Wen Li took a deep breath. "He was the one who did it. I've been investigating it clearly these past few months. From the time he reported me to the time he finally 'fished' me out, the entire incident was a carefully orchestrated scheme. He first forced my family into a desperate situation, then played the savior. All of this was to lure you in."

Guan Mi's pupils suddenly contracted, and her grip on the cup loosened, causing it to fall to the table. The dark green liquid instantly soaked a small area of ​​the table, and the water began to drip onto her pants. She was completely unaware, frozen there, the blood draining from her face, leaving only disbelief and shock.

Wen Li came over immediately, grabbed the paper box, quickly wiped the water off the table, then half squatted down and wiped the water off Guan Mi's legs.

Guan Mi turned his head and looked at Wen Li as if waking from a dream, and spoke as if he had used up all his strength: "Is everything you said true?"

Wen Li stopped what he was doing, looked up at her red eyes, and sighed silently: "It's true, I won't lie to you."

"He has schemed against you and me."

He didn't say anything else and gently pulled her out of the cafe.

The cold wind on the winter night street blew on Guan Mi's face, clearing her chaotic mind. At this moment, her mood was in turmoil. The guilt towards Wen Li surged like a tide, and the anger and hatred towards Shen Yanfeng burned in her chest.

Thinking about how we were so passionate and affectionate in bed last night, I suddenly felt nauseous.

She stood at the intersection, looking at the lights of the passing cars, but she felt like a lonely boat thrown into the vast ocean, completely losing her direction.

She couldn't deny that Shen Yanfeng had done a lot for her, but all of this was built on the pain of Wen Li's family. If it weren't for that calculation, Wen Li's grandfather might not have passed away, right? The Wen family wouldn't still be criticized by others...

"Mimi? Mimi?" Wen Li was startled by the way Guan Mi walked forward lifelessly, as if her soul had been drained out. He hurriedly grabbed her and said, "There's no way forward. Don't go any further."

Guan Mi turned around and looked at him, his lips trembling as he spoke: "I'm sorry... Wen Li, I'm sorry, the source of all this is me..."

"No!" Wen Li frowned, holding her shaky shoulders with his hands, "Don't think like that, it's not your fault."

Guan Mi shed tears and murmured to himself: "It's me. If it weren't for me, Shen Yanfeng wouldn't have attacked your family..."

Wen Li held her in his arms distressedly, "I'm telling you this not to find fault with anyone, I just don't want you to continue being deceived by him."

On the way back, Guan Mi sat in the car with his face pressed against the window. He was very quiet, with undried tear marks on his face.

Wen Li, who was standing next to her, just looked at her without saying anything to disturb her. He knew that she needed time to sort everything out.

The taxi stopped at a red light, and Guan Mi opened the window distractedly to get some fresh air. Just before the countdown was about to end, a black convertible sports car appeared in sight.

The man in the passenger seat had his arm casually resting on the low car door, a cigarette in his mouth. The cold wind blew through his black hair. He raised his hand and took a deep puff of the cigarette.

It’s Shen Yanfeng.

He leaned lazily in the car, with a faint smile on his lips, and looked at her with his head tilted, his eyes as cold as ice.

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The author has something to say: Well... that's it, the male protagonist is just crazy and evil.