Chapter 47 It's okay if you don't like me...
Xie Tang quickly searched his mind but couldn't find a single suitable candidate.
"Stop thinking about it," Yin Xi suddenly said, her voice dry, all the enthusiasm she had shown for sharing her new job vanishing.
She picked up her paper bag. "Please see me off."
After saying that, she turned and walked out of the place where she had worked hard for five years but reaped little reward.
Xie Tang put down the letter and certificate in her hand, instructed Li Zan to distribute the blood oranges to her colleagues, and quickly chased after them.
The coffee shop downstairs from the law firm is filled with the aroma of baking.
Xie Tang ordered a cappuccino for Yin Xi.
"Thanks." Yin Xi took the drink, drank a few sips, and then looked at Xie Tang's calm face. "Aren't you going to ask me which agency I went to? Who I went with?"
Xie Tang naturally knew it was Junmeng.
But she knew Yin Xi's inherent pride—if she knew it was her recommendation, Yin Xi would likely refuse.
“No matter which company or team, I believe they won’t be any worse than Winning.” She raised her coffee. “Congratulations, a new beginning.”
Yin Xi held the paper cup in her hand, remaining silent for a long time.
Even the soft background music in the coffee shop couldn't ease the stagnant atmosphere.
Finally, she raised her head and looked at Xie Tang: "Tang, are you hiding something from me?"
"What?"
"About your marriage?"
Xie Tang didn't feel embarrassed at being exposed; instead, she calmly drank her coffee.
"Ah Tang, you never told me this yourself, but I really mind." Deep disappointment welled up in Yin Xi's eyes. "I've always considered you my only friend, but it seems that your world doesn't just consist of me."
"I signed a confidentiality agreement regarding the marriage. As of yesterday, I haven't told anyone, including my mother."
Xie Tang stared directly at her, a thought flashing through her mind in an instant, "When...did you find out?"
Yin Xi confessed, "Neither you nor Tang Zhi showed up when Gu Chang organized the dinner party."
"So, you told her this when you visited her the day before her surgery?" Xie Tang suddenly realized, a bitter feeling rising in her heart. "Heh, I misunderstood Qin Wu."
"It was me," Yin Xi said calmly. "Only me. Gu Chang didn't go."
Xie Tang's suppressed anger finally leaked out of his voice: "But he told you the whole truth, didn't he?"
"yes."
"Why?" Xie Tang's voice was icy cold. She couldn't understand why Yin Xi would make such a choice at a time when her mother's life was at stake.
"You know perfectly well how seriously ill she is! Why did you use those 'truths' to upset her? Do you know she almost refused surgery because of this?"
Yin Xi lowered her eyelashes, her voice still calm, but tinged with an almost imperceptible bitterness: "A-Tang, I didn't mean to hurt Auntie. But she'll find out the truth sooner or later. I just... hope that before her surgery, she'll have the opportunity to choose the life she wants."
"A choice?" Xie Tang's voice suddenly rose, full of sarcasm. "You're telling her to choose to give up treatment and wait to die?"
Yin Xi looked up, her gaze sharp: "Then do you want her to live in a carefully woven lie? Even if the surgery is successful, can she be at peace? To live her whole life in a false bubble of happiness?"
Xie Tang was speechless.
Rationally, she knew that Yin Xi had pointed out the pain her mother might face, but emotionally, she couldn't accept this cruel way of "reminding" her.
"I don't want to see you make one mistake after another!" Yin Xi stared intently at her. "Auntie's illness doesn't only have one dead end! But you..."
Her eyes were filled with regret, "She chose the worst way—selling out her marriage and freedom!"
"Other ways? For example?" Xie Tang sneered.
"The money issue... I can help you raise it..."
"How much can you raise? How long will it take? One million? Two million? My mother's condition, that one in ten thousand chance of a spinal cord match, can they wait?"
Xie Tang's voice was sharp, as if she had been driven to desperation. "Yin Xi, I've thought about all of this! Right then, Qin Ruhai's deal was presented to me—it would allow my mother to receive the best treatment as quickly as possible! The price? I was willing to pay it! Moreover, getting back that villa, getting back the memories of me and my grandfather, was also part of what made me agree!"
She still cannot let go of the truth about her grandfather's death.
Yin Xi's momentum weakened slightly, but she still insisted, "There will always be a turning point..."
"Don't be naive!" Xie Tang interrupted her, his tone resolute. "Things aren't as simple as you think. I don't think I did anything wrong, and I absolutely don't regret my choice!"
She looked directly into Yin Xi's eyes, her voice accusatory: "If it were you, and you could save your loved ones by paying 'just a tiny' price, would you remain unmoved?"
Yin Xi looked directly into her eyes and said, "I am not like you. I will never use my freedom and marriage as bargaining chips."
"Really?" Xie Tang suddenly felt an absurd sense of alienation.
She realized that the gap between them was not just a difference in choices, but a deep-seated difference in values.
"You have your principles, I don't deny that. But my path may not necessarily be wrong."
She doesn't demand that the other party understand, but she also refuses to be blamed.
"Ah Tang, I know you're afraid of losing your aunt." Yin Xi sighed, her tone softening with sympathy. "But true happiness shouldn't be built on sacrifice. Can you truly be happy with the 'stability' gained by selling your marriage? Marrying someone you don't love?"
These words pierced Xie Tang's nerves like a needle.
Anxiety surged instantly, not only because of the problem itself, but also because of Yin Xi's condescending "it's for your own good" attitude.
At this moment, she couldn't even tell how much of the advice was sincere and how much was influenced by Gu Chang's stance.
“He’s rich, handsome, and young. I like him. Do you think I’d be unhappy?” Xie Tang’s voice carried a deliberate lightness and sarcasm.
"What do you like about him? Money? Looks? Doesn't Gu Chang have those?" Yin Xi retorted without hesitation, her tone once again revealing her defense of Gu Chang.
Buzzing...
Xie Tang felt like her head was filled with a swarm of wasps, and she was so agitated that it felt like it was about to explode.
She didn't understand why Yin Xi was so insistent on lecturing today, nor did she understand what kind of spell Gu Chang had cast on her.
She stood up, grabbed her bag, and said, "I have something to do at the station, so I'll be going now."
"A-Tang!" Yin Xi called out urgently, "Don't go further down the wrong path!"
Xie Tang stopped in her tracks, turned to the side, and gave a faint, mocking smile: "Wrong way? What heinous crime have I committed that deserves you to judge me and urge me to 'turn back' time and time again?"
"I'm doing this for your own good!" Yin Xi's voice held a wounded but persistent tone.
"Oh?" Xie Tang said expressionlessly, her voice as cold as ice. "Well then... thank you."
Back at the law firm, the cold air calmed Xie Tang down a bit.
She picked up her phone and sent Qin Wu a message apologizing.
Qin Wu quickly replied, expressing her understanding and saying that it was good to clear up the misunderstanding.
Xie Tang still felt guilty and suggested that he invite her to dinner another day, which Qin Wu readily agreed to.
Immediately afterwards, she opened Gu Chang's chat window and typed: "Let's meet tonight."
The message was replied to almost instantly: "Okay. I'll choose the location."
Gu Chang booked a private room at a five-star hotel.
The lighting was soft, soothing jazz music filled the air, and the aroma of champagne mingled with the sweet scent of seafood.
"Try the boiled shrimp here, it's top-notch." Gu Chang's eyes were filled with eagerness.
Looking at his warm smile, Xie Tang felt as if the question she had prepared was stuck in her throat, making it difficult to utter.
She sat down in silence.
Gu Chang poured her a full glass of champagne and said softly, "It's been a long time since we've had a meal together face to face like this."
Xie Tang didn't reply, picked up her chopsticks, and ate without tasting anything.
When the waiter came forward to serve the dishes, Gu Chang waved his hand to indicate that he didn't need them and personally rolled up his sleeves.
His movements were swift and skillful, peeling shrimp shells and picking crab meat. His focus and expertise were completely unlike those of a pampered rich young master who never lifted a finger.
Soon, a small dish of crystal-clear shrimp and crab meat was piled up in front of Xie Tang.
“Here you go,” he said, pushing it over with a bright smile, “This is the first time I’ve ever done this for someone.”
His tone was ingratiating and affectionate.
Xie Tang blocked the plate with his hand.
Gu Chang's smile froze instantly, and surprise and hurt flashed in his eyes.
"I can do it myself. You eat yours." Xie Tang insisted, her voice soft but leaving no room for argument.
Gu Chang acted as if she hadn't heard, stubbornly pushing the plate closer: "Eat more if you like."
Xie Tang sighed silently.
She didn't know when it started, but she lost all interest in maintaining a normal friendship with Gu Chang.
It was probably from the moment Chu Song revealed his feelings that all his attempts to escape became laughable.
She came today to tear away this veil of tender affection.
She suddenly lost her appetite, picked up a warm towel and carefully wiped her fingertips clean. She looked up, her gaze direct and sharp: "Why are you investigating me?"
Gu Chang showed no embarrassment whatsoever, instead calmly returning the gaze: "The simplest way would have been for you to tell me yourself, but you refused. So I had to investigate myself."
He leaned forward slightly. "You know I don't like to pry into people's privacy. But since it concerns you, I need to know the answer."
Xie Tang avoided his burning gaze and said calmly, "It's not that I don't want to say, it's that I 'can't' say..."
“I know.” Gu Chang’s eyes suddenly darkened, like the sky before a storm. “But do you know what happened when I found out… that you married Chu Song…”
His voice was hoarse, filled with deep pain and resentment. "How desperate was I at that moment?"
He shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh, his voice even lower and hoarse: "If I hadn't found out myself, how long were you planning to keep it from me?"
Xie Tang felt a mix of emotions, and tension crept up her spine.
But she didn't forget the purpose of this meeting: "Gu Chang, I'm here today to tell you: please put my business behind you. If you're willing, we can preserve our friendship as classmates and be ordinary friends like we have for the past seven years."
She threw the choice back to him.
"Do you think we can still be friends after all this time?" Gu Chang smiled bitterly, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Do you think I would really want to be 'friends' with you again?"
"Then our friendship has to end here."
Xie Tang felt regretful that their eight-year acquaintance had ended like this.
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