Chapter 63 Shall we move back? ...
Chu Song had developed a habit of insomnia and would often sit on the sofa where Xie Tang usually sat late at night.
The empty hall was like a cold cage, trapping him in regret.
He regretted his hurtful words—the "truth" he didn't care about concerned her innocence.
She said she had never and would never harm him, but he both doubted her and insisted on keeping her.
How terrible? Unintentionally causing repeated harm.
She shouldn't have to endure this.
Anxiety overwhelmed my breath like a tidal wave.
Xie Tang had a dry, sore throat and felt weak all over. As she struggled to get up to pour water, the doorbell rang abruptly at two in the morning.
Thinking it was a mistake, my phone popped up a message from Chu Song:
Are you asleep? I'm at your door.
I apologize, please open the door.
Xie Tang hesitated for a moment before opening the door.
A glint flashed in Chu Song's eyes, and he reeked of alcohol.
She asked, "Have you been drinking?"
“A little.” He suddenly lowered his head, hugged her, buried his face in the crook of her neck, greedily inhaling the comforting scent, his arms tightly encircling her waist, his body stiff.
He didn't know when it started, but he had grown accustomed to her scent and warmth.
During the days she was away, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Xie Tang's back was pressed against the door panel, his warm breath was on her neck, and his strength around her waist was irresistible. Her heart was pounding so fast that it was hard to control.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have disbelieved you," he said in a muffled voice.
Xie Tang snapped out of her daze and whispered, "Let me go first."
Chu Song remained motionless.
She frowned and pushed him away, but he grabbed her hand. "A-Tang, let's talk, okay?"
He gazed at her intently, wanting nothing more than to stay by her side.
Xie Tang rubbed his aching temples. Perhaps it was due to a cold, but his attitude was no longer cold, and he replied with a "okay".
She poured a glass of water, and the two sat silently on the sofa.
Chu Song's bloodshot eyes pleaded, "A-Tang, I believe you won't hurt me. Please move back, okay?"
Xie Tang scrutinized him, only noticing his profound exhaustion, as if he were about to collapse at any moment.
She did not answer.
Chu Song's heart sank, and she hurriedly added, "Gu Chang is not a good person. He is now with Young Master Xiang... In short, don't be with him."
Xie Tang paused for a few seconds before realizing he had misunderstood: "I told you, I don't like him. I've given you the answer, go back and rest."
“No…” He shook his head stubbornly, his eyes expectant. “What about the answer to the previous question?”
The virus was draining her energy, but Xie Tang knew that trying to dodge the blows was useless.
Silence hung in the air. After a long while, she spoke softly, "Brother Song, I'm angry and I feel wronged. But I like you, so even if you don't believe me, I don't blame you. I'm not angry with you, I can only be angry with myself. That matter is a thorn in my side; I can't get over it until it's removed. Give me some more time."
"Okay," he replied in a hoarse voice.
She looked at his reddened eyes and said with concern, "Go back and get some sleep."
"Just a little longer..." he pleaded softly, like a traveler lost in the desert, "Just a few more minutes."
After a long silence, Chu Song walked up to her, looked up, and his weary face revealed a hint of longing, like a traveler seeing rain clouds.
Xie Tang simply looked down at that weary face, her tone calm and even: "Goodnight, Brother Song."
Chu Song hugged her tightly again.
In an instant, a sharp ringing in my ears surged in, overwhelming my senses.
Before she pushed him away, he let go, struggling to maintain his fragile composure: "Goodnight, A-Tang."
After saying that, he turned and left.
After the door closed, Xie Tang touched his chin, where the warmth of his embrace still lingered.
My chest tightened suddenly the moment he left.
Illness strikes like a landslide, and Xie Tang completely collapsed this time. Coupled with her menstrual period, she suffered from backache, headache, and was unable to move, so she could only curl up in bed.
On the weekend, she ordered takeout to fill her stomach.
The doorbell rang, and she got up to open the door, where she saw Yin Xi standing at the door with her takeout.
"How did you get here?" Xie Tang's voice was hoarse, as if she had swallowed a razor blade.
"Good heavens! Your voice and complexion..." Yin Xi quickly helped her into the house, "You were sick and didn't say anything? You just toughed it out if I didn't come? Didn't you even go to the hospital?"
She placed the takeout on the coffee table. "You have a fever and you're eating this? That's ridiculous! Wait here, I'll make you some porridge."
Xie Tang didn't take it seriously, as she was used to bearing her illness alone. "No need, I'll just take a pill and sleep it off."
"Don't be stubborn." Yin Xi turned and went into the kitchen, quickly pressing a few buttons on her phone.
Xie Tang, wrapped in a shawl, nestled on the sofa, half-asleep.
Yin Xi woke her up and made her drink porridge.
She rummaged through the medicine cabinet for fever reducers and then picked up an effervescent tablet and threw it into a water glass.
Bubbles surged, and the tablet dissolved.
Looking at the vitamins in the medicine box, Yin Xi hesitated and asked, "How long... do I need to take this medicine?"
Xie Tang swallowed the pills and vitamins with the effervescent solution: "The doctor didn't tell me to stop, I don't know."
Yin Xi probed, "I heard you moved out of President Chu's place? What are you going to do next?"
"I don't know." Xie Tang looked at Yin Xi, her voice hoarse and strained. "You seem very concerned about me and Song Ge? Who told you I moved out?"
"Isn't Gu Chang and President Chu brothers? I heard it from him."
"Oh." Xie Tang picked up the medicine bottle, a sudden doubt rising in her heart—very few people knew that she had a vitamin metabolism disorder.
She paused, then asked casually, "You touched my medicine?"
"No!" Yin Xi exclaimed in surprise, waving her hands hastily.
Xie Tang noticed the panic in her voice and asked suspiciously, "What are you nervous about?"
Yin Xi forced a smile: "No way... You should take your medicine and rest. I have something to do at the institute, so I'll go work overtime first and come see you later."
Seeing that she was about to leave, Xie Tang suddenly stood up: "On the night of Tang Zhi's birthday, you changed my medicine."
"You suspect me?" Yin Xi turned around abruptly, her eyes blazing with anger, which she quickly suppressed, replacing it with a wronged expression. "I don't know what you've been through to think this way about me! There were too many people that night, we didn't even have any contact! Where's the evidence?"
"When we went into the restaurant together..."
Before Xie Tang could finish speaking, Yin Xi's face turned deathly pale.
At that moment, no further words were needed; Xie Tang understood.
Yin Xi was still struggling: "Where's the evidence? Tang Zhi was in the most contact with you, why don't you suspect her?"
“Tang Zhi is different from you. She supports me and respects my choices. Only you and Gu Chang are scheming to make me leave Song Ge.”
The pain of betrayal was like a dull knife cutting into her flesh. Xie Tang felt a tightness in her chest, and overwhelming disappointment engulfed her. Tears streamed down her face. "That bottle of medicine was newly opened, but that night, there was only one pill left in my bag..."
She gazed at her former friend, her voice trembling: "Why?"
"Yes!" Yin Xi said as if she had used all her strength, "...I switched the medicine. The reason? I said I didn't want to see you make the same mistake. Chu Song is not your destiny, a person like him will never fall in love with you."
"Then who am I like? You? Or Gu Chang?"
"At least Gu Chang truly loves you! He's no worse than Chu Song..."
"Ha..." A bone-chilling cold swept through her body. "What kind of bewitching potion did Gu Chang give you to make you so devoted to him?"
"He was the one who introduced me to Junmeng."
"Without me, would he have introduced you?" Xie Tang roared furiously, the pain of her vocal cords being torn apart reaching her heart.
After eight years of separation, Gu Chang's relationship with Yin Xi ended, and now Yin Xi is even willing to drug and knock her unconscious for Gu Chang's sake!
How absurd!
"What did you say?" Yin Xiru was struck dumb, muttering in disbelief, "It was you who asked him to do it... No wonder... He usually ignores me, why would he suddenly ask me if I want to go to Junmeng... Heh... So it was you..."
An overwhelming sorrow gripped her.
He thought that by climbing into the red circle, he could finally surpass Xie Tang, but in the end, he still had to rely on Xie Tang's protection.
Chu Song is right, she is jealous of Xie Tang, so jealous that she's gone mad.
During the five years Xie Tang struggled to survive, Yin Xi regarded them as her kindred spirits, licking each other's wounds in their miserable and embarrassing times, and cherishing each other's kindness.
But as Xie Tang's life gradually improved and her career soared, stepping into a world that was beyond her reach, Yin Xi was mired in a quagmire, with no hope in either her career or love, and was even regressing.
This huge gap made Yin Xi realize that she could no longer catch up with Xie Tang.
Jealousy and inferiority grew wildly in her heart, eventually twisting into a destructive desire—she wanted to achieve a morbid balance by breaking up Xie Tang and Chu Song.
"Are you really that jealous of me?" Xie Tang's heart ached terribly. "If I had drunk that water that day, what were you planning to do? Send me to Gu Chang's bed?"
Yin Xi remained silent.
That's exactly what she thought at the time.
Once the deed is done, Chu Song will eventually let go.
But Chu Song's unexpected appearance disrupted the plan, and Gu Chang hated her because of it.
A chill ran to the bone.
Xie Tang, powerless to question, asked, "Have I been bad to you all these years?"
Tears welled up in Yin Xi's eyes, and her voice carried a final lingering affection: "You were the best to me... you were my only friend."
"My kindness was met with your betrayal." Bitterness welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. "You disgust me."
Yin Xi's heart sank into an abyss. Seeing her trembling all over, she rushed forward anxiously: "I'm sorry... I don't know what's wrong, I just don't want to see you..."
Xie Tang took a few steps back in disgust, enduring the sharp pain in his throat, and squeezed out with all his might: "Get out."
Yin Xi was silent for a moment, then finally nodded, her voice barely audible: "I made a mistake... but I sincerely hope you're doing well."
"I don't accept it." Xie Tang's voice was icy, her eyes stung with pain, and her heart felt like it was being pierced repeatedly by a sharp blade.
All these years of friendship have been misplaced!
Chu Song is right; she misjudged people.
She slumped onto the sofa, utterly dejected.
Time stood still in the deathly silence, each second agonizingly slow.
After an unknown amount of time, Xie Tang awoke in the cold, empty silence.
Only her own breathing echoed in the room, and an unprecedented sense of loneliness overwhelmed her like a tidal wave.
The blade of betrayal repeatedly slices through memories, turning once warm fragments into sharp thorns.
Trust collapsed, friendship shattered, and a huge sense of unease choked her, making her feel almost suffocated.
Even the strength to wail and cry was completely devoured by hunger.
She got up and went to the kitchen. Seeing the leftover porridge from the morning, she remembered that it was Yin Xi's doing, and her stomach churned.
Without hesitation, she poured the entire pot of porridge into the trash can.
I picked up my phone and ordered takeout.
The doorbell rang for a long time, and she went to open it in a daze.
Gu Chang was standing outside the door. Xie Tang felt nauseous and slammed the door shut.
Gu Chang was prepared and forced her way in, pushing her into the room with one hand and touching her forehead with the other: "Still running a fever? Yin Xi said you were sick, so I bought some medicine."
Despite the burning pain in her throat, Xie Tang still forced a roar: "Get out! Stop pretending!"
"Don't talk, it'll hurt your throat." Gu Chang gently pressed her back onto the sofa, his tone tender and his eyes filled with concern. "It breaks my heart to see you like this."
Xie Tang's eyes were as cold as knives as she pointed towards the door.
Gu Chang ignored him and said to himself, "There's been progress in Xiang Shaoyun's case. He'll be out soon."
Xie Tang was indeed led over: "The evidence is conclusive, how is that possible?"
Gu Chang chuckled: "Evidence? It's plausible that Zuo Meng fabricated it and framed us. Just to be on the safe side, let's destroy it."
"You're insane!" Xie Tang stood up abruptly, her voice trembling with anger. "Concealing or destroying evidence is a crime! You're not helping him, you're ruining your own future!"
Gu Chang seemed not to hear her, staring at her intently, and reached out to touch her face.
Xie Tang cautiously retreated.
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