twenty three
Si Qiang slowly turned her face, which had been slapped to the side, and stared blankly at Xu Qi. She reached out and touched her left cheek, which was hot and burning from the slap. It was swollen and stinging to the touch.
The man's dark eyes shone with a cold light as he stared straight at him, as if he wanted to pierce through him.
It seems his face was quite a sight today. Hopefully, he won't scare anyone when he gets back tomorrow. Si Qiang thought indifferently, but his heart felt as if it had been pierced with a gaping hole, chilling him to the bone.
Xu Qi chuckled softly, a cold smile curving his lips.
"I hope you figure out who you're dealing with. Even if you've been drugged, don't be so clueless as to not be able to tell who's who."
He couldn't let Si Qiang do it, nor could he initiate it. They had no relationship now. While a man's body wasn't exactly a moral compass, his instincts told him that with Si Qiang, it was absolutely forbidden. If things really came to that, he would…
Xu Qi closed his eyes, recalling the scene at the bar entrance.
When Si Qiang pushed the Italian away, wasn't it out of loyalty to someone? Now, under the influence of the drug, he's only concerned with satisfying his body. When he sobers up tomorrow, he'll definitely regret his actions today. At that time, he might... become even more indifferent to himself. That's something Xu Qi absolutely cannot tolerate.
Even if the other person no longer cares, he still can't let go of the past—even if that past might only exist in his own memory. He thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, "Being so immersed in memories really makes me seem like an old man."
Si Qiang tried hard to suppress the dryness in her throat and said in a low voice, "I have offended you, Mr. Xu."
He slowly sat up, straightened his clothes expressionlessly, got out of bed, and walked towards the door.
"May I use your outer room for a moment? I'll be leaving tomorrow morning. I hope it won't bother you."
He left behind this bland and distant remark, then quickly walked out and closed the door behind him. If you paid attention, you would notice that his hands were trembling slightly.
Xu Qi, however, was so stung by the man's cold, hard back that he was completely oblivious to this. He stared intently at the closed door, the chill of the man's words still lingering in the air.
He clenched his fist and slammed it hard on the bed. The soft bed shook violently a few times before returning to calm, but he couldn't calm down even a little bit.
Si Qiang stood naked in the shower, the icy water washing over his burning body from head to toe. The water was cold, but it couldn't lower his fever; the burning sensation inside him combined with the coldness against his skin made him shiver. Damn it! Those damned Italians! How dare they use such a heavy dose!
He stared at the still-active object, his brow furrowed. After a moment's thought, he quickly wrapped a towel around his neck and left the bathroom, walking to the closet. If nothing had been touched, then the thing should be there. He opened the closet, rummaged around for a while, and picked up a vial of medicine and a syringe. She breathed a sigh of relief, a faint sense of comfort in her heart; the man hadn't thrown everything away. In California, his attitude towards Xu Qi had actually angered the locals, severing the last vestige of contact between them.
Sitting on the bed, just as tidy as when he left, he picked up the syringe filled with medicine and inserted it into his upper arm. Feeling the cool liquid enter his body through the thin needle, Si Qiang let out a long sigh. This was one of the medicines he had kept here for emergencies, almost never having needed it. Unexpectedly, it had come in handy now that he was gone.
Actually, when Xu Qi said there were no tranquilizers, he wanted to say that there might be some in the outer closet, but he didn't say it in the end. Perhaps subconsciously, he was afraid that Xu Qi would tell him: "Your things have already been cleared away." That would make him feel utterly ashamed.
Perhaps… he still harbored another sliver of hope. But that hope was ultimately slapped back to reality by a mere slap. Making him understand who the person was was a reminder of his place—he had no right to touch the other? There was nothing wrong with that. That person never looked back at him—except when he was sick or in danger, and even then, it was probably to avoid missing work.
The thought sent another pang of pain through his heart. But no matter how much it hurt, he wouldn't give up. He would make that person see him, absolutely.
His body temperature gradually subsided, and he finally calmed down his inappropriate impulse. Thanks to the sedative, he began to feel drowsy. He turned to his side, slowly lay down, pulled the blanket over himself, covered himself from head to toe, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Strangely, the blanket, unused for days, had no musty smell at all; instead, it emitted a pleasant fragrance of detergent that had been exposed to sunlight. In this warm aroma, he gradually drifted off to sleep.
An hour later, the door connecting to the inner bedroom was gently pushed open a crack. A few seconds later, a figure tiptoed in. The person walked to the bedside, looked at the curled-up figure on the bed, and sighed deeply.
Moonlight streamed through the skylight, illuminating his handsome face—it was Xu Qi. He gently sat down on the edge of the bed, looked at the half-exposed face of the person on the bed, shook his head, reached out and gently pulled the blanket down a little, then tucked the corners in. Despite his tall and slender physique, he curled up like a kitten when he slept, making one unconsciously feel tenderness and affection.
The moonlight cast a dazzling silver glaze on her porcelain-white face, making it appear even more exquisite and beautiful—like a pure angel, sleeping peacefully. However, today her once flawless face was marred by several bruises, her soft cheeks were swollen and red, and her delicate brows, still slightly furrowed in her sleep, made her look even more pitiful.
Xu Qi frowned, subconsciously glancing at his right hand. It was this hand that had slapped the child so hard. He'd been a bit hasty then, not paying attention to the force, and only realized his hand was completely numb afterward. Looking at the two clear palm prints, his heart clenched. The child himself had slapped the child with such force.
He reached out and smoothed Si Qiang's hair, noticing a few beads of sweat on her smooth forehead. He turned his head, scanning the surroundings for a towel. Suddenly, the syringe and pill bottle on the bedside table caught his attention. He picked up the empty bottle, carefully reading the English instructions on the label, his brow furrowing even more. They'd used a sedative after all!
But he couldn't say anything, because without this, Si Qiang would never be able to fall asleep peacefully like she is now.
After Si Qiang left, he didn't have anyone clean the outer room. He still asked the servants to clean the room as usual, making it seem as if she were still there. Now, thinking back, he realized he was still clinging to hope. He hoped she would return to his side, following him as before. However, after seeing Si Qiang like that in California a month ago, he understood that such thoughts were just wishful thinking.
The child will likely be better off without me. After all, he's found family and can inherit his father's business, which is far better than staying by my side as a subordinate for life.
Now the child is back—but under these circumstances. What's even harder for him to bear is the fact that she'll be leaving again tomorrow, never to return. Perhaps after tonight, they'll rarely even have the chance to meet again—and even if they do, she'll be polite and distant, never again showing him the vulnerable and passionate heart she did tonight. He'd always been averse to Si Qiang's relationship with that Italian man, and now that he'd done this, Si Qiang would definitely not continue seeing him, proving that their relationship wasn't what he thought. He should be happy, but he couldn't feel any joy at all. Because now, he had no last reason to care about Si Qiang.
Now, Xu Qi realized that his feelings for Si Qiang were too complicated and tangled, completely robbing him of his rationality. He couldn't understand what he was clinging to. His brother's situation had already overwhelmed him; he shouldn't have had the energy to worry about anything else. But now he found himself almost constantly on edge because of Qiangwei. He would unconsciously call her name, and when he realized it, he would inexplicably fly into a rage. Worst of all, every morning when he woke up, he would assume Qiangwei was in the outer room, waiting for him to come and knock on the door, then following him all day.
But when 7 o'clock came, it was always the housekeeper or Wei Lan who came to call him. Then he would remember that the person was no longer by his side. Then he would think of "Si Qiang" he had met in California, and the unfamiliar cold expression and indifferent words on the other's familiar face. This huge contrast would leave him in a low mood for the entire morning. This had been happening almost every day for some time now, and he was almost driven to the brink of neurosis. He never knew that he was so dependent on Qiangwei.
No matter how anxious he became, he could never go back to the past he hadn't cherished so much. Xu Qi's heart bled, his handsome face contorted in agony. Looking at the sleeping angel on the bed, he felt he couldn't bear to look at her any longer. This was such a cruel truth. He really... had nothing left.
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