Chapter 21
Tang Hui's excuse, which he thought was utterly hopeless, was surprisingly acceptable to Qi Wang and Song Ziyi after they heard it.
"Isn't this great? It can both stop Lisa from staying at your house and make her give up. Maybe after thinking about it tonight and crying all night, she'll figure it out and go back to America on her own." Qi Wang said with a smile, clearly thinking that Tang Hui had handled the matter well.
"When you first said Lisa followed you to China, didn't I give you this idea? Pretend you have a girlfriend so she'll back off." Song Ziyi couldn't help but give Tang Hui a thumbs up.
Tang Hui sneered, and said with even more frustration, "If only that girl were really that easy to fool. She doesn't believe me and thinks I made up a girlfriend just to get rid of her."
"Is her intuition really that accurate? A woman's sixth sense is truly amazing." Qi Wang and Song Ziyi exchanged a glance, silently worrying for Tang Hui.
"So, she's planning to stay here?" Song Ziyi asked dryly, suddenly feeling a pang of sympathy for Tang Hui's tragic fate.
Tang Hui glanced at Song Ziyi, her calm voice carrying a hint of resigned despair. "She said she wanted to stay and meet my 'girlfriend,' to observe her for a while, to see if she's a good girl worthy of me, and whether there's a future with me."
Song Ziyi and Qi Wang almost burst out laughing after hearing this, and while laughing, they rubbed salt into Tang Hui's wounds.
"As expected of our Miss Lisa, she never disappoints me. This is definitely something she would do. But speaking of which, is she putting herself in the perspective of a mother-in-law or a sister-in-law, actually evaluating her future cousin-in-law?" Song Ziyi almost wanted to give Lisa a thumbs up.
"No, no, no, it's about putting yourself in your ex's shoes and seeing what makes their current girlfriend better than you," Qi Wang chimed in.
The two of them then tried to suppress their laughter until their faces turned red, proving they were truly mischievous friends.
Tang Hui looked coldly at Song Ziyi and Qi Wang, his heart calm yet sorrowful—he had two such "evil friends" who loved to watch the drama unfold; it was truly a curse.
"After you two have finished laughing, please take some time to help me think of a solution." Tang Hui suppressed his anger and squeezed out these words through gritted teeth.
Seeing that Tang Hui might "kill" if he was provoked again, the two dared not joke around anymore, instantly stopped laughing, and put on a heroic expression of being willing to go through fire and water for their brother.
If they hadn't laughed so loudly just now, and if Tang Hui hadn't known their character so well, he probably would have been moved by the emotions they were putting on.
Song Ziyi cleared his throat and said, half seriously and half teasingly, "Didn't I already give you a solution the other day? Really find a girlfriend for your little cousin to see."
Tang Hui rolled his eyes, clearly not taking this opinion to heart.
Qi Wang immediately chimed in, "I think Lao Song's idea is really good. You should find a girlfriend and make Lisa give up on you completely. This is a permanent solution, otherwise she will keep haunting you like a ghost."
"Things are urgent, where am I supposed to find a girlfriend all of a sudden?" Tang Hui couldn't help but ask back.
Qi Wang had been waiting for Tang Hui to say this, so he leaned closer to Tang Hui and lowered his voice to say, "Isn't Dr. Chen a perfect candidate? My wife organized a party tonight and dragged her tired body from a long day at work to come over, just to match you two up."
"What do you take girls for? Just because I say I want to find a girlfriend doesn't mean she has to be with me. Just because I say I need someone to help me act doesn't mean she has to pretend to be my boyfriend?" Tang Hui retorted irritably.
"That's why I arranged this opportunity for you to get to know her, so you can go after her." Song Ziyi leaned in and complained with exasperation, "Bro, you have to go after girls. Girlfriends won't just fall from the sky. If you want to find a girlfriend, you have to work hard."
Qi Wang nodded like a chick pecking at rice, and urged, "That's exactly what we mean. We know you're a good catch and have high standards, so we didn't like ordinary girls. That's why we chose the best one to introduce to you. If you think it's okay, then be proactive. If you're not satisfied with Dr. Shen, then you'll be single for the rest of your life. You'll probably never find a partner."
Tang Hui remained silent, lowering his head to sip the sake in his cup, his face somewhat pale.
He never told his two brothers that he was a complete non-marriage advocate. He never thought about getting married or starting a family with a woman.
Since his parents' incident, he has given up on the idea of starting a family. Marriage and partners are terrifying and hopeless concepts to him.
He has a deep-seated fear of marriage. He is afraid of marrying the wrong person, like his father, who might take his life at any moment; he is even more afraid of becoming like his father, who one day kills the person next to him.
This wasn't him being overly pessimistic, nor was it PTSD. He was simply analyzing the situation rationally from a genetic perspective, feeling that there was a 50% chance he would inherit traits from his father.
But he couldn't voice these negative and depressing thoughts. If he told outsiders, they would treat him like a monster; if he told his two brothers, they would worry.
Therefore, he could only silently stick to this decision and quietly implement his single life.
So, in the eyes of outsiders, Attorney Tang couldn't find a girlfriend because he had too high standards. Even his two brothers thought so, which is why they specially asked Shen Bining, who had excellent qualities, to introduce him to her.
Tang Hui has always been the type of person who doesn't talk much. He usually doesn't express his thoughts or feelings, but keeps them to himself and silently endures or resolves them.
This also meant that even those as close as Qi Wang and Song Ziyi did not fully understand his true thoughts.
He had considered Qi Wang's suggestion, but the key problem was that implementing it would be extremely difficult.
Putting aside the fact that Shen Bining doesn't look like the kind of girl who's easygoing, even if he did pursue her, with her excellent qualities, why would she necessarily agree to be with him?
If she were truly just pretending to be his girlfriend, Shen Bining would definitely offer a condition, and Tang Hui knew perfectly well what that condition was.
While Tang Hui was lost in thought, Song Ziyi seemed to have noticed his thoughts. He nudged Tang Hui, who was in a daze, with his elbow and suggested, "If you really think Dr. Chen is not suitable for you, why don't you just come clean with her and tell her about Lisa? Ask her to pretend to be your girlfriend and help you out. You don't need to act too seriously, just enough to fool Lisa. That girl doesn't seem very smart."
“I think Lao Song’s suggestion is worth considering. Why don’t you go and ask her? I’ll have my wife put in a good word for you. Maybe it’ll work. Anyway, you’re just boyfriend and girlfriend in name only. You’re a trustworthy guy, so you probably won’t take advantage of her.” Qi Wang quickly chimed in, as if the two of them had planned it together.
Tang Hui realized something was wrong. Song Ziyi and Qi Wang were being too enthusiastic, even going so far as to pretend to be a couple, which meant their real purpose wasn't to help him find a girlfriend.
So what they want to do is...
Tang Hui had a vague idea of what was going on. He stared at the two of them suspiciously, but still said calmly, "If I ask Dr. Shen for help, I have to give her something in return. I believe that this 'reward' is definitely not as simple as treating her to a meal or buying her a designer bag as a gift. Don't you know what kind of exchange she will propose?"
If Shen Bining agrees, there will obviously only be one condition for the exchange.
Qi Wang and Song Ziyi simply dropped the pretense and blurted out, "Then let's agree to her."
Now Tang Hui could finally confirm the ultimate goal of his two frenemy friends. His face darkened slightly, and he said with some displeasure, "To put it bluntly, you just want me to meet Zhou Nianhua, right?"
Now that things have come to this, there's no point in playing riddles anymore. Qi Wang and Song Ziyi exchanged a glance and nodded slightly in tacit agreement.
"Old Tang, we're afraid you'll regret this someday," Qi Wang said with a sigh, patting Tang Hui on the shoulder.
Song Ziyi chimed in, "Zhou Nianhua's actions are unworthy of being a father and are even less forgivable, but Lao Qi and I still think you should go see him one last time, even if it's just to scold him to his face and vent your anger."
Qi Wang hurriedly said, "You once said that you... after Zhou Nianhua was arrested, you never saw him and refused to listen to any of his explanations. So don't you want to know why he suddenly changed his personality and insisted on killing your mother? Once you get some answers, the knot in your heart will be untied. Otherwise, it will haunt you and make you restless for the rest of your life."
Faced with his friends' repeated persuasion, Tang Hui admitted that he was wavering, or rather, he had always wanted to know why Zhou Nianhua killed his mother. Given his mother's health condition, she was already on her deathbed, so why would Zhou Nianhua be willing to sacrifice his own life to kill her...
He couldn't understand why, and he always wanted to find the answer. But for some reason, he never thought of meeting Zhou Nianhua to get the truth from the person involved.
Perhaps this is what is meant by being afraid to face reality; he is afraid that the truth Zhou Nianhua reveals will be something he cannot accept.
Tang Hui's prolonged silence made Qi Wang and Song Ziyi increasingly anxious. Meanwhile, the cheerful laughter of several girls came from the other end of the room, clearly indicating that they were having a great time, a stark contrast to the men's group.
John was completely bewildered, looking around and trying to figure out what had happened between the three men.
He was incredibly frustrated, thinking that his Chinese was still too poor. Starting tomorrow, he would watch dramas every day to learn Chinese, including palace dramas, historical romance dramas, melodramatic cheating dramas, and mother-in-law/daughter-in-law dramas.
Qi Wang saw that Tang Hui was frowning but not saying a word. He was about to say something to persuade her again when Song Ziyi stopped him.
Song Ziyi shook his head slightly at Qi Wang, signaling with his eyes—give him some time to think it over himself; he had already said this much, and there was no point in trying to persuade him further.
Just then, Tang Hui suddenly raised his head, stared calmly at Qi Wang and Song Ziyi, and said indifferently, "I will consider your proposal."
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