Chapter 34
Lin Xiaotang looked at Bai Sinian, who was slumped drunk at the table, and then at Xie Junhao, who was equally unconscious. She rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. The classmates around her were all watching her, waiting for her to make a decision.
“You guys help take Junhao back. He's a bit better at drinking, so he should be able to walk a bit.” She directed the two male classmates, then her gaze fell on Bai Sinian, and she sighed, “He… I’ll handle him.”
She rummaged through Bai Sinian's body and pulled out a key with a rough wooden tag attached to it from his trouser pocket. The tag had the words "Yuelai Hotel, 203" written on it in red paint.
Xie Junhao, supported by his classmates, walked away grumbling and staggering. Lin Xiaotang struggled to lift Fu Sinian by one arm, supporting him. The man's tall frame almost completely pressed against her, reeking of alcohol and carrying a faint, barely perceptible, clean scent of his own. She gritted her teeth, supporting him with difficulty, and followed the address on the key tag, step by step, toward the old hotel hidden deep in the alley.
The guesthouse was cramped and dimly lit, with steep stairs. After finally managing to drag the almost unconscious Fu Sinian into room 203, Lin Xiaotang was panting heavily, with fine beads of sweat on her forehead.
She threw him heavily onto the not-so-clean metal bunk bed, straightened up, and looked around the room.
The room was extremely basic, containing only a bed, a table, and a chair. The walls were somewhat mottled, and a faint smell of mildew and smoke filled the air. On the table were several crushed cigarette butts and a half-eaten instant noodle container with congealed soup.
All of this contrasts sharply with the image of a top accounting firm partner sitting calmly and confidently in his spacious, bright office on the 28th floor of the Jin Mao Tower. It is a stark and heartbreaking contrast.
He always stayed in a suite in a five-star hotel, but here he was huddled in a cheap, dilapidated little room where even the windows couldn't be closed properly, surviving on instant noodles and cigarettes.
Lin Xiaotang felt as if something had suddenly struck her chest, causing a sharp, aching pain. The anger at being deceived and the shame of being used as a substitute seemed to waver slightly at this moment in the face of the wretched scene before her.
Just then, Fu Sinian on the bed seemed to be startled awake by the fall. He frowned uncomfortably, mumbling incoherently. Suddenly, as if sensing her presence, he reached out and grabbed her wrist with deadly precision!
It was very forceful, and carried the stubbornness of someone who was drunk.
Lin Xiaotang was startled and instinctively tried to break free, but he held her even tighter.
Persian struggled to sit up, his eyes half-open and unfocused, yet stubbornly fixed on her direction. His voice was muffled, heavy with alcohol and filled with a near-collapse-like anguish:
"What do I have to do... for you to believe me..."
"Tell me... what exactly do I need to do..."
"I haven't... I've long since stopped loving her... I can tell... I love you... Lin Xiaotang..."
"Is it...is it only if I go blind...and never look at your face again...that you'll believe me? Huh? Is that it?"
He practically screamed the last sentence, a desperate madness and utter helplessness. After shouting, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength, collapsing heavily back onto the bed, still holding her hand tightly. His breathing became rapid and heavy, his brows furrowed, as if he had fallen into an even deeper, more painful dream.
Lin Xiaotang froze on the spot, her wrist enveloped by his burning palm, his broken, painful drunken words exploding in her ears like thunder.
She knew he was terribly drunk and that his words were not to be taken seriously. But... "Unless I go blind"... this extreme and tragic thought still deeply shocked her.
What kind of helplessness and despair must one feel to have such a resolute thought while drunk?
She looked down at the man on the bed, his brow furrowed in pain even in his unconscious state. Looking at the injuries on his face, at the simple room, her heart was in turmoil. At that moment, a tiny crack quietly appeared in the hard, protective shell she had built around him.
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