0179 The Stand
When Jiang Jifan woke up the next day, he struggled to get out of bed and groped to open the door. He tried to turn the handle a few times but found that he couldn't push it. Obviously, the door had been locked from the outside.
She gritted her teeth and angrily pounded on the door.
The quiet room seemed to still faintly retain the scent of lovemaking, causing the chaotic and lewd scenes of yesterday to suddenly resurface in her mind.
Jiang Jifan felt nauseous and slowly sat down on the floor with his back against the door.
However, the moment her buttocks touched the floor, a sharp pain suddenly shot through her lower body, causing her to gasp and contort her face in agony.
She touched them gently and found that the two originally flat pieces had become slightly raised.
Damn it...
"Crackling and popping!"
On the balcony, Tantai Qing was throwing the bedding he had just taken off into the washing machine to wash it. He frowned when he heard the noise coming from the bedroom.
The bedroom door was opened, revealing a scene of utter chaos.
Jiang Jifan smashed everything she could reach in the bedroom. She paused for a second after hearing the door open, but then quickly resumed smashing things.
Tantai Qing stood not far away watching her go crazy, without uttering a sound, as if he were invisible.
He only went to her side after she had finished smashing things herself.
"Do you think that doing this will make me hate you and let you go?" Tantai Qing said in a hoarse voice.
His tongue had been bitten by her, and now every word he spoke was excruciatingly painful. He swallowed the blood welling up in his mouth and said in a low voice, "It's no use, Ji Fan."
He ruthlessly exposed her thoughts, telling her clearly that everything she was doing was in vain and a waste of effort.
Jiang Jifan suddenly felt extremely powerless.
She remembered what she had said yesterday: even if she did accuse him of rape, what difference would it make?
Given his power, she'll probably only get the explanation that it's just a lovers' quarrel in the end!
Jiang Jifan's eyes were filled with hostility, her lips trembled with anger, and her breath was unsteady. She turned around and exposed him: "Tantai Qing, you are even more selfish than me. You keep saying you love me, but you never let me leave."
She grabbed something from the table and slammed it to the ground, shouting, "Is this what you call love?!"
"Splash!"
She smashed their photo to the ground, shattering the exquisite frame into pieces. The smiling faces in the photo were also broken into fragments, just like them now.
Tantai Qing lowered her eyes to look at the destroyed group photo on the ground, her heart skipped a beat, and her eyes stung with pain.
He slowly crouched down, picked up their photo from the shards, and gently brushed away the broken glass fragments scattered on them, as if this could smooth over the rift between them.
Tantai Qing raised his eyes, his face tense as he stared intently at her, a bitter taste in his throat: "If I let you leave, will you come back?"
Jiang Jifan pursed his lips and remained silent.
No, impossible.
This is an answer both of them already know, so no matter what, he won't let go.
Jiang Jifan underestimated his obsession with her. She originally thought she would never encounter another crazy person as perverted as Lu Xuezhen, but now it seems that he is even crazier than Lu Xuezhen.
She hated herself for letting the wolf into the house, putting herself once again in an inescapable trap.
She swayed and leaned on the dressing table, trying to leave, but after taking only one step forward, her legs went weak and she wanted to kneel down.
Despite this, she still wanted to escape from him. Tantai Qing's eyes were deep and dark. He quickly pulled her into his arms and said in a deep voice, "You've been ruined by me, where else do you want to go?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Jifan felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately slapped the man hard across the face and shouted in disgust, "Disgusting!"
Tantai Qing's face turned to the side from the slap. After regaining his senses, he licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, gave a bitter laugh, and said nothing.
From that day on, Jiang Jifan stopped going crazy, and an endless cold war began between the two.
A few days later, someone in the circle had a birthday and invited Tantai Qing to dinner. However, he had been lacking in enthusiasm lately and had no interest in any activities, so he declined.
However, due to the other party's strong invitation and Song Yuchang's persuasion, Tantai Qing had no choice but to agree, thinking that it would be good to go out for a walk to clear her mind.
"No, Mr. Dan, what's wrong with your face?" The moment he walked in, everyone present gasped when they saw him.
I could see several scabbed wounds on his mouth, and a white bandage on his right cheek.
"Who did you fight with? Your face is all bruised and battered..."
Tantai Qing's expression was indifferent. He shook his head and remained silent. After presenting the gift to the protagonist, he simply sat in his seat and kept drinking.
Seeing this, someone joked, "They've gone to fight with fairies, haven't they? Looks like the battle is fierce."
Tantai Qing paused slightly, and when everyone realized that they had guessed him correctly, they quickly asked with a smile which demon was so powerful.
Qin Zilu swirled the red wine in his glass and said calmly, "Besides his precious darling, who else would dare to be so arrogant?"
Apart from Song Yuchang, the others were unaware of the situation. Upon hearing this, they exchanged knowing glances and teased Tantai Qing with smiles.
Song Yuchang's brow twitched, and he shushed them a few times, quickly shooing them away and stopping them, saying, "Go, go, go!"
He initially thought it was just a young couple joking around, but as soon as he said that, Qin Zilu, that sly fox, immediately sensed something was wrong.
He put down his wine glass, looking like he was saying, "See? I told you so," and added insult to injury, "See? What did I tell you? You and her are just not right. Jiang Jifan is heartless. No matter how good you are to her, she won't appreciate it. A woman as ruthless as her, no matter how beautiful she is..."
"Smash!" Tantai Qing slammed the wine glass in his hand onto the ground, shattering it into pieces.
He slowly rose from his seat, his usually smiling eyes now devoid of warmth. He coldly surveyed everyone present, and finally said earnestly, "Don't associate with me anymore."
He had always been seen as gentle and polite, never doing anything to embarrass others in public. Everyone in the group had grown up together and had never seen him so enraged and out of control. They were all uneasy and at a loss.
After saying that, Tantai Qing grabbed his coat from the chair and turned to leave.
Song Yuchang hurriedly caught up and grabbed him.
"Are you really leaving?"
Tantai Qing glanced at him, but said nothing.
Song Yuchang knew he was really angry. Jiang Jifan was now his Achilles' heel, and those people were really bringing up the very thing he shouldn't have.
"Alright, I was just saying you were in a bad mood and wanted you to come out and clear your head, but who knew it would turn out like this? Those bastards really were too talkative..."
Song Yuchang wanted to persuade him not to hold it against them, but after thinking about it, he didn't say it. If it were him, he would also be angry. In the end, he only said, "We are all brothers, there is no need to be so ruthless."
Tantai Qing looked somewhat annoyed and did not respond.
"I'm leaving," he said, then turned and walked away.
"Mr. Dan, you're back."
Aunt Yuan heard the door open and immediately went to greet her.
Tantai Qing changed his shoes in the entryway and handed her his coat.
As Aunt Yuan took the coat and hung it up for him, she said, "
I've already cooked for Miss Jiang.
She glanced back at Jiang Jifan sitting in the living room and whispered, "But she doesn't seem to have a good appetite; she only ate two bites of rice and a few bites of vegetables..."
Tantai Qing nodded to indicate that he understood.
Since waking up from the car accident, she has had a poor appetite.
Walking into the living room, I saw her sitting quietly on the sofa, covered with a blanket. An idol drama was playing on the TV, and the volume was very loud. Her dull and lifeless eyes were staring in the direction of the sound, and she didn't move at all, looking just like a ghost.
She didn't react until he sat down next to her—the strong smell of smoke and alcohol made Jiang Jifan feel nauseous, and she frowned in disgust, immediately moving away from him.
Seeing the look of disgust on her face, Tantai Qing knew that her likes and dislikes were still the same as before.
He turned his head and gazed at her quietly. His hair, which he had cut short half a year ago, had grown long and now lay softly against her back.
Tantai Qing couldn't help but reach out to touch it. It was a softness unlike her sharpness, but before she could appreciate it, she was slapped away by Tantai Qing's hand.
Jiang Jifan's expression was cold, and she swept all her hair forward, as if she loathed him.
A burning pain shot through the back of his hand. Tantai Qing weakly withdrew his hand, his eyes slightly red as he stared at her profile, and said in a hoarse voice, "Jiang Jifan."
This was the first time he had called him by his full name. Jiang Jifan hugged his knees and turned his back to him, remaining silent, his back showing a stubborn demeanor.
“You never loved me at all…” he said, his throat dry and each word piercing his heart.
"Did you decide to leave me after you discovered that I'm nothing like him?"
What nonsense is he spouting? So he's been doubting her all along? Jiang Jifan suddenly felt disgusted.
"What do you mean? You think I've been using you as a substitute for someone else all along?" she said sharply.
This was a prelude to her anger. Tantai Qing had expected her to deny it, but little did she know that her next words would be even more hurtful.
Jiang Jifan sneered, his expression full of disdain, "You think you're worthy?"
Upon hearing this, Tantai Qing's heart shattered as if it had crashed, and she involuntarily clenched her fists.
Hearing the cracking sound of his joints, Jiang Jifan guessed that he must be clenching his fists, so he chuckled and said, "What, are you getting angry again?"
Tantai Qing closed his eyes tightly to calm himself down. When he opened them again, he said in a low voice, "Jifan, don't try to provoke me."
She acted as if she had heard the funniest joke, and immediately turned around to retort defiantly, "So what? What else can you do besides force me!"
Tantai Qing glanced at her icy profile, nodded, and said with a self-deprecating laugh, "Yes, you're right."
He suddenly realized that Qin Zilu was telling the truth; she was heartless, and no matter how much he gave her, she could completely ignore it…
Tantai Qing belatedly realized why she never cared about his past: because, in the end, she had never loved him.
If it's true love, like him, he would remain troubled and resentful after discovering her feelings for another man.
Tantai Qing admitted that he was petty and couldn't stand her having any lingering feelings for men other than him.
"I don't think I've ever heard you sing before." "How about I sing you a hundred songs tomorrow?" The conversation between the male and female leads in an idol drama came from the TV. The familiar words sounded increasingly ironic to Tantai Qing.
He glanced at it; the sweet and heartwarming scene of the male and female protagonists on the TV screen was a completely different world from their own.
"Bang!" The bedroom door was slammed shut.
He left her alone in the living room.
Jiang Jifan never treated him as a substitute for anyone else; she disdained to do so. However, she had always been vengeful, and since he had caused her so much pain, she didn't want him to suffer any more.
The large living room was empty, with only the ticking of the clock. Even though the heating was on full blast, Jiang Jifan still felt incredibly cold, so she curled up on the sofa and hugged herself tightly.
The bad mood after the argument kept her awake all night. Jiang Jifan sat alone on the sofa all night. Being blind, she couldn't tell day from night. She only knew that a very long time had passed, so long that the news broadcast on TV had finished. After a long time, another person's voice finally rang out in the living room.
Jiang Jifan heard him open the door, go to the kitchen to get a drink of water, and change his shoes in the entryway.
Finally, the electronic lock beeped, and the door closed completely.
He ignored her the whole time. This kind of interaction without any communication should have been what she liked the most, but after actually experiencing it, she felt a strange sense of grievance welling up inside her.
Jiang Jifan, you're really despicable.
She silently mocked herself, then lowered her head and buried herself between her legs.
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