My family's pen is ruthless and my best friend is attracted to a married man.
"Xue, Jiyue, I, love, you!" Ke Yike's voice, sharp as a knife, once again shouted, severing Xue Jiyue's conversation across time and space. But the flowers that had fallen from heaven were still drifting, weeping, the setting sun a bloodshot color.
Deep sorrow made everything sound like the sound of heartbreak. The love poem that had just lingered in my ears had become someone's eulogy? The blood-red world crumbled to pieces. Strength was fading like my life force, and I could hardly support myself. The stumble of turning away revealed my helpless weakness.
Zhou Ying and Lin Yiyi quickly stepped forward to support him, and Qiu Nian followed suit, leaving Ke Yike stunned and suffering the punishment for his impulsive behavior. The "mountain alliance" and "sea oath" now seemed like a joke, as illusory as this beautiful scene.
During breakfast, Xue Jiuyue reappeared in Ke Yike's sight. When he was hesitating from a distance, Xue Jiuyue gestured to Ke Yike to sit at the same table.
"I'm sorry, I was feeling really unwell just now and could barely stand, so I left first."
Xue Jiuyue's apology made Ke Yike overjoyed. The death sentence was changed to suspended death sentence, and Ke Yike even stopped coughing. He hurriedly asked with concern: "Is it that serious? Are you okay? Why don't we go to the hospital now?"
"It's okay, maybe it's low blood sugar. I just drank a cup of brown sugar water and I'm fine now!"
"That's good! I thought it was my fault. I was scared to death!" Ke Yike seemed to be talking to himself, but disrupted Xue Jiuyue's idea of getting away with it.
"As for you..." Xue Jiuyue was interrupted by Lin Yiyi before she could finish her words.
"Sister Yue, I'll go get another serving of wontons."
"I'll get it for you!" Qiu Nian's attentiveness was met with a roll of the eyes and a look of defiance. Then he followed obediently.
"I'll get some food too."
Zhou Ying followed closely behind and went to the buffet counter to pick up her food.
"Ahem." Xue Jiuyue still chose the most natural name, "In my eyes, you will always be a good brother, just like a family member! But this is definitely not a relationship between a man and a woman."
It was an expected answer. Ke Yike had already prepared for the worst, but now he was full of courage. "But, Sister Yue, I really like you. I am willing to take care of you, protect you, and love you for the rest of my life!"
"You are still too young. Life is not as you think, just about romance and romance. It is not easy to commit to a lifetime."
Just as Ke Yike was about to retort, Xue Jiuyue continued, "Don't deny it. You know my situation. The slightest physical contact is unbearable pain! Can you accept platonic love? Even if you act impulsively right now, can you stick with it for the rest of your life?"
"Aren't you being treated all the time? I believe it can be cured!"
"I've been in treatment for several years. What if I can't be cured? If we are together, and I can't be cured, will you abandon me? Then you might have a high-sounding reason that can deceive your conscience, but the result will be the same, right?"
"No! I won't do that! I will stay with you forever, even if it means just watching you like this for the rest of my life!"
Ke Yike said it so lightly, so lightly that people couldn't believe the weight of his promise, but Xue Jiuyue still smiled happily, because of this promise that didn't have to be fulfilled, and because of the previous ones that remained in her memory, the attentive, youthful, romantic...
"Silly brother, if you can really do what you said, then what's the difference between you and us being siblings?"
"This, this, I, I..." Ke Yike was speechless for a moment because of Xue Jiuyue's words.
Xue Jiuyue looked at Ke Yike's handsome face, which was flushed red, and felt both amused and pitying. She added softly, "Besides, how can I bear to see the person I love suffer because of me? So I won't love easily before I am cured. Just be my brother, and we can still be as good as before, okay?"
"Yeah, okay..." Ke Yike nodded woodenly, his mind still not wrapping its head around it.
A stone fell to the ground, and Xue Jiuyue, feeling relaxed, looked at Lin Yiyi and Zhou Ying who were still deliberately "wandering" not far away, and smiled lightly, "Then I'll go get some food too."
Although Xue Jiuyue and the others enjoyed their breakfast and chatted happily, Ke Yike remained in a state of silence and did not leave the alley until the end of breakfast.
The original plan was to go to the beach to catch the tide and explore the sea while the sun waned this morning. Xue Jiuyue felt unwell and retreated to her room to lie down. Ke Yike wanted to use the vastness of the sea to sort out his tangled thoughts, but the azure blue of the sky and the white clouds only brought him a deeper sense of melancholy.
He lazily leaned back on the recliner, his narrow eyes finding no place in the vast world. Qiu Nian followed behind Lin Yiyi with a look of joy, happiness, and satisfaction, which only made Ke Yike feel so pent up that he almost hurt himself.
"Ying'er?" The weak call was as gentle as the sea breeze.
"Hmm." The answer was still as firm as a rock.
"Sister Yue said she hopes to still be siblings like before."
"Oh, has the situation gotten worse?" Zhou Ying's sweet voice always brings healing like candy.
"That doesn't seem to be the case."
"Isn't this to be expected? How can there be so much love at first sight? Without going through a few setbacks, there is no unforgettable love!"
Ke Yike drooped his eyelids and expressed his concerns, "I'm afraid that if I continue to cling to her, Sister Yue will be disgusted. So I'm hesitating whether to leave."
"If Sister Yue really hated you, wouldn't she express it? Wouldn't you feel it? Besides, Sister Yue is still your creditor."
"That seems to be the case. If Sister Yue didn't like me, she wouldn't hide it." Ke Yike chewed over Zhou Ying's words again and regained his spirits. "Sister Yue is not only my creditor, but also my benefactor! And Sister Yue just said that she wouldn't fall in love easily before she recovered."
Zhou Ying continued to persuade her, striking while the iron was hot. "Yes, I believe you wouldn't do anything to anger or annoy Sister Yue, so what's there to worry about? Use your sincerity and actions to move Sister Yue. Even if she still doesn't accept it in the end, I think it will be beneficial to her treatment. Don't you want to do it?"
"For Sister Yue's sake, I'm willing to do anything. Not only love, but also gratitude! My mother taught me since I was a child that if a person doesn't know how to be grateful, he is worse than an animal." Ke Yike sat up and expressed his firm opinion to Zhou Ying who was lying next to him.
Zhou Ying also sat up. "That's all, let's go play in the water."
"Thank you, Ying'er, ah!"
The bright sunlight streamed a saturated blue through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the ocean-view room, refracting the entire world with vibrant clarity—except for Xue Jiuyue's mind. The extraneous scenery outside the window passed by lightly, and groping for an answer in a daze was Xue Jiuyue's sole concern.
Unlike the honey-like scenes in the past, this time there were quarrels, anger, and disappointment, which led to many messy speculations and made Xue Jiuyue shudder.
The WeChat notification sound suddenly rang in the quiet room, finally stopping Xue Jiuyue's wild thoughts.
"Beauty, we were just having a morning meeting, what happened?"
It turned out that this was a message sent to Cheng Qing more than half an hour ago, and he only received a reply now.
"It's the morning by the sea, the sea breeze brings golden sunshine to my face, and suddenly I just want to see you, is that okay?"
"You're here? We're fine, but I'm straight!"
"Is it enough to know that you're normal and that you have someone you love? What's the progress? When will you bring me to see you?"
"There's no progress, she's married! Tell me, do you want to invite me out for dinner?" Best friends also have a sympathetic connection.
"Married?! Then your happiness is not in vain. Are you still in the mood to have dinner with me?"
"I'm on a business trip tomorrow, so how about a little later today? 8 o'clock, near my office? Don't arrive too early, or I might be late!"
"Okay, then you go ahead and get busy. See you tonight."
With just a few words from her best friend, Xue Jiuyue put aside what she had been worried about for a while.
After changing clothes, about half an hour later, Xue Jiuyue received the next reply, which also included the address of a restaurant.
A smile towards the phone, to a friend? To yourself? To the empty room that is about to close?
Stepping into the sunshine, the oversized sun hat and sunglasses leave only the gentleness that should be. Barefoot on the beach, feeling the comfort and tenderness, my heart melts into the youth and laughter overflowing from Ke Yike and the others, and everything becomes so natural and harmonious again...
Mei Rugu more or less took Li Jingzi's words in. After racking her brains for several days, she finally made the "step" as natural as possible—finalizing the details of the divorce.
Qian Jianjun, who had been comfortable for a long time, knew that this day would come sooner or later, but when he received Mei Rugu's message, he still felt that all the colors of the world were sucked away by a black hole, and he had to face this black hole directly. The chilling fear came from both in front of him and from the bottom of his heart.
Qian Jianjun happened to have an appointment, and with no excuse to refuse, he felt like an ostrich hiding its head. Despite telling everyone he had something to do that evening, he still took a swig, drinking until he was almost drunk before leaving the table. In the car, he unbuttoned the first and second buttons of his shirt, gasping for air. It felt as if an invisible rope was coming from home, tightening around his neck, making it impossible to breathe.
Mei, as usual, prepared dinner. Her cooking skills, long abandoned, were rusty, and even with Sister Feng's help, it took her twice as much time and effort to recreate the old home-cooked dishes. But the flavors of the fried oysters and the crispy duck with taro paste were perfectly captured.
But the freshness of the dishes and Mei Rugu's patience faded like rising steam in the whirlwind of time, transforming from wisps of smoke to wisps of silk before dissipating completely. Mei Rugu couldn't help but think of the consequences of her last compromise, and a bad premonition spread over her.
Qian Jianjun rushed into the house with him, his body thick with the smell of cigarettes and alcohol. Mei Rugu, already anxious, was even more irritated by the memory behind this smell.
Mei Rugu bit her lip lightly and said in a cold voice, "The divorce agreement is on the table. If you have no objections, sign it! The cooling-off period ends the day after tomorrow."
The cold spring water sobered Qian Jianjun from his hidden trance, and grief, loss, fear, anger...all kinds of emotions followed. Qian Jianjun walked woodenly into the living room and read the divorce agreement drafted by Mei Rugu.
Because of Mei Rugu's independence, their financial affairs had been clearly separated throughout their marriage. Furthermore, Qian Jianjun had previously purchased Jianru's shares from Mei Rugu with cash, making the division of their assets relatively simple. Qian Jianjun had previously intended to keep only Jianru's shares and leave the family empty-handed. This agreement, however, was more fair, not only allowing Qian Jianjun to retain his shares but also a portion of his assets.
Qian Jianjun sensed the kindness and felt a warming sensation in his heart. "I only need Jianru's shares. I'll give you the rest, including cash and real estate. It's not easy for a woman like you."
Qian Jianjun's demands were the same as they had been a month earlier, far below the expectations Mei Rugu had carefully prepared for. The implied laziness of his late return, the perfunctory attitude lingering in the reek of alcohol and cigarettes, and Qian Jianjun's still condescending, male-chauvinistic rhetoric, all deeply infuriated Mei Rugu, leaving her voice icy cold. "I just want what I deserve, not charity!"
"Alms?!" Qian Jianjun gritted his teeth and repeated the word—a word Mei Rugu often mentioned when they argued. He stared at his former lover with wide eyes. "Mei Rugu, in your eyes, is everything I do alms? Is there nothing else?"
"Everything you've done? What have you done? Do you think you can buy everything with money? Can everything be measured by money?" Mei Rugu looked at Qian Jianjun, who was already well fed and well-fed. She felt even more aggrieved as she was starving. "I'm not your pet, to be given to you at your pleasure. I don't need sympathy or pity. I can make a living on my own..."
Mei Rugu's words confirmed Qian Jianjun's previous judgment. Mei Rugu was a tough opponent, and the agreement before her was just her persistence for the belief in her heart! The warmth just now disappeared. Qian Jianjun interrupted Mei Rugu who was still angry with Zhan Zhan with a low shout, "Enough!"
Qian Jianjun had had enough of Mei Rugu's constant nagging and wanted nothing more than to interrupt, otherwise it would be the fuse for a heated argument. But those two words, without a trace of warmth, were already a clarion call for war for Mei Rugu.
At this moment, the accumulated emotions of the past month and years of inertia made her words unrestrained and harsh. "You are allowed to do it, but I am not allowed to say it? Don't do it if you feel guilty."
"What did I do?" Qian Jianjun stood up angrily and looked down at Mei Rugu opposite him angrily!
But in Mei Rugu's eyes, this was all bluffing and pretense, which made her feel disgusted. "Do I need to tell you everything you do? How about we sign an agreement that lists what you can and cannot do?"
Qian Jianjun sensed Mei Ru's deliberate innuendo. Instantly, he felt stark naked before Mei Rugu, without a fig leaf to preserve his dignity. When his image, decency, morality, dignity, secrets... everything was exposed, it felt as if his life had lost its support, his soul drifting aimlessly.
"I, I..." His eyes twitched, his lips parted as he murmured, trying to explain. But how could he? Who could understand, who could listen to, such an extremely tangled and complex psychology? How could he explain it clearly?
"Me, what do you mean by me? Leave your money here and buy a bag or a manor. I don't need your pity!"
If Qian Jianjun had merely fallen, then these words had sent him careening off a cliff. As he plummeted, he watched helplessly as the world of Mei Rugu grew smaller and smaller, further and further away...
"You, you, you are despicable..." After Qian Jianjun finished his last words, the door slammed shut. He never wanted to open it again, not even in his memories or dreams...
Xue Jiuyue arrived at the restaurant fifteen minutes early, as usual. It was a standard Chinese restaurant, and Cheng Qing had booked a small private room, which was quiet. The restaurant recommended their freshly brewed sour plum soup, which was genuinely refreshing and thirst-quenching. Browsing the news on her phone, she'd already finished her pot. When she ordered another, it was Cheng Qing who pushed open the door.
"Are you anxious waiting? Sorry, I have to prepare some materials for a business trip tomorrow. I was afraid you would be anxious, so I came here first. My friends are still working overtime."
"I know you're busy. I just arrived a while ago, so it's a good time for me to watch the news. Have some cold dishes first, and the hot dishes will be served soon." Xue Jiuyue comforted her best friend considerately.
"What's wrong? Are you in any trouble?" Cheng Qing asked directly after taking a sip of sour plum soup.
The relationship between the two is the kind that doesn't need maintenance. There's no need for the usual meaningless greetings, but they think of each other when things happen.
Even though they were so close, Xue Jiuyue still felt it was absurd to ask her best friend out of her busy schedule just because of some unclear scenes. "Nothing, just checking in on your love life. Are you single? Who knew you'd fall in love with a married man? Are you planning on being a mistress?"
"No! I just felt that he was the man I was looking for at first sight. But after getting to know him, I found out that he was married and they were very much in love."
"How did you two meet?"
"He is the founder of a startup company. The local Qinshi Group in Xialin set up a new company specifically for him. Since our company has rich channel resources across the country, the Qinshi Group allowed us to invest a small part. Since the head office is also very optimistic about this project, I have been working directly in their company for some time recently. He is confident and proud, and his aura of looking down on the world is so charming!" Cheng Qing described it with stars in his eyes.
"I already have a wife, and you're still obsessed with her? Don't even think about wanting to be a third party!"
"Don't tell me, if you appreciate a piece of art, you have to own it?"
"So, you're together day and night, and what if he falls in love with someone else? Or maybe one drunken moment of tenderness causes you to lose each other?"
"Lost your head! I'm going on a business trip tomorrow to explore their channels. He'll send the information over later, and you'll know when you meet him."
"good!"
As he was speaking, Cheng Qing's phone rang...
Chapter 78: Finding the trail relies on girlfriend to answer questions and relying on military advisor
"Hello, Mr. Ren!"
As soon as the visitor entered the room, Xue Jiuyue stood up and greeted him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
