In the end, love is all about unbearable pain.
Lin Zhen'er seemed to have automatically erased the details of how the farce ended. She only remembered that the man who brought the paternity test to laugh at her, after being beaten, quickly stopped the waiter who was about to call the police, and then hurriedly took out his phone and started snapping pictures of her husband.
The blinding flashes of light, the shouts of the bodyguards who followed the Jin family, and Jin Yanzhi, who was shielded behind her, struggling for a few moments while covering her face and suddenly bursting into tears—it was all so lively around her, even more so than the night many years ago when she was taken away in a police car.
The man who had tormented her and her mother for years, with a few punches from the young CEO, had finally settled his gambling debts of over three million yuan. Moreover, with the photos on his phone, he should be able to extort a lot more money. That insatiable abyss had finally bitten into the person who made her feel most at ease in the world.
She knew her own father well; he would continue to use this matter to threaten the Jin family and demand an ever-growing sum.
"It's okay, honey. I hit him today just to vent your anger."
Three million is nothing to the Jin family; I've already arranged for someone to handle it.
The man squatting in front of him, not bothering to change his clothes which were soiled from the fight, quickly reached out to rub the head that exuded dejection, every strand of hair on it. Even though the collar and sleeves of his suit were disheveled, the handsome man in front of him wasn't exactly disheveled; he still radiated a captivating aura of masculinity.
Like someone whose strength has been drained in a short time, she didn't know how to face this comfort. Having grown up amidst crying and commotion, she was not unfamiliar with such a scene, but to expose her wounds so nakedly to Jin Yanzhi to show her where she came from brought her more embarrassment and humiliation.
"So you actually knew all along, didn't you? You know what kind of father I have, you know what happened in that family in Xijiang."
You only chose to love me after knowing all this, so you pretended to be deaf and dumb and continued this beautiful dream with me. Jin Yanzhi, three million is just the beginning for that gambler. Stop deceiving yourself. You've earned so much money; you shouldn't be such a fool.
Lin Zhen'er's voice was weak and powerless. She seemed to have exhausted all her strength to smile at the man, but in the end, she failed to do so. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, but then quickly fell back down.
"I know, but three million is nothing. Six million, ten million, even thirty million!"
As long as he takes the money and leaves without hurting you, it doesn't mean anything to me. Zhen'er, listen to me, I'm not stupid. This money is worth it to have you by my side.
The husband, who hurriedly got up to explain, was as flustered as a wild animal caught in a trap. He anxiously gestured with his fingers, pointing to the ever-increasing amount of money, and repeatedly emphasized his determination to stay with her.
The tall, strong man, who was over 1.9 meters tall, now looked like a wronged child, pacing back and forth helplessly with red eyes.
He should have lived a life that ordinary people could never attain, never tainted by the mire of the lower classes, never witnessed the viciousness of humanity. He had been so hardworking and outstanding since childhood; he shouldn't have been forced into this state because he loved the wrong person, she thought to herself.
"You trust my wife, you trust me. I can find a solution. I can protect you. Please believe me, okay?"
Jin Yanzhi seemed to have no other choice. He spun around a few times, then squatted back down on the ground, loosened two more buttons, turned his head, and leaned against her knees like a big dog.
In the woman's eyes, besides that handsome face, there were many overlapping memories: the image of him washing dishes in the rented room; the image of her walking arm in arm with him across the lawn in a wedding dress amidst cheers; the image of them getting up together; the image of him acting coquettishly with his eyes closed.
After a moment of silence, accompanied by a hoarse voice from exhaustion, that usually sweet and gentle voice finally rang out:
“I believe, Yan Zhi, I believe it all.”
But we've all been too tired lately. Give me some time; I'll go back to the film set to handle some work for a few days, and you can also soothe the emotions of the uncles and elders in the group.
"Let's talk again in a few days, okay?"
She didn't want him anymore; those words sounded like a farewell. The fear of abandonment and the man's inability to hold on created an anger more powerless than any he had felt before. He held the woman sitting on the sofa tightly, burying his head in her long hair that fell over her shoulders, refusing to let go, yet unable to utter a single word.
If only I could embed you into my body, then no one could get past me and hurt you.
When the garden lights came on again, Lin Zhen'er didn't know how long she had been lost in thought before she came to her senses. She reached out and patted the man's back, saying softly:
"I'm hungry. Let's eat first, and then you can take me back to the film set."
Obediently, Mr. Jin sat down at the table with his wife. Never one to admit defeat, he dared not even breathe loudly. He was afraid that she would say something foolish that would be hard to accept, and he was also afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would expose his sadness and make things worse for her already depressed mood.
"By the way, your good friend said she was going back to China in the next few days, has she returned yet?"
This is the best topic we can find right now.
"No, they said there's a problem with the paper, it'll be a few more days."
The woman ate and drank the soup in large mouthfuls, like a homeless person who had been wandering for a long time and was starving. She didn't know how to respond to the overwhelming love of the person beside her. The male protagonist of this dream of marrying into a wealthy family was more affectionate than anyone she had ever seen in any movie or TV series.
But ironically, the ruins behind her seemed destined not to produce such a beautiful rose. The old house, which was always filled with cries and embarrassing scenes, had no fertilizer to nourish the flowers.
Over the next two months, Jin Yanzhi felt that his wife had changed, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was different. She became more obsessed with her work, spending more than ten hours a day on set, and often even living in her RV.
But when he had some free time, he became unusually clingy. She would lean against him for long periods, watching the flowers bloom and fade in the garden, and playing with the family dog. When she was in a particularly good mood, she would sit at the table and make steamer basket after steamer of Xijiang's famous bubble wontons.
The restaurant's crystal chandelier often shines its light on the shoulders of the person wearing a sweater at night. The fine tips of the top-quality cashmere turn into a layer of down on her body under the light, making her look like a little rabbit.
He watched as her beautiful hands folded plump, white wontons, waiting for her to get up and cook him a bowl of freshly made wontons while they were still hot, as she cleared the table.
The days were peaceful and happy. In the middle of the night, her charming and alluring eyes would gaze at him tenderly, and she would often call his name repeatedly while panting softly.
He seemed to be living the life he had dreamed of countless times before. But the people around him always seemed to be missing something compared to the beginning. Behind their gentleness and obedience, there always seemed to be a pair of large hands that he couldn't see, slowly pulling away the shadow he cherished most.
If only he hadn't faced increasingly loud opposition from his relatives during this time, and if the Jiang family hadn't deliberately exposed scandals every now and then to save face and sever ties with him, forcing him to spend time suppressing and retaliating.
But the woman who used to be so stubborn and sensitive seemed to have become immune to all of this. She no longer asked about the attitudes of her uncles and relatives, no longer cared about what embarrassment Jiang Chengjing, who was like a fighting cock, had made, and no longer cared about how the sycophantic clowns in the crew viewed her.
She simply emptied the wine cabinet in her house; those shelves that had just been filled with red wine were always empty again within a few days.
Lin Zhen'er seems like the kind of female lead in a TV drama who only cares about herself and is focused on climbing the ladder, or like the kind of artistic young woman in a movie who is numb to the point of despair and whose world outside of alcohol is only work.
During this time, they celebrated birthdays together and went to Zhuque Peak, which Jin Yanzhi had always wanted to climb. When they lit Kongming lanterns at the top of the mountain, the woman carefully wrote down her wishes, which included the success of her new drama, good health for her family, and all the best for him. There were no other words written on them.
The cake that day was specially ordered in advance with a lot of thought and effort. It featured the Little Mermaid, whom his wife had loved since childhood, sitting in a seashell, tilting her head and smiling.
"I've wanted this since I was a child, but I've never been able to have it."
Thank you, my best husband in the world.
Sweetie's eyes crinkled with laughter, and even when she made a wish, she leaned on his shoulder, looking genuinely overjoyed. The entire winter passed in this state of anxious anticipation and blissful disorientation, and finally, what was bound to happen arrived.
The woman made an excuse to go with the film crew for publicity and then suddenly disappeared. The last message she sent him was: Don't look for me.
Meanwhile, the gambling addict who used to collect exorbitant alimony payments from him every month suddenly became well-behaved, not even showing up on the day he was supposed to collect the money. It wasn't difficult for the Jin family to investigate someone; the next morning, they saw news and photos of the person in Turin.
The wife, without makeup, hugged her director best friend at the airport. The friend had been supposed to return to China a few months earlier. After staying in an old apartment for a while, she went to a public school with free tuition.
The man, who had been standing silently by the French windows for a long time without recovering, finally mustered the courage to raise his phone and zoom in on the photo again as the sun set. She was back to how she looked when they first met, wearing an oversized hoodie, her hair casually tied up, walking gracefully down the street in the Southern European sunshine.
"My best friend is studying directing in Turin. She said that during her holidays she would take the train to see the sea and visit Rome."
That kind of life, even the breeze by the roadside feels sweet.
A long-ago conversation, suddenly occurring on this afternoon when they abruptly parted ways, shattered his once unbreakable heart. It turned out that her plans always included that bubble she had dreamed of in her youth, only that her part was missing from that colorful bubble's surface.
"Mr. Jin, should I book you a plane ticket?"
The next flight to Turin departs early tomorrow morning.
The assistant's voice was calm and professional. The man, who had been standing there in a daze, didn't answer for a long time, until the cigar burned to the end, making his hand tremble violently. Only then did his soul seem to return to his body. He shook his head and said nothing more.
The break with the Jiang family was much more difficult than he had anticipated. Many projects were intricately connected, and a complete separation had not yet been achieved. The elders in the family, while not adept at making money, had devoted all their energy to dealing with him, demonstrating unprecedented unity and holding meetings every few days to offer their opinions.
But Zhen'er, I'm not afraid of these troubles, I'm just afraid of you leaving.
You know I was afraid you'd leave, right? That's why you left so suddenly, without giving me any time to prepare.
"I bet you've drunk yourself to death before you've even finished your studies."
A woman sat on her apartment balcony, drinking glass after glass, when her friend snatched the glass from her hand and threw it on the table. Their window offered a view of the Alps, and bottles of wine costing several euros were piled at their feet. The distant peaks, bathed in sunlight, possessed an unreal beauty.
But her heart was like a stone picked out of ashes, unable to stir any ripples.
He was probably angry too, which is why he didn't chase after him...
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