Chapter 50 This is the second time you've abandoned her. ...
With a few minutes to go before the performance started, Shang Shu sat stiffly in her seat. She and Gu Sui were less than an arm's length apart, and she guessed that once the auditorium quieted down, she would be able to clearly hear his heartbeat.
While her cold was still lingering, she turned her face towards Lin Lang, lowered her hand to her lips, and couldn't help but cough twice.
Hearing the cough of the person beside him, Gu Sui couldn't help but frown, his heart clenching once again.
She's sick again.
After coughing, Shang Shu sat up straight and gently took a deep breath, only to hear a cold whisper in her ear.
You have a cold.
She turned her head slightly and unexpectedly met Gu Sui's gaze. Gu Sui's eyes were calm but dim, like a stagnant pool. She looked away in a panic.
This was their first eye contact of the night.
"Mmm," she responded softly, subtly shifting her body to her left.
Take care of yourself.
"The same to you."
As the chimes rang, the auditorium gradually quieted down. Neither of them looked at the other, but silently listened to each other's breathing.
At the start of the performance, Gu Xiangyi appeared on stage in a pure white long dress, her fingertips plucking the strings to play a wonderful melody, making her look like a fairy.
Throughout the performance, Shang Shu felt somewhat dazed. She felt every note drift into her ears and then drift away, leaving no trace. She numbly clapped along with the crowd where they were supposed to. She wanted to smell the white moss fragrance on Gu Sui, but her stuffy nose made it impossible for her to do so.
They sat side by side until the end of the performance, without exchanging another word with each other.
After the performance, the auditorium became noisy again, and people began to leave their seats. Shang Shu and the others also stood up. They had been sitting for the entire performance, but the stuffy nose and the crowd made them feel a little suffocated.
Gu Xiangyi came from backstage to the audience to meet the group. Shang Shu greeted them briefly. She knew Lin Lang probably still had something to say to someone, but she urgently needed to get some fresh air. So she whispered in Lin Lang's ear, "I'll go to the car and wait for you."
Lin Lang glanced at Shang Shu's less-than-pleasant expression and replied, "Okay, are you alright?"
Shang Shu gently shook her head, indicating that people should continue exchanging pleasantries, and then followed the crowd out.
"Go ahead." Lin Lang glanced at Gu Sui, who was just standing there watching other people's backs, with a hint of exasperation. She turned her head and whispered for someone to follow.
Gu Sui watched Shang Shu's thin figure, and finally frowned and followed her.
Shang Shu walked outside the auditorium, found a quiet spot, and leaned against a pillar to cough. She had been too embarrassed to cough too much inside and had been struggling to hold it in.
Gu Sui quickly stepped forward and gently patted Shang Shu's back to help her catch her breath.
Feeling the sudden physical contact, Shang Shu flinched defensively for a moment, only relaxing slightly after turning around to confirm that the person touching her was Gu Sui.
"Thank you." This was the second time she had thanked Gu Sui in the few words she had spoken to him that evening.
The moon was bright and the stars were few. The corner of the campus was quite quiet. The two stood there silently for a long time.
"What's wrong? Are you sick?" Gu Sui looked at Shang Shu's face with deep affection and heartache in the dim light of the night.
Shang Shu took a deep breath, shook her head, unsure how to answer, and put her hands in her coat pockets before pacing forward.
Gu Sui followed, walking quietly beside her. Her voice was soft, tinged with barely perceptible tension: "I didn't expect you to come."
Upon hearing this, Shang Shu paused in her steps: "I don't like to break my promises."
A pang of sadness welled up in her chest. She pulled her collar tighter, turned her head to the other side, and coughed lightly twice.
The auditorium wasn't far from the school gate. The two walked with the scattered crowd. Shang Shu deliberately slowed her pace. She wished this road would never end, but apart from the breeze brushing past her ears, all that remained was silence.
"Ah Shu." As they approached the gate, Gu Sui, her eyes reddening, gently grasped the other's wrist.
As if she had been preparing for a long time, her voice trembled as she said, "I love you, I really, really love you. For the past three years, I haven't stopped thinking about you for a single day. Believe me, okay?"
Shang Shu stared at her toes, tears streaming down her face, one after another, rising incessantly, only to disappear into the darkness in an instant.
“I believe you.” She sniffed, stopped walking, and murmured, “It’s just that I don’t believe myself. If I didn’t know why you left back then, I wouldn’t be confident that I could keep you.”
Shang Shu gently freed her wrist from the other person's grasp and reached out to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingertips: "If you don't want to say, I respect your choice, but we... can only stop here."
pain.
Her heart felt like it was being torn apart by a thousand shards of glass, and Shang Shu felt like she was suffocating.
She walked to the car and gripped the door tightly to make sure she wouldn't faint: "If you've thought it through, you can call me."
After saying that, she got into the car, forcing back her tears and refusing to look at Gu Sui again.
Gu Sui's hand, which had been resting on the car door, gradually loosened. She softly called out to Shang Shu, who was sitting inside with her eyes closed:
“Ah Shu”.
Take care of yourself.
As soon as the car door closed, Shang Shu couldn't wait for the driver to raise the partition before she could no longer hold back her tears and covered her face.
She remembered the regrets Song Lan had also mentioned, and she didn't want any regrets at all, so she still came tonight.
But... she really did her best.
If Gu Sui were willing to make up any reason now, she would definitely choose to believe him without hesitation, but all she could say was "take care of your health."
She cried until her vision began to turn white, her ears were ringing, and she was gasping for air.
She even thought that if Gu Sui could speak to her coffin, her ashes, and her tombstone after she died, she would rather die now, so that at least her soul, which had not yet dissipated, could hear that answer.
That night, Shang Shu fell seriously ill. Her body was already weak, and she was prone to fever from the slightest other trigger, not to mention that she had almost suffered respiratory alkaloid poisoning from crying during a severe cold.
"Lin Lang, I feel like I'm really going to die soon."
This was the calm murmur Lin Lang heard as he gazed into Shang Shu's indifferent eyes.
Calmness was far worse than heart-wrenching weeping, making Lin Lang deeply regret bringing people here tonight.
She knew that parties and clubbing were no longer an option to save Shang Shu in her current state, so her plan couldn't be delayed any longer. She had to push Gu Sui, otherwise the two of them would inevitably suffer a lose-lose situation.
After finally coaxing Shang Shu to take her medicine and fall asleep, Lin Lang called Song Lanye that very night.
“Miss Lin.” Song Lan also seemed a little surprised by the phone call.
"Gu Sui gave her a yacht before, right?" Lin Lang lowered his voice and got straight to the point.
"Yes."
"Check it out and draft a return agreement for me, the sooner the better."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Lang paced back and forth in the living room, lost in thought.
If this happened to her, she might gracefully choose to forget the past and focus on the present, because no matter the outcome, she at least has family who love and support her.
But she knew Shang Shu couldn't do it. She knew all too well how Shang Shu had gotten through the past three years. Apart from her, her friend, Shang Shu had no one behind her. If it weren't for the company and the resentment of being abandoned, Shang Shu might not be here anymore.
So even if she didn't know if this method would work, and wasn't sure if Shang Shu would blame her later, she had to try her best to save Shang Shu's life.
The next day, she asked Song Lan to watch over Shang Shu as well, and then invited Gu Sui out herself.
It was still the same crimson hue of daytime, and there was no one else around, making it a good place to discuss business.
When Lin Lang arrived, Gu Sui was already seated. The morning sun wasn't scorching, and it shone through the glass window onto people's faces. It should have looked warm and cozy, but for some reason, it made the figure appear even paler.
Looking at Gu Sui, she could basically conclude that he hadn't slept all night and wasn't in much better condition than Shang Shu. This made her even more unable to understand what was causing two people in love to torment each other like this.
"Speak," Gu Sui said, moving his lips as he saw the person arrive, seemingly prepared to hear many unpleasant things.
"I'm not here to interrogate you today." Lin Lang sat down, her tone calm. "You won't even tell me about Shang Shu, so naturally you won't tell me either."
Gu Sui's eyelids twitched slightly. She sat quietly in the chair with her legs together, waiting for the other person to continue.
After Lin Lang finished speaking, he picked up the documents next to him, placed them on the table, and slowly pushed them in front of Gu Sui.
Gu Sui looked at the agreement on the table and finally reacted. She had noticed Lin Lang when he came in. Lin Lang was only carrying a small bag, and the white paper in his hand looked particularly glaring. She picked it up with trembling hands, and the thin paper swayed slightly.
"Shang Shu knows you don't care about this little thing, but things have come to this point, and she doesn't want to owe you anything." Lin Lang said, glancing guiltily out the window.
Gu Sui stared at the large characters on the paper, his breathing erratic. He returned the gift she had given him. Was she really going to sever ties with her?
She tried her best to keep her voice steady, but the way her breath blew through her hair betrayed her unease: "Did...A-Shu send you?"
"She's sick, she has a high fever." Lin Lang didn't give a direct answer.
Gu Sui moved her lips anxiously, wanting to show concern, but lacking the appropriate stance.
Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as she placed the paper back on the table, quickly withdrawing her hand as if to dodge, and clenching it tightly on her knee: "This is for her, I won't sign it."
Lin Lang anticipated that the person would refuse, so she didn't press the matter further, since her goal wasn't to actually get the person to accept it.
Seeing that Gu Sui was moved, she continued, "Actually, yesterday, I advised her not to go, but she insisted on seeing you one last time, just to say goodbye."
Upon hearing the word "farewell," Gu Sui felt as if her heart had been mercilessly crushed.
Why say goodbye? Where is Shang Shu going? Or what is she going to do?
Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she almost couldn't finish her sentence: "What do you mean?"
Seeing that the woman had fallen for his trap, Lin Lang, though reluctant, forced herself to continue her story: "Do you know why Shang Wei hit her that time?" She answered herself, "Because Shang Shu refused the blind date he arranged."
Gu Sui's knuckles turned white, and her grip on her knee tightened. Shang Shu had never told her these things.
“But things are different now. Without you, she has nothing to worry about.” Lin Lang clenched his hands tightly under the table, afraid that the older man opposite him would see through his lie.
She continued, her words a mix of truth and falsehood: "You should understand her situation in the business world. She can't stay in the same place and wait for you forever. Last time you swore to me that you hoped she would be happy. Since you can't do it, then you might as well hand it over to someone else."
Having said all she had to say, Lin Lang nodded slightly, trying to find a trace of fear in Gu Sui's eyes as he was about to lose his lover. She stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed softly and stood up.
After taking a few steps, Lin Lang stopped, turned his head slightly, and opened his mouth: "This is the second time you've abandoned her."
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