Min Ting went to get a wet towel for his sister and stopped asking her why she insisted on going abroad. Divorce is easy to talk about, but when it comes to letting go, probably only she knows how painful it is.
Even he couldn't empathize.
More than a year has passed, and her feelings for Fu Yanzhou should have deepened. If they were 70%, she would definitely want Fu Yanzhou to respond to her with 70%, or even a little more.
How could Fu Yanzhou respond to her if he didn't love her?
From the perspective of marriage arrangement alone, Fu Yanzhou has done a good job, but this good job is far from what his sister wants.
Probably like a mother to a father.
Min Xi wiped her tears, and Min Ting took the towel from her: "What do you want to eat?"
"No..." She didn't say she was hungry. She didn't want to make her brother worry too much, so she just said, "I don't know what to eat."
Min Xi looked at his brother: "Whatever you want to do."
Min Ting can make simple noodles and has been able to do so since he was a child. When Min Ting was little, he often went to Yan Heyu's house for dinner. He envied Yan Heyu's sister for having her parents to accompany her for dinner, and he also envied Yan Heyu's mother for occasionally cooking noodles for them.
Their aunt cooks for them at home, and she won't eat much no matter how delicious the food is. Sometimes he will cook a bowl of noodles, which probably doesn't taste that good, but she eats it with relish.
She doesn't like noodles, but he and his father make exceptions.
"Do you have noodles in your refrigerator?" Min Ting rolled up his sleeves and went to the kitchen.
Min Xi didn't know and never went into the kitchen.
Min Ting searched several refrigerators, but found nothing to eat except water and drinks.
"Come stay at my place tonight."
Min Xi just didn't want to live here, and was saddened by the scene.
Min Ting’s house is not far from here, about twenty minutes’ drive away.
On the way back, he stopped at a fresh food supermarket to buy some ingredients. He had no food at home, and sometimes he didn't come to stay for several months, so he didn't prepare anything.
Min Ting put the shopping bags in the trunk and just got into the car when Min Xi received a video call on her phone. He glanced at it and recognized the profile picture. It was Fu Yanzhou calling her.
Min Xi cried so hard that her eyes were still red. She didn't want to answer the call and gave the phone to Min Ting: "Just say I fell asleep."
She turned her back to Min Ting, leaned back in her chair and squinted her eyes.
Min Ting hung up the video and called back using Min Xi's phone.
Fu Yanzhou is attending a class reunion tonight. Those who have families brought their families to join in the fun. There are more than 30 people in total. Chu Yi booked a small banquet hall. The group is going crazy, playing boring games. The loser has to drink or reveal something from their high school days.
He was annoyed by the noise and laughter, so he came out to get some peace and quiet.
When the call was connected and he heard Min Ting's voice on the other end, he frowned: "Where's Xixi?"
"Speak more quietly." Min Ting lied without changing his expression: "He said he stayed up all night last night and couldn't open his eyes, so he fell asleep as soon as he got in the car."
Fu Yanzhou knew that Min Xi was sleepy and had taken a nap in his office at noon. Not wanting to wake Min Xi up, he hung up the phone and sent a message to Min Ting: [What did you have to talk to her about yesterday that required you to talk to her so late? Can't you persuade her to stay up all night? 】
Min Ting was a little confused when he saw the news. After careful consideration, he realized that Min Xi did not return to their home last night, but stayed at home all night, using him as a shield.
[She is working overtime in her room, how would I know! 】
I resisted the urge to block Fu Yanzhou.
Fu Yanzhou asked again: [Why are you in Shanghai too? 】
Min Ting: [Does it have anything to do with you? 】
Fu Yanzhou exited the chat box, endured it again and again, and did not put Min Ting on the blacklist.
"Why are you here? I've been looking for you for a long time." Chu Yi came out with an ashtray to look for him.
Fu Yanzhou locked his phone and said, "Call Min Xi."
Chu Yi put the ashtray on the windowsill and poured out a cigarette for Fu Yanzhou.
Fu Yanzhou was just about to smoke, but he didn't have the habit of carrying cigarettes with him, so he took it and put it in his mouth.
"It won't be complete without Min Xi." Chu Yi always felt that something was missing. He wanted Min Xi to share his luck the most. "I heard that she will stay abroad for three or four months. So long?"
"Um."
"She hates business trips the most, so why didn't she refuse the assignment?" Chu Yi dusted off his cigarette ash and said carelessly.
Fu Yanzhou looked at him: "She told you this?"
"...we were just chatting." Chu Yi would not tell him that they were not just chatting, but often spoke from their hearts. What Min Xi said most often was how good Fu Yanzhou was to her, and she remembered every bit of it.
Chu Yi changed the subject: "How are you and Min Xi doing now? I'll have to learn from you in the future." He smiled and said, "I have no experience in love at all."
"I don't have any experience, I have to cross the river by feeling the stones. Min Xi and your girlfriend have different personalities, and the little experience I have now is not suitable for you." Fu Yanzhou only took a few puffs of the cigarette, felt a little unaccustomed to it, and put it out in the ashtray.
Chu Yi felt that his girlfriend was similar to Min Xi in some ways, interesting and thoughtful. But he couldn't act like he knew Min Xi very well, so as to avoid causing unnecessary misunderstandings to Fu Yanzhou.
He opened the window, exhaled the smoke, and pretended not to know: "What kind of personality is Min Xi?"
Fu Yanzhou: "You don't need to understand her personality, I just know it."
"..." Chu Yi was glad that he didn't say anything more.
After finishing a cigarette, he asked the waiter to pour two glasses of red wine. This bottle of red wine was originally prepared for Min Xi, but she couldn't be there, so he asked Fu Yanzhou to drink it for her.
He clinked glasses with Fu Yanzhou: "Thank you very much. In the future, if you can use me, I will definitely help you."
"How much did you drink to get so drunk?"
"You don't understand."
Fu Yanzhou really didn't understand. He took a sip of red wine and then clinked his glass with Chu Yi: "Congratulations."
"Thank you." Chu Yi smiled and said, "I have to toast myself and congratulate myself." Being able to move on was something he didn't dare to hope for, and his twelve-year persistence in Zhu Youran had become his obsession.
If I hadn't met Min Xi and hadn't had her alternative guidance, who knows which bar I would be drinking in now.
After drinking, Fu Yanzhou left early.
On the way back in the car, he closed his eyes to rest, and unconsciously thought of Chu Yi's two questions: what kind of personality does Min Xi have, and how are he and Min Xi doing?
She is proud, indulgent, willful, passionate and sensitive. She is the other half he has never considered, but she has become the most important other half in his life.
In their marriage, which had no emotional foundation and was mixed with interests, she moved too fast and was unable to get the response she wanted because his pace was slower than hers.
After returning home, Fu Yanzhou did not go to the study to work overtime.
This was not the first time Min Xi had been on a business trip since getting married. It was common for him to stay out of town for ten days or half a month. After she left this time, he inexplicably felt uncomfortable.
He took off his wedding ring and went to the bathroom to take a shower. The bottle of oil-control shampoo he had brought from the laboratory was in the alcove. He hadn't noticed it yesterday, but now he found that the shampoo had been opened and some of it had been used.
This shampoo is not suitable for her hair type, but she still uses it to wash her hair.
--
Min Ting made two bowls of seafood noodles and brought them to her, worried that she would not have enough to eat, and also worried that she would not be able to digest it if she ate too much. "Eat the small bowl first. If it's not enough, pick some from the big bowl."
"Brother, you don't want to eat?"
"Wait a minute before eating. I'll have a cigarette."
He took the cigarette and went to the terrace to smoke it. He has basically quit smoking ever since his sister bought him an ashtray from Jiangcheng, but he suddenly felt the urge to smoke tonight.
Min Xi was eating alone in the restaurant. She had a small appetite to begin with and she accidentally ate too much. When she came to her senses, she realized she had only eaten one and a half bowls of food.
She rubbed her stomach, stood up and went to the terrace to find Min Ting.
I stood up and took a few steps and felt more full.
Min Ting smoked two cigarettes in a row. He put out the second one in the ashtray before finishing it. He used the cup of water beside him to put out the ashtray and turned to look at his sister: "Are you full?"
"Yeah." Min Xi forced a smile: "Eat half of your bowl."
Min Ting rubbed her head helplessly, wanting to blame her but not wanting to, knowing that she was sad: "Overeating hurts the stomach."
Min Xi: “…It’s really not overeating.”
I haven't eaten for almost a day and I'm really hungry.
I guess her brother wouldn't believe her even if she explained it, so she promised: "I will definitely pay attention in the future. Don't worry, I value my figure and health more than anything else."
Min Ting diverted her attention: "I just learned how to make seafood noodles. Is it taste good?"
Min Xi nodded repeatedly, "Who did you learn this from?"
Min Ting: "My mom taught me that she might not be at home on your birthday. If she's busy, she told me to make you something fresh instead of just soy sauce noodles."
Min Xi laughed: "Soy sauce noodles are delicious too."
She lay on the terrace, chatting with her brother about their childhood and then their parents.
"Brother, are there any conflicts between our parents?"
Min Ting paused while playing with the lighter and asked his sister, "Why do you ask me this all of a sudden?" He added, "I don't know. I only had two meals with them this year."
He was away when his parents were at home, and when he was finally at home, his parents couldn't get together.
After all, she had dinner with her parents three times a year, while her brother only had dinner with them twice, so he probably didn't notice.
"In the last year... maybe a year and a half." Min Xi tried to recall, but couldn't remember clearly, "Anyway, I haven't seen their photos together on the news for a long time."
Not having a group photo is no big deal.
"Mom is busier than before. During the past few meals, I felt that the way Mom looked at Dad was a little different than before. I can't describe the feeling, but I just felt uneasy."
Min Ting: "I think they are normal, you are just overthinking it. Maybe Fu Yanzhou was there during the meal, and they felt that they should talk and interact like an elder."
Min Xi nodded, "Maybe."
"Brother, eat quickly, or the noodles will get cold." She had to get up early to go to the airport tomorrow, so she went back to her room to rest, hoping to sleep at night.
Min Ting ate the remaining half bowl of noodles that was almost cold. He started thinking about it on the plane to Shanghai, and kept thinking about it until just now. He decided to tell his father the truth about his sister.
It was easy to get married at first, but divorce is no small matter.
He sent a text message to his father: [Dad, I have something to tell you. Xixi is not very happy. If she wants to divorce, I will support her unconditionally. I hope you will not persuade her to continue living together. There's nothing wrong with divorce. Although I'm not interested in marriage, I'm not opposed to arranged marriage. 】
Min Jiangyuan was just about to take a rest when he saw the message from his son. It was like a bolt from the blue. Unless things were very bad, his son would not send him such a message.
He called Min Ting and asked, "Isn't Xixi doing well?"
Min Ting found an ashtray and lit another cigarette. He didn't mean to argue with his father, but asked his father: "In the eyes of outsiders, Mom is living a good life. So do you think Mom is living a good life?"
Min Jiangyuan's heart skipped a beat: "Have you drunk too much?"
Min Ting exhaled smoke: "I didn't drink a drop of alcohol. Dad, I know everything. I knew it when I was thirteen years old. I accidentally saw you and mom arguing, and then I knew you didn't love mom."
"You...Min Ting you..." Min Jiangyuan had been calm in the face of emergencies for half his life, but he spoke incoherently in front of his son.
"Dad, I'm fine. At that time, I hoped that you could act for the rest of your life." After all, I was still young at that time and didn't want my parents to divorce, especially since my mother still loved my father.
"Let's not talk about me, let's talk about Xixi. She's just like mom, very tolerant."
Min Jiangyuan finally found his voice: "Xixi can't live anymore, do you want a divorce?"
"She didn't say she's getting a divorce, but she's going to Paris tomorrow and will stay there for at least three or four months. She said she wanted to calm down." The cigarette ash fell outside the ashtray, and Min Ting took out a wet tissue to wipe it clean. "I don't want her to endure it. Mom is a ready-made example. She hasn't cultivated love in 30 years. Only Mom knows how painful and depressed she is..." Knows.
He crumpled up the wet tissue in his hand, turned his head to throw it into the trash can, and suddenly he was stunned.
Min Xi didn't know when he was standing in the aisle between the living room and the dining room, staring at him blankly.
"Hello?" Min Jiangyuan waited for more than ten seconds, but there was no movement from his son. "Min Ting, why aren't you talking?"
Min Ting said to his sister: "Why haven't you slept yet?"
Min Xi forgot why she came to the living room. Tears welled up in her eyes and her mind was even slower than when she knew that Fu Yanzhou gave Le Meng's project to Zhu Youran.
She finally remembered why she came to see Min Ting. She ate too much and couldn't sleep, so she came out to chat with Min Ting again.
She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she heard it all.
"Min Ting? Who are you talking to?"
Min Ting breathed a sigh of relief and said into the phone, "Xixi heard it. She's staying at my place tonight." Now that his sister knew the truth, he felt relieved.
My sister has begun to doubt her parents' relationship tonight. It is only a matter of time before she finds out the truth.
Min Jiangyuan was not afraid of anything, but what he feared most was that his daughter would be devastated after knowing the truth. "Min Ting, give the phone to Xixi, I'll talk to her."
Min Xi wanted to walk to the living room, but his feet seemed to be nailed down and he couldn't lift them.
Min Ting put out his cigarette, walked up to his sister, turned on the speaker of his cell phone, and wiped her tears with the back of his hand.
Min Xi opened his mouth and looked at the phone, but no sound came out.
"Xixi, don't cry."
"Dad, do you know that mom loves you?"
"Know."
"You and mom have been separated for so many years. Do you not want to see her or..." She choked.
"Listen to what dad said. The long-distance relationship is purely for work. There is nothing messy. Dad has never done anything to let down the family or the marriage. You, Min Ting, and your mother are the people I care about the most."
Min Xi's tears flowed to the corners of her lips and into her mouth.
"Mom remembers everything about you. She still remembers that you were transferred to Jiangcheng when I was three years and two months old, and transferred away when I was five years and one month old. You yourself probably can't remember it clearly. Mom has loved you for thirty years and waited for you for thirty years. Why don't you respond to Mom? Just once will do."
When she said this, she burst into tears.
What does my waiting for Fu Yanzhou mean?
"No wonder you were so strongly against my marriage. You've been through this yourself, so you're worried that over time, Fu Yanzhou will lose his patience with me, and my life will be very difficult, right?"
“Rarely…”
She took the phone from her brother and said, "Dad, let me calm down. You take a rest."
Min Xi sat on the carpet in the living room, hugging her knees, until she was too tired to cry anymore. Min Ting wiped her face with a hot towel and persuaded her to go back to the bedroom.
No sleep all night.
The next morning at 6:30, the alarm rang, she turned it off and got up mechanically.
Before leaving for the airport, she put on makeup carefully, found a suit from her suitcase and put it on, and spent a long time in front of the mirror. Her glasses were swollen like walnuts, and neither hot nor cold compresses worked.
There was a pair of sunglasses in the box, and she took them out and put them on.
Min Ting also didn't sleep all night. He took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and made a simple breakfast for his sister.
He had work to do and couldn't go to Paris for the time being.
"When I finish what I'm doing, I'll go over and accompany you."
Min Xi: "No, I'm not a child."
After crying, my heart is as calm as water, but it hurts when I think of my mother.
Min Ting sent Min Xi to the airport. Before going through security check, she hugged him and said that she was fine.
After passing border inspection, Min Xi saw Sheng Jianqi in the VIP room. After not seeing him for a year, he still had a cold expression as if he was keeping people at a distance.
She nodded slightly to him in greeting, without removing her sunglasses.
Sheng Jianqi glanced at her twice and inadvertently noticed that she was not wearing a wedding ring on her ring finger. When a woman suddenly becomes very silent and doesn't even wear a ring, it means she has made up her mind to end a relationship.
His ex-girlfriend was like that.
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