Chapter 17 The Red Dress Eight years have passed, but I will always be in your heart...
Just as Lin Yuwei's gaze swept across the depths of the wardrobe, a striking red caught her eye. She hurriedly pushed aside the clothes blocking her view, and her fingertips trembled as they touched the soft velvet fabric. It was a long red dress, carefully hung on the innermost side, with several unnatural wrinkles at the hem and minor tear marks on the shoulder straps, clearly indicating that it had been subjected to intense pulling.
A bitter smile appeared on Lin Yuwei's lips. She knew he could never remain chaste for her, but the thought of his wild release on other women still made her heart feel like it was being pricked by needles.
But the next second, memories flooded back like a tidal wave. No, this dress was clearly a nineteenth birthday gift from Gu Qingyan. She had accepted it and casually tossed it into the closet until the day she decided to move in with her then-boyfriend. On a whim, she put it on. Then, a terrifying experience occurred that she had deliberately tried to forget. She only remembered Gu Qingyan's bloodshot eyes, the torn hem of the dress, and being imprisoned in the apartment for two days and two nights. It was during that time that he ripped the dress! Scenes of violence and desire were now unfolding layer by layer with the folds of the dress.
Hidden beneath her skirt was a walnut box, inside which were neatly folded shirts, ties, and even a gray scarf she had half-finished knitting but abandoned.
Lin Yuwei's breathing suddenly quickened, and she steadied herself by holding onto the bedside table, but she accidentally knocked over a photo album on the table. The album fell to the ground with a crisp "thud." Worried about disturbing Gu Qingyan in the living room, she quickly bent down to pick up the album that was lying face down on the ground. She glanced at it unintentionally and found that the album was full of photos of her when she was abroad, from exhibition openings to everyday street photos, all of which were her posts on social media. Each of these photos was carefully laminated, and the edges were already slightly yellowed.
Lin Yuwei flipped through the pages with trembling hands, momentarily forgetting that she was in Gu Qingyan's room, and not even noticing that Gu Qingyan was standing at the door.
Until, "Miss Lin," Gu Qingyan's voice suddenly rang out from behind, "I asked you to come into the room to get a pen, not to rummage through my personal belongings."
Lin Yuwei was startled and the photo album slipped from her hands. Gu Qingyan rushed over, bent down and caught it. He stirred up a breeze, letting her smell the faint scent of his shower gel.
Gu Qingyan didn't look at her, but instead carefully checked the photo album for any damage, his movements as gentle as if he were handling a precious treasure. Coming to her senses, Lin Yuwei found her voice: "These photos are all of me, Gu Qingyan. What exactly are you trying to do?"
He put the photo album back, looked down at her, his eyes as deep as the night, and said frankly, "This is all public information. It's not illegal for me to print it out, is it?"
Lin Yuwei suppressed her surging emotions, not wanting to argue with him about this. She raised her chin and replied in as calm a voice as possible, "Printing public information is not illegal. Since President Gu likes collecting so much, let's keep it and enjoy it slowly. It's getting late, let's go out and sign the documents so as not to delay your business trip tomorrow."
After saying that, she tried to leave the room, but Gu Qingyan's tall figure blocked the passageway next to the bed. He looked down at her, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
"Please move aside." Lin Yuwei repeated twice, her voice trembling uncontrollably. Seeing that Gu Qingyan was unmoved and seemed not to hear her, she had no choice but to reach out and push him. The moment her fingertips touched his chest, they both trembled slightly. In the shoving, she fell onto the soft bed, and Gu Qingyan pressed down on her, bracing himself on his arms beside her, trapping her firmly in his small space.
Lin Yuwei's heart pounded like thunder. They were too close! The distance between them was too close! So close that she could count his trembling eyelashes. Their eyes met, their warm breaths mingled. Lin Yuwei quickly turned her face away, and Gu Qingyan's warm breath fell behind her ear, making her whole body feel numb and tingling, and she lost the strength to resist.
Under the warm light of the room, Gu Qingyan looked at the person he had been longing for day and night in his arms. Her soft hair was scattered on his bed sheet, and her fair cheeks and ear tips were quickly tinged with a blush like a rosy cloud, like a newly blooming rose, which was particularly captivating against her snow-white skin. All of this made his heart flutter with an uncontrollable excitement.
Lin Yuwei clearly felt Gu Qingyan's breathing become heavier. She was worried that things would take an incorrect turn, which would go against her original plan. So, she forcefully pulled her hand out of the restraint and stood between herself and Gu Qingyan: "Mr. Gu, please have some self-respect. Is this how you usually treat your business partners?"
Gu Qingyan didn't reply, but instead asked in a hoarse voice, "What's your relationship with Zhou Xubai?"
Lin Yuwei wanted to explain, but when she turned around and saw his suspicious look, she changed her mind and her tone turned cold: "President Gu, I came here tonight to sign documents, not to explain my private matters to you. Besides, my private matters are none of your business, aren't they?"
Gu Qingyan looked directly into her eyes: "Are you together? You two are already so close? I heard him answer your call today."
Lin Yuwei paused, suddenly understanding what Xiao Li meant by "President Gu is in a bad mood." It turned out that Zhou Xubai had answered Xiao Li's call to his office landline, and Gu Qingyan had mistakenly thought that Zhou Xubai had answered her private cell phone number. Bitterness and grievance spread through her heart. Why did he question her like that? Back then, when he was so close to Qi Xueqing, did he ever give her a single word of explanation?
Seeing that she remained silent, Gu Qingyan suddenly softened her tone: "Lin Yuwei, what do you see in him? Wealth? Fame? I have all of those now. Why don't you consider lying to me? I'll definitely fall for it."
Gu Qingyan's words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the last glimmer of hope in Lin Yuwei's heart. It seems that it is really hard for people to shake off the labels they have attached to themselves. She forced a bitter smile: "He answered the landline in my office. You should look at me with new eyes after three days apart. Gu Qingyan, eight years have passed, and in your heart I will always be that shameless woman, someone who, whenever she stands with a man, is always seen as having an ambiguous relationship, right?"
Gu Qingyan's body stiffened noticeably as he pressed down on her. Lin Yuwei took the opportunity to push him away and straightened her slightly wrinkled clothes: "You can contact the auction house to choose to breach the contract for this item. From now on, I will never have anything to do with you again. I will never appear in front of you again, and I hope you will never appear in my life either. Let's let each other go."
As Lin Yuwei picked up her bag and walked towards the door, her hands trembled so much that she could barely hold the doorknob. There was complete silence behind her, and she didn't hear a single word of apology until the door closed.
As the elevator descended, she looked at her pale reflection in the mirrored wall and realized that she was already in tears.
Lin Yuwei returned to her car, and the moment she closed the door, the world fell silent. She slumped over the steering wheel, her fingertips trembling slightly. Eight years had passed. She was no longer the reckless girl she once was, but in his eyes, she seemed forever frozen in her most wretched state.
She closed her eyes, and memories surged uncontrollably.
The classroom in high school was always noisy and restless. Her desk drawer was always stuffed with all kinds of gifts and love letters. She didn't really care about those things, but she enjoyed the feeling of being watched and liked. Every time after school, she would ask Gu Qingyan to help her put the gifts into her schoolbag and take them home.
One weekend, she stayed in her bedroom watching a popular idol drama, and a strange longing for romance welled up inside her. On a whim, she unfolded all the love letters she had received and spread them all over the bed. Just then, Gu Qingyan came in with fruit—his mother had cut it and asked him to bring it up. She smiled and pulled him to sit on the edge of the bed, pushing the pile of letters in front of him.
"Come here, come here, can you help me see which one is written the best?"
Gu Qingyan paused, placed the fruit plate on the desk, and said calmly, "The college entrance exam is in six months, Miss. You should focus on your studies."
Gu Qingyan's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over her head. Her longing and curiosity about love, ignited by the plot, were easily negated by his words! A rebellious spirit suddenly surged up, and she grabbed five letters at random, a defiant smile playing on her lips: "I won't! There are still six months until graduation, I'm going to change boyfriends every month."
After school started, she actually did it. The beginning and the end were as casual as a game. Every time she dumped a boy, she used the same reason: "You're not as good as him." The "him" that Lin Yuwei mentioned was always the next unlucky one to be chosen.
On the fifth day, with only a month left before the college entrance exam, she said to the boy with red eyes, "I like boys with good grades, like Gu Qingyan. Let's break up." She just casually used Gu Qingyan as a reason to break up.
She never expected that her words would provoke such a vicious retaliation from Gu Qingyan.
The boy knew some people in society. A few days later, in the evening, Lin Yuwei and Gu Qingyan were waiting for the driver at the school gate. Because of the hot weather, she sent Gu Qingyan to buy ice cream at the convenience store across the street. The boy and his men blocked Gu Qingyan in an alley. When Lin Yuwei saw it, the two sides had already started fighting. She ran over anxiously and could hear the dull thuds of fists hitting Gu Qingyan and the boys' curses from afar: "We'll make sure you can't write your college entrance exam paper, let's see if she still likes someone like you!"
Lin Yuwei screamed for help, and the others dispersed. Gu Qingyan's right hand was covered in blood and had been broken. She was terrified, afraid that he would tell her mother the real reason.
She begged him, almost crying, not to tell the truth: "Just say... just say you accidentally offended him at school, okay? Please." Gu Qingyan didn't say anything, but looked at her with his quiet eyes for a long time before finally nodding.
In the month leading up to the college entrance exam, she became his most attentive caregiver, accompanying him to change his dressings, helping him take notes, and even clumsily feeding him. Besides guilt, she felt a mix of other emotions she couldn't quite define. Fortunately, under her frantic care, Gu Qingyan recovered quickly, had his cast removed before the exam, and didn't miss it.
Her memories jump back to their university days. They lived together in an apartment under her mother's name. Her suitors were still numerous. Sometimes, when she was in a good mood, she would bring her boyfriend back to the apartment and introduce him to those who were curious about Gu Qingyan's identity: "This is my cousin." Then she and her boyfriend would snuggle on the sofa to watch TV and play games, intimately close. Gu Qingyan, on the other hand, would always be in the kitchen silently preparing meals, snacks, and fruit platters for the three of them, like a silent shadow.
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Author's note: Our Weiwei is jealous of her eight-year-younger self [cheek resting on hand]. Speaking of which, Gu really had a tough time, with a childhood and adolescence full of blood and tears. Hehe, things will get better and he'll get what he wants!
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