Chapter 79
On the last night after leaving the Middle East, Zheng Juyong was quiet and peaceful, allowing Guan Ying to have a good night's rest. It wasn't until the morning that he knocked on the door.
"Wow!" Guan Ying couldn't help but look up and down at his new look.
Zheng Juyong stood outside the door, already dressed. Not only was he wearing the clothes she had hurriedly bought for him yesterday, he had also cut his hair short and shaved off his beard. Although his eyes were still a little red, it was no longer a problem. He looked much better!
Ever since he opened up the Saudi market, in the few times they'd met, he'd always sported a mop of messy hair and a long beard, even donning a long robe to follow the local customs. She'd always felt like she couldn't see his face clearly, as if the dark mountains and white waters had completely obscured his true form. It was rare to see him standing before her so fresh and clean. Though not as fair-skinned as before, his dark skin and buzz cut had a unique charm. It felt like he'd suddenly transformed from a boy into a man.
Feeling a little embarrassed by her stare, Zheng Juyong scratched his bald chin and said, "Why, don't you recognize me?"
Guan Ying came back to her senses and asked deliberately, "What about your hair?"
Following her gaze, he raised his hand and scratched his frizzy hair: "Oh, I shaved it myself with the hotel's razor. My hands are a little rusty, so you'll have to make do with it."
"I can see it, the shave is too rough...it shows your eyesight isn't very accurate." Guan Ying didn't hesitate to give a negative review. There was no way around it. From childhood to adulthood, being with him, I was always used to using this kind of offensive tone.
"Haha, I can see people much more clearly now." He leaned his shoulder against the door frame and tilted his head to look at Guan Ying meaningfully. "Did you sleep well last night?"
Thinking he was still harping on how cruel she had been to leave him last night, Guan Ying avoided his sight and retreated to her room to pack her luggage. With her back to him, she said confidently, "Are you trying to say I'm heartless? You said that on the yacht, 'I don't need you anymore.' I did it, so you can't come back and blame me for being cruel. That's really shameless of you! I have a long day to travel today, and it's important for me to get some rest beforehand."
Zheng Juyong was taken aback for a moment, then followed in. "I knew you were going to hurry, so I asked how you slept last night. I didn't mean any other harm. I said you were cruel, but it was just a joke. Why did you take it so seriously?"
Guan Ying tidied while retorting, "What you just said about 'seeing people more clearly', wasn't it referring to me?"
Zheng Juyong complained, "How dare I point fingers at you?"
Guan Ying raised her head and looked at him: "Look, you're being sarcastic again! Zheng Juyong, I've discovered that we can't talk properly, and we can't stay together for too long."
Zheng Juyong didn't know what had offended her so early in the morning. Thinking he was about to send her away, he felt that he shouldn't leave such a bad impression. He leaned in closer and explained seriously, "I've always been talking to you nicely and listening to you."
"Ha!" Guan Ying smiled casually and lowered her head to pack her handbag.
Zheng Juyong started to get serious. "I listened to you last night. I didn't bother you, did I? I listened to you with my clothes, hair, beard... I listened to you too. And Dong Zhiqiao, I listened to you, too."
Guan Ying found it even more amusing: "I didn't ask you to be the matchmaker to bring Dong Zhiqiao and Cui Shanshan together."
Zheng Juyong frowned. "That's not it. You were the one who said I shouldn't cut corners. As long as Nangang is patient, there will definitely be a day when we can make terms with Kassim. I think what you said makes sense, so I discussed with Kassim and decided to give all the orders he had originally planned to transfer to us to Nangang."
Guan Ying was surprised and asked, "Is that so?"
Zheng Juyong: "What else? Otherwise, the matter has been resolved, so why would I bother with this? Kassim looked so bad at the time, and I had to bite the bullet and talk to him. Fortunately, Dong Zhiqiao did take the initiative to help with the matter of retrieving Fred, which greatly eased the relationship."
At the time, I thought he was just brushing off what I said to him on the yacht, but it turned out he had really taken it in. Guan Ying didn't know what to say for a moment, so she just lowered her head and gathered the things in her hands.
Zheng Juyong pressed the zipper of her handbag, lowered his head, and looked into her eyes with resentment: "Think about it, from childhood to adulthood, as long as you gave me an order, have I never failed to obey you?"
Guan Ying always felt that something was strange, but she couldn't come up with any examples. He was quite obedient to her when he was a child, but he had changed a lot after what happened with Qiao Qi. Recently, he had the courage to stand up and be independent. If she gave him some time, she would find evidence of his "rebellion".
"Even when you lied to me, I believed it." But he didn't let her think about it.
"You're crazy! When did I ever lie to you?" Guan Ying glared.
Zheng Juyong suddenly straightened his back and faced me, "In Guangzhou, you took advantage of me when I was drunk... That time it was you, not Qiao Qi."
"You, you're talking nonsense! I didn't, I can't, it's not me!" Guan Ying snatched the handbag from under him, stuffed it into the bag, picked it up and left. "It's time to go back to Daman. It's too late if we don't leave now! Where are Dong Zhiqiao and Cui Shanshan?"
Zheng Juyong stood up with his hands folded, and said with a triumphant smile, "Oh, it's so early, don't bother them. Dong Zhiqiao is still in a wheelchair. I borrowed another car from the housekeeper to take you to Dammam Airport."
Guan Ying looked around anxiously: "But Shanshan said she would send me off."
"If you have the heart to go to Dong Zhiqiao's room and call her away alone, I don't object."
"Well..."
Zheng Juyong pursed his lips, took a step forward, and took the bag and gift bag from her hands: "Don't worry, my eyes can now see people and the road clearly."
Guan Ying followed him into the elevator and muttered to the door, "Hmph, so sarcastic."
He approached from behind and said, "You know you look childish when you're shy, right?"
Guan Ying panicked and hid in the corner of the elevator. Was she shy? Impossible! Since they were going to say goodbye soon, she didn't bother to argue with him!
He packed his car early and had a smooth journey.
There were no pedestrians on the streets of Bahrain on a weekend morning. Most people were used to going out in the afternoon. They didn't want to be alone with him at this time, but there was no one or anything to distract him. It seemed as if their car was the only thing left in the world.
When we reached the cross-sea bridge, there were no cars in sight, and the world seemed to be a sea of seagulls. Only the red, rising sun shone through the car window, quietly casting a layer of ambiguous morning glow over the two people sitting upright in the car.
"Well... there's something I want to tell you. When Xiao Weiyan left Dubai, he gave me that Ferrari for safekeeping. Eric told me that he had discussed it with Xiao Weiyan and he planned to buy it back." He hadn't intended to tell her about this, but the atmosphere in the car was too solemn, so he had to find some "insignificant" topics.
"Oh." Guan Ying was about to leave here and didn't care about these things.
Not wanting the conversation to cool down, Zheng Juyong gossiped, "It seems Eric's wife wanted to say she's attached to the car and can't just sell it off. She scolded Eric at home. I didn't expect Eric, a big-name law firm owner, to be so obedient to his wife."
[Be obedient]...Why are you mentioning this word again?
Guan Ying was inexplicably annoyed and turned around to say, "I said you were so sarcastic so early in the morning and even sent me off alone, just to find an opportunity to attack me, right? Did Brother Liu and Brother Qin tell you about this? What I said in Eric's office was just a provocation, otherwise how could I have persuaded Eric and Daniel to go against me? But I'm not Qiao Qi, I'm not interested in married men!"
A sudden brake.
Guan Ying knocked his forehead. He shouldn't have blurted out the matter of Qiao Qi at this time!
"No wonder Brother Liu and Brother Qin were hesitant when I asked them. You really are..." Zheng Juyong honked the horn several times.
Sure enough, he became confused as soon as Qiao Qi was mentioned.
There was silence in the car for a moment, and both of them had their own regrets.
"I'm sorry." They said almost in unison.
The two finally looked at each other.
"I didn't mean to bring it up..." Guan Ying first reflected on herself.
Zheng Juyong restarted the car and interrupted her, "You're not wrong. It's all because of me. I'm the one who's let you down." Facing the morning sun, the car was back on track. "My dad always said that you couldn't have a long-term relationship because of me. I didn't believe it then. I thought you were clearly just fickle and enjoying it. I even thought you were a bit of a scumbag, too casual with men. I was thinking of finding an opportunity to persuade you to take your relationship seriously... Haha, now I think about it, I have my own problems, so who can I blame you? It's because I'm so disappointing. In the past, all the pressure on Xicheng Steel was on you. For so many years, you, a young woman, fighting alone out there, must have suffered a lot."
His tone wasn't one of teasing, but rather of earnestness, tinged with an inexplicable sympathy. Guan Ying felt somewhat uncomfortable listening to it, and said stubbornly, "Hey, don't think I'm such a bittersweet person. You were right before, I simply get tired of the old and love the new! And I can't even talk about suffering. I prefer to fight alone!"
Zheng Juyong turned to look at her, not quite believing it.
Guan Ying folded her arms. "You know Jiawei is my best friend. She understands me best. She blames me for dating men just because they're useful to me. She also advises me to be more serious, but I don't think I've done anything wrong! When you're in a relationship, you should always want something from the other person. If I don't want anything, why would I date him? I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't love someone at all costs like you do."
Zheng Juyong smiled and shook his head.
"Are you laughing at me?"
"I laugh at myself. I must be stupid and useless in the eyes of women."
"Hey, there's no need to be so self-deprecating. Isn't Qiao Qi making good use of you?"
Ah, damn it, why did they mention Qiao Qi again! Guan Ying covered her mouth with her hand, rested her elbows on the edge of the car window, and turned her head to look at the beautiful Persian Gulf rushing under the bridge. God, please let her leave here quickly!
The windowpane reflected his profile, a lonely, bitter smile. He didn't say anything in defense, nor did he defend Qiao Qi like he used to. It seemed he had been consciously avoiding the subject of Qiao Qi for a while now, and he didn't know what exactly happened to him in Yunnan. If, as he suspected, he was stuck at the Qiao family because he couldn't bear to leave Qiao Qi, why would he avoid her so much now? But if that wasn't the case, and there were bigger problems between them, then with Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, why hadn't he mentioned his broken engagement with Qiao Qi?
“Alas!” Guan Ying looked out the window and couldn’t help but sigh.
"What's wrong?" he asked her in a low voice.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just a little worried when I think about having to travel for more than 20 hours." Guan Ying leaned against the car window.
"I'm sorry."
Maybe it was because he had to rush to say so many "apologies" to her before leaving, which made her feel uncomfortable, but she still preferred his "ungrateful" look.
Guan Ying frowned and said nothing more.
After that, they were silent all the way to the airport. Zheng Juyong watched her go into the inspection area without any further ado. He just waved to her from afar and said, "Goodbye!"
Zheng Juyong, goodbye!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
