Chapter 48 Defeat and Repentance "You owe me what you owe me..."
The locust leaves rustled in the wind, and Ji Yao felt that Yan Quan's voice was somewhat faint through his ears.
Then, Ji Yao clearly heard Yan Quan answer, "Yes."
"Damn..." Ji Yao felt his heart belatedly clench... This bittersweet feeling was something he hadn't experienced in a long time.
Yan Quan quietly looked at the stunned Ji Yao, then gently placed her hand on Ji Yao's shoulder: "Ji Yao, I had some misunderstandings about you before."
“But now, things have changed.” Yan Quan patted Ji Yao’s shoulder a few times with his knuckles. “You’re a good person.”
[Drip, classic "good guy" card]
Ji Yao's aching heart felt like it had been twisted and then punched hard: "I'm so fucked..."
"Yan Quan, you might as well not have told me."
Ji Yao was both angry and upset, unsure of what to do with her hands: "If I had known, I wouldn't have asked you..."
The locust tree leaves rustled in the wind, and the slender, twisted branches swayed and ravaged even more violently... just like the increasingly painful and resentful emotions that were rising in Ji Yao's heart.
"Yan Quan, I didn't lie to you."
"When I said I wanted to 'date' you, I wasn't just playing around, I was serious..."
After rambling on for a while, Ji Yao forced a deep breath and said, "Forget it, there's no point in talking about this now."
"Besides, you and Yan Ceyan aren't officially together yet." Ji Yao sniffed, looking at Yan Quan and forcibly tugging at the corners of her mouth:
"Anyway, everyone else on the show is really boring..."
"It's none of my business who you choose."
Police officers at the scene had set up a cordon and banners to protect the area. Ji Yao, while speaking, pulled Yan Quan to the other side:
"Yan Quan, I will still choose you even after the show ends."
"I, Ji Yao, am not someone who can't afford to lose."
After surveying the scene and understanding the general situation, the police rolled down their car window and waved to Yan Quan and Ji Yao, saying they would take them back to the police station and summon them for questioning and to take statements.
Another police car ahead turned on its high beams, which were a bit dazzling in the dim twilight.
Looking at Ji Yao's slender, lonely figure walking ahead, Yan Quan sighed and quickly caught up, "Ji Yao."
"I never questioned the truthfulness of what you told me. I also believed that you genuinely liked me. But..."
Ji Yao paused in her steps.
Yan Quan caught up with Ji Yao completely, grabbing Ji Yao and holding her firmly in place. "It's not just me who can feel it, you know it very well yourself..."
"Ji Yao, you don't like me as much as you say you do."
"You're just using me to escape something."
"..." Ji Yao slowly turned her head to look at Yan Quan, as if her cervical spine was rusty.
Yan Quan truly felt that Ji Yao was about to shatter.
"I give up..."
Ji Yao muttered unconsciously, "So the psychology department of Federation A is really that amazing?"
"Yan Quan." Ji Yao looked up with a helpless expression, and said with a bitter tone, "Since you've figured it out, don't expose me anymore."
"I will really choose you, and I will insist on choosing you and going on a date with you until the end of the show's recording."
"Is it even possible to escape this situation...?"
"Yan Quan, can you let me try?"
"Hoo..." Yan Quan lowered her eyelashes, and through the hazy white light, she seemed to see her eighteen-year-old self once again.
In a daze, she suddenly recalled her first frank confrontation with Ji Yao in the bathroom—every time Yan Quan looked at Ji Yao, it was like looking in a mirror.
They share the same philosophy of indulging in a life of unbridled pleasure, and even their methods of solving problems after encountering setbacks are exactly the same.
"There's no escaping it, Ji Yao."
Yan Quan gasped softly, her fingers unconsciously clenching the cuffs of her oversized coat—the cool scent of datura flowers drifted through the air.
The temporary mark on the back of her neck still seemed to be burning hot, and Yan Quan could feel her stubborn rationality crumbling little by little: "I tried, Ji Yao."
"If you run away, the problem will still be there. No matter how you close your eyes and try not to see it, it will still haunt you day and night."
"The truth is..." Yan Quan opened his lips very slowly, and just like the syllables that came out of his mouth, a certain determination had already been made in his mind:
"If you want it to truly end, you have to get closer to him."
*
To protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved, the police station did not allow the program crew to continue filming, so the cameramen gave up and returned to the Love and Variety Show House early.
After the oral account of the case, the written record, and so on, it was already quite dark when Yan Quan, Yan Ceyan, and Ji Yao left the police station.
As for Fu Duannian... he was detained, of course.
In the vast darkness of the night, the silver sports car that Ji Yao was towed back by the police was dazzlingly bright.
"Let's go back to the cabin." Ji Yao stepped into the driver's seat first.
Seeing that Yan Quan and Yan Ceyan were still standing there motionless outside the car, Ji Yao put her hands on the steering wheel, raised her eyebrows in annoyance and helplessness; "What, are you two walking back?"
"Although the back row is a bit narrow, someone has to squeeze in..."
After Ji Yao finished speaking, the atmosphere fell into an awkward silence once again.
"Ji Yao." Yan Quan stared at Ji Yao calmly for several seconds before finally speaking slowly, "You should go back first."
"I have something to say to Yan Ceyan."
"Why do you have to send me away before you can say anything..." Ji Yao frowned, gritted her teeth, and stared at Yan Quan for several seconds before finally lowering her head helplessly: "...Fine."
With a turn of the key, the high-powered engine roared to life. Before leaving, Ji Yao glared fiercely at Yan Ceyan: "If you're going to talk, then talk. Don't do anything you shouldn't."
"The man surnamed Fu is still handcuffed; he's a cautionary tale for you."
"I will definitely wait for Yan Quan to come back tonight at the door of the cabin." After saying this aggressively, Ji Yao's sports car flashed its taillights and sped away.
Without the noisy voices of a third party, Yan Quan and Yan Ceyan stood there, looking at each other, and fell into a silent coexistence.
Unlike their previous tense and cold confrontations, this silence... was slightly awkward, even carrying a faint sense of ambiguity.
Yan Quan thought it might be because... she had been temporarily marked by Yan Ceyan, and the two had been quite intimate during the manic-soothing process. In addition, she was wearing Yan Ceyan's coat.
Temporary markers are truly a magical thing among AOs. Yan Quan thought to himself inwardly.
"Yan Ceyan, you said I'm not allowed to date other Alphas on the show..." Yan Quan exhaled shallowly, her eyes narrowed, and unconsciously pulled Yan Ceyan's coat up a little tighter—
"I agree to your request."
Yan Ceyan raised his eyebrows slightly and looked up at Yan Quan.
Yan Quan continued, "When the police were taking my statement just now, they asked me about the temporary pheromone marker on the back of your neck."
He said that the person's subjective will is an important basis for determining rape... and told me not to be afraid of being coerced and to explain the situation truthfully.
Yan Quan's mind raced for a moment: "But Yan Ceyan. I told the police—"
"I volunteered."
"..." Yan Ceyan's Adam's apple bobbed, his tall figure backlit, his face shrouded in the heavy shadows of the night. He still didn't speak.
So Yan Quan repeated what he had just said in detail:
"When I fainted from heat, I hadn't completely lost consciousness. I knew that the person who held me was you."
Now, Yan Ceyan's furrowed brows and tense expression finally softened: "So, Yan Quan, what exactly are you trying to say?"
Unable to see Yan Ceyan's expression clearly, Yan Quan simply took a few more steps closer to Yan Ceyan.
When they stood in the same position again, Yan Quan and Yan Ceyan were only a few centimeters apart.
Now, Yan Quan could clearly see Yan Ceyan's eyes—his dark, deep pupils were staring straight ahead, his eyes churning with complex and obscure emotions.
"I just want to confirm one thing." Yan Quan's breathing was almost right next to Yan Ceyan's ear.
"What do you want to confirm..." Yan Ceyan's voice was a little hoarse.
Yan Quan slightly raised his chin, meeting Yan Ceyan's gaze without flinching. His voice was deliberately slow and gentle:
"Yan Ceyan, do you still 'hate' me now?"
"..." Yan Ceyan pursed his lips and didn't reply.
Just as Yan Quan was about to change the subject, Yan Ceyan suddenly took a deep breath and forced out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Yan Quan, are you asking a question you already know the answer to?"
"So, you don't dislike him?" Yan Quan continued to stare straight at Yan Ceyan.
Yan Ceyan felt a little uncomfortable being stared at. He glanced away slightly, tacitly agreeing.
"Ha..." Yan Quan suddenly choked and let out a soft laugh, looking quite pleased.
Yan Ceyan, who had taken in Yan Quan's series of subtle actions, unconsciously softened his expression: "Yan Quan, and then..."
The wind rustled through the fallen leaves on the street. Yan Quan took a deep breath, gazed intently at Yan Ceyan, and spoke earnestly:
"Yan Ceyan, can we reconcile?"
"You temporarily marked me, and almost... marked me for life."
"Moreover, for the past seven years, you have been using the military and the Yan family's spies in Federation A to monitor and spy on my whereabouts and personal privacy."
"According to the laws of the Republic, I can charge you with both rape and infringement of citizens' personal information."
Yan Quan let out a deep breath, "I won't pursue these matters any further."
"So, Yan Ceyan, we're even now."
"We are even."
"..." Yan Ceyan bit his lower lip, and after a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth:
"Yan Quan, you've been preparing for this for so long. Is this all you wanted to say to me?"
A surge of anger, mixed with an unnamed bitterness, welled up in my chest...
Because Yan Ceyan simply couldn't accept the idea of "no debts owed." This would make it seem as if he and Yan Quan had absolutely no connection.
What he had expected Yan Quan to say was not this at all.
"Heh, we're even." Yan Ceyan let out a mocking laugh.
"Yan Quan, so we're even now?"
"How can there be such an unfair trade?"
“Back then, my family lost nearly a third of our assets on that project. If it had been used as a dowry for a wedding, it would have been fine…”
"But right after breaking up with her, he fled to Federation A and stayed there for seven years. He blocked and deleted her WeChat and phone number..."
Yan Ceyan's tone gradually leveled out as he spoke, as if he had rehearsed these words countless times until he was numb to them:
"Yan Quan, if I don't use some methods to monitor you, I really won't know anything about you."
"Besides, you stole over a billion yuan in cash. Even if the highest price for sex on the black market is one hundred million yuan a night..."
Yan Ceyan's deep gaze was fixed on Yan Quan's coat, his eyes seemingly tracing the ambiguous hickeys on the back of Yan Quan's neck through the leather fabric:
"This debt, Yan Quan, you'll have to make me mark it at least a dozen times before you can pay it off."
Yan Quan was 100% certain that Yan Ceyan was just saying it out of anger. Because if Yan Ceyan really marked him a dozen or so times... that level of pheromone dependence would be essentially equivalent to lifelong marking.
"Yan Ceyan, what exactly do you want me to do?"
"I can't give you that money right now."
"Who asked you for money, Yan Quan?" Yan Ceyan's voice rose at the end, his narrow eyes fixed on Yan Quan.
"Aren't you good at Chinese? Don't you understand what I mean?"
"..." Yan Quan finally belatedly realized something, and stared blankly at Yan Ceyan: "You..."
"Yan Quan." Yan Ceyan suppressed his emotions and stared intently at Yan Quan:
"You should repay me in the same way you owed me in the past."
Yan Ceyan's heart was pounding slightly, and although he tried his best to suppress it, it beat faster and faster.
Even... don't go to the same extent as before, just be willing to take a step back a little.
As long as you give me a way out... I'll automatically surrender and turn back.
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The author says: Both Yan Juan and Yan Gou are very proud people, but if both of them raise their thorns in a relationship, they will prick each other. The key to mending a broken mirror lies in both sides making concessions and "bowing down."
P.S.: The above reflects the author's own views on relationships. Just enjoy it for fun.
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