Chapter 168 Bear My Fury
Lu Jiunian's voice was cold, "It's none of your business."
They said it as if it were the truth.
Stop pretending.
Shi Nianzhi hung up immediately, and he gritted his teeth slightly.
"I......."
"Your brother will be fine. He wasn't targeting you. He wouldn't go so far as to hurt a child."
Shi Nianzhi handed the car keys to Ajiu, saying, "Go home and wait for your brother."
Ten minutes later.
Despite saying that it had nothing to do with Shi Nianzhi, Lu Jiunian's body language betrayed him as he arrived at Building 6, Unit 2026.
The door was deliberately left a crack for Lu Jiunian; it was not locked.
Lu Jiunian didn't even need to ring the doorbell. He pushed the door open and went in. Shi Nianzhi was sitting on the beige sofa, brewing a pot of tea.
Lu Jiunian stood beside a potted plant in the living room, not moving forward.
Shi Nianzhi picked up his teacup, took a sip, and savored the rich aroma of the tea, which lingered on his lips and teeth. He narrowed his eyes slightly in satisfaction.
Then he looked up at Lu Jiunian and asked, "The person has been released?"
"No."
"Trying to threaten me? Is that all? Your methods are getting more and more despicable."
"I know you're angry with me."
“You don’t need to keep bringing up his brother. He’s just a male escort. I don’t care whether he lives or dies, let alone his family.”
"You don't care that I came here?"
"I just want to tell you that male escorts are fine, but you're not."
Shi Nianzhi stood up and walked towards Lu Jiunian.
Seeing the man's increasingly unpleasant expression, Shi Nianzhi slightly raised her lips and even flirtatiously pinched Lu Jiunian's chin with her hand, making Lu Jiunian lower her head to look at him.
He said coldly and cruelly, "No matter what entanglements we had in the past, whether you loved me or I loved you, it's all in the past now. It ended the moment you gave up on me."
Lu Jiunian looked at Shi Nianzhi, his eyes were like a stagnant pool, without any ripples or emotions.
What lies hidden beneath this dark, stagnant pool is Lu Jiunian's heart; no one knows.
Shi Nianzhi said in a nonchalant tone, "Just like when you dumped me and told me to get lost, it was no problem for you. What's the harm in doing it again? I promise, this time we'll never see each other again."
Lu Jiunian suddenly pressed down on Shi Nianzhi's shoulder, turned around and pinned him against the wall.
A hint of ferocity finally surfaced in his eyes, so intense and violent, his hoarse and heavy voice sounding like the howl of a trapped beast.
He said, word by word, "I'll give you one chance to take back what you just said."
Shi Nianzhi acted as if she hadn't seen Lu Jiunian's terrifying appearance, simply saying two words, "I won't accept it."
The man screamed hysterically, "Take it back!"
He held Shi Nianzhi's chin in his hand, rubbing his thumb hard against Shi Nianzhi's lips. He was so angry that he trembled, and his hand, unable to control its strength, quickly broke Shi Nianzhi's lips.
The blood was smeared, as if a layer of lipstick had been applied, making it look so alluring.
Compared to his madness, Shi Nianzhi seemed so calm. "Even now, you're still dreaming of making up with me? Do you think I'm a lowly thing like Gu Zichu? The most precious love I gave you has been shattered by you. Once it's shattered, it's gone. Don't you understand?"
"Stick it up and give it to me."
Lu Jiunian's eyes were red at the corners, with a tear hidden in the corner. He was holding back his emotions, as if he was teetering on the edge of collapse.
Shi Nianzhi didn't care at all about hurting Lu Jiunian. "You just like my face and Gu Zijian's identity. Now I've given all of that to Gu Zijian. Go find him. He'll be happy to be my substitute in front of you. Be good, save your tears for when you cry in front of him. He'll give you all the love or physical desire you want without reservation."
Lu Jiunian's jaw was clenched, his face dark and menacing. He was trembling with anger. "Do you know what you're saying? Pushing me towards another man, do you even have a heart?!"
Shi Nianzhi remained calm and composed, realizing that once someone has been hurt many times, they become immune to further hurt.
Shi Nianzhi smiled and reached out to cup Lu Jiunian's face, gently wiping away a hot tear with his thumb.
“I have nothing left. I gave you my heart, but you crushed it. You've forgotten, it was you who crushed it with your own hands.”
So, do you still want to ask him for a heart?
Shi Nianzhi grabbed Lu Jiunian's wrist and took it off. Lu Jiunian's fingers instantly clenched into fists.
He added in a soft voice, "It's not that I don't want to give it to you, it's that I have nothing left. Now, all I ask for is a peaceful life for the rest of my days, without you. Do you understand?"
Lu Jiunian nodded, his eyes bloodshot, his voice devoid of anger, as if the greatest sorrow was a broken heart. "I understand."
"The door's still open, so I won't see you out."
Lu Jiunian laughed out loud, "To put it bluntly, you just don't want me anymore."
Then the man gritted his teeth and suddenly grabbed Shi Nianzhi by the neck, "How can you be heartless? If you have no heart, then go die! You're living in front of me and you're telling me you have no heart?"
Shi Nianzhi's eyes instantly turned icy, and her voice, full of warning, said, "Lu Jiunian!"
Lu Jiunian moved closer to Shi Nianzhi and lowered his head slightly, "Are you saving your heart for another man?"
"Don't push your luck!"
Shi Nianzhi was about to make a move when Lu Jiunian grabbed his wrist and lifted it above his head.
"You really think I can't beat you and that I'll let you win?"
"Tear—"
The sound of clothes being torn was so jarring.
Lu Jiunian forcefully turned Shi Nianzhi around, then lowered his head and bit Shi Nianzhi's ear:
"You are the person I cherish most in my heart, and I shouldn't have treated you like this. But you insisted on breaking my heart, what can I do?"
Lu Jiunian's voice grew colder and colder as he spoke, "You forced me to do all this."
The extremely rude treatment made Shi Nianzhi clench her teeth, her forehead covered in cold sweat.
"You're wrong."
Shi Nianzhi closed his eyes, his voice icy cold, "You're deceiving yourself again."
"Even if you're just lying to me? You can lie to me and take advantage of my feelings, and I can pretend I don't know. Just like now, if you had just apologized to me, I wouldn't have let you suffer like this."
With red eyes, Lu Jiunian grabbed Shi Nianzhi's hair, turned Shi Nianzhi's sweaty face, which was pressed against the wall, and forced him to look at him.
The man's hoarse voice seemed to carry a hint of pleading, "Don't you understand? As long as you lie to me, I'm willing to let you lie to me, willingly."
Shi Nianzhi sneered, his eyes devoid of any warmth as he looked at Lu Jiunian. "I disdain playing such games with you. I'm too lazy to even bother with a lie."
Lu Jiunian felt as if he were in purgatory, unable to escape, and his eyes were already blood red.
The anger was so intense it felt like she wanted to grind her teeth to powder, and each word seemed to be uttered with blood: "Haven't I been good enough to you? Why won't you even lie to me, you bitch!"
Lu Jiunian pressed Shi Nianzhi's face against the cold wall.
It was like a game of strategy, a torment.
Neither of them experienced pleasure, yet neither was willing to let the other go.
Shi Nianzhi remained fully conscious, and despite doing such things, he always looked at Lu Jiunian coldly.
Lu Jiunian reached out and covered his eyes with one hand. His lips trembled, and he wanted to say, "Don't look at me like that."
The words were left unsaid, but her eyes were filled with sorrow.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Jiunian held Shi Nianzhi tightly in his arms.
He was like a piece of firewood that was about to burn out, yet he used his last bit of strength to try to bring warmth to Shi Nianzhi with his flame.
It's like a moth drawn to the light, willing to burn its own life for that fleeting moment of fire and heat.
Shi Nianzhi let Lu Jiunian hold him. Despite being covered in wounds, he remained silent, not because he couldn't say anything to hurt Lu Jiunian.
But at this moment, he seemed very tired, and didn't want to do or say anything.
Lu Jiunian carried the silent Shi Nianzhi to the bathroom and put him in the bathtub to give him a bath. Shi Nianzhi kept his eyes closed the whole time.
When Lu Jiunian washed him and carried him back to bed, he held Shi Nianzhi's hand and intertwined their fingers.
He knelt before the bed, looking at Shi Nianzhi, who was wearing a white bathrobe. He whispered, "We could have had so many years of love, but I was too cruel. I made you follow my lead and defined the boundaries of love at 18. Even if you want to hold my hand, you have to play tricks and can't be open about it."
Shi Nianzhi's eyelids twitched, but he didn't say a word.
"Later we got married, but I couldn't stand you anymore. I felt you weren't good enough for me. You're such a fool. If I lose you, I lose you; if I throw you away, I throw you away; if I lie to you, I lie to you. Anyway, I don't care. I still have my white moonlight."
You're right. Actually, I've never felt sorry for Shi Nianzhi. I was too arrogant, and I gave all my love to that overly outstanding Zijian. But later, you also became the indelible mark on my heart.
I don't know when it started, but you became my white moonlight, and also my cinnabar mole.
After a pause, Lu Jiunian said again, "Nianzhi, open your eyes and look at me one more time."
If I look at him one more time, he won't leave; he won't end things with him.
Even if it means a fight to the death.
Ke Shi Nianzhi pulled her hand away from his and lay down.
He turned his back to Lu Jiunian and pulled the blanket up.
Lu Jiunian knelt by the bed, looking at his empty hand, and a desolate laugh suddenly escaped his throat.
She was laughing, but then her face was streaked with tears.
Finally, Lu Jiunian stood up, his shadow enveloping Shi Nianzhi's figure wrapped in a blanket.
The man's voice had no emotional fluctuations; it was like a cold, hard robot, making it impossible to discern his joy or anger.
He said, "I will grant you whatever you want. You don't want this relationship of ours. You want me to go back to Gu Zichu's side, stay away from you for the rest of my life, and be happy with someone else. Since this is what you want to see, then I will grant your wish. Just don't regret it, and don't come begging me. Nianzhi, you must always remember that you were the one who pushed me to someone else."
"Bang----"
The door slammed shut, and then the room fell silent. The morning light chased away the darkness and slowly streamed through the window.
Shi Nianzhi slowly opened her eyes.
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