Chapter 70 He was reluctant, yet he let go. "I'm sorry." (The last sentence is a fragment and doesn't translate directly.)
"I'm sorry." Zhu Yanhe had nothing to say, and uttered a few words softly.
Yet it was like a sharp blade, piercing through flesh and ribs, then through flesh and ribs again, straight through his chest. If "sorry" were useful, Ning Buyi would be the first to be arrested by the police.
"I won't forgive you. Zhu Yanhe, do you think I'm stupid, so you can treat me like a toy, is that fun? I'm not stupid at all, I hate you!"
Ning Buyi's reddened eyes gradually became misty, simply because he thought of the scenes with Zhu Yanhe. Those happy moments were real, he didn't deny it, and now he just wanted to hold onto these memories and leave.
Zhu Yanhe responded softly, "Yeah, you're not stupid."
"I'm leaving," the boy said, his words to Zhu Yanhe sounding like a liar talking to a brick wall.
He didn't want to stay here anymore; everything here disgusted him. He didn't care where he went, as long as he was far away from Zhu Yanhe.
"This won't do." Zhu Yanhe's tone was gentle, but his words were curt.
This was Zhu Yanhe's only remaining chance to hold onto him. If he let go now, Ning Buyi would drift away with the wind. He didn't want that, and he couldn't bear to.
The boy paused, then raised his wet eyes: "Are you sick, Zhu Yanhe?"
He had already completely broken off relations, yet Zhu Yanhe acted as if nothing had happened, still refusing to give in like a stray dog. Ning Buyi couldn't understand it; he couldn't think of any other reason besides Zhu Yanhe being sick.
"I like you." Zhu Yanhe looked directly into his dark eyes and bluntly expressed his feelings, something he had never said even when he was Xiao He.
However, they completely forgot that the current situation seemed inappropriate. Ning Buyi might indeed want to hear something, but not a blessing or a promise, nor now.
The room was filled with warmth, and the sunlight shone generously through the window, flooding the entire room, but the boy felt as if he were immune to the cold, as if he were completely chilled.
A drop of moisture slid down his cheek. Ning Buyi raised his hand to wipe it, but his hand was covered in water droplets that he couldn't wipe away no matter what he did. He gave up and, choking back tears, yelled at the person still holding him, "I don't like you! I hate you!"
"Do you hate me for lying to you, or do you hate me for who I am?"
He had heard Ning Buyi express his affection before, so the truth spoken by the young man now pained him deeply.
Tears streamed down Ning Buyi's cheeks, turning into a rusty knife that scraped at Zhu Yanhe's flesh, causing wave after wave of dull pain.
"I hate them all!" Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and splashed down in large drops. Ning Buyi was like a woman made of water; once she started crying, the tears flowed uncontrollably.
"Fine, you hate Zhu Yanhe." Zhu Yanhe's voice was somewhat hoarse, his eyelashes casting shadows under his eyes. He reached out to wipe away the boy's tears, even though Ning Buyi awkwardly backed away.
For every step the boy took back, his hand moved forward an inch. Ning Buyi could retreat a hundred steps in matters of the heart, but he would keep moving forward, a hundred steps, a thousand steps, ten thousand steps, until Ning Buyi forgave him.
The boy simply cried loudly for a while, tears almost flowing like a river, soaking the sleeves of their matching pajamas. He sat blankly in the other's arms, his body trembling uncontrollably. Ning Buyi sobbed, his gaze fixed straight ahead.
His mind was blank. The overwhelming amount of information had triggered his nervous system's defense mechanisms. The boy had only one thought: he had to leave, and he had to find a way to leave.
Zhu Yanhe frowned and kept coaxing the boy, patting his back to help him catch his breath. He only had one thought: Ning Buyi could have money or anything else, but he couldn't bear to leave him.
"Zhu Yanhe, I'm leaving." The boy's tone was calm, but with a thick nasal tone, making it clear to anyone that he had just had a good cry.
He stared at Zhu Yanhe, the bruises on his cheeks a result of both his own actions and Zhu Yanhe's.
"Don't even think about it anymore, I won't agree."
Even if Ning Buyi was stupid, she would understand that the man in front of her was determined not to let her go. What was there about him that was worth Zhu Yan and liking? Couldn't he just change?
The boy sniffed and suddenly asked, "Will you always be thinking about me?"
Zhu Yanhe, not understanding the reason, gave an ambiguous answer: "Often."
Upon hearing this, Ning Buyi's eyes lit up. He tried to break free of the restraints, but was held tightly. The boy frowned and said, "If you don't keep thinking about me, it means you don't like me. My brother said that you have to keep thinking about someone to show you like them. Please let me go."
He felt that his discovery had saved him from dire straits, but he was facing Zhu Yanhe, not Pei Qing, an adult who already had his own survival system. How could he let go just because of a child's one-sided story?
Zhu Yanhe chuckled helplessly, wrapped one arm around Ning Buyi's waist from behind, and used the other to lift his chin, making Ning Buyi completely trapped in Zhu Yanhe's arms and unable to move, all of which showed the man's vigorous possessiveness.
Deep pupils met clear eyes, and Zhu Yanhe said, word by word, "If you're not by my side, I will miss you forever."
Ning Buyi's brows furrowed, then relaxed. He pretended to be normal, but his voice still trembled slightly: "Alright then, if you like it, then like it. I'm hungry."
As if afraid that Zhu Yan wouldn't believe his compromise, he cupped the man's face, straightened up despite his nausea, and pressed his dry lips against the corner of his mouth.
Zhu Yanhe's actions are like those of a unreasonable, irrational dog trying to repair their relationship. Therefore, if Zhu Yanhe were here, he certainly wouldn't escape; he would have to find a chance to slip away.
Zhu Yanhe's eyes trembled, and his pupils contracted. He should be happy, but the sorrow in Ning Buyi's eyes was hard to ignore.
The boy was even willing to kiss someone he hated in order to get rid of him, even though the hands holding his face were cold and his lips trembled and carried a hint of coldness.
He suddenly understood.
Ning Buyi has cried for him too many times; he shouldn't do this anymore.
Zhu Yanhe smiled slightly, nuzzled against the boy's neck, and pretended to believe his words and actions, replying, "What do you want to eat?"
As he spoke, he picked up the longevity lock that he had casually tossed aside. The silver chain made his skin appear even whiter, and the cold touch made the person in his arms tremble. It fastened itself around Ning Buyi's neck again.
"I don't want this." Ning Buyi just looked down at the longevity lock, but found the inscription on it extremely glaring.
Zhu Yanhe let out a deep breath, his hair falling over his neck and shoulders, his voice hoarse and tired: "It belongs to you. If you don't need it, you can throw it away or sell it as you please. I don't collect trash."
He straightened up and looked down at Ning Buyi for a long time, from the boy's long eyelashes still covered with a drop of water to his pale fingertips, as if he wanted to carve every single hair into his eyes.
Zhu Yanhe spoke again: "Someone will deliver your food later. After you finish eating, you can leave."
If his approach would cause Ning Buyi pain, his upbringing, reason, and everything else told him to let go.
Zhu Yanhe loosened his grip on the boy, got up on his own, and left the room without looking back. The boy only stirred when the door slammed shut.
Ning Buyi hung his head, his hair falling messily, a sour feeling stuck in his throat. Even though Zhu Yanhe had done what he wanted, why was he not happy at all?
He sat up, picked up Zhu Yanhe's phone which was charging him from the bedside table, and called Li Chang.
Li Chang's voice came through the microphone: "Jian'er, this guy is determined not to leave. Even after calling the police, it's still the same. You'd better not come back. He's just here to ask you for money. Do you have a place to stay for the next few days?"
Ning Buyi said in a voice as if covered with a thin layer of sand: "Okay, I'll stay at a hotel."
After a few more words of concern from the other end, Ning Buyi hung up the phone. Where should he go?
The sun beat down on the wooden floor of the balcony. The boy took down his clothes, which still carried a faint scent of laundry detergent, and went out.
The still-warm food was left to sit quietly by the door, growing cold and spoiling.
He walked aimlessly along the asphalt road in the neighborhood. The green plants on both sides of the road provided shade, and the dead leaves piled up under the trees, ready to be used as nutrients. Ning Buyi walked forward with a blank look in his eyes, and suddenly he lost his way.
Despite the doors and windows being tightly closed, there was no warmth to be felt in the office. The assistant pondered whether he should go back to the office and put on his coat.
He glanced furtively at the man sitting at the desk, and took a deep breath. He could understand; after all, it was normal for older people to be narrow-minded. But it was indeed very immoral to have angered their president's wife and driven her away.
After Ning Buyi's account was banned, the news spread throughout the company's gossip website. Everyone in the company knew that former CEO Zhu had been furious and had attacked the current CEO's wife. Apart from most of the onlookers, a small number of people who frequently had to deal with the CEO were in a terrible predicament.
"Has he eaten?" Zhu Yanhe looked up from the mountain of official business, his tone indifferent.
The assistant exclaimed "Ah!" and after a minute it took him to realize what was happening and reply, "No, Mr. Ning left directly."
His mouth was faster than his brain and he almost blurted out the word "Madam," but luckily he reacted in time and saved his great job. It's true what they say, when a Celestial Being falls in love, the servants suffer.
Zhu Yanhe remained silent, gazing intently at the autumn scenery outside the window, secretly plotting something.
"Sir, would you like to take a look at this set? I guarantee it's high quality and inexpensive."
The real estate agent, dressed in a business suit, stood to the side with a professional smile. His hair was meticulously combed, glossy from the hair gel, and his perfume smelled a little unpleasant. Ning Buyi nodded and silently moved a little to the other side.
He'd been staying in hotels for the past few days, but the cost of several hundred yuan a night was excruciating. He didn't know how long that person would stay outside the internet cafe, but he knew his wallet was dwindling, so Ning Buyi decided to rent a place.
He had checked carefully in the hotel these past few days and found that his account was no longer active. So Ning Buyi wanted to start streaming again. If he wanted to start a new stream, he couldn't stream in an internet cafe anymore, as it would be easy for him to be recognized. Moreover, he had already thought of an excellent, two-in-one stream content.
As they walked, the agent reassured him, "Don't let the remote location fool you; the subway is just steps away, and the renovations are all new. It's precisely because of the remote location that the price is low."
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The author says: Getting close to you means getting close to pain, and staying away from you means staying away from happiness.
I really can't imagine how the two of them get along in private, given how low their mood is...
After they got together, Ning Buyi was practically a physiological waste. Zhu Yanhe helped him put on his clothes, bathed him, and even fed him. That night, lying in Zhu Yanhe's arms, Ning Buyi suddenly said, "I feel like I'm the emperor." Zhu Yanhe hummed in agreement, his movements continuing. He asked, "Then what am I?" Ning Buyi pouted, lost in thought about the question. After Zhu Yanhe finished and they lay on the bed, Ning Buyi suddenly sat up and said, "Zhu Yanhe, you should be a eunuch!" He was successfully pushed back onto the bed, forced to confirm Zhu Yanhe's status as the empress.
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