Translated by Eve
Zhou Rong and Song Jiabao were both led away as they screamed ‘impossible.’ The only people left in the room were Song Xuanhe and co., still stuck in a deadlock.
Song Jiani suddenly started to sob loudly. Her loud wailing was completely different from her previous delicate cries. It was resounding like never before. She cried while wiping her tears. In a short amount of time, the makeup she had fixed was once again ruined. But this time, she didn’t care about it. The joy from finding out that she was fine made her incapable of thinking of anything else.
Guan Zhi was stupefied. He walked over to Song Xuanhe and whispered, “What’s with her?”
“She thought that she had been injected with a drug,” Song Xuanhe explained in an insipid voice.
Guan Zhi paused and then looked at Song Xuanhe. “So it was fake? She didn’t know?”
“She didn’t before.”
Zhou Nan had also heard what Song Xuanhe had said. He knew about what had happened. Furthermore, compared to Guan Zhi and Wei Chen, who had never interacted with Song Jiani before, Zhou Nan had frequently appeared at the same parties and banquets as Song Jiani in the past. They were close enough to greet each other whenever they met. Therefore, he scolded Song Xuanhe a bit indignantly. “Liking you is probably the worst thing to ever happen to Song Jiani.”
Guan Zhi didn’t know what had happened. He just didn’t want to listen to this irritating crying anymore. “Why is she crying even though she knows she’s fine?”
“Imagine you rushed in to save the person you liked in a moment of impulsiveness and you got hurt because of it. It’s fine if they simply didn’t need your help. In that case, even if you were hurt, you probably wouldn’t mind it all that much. Now, imagine if the person you liked knew that what hurt you couldn’t actually cause any damage. However, he didn’t tell you that. He watched as you were overcome with fear and sadness without a care. Only when everything ended, did he say, ‘oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that you’re fine’. Would you feel angry? Would you feel upset?”
Guan Zhi furrowed his brows for a moment and thought about it. He then shook his head. “Why would I be upset? Isn’t it a good thing that I’m okay?”
Song Xuanhe smiled and patted Guan Zhi on the shoulder approvingly. Guan Zhi was even more dumbfounded. He looked at Song Xuanhe, who was smiling, and then glanced at Zhou Nan, whose expression was difficult-to-describe. He didn’t know why the words he had said had elicited two entirely different responses.
“Of course she’d be upset.” Wei Chen walked over. “She’s not upset over encountering danger, but because she’s realized that the person she likes doesn’t care about her at all.”
“There’s nothing in this world that can cause more despair and sadness than that.”
Song Jiani’s sobs paused. For a moment, silence befell the room. Everyone turned to look at her.
They saw her wipe her tears away and stand up. She had cried hard just now so her breathing had yet to return to normal. Even though the tears had stopped, her chest still heaved as she took in shuddering breaths. However, her pretty eyes no longer held as much pain as they had in the beginning.
“He’s right.” Song Jiani’s voice was terribly hoarse and there was still a sobbing quality to her voice. “Song Xuanhe, I no longer like you.”
Song Xuanhe’s gaze was calm as he watched her quietly. He waited for her to finish.
Song Jiani pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket carefully and gently dabbed at her running makeup. There were no mirrors here so she had no idea what she looked like at present. But even so, she didn’t feel any panic or shame towards ruined makeup like she had before.
“This is the first time I’ve been able to clearly see that you will never like me.” Song Jiani gripped her handkerchief tightly. “Furthermore, you’ve really changed. You’re no longer the Xuanhe gege I liked. Therefore, I won’t like you anymore. You’ve changed…you’ve become so much like Xiao Yuanmu.”
“Since Xiao Yuanmu left you, you’ve become increasingly like him.” Song Jiani’s lips twitched. She smiled, but it was more heartbreaking than if she were to cry. “I heard that people-in-love will become more alike as time goes on. But I’ve always lied to myself. I always told myself that there was no way you liked Xiao Yuanmu. I still remember how you once told me that the type of person you hated the most was the cold, silent type. You had said that you liked girls like me the most. I had never expected that you would change so much. The type you liked became the type you hated, and the type you hated became the type you liked.”
“But now, I’ve really given up on you.” Song Jiani sucked in a deep breath. She threw the handkerchief at Song Xuanhe’s feet and said, “You know, a lot of people like me. I’ll definitely find someone better than you!”
When Zhou Nan saw Song Jiani pass Song Xuanhe with her head held high as she left, he shook his head. “I feel like I got to know Song Jiani for the first time today. She’s become a lot cuter.”
“Do you regret it?” Zhou Nan wrapped an arm around Song Xuanhe’s shoulders. “You know, she’s not bad for you. You’re really not going to consider her?”
Song Xuanhe rolled his eyes and yanked Zhou Nan off of him. “I’d only hurt her by considering her.”
Zhou Nan thought about it and then clicked his tongue. In a whisper, he said, “Looks like you do have a bit of a conscience, Song Er.”
Song Xuanhe walked over to Wei Chen and whispered, “Let’s talk.”
Wei Chen raised a brow and then followed him out the room.
Song Xuanhe walked over to the end of the hall. He looked at the tropical plants outside the french windows. In a flat voice, he said, “Why did Guan Zhi come back to China?”
“Shouldn’t you be asking him this?” Wei Chen stood next to him. His gaze fell on Song Xuanhe for a moment before he looked away. His low voice was slightly hoarse. “Song Xuanhe, how come I didn’t realize you were such a source of calamity? You’re even able to enchant people into dying for you without any complaints.”
Song Xuanhe contemplated over his last sentence. “What were you and Xiao Yuanmu talking about when I bumped into you last time? Medical robots?”
Wei Chen’s smile froze. He stared at Song Xuanhe silently.
Song Xuanhe turned to meet his eyes. In a mild voice, he said, “Your company was just established. There’s a branch here and one abroad. Although HQ is here, most of your technology and support comes from overseas. If I’m not mistaken, the person behind the overseas branch is Xiao Yuanmu.”
Aside from the occasional footstep down the hall, it was nearly silent.
Some time later, Wei Chen smiled. In a tone pregnant with meaning, he said, “You’re smarter than I give you credit for, Song Xuanhe.”
Song Xuanhe pretended to not see the interest in his eyes. He brought them back to the main topic: “Why did Guan Zhi come to China?”
“You shouldn’t be asking me this.” Wei Chen didn’t give anything away with his response. He had an unruly smile on and appeared unconcerned.
“Then I’ll guess why.”
Song Xuanhe’s gaze flitted past Wei Chen’s face and landed on the bodyguards standing silently outside the private room a few metres away from them. His eyesight was really good. He could make out their mediocre, average faces that were so plain they were easy to forget.
“Those bodyguards,” Song Xuanhe said as he turned back to Wei Chen, “Aren’t the ones that usually follow you. They’re all Asian. But it’s obvious that they’re not with Guan Zhi either. They’re neither yours nor Guan Zhi’s, but they just so happened to appear in my room. Who do they belong to?”
Wei Chen raised his brows, the smile on his face deepening. He nearly nodded. “Who do you think they belong to?”
Song Xuanhe gave him an askance glance. Suddenly, he broke out into a smile. “You don’t like Xiao Yuanmu very much do you. Right?”
“That’s right,” Wei Chen said. “You’re the one I like. You know that.”
When Song Xuanhe heard Wei Chen say this, he narrowed his eyes. A cold light suddenly appeared in his eyes.
The last time Song Xuanhe had seen Wei Chen had been at the banquet the Song Group had hosted last week. Back then, the Song Family had just received the Xiao Family’s invitation. The cocktail party that time had been unprecedentedly grand. Many directors and head of companies who used to only occasionally attend, or who would never have personally appeared before, had flocked over. The Wei Family had been no exception.
Back then, Song Xuanhe had been tasked with entertaining Wei Chen again. However, this time was unlike all the other times in the past, during which he had been ignored by the guests. This time, everywhere he went, Song Xuanhe was stopped by someone.
Regardless of whether they were tactful or sharp, what they wanted to know could be summarized by the following: “How are you and Xiao Yuanmu doing?”, “Did the Xiao Family really invite you to their banquet” and “Will Xiao Yuanmu inherit the Xiao Family?”
Song Xuanhe’s answer had always been: “We’ve broken up”, “I’m not sure,” and “I don’t know.”
Those people hadn’t let him go despite his answers. However, Wei Chen, who had also been forced to stop because he was with him, hadn’t lost his patience. He had watched with keen interest as Song Xuanhe’s smile had gotten increasingly stiffer. When he saw the first hint of impatience appear in Song Xuanhe’s face, he had said, “I have a way to get them to shut up. Want to give it a try?”
Song Xuanhe hadn’t thought too hard about it and had agreed.
As a result, the next time someone stopped them, before the person could speak, Wei Chen had grabbed Song Xuanhe’s wrist. He had then said, “Mr. Song has already broken up with Mr. Xiao. I’m currently pursuing Mr. Song. I hope that everyone will give us some personal space.”
After that, no one stopped Song Xuanhe again. It was just that, since that day on, the people who stopped Song Xuanhe to ask him about Xiao Yuanmu now inquired about an additional topic: “Did you really break up with Xiao Yuanmu?” “Are you really with Wei Chen now?”
Now, every time Song Xuanhe saw Wei Chen, he would feel his fists itch.
Upon seeing the vein in Song Xuanhe’s forehead throb, Wei Chen chuckled. “Song Jiani was right about one thing. Since Xiao Yuanmu left, you’ve become increasingly like him. You’re so cool-headed it makes others feel sad. Your appearance right now is a lot better.”
Song Xuanhe had already gotten his answer. He simply sneered at Wei Chen before turning around to head back into the private room.
Song Xuanhe didn’t know what Guan Zhi and Zhou Nan had been chatting about, but they were now huddled close together, arms over each other’s shoulders. They parted when they saw Song Xuanhe come back in. Both of them had wide smiles on their faces. Zhou Nan said, “Come on, how about we go have a grand celebration at Magnificent to celebrate you escaping disaster?”
Magnificent was a restaurant, despite how much it didn’t sound like one. The dishes and drinks were all hand-crafted by the owner. It was guaranteed to be delicious. Furthermore, only one word could describe the price: expensive.
Expensive enough to raise one’s hackles.
Eve: Thank you juree, Pommyth, Mo, somebody and Bolshv for the kofis <3 Apologies for the late thank yous. This month has been overwhelming IRL. Lowkey ship SXH with WC because seeing SXH annoyed is a guilty pleasure.
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