Chapter 50#
These words hit the bullseye with unerring accuracy, choking back all the words Qiao Nanqi had just held in his throat. Every time they met after Zhao Rong left, it was as if he were getting to know a new Zhao Rong. At this moment, he even wondered how the once gentle Zhao Rong could become sharp enough to say such words.
He stood before Zhao Rong; clearly, he was the one looking down at him, yet he was the one left with nothing.
His heart felt as if it were bound layer by layer by a chain formed by these words, which then gave a fierce tug—it wouldn’t tear, but it hurt intensely.
His past unkindness to Zhao Rong was the weight added to his current guilt.
The kindness he wanted to show Zhao Rong had also become something Zhao Rong detested and felt repulsed by.
He was at a loss, helpless, and could only suffer in pain.
So he took a few steps back and said desolately: “Fine, I… I won’t do it.”
Qiao Nanqi wanted to look at Zhao Rong, but the moment his gaze met Zhao Rong’s, the words Zhao Rong had just said popped into his mind—he actually didn’t even dare to look.
“Liu-er,” Zhao Rong said, “pour it for me.”
He emphasized: “I’ll trouble you. I want it freshly boiled.”
Qiao Nanqi stumbled a step.
Liu Shun wished he could go out for a breath of air; he got up and slipped away in a flash.
Seeing that Qiao Nanqi was no longer making any moves, Zhao Rong finally let out the breath he had been holding. He had never done such an outrageous and aggressive thing before and almost showed weakness just now. Fortunately, because his stomach was still hurting, his complexion was bound to be not very good, masking his feigned stiffness and deliberate outburst.
He did it on purpose just now.
Watching Qiao Nanqi still follow him in and still maintain that look of guilt and heartache after his sarcastic remarks, he knew that simple words wouldn’t persuade this person to leave.
In a daze, he seemed to think of a possibility.
A person like Qiao Nanqi was a male protagonist for whom the entire world existed and was constructed; he was a favored son of heaven who, even after low points, would eventually always get what he desired. Perhaps his departure and current rejection were, for Qiao Nanqi, like a mountain suddenly standing in his way. If he climbed over it, it would be nothing; if he couldn’t, he would persist to the end.
But as long as he didn’t hold his ground and softened his heart even slightly, once Qiao Nanqi climbed over that peak, the person who would be utterly defeated and left with nothing would still be him.
His rational verbal rejection was simply useless.
Zhao Rong knew better than anyone how to throw cold water on someone full of expectation and how to make someone who refused to give up back down in the face of difficulties.
Although it was intentional just now, he also unconsciously vented some temper that he had suppressed well, to the point that he now felt a sense of excessive fatigue.
His goal achieved, he said no more and closed his eyes again to rest.
Xia Yuantu sighed silently.
He was more composed than Liu Shun and hadn’t spoken the entire time.
He stood up, walked slowly to Qiao Nanqi’s side, patted his shoulder, and whispered: “I might not be suited to stay here. I’ll head back first. I won’t turn off the sound on my phone tonight. If you and Xingping have any other situations, remember to call me.”
Qiao Nanqi didn’t speak.
Xia Yuantu also knew Qiao Nanqi’s temperament. After saying that, he didn’t wait for an answer and walked away.
For a while, the room became quiet again.
Zhao Rong was a bit cold and rolled into the quilt, shrinking his whole body into it.
He heard the sound of Qiao Nanqi calling someone to clean up. After a while, this person seemed to stand far off by the door and said to him: “I… I’m sorry. Just now…”
“In short, I’m sorry.”
Zhao Rong didn’t move and didn’t say a word.
The quilt wrapped him tightly, like a sealed space where he could hide, making him feel full of security and warmth.
“I came over today because I was worried you had run into some trouble. In my moment of urgency just now, I made you unhappy again. I’m sorry. I know I’m not good enough in many ways. I’ll change the parts you don’t like. I’m learning.” As if afraid Zhao Rong couldn’t hear, he repeated it once more: “I’m learning.”
“I’ve learned a lot of things recently. Every day I want to say sorry to you, but I haven’t had much chance.”
“When your mood is better and you’re not so angry, give me a chance, okay? You don’t have to agree to be with me, just give me a chance. I can prove my love to you. Zhao Rong, there’s still a possibility for us. On the day we first got together, you were so happy when you signed the agreement. You even spent several days picking out a ring. You—”
The sound of a door opening came.
Lu Xingping stood at the door holding another room card. He glanced at Liu Shun, who was waiting outside for the water to boil, and then at the second bedroom filled with shards on the floor. He raised an eyebrow: “What’s with such a big commotion?”
He also looked a bit fatigued, clearly having spent quite some effort dealing with Yu Xian and those people, but it was completely different from Qiao Nanqi’s current sorry state.
After pouring the water, Liu Shun said: “Boiling water. Zhao Rong has a stomachache.”
Lu Xingping swept another glance at the porcelain shards on the floor, walked forward, picked up the water cup, bypassed Qiao Nanqi in front of the bedroom door, and placed it by Zhao Rong’s side: “Is it your stomach hurting or your hand? Or have you recently fallen in love with smashing things?”
In the quilt, Zhao Rong heard Lu Xingping’s voice, threw off the quilt, and sat up: “Is Senior finished?”
Lu Xingping’s expression was slightly cold: “How can you call it ‘finished’?”
“?”
“Oh, if you’re talking about dealing with tonight’s matters, it’s finished,” he said. “In the future, I can deal with them often.”
From his words, Zhao Rong could naturally tell that Yu Xian might not have good days ahead.
Zhao Rong’s stomach still hurt. Sitting up now, he took the warm water Lu Xingping had just brought over and swallowed his stomach medicine with it.
Then he said: “In my moment of urgency just now, I couldn’t hold back and fought. I hope I didn’t cause Senior any trouble.”
By the door, seeing this scene, Qiao Nanqi clenched his fists, his fingernails already digging into his palms.
Zhao Rong could effortlessly order Liu Shun around and naturally drink the water Lu Xingping brought in. Only him—only what he prepared, what he did, Zhao Rong wouldn’t touch.
Inside the room, Lu Xingping found a chair and sat down, saying: “You fighting like that is quite a lot of trouble for me.”
“??” Zhao Rong was momentarily stunned. Could it be he really brought trouble to Lu Xingping?
Unexpectedly, Lu Xingping continued: “Trouble enough that I had to personally add a couple more punches—you didn’t hit them enough.”
Zhao Rong couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
He was about to respond when he caught a glimpse of Qiao Nanqi still standing at the door out of the corner of his eye, and his laughter stopped.
But he didn’t speak to Qiao Nanqi, only saying to Liu Shun outside: “Liu-er, you go back. Senior is back. I’ll chat with Senior; it’s nothing.”
Liu Shun also knew tonight was basically over. Hearing Zhao Rong’s words, he slipped away in a flash.
After he left, Zhao Rong still didn’t speak.
Qiao Nanqi wasn’t stupid and understood what this silent speech meant. He looked at Lu Xingping and remembered Zhao Rong saying he wanted to chat with him.
Although he didn’t understand for a moment how Zhao Rong, who previously had no connection with Lu Xingping, had suddenly become so familiar with him, he was afraid Zhao Rong would show that cold face again, so he had no choice but to turn and walk out.
Finally, he gently closed the door.
A soft sound of a closing door rang out, separating the living room of the suite from the bedroom where Zhao Rong was into two different worlds.
Before, at his house, he would close the study door, with him and Lu Xingping inside; Zhao Rong knew nothing and saw nothing.
Now, a door still cut off two pockets of calm, but the person sitting alone in the living room was Qiao Nanqi.
After closing the door, he sat on the sofa, still somewhat dazed for a moment.
Since when did Zhao Rong and Lu Xingping have so much to talk about?
Zhao Rong withdrew his gaze from the closed door.
He heard Lu Xingping suddenly say to him: “Regarding Xiaoyue’s matter, thank you.”
He rarely saw Lu Xingping so solemn and was momentarily unsure how to respond. After a moment, worried that Lu Xingping might think he would use this favor to demand something, he said: “I just happened to find out… Liu-er doesn’t really know Senior, so he didn’t dare look for you and found me instead. I wasn’t at the scene then and didn’t know the situation, so I didn’t notify you immediately.”
Part of the reason was also that Lu Xiaoyue hadn’t wanted Lu Xingping to know at the beginning.
Once the fighting started, Zhao Rong knew Lu Xiaoyue’s matter couldn’t be suppressed at all. While confronting Yu Xian and the others, he had Liu Shun call Lu Xingping.
After the chaos of the night, it had come to this.
Lu Xingping’s solemnity lasted only a few seconds. He pulled out his phone, looked down, and started playing Happy Match, saying as he played: “It’s fine. If you had notified me earlier, I might have beaten the person all the way to the police station.”
Zhao Rong was surprised—Lu Xingping really didn’t look like someone who would do that.
Lu Xingping saw the question in his expression and said: “Xiaoyue was adopted by our family. Everyone knows that because she wasn’t brought home as an infant. When I was dating her elder sister, she was already in her teens and remembered everything clearly. Later, her sister’s whole family died in a car accident, leaving only her, so my parents brought her home.”
“I don’t object to her dating freely, but why is her taste so bad? It’s better to find someone like you.”
Zhao Rong: “…”
Didn’t feel like a compliment at all.
He glanced at Lu Xingping’s phone screen: “Senior.”
“Hmm?”
“…You can’t even pass this level of Happy Match?”
“…” Lu Xingping twitched the corner of his mouth and inconspicuously restarted a round, saying: “I’ll go swap Nanqi in to accompany you.”
Zhao Rong immediately admitted defeat: “I was wrong.”
At the mention of Qiao Nanqi, both fell silent for a moment.
Just then, hotel staff came up to clean the broken glass on the floor. Zhao Rong and Lu Xingping watched them clean, neither speaking. When the door opened, Zhao Rong saw Qiao Nanqi was still outside. He was sitting on the sofa in the living room, glancing over here from time to time, not leaving.
Zhao Rong withdrew his gaze, his expression unchanged.
When the staff finished cleaning, Zhao Rong gave them a large tip. The door closed again, leaving only Lu Xingping and Zhao Rong in the room.
Zhao Rong felt much better now. He slowly sat up straight, planning to mention the marriage contract.
But Lu Xingping said: “I received the message you sent me.”
“Does Senior mean to refuse?”
“We seem to have talked about this before,” Lu Xingping said, glancing pointedly at the floor that had been cleaned, not answering the question. “If you finish reading a book you like, you said you wouldn’t read it a second time.”
“Yes.”
“But have you ever considered a possibility? Perhaps it’s just that the book’s ending disgusted you so much that no matter how much you like it, you don’t want to open it again. Even if that book comes up to let you look again, you might lose your composure and lash out. But if the ending changes, maybe you’ll change your mind. You read this book for too long and liked every detail; your repulsion doesn’t come from the book itself, but from the mood the book brought you.”
“Is there any difference?”
“The former is not wanting to open the book; the latter is not having the courage to open the book.”
Zhao Rong lowered his eyes, remaining silent.
He knew what Lu Xingping meant.
“Actually, Senior is right,” he didn’t avoid it and confessed. “It’s possible. But I like to look at results when I do things, not the process. Although the reason for this possibility is different, in my view, it’s no different from me not wanting to read the book. The result brought is the same.”
“That book Senior gave me that day—I threw it away. Sorry.”
“It’s up to you how you handle things given to you; it has nothing to do with me.”
“It’s just that I still hope you can think clearly. Hating a book because of a bad ending is actually a form of lingering obsession. If one truly didn’t care at all, one wouldn’t even remember the book’s content; there would be no likes or dislikes. But as for what exactly it is, you can only know by opening it again.”
Zhao Rong opened his mouth.
“You don’t have to answer me,” Lu Xingping cut him off. “I’m not here to persuade or enlighten. I’m just saying what I should say as Nanqi’s friend, and as your friend, I don’t require any answer from you. Having said all this, I’ve fulfilled my duty as a friend.”
“I can understand.”
“Finally being smart for once.”
Zhao Rong: “.”
Lu Xingping failed that round of Happy Match again.
Zhao Rong watched Lu Xingping frown, let out a laugh, took Lu Xingping’s phone, and finished the level in no time.
The night deepened.
Qiao Nanqi sat outside the door, nearly tearing the armrest of the sofa, before he managed to resist the urge to get up and open the door.
He heard Zhao Rong’s laughter.
It wasn’t the cold look from when he looked at him just now, nor the sharp words when he dropped his usual gentle habit, but a relaxed and hearty laugh.
…Zhao Rong’s frequent interactions with Lu Xingping recently—wasn’t it because of him?
Qiao Nanqi felt a wave of irritability; nothing felt right.
After a while longer, Lu Xingping came out first.
“I’m going to open a room for Zhao Rong next door for him to rest; his home is too far from here,” Lu Xingping said, walking to his side. “Your home isn’t close either. Do you want to stay here?”
Qiao Nanqi looked at the half-open door and could faintly see Zhao Rong’s figure inside. He nodded.
“Then you go open them. Open two. I’ll just sleep in the second bedroom of this suite; it’s also convenient to take care of Xiaoyue,” Lu Xingping said.
Qiao Nanqi: “…”
Zhao Rong leaned on the pillow and rested for a bit longer before getting up and walking out of the room.
Lu Xingping stayed to rest in the suite opened for Lu Xiaoyue. He said goodnight to Lu Xingping and walked out with Qiao Nanqi.
After closing the door, the two stood in the hallway. For a moment, neither moved.
Qiao Nanqi glanced at the bandaged wound on Zhao Rong’s hand and then secretly observed Zhao Rong’s face—he indeed looked much better.
He whispered: “Rest well tonight. I won’t disturb you. I’ll go to the other room to rest.”
“Qiao Nanqi.”
Zhao Rong called out to Qiao Nanqi, who was about to turn away.
Qiao Nanqi instinctively looked at him with expectation.
Zhao Rong’s eyes shifted slightly.
He felt his pocket and pulled out something, slowly opening his palm to Qiao Nanqi. The silver ring shimmered slightly under the warm light of the hallway. It lay quietly in Zhao Rong’s palm, like the past that once flowed slowly and silently.
Qiao Nanqi was stunned and recognized the ring.
This ring, which he had never paid special attention to before, was now just lying in Zhao Rong’s palm. He actually felt a slight surprise and joy—Zhao Rong still kept it.
Zhao Rong looked down at the ring, not seeing Qiao Nanqi’s expression.
He just said: “Maybe it was a coincidence. I thought I lost it, but I didn’t expect it to have always been in the pocket of this coat. You mentioned the ring just now, so I remembered it was on me…”
As he spoke, out of habit, he still instinctively glanced at Qiao Nanqi’s left hand.
He had praised how beautiful these hands were in his heart countless times, but he had never waited for these hands to wear the ring he had carefully selected.
Qiao Nanqi noticed where his gaze was. His fingers curled unnaturally, and he said to him with some urgency: “I don’t know where it was placed. I’ve been looking for it these past few days. I’ll find it. Just wait two more days—”
He paused.
Right in front of him, Zhao Rong’s wrist moved slightly, his palm facing down, and he indifferently dropped the ring onto the ground.
The faint silver light suddenly plummeted.
Qiao Nanqi seemed to want to stop it, but Zhao Rong’s move was too sudden. He reached out but failed to catch it. The ring fell onto the ground, rolling silently into the carpet of the hotel hallway, and after a moment, it lay there quietly.
As if no one cared.
Like Zhao Rong’s repeated cold looks and rejections.
Qiao Nanqi’s eyes widened, and they instantly turned slightly red.
Zhao Rong just withdrew his hand, bypassed him, and used the room card to open his room.
He didn’t say another word.
Perhaps Lu Xingping was right.
Perhaps he could try opening that book again to see a new ending.
Perhaps a new ending really could be good.
But in these two lifetimes, he had lost far too much. At this moment, having finally gained a little something he could hold onto himself, he didn’t want to change anymore.
He didn’t dare.
Zhao Rong closed the door and went to sleep.
The next day.
When Zhao Rong opened his eyes, he realized he had been too tired last night and had slept too hastily, failing to draw the curtains.
Bright daylight poured in through the glass window. Outside was a vast expanse of white; the sun wasn’t visible, but it was very bright.
In the midst of the vast white world, the first snow of this winter in Yang City was falling.
Zhao Rong rubbed his eyes and prepared to get up when there was a knock on the door: “Third—ah, Zhao Rong! Are you awake?”
It was Liu Shun’s voice.
With narrowed eyes and messy hair, he walked to the door and opened it: “Why are you here at this time?”
“Wasn’t I worried about you? Those gentlemen were all there last night; I didn’t dare stay.”
“What could happen to me?” Zhao Rong told him to sit, then went into the bathroom to wash up. “Thanks to you last night. We’ll go to a restaurant in a bit; my treat.”
“Then I won’t be polite.”
When he came out after washing up, Liu Shun was holding his phone and watching a game live stream. He said to him: “I wanted to charge my phone just now, so I unplugged yours. I saw Lu Xingping sent you the word ‘Okay’.”
He was very familiar with Zhao Rong and didn’t have much sense of boundaries, so he asked directly: “‘Okay’ for what?”
Zhao Rong was stunned.
He also didn’t immediately think of why Lu Xingping would send him an “Okay”.
He put on his coat, and the last message he sent to Lu Xingping yesterday suddenly popped into his mind.
Zhao Rong’s movement suddenly froze.
— “How has Senior considered it?”
— “Okay.”