Chapter 54#
A few days later, Lu Xingping and Lu Xiaoyue returned from their trip.
As they had previously discussed, Zhao Rong finally called the number left for him after Old Madam Chen passed away years ago, which was intended for him once he made a will.
The other party was a lawyer named Lin.
Perhaps because Zhao Rong hadn’t made a move for so many years, the other party thought he would never come looking. When he first received the call, he didn’t even react to who Zhao Rong was for a moment.
Once Zhao Rong proved his identity, Lawyer Lin said, “So it’s Mr. Zhao. I was wondering why Mr. Zhao hadn’t contacted me.”
Zhao Rong originally thought that regarding the marriage contract, what needed to be done was simply obtaining a legal relationship with Lu Xingping and acquiring the inheritance.
Unexpectedly, Lawyer Lin said, “That inheritance has been managed by a foundation all these years. There are other people in charge besides me, but I am the one interfacing with Mr. Zhao. Everyone has signed a non-disclosure agreement, and the agreement clearly stipulates that only after Mr. Zhao and his fiancé hold a wedding will the non-disclosure agreement expire and I can inform Mr. Zhao of the specific content and procedures.”
Zhao Rong was stunned: “…Is a simple wedding between two people okay?”
Any small church could handle that.
Lawyer Lin, however, said, “A formal wedding is required. As for how to identify it, Old Madam Chen also left requirements before she passed away; we will observe the ceremony.”
Although Zhao Rong had watched Old Madam Chen divide the property back then, the subsequent non-disclosure agreements and how the property would be frozen and kept secret were matters that occurred after he left the hospital room.
He truly hadn’t expected such a requirement.
Turning the thought over, he could also understand the reason.
In these prestigious family circles, sometimes what they care about isn’t just money. Even in marriage, there are many ways to avoid any division of interests or achieve a combination of interests before the wedding—the marriage agreement he signed with Qiao Nanqi was just like that.
Simply going through a legal process actually leaves a lot of room for manipulation.
Zhao Rong had originally intended to do just that.
But holding a wedding where friends and family are invited is equivalent to acknowledging the relationship to the entire upper-class circle.
Most people from prestigious families value their reputation, and this kind of thing cannot be faked. Unless one truly doesn’t care what outsiders say, this kind of thing sometimes has no less binding force than a legal relationship.
Old Madam Chen truly used every means possible to ensure he could remain a “clueless person” for a lifetime. There had to be both a legal relationship and a formal ceremony.
But this was troublesome for the current Zhao Rong, who didn’t need to worry about Chen the First or Chen the Second at all and only wanted a fake marriage to get the money.
He immediately called Lu Xingping.
“Senior, I’m sorry, I didn’t know there was this layer. If Senior doesn’t want to, then forget it.”
Lu Xingping, however, asked him, “What about you?”
“Me? I’ll just have to give up this money.”
“No, I’m asking for your opinion on the wedding.”
“I don’t care,” Zhao Rong said indifferently. “I no longer have any feelings toward these things.”
“Then what are you worried about? Do I look like someone who is going to find someone to marry in the future? I just promised Xiaoyue that I would give her all of the half I receive. It wouldn’t be good for me to go back on my word now, would it?”
Zhao Rong understood his meaning.
“Alright, I’ll find someone to handle it,” he said.
As he was about to hang up, Zhao Rong suddenly thought of Qiao Nanqi and called out to Lu Xingping: “Senior!”
“Hmm?”
“If we are to hold a fake wedding… Qiao Nanqi…”
A wedding is different from simply obtaining a legal relationship.
If they just went abroad to find a place where they could legally marry, they could do it quietly, receive the inheritance, split it, and go their separate ways without anyone being affected.
But if it’s a wedding…
He never considered Yang City as his home to begin with, so he wouldn’t be afraid of leaving. But Lu Xingping was different; he had his family and friends here. Perhaps Lu Xingping didn’t care about these things because he wouldn’t marry, but Lu Xingping had been the “white moonlight” in Qiao Nanqi’s heart for so many years. If Qiao Nanqi found out about this, would he do something that would affect Lu Xingping or even obstruct the wedding?
After he spoke, Lu Xingping actually laughed.
He said to Zhao Rong, “Are you afraid that Nanqi will fall out with me because of you?”
Zhao Rong: “…”
He felt that he and Lu Xingping were not on the same page regarding this matter.
How could he possibly have the ability to make Qiao Nanqi fall out with Lu Xingping because of him? What he was afraid of was the wedding being affected or Qiao Nanqi putting pressure on Lu Xingping.
He was about to explain, but Lu Xingping said again, “Then do you want to tell him it’s a fake wedding?”
Zhao Rong didn’t expect Lu Xingping to actually give him the power to decide.
“…Senior?”
“I won’t interfere with your decision.”
Zhao Rong was silent for a moment. He asked, “Do you understand him, Senior?”
“In what aspect?”
“Lately, he…”
Clearly, a few months ago, Qiao Nanqi didn’t care about him at all, only treating him as an optional bedmate.
Lately, however, he has become increasingly persistent, from initially telling him to come back to the current “love”… Even his humiliating rejection at that time couldn’t make Qiao Nanqi give up. In these past few days, he seemed to have changed his approach; he truly hasn’t been pressuring him much, yet he still refuses to let go.
Before Zhao Rong could say it out loud, Lu Xingping already knew: “If you’re asking about this aspect, I do have some understanding.”
“I’m not sure if Nanqi has told you before or if you’ve noticed, but he is actually someone who easily goes to extremes—it has something to do with his childhood experiences. When he doesn’t care, he won’t care at all, but if he’s persistent about something, he’ll be particularly stubborn.”
“When he was a child, in order to get used to something his father often scolded him with, he went behind Yuantu’s and my backs and copied those two words tens of thousands of times at home, to the point that he now feels nothing toward those two words. We only found out later.”
“When he used to respect his father, he was a hundred times more filial than Yuantu or I. Later, when he hated him—we’ve all seen what the outcome is now.”
Zhao Rong naturally didn’t know these things Lu Xingping spoke of.
The reason he was so familiar with Qiao Nanqi was that he had seen Qiao Nanqi’s life several times. But he didn’t know the details behind these lives, and Qiao Nanqi wouldn’t tell him either.
He remained silent, and Lu Xingping didn’t say anything further.
But he had already made a decision.
What Qiao Nanqi might love is the way he used to love the other party, and what he can’t let go of is the feeling of losing control and being unable to obtain something.
He perhaps just hasn’t been able to climb over the peak.
Or perhaps he just really needs someone to be good to him.
Once this peak completely collapses and he knows that this goodness will never return, he will give up.
“Thank you, Senior,” Zhao Rong didn’t answer directly, but his meaning was already very clear. “Then I’ll wish us… a smooth wedding.”
After hanging up the phone, Zhao Rong stretched.
He looked at the sky outside the window—clear and cloudless.
This inheritance that he had originally given up on, he should be able to get it now.
He gave up a road that led nowhere. Now, walking on another road, even without love, the path is very fragrant.
Perhaps sometimes, loving oneself a bit more is indeed a good choice.
Zhao Rong picked up his phone and casually took a photo of the view outside the window.
He posted an update with this picture attached: “The weather is so good.”
Lu Xingping hung up the phone and returned to the living room.
Qiao Nanqi was sitting by the coffee table, holding a book in his hand.
That book was one Qiao Nanqi had given to Lu Xingping earlier at some point. It was also a science fiction novel, and like The Gods Themselves, it had been casually tossed onto a side of the bookshelf by Lu Xingping, its plastic wrap not even torn open.
Until now, when it was opened by Qiao Nanqi.
He read very slowly; the thickness of the pages he had turned seemed to be no more than ten pages.
His fingertips pressed against the edge of the book, and the cut on his index finger from the kitchen earlier was still faintly visible, having already scabbed over.
Hearing Lu Xingping’s footsteps, he looked up from the book and asked, “Where is that copy of The Gods Themselves?”
Lu Xingping poured a glass of water and answered without hesitation, “I gave it to Zhao Rong. He said he threw it away.”
Qiao Nanqi’s whole body stiffened, his eyes growing more obscure, and even the faint mole under the outer corner of his left eye seemed to take on a more somber hue.
He couldn’t even continue his pretense of reading. He closed the book and tossed it casually onto the nearby coffee table, glancing at the water Lu Xingping had poured for him: “Not coffee?”
Previously when he came, Lu Xingping would prepare two cups of coffee.
“You’ve been using sleeping pills these past few days,” Lu Xingping took a sip of his own coffee. “Still drinking coffee?”
Qiao Nanqi didn’t speak.
“You’re not here for me to help you vent today, are you?”
Naturally not.
Since He Nan went crazy and years of obsession dissipated, even if Qiao Nanqi doesn’t sleep well now, it’s not like before when his negative emotions were uncontrollable.
He asked, “Does Zhao Rong… still come here often lately?”
“It’s alright, a bit more frequent than before. He won’t be coming today.”
Qiao Nanqi’s thoughts were seen through, yet he only felt a subtle emotion spreading in his heart.
He seemed to…
Be a bit jealous.
He was jealous of his lifelong best friend, jealous of Lu Xingping, who had once been treated by him as a lifesaver for several years even if he had mistaken the person.
He remembered the way Zhao Rong had laughed so heartily on the corridor outside the door when he sent Lu Xiaoyue home earlier.
He thought of the increasingly close relationship between Zhao Rong and Lu Xingping.
He thought of the laughter coming from the closed room when Zhao Rong and Lu Xingping were alone on the night something happened to Lu Xiaoyue.
…
All of these he can no longer obtain or see, yet Lu Xingping can.
If he didn’t clearly know that Lu Xingping had someone in his heart he couldn’t forget, he might even have been unable to resist guessing in the most impossible direction.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the momentary chaotic thoughts.
He said, “Next time Zhao Rong comes, can you tell me?”
“I’ll ask him.”
Lu Xingping’s answer was like an alarm bell, reminding Qiao Nanqi.
He immediately dismissed the idea—Zhao Rong would inevitably be unhappy.
“Forget it,” he said.
The plain water in front of him was also very tasteless.
Qiao Nanqi was silent.
After a moment, he said, “I’m going back.”
In the past, when he was in a bad mood, he would often come to stay in the piano room here or stay directly at the company, handling work that only needed to be dealt with months later.
But now, he felt that everywhere was much the same.
Just as Qiao Nanqi stood up, Lu Xingping suddenly called out to him: “Nanqi.”
His movements paused.
“I thought about it, and I’ll give you a heads-up first.”
“I’m getting married,” Lu Xingping said. “The wedding will be soon.”
He didn’t say why, nor with whom.
If this were in the past, a lifelong friend who had someone in his heart for so many years suddenly wanting to marry with no prior sign, even if he weren’t curious, he would sit down and talk with the person, ask, and show concern.
But as it happened, at this moment, the words he could least bear to hear were “getting married.”
It made him think of Zhao Rong’s phrase when he asked him to take off the ring earlier—“I might still date and marry others.”
These words became very piercing.
So he just retracted his expression and said before leaving, “I wish you a happy marriage.”