Chapter 18: So, Pu Huaiyan Likes Her?
Shan Dai stared at the photo on her phone screen, blushing so hard it was impossible to hide.
The man looking down at her as she stared at the picture held a gaze akin to a wolf eyeing its favorite meal—full of affection, tenderness, and burning heat, as if he couldn’t wait to drag her straight to the Civil Affairs Bureau right then and there. Not to get a divorce certificate, but to register their marriage.
At 12:30 PM, the IV drip finally finished.
Shan Dai rode in a wheelchair as they left, with Pu Huaiyan pushing her from behind. Just as they reached the parking lot, someone called out, “Huaiyan.”
The wheelchair ground to a halt, and Pu Huaiyan glanced off to one side. Shan Dai tensed up, but her eyes followed the direction of the voice all the same.
A handsome, debonair man clad in a white suit walked over to them with an effortless charm.
“What are you doing at the hospital?” His eyes drifted toward Shan Dai, raising his brows with a light smile as he approached. “And who is this?”
Oh no, oh no, Shan Dai thought to herself. Another acquaintance.
Pu Huaiyan’s calm voice drifted into her ears: “A friend. She got hurt, so I brought her to see a doctor.”
The man stopped right before them, taking a look at the girl’s face, a flash of astonishment gleaming in his eyes.
Glancing down at her hands, he gasped: “Injured this badly?” With that, he immediately stepped aside, looking up at Pu Huaiyan. “Hurry back then. Your girlfriend needs her rest.”
Shan Dai: “…”
Pu Huaiyan shot him a glance. Their eyes met for a moment, and then, without uttering a single word, he pushed her along and walked away.
Shan Dai kept mulling over that detail the entire ride back. Pu Huaiyan hadn’t denied the “girlfriend” label, yet she didn’t muster the courage to ask. She simply sat quietly in the passenger seat, watching the car slice through the midday peak-hour traffic of the Beijing Ring Road as they headed toward the hotel.
“Beijing traffic is so bad—way worse than Lan City,” she murmured, offering it as her only comment during the entire trip.
Pu Huaiyan naturally took up the conversation: “If you worked here, you wouldn’t be heading out at noon. It’s fine.”
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the hotel, parking in the underground garage this time. As she prepared to get out, Shan Dai asked, “President Pu, you haven’t eaten yet. Would you like to dine at the hotel?”
“I’m not hungry.” The man bent down, carefully scooping her up into a princess carry out of the car cabin, turning straight toward the elevator.
He had originally intended to bring the wheelchair back with them, but Shan Dai felt it was unnecessary. Her leg wasn’t a major issue, and after resting until tomorrow, she should be able to walk on her feet again.
Except right now, when she tried to walk on her own, he refused to let her, carrying her out of the vehicle anyway.
As they walked, she whispered gently, “President Pu, it’s precisely because you never eat your meals on time that you developed a stomach ache, and your stomach condition is quite severe.” She quietly urged him from his arms, “Could you remember to eat your three meals? Don’t let it turn into a real problem.”
Stepping into the enclosed elevator, the man feigned deep thought. A moment later, under her curious gaze, he lowered his head and said, “Actually, there’s a lot of work at noon. Yanxin Times starts work at 9:30 AM and finishes at 11:30 AM—that’s only two hours. I usually keep working through it, and I tend to forget as I get busy.”
Shan Dai: “Then could you set an alarm? A 12:00 PM alarm wouldn’t be too late.”
Pu Huaiyan put on a conflicted expression: “That’s usually when I’m busiest.”
“…” She didn’t understand. “Why?”
Pu Huaiyan: “Because there’s a lot to do in the afternoon, so I need to prepare in advance. Only after everything is prepped can I eat in peace.”
“Then eat earlier—how about 11:00 AM?”
“Too early, I don’t have an appetite.”
“…”
The elevator ascended smoothly. Amid the subtle vibration, Shan Dai murmured curiously, “Then what time do you usually remember to eat, President Pu?”
“Most of the time, I don’t remember at all.”
“…” Her eyes widened.
Suppression the upward curl at the corners of his lips, Pu Huaiyan said, “When I do remember, it’s usually because my stomach starts hurting. Around three or four in the afternoon.”
“…” Shan Dai took a deep breath, staring straight at his handsome profile. “That won’t do. Your stomach is already feeling very uncomfortable.”
The elevator arrived. The man carried her out, speaking as they walked: “It can’t be helped. That’s just how work is.”
Shan Dai pressed her lips down into a helpless frown. Upon reaching her room door, the man asked her to retrieve the room card.
Shan Dai quickly pulled a card from her backpack to scan the lock. With a soft chime, the man lightly kicked the door open.
Shan Dai inserted the card into the power slot, and the dim room lit up in an instant. Accompanying the hum of the air conditioner was a trace of her personal fragrance—hard to describe, but Pu Huaiyan simply found it pleasant.
Carrying her across the small living room to the large bed, he gently set her down, then bent over to untie her shoes.
Shan Dai felt immensely awkward for a second, speaking up immediately: “I can do it myself, President Pu.”
“I’ll do it. Keep your hands from doing anything.” He unlaced and removed both of her shoes one by one, placing them at the foot of the bed before gesturing for her to lie down. “Rest well this afternoon. Just order room service at the hotel tonight—don’t go out.”
“Mm mm.”
“And then, these hands…” Standing up, he let out a soft sigh. “With no one to take care of you, just stick to drinking some porridge, okay?”
“Mm.” Her eyes suddenly prickled with heat, touched that he was still worrying about her dinner even as he was about to leave. “President Pu, please go ahead. You’ve been busy all morning. Could you please get something to eat first?”
“I’m not particularly hungry.”
Shan Dai knitted her brows, a little anxious. “Please, go eat.”
The man stood by the bed, looking down into her eyes as they stared at each other. Finally, letting out what seemed like a helpless smile, his heart bloomed with joy while his expression remained flawlessly composed. “Alright, I’ll go eat.”
Shan Dai’s mood instantly brightened, the corners of her mouth curving up. “I’ve really troubled you too much today. When I’m about to leave, if you’re free, President Pu, I’ll treat you to a meal. This time I’ll definitely keep my word—I won’t break my promise.”
He nodded slowly, offering a light smile. “Alright.”
Shan Dai watched him walk toward the door. Reaching the doorway, he turned back to remind her once more: “Be careful with your hands, don’t bump them against anything. Your knees too—walk slowly.”
“Mm, okay.”
“If you run into any issues, reach out to me right away, okay? Don’t stand on ceremony—you’ve already troubled me all morning anyway.”
“…”
The man closed the door, and the world returned to silence. Shan Dai slowly lay back down, truly feeling exhausted.
Remembering she had yet to reply to her college roommate, she quickly picked up her phone to message her back. Following the cover story Pu Huaiyan had suggested earlier, her roommate indeed showed no further suspicion.
Yuyu: “Dai Dai, your business is doing so huge now! You’re even collaborating with Yanxin Times! Are you going to move to Beijing for your career in the future? If you come here, we can see each other every single day! My god, that’s literally the dream life we talked about before graduation!”
Shan Dai smiled faintly, recalling what Pu Huaiyan had said in the car not long ago—about her coming here to work…
Using her left hand, she typed a slow reply: “Hard to say. Once the company grows larger, anything is possible.”
As they chatted, Ziming sent her a message: “Have you eaten yet, baby? Are you meeting that partner today? If you meet him, ask him a question for me—I’ll send it over to you.”
Shan Dai received the document and replied: “I’ve eaten. The weather in Beijing isn’t great today, so nothing was scheduled. If the weather is good tomorrow, I’ll go meet them.” She didn’t want Ziming to know she was injured, let alone in such a miserable state.
Ziming took her word for it: “Alright, take your time, no rush. Don’t go out if the weather’s bad.”
After a brief chat, Ziming went back to work. Even though it wasn’t afternoon work hours yet, Ziming was a total workaholic who usually spent her lunch break grinding away just to log off earlier at night.
Shan Dai lay in bed resting, but perhaps because the throbbing pain in her knees and palms flared up intermittently, she couldn’t quite fall asleep despite her fatigue. Thoughts of what her college roommate had just said—about coming to Beijing to expand her career—unconsciously drifted back to Pu Huaiyan. He was the very first person to bring up the idea of her moving here, and he had mentioned it twice now.
Her college roommate wanted her to come because back at graduation, everyone had been reluctant to part. The world was vast, and stepping onto the graduation train often meant separating for a lifetime. That was why everyone always wished they could work in the same city and live together, as if that could preserve the beauty of their college days.
But Pu Huaiyan… why did he want her to come?
At noon, she had merely brought up a casual topic using Beijing traffic to make conversation, yet he had instantly steered it toward her coming here to work.
Was that line said offhandedly? With Pu Huaiyan’s high emotional intelligence, he wouldn’t just make casual remarks out of nowhere.
So… did he really want her to come?
Suddenly, Shan Dai realized that the care he had shown her this morning was truly a bit over the top—it far exceeded what should exist between a man and a woman, or even ordinary friends. Even though she indeed couldn’t feed herself, still… his actions felt far too excessive toward a married woman—especially one who was the wife of his former subordinate…
Normally speaking, he should have avoided suspicion, even if she was getting a divorce.
He cared deeply about her divorce, so eager to bring the Civil Affairs Bureau staff over on the spot to process the papers, so eager for her to return to single status immediately and be free and unburdened from then on. He didn’t want her to feel sad or distressed over it.
But why didn’t he want her to be?
Shan Dai pondered it for a while, feeling more and more that something was off.
Yet a man like Pu Huaiyan—the President of Yanxin Times Group, a top-tier elite, a favored son of heaven who lacked for nothing, possessing outstanding refinement, looks, and family background—couldn’t possibly fall for a divorced woman, right? And key to it all: this woman wasn’t even divorced yet, and was still the wife of his subordinate.
A relationship like this carried an immense class divide.
Shan Dai felt it was far too absurd. Perhaps he genuinely just sympathized with her and treated her as a friend?
She closed her eyes, letting out a sigh as she prepared to sleep, telling herself it had to be that way—it was impossible for him to like her.
Unconsciously, as the pain from her injuries subsided, Shan Dai drifted off to sleep.
She slept straight until evening, woken up by a series of doorbell chimes. Rubbing her brow sleepily, she looked out the window. Darkness had already fallen, with only half a strand of faint red twilight clinging to the edge of the sky, while the stars had mostly climbed out.
It was a very nice day.
The doorbell chimed once more.
Shan Dai called out, “Hey, hold on a second.” Not knowing who it was, she pulled herself up and walked over, asking as she went, “Who is it?”
“It’s me! It’s me, Miss Shan! I’m Pu Ci—oh, I mean, Shen Jiani!”
Shan Dai realized who it was, the corners of her mouth curving up instantly. Accelerating her steps, she went over and pulled the door open.
Holding a bouquet of flowers, the girl greeted her with a bright grin: “Miss Shan!”
Looking at those pink roses, Shan Dai smiled in pleasant surprise. “You’re off the plane, Secretary Shen? And… why did you bring flowers?” Saying that, she stepped aside to let her in.
“I heard from our President Pu that your injuries are pretty severe! Visiting a patient naturally requires flowers.” She knitted her brows in heartache. “I brought dinner too. Can we eat together in your room?”
Shan Dai froze for a moment, then quickly said, “Of course, come on in.”
Shen Jiani happily carried the flowers and dinner inside, then turned back to support her. “Can you walk? Be careful, careful.”
“It’s fine, it’s much better now.” Shan Dai offered her a seat, then went to the bathroom to quickly freshen up.
Shen Jiani laid out the dinner dishes one by one on the coffee table. The moment Shan Dai stepped out, she said, “I brought some local Beijing specialties, leaning mostly toward sweet flavors. See if you like them; if not, we can call the hotel to order another meal.”
Shan Dai slowly sat down, looking at the spread. Many of the dishes looked quite familiar—a good number matched the menu items from the time she, Secretary Shen, and Pu Huaiyan had eaten together previously, though few overlapped with this morning’s breakfast.
She said, “I love them all. Secretary Shen, you’ve gone to so much trouble coming all the way here just to eat with me.”
“Aiya, don’t mention it!” She picked up a pair of chopsticks and began placing food straight into Shan Dai’s porridge bowl. “I heard from President Pu that you can’t hold chopsticks and can only drink porridge, so if I put the dishes right into your porridge bowl, you can eat them together!”
Shan Dai’s eyes felt a sudden prickle of heat. Expressing her thanks, she asked, “President Pu is truly far too considerate, even giving you instructions. Were these dishes ordered by President Pu as well? They look like what we ate before.”
Shen Jiani chuckled, “He ordered a few, and I ordered a few, just worried Miss Shan wouldn’t feel well and might lose her appetite.” With that, she brought up this morning’s matter again, “I lied to you this morning—please don’t be mad at me, okay? I’m sorry, Miss Shan.”
Shan Dai let out a self-deprecating smile: “I’m not mad at all. I feel fortunate, if anything.”
Shen Jiani grinned wide, “President Pu is terrible too—making me lie to you, only to turn around and come clean himself because he couldn’t bear to keep you in the dark, leaving me caught in the middle looking like the bad guy.”
Shan Dai’s heart thumped twice. Because of those two words—”couldn’t bear”—that exact possibility she had contemplated before her nap rushed back into her mind. If it wasn’t affection, why would he make his secretary lie just because she didn’t reach out to him upon coming to Beijing, only to have the secretary order the exact menu for her dinner…
A man wouldn’t be this meticulously attentive toward an unrelated woman for no reason. Plainly speaking, even when it came to his own family members, he likely couldn’t manage to be this attentive.
She was no longer an innocent, inexperienced young girl straight out of college; she had already been married for a year.
In an instant, Shan Dai lost her appetite.
“What’s wrong? Why are you eating so little? Is your hand hurting, or do the dishes not suit your taste?” Shen Jiani asked with deep concern.
“Oh, no.” Shan Dai immediately snapped back to reality, looking at her. “I love every single dish. By the way, what time did you arrive, Secretary Shen? Did you come straight after landing? Are you tired?”
“My flight was delayed—so annoying! I was supposed to arrive much earlier. After landing, I went to the company to handle a handoff, and by the time off-work hour arrived, I came over.”
“That must have been so exhausting. Did you see President Pu then?”
“We met briefly, and I happened to ask about your injuries.”
“Did President Pu eat lunch today? He spent half the day helping me at the hospital this morning, so I was a bit worried he’d go back to work overtime and forget to eat again.”
“You’re practically a fortune teller, Miss Shan!” She immediately recounted the story with animated gestures. “Word is he only drank a cup of black coffee at noon! When I went to his office just now, President Pu was taking stomach medicine!”
Shan Dai felt her heart explode in an instant. “He was taking medicine…”
“Yeah.” She shrugged, picking up a piece of her favorite fragrant goose liver for Shan Dai before grabbing one for herself. “He’s always been like this anyway. Back when he was studying, he never ate his three meals on time, and later when working in Los Angeles, he started taking stomach medicine. Over these past two years since returning, the conglomerate has been undergoing reforms, making him even busier, so it’s a regular occurrence.”
Shan Dai felt a mixture of anger and distress in an instant, completely forgetting the speculation she had been mulling over just a moment ago.
“By the way, Miss Shan, how are your injuries feeling? Do you need to stay in Beijing for a few more days to recover? If you stay here, I can come eat with you every single day,” Shen Jiani offered.
Shan Dai snapped back to reality: “Oh, I should be able to go out tomorrow. I took a nap, and my knee can barely manage to walk now. I plan to schedule a meeting with my partner for tomorrow afternoon; it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Alright, but be careful, okay? If there’s any issue, call me right away—I’m on call whenever! I won’t get my pay docked for skipping work anyway, because I don’t get a salary.”
“Okay.” Shan Dai burst into a laugh.
Accompanied by Shen Jiani, she finished a hearty meal, after which Shen Jiani took her leave, saying she didn’t want to disturb her rest.
Shan Dai painstakingly took a simple bath, after which she lay on the bed idly playing on her phone, hoping she could go out tomorrow.
At 9:00 PM, a text message popped up on her phone.
Pu Huaiyan: “Did you eat well?”
Shan Dai replied immediately: “Yes. Did President Pu eat? I heard you didn’t eat lunch and had a stomach ache?”
“Mm. Apologies, the General Manager came to see me the moment I reached the company, and we held an impromptu meeting. I forgot about it afterward.”
Shan Dai’s heart was filled with indescribable emotions. Any lingering anger at his broken promise evaporated instantly, leaving her only able to ask: “Then did you eat dinner?”
“Eating right now.”
The corners of Shan Dai’s mouth curved slightly.
Pu Huaiyan: “Did you reach out to him?”
Shan Dai didn’t realize who “him” referred to at first. Only after several seconds did she realize it was Lu Zhixing… He was talking about having her message Lu Zhixing to bring up the divorce.
He actually still remembered.
Shan Dai’s heart skipped a beat without warning, her mind once again recalling that speculation that had consumed her thoughts all day.
She replied: “Not yet.”
Pu Huaiyan: “Why not yet? Are you busy right now?”
“…” Shan Dai’s expression turned awkward, her hands tapping out a subtle excuse on the screen: “I forgot just now, I was looking at work.”
Pu Huaiyan: “Oh, then keep busy. Should I do it myself then?”
“…” Shan Dai bit her lip, completely stunned, staring unblinkingly at that sentence. Every single word of his message felt off to her.
What did he mean by doing it himself? He was merely playing along with her act, nothing more; in essence, this matter had nothing to do with him. How could he genuinely put himself in the position of her affair partner?
Everything was in complete disarray.
Was it simply because a gentlemanly man couldn’t bear to see a woman suffer—especially when it came to being betrayed by a man, something he couldn’t stand—making him extra eager to help her break free?
Shan Dai hastily typed: “I’m not busy, not busy at all.”
Pu Huaiyan: “Then reach out to him now. Long delays breed extra trouble.”
“…” Shan Dai weakly covered her face and buried it in her pillow. The excuse she had found for him a second ago was completely shattered by his very next response, leaving her heart in absolute turmoil.
Pu Huaiyan… what on earth did he mean?
How could it be possible? How could he possibly like her? The panic in her heart felt like a surging tsunami.
However, regardless of what he meant, she indeed ought to resolve this matter as soon as possible, especially with the strategy Pu Huaiyan had suggested for her.
Once divorced, she could be cared for openly by another man when injured; otherwise, right now she couldn’t even handle eating a meal properly—it was far too absurd.
Shan Dai switched over to Lu Zhixing’s WeChat account, sending a message: “I’ll tell you one last time: there’s nothing worth considering. From the moment I found out about your infidelity, there was no possibility left for us. Even if you consider it ten years into the future, we still can’t go back to how we were.”
“Dai Dai, don’t be like this,” Lu Zhixing replied in seconds. “Dai Dai, give it a few more days, okay? Give me a few days to think about whether I can accept separating from you.”
Reading such messages again, Shan Dai felt a wave of nausea in her chest. What was there to be unable to accept? He already had someone else by his side.
She instinctively typed: “I have someone I like now. I don’t have time to wait for you.”
The other side replied rapidly: “What did you say??? Dai Dai? Are you just saying that to spite me?”
Shan Dai suddenly laughed. After laughing for a moment, she finally sent over that photo from her album—the one with their fingers interlocked: “Of course not.”
Half a minute later, after finishing the photo and falling into utter shock, Lu Zhixing called. He called frantically.
Shan Dai only picked up after he had dialed three times.
“Dai Dai…” His breathing was chaotic. “Is it… real or fake? You…”
Shan Dai held the phone, staring calmly at the bright moon hanging high outside the window: “What’s there to be real or fake? Can’t you recognize my hand anymore? You forget so quickly.”
Precisely because he recognized it, Lu Zhixing sounded so profoundly heart-broken: “Dai Dai, why…”
“People change, don’t they? The reason someone loves a person is that their goodness attracts her. Now that you’ve changed, I naturally have to like someone else who treats me very well. Lu Zhixing, you need to know that I’m not bad at all. Your infidelity wasn’t because I wasn’t good enough, but because you were rotten yourself. So, the world isn’t short of people who will treat me well.”
Lu Zhixing’s light, intermittent panting drifted through the receiver, looking like snow falling on a scorching summer night, slowly soaking both of them through.
Shan Dai’s prolonged silence allowed him to gradually calm down. “Yes, I was the rotten one; it has nothing to do with you. I promise you… whenever you want to get the certificate, I’ll go.”
Shan Dai froze for a moment.
Lu Zhixing: “I’m sorry, I lied to you, Dai Dai. I never cut off contact with her. I kept thinking that my love for you was definitely greater—I knew clearly that I loved you more, so I didn’t want to give you up. But I also knew we couldn’t go back. I knew you too well, which was why I never completely broke things off with her either. I’m sorry for dragging this out for so long. I’m sorry to you, Dai Dai.”
For the very first time, he hung up the phone first. Whether during their three years of dating and marriage, or after the affair blew up when he was frantically calling her again and again, this was the first time he had ever hung up the phone first.
It took Shan Dai a long time to snap back to reality.
Without knowing what time it was, she reached over to grab the landline on the nightstand to call hotel room service, ordering a few bottles of beer.
A waiter pushed a dining cart over shortly after to deliver the alcohol. Shan Dai crawled up from the bed to open the door, sending the staff away before slumping onto the sofa. Opening a beer, she took sip after sip, finishing a bottle in no time.
She had thought that regarding his infidelity, getting drunk once would be enough. Last time at Ziming’s place, she had already gotten drunk for his sake once; she wasn’t the type to wallow in despair or hold on without letting go, knowing full well that life was long and accidents always happened.
Yet when he finally agreed—agreed under the very outcome she had dreamed of day and night—she found herself in a daze once more.
Because he had turned good again—he had suddenly transformed back into that wonderful, gentle Lu Zhixing of the past. Except his goodness at this moment was merely paving the way for their parting ways—not when they first fell in love, not during his proposal, not during their marriage, nor during their countless romantic days. Instead, it was for their separation—a complete, total break, with no relation to each other ever again.
At midnight, Shan Dai knelt in front of the coffee table, leaning half-slumped over it, dead drunk. Urgent knocks sounded at the door—bang, bang, bang—and it took her quite a while to realize it was her own room door.
Shan Dai pulled herself up. Because she was kneeling, her knees were pulled and strained, hurting quite a bit as she stumbled over to open the door.
A rush of cedar fragrance mixed with the overwhelming stench of alcohol washed over her. A man caught her soft, swaying body, looking in shock at her flushed, blurry, alcohol-drenched state, and then further inside at the table covered in beer bottles.
Taking a deep breath, he looked down at her glowing, pretty, flushed face. “Why did you drink alcohol? And so much?”
Shan Dai looked at him curiously, smiling: “President Pu? You’re off work? So early today.”
“…” It was midnight—midnight! He had been off work long ago and had even showered. Unable to get through to her phone or WeChat, he had come over out of worry.
He supported her inside, kicking the door shut behind him.
The girl stumbled as she walked, looking like she would fall hard without someone holding her. Reaching the coffee table, she squatted down and reached for another beer bottle.
Pu Huaiyan, quick-eyed and nimble-handed, dropped to half a kneel, snatching away the beer she had already brought to her lips. She looked at him in confusion, pursing her moist lips.
The sight sent a surge of heat through Pu Huaiyan.
Her eyes were exceptionally moist, looking at him with a helpless, pitiful gaze as her red lips murmured, “What are you doing? Who are you?”
Pu Huaiyan took a deep breath. “I am Pu Huaiyan. I sent you so many messages and called you, but you didn’t pick up or reply. I was worried you were in danger.”
“Thank you, President Pu, no danger.” Sitting on the floor, she laughed, shaking her head, “No danger. Go off to work quickly, and get some rest early, don’t work overtime anymore.”
Saying that, she suddenly grabbed his collar.
Pu Huaiyan leaned forward an inch, his heart thumping wildly, his eyes flickering. “What’s wrong?”
“Let me tell you… some good news.” She parted her red lips, her smile blossoming brilliantly. “After I sent him the photo, he agreed to get a divorce! I’m free~”
A loud roar echoed in Pu Huaiyan’s heart, his pulse racing violently. “Really?”
“Mm.” She nodded solemnly, her soft hair swaying against her pink cheeks. Then, her eye sockets turned red again. “Today, his attitude was exceptionally good—so good that he felt just like when he first confessed to me. He became very good again.”
Pu Huaiyan finally understood why she wasn’t happy at this moment, but hurt instead.
Because that wonderful man had agreed to divorce her, she was still sad. If an utterly terrible Lu Zhixing had agreed to a divorce while flying into a rage, she would feel nothing but joy right now.
Those three long years—he had accompanied her through her innocent college years, through the grueling period of her family’s illness, through graduation, starting a business, getting married… he had been there for all of it. That man had still left an indelible mark in a girl’s heart.
Pu Huaiyan stared silently at her lost, crestfallen face for a few seconds, reaching out to cup her face so they were eye to eye: “Shan Dai.”
She looked at him in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
So obedient.
Pu Huaiyan’s eyes held a mixture of coldness and heartache, like harsh winter and spring breeze battling each other: “You’re sad, right? That marital home of yours—did you transfer it back to him?”
“I transferred it.” As if perfectly sober, she explained word by word, “Transferred it a few days ago, so we owe each other nothing.”
Pu Huaiyan: “Did you know that Lu Zhixing’s father didn’t need surgery and has already been discharged? Yet Lu Zhixing still took back the house he gave you and sold it—do you know why? Because the house his affair partner is currently living in wasn’t rented—he bought it for her.”
Shan Dai stared straight at him.
Pu Huaiyan reached out, his thumb gently wiping away the moisture at the corner of her eyes: “Lu Zhixing is in Beijing right now on a business trip. I ran into him during a social obligation tonight. He greeted me, while my former PR manager walked away, not daring to appear before me at the same time. They thought I didn’t notice, but I did.”
Shan Dai’s eyes flickered.
Pu Huaiyan: “Seeing that scene was why I messaged you, asking you to send the photo to him to avoid long delays breeding extra trouble. Lu Zhixing didn’t turn good; when he called you, his mistress was waiting for him not far away. He merely felt helpless after seeing that photo, so he was simply trying to save face for himself, while leaving a good final impression on you.”
Shan Dai’s eyes turned red all at once.
Pu Huaiyan immediately coaxed her gently: “It’s okay. Next time, we won’t be fooled by a man’s few coaxing words, right? You’ve grown, and next time you’ll meet someone very, very good. He’s just a past experience—it’s okay. Let’s look forward. I’ll accompany you, and on this road ahead, no one will have the right to deceive you anymore.”
The redness in her eyes spread like a rising tide. Pu Huaiyan felt a vivid, sharp pain in his chest.
The girl’s tears fell without warning, her body slowly leaning into his broad chest as she sobbed, her voice raspy: “I’m sorry.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you saying this to me?” Heartbroken to the extreme, he lowered his head, using the back of his hand to wipe her tears. “Don’t cry, good girl, it’s okay. You have me. I won’t hurt you—I won’t.”
Drunk, she raised her eyes to look at him, tears streaming down as she spoke: “No matter what, this matter is finally resolved. But… but the worst part is that I’ve troubled you so, so much. I’m sorry. On a night like this, you still had to see me. You have so much work, yet you wasted so much time for my sake again.”
Tipsy, she began talking incoherently: “It feels like… I’m at odds with Beijing. I shouldn’t have come last time. Originally… originally I didn’t even know you…” She shook her head repeatedly, as if knowing her was such a terrible thing.
As her head moved, the frequency of Pu Huaiyan’s heartbeat turned wildly abnormal—a sense of sheer panic. Right at the moment when Lu Zhixing was completely removed from her life path, he felt an intense panic at the thought of never having known her.
“I am willing to,” he said, his thumb wiping away a large teardrop rolling from the corner of her eye. “I don’t care—how could I possibly care about this trouble? I asked for it myself.”
Pulling out a tissue, he gently pressed it against her cheek. “Don’t cry. Today is a day worth celebrating—for you, and for me. On a night like this, nothing in the world matters more than you.”
Unconsciously, as the alcohol kicked in, she slumped into his broad embrace, falling fast asleep.
Feeling her go completely still with steady breathing, Pu Huaiyan lowered his head, quietly studying the woman’s tear-stained face for a long while.
So beautiful. Her swollen eyes were a soft, tender pink, incredibly endearing; this tiny face was the most gorgeous face in the world, and resting this soft little body in his arms made him completely reluctant to move.
He couldn’t understand why that man named Lu would step out on an affair during a simple business trip, or how he could bear to let down someone who loved him so genuinely. He also felt hatred—hating that Lu Zhixing had known her first, won her heart first, and then hurt her, hating it to the point of gritting his teeth.
Carrying her up, he placed her carefully on the bed, pulling the duvet over to cover her neatly. Turning back, he gathered all the beer bottles on the table and set them outside the door for housekeeping to collect tomorrow.
Finally, he circled the room once more, picking up the phone from the floor and setting it on the nightstand to charge, avoiding it shutting down tomorrow.
Done with everything, he poured a glass of water and set it on the nightstand.
Lastly, the man stood by the bed, quietly watching the unconscious, peacefully sleeping woman. After a long while, the corners of his mouth curved up: “Goodnight, Dai Dai.”
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