Fang Junjie’s heart stirred, lightly saying, “If one could get some guidance from such a person, wouldn’t progress be rapid?” Fu Xiaotang’s eyes lit up, then dimmed as she said, “Even if I can’t travel a thousand miles a day, being close to such a legendary figure would be nice, but it’s said she left the country over a decade ago and has been out of touch.” Fang Junjie, with a confident smirk, responded, “What’s so hard about that?” Just as he was speaking, Situ Nan walked in leisurely, whispered something into Fang Junjie’s ear, who then looked at Fu Xiaotang with a slight frown before turning to Situ Nan with an uplifted face. The latter nodded at him. Fu Xiaotang thought they were discussing something important and bowed her head in contemplation. Unexpectedly, Fang Junjie looked at her and said softly, “Xiao Tang, someone is waiting for you in Room 2714. Do you know who it is?” Fu Xiaotang was momentarily stunned. Room 2714, it seemed like a very long time ago when the former manager of the performance department called her aside, “Tang Xiaofu, there’s a guest on the 27th floor who wants to see you. Here’s a special pass, keep it safe.” She remembered flipping the exquisite card over and over, the number on it was clearly 2714. Fang Junjie squinted, Fu Xiaotang’s confused look made him slightly uncomfortable. He said nonchalantly, “If you don’t want to see them, I’ll handle it for you.” After a brief moment of thought, Fu Xiaotang quickly said, “I’ll go!”
…
Song Li was lost in thought, leaning against the sofa, one arm propping up his cheek, the other holding a cigarette, but too distracted to smoke. It had been 15 minutes; she could walk in any moment. The room was so quiet you could almost hear the ticking of the clock, each tick like a knock on his heart. People always said Song Li, the young master of the Song family, was deep and unfathomable, unchanging even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, but now, his fingers were trembling uncontrollably. What if she refused to see him? She had told Xiao Ying, “Let’s not meet anymore.” If that were the case, there would be nothing left to say but to directly confront Fang Junjie. Even if it meant falling out, it was unavoidable. What would he say if they met? “How are you?” How could she be good? His informants reported she was washing dishes in a small diner, sitting in a rundown place that looked like a back kitchen, holding a cup of instant noodles, her tiny face now only featuring large eyes. It felt like he had been punched in the heart, the pain so sharp he could barely breathe. She had suffered so much as a child, and now this. Wasn’t it said that a miscarriage was like a small birth? Seeing her so thin and frail, he wished he could pull her close immediately. Why was she so stubborn? Even if he couldn’t give her more right now, he could at least ensure she never worried about food or clothing for the rest of her life. But doing so would make him just like his father, who only provided money and nothing else for his mother’s lifetime. His emotions were in turmoil, feeling trapped. In anger, he withdrew the surveillance, thinking out of sight, out of mind. But when he later wanted to find her again, she seemed to have vanished. When Cheng Yue told him she had returned to “Heaven and Earth” and was closely involved with Fang Junjie, he felt an almost uncontrollable desire to destroy everything. He had always known Tang Xiaofu loved him, and he had relied on that love, certain she couldn’t leave him, which is why he had forced her into the abortion with the threat of divorce. But he never expected she would throw the divorce papers back at him without a second thought. He never intended for her to leave. He was used to her presence and companionship; without hearing her voice or seeing her silly smile for a day, he felt off. Without her cooking, food tasted bland. Without being able to hold her, he couldn’t even sleep well. He told himself it was just a habit. Changing this habit was heartbreaking, gut-wrenching. In reality, he was the one in a passive, vulnerable position. Had he known this would be the outcome, he might have considered keeping the child, even if it meant going against his initial plans and hurting Liu Yi. He would have considered it, just to keep her from leaving so decisively…
Chapter Fifty: Declaration of War
There was a gentle knock at the door, and a slender figure pushed it open and walked in. She stood there, the door closing behind her. Song Li watched her intently, almost greedily. For a moment, the world seemed to disappear, his eyes only seeing this one figure, this one person. Suddenly, he remembered long ago when he and Xiao Ying were taken away from the countryside, in a black sedan driving through muddy rice fields, he stubbornly looked out the back window, watching his mother, who covered her mouth with her hand, staring at them as they faded into the distance. That slowly blurring figure had appeared in his dreams many times. He snapped back to reality and walked towards Fu Xiaotang, standing in front of her. “Look up,” his voice was low and hoarse. Fu Xiaotang raised her face. Their eyes met. Her gaze was calm and cold, looking at him but seemingly through him, at something distant. There was no previous shyness, joy, love, or admiration; nor the later humble pleas, sorrow, or despair. It was empty, devoid of anything. Song Li felt an indescribable pain in his heart; he couldn’t bear her looking at him with the eyes of a stranger. He would rather she hated or despised him, at least those were strong emotions. Better than this. “You’ve lost weight,” Song Li murmured, instinctively reaching out to touch her. Fu Xiaotang quickly dodged back, a slight frown on her face, finally showing a different emotion—contempt. Song Li’s hand froze in mid-air, and he called out in pain, “Can’t I even touch you anymore?” Fu Xiaotang moved her lips in a cold, mocking smile, “Mr. Song, what are you talking about? Are you joking?” Fu Xiaotang’s cold gaze cut through him, “I am Fu Xiaotang, the person you’re talking about is… dead.” Song Li’s heart ached to the extreme, “Xiao Fu, I didn’t mean to force you into a divorce. Didn’t I say I’d come back and talk with you properly? Why didn’t you wait for me, why didn’t you give me a chance?” His voice was filled with sorrow and pain, in his 29 years of life, he had always been noble, superior, never having spoken to anyone like this, “You caught me off guard, and by the time I realized, you were already gone.” Fu Xiaotang turned away, not looking at him, her voice calm as she whispered, “You shouldn’t have come here; we have nothing to say. Leave, and if we meet in ‘heaven’ by chance in the future, just pretend not to see me.” Song Li shook his head heavily, his tone firm and unyielding as he gritted his teeth, “No, I’m going mad. You can’t stay here; you must come with me. I need to see you every day!”
“It’s impossible,” Fu Xiaotang raised an eyebrow, her voice laced with sarcasm, “If you want to see me so badly, come to ‘Heaven on Earth’ and buy my time. You’re rich, aren’t you? Here, everything can be bought. If Master Junjie agrees, I can even perform outside with you.” Song Li furrowed his brows deeply, feeling as if a sharp knife was twisting in his heart, “Why must you degrade yourself like this?”
“Degrade?” Fu Xiaotang chuckled lightly, “You’re quite the hypocrite, aren’t you? Remember when you said at Jinshui International that you could pay for anything, even a slap? Didn’t Cheng Yu also say something about ‘settling the bill’? Why is it ‘degrading’ now?”
