Returning - Chapter 65
Chapter 65: Goodbye
Zhao Yu had heard Qin Yi mention Ling Jianwei's name many times. She knew his personality had undergone a drastic change, that he was now even more reticent than before and incredibly cold toward others.
But the moment Ling Jianwei caught the mockery in her eyes and realized she hadn't twisted her ankle at all—that it was all just an act to lure him out—his expression of chagrin and awkwardness was clearly not much different from the young man she had known years ago.
The hand gripping her arm tightened, then abruptly released. Ling Jianwei stared at her for a few seconds, then turned to leave.
"My name is Zhao Yu." Her calm voice came from behind him.
Ling Jianwei stopped, letting out a cold laugh. "What? Afraid I'll expose your true colors to Xue Zi'ang?"
Zhao Yu laughed as well, walking slowly around to face him. "Since Young Master Ling finds my true colors so despicable, why bother coming to the hospital to see me? Or are you going to tell me it really was just a coincidence?"
Ling Jianwei turned his face away, evading her gaze. His thin lips were pressed tightly together. He said nothing.
The smile faded from Zhao Yu's face. She said flatly, "Whether you hate me or can't forget me, I don't want to rehash the past. I'm sure your Ling family doesn't want to dredge it up either. So, I'd ask Young Master Ling to pretend he never knew me. That would be best for everyone."
Seeing that he still remained silent, Zhao Yu lowered her head with a faint smile and continued toward the inpatient building. But she had barely taken two steps when her arm was seized again.
She turned around, meeting Ling Jianwei's anger-filled eyes.
He made no effort to hide his fury, yet as he stared at her, he still refused to utter a single word. He looked exactly like a bristling little lion, desperate to throw a tantrum but having no idea how.
Zhao Yu looked at him with amusement. "So, you came today to settle accounts? If you absolutely must have an explanation for what happened three years ago, then I admit it. I wronged you. I deceived you. Whatever you want to do about it, just say it outright."
Fingers reddened by the cold clamped tightly around her arm, squeezing harder and harder until she let out a soft hiss, at which point he slowly loosened his grip.
The two of them stood facing each other in the freezing wind for so long that Zhao Yu was about to turn and leave again when he suddenly spoke. "Three years ago, where did you go?"
Zhao Yu was taken aback. She had never imagined that would be his first question.
"What? You wanted to settle scores with me back then but couldn't find me?" She gave a self-deprecating smile. "My reputation was ruined. Of course I... changed my name and went off to find another high-quality man to sleep with. Anyway, you said it yourself—I just love that kind of thrill. So these past three years, I've tried countless men..."
"Are you really that desperate for men?" he cut her off coldly, staring into her eyes as he forced two words from his lips with great difficulty. "Sister-in-law?"
Those two words only made the smile on Zhao Yu's face deepen. "Young Master Ling, you have a biological older brother, and he's married. Calling me that will only cause misunderstandings."
Ling Jianwei scoffed.
"Speaking of that biological older brother of yours," Zhao Yu said, "I have to give him credit. Truly a man of honor. He clearly didn't want you running into me, clearly had plenty of ways to deal with me—could have secretly driven me out of Huacan, even made me disappear from Donghai. Yet he did nothing. He simply warned me, as a brother, that you were coming back, and that he hoped I wouldn't get entangled with you again."
"Where else are you going to find such a good brother? So, you'd best do as he wishes and have less contact with a loose woman like me. For your Ling family's reputation, and for your own safety."
Zhao Yu's gaze slowly drifted to the fine bangs on his forehead. She remembered he never used to like this hairstyle. She wondered if it was because the scar there had never been successfully removed.
Knowing what she was looking at, Ling Jianwei turned his head away awkwardly. A gust of cold wind blew his bangs forward, nearly covering his left eye entirely.
That confirmed it for Zhao Yu. The scar was still there.
Caused by her selfishness.
"Ling Jianwei." She looked at him seriously. "If you don't want to take revenge on me, then let me go. And I'll let you go too. Three years ago, I truly shouldn't have provoked you. A woman like me is even less someone you should get involved with."
His hand, hanging by his side, slowly clenched into a fist. Ling Jianwei stared at her intently, still saying nothing.
"So, goodbye. From now on, we never see each other again."
This time, he finally did not stop her from leaving.
He stood in the shadows beside the greenbelt, watching her walk step by step into the brightly lit inpatient building. He saw Xue Zi'ang rush down the stairs, pull her into his arms, gently stroke her head with both hands, bury his face in the curve of her neck, and whisper sweet nothings to her.
Both his fists clenched tighter and tighter. But in the end, as he watched Xue Zi'ang wrap an arm around her waist and guide her toward the elevator, all he could do was release his grip, turn around, and walk back the way he came.
Zhao Yu hadn't expected Xue Zi'ang to arrive so quickly. She had assumed that, given how angry she had made him, he probably wouldn't even come to the hospital today. Yet the moment she stepped into the building, the man who had been too impatient to wait for the elevator and instead rushed directly down the stairs pulled her tightly into his embrace.
He was panting from the sprint, his heart racing. His voice carried a note of panic and urgency.
He asked her, "Where did you go? Why weren't you in your room? I thought..."
Zhao Yu didn't answer, nor did she push him away. She stood there like a puppet, letting him hold her, apologizing over and over, telling her how worried he had been when he walked into the ward and found it empty.
This man, as far as she was concerned, was already a discarded piece. The only thing she thought about now when facing him was the last remaining value he held.
As for his apologies and sincerity, who cared?
Tonight, Xue Zi'ang was extraordinarily patient. It was the first time he had ever lowered himself so completely before her.
Even when she ignored him, he kept a smiling face, constantly asking if she felt unwell anywhere, if she wanted something to eat, if she'd like to consider transferring to a private hospital with better facilities.
After she fell asleep, he kept watch in the ward, just as he had the night before. Though he clearly detested such an environment—though he wouldn't even deign to touch the sheets and blankets—he still uttered not a single word of complaint, staying by her side without leaving an inch from night until dawn.
Upon waking, Zhao Yu finally relented and spoke a sentence to him. "Can you cook?"
Xue Zi'ang froze. She knew he had never set foot in a kitchen before. The few times he had occasionally fumbled with food at her place, every attempt had ended in failure.
Zhao Yu's face was full of sarcasm. "Didn't you say I could eat whatever I wanted? What's the matter? Has this stumped President Xue already?"
Xue Zi'ang assumed this was just Zhao Yu deliberately making things difficult for him as a way to vent her anger. So he readily agreed, promising to personally cook lunch for her.
But when he went home, had the family cook guide him in preparing a few edible dishes, and brought them back to the hospital, Zhao Yu was gone again. And this time, even the bed had been neatly stripped and tidied.
The nurse said Zhao Yu had been discharged. Not long after he left, she had gone on her own to ask the doctor to process her discharge paperwork.
So she hadn't been deliberately making things difficult for him at all. She had been getting rid of him.
He rushed to her apartment again, but once more, no matter how much he knocked, no one answered. This time, however, he was fortunate. A neighbor came out and told him they had seen Zhao Yu leaving with a suitcase, saying she was going back to her hometown for the New Year.
It was only then that Xue Zi'ang realized he didn't even know where her hometown was.
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