Zong Xuan for a moment didn’t know what to say. His heart felt both soft and aching. Xu Tang had never told him this, and he himself was also foolish—he simply hadn’t noticed Xu Tang’s feelings at all. Xu Tang’s personality wasn’t the kind that was bright and outgoing, so the possibility of him directly rushing over to confess was almost nonexistent. In addition, their time spent together had been short, and his understanding of Xu Tang was limited, so he had never noticed Xu Tang’s thoughts.
Recently, after spending more time with Xu Tang, he found that Xu Tang was very likable, and also made him feel heartache, but at the same time he was very independent, basically unwilling to trouble others, and when it came to his teasing, he also wasn’t the kind who was especially good at responding, which made him feel it was very interesting. Even when Xu Tang proposed divorce, he wasn’t especially angry, only confused.
But connecting it with Xu Tang’s reactions yesterday and today, plus Xu Zhou directly taking the person away, if he still didn’t realize something, he would be stupid to the core……
“Second brother, does Xu Tang know about Yi Zhen’s matter?” he asked, only wanting confirmation.
“I’m not sure, but there’s an eighty to ninety percent chance he knows.” Zong Yi had never heard Xu Zhou mention Teng Yizheng either, so he wasn’t too clear. But looking at today’s situation, he probably knew. “But who told Xu Tang?”
Zong Xuan thought for a moment and said, “Maybe Yue Yan told him.” The people who knew about his and Teng Yizheng’s relationship were actually not many, and Yue Yan was one of them. And with He Xin’s connection there, it was reasonable that Yue Yan told Xu Tang. He just didn’t know whether Xu Tang learned about Teng Yizheng before marrying him, or after.
Zong Yi didn’t think there was anything wrong with Yue Yan telling Xu Tang. In principle, this matter shouldn’t have been hidden. “What are you going to do now?”
Zong Xuan pressed his brow and said, “Let me think again.”
Wen Hui had been in a state of shock the entire time. Even she hadn’t noticed Xu Tang’s thoughts. No wonder sometimes when Xu Tang was arranged to visit the set, Kang Duo always had a somewhat sarcastic attitude. It seemed Kang Duo knew very well. Changing perspective, she could also understand Kang Duo; if it were her, she probably wouldn’t be able to give a good face either.
And it seemed that Zong Xuan and Teng Yizheng weren’t as simple as she thought. She originally thought the two of them were just close friends, which was why Zong Xuan valued Teng Yizheng more, but she didn’t expect there might be another layer to their relationship that she had just realized. If Zong Xuan truly still loved Teng Yizheng, but married Xu Tang, then she would have to call Zong Xuan a scumbag.
Zong Yi looked at Zong Xuan and no longer bothered to avoid Wen Hui and Xie Shaoqian. After all, they were all his own people. “Tell me the truth—what exactly is your relationship with Teng Yizheng now?”
Zong Xuan let out a long breath. “Brother, don’t you know me? If I still loved him, how could I possibly get married? I would definitely stay single and guard him. I admit, he is more than just a good friend to me, after all, he was someone I liked before. Even if we didn’t end up together, there are always some special feelings, and there’s no need to turn friends into enemies. Back then he already made it very clear to me, and I didn’t interfere with his marriage—that was my stance. In the future, no matter what, there is no possibility between me and him anymore. I will care a bit more about him, treat him a bit better, be a bit more intimate with him. Some ambiguous little flirtations from him, I also didn’t break them open, but that’s only because he was someone I liked before, and I hope he can be a bit happier and more at ease. These past few years he studied abroad, and we barely met; at most we had voice calls and video calls. Since he returned to the country, we’ve only met twice in total. Even normal friends would meet more often than us, right? I know this is hard to explain clearly, but I am very sure that my feelings for him are no longer the original kind of romantic liking.”
“If you’ve really figured it out, then you should cleanly draw a line,” Zong Yi said, clearly not satisfied with Zong Xuan’s explanation.
Zong Xuan humbly accepted it. “Yes, I didn’t do it well.”
“This isn’t only your problem. Teng Yizheng also didn’t do well. Since he got married earlier than you, he should have been the one to draw the line first, and that would have been fair to his wife,” Zong Yi said.
Zong Xuan nodded. “Yes, we were both wrong. I will change in the future.”
He felt it was also time for him to make things clear with Teng Yizheng. Before, he thought he was married to Xu Tang, but it was only a nominal relationship; in reality they were both single and did not interfere with each other. As a single person, casually playing around and being frivolous didn’t seem like a big deal. But now that he knew Xu Tang liked him, that kind of free and casual thinking seemed to be blocked all at once. If it were two years ago, he would probably have just laughed it off; after all, back then he had no feelings for Xu Tang. But now, he felt he should take responsibility.
“Now changing isn’t too late. It’s better than waiting until everyone is disappointed in you before you remember to change,” Zong Yi said. At this point, perhaps Xu Tang was already disappointed. He didn’t know what would happen between Zong Xuan and Xu Tang in the future, but taking action was better than standing still.
“Mm,” Zong Xuan replied.
As for when he had truly let go of Teng Yizheng, he couldn’t say. Maybe it was when Teng Yizheng clearly stated his feelings; maybe it was when Teng Yizheng told him he was getting married—at that point he had already understood. It was just that he had always been playful and flirtatious, so his signals to Teng Yizheng might have been too vague, and with thoughts first and actions later, it had led to the current situation.
In fact, if he still loved Teng Yizheng, he wouldn’t have asked how much money Teng Yizheng needed when he was short on funds, but would have given as much as he could. Not only that, he would have tried to connect him with business deals and help him achieve what he wanted. But now, he only treated Teng Yizheng as a friend, so he only helped within limits rather than giving everything. This was the difference between friends and lovers—friends are helped, but lovers are spoiled.
He no longer had any entanglement on Teng Yizheng’s side, and his current confusion was about Xu Tang, this little thing who really made him not know what to do. The only thing he could confirm was that letting go of Teng Yizheng had nothing to do with Xu Tang; it had already happened long before. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stopped contacting Teng Yizheng after that one meeting when he returned to the country—that wasn’t his style. Nor could his attitude have been so calm after what his second brother said that day.
So Xu Tang was not Teng Yizheng’s substitute, at least in this matter, he had not wronged Xu Tang, nor had he wronged Teng Yizheng.
But in the end, it was all his fault anyway. Since he had recognized reality, there was no need to make excuses.
What he needed to do now was carefully think about what his feelings toward Xu Tang actually were.
Before, he only thought teasing Xu Tang a few times, being a bit playful, acting a bit like a rogue, felt quite good, and he also liked Xu Tang’s reactions, but he never thought deeply about it. Now it seemed his behavior was truly too scummy—at least for Xu Tang, who had feelings for him, it was inappropriate—after all, sincere feelings cannot withstand jokes.
“Where is my phone?” Zong Xuan asked.
Wen Hui searched for it and finally found it in the bedside drawer, and it had even run out of battery and turned off……
Wen Hui quickly took out a power bank and charged it. After turning it on, messages flooded in explosively, to the point that Wen Hui felt the phone might be beyond saving and needed to be replaced.
Zong Xuan ignored all messages and dialed Xu Tang’s number. But the line prompted that the phone was switched off.
Zong Xuan didn’t hesitate and directly sent a text message to Xu Tang, hoping he could talk after he was discharged from the hospital, and that he would go back to find him.
But there was no reply from Xu Tang’s side.
The doctor came to do a follow-up examination for Zong Xuan and confirmed there was nothing serious, but for safety’s sake he still needed to stay in the hospital longer.
Zong Yi, seeing that Zong Xuan was fine and that Wen Hui and Xie Shaoqian were there, left for the hotel first, planning to go back and inform the family about Xu Tang and Zong Xuan’s situation so they wouldn’t keep asking Zong Xuan. He would let Zong Xuan handle his own matters first.
After dinner, Xu Tang returned to his residence. He took a simple shower and then curled up in bed watching a movie. He just wanted to find something to do to distract himself. Of course, scrolling online news was out of the question.
His phone had already been taken by his older brother, who said it would be handed to Kang Duo. He was only left with a backup phone that only had family members, Kang Duo, and Yuan Shang’s numbers.
Fortunately, he could still contact He Xin through WeChat; otherwise, He Xin would probably have come straight to Xu family’s house that night.
Upon receiving Xu Tang’s message, He Xin immediately called him.
“Where are you right now?” He Xin’s voice carried urgency and concern.
“At home,” Xu Tang said.
He Xin panicked. “Why are you at home?! You didn’t go to Shan Feng? Didn’t you go see Zong Xuan? Do you know that yesterday when Yue Yan called to ask about the situation, Teng Yizheng actually answered the phone? Damn it, what the hell is that guy doing there? What does he even mean?!”
He Xin’s urgency instead made Xu Tang sound calm. “I went. I just came back. I knew Teng Yizheng was there, so I came back.”
“Wha… what do you mean?” He Xin also felt something was wrong now. Could it be that Teng Yizheng that little bitch gave Xu Tang some grievance?
“He Xin, I want a divorce,” Xu Tang said calmly.
“You’re serious?!” He Xin was now even more certain something must have happened with Teng Yizheng.
“Did Teng Yizheng say something to you?”
“It’s nothing. It doesn’t matter anymore,” Xu Tang smiled. If he didn’t think deeply, he would feel relaxed. If he did, it would feel somewhat suffocating, so he chose not to think. He simply told He Xin his decision.
He Xin was silent for a while and asked, “Can you really let it go?”
“I don’t know, but I just want an outcome right now,” Xu Tang felt there was no need to pretend to be strong in front of his friend.
He Xin sighed. “Alright. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you unconditionally.” Since there was no fate, separating might be better.
“Mm. I’m a bit tired, I want to sleep,” Xu Tang said, finding an excuse because he didn’t really want to talk anymore.
“Okay. After your divorce, I’ll go on a vacation with you? I also want to rest for a while,” He Xin said gently. “Just the two of us.”
“Okay,” Xu Tang replied. Thinking that he and Zong Xuan didn’t even have a honeymoon, after the divorce he might as well make it up to himself.
In the following three days, follow-up reports about Zong Xuan’s poisoning spread everywhere, but none of them had an official statement.
Because the authorities could not interview the parties involved, many media outlets reported from indirect sources. Anything with “Zong Xuan” in it now attracted attention.
And reports about Xu Tang returning to the capital with Xu Zhou were published the afternoon after he left the hospital.
Fortunately, Kang Duo had already prepared in advance and issued an official statement saying Xu Tang was handling upcoming work and would later fully take care of Zong Xuan. This calmed online discussions accusing Xu Tang of not caring about Zong Xuan.
On the evening of the fourth day, Zong Xuan’s studio officially announced that Zong Xuan was fine, but would need a period of rest. The studio thanked fans and media on his behalf and said he would return after recovery. The investigation was still ongoing, and all information would be based on official police announcements.
Seeing the statement, fans of Zong Xuan were finally relieved and stopped flooding comments demanding updates or blaming the police for slow work.
On the morning of the fifth day, Zong Xuan was officially discharged from the hospital. Although he did not accept any interviews, reporters still captured many photos of him leaving the hospital.
Wen Hui had already requested leave from the production crew, and the crew showed no dissatisfaction, instead telling him to rest well since the remaining scenes could still be completed in time.
And on that same day, while media heavily reported Zong Xuan’s discharge, a trending account posted another Weibo—
“[#Zong Xuan discharged# Today Zong Xuan was discharged. Aside from his agent and assistant, there was a man accompanying him the entire time. That man is the same person previously reported to have been intimate with Zong Xuan at a club entrance. He also reportedly took care of Zong Xuan during his five-day hospitalization, yet Xu Tang left early. What exactly is their relationship? Has Xu Tang and Zong Xuan’s relationship remained unchanged?]”