Chapter 24
The project between Dongjian and Hua’ao finally came to an end, and both parties wanted nothing more to do with each other. They hastily celebrated with a banquet and then went their separate ways. Huafuqiang didn’t dare to let Fu Yu drink any alcohol, which was ironic considering he had been the one to drink with him back then. The person who used to force him to drink now refused to let him have any, while the one who had once prevented him from drinking now allowed others to get him drunk.
Fu Yu walked out of the hotel’s entrance, and the weather had turned warmer, but the evening breeze still felt cold to his heart.
Chen Shaoguang, still in high spirits, pulled Fu Yu to another establishment to continue their celebration. Fu Yu hadn’t eaten much at the banquet, and he was still hungry, so he went along.
After a few rounds of drinks, Chen Shaoguang became more talkative, and his enthusiasm soared. Fu Yu sipped his tea quietly, listening to him and occasionally chiming in. In the midst of their conversation, the topic somehow shifted to Xiao Yi.
“Did you ever find him later?” Chen Shaoguang didn’t know about their recent meeting.
Fu Yu lowered his gaze. “I don’t want to find him anymore.”
Chen Shaoguang patted his shoulder reassuringly, “Hey, don’t let it bother you. If someone like him is gone, there’s nothing to regret.”
“I don’t feel regret. Maybe I shouldn’t have forgiven him in the first place.”
“That’s right! After what he did to you, there’s no reason to forgive him!” Chen Shaoguang said with a carefree tone, fueled by alcohol.
“Right,” Fu Yu responded calmly.
He took a sip of his tea.
Suddenly, a sense of unease washed over him, like a flash of white light in his mind. It was followed by a thunderbolt of realization.
His heart skipped a beat, and he almost spilled the tea in his hand due to uncontrollable trembling. Fu Yu managed to steady himself and slowly put down the cup, thankful that Chen Shaoguang hadn’t noticed.
He regained his composure and continued, “I was too soft on him, but he probably did what he did because he liked me too much.”
Chen Shaoguang, in a drunken state, slammed the table and exclaimed, “Even if he liked you, he shouldn’t have forced himself on you! You’re considering his feelings, but did he ever consider yours?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Fu Yu replied.
He calmly responded while his mind was now in turmoil. He had finally grasped the source of his unease.
It couldn’t be true, could it? The person who had done those things to him might not have been Xiao Yi. The person who had been with him that day, trying to force him, might have been the person sitting across from him now.
Fu Yu hadn’t told anyone about what Xiao Yi had done to him. None of his high school classmates knew why they had severed ties, or why Chen Shaoguang would know about Xiao Yi doing “that kind of thing” to him. Xiao Yi certainly wouldn’t have told Chen Shaoguang.
There was only one possibility: the person who had appeared in the gym that day wasn’t Xiao Yi but the person who was now comforting him with alcohol.
Though many details still didn’t make sense, like the letter Xiao Yi had personally handed him and the necktie with a student ID on it, Fu Yu’s intuition told him that this was the truth.
With this realization, everything that had been confusing before suddenly made sense.
Why would Xiao Yi, who had always been kind to him, suddenly do something so absurd? Why had Xiao Yi refused to acknowledge his mistakes all these years?
Fu Yu’s mind was racing, and memories flooded back:
“Tomorrow, I’ll be waiting for you here at the same time. If you still can’t accept it, I won’t mention this again. We can go back to being friends, okay?”
“I can apologize, but how can I change my feelings? I just like you… Let me be by your side again. I’ll promise not to do it again…”
“You can hate me, despise me, but I have to say it – I like you, from that moment until now, I’ve always liked you.”
“Just like this.”
“Goodbye, Fu Yu.”
…
Fu Yu closed his eyes, his heart aching as if it might stop beating.
What had he done all this time?
He was in so much pain that he could hardly catch his breath. He wanted to drink some tea to calm down, but his fingertips were shaking uncontrollably. He almost knocked over the tea cup, spilling the liquid all over the table.
“Oh dear! Let me call the waiter,” Chen Shaoguang quickly got up to leave the private room.
When he returned, he found Fu Yu had put on his coat and was ready to leave.
“Why aren’t you eating anymore?”
“I have some last-minute work to attend to at the company.”
Chen Shaoguang saw the seriousness in his expression and assumed it was indeed something urgent. “Alright, be careful on the way back.”
Fu Yu gave him a deep look.
“I’ll make sure to be careful.”
