“A-Yun, do you think that’ll work…?”
After hearing Lin Yun out, Jiang Wangsheng felt a chill creep up the back of her neck.
She didn’t seem able to do either thing: stop replying to him or stop seeing him.
A trace of ferocity flashed across Lin Yun’s eyes. Shengsheng didn’t want to tell her much, so all Lin Yun knew was that Shengsheng was afraid of that man.
Shengsheng wouldn’t even agree when Lin Yun suggested going with her to make things clear to him.
In that case, they could only try this first.
If that didn’t work…
Lin Yun lowered her eyes, a cold glint in them.
“Let’s try it, Shengsheng. If it doesn’t work, we’ll think of something else.”
Who could put up with the silent treatment?
Lin Yun was right. No one could stand the silent treatment.
But she didn’t know that Xie Lan couldn’t bear even a single unanswered message from Jiang Wangsheng—especially after he’d sent her so many.
Xie Lan had plenty of work to do that evening, but his wife wasn’t replying.
He waited for her in the rental apartment, gripping a stuffed toy so tightly it was nearly crushed. From dusk until the early hours of the morning, he kept his eyes fixed on her phone’s location, only to see that she hadn’t left the women’s dormitory at school.
“Baby, what’s going on…? Why aren’t you answering me…?”
He called her over and over, but she rejected every call.
He kept calling until, at last, he heard the message that her phone was switched off.
The whites of his eyes were veined with red, and his expression was unnervingly sinister. He gave a slight tug at the corner of his mouth and ran a hand through the short hair on his forehead. His handsome, icy features were now shadowed with menace. The veins trembling on the back of his hand spoke of the fury boiling inside him.
“Heh…”
Baby, you’re being very, very bad…
……
When Jiang Wangsheng woke the next day and turned on her phone, she found a slew of missed calls and 99+ unread messages on WeChat.
She swallowed. Her hand trembled despite herself as she opened them.
First, she cleared all the missed calls. Then she opened their chat and sent just one message:
“Xie Lan, let’s break up.”
Then she blocked him immediately, not daring to touch her phone again.
She didn’t have many classes that day. Jiang Wangsheng spent the whole day on edge, afraid Xie Lan would come looking for her.
But everything seemed quiet, and she gradually felt a little less anxious.
Then, as evening fell, a faint unease crept over her.
Was what she’d done wrong? Breaking up was just as important as deciding to start dating; she couldn’t be so rash about it.
Xie Lan hadn’t come to see her. Did that mean he’d agreed to break up just like that?
Jiang Wangsheng couldn’t make sense of it.
Xie Lan was busy every day, and she had no idea what he was so occupied with.
He came to the rental apartment every few days. Even that strikingly handsome face of his showed traces of fatigue. He hid it well, but not well enough to fool Jiang Wangsheng.
Sometimes she saw him talking to people downstairs. His expression was colder than she’d ever seen it. Even when he spoke on the phone, his tone could be icy enough to cut.
After spending several months with him, Jiang Wangsheng finally realized that there was no way Xie Lan was the sort of person who obediently did as he was told. He was the one who made other people obey.
So that nonsense about how he had to date her because he’d seen her naked had all been a lie.
Jiang Wangsheng didn’t know where she found the courage, but she decided to go back and tell Xie Lan in person, clearly end their relationship, and move on to a new future.
Perhaps, deep down, she’d always suspected that there could be no future for the two of them.
Xie Lan was like a child who had become addicted to candy on a whim. Once that period of craving sweets was over, he would have to go through withdrawal—and then grow sick of them.
Jiang Wangsheng got ready, then left campus and headed for the bus stop.
She had only taken a few steps when she stopped dead.
The red glow of dusk fell across everything, making the world seem oppressively heavy.
Xie Lan stood beneath the shade of a tree, wearing an immaculate black suit. A few tousled strands fell across his forehead. His cold, gold-rimmed glasses gave him an austere air unlike his usual self, and he watched Jiang Wangsheng without moving.
The face that usually wore such a bold, carefree smile was now as cold as frost. His eyes were bloodshot, yet he remained devastatingly handsome.
Jiang Wangsheng lifted her foot and walked toward him with resolve.
She stopped in front of him and had to look up.
His lips moved slightly. His voice was hoarse, and his gaze stayed fixed on her, his eyes seeming ready to devour her.
“Baby, why didn’t you answer my messages? You know I worry.”
Jiang Wangsheng lowered her head and saw his large hand clenched at his side, gripping his suit trousers so tightly he was nearly tearing them.
“Let’s go back and talk.”
She got into the Porsche Cayenne beside them. Xie Lan got in after her, and they returned to the rental apartment as quickly as possible.
The moment they stepped inside, he eagerly pinned her against the wall and kissed her with fierce, urgent hunger.
He pressed his knee forcefully between her thighs, one hand clamped hard around the back of her head and the other at her waist.
“Mm…” Jiang Wangsheng managed to free a hand and beat at his chest with all her strength, but he only deepened the kiss, refusing to let go of her lips and tongue. He kissed her so hard that her mouth was nearly numb.
Only when he’d had his fill did he let her go. Seeing that her eyes had reddened again, he kissed them in a placating gesture.
“Baby, you ignored me all day yesterday. This is your punishment.”
“If it happens again, a few kisses won’t be enough to make it up to me.” He bit the tip of her ear and murmured flirtatiously, then carried her to the sofa.
He had already taken off his suit jacket, and she had tugged his shirt into disarray. He wrapped an arm around her back and drew her slowly closer.
Xie Lan rested his chin lightly on the top of her head, gently stroking her back as if petting a beautiful rag doll who was sulking and upset.
Jiang Wangsheng felt aggrieved because he’d bitten her lips until they hurt, but she still remembered what she’d wanted to ask him.
Had Xie Lan not received her message? Why was he acting as if nothing had happened?
“I… sent you a message yesterday. Didn’t you get it?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he stroked down her back, moved his hand to her waist, and took her phone out of her bag.
Xie Lan unlocked it with ease and opened her WeChat. When he saw that the only chat pinned to the top was “Director Mom,” he almost lost control. His curled, cold fingertips forced themselves to scroll all the way down.
At last, he found his own profile picture. His contact name had changed from “Darling Husband” to “Xie Lan.”
The man’s lips twisted stiffly. With trembling fingers, he removed himself from her block list, deleted the message that had driven him mad, and pinned their chat to the top.
“Baby, what did you send me? There’s nothing here.”
He held the phone up in front of her. Jiang Wangsheng saw his profile picture back out of the block list, his contact name changed back automatically, their chat pinned—and the breakup message gone.
Her initial shock gave way to a chill that slowly spread through her. She lifted her head, only to see him smiling at her with tender abandon, his eyes filled with her. They were like a whirlpool that could drag her under, threatening to pull her in.
Jiang Wangsheng was frightened.
“Why are you doing this…?”
“Xie Lan, I don’t want to be with you anymore. I want to break up…”
She pushed at his chest, her voice turning tearful. Her eyes were hazy with tears, and the corners of her upturned eyes had turned pink. She tried to get up and leave him.
“Are you joking with me?”
He locked an arm around her waist, leaving her unable to move. His large hand gently rubbed the back of her neck, pressing down with a little force.
“Baby, don’t be like this. Why do you want to break up? Don’t break up with me, okay…?” His face remained composed, but panic surged inside him.
He hurried close and kissed her face and lips, licking away the tears that fell from her eyes.