Afraid Fu Tianle might not know who Hu Guangtong was, Zhang Su’an added:
“The only son of the Hu family. The current head of the family. Not someone with the same name, him.”
Then he continued, “They’ve been together for quite a while now. If you count the days, they got together on the second or third day after you and Yuan Mian split.”
He even showed Fu Tianle the photo he’d just taken, Yuan Mian and Hu Guangtong standing shoulder to shoulder, leaning close together.
The massive flood of information left Fu Tianle dizzy. In that brief glance at the phone screen, the two figures smiling intimately felt like a steel nail driven straight into his skull.
He reached out, wanting to take the phone and look more closely,
When suddenly Zhang Su’an snapped, “What? Do you think I’m some soft persimmon you can vent your anger on?”
As the words fell, a punch landed squarely on Fu Tianle’s face.
Zhang Su’an was skilled in combat, he’d even fought wild animals on the African savanna. One solid punch sent Fu Tianle’s teeth crashing together, blood immediately flooding his mouth.
Before Fu Tianle could speak, Zhang Su’an was already talking again. “You want to hit me?”
Who the hell wants to hit you?!
Fu Tianle had been hit both mentally and physically, rage and collapse exploding together as he roared, “Zhang Su’an!!”
Zhang Su’an knew very well that no matter how furious Fu Tianle became, he wouldn’t turn violent toward others. That was precisely why Fu Tianle was so detestable yet never entirely detestable, especially since Zhang Su’an was the one provoking him. Even then, Fu Tianle wouldn’t fight back.
Zhang Su’an had done it deliberately, of course and felt nothing. He immediately opened the car door and shoved Fu Tianle out as if chasing off a stray dog.
Casting him one last cold glance, he stepped on the gas and drove away.
By the roadside, the cold wind lashed his face.
Fu Tianle clutched his forehead, then his face. His head and face throbbed with intense pain.
He closed his eyes, intending to wait for the pain to subside but seconds passed, the pain didn’t lessen. Instead, a sour, choking sensation surged up from deep in his nasal cavity. When he reached up and touched beneath his nose, blood smeared his fingers.
Fu Tianle stared at the blood, stunned for a moment before his awareness snapped back. He didn’t even bother with the bleeding, he wiped it away roughly and immediately pulled out his phone to call Yuan Mian’s manager.
While waiting for the call to connect, he caught his reflection in a shop window by the roadside. Only then did he realize that the hand holding his phone was shaking uncontrollably.
Beep.
Beep.
The ordinary ringing tone hung over his heart like a countdown to death.
No answer.
He called again. This time, the phone was switched off, completely unreachable.
Fu Tianle changed numbers and called a senior executive at Yuan Mian’s company whom he knew.
This time, the call went through but the moment he asked whether they knew Yuan Mian’s schedule, the other party began to stammer.
“Fuck,” Fu Tianle cursed, then laughed harshly, his expression turning vicious. “I’ve given you way too much face over the years, so much that you don’t even know who you are anymore, huh? You dare to brush me off? I’m asking you where Yuan Mian is right now!”
The other end fell silent, trembling. After a long pause, they finally forced out, “Young Master Fu… I really don’t know… Yuan Mian is no longer with our company.”
“……”
More than a month later, Fu Tianle finally learned that Yuan Mian had left the industry.
His life had been lively and crowded. If it weren’t for the fact that he could no longer reach Yuan Mian no matter what, it would never have occurred to him to pay attention to Yuan Mian’s career or life at all.
On the drive to Yuan Mian’s residential complex, Fu Tianle’s hands shook even more violently.
A suffocating sense of panic crept up from his feet, swallowing him bit by bit.
He stared at the retreating street scenery outside the car window, trying to recall the day he’d clashed with Yuan Mian, trying to remember Yuan Mian’s expression.
He couldn’t remember.
Yuan Mian hadn’t argued with him. He hadn’t shouted. His voice had remained calm the entire time. No matter how hard Fu Tianle racked his brain, he couldn’t understand how things had escalated to this point.
Before… hadn’t this kind of situation happened before?
There was a reason Fu Tianle hadn’t taken Yuan Mian seriously for so long.
At some point, he and Yuan Mian had started using avoidance to dissolve their conflicts.
In the early days of their relationship, they’d argued often.
Both were outgoing and when they fought, the scenes were always dramatic, every time ending only after Fu Tianle tried every trick in the book to apologize and coax Yuan Mian.
But gradually, he couldn’t even say which year or which day it changed.
They stopped arguing altogether.
Every time Fu Tianle spoke, Yuan Mian either responded briefly or said nothing at all. There was nothing to argue over. Eventually, at most, the atmosphere would just turn awkward.
And that was fine.
As long as Fu Tianle left, as long as they separated for a while, the next time they met, everything could still go back to how it was, as if nothing had ever happened.
Yuan Mian would always forget things on his own. When he was alone, he would quietly digest all unpleasant emotions by himself.
Fu Tianle had long grown accustomed to days like this. Naturally, he did not take this minor turbulence to heart. So many similar situations had come and gone before, so many matters had dissolved into nothingness under the erosion of time. What difference could a single joking remark possibly make?
It should not have been like this.
Fu Tianle’s mind was in utter chaos.
Once again, he thought of the other person Zhang Su’an had mentioned, Hu Guangtong.
From the very beginning, Fu Tianle had never considered the possibility that Yuan Mian would break up with him. He had always regarded “Yuan Mian staying by his side” as something self-evident and unquestionable. At its core, the reason was simple: Fu Tianle knew that Yuan Mian loved him.
Yuan Mian was precisely that kind of wonderful lover. His love was resilient and pure, unlike Fu Tianle himself, whose resolve wavered easily. Yuan Mian’s love was strong enough to instill pride in the one being loved, pride enough to boast about it openly.
It could even be said that Yuan Mian’s goodness, his steadfastness and inner strength, were exactly what Fu Tianle had relied upon as justification for his own indulgence all these years.
But how could it be that he was not Yuan Mian’s first love?
That before loving him, Yuan Mian had loved someone else?
A white moonlight? Hu Guangtong?
Yuan Mian had never once mentioned it to him.
Fu Tianle’s thoughts grew even more disordered. He had never known before that when a person could not stop panicking, a chilling sensation could spread through the blood, accompanied by an overwhelming urge to retch.
While he was thinking, the car came to a stop.
Fu Tianle got out quickly. The moment his foot touched the ground, it felt light, unreal, as though lacking any true sense of solidity.
He had been to Yuan Mian’s residence just a few days earlier. The security guards had clearly been instructed, spotting him from afar, they immediately stepped forward to drive him away but at this moment, other than this place, he had no idea where else he might have even the slightest chance of seeing Yuan Mian.
He got out of the car and moved toward the entrance.
Two tall men in plain clothes suddenly blocked his path.
They were not residential security guards but people Fu Tianle recognized.
Bodyguards familiar from the Fu family.
“What are you doing?” Fu Tianle demanded.
No one answered. The bodyguards took his phone away and gestured for him to return to the car with them.
What’s the use of acting so crazy after not cherishing him at First??
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The translator sees your coffee button usage. 👀
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Why don’t you go and keep him company?Chapter 2 · He opened the door and left without looking backChapter 3 · Why Hu Guangtong of all people?Chapter 4 · Have you broken up with Fu Tianle?Chapter 5 · Hello, I am Yuan Mian’s fiancé.Chapter 6 · You liked Hu Guangtong from the beginningChapter 7 · I want to spend the rest of my life with you.Chapter 8 · Have you seen Yuan Mian recently?Chapter 9 · Yuan Mian has already started talking to someone elseChapter 10 · He wasn’t Yuan Mian’s first love?Chapter 11 · Are you comparable to Hu Guangtong?Chapter 12 · Yuan Mian would certainly love Hu GuangtongChapter 13 · They’re going home together for dinnerChapter 14 · Extra 1Chapter 15 · Extra 2Chapter 16 · Extra 3