Not all confessions needed to say, "I love you".
Not all words of love were sweet like honey.
The love in fairy tales was too perfect, difficult to exist in reality.
What was reality? It was life.
Life was cold and cruel. The only love that could become precious and long-lasting was the love that could withstand the ravages of life.
Liu Yanbo and Ji Ruyan were both people who had experienced the great ups and downs of reality For them, sweet love words were too ridiculous and unpredictable.
Why not keep it be simple?
No need to say I love you, no need to decorate it with sweet words.
If there were outsiders present at that time, perhaps they would think that Ji Ruyan didn’t say those because she didn’t really love Liu Yanbo.
Was she trying to use him? Win him over to her side? Or was this her keeping her promise from last time?
Did it matter?
At least at that moment, it wasn’t important.
Was there anything more touching than "I'm trying to get used to your lifestyle"?
She was serious about it, which made it a different kind of love declaration.
But in reality, not all love could be reciprocated.
Liu Yanbo was so surprised that he abruptly got up, knocking over the glass of red wine on the coffee table.
He looked at Ji Ruyan, startled and a bit overwhelmed.
Liu Yanbo didn’t have much experience with relationships, the only one he ever had ended in failure. It was a wound that caused his warm personality to become cold again, and made him reluctant on ever starting a new relationship.
Ji Ruyan's words were really touching. A woman like her, high up and respected by many, was willing to get used to a lifestyle she wasn't comfortable with for a man.
Those touching words did make Liu Yanbo’s heart skip a beat which caused him a brief moment of panic, but because his heart had already turned cold, it just felt like an illusion.
After being startled for a moment, Liu Yanbo quickly bent down to pick up the shards of glass that had shattered on the floor. He threw them into the trash, one piece at a time. With every piece, he threw away bit by bit the warmth in his heart.
"Boss Ji, I’ve told you before, haven’t I? I'm already married." Liu Yanbo sat back down on the sofa, looked at Ji Ruyan, and said coldly, "And no woman would truly want to be someone’s mistress, you don't need to force yourself, and neither do I."
Ji Ruyan got another glass of glass and took a sip, "It sounds like you hate mistresses?"
Liu Yanbo lit a cigarrette and laughed at himself, "You’ve already investigated me, you should know that I used to have a girlfriend, right? We broke up because she cheated on me with some rich man. Cheating isn’t an honorable thing to do, and I don't want my wife to feel the same way I felt."
Because it hurt.
Liu Yanbo and Yin Hanruo's marriage only existed on the papers. They also had a mutual agreement not to interfere with each other's private lives.
Even if Liu Yanbo wanted to be with Ji Ruyan, Yin Hanruo might not even say anything, and would most likely laugh it off. After all, she didn't love him.
Of course, Liu Yanbo was also aware of this.
If there was no love, then there was no reason to care. But that still didn’t justify cheating.
The truth was that Liu Yanbo hated such people, and he didn’t want to become the kind of person he hated. He might’ve been coldblooded, but that did not mean he was immoral.
From the moment he got the marriage certificate with Yin Hanruo, Liu Yanbo decided to try his best to be a good husband. He wouldn't do anything for her, but at least for a limited time, he would be faithful to the marriage and would take up his share of responsibility.
A year wasn’t a very long time, and some things, such as physical needs, would be tolerated and passed.
Liu Yanbo was usually good at concealing his emotions, but at this moment, he looked incredibly determined.
Yes!
He rejected her!
It was humiliating to have your confession denied, but Ji Ruyan didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed, on the contrary, she was very happy. There was something special about this man. Ji Ruyan wanted to get to know him better.
"That girlfriend you used to have, I saw her recently, at a private party. She was quite pretty." Ji Ruyan poured some wine and lightly shook her glass. "But compared to Yin Hanruo, it's a world of difference."
Yin Hanruo's marriage to Liu Yanbo was supposed to be secret, but the number of people who knew about it weren’t few, and from today onwards there would probably be more.
The people interested in Jiu Ye's death would investigate Liu Yanbo for a while to find out more about his personal relationships.
Of course, the general public didn't know that they had gotten married, but they were, after all, a real married couple, with documents and all. It wouldn’t take long before they found out.
Liu Yanbo wasn't surprised by this, but he was still a little unhappy. After all, no one would like others prying into their private life.
"Let's eat!" Liu Yanbo put out his cigarette and added, "If you have anything else to say, let's talk after dinner."
"It’s not that bad if I think of it as losing to Yin Hanruo." Ji Ruyan softly muttered.
Although they weren’t from the same industry, being one of Haishi’s famous 'Four Beauties', they had some understanding of each other.
For women, harmless comparisons were a fun part of life.
…
The bar officially opened. The lively sound of the crowds symbolized the end of another day, dispelling the loneliness of the night with revelry.
The office was quiet, but not gloomy, both were enjoying the evening.
Fried frogs with a spicy twist-.
This dish was the first step for Ji Ruyan to adapt to Liu Yanbo's lifestyle.
The dish was very spicy, which had her forehead already covered with tiny beads of sweat, and her cheeks turned red, but she still ate a lot of it. She forced herself to adapt, almost compulsively, to the unfamiliar taste.
Ji Ruyan discovered that this dish seemed to have some kind of special meaning to Liu Yanbo.
Liu Yanbo ate very slowly, tasting each bite of frog meat as if he was eating the best dish in the world.
He had a faint smile on his face and a hint of fascination in his gentle eyes, as if he was recalling those delightful things in the depths of his memories-.
The two got lost in their own thoughts, and the ordinary home-cooked meal was gone after a little over an hour.
"Boss Ji, why did you have me over tonight?" After he finished eating, still holding the bowl, Liu Yanbo asked straightforwardly. Then, he added: "Excluding the emotional matters."
This should be straightforward enough, right?
Liu Yanbo was afraid Ji Ruyan would bring up the topic they had before dinner again, which was something he had never been good at dealing with, so he wanted to avoid it as much as possible.
Ji Ruyan understood his meaning and explained: "There’s someone I know who wants to meet you, he hopes to become your friend."
As soon as Ji Ruyan’s words came out of her mouth, Liu Yanbo didn't even think about it and said: "I won't do it."
No comments:
Post a Comment