584: Chapter 584: The Tangled Problem 584: Chapter 584: The Tangled Problem Although the expression on Fang Min’s face couldn’t be seen beneath the mask, Tangyu could feel it—it must be a bitter smile, or perhaps tinged with a hint of faint sadness.
Drinking up the wine in her glass in one gulp, Fang Min put down the glass and said, “Actually, I don’t know if he likes me.
It feels like he does, but then it feels like he doesn’t.”
“Oh, why would a beautiful woman say that?
It sounds quite contradictory,” Tangyu continued to ask.
“Yes, it does sound contradictory, and I feel it’s contradictory myself.
Maybe that’s why I’m in a bad mood.
He has a girlfriend now, but he treats me very well, and I know he really likes his girlfriend, the two of them are very affectionate.
Hmph, so I’m conflicted myself, not knowing whether this is a great friendship or something else.
Maybe he just treats me like a sister.
Actually, I should have treated him as a younger brother too, but—never mind, I shouldn’t be telling you all this,” Fang Min said.
Tangyu was jolted to attention, staring blankly at Fang Min, feeling an inexplicable ache in his heart, a very painful ache.
He could clearly sense Fang Min’s sadness.
Fang Min indeed liked him, and his feelings for her were obviously not the kind shared between siblings but of affection.
Fang Min indeed was the sisterly type, and although Tangyu wasn’t into the older sister type, being with Fang Min felt incredibly good.
But—Tangyu couldn’t bring himself to broach the topic, nor did he know how to.
At that moment, Tangyu really wanted to tell Fang Min “I like you,” these four simple words, but they weighed on him like a billion tons, leaving him unable to speak them.
“Sorry for nagging in front of you.
I don’t know why, but I feel a special closeness to you, as if we know each other.
We don’t actually know each other, do we?” Fang Min looked at Tangyu and said.
Tangyu quickly recovered and replied with a smile, “Hehe, if we really knew each other, that would be such a coincidence and fate.
By the way, beautiful woman, I see you want to find someone to talk to.
If you don’t mind, I can be your confidant, all ears.
Maybe I can even offer some constructive advice.”
Fang Min looked at Tangyu.
Although she couldn’t clearly see his features, she always had this feeling that the person in front of her was very familiar, a bit like Tangyu.
But she was very clear in her mind that Tangyu couldn’t possibly come to such a place to play—it was just her own wishful thinking.
Fang Min wasn’t the type to readily confide in others, but faced with the masked Tangyu, she felt an inexplicable impulse to pour her heart out, as if some things had been pent up inside her for too long and it was very uncomfortable.
“How can I put it—may I ask you a question?
What do you think love is?” Fang Min asked.
Shaking his head, Tangyu answered, “That’s a bit profound to ask.
I’m really not an expert on emotions, and I would struggle to define it.
How should I say—according to my own understanding, love is wanting two people to be together.
That’s my simplest understanding of it.
Of course, I wouldn’t be able to explain any of the more profound meanings.”
“Love is wanting two people to be together,” Fang Min pondered over this phrase, and after a long moment, she smiled and said, “Although you’ve put it simply, I think it feels very genuine.
Yes, to love someone is to want to be with them.
Initially, I truly didn´t say I liked him; purely treated him as a friend, as a brother.
But due to some family reasons, he pretended to be my boyfriend and helped me a few times.
It was because of that he gradually entered my world.
I thought that what we had between us was just a play, but these past few days, I’ve realized I might have been wrong.
On the days when I don’t see him, my mind is filled with his image, thinking about him constantly, and I think I must have fallen for him.
The sensation of loving someone must be like this.
It’s a feeling I haven’t had in almost thirty years, and now I finally have it.
I should be happy, but I can’t find joy no matter what.”
Tangyu felt another pang in his heart.
For Fang Min, who was approaching thirty, finally experiencing the feeling of loving someone was bittersweet, given that this person already had a girlfriend.
“Because he has a girlfriend?” Tangyu asked.
Nodding, Fang Min replied, “Yes, because he has a girlfriend, there’s no possibility between him and me, and I can only silently wish him happiness.
These past few days, I’ve been trying hard not to think about him, trying to forget him.
But the more I try, the harder it becomes.
Sigh, come on, drink with me.
This is the first time I’ve confided in a strange man like this.
I hope you’ll keep it a secret and not let it slip.”
“I will definitely keep your secret, and I won’t let it slip,” Tangyu nodded and said.
“It doesn’t really matter though, even if you told someone, you wouldn’t know who I am.
Alright, earlier you asked me to drink, now let me buy you a drink,” Fang Min said, ordering two glasses from the bartender.
“Sure, thanks,” Tangyu replied, unreservedly clinking glasses with her, took a sip, and then said, “Beautiful woman, let me also ask you a question.
Do you think that love has to be unique and exclusive?”
“Unique and exclusive.” Fang Min shook her head and said, “I really hope love is like that, sacred, pure, and unique, sworn and passionate, how great that would be.
But in reality, is there such a great love?
I don’t know, I’m also searching.
Maybe there really is such love, and that’s what I desire.
Or maybe not, and I’m doomed to be alone for life.
I find it hard to expect much from love now.
Maybe—after this year, I’ll just marry someone at random.
I’m almost thirty, and a thirty-year-old woman is like a fading flower.
Persisting any further is pointless.”
Everyone has their own view on love, and Fang Min’s is perhaps a lofty one.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about the same thing.
Is love really something that has to be unique and exclusive?
Is being romantic the same as being fickle?
Can love truly not be shared?
In ancient times, men had multiple wives and concubines, there was even the character Wei Xiaobao,” Tangyu said.
“You men of course like to have multiple wives and concubines, but we women prefer to be the only one.
If we go by your theory, if men can be romantic, can women be romantic too?
Wouldn’t it mean a woman could like two men at the same time, then what?” Fang Min replied.
“Just let it be; men and women are inherently different.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being discriminatory toward women.
It’s just a traditional concept we have in Huaxia Country, and I can’t seem to shake it off.
It’s probably just the selfishness of men, the desire to possess.
If, and I mean if, the guy you said you like is willing to let you be his girlfriend while not breaking up with his current girlfriend, to put it bluntly, if he wants to have his cake and eat it too, would you be willing?” Tangyu said.
This question had indeed been on Tangyu’s mind for a long time, and it had left him feeling confused, troubled, and deeply distressed.
There shouldn’t be any issues with Lin Feifei, but the question is whether others could accept this?
Even Su Zizi and Tangyu didn’t have the courage to tackle it, let alone face Fang Min.
These matters, Tangyu had initially decided to just let them unfold naturally without thinking too much about them.
He would consider them after the issues with the Yin doctors were resolved.
By then, perhaps he would have enough courage to clarify these matters and then he would have to leave this city.
After all, it wasn’t really his place.
Willing or not?
Fang Min had also pondered this question, but in the end, she hadn’t come up with an answer.
She simply didn’t know, she really didn’t.
If she could really spend her entire life with Tangyu, even without any formal status, Fang Min would definitely be willing.
But what she had to consider was; could she really spend her entire life with Tangyu like this?
Even if she agreed, would her parents?
“I don’t know, I really don’t know,” Fang Min shook her head.
Although he didn’t get a definitive yes, Tangyu knew that if he were to confess his feelings to Fang Min in person, the chances of success were pretty high.
It just wasn’t the right time yet, so for now, things would have to stay as they were.
“Alright, it’s getting late, and I’ve had enough to drink.
Talking to you has made me feel a lot better, not so choked up anymore.
I’m going to head off now, bye,” Fang Min said.
“Yeah, you should get some rest.
Be careful on your way back, bye,” Tangyu replied.
Just then, Zhao Yaya and her two friends finished their dance and came over, with Zhao Yaya exclaiming, “Kind big brother, no wonder you didn’t dance.
You were over here flirting, chatting away so enthusiastically.”
“Uhh—” On hearing Zhao Yaya’s words, Tangyu was taken aback and wished he could go over and gag her.
That darn girl, of all the times to show up, she had to pick now.
Now he was in for a scene.
Fang Min was also startled, instantly knowing who ‘kind big brother’ referred to.
Her eyes widened with an odd gleam as she stared at Tangyu.
After glancing at Zhao Yaya and her friends, the combination of these four people made her certain that the man who had been talking to her and to whom she revealed so much was none other than Tangyu himself.
It really was Tangyu.
Her face under the mask suddenly reddened like a branding iron fresh out of the forge, wishing she could burrow into the ground and hide.
How could she feel so familiar with him?
She was so embarrassed; how could she face anyone now?
Driven to temper, Fang Min stamped her foot and turned to run away.
“Fang Min—” Tangyu called out, only causing her to run faster.
“Hmm, Fang Min?
Is she Sister Fang Min?
What’s going on here?” Zhao Yaya’s eyes widened with curiosity.
Guo Momo and Lin Feifei were also baffled as they looked at Tangyu, wondering why Fang Min would be in such a place.
Tangyu glared at Zhao Yaya irritably and said, “You still have the nerve to talk, it’s all your fault.
You could have come at any other time, but you had to choose this moment.
Now look what you’ve done, you’re going to get me killed.”
Zhao Yaya looked innocently puzzled, “What are you saying, kind big brother, why are you blaming me?
It wasn’t me who drove Fang Min away; we just came over because we were tired from dancing.
Seeing you chatting so heatedly with another woman, of course, I had to say something.
Hold on, kind big brother, tell me how I’m supposed to have killed you.
What were you and Fang Min talking about that’s so unspeakable?
She became so weird after finding out it was you she was talking to, which means she didn’t know it before.
What did you do to Fang Min that you can’t show your face for?”
“…We were just talking, nothing happened, let’s drop it,” Tangyu said.
“No, no, kind big brother, I want to know.
Just tell me,” Zhao Yaya pleaded, shaking Tangyu’s arm.
Lin Feifei’s eyes flickered with a few traces of light, and no one knew what she was thinking at the moment.
Zhao Yaya was too young to understand, but Lin Feifei could undoubtedly figure something out.
Such a situation could easily lead someone to conclusions.