Chapter 162: Chapter 162: When Will This Relationship End
Once, he met Nie Rong at a restaurant. Nie Rong asked who she was, and he casually replied, "An unimportant person." At that time, it didn’t feel like much; in fact, he felt indifferent.
If she’s unimportant, then so be it. After all, their relationship wasn’t simple, and that’s all there was to it.
But hearing that sentence from him now, she only felt heartache.
Why did she have to hear such words right after realizing her own feelings?
She knew there could be no result with Tang Yuxiu, yet she couldn’t help but feel sad.
She thought there would at least be something different.
Turns out, it was all her wishful thinking.
Tang Yuxiu served the hot dishes, originally intending to eat with Gu Yan, but when he came up, he found Gu Yan sleeping deeply.
Earlier, he thought that even if she slept, he would wake her to eat a bit, but now, strangely, he took the dishes back downstairs instead.
You Shuyang had already left after helping him reheat the food. Xiang Linghao, pretending to be dead on the sofa, opened his eyes upon hearing someone coming downstairs.
"You’re down already? You just went up; you’re faster than a tornado at eating," he said.
Knowing full well that Tang Yuxiu went up with something and brought it down whole, as a dutiful jesting friend, Xiang Linghao had to tease him a bit for his own satisfaction.
Tang Yuxiu passed through the living room with his plate, expressionless, completely ignoring Xiang Linghao, sitting quietly at the dining table, eating slowly.
But the food was tasteless to him.
Before even finishing half, he irritably dumped it all out.
Xiang Linghao called from the living room, "Don’t waste food like that. If you can’t finish, let me have it for a midnight snack."
Tang Yuxiu gave him a cold stare, "Hmph, feel free to dig it out and eat it now."
Xiang Linghao replied, "Why are you not the least bit endearing? I’m telling you, acting like this won’t get you a wife."
"As if you could find one yourself," Tang Yuxiu retorted.
Xiang Linghao remembered his greatest pain and sulkily shut his mouth.
Communicating with Tang Yuxiu was impossible!
That night, he couldn’t even count how many times his mood flipped between pride and gloom; he thought he might develop a neurosis.
Gu Yan’s IV took more than three hours to finish. By then, it was already late at night. Only after Xiang Linghao helped remove the needle and confirmed her fever had gone down was he allowed to leave.
The late-night streets were empty, with only a few cars speeding by sporadically.
Xiang Linghao rolled down his window, letting the cool summer night air pour in, his mind racing with thoughts.
All these years, he had once thought he could keep that person hidden in his heart forever. But today, with just a simple phone call, he was stripped bare.
Even more melancholy, the phone call wasn’t even for him; he merely happened to overhear her voice from the other end.
It wasn’t until today that he realized many things were deeply etched in his bones, and no matter how hard you tried to forget or pretend not to care, they wouldn’t disappear.
Just like tonight, as soon as he heard her speak the first word, he knew it was her voice.
Seven years, a long seven years.
They hadn’t seen each other in seven years, even though they lived in the same city, and her brother was still his good friend.
Every time he was present, she’d turn around and leave without hesitation, even if there was only a door between them.
He dared not say anything, nor did he dare complain, because this was all his doing.
Xue Xianglan, I’ve missed you for these seven years.
Back in his apartment, Xiang Linghao took out a thick photo album he had hidden away, carefully wiping off imaginary dust with tissues, cherishing it deeply.
The album was full of pictures of him and her together, along with her solo photos, all taken and developed during their time together, which he had collected for many, many years.
In the seven years they couldn’t meet, this album was his only means to reminisce about their past.
But only the past can be remembered.
She and he, they have no future together anymore!
Xiang Linghao lightly caressed the girl with a radiant smile in the photo, a hint of pain flashing in his eyes.
He hugged the album, collapsing onto the bed, whispering her name from the depths of his heart.
Each utterance was filled with countless longing and sorrow.
Returning home, Xue Xianglan collapsed into her big bed and fell asleep, suddenly turning over restlessly.
Lixin Villa.
Tang Yuxiu, after Xiang Linghao left, took another shower, standing by the bed, hesitating whether to lie down and sleep.
He suddenly realized the consequence of calling her an unimportant person.
He found himself worried about whether she was hurt, felt uncomfortable, or wanted to share his bed.
This feeling made Tang Yuxiu uncomfortable. Always decisive, since when did he need to consider anyone else’s feelings!
Especially her, Gu Yan.
What on earth about this woman made him so hesitant?
Frustrated, he raked his hair and decisively pulled back the sheets to lie down.
As soon as he lay down, Gu Yan happened to turn over, facing the other way, her back to him.
Tang Yuxiu was silent, if he didn’t know she was asleep, he would really suspect she did it on purpose.
Young Master Tang is a domineering yet childish man, even if Gu Yan was asleep, he didn’t like her turning her back right after lying down.
So Young Master Tang stretched out his long arm, pulled Gu Yan back, and held her in his arms.
This felt much more comfortable, and Young Master Tang immediately felt content.
Suddenly, Young Master Tang remembered something, hadn’t this woman bathed today?
His cleanliness obsession suddenly flared up, he really wanted to push her away!
But thinking of how she had been locked in the dark music room for so long tonight, frightened, and had just recovered from a high fever, both physically and mentally exhausted, made him reluctant to wake her up.
Forget it, I’ll endure her for one night!
Young Master Tang felt that he was being too merciful.
Holding Gu Yan, he had a good night’s sleep.
The next morning, Gu Yan woke up in Tang Yuxiu’s arms.
Looking at his handsome face, Gu Yan felt a bit dazed for a moment, then her heart turned bitter.
She unknowingly got involved in a game that never started, yet the creator of the game remained oblivious, indifferent.
The outcome was already predictable, she suddenly wanted it to end quickly.
Gu Yan moved, wanting to get up, and Tang Yuxiu woke up at that moment.
She paused for a moment, then continued to crawl out of his embrace and straight to the bathroom to wash up.
Tang Yuxiu, having just woken up, was a bit confused, but Gu Yan’s series of silent actions made him instantly clear-headed.
What’s up with her? How could she wake up without even saying hello?
Can’t she say the words "good morning"?
Young Master Tang was frustrated early in the morning, and seeing her in the bathroom, he first went to the dressing room to pick out today’s suit before entering.
When he walked in, Gu Yan had just finished washing up and didn’t even glance at him before leaving the bathroom straight for the dressing room.
Young Master Tang frowned. Is she really planning to ignore him?
Was she truly upset about what he said last night?
Gu Yan stood in the dressing room, looking at the branded and unbranded clothes in front of her, all of which Tang Yuxiu had bought for her.
Previously, she thought if he bought them, she might as well wear them; after all, they were already bought, and not wearing them would be wasteful.
But now, she hesitated. They were in a mistress and benefactor relationship, but she didn’t want to be a mistress!
Previously getting along well with him made it easy to ignore this identity, but after last night, she couldn’t overlook it for a moment and found this identity quite embarrassing.
Shouldn’t a mistress and benefactor relationship be only about interests? Why did she have feelings?
In a relationship, the first one to fall for the other is destined to lose the worst.
She’s lost her heart; she doesn’t want to lose her last bit of dignity and pride.
She casually grabbed an outfit and changed, leaving the dressing room and heading downstairs.
Tang Yuxiu followed her down, and the two left the apartment silently, getting into Tang Yuxiu’s car.
The car drove steadily on the highway, passing through the suburban Lixin Villa District where few cars were seen.
Gu Yan held onto her seatbelt, staring straight ahead, while Tang Yuxiu glanced at her through the rearview mirror, feeling that the atmosphere in the car was a bit oppressive.
Usually, Gu Yan would chat and laugh with him, but today it was so quiet, he was really not used to it.
After a while, just as Tang Yuxiu was about to speak and ask where they’d have breakfast, Gu Yan spoke first.
She calmly asked, "Tang Yuxiu, are we just in a benefactor and mistress relationship?"
Tang Yuxiu was slightly stunned but quickly reacted, "Why suddenly ask this question?"
"Just thought of it, so answer me." Gu Yan said lightly.
Tang Yuxiu stared straight ahead, his brows slightly furrowed, not speaking. It was unclear if he was thinking or just didn’t want to answer.
"Is it difficult to answer?" she asked.
Tang Yuxiu pressed his lips together and said, "I think this question is meaningless."
Whether or not it’s just such a relationship, as long as they get along well now, it would be fine. Today, had she not asked, he would have easily overlooked this aspect of their relationship.
However, Gu Yan thought Tang Yuxiu meant, aside from a benefactor and mistress relationship, was there any other kind of relationship?
So her question was essentially meaningless.
Gu Yan slightly lowered her eyelids, hiding the fleeting hurt in her eyes, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in her heart.
"Tang Yuxiu, when can we end this kind of relationship?" she asked, making her voice sound calm and without a trace of fluctuation, her expression equally serene.
Tang Yuxiu’s hands suddenly went astray while steering, the car veering to one side. He hurriedly hit the brakes, the car screeching with ear-piercing tire friction before abruptly coming to a halt on the roadside.
Luckily, Gu Yan was wearing her seatbelt; otherwise, she would have been thrown out of her seat.
Even so, she still hit the seat back hard, the original numbed pain from the clubbing on her back now hitting her with a strong wave, making her furrow her brows tightly.
After stabilizing the car, Tang Yuxiu turned with a displeased expression to look at her, "What do you mean by that?"