Chapter 130: Did you do that on purpose? We agreed on a diamond tier bonus chapter!

At the moment I heard his voice, I was momentarily stunned, suddenly remembering that he was currently in Germany with Li Wanqiu, enjoying the foreign air and likely happier than anything.

I suddenly felt a surge of hatred. Why was the child of him and Li Wanqiu perfectly fine, while Xia Qi and her child had to endure such a cruel fate? By what right?

I couldn't help myself and retorted, "Oh, Young Master Jiang, what brings to mind giving me a call?"

His voice was icy cold: "Lan Shan, stop beating around the bush with me. Let me ask you, where is Xia Qi?"

Rage welled up inside me: "Jiang Chenghuan, damn it all! This lady has no interest in exchanging nonsense with you. Who do you think you are?"

He was equally furious: "Tell Xia Qi this: if she has the guts to do something, she better have the guts to bear the consequences. Even a cornered rabbit will bite, and if she pushes me too far, we'll all go down together."

I sneered: "Jiang Chenghuan, do you know what retribution is? This is called retribution."

I hung up the phone and immediately called Xia Qi, but her line went straight to voicemail.

I didn't think much of it. I had long known she wouldn't let it go—how could she possibly let that pair of scumbags live in carefree bliss?

While we were left here, tossing and turning in agony and hurting to our very cores, by what right were they being all lovey-dovey in a foreign land?

If we suffered tenfold, the least they deserved was to endure five parts of it.

A few minutes later, however, Junxi called me, asking if I was looking for Xia Qi.

I was taken aback, but he chuckled softly: "She's fine, she's sleeping. Don't worry, I'll take good care of her."

So she had gone to find Junxi. My mind finally settled; with him, Xia Qi should be at her safest.

Less than ten seconds after hanging up, my phone rang again. I glanced at the caller ID and couldn't help but smile.

On the line, Luo Ange's tone was less than friendly as he demanded to know why I hadn't arrived yet, complaining that he was nearly starving to death.

Right now, I felt like teasing him a bit, so I said, "I'm sorry, Elder Zhou suddenly had some urgent matters, so I won't be coming over. Just make do with a simple meal."

He sucked in a breath as if he had a toothache: "Are you doing this on purpose?"

His speech wasn't entirely fluent yet, accompanied by pants and coughs. I smiled faintly: "Of course I'm not doing it on purpose—I'm doing it intentionally."

He gritted his teeth fiercely: "You just wait for me."

I giggled: "What? With your current frail little physique, are you going to eat me alive?"

He clicked his tongue twice: "Once I'm well, I'll eat you up until not even your bones are left."

In the end, I obediently went to the hospital. Luo Ange wasn't in the ward; A-Mu said he had gone for some checkups and probably wouldn't be back for another half hour.

I checked my watch, thinking that waiting around like this was no solution. Seeing a magazine on the coffee table, I picked it up to browse.

After flipping two pages, I realized it was a sample catalog of wedding dresses. The second one was jewelry, and the third was formal gowns...

A vague understanding began to dawn on me. I put the magazines down, constantly telling myself not to overthink it, even though my hands were trembling.

The models in the bridal photos were all foreigners, yet I vividly envisioned Luo Ange and Yuan Shengxiao walking hand in hand down the red carpet, exchanging rings, and kissing.

I suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness. What on earth was I? I was nothing more than a thief.

I had stolen something that belonged to someone else, even if that thing had once been mine.

I felt a suffocating tightness in my chest. The air circulation in the hospital room was clearly fine, yet I felt as though I were running out of air, feeling that staying for even one more second would kill me. Overwhelmed and flustered, I bolted out of the room.

A-Mu was startled by my appearance and asked me what had happened.

I hurriedly fished up an excuse to brush him off, then grabbed my bag and jogged all the way out of the hospital.

Elder Zhou took the documents from my hand and sighed: "Backwards."

I snapped back to reality with a start, frantically reaching out to take them back and start over, but he pressed down on my hand, looking at me with a gaze full of pity: "It's fine. You're tired too, go on back. I'll give you two days off."

I figured my state must have been truly abysmal for even Elder Zhou to notice; my acting skills were growing increasingly amateurish.

In truth, I simply didn't know what to do, so I could only resort to such a childish method to avoid Luo Ange.

I didn't dare turn off my phone, afraid of triggering him. So when he asked me why I had run away after delivering the chicken soup, my nose stung as I scrambled for an excuse.

He fell silent for a few seconds before suddenly asking me: "You're scared, aren't you?"

I could no longer hold it together: "Yes, Luo Ange, I'm scared. I'm terrified that our stubbornness will hurt Miss Yuan, I'm terrified that we won't last, I'm terrified of all the people and circumstances keeping us apart... There are just too many things I'm afraid of."

He gave a bitter laugh: "Even my love for you—are you afraid of that too?"

I didn't know how to answer. If you truly love someone, how could you possibly fear their love? You would only fear that the love they give you isn't enough, only fear that you cannot weather storms together or share the same life and death.

Yet why was I so terrified now?

Luo Ange asked me, "Wu You, before, you were always afraid I didn't want you. Now, is it your turn to not want me? Are you trying to push me toward Yuan Shengxiao, leaving me behind while you march forward?"

I blurted out in defense: "I didn't, Luo Ange, I didn't. I'm just too confused, I don't know how to face you. Will you give me some time?"

He gritted his teeth: "Alright, I'll give you time."

The next day, while I was brewing chicken soup, I received a call from Xia Qi. She sounded in high spirits and asked me to go to her house and retrieve her graduation thesis from her computer.

Suddenly remembering Jiang Chenghuan's phone call, I asked Xia Qi what had happened.

She told me to go online and read the news; once I read it, I would understand.

And indeed, once I read it, I understood completely. An apartment rented by a pair of Chinese international students had been burglarized; the perpetrators were vicious, stealing everything of value and nearly gang-raping the female student who had been napping. And that female student, reportedly, was pregnant.

No wonder Jiang Chenghuan had been so frantic and tight-lipped with rage yesterday; he must have assumed Xia Qi was behind it, must have thought Xia Qi was waging war against them.

I suddenly felt a sense of relief. With a man like that, it was better for Xia Qi to leave him. When he loved you, he showered you with endearments and pampered you like a darling; the moment he stopped loving you, he gritted his teeth and severed all ties.

To think Xia Qi had loved such a man for so many years, and even went through a miscarriage for him—what a tragedy.

Uncle Xia wasn't home, so Auntie led me into Xia Qi's room. She suddenly grew somewhat sentimental: "In the past, when Qiqi used to sleep in, Jiang Chenghuan would always find ways to wake her up. Several times when I came in, I'd find them lying on the bed together, reading the same book. Now, this room is so empty it terrifies me."

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder: "Auntie, it's fine, it's alright, everything will pass."

She choked back a sob: "Lan Shan, Qiqi only has you now."

I said, "I only have her, too."

Returning to the courtyard house, I found Xia Qi's thesis and sent it to her. Shortly after receiving it, she replied with a smiley face.

I asked her, "You don't happen to have fallen for Junxi, do you?"

She replied, "No way, I'm just making the most of available resources by having him help me edit it. You know how lazy I am."

I sighed: "I read the news. I know it wasn't you."

Silence—an unbearable silence. Then she suddenly gave a soft laugh: "Wu You, what if I told you I really did hire someone to do it?"

I froze, and after a long while, I managed to say with difficulty: "Even so, it doesn't matter. Just don't pull such reckless stunts in the future."

She agreed readily: "Alright, I swear."

After ending the call, I remembered how Xia Qi's computer used to hold countless movies that couldn't be screened on the mainland. Back when Lust, Caution was released, everyone held high hopes, only to be ultimately disappointed.

What was the point of watching a censored version? If you wanted to watch something, you watched the uncut version.

Xia Qi had somehow managed to source it, and from then on, she always had channels to get us the movies we wanted to see.

I clicked open one of her folders and suddenly noticed a subfolder named: HJX.

The name "Junxi" slipped out of my mouth. Even though I knew snooping through someone else's files was wrong, I couldn't control my fingers.

"Junxi, ancestral home in Kangcheng, immigrated to the UK with his mother at age five, graduated from Oxford University, formerly worked in a confidential department in the British government, later returned to China and founded H&R Design Company in Hong Kong, net worth eight billion."

Following that were design competitions Junxi had participated in during his university years, along with his itinerary over the past half-year...

Detailed to a degree rivaling a private detective.

As I looked through it, I wondered why Xia Qi would investigate Junxi. Could it be that they had known each other long before this?

Or perhaps, had Xia Qi fallen for Junxi?

I closed that folder, only to discover another one labeled "Secret."

However, this folder was encrypted, and I couldn't open it at all.

Carrying my thermos, I stepped out of the elevator, only to bump straight into someone. Panicked, I turned on my heels to flee, wanting to hide behind the massive potted plant next to the elevator.

Yet Shu Congxuan had already spotted me. He called out my name, leaving me no choice but to stop.

He walked over to me, smiling as he watched me: "Why are you hiding from me?"

I offered an awkward laugh: "Oh, it's nothing, well, you see, I..."

He chuckled: "No wonder you haven't been calling me these past two days—turns out you've made up with Luo Ange?"

My face flushed crimson, and I didn't dare meet his gaze, terrified he might lecture me.

He was a very important friend to me, and I couldn't bear the thought of him viewing me with even a shred of malice.

"Lan Shan, look at me."

I raised my eyes to meet his. His gaze was sincere and warm: "Lan Shan, how should I put this... fifty-fifty, I suppose? I'm glad you two made up, because I know that with you around, it'll definitely ease the conflict between him and my sister. After fighting for so many years, even I'm exhausted watching it. But I can no longer pursue you openly, nor can I act all claws and teeth around you. From now on, whenever I see you, I'll have to keep my distance, lest that scoundrel Luo Ange tears me limb from limb."

He had always been this candid. Feeling a mix of anxiety and melancholy, I couldn't utter a single word.

In the end, I had failed him.

It wasn't that he wasn't good; it was simply that because of Luo Ange, any goodness from others could only ever be confined within the boundaries of friendship.

Noticing my awkwardness, he patted my shoulder: "You need to mentally prepare yourself. Just before you arrived, Luo Ange had a talk with his grandfather. It didn't go well at all, and the old patriarch actually passed out from anger."

I instinctively blurted out: "Yuan Shengxiao knows?"