Chapter 95: Mier, look at me again carefully. Who am I?

The man who arrived was none other than Qiao Yudong. After all, before Fu Sisi had even messaged him, Qiao Weiwei had already informed him; he was naturally the first to know and the best informed.

However, he hadn't come solely to do Fu Sisi a favor. He wanted Song Mi—he wanted her so badly it was driving him mad. Yet, he was not the type to take advantage of someone in a vulnerable state. In this regard, Fu Sisi had truly underestimated him. What he wanted was Song Mi’s heart and soul. Besides, a woman like Song Mi was not someone who could be conquered simply by sleeping with her.

Song Mi felt lightheaded and nauseated; after vomiting, she felt completely hollowed out. Yet, her mind remained sharp, and the moment she saw Qiao Yudong, everything became clear. This Fu Sisi was truly... remarkable. To go to such lengths just to deliver women to her own husband!

Qiao Yudong quickly reached them. "Song Mi, are you alright?"

Song Mi glanced at him with an indifferent expression. "I'm fine."

As she spoke, her legs tangled, and she nearly stumbled. Fortunately, Liang Liang was faster and steadied her. "Careful!"

Qiao Yudong, standing opposite them, reached out a hand, but found no opportunity to be of use. "Look at you, you can barely walk, how can you be fine? How much did you drink?"

Qiao Yudong withdrew his hand, looking from her to her bodyguard. "Where is your car? Why don't I drive you back?"

"My car is parked right by the side of the road," Qiao Yudong said, gesturing behind him.

Liang Liang looked at Qiao Yudong with vigilance. "That won't be necessary!" She then turned to Song Mi. "Miss Song, shall I carry you?"

Song Mi replied, "Okay."

But Qiao Yudong tried to compete with Liang Liang. "Let me!"

Liang Liang naturally refused, repeating, "It won't be necessary!"

Qiao Yudong was truly furious. To Song Mi and those around her, he was nothing more than an irrelevant stranger. Song Mi refused to give him a second glance, and those around her guarded against him as if he were a pervert. It had been so long; he had taken a knife wound for her, sent Snow Mountain roses to her office every day for a month, and was actively working on his divorce. Why, then, was she so unwilling to look at him? Was he really that terrible?

With this thought, Qiao Yudong’s temper flared uncontrollably. "You're wearing high heels and a dress; how are you going to carry her?" He snapped, "Worry about yourself. Do you really think I’d devour her right in front of you?" With that, he stepped forward and forcefully pulled Song Mi toward him.

Under normal circumstances, Liang Liang’s reflexes would not have allowed her to be caught off guard so easily, but she was unaccustomed to high heels and her dress was restrictive, making her own footing unsteady. She had nearly stumbled just moments before, which gave Qiao Yudong his chance. "Let go of Miss Song!"

Qiao Yudong had only just pulled Song Mi into his arms; there was no way he would let go now. Seeing Liang Liang about to snatch her back, he scowled and glared at her. "You follow!"

With that, he supported Song Mi and started walking.

Just then, someone called out to Liang Liang from behind. "Miss Liang, your phone!"

It was the waiter whom Liang Liang had subdued earlier. In his hand was the phone that Fu Sisi had snatched from Song Mi. Liang Liang turned around vigilantly, then quickly looked back, keeping her eyes fixed on Qiao Yudong’s retreating back as he led Song Mi away.

The man stepped forward and handed her the phone. "Miss Fu asked me to bring this to you."

Anxious to pursue Qiao Yudong, Liang Liang reached out to take it without hesitation, unaware that the man was hiding something. Her wrist was pricked by something sharp. As she reacted, she heard him say, "My apologies!"

The man sprayed something at her face. A pungent, strange odor hit her, and Liang Liang felt dizzy. She threw a punch at him while trying to stay conscious. "What are you doing?"

But the substance acted too quickly and too violently; she lost all her strength and stumbled. Within a few moves, the man had hoisted her up—he clearly had martial arts training and had been hiding it until now. "My colleague is still waiting for Miss Liang at Room 966!"

Liang Liang’s body grew increasingly limp, her legs unable to support her. The man, with her arm draped over his shoulder, shouted forward, "Young Master Qiao!"

Qiao Yudong heard the commotion behind him and stopped. Song Mi had been struggling to go back, but he held her firmly. Unable to break free and feeling terribly ill, she could only watch helplessly as Liang Liang fell into their hands. "Qiao Yudong, you..."

"Sister Fu said you shouldn't let her good intentions go to waste!" the waiter said to Qiao Yudong.

Standing several meters away, Qiao Yudong’s eyes narrowed sharply. He warned in a low voice, "You had better take care of her properly. If you pull any tricks, and she suffers even the slightest harm, tell your boss to prepare to close shop!"

"Certainly, certainly!"

After delivering this threat, Qiao Yudong pulled Song Mi tightly against his waist and turned to leave.

Only then did Song Mi fully realize her own weakness; she was truly too drunk. "Qiao Yudong, if your wife dares to touch my people, I will never let this go..."

Qiao Yudong quickly interrupted her. "She wouldn't dare!" He added, "Get in the car, I’ll call her!"

But Qiao Yudong did not get his way in the end.

Huo Qingjue had arrived just in time. Just as Qiao Yudong opened the back door of his car and helped Song Mi to sit inside, he heard, "...Watch out!"

"Young Master Qiao!"

Huo Qingjue’s car was parked behind Qiao Yudong’s; technically, both were illegally parked. He had spotted Qiao Yudong and Song Mi the moment he pulled up, so he called out to Qiao Yudong as soon as he pushed open his car door.

Qiao Yudong turned to look, his brow furrowing heavily. There was no need to ask; Huo Qingjue was clearly here to compete for her. "President Huo?"

Huo Qingjue walked straight toward him. "Mi'er, I'm late!" He shifted his gaze to Qiao Yudong’s face. "There's no need to trouble Young Master Qiao any further!"

Qiao Yudong curled his lip, preparing to slam the car door shut, but Song Mi blocked it from the inside. "Huo... Qingjue!"

In an instant, both men realized—she was hurt somewhere. It was because of how she had blocked the door. Qiao Yudong, being closer and the one closing the door, was the first to react. "Are you alright?"

Her left hand was numb with pain, and she instinctively supported her left wrist with her right hand. She wanted to get out of the car, but lacked the strength. Seeing Qiao Yudong leaning in, she quickly recoiled.

Qiao Yudong’s hand, reaching out toward her, stopped in mid-air. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

Song Mi leaned back, eyeing him coldly. Before she could speak, Qiao Yudong’s face suddenly moved away—Huo Qingjue had grabbed him and pulled him back! The frustration Qiao Yudong felt from Song Mi’s avoidance erupted into rage. He swung a punch at the man behind him. "Screw you!"

"What are you being so aggressive for!" Huo Qingjue dodged and struck back immediately.

The situation spiraled out of control as the two men began to brawl by the roadside. They quickly expanded the battlefield, soon obstructing the normal flow of traffic. Passing cars were forced to stop, and many drivers began honking their horns. Some rolled down their windows to shout, "What's going on here!"

"Fighting in the middle of the road... is there no one to stop them?"

"...Call the police!"

Song Mi saw them fighting, but as they moved further into the middle of the road and more vehicles were forced to halt, she could no longer see them. She could, however, hear the sound of the horns clearly.

After sitting still for a while, Song Mi suddenly felt more alert. Emboldened by the alcohol, she pulled the door open and stepped out. Once outside, she instinctively walked in the opposite direction of where Qiao Yudong’s car was parked. She walked fast and urgently, as if driven by some instinct. In truth, she didn't know where she was going; she just stamped her high heels against the ground, taking one hurried step after another.

She was truly too drunk; her brain felt disobedient. There was somewhere she wanted to go, but she couldn't remember where. But she knew, there had to be a place.

As she walked, she looked around, scanning the buildings and the skyscrapers, but none seemed right. She looked anxiously at street signs. She was completely unaware that, during this time, a pair of eyes in a car across the street had been watching her closely.

I say "had been watching" because by now, Wen Yanli could no longer see her. Her figure was completely obscured by the bodies of the surrounding cars. But just a moment ago, he had definitely seen her.

Why was she walking on the street alone at this hour? Where was Ye Zhao? How had she ended up on her own? If not for the massive traffic jam blocking the entire road, he wouldn't have been able to see her. The odds of him driving onto this road at a time when there shouldn't be traffic, getting stuck in the jam, and then catching a glimpse of her, were infinitesimally small.

For a long time, Wen Yanli remained in a posture of staring sideways. The slender figure that had stirred up dark whirlpools in his eyes had long since vanished—lost in the gaps between the vehicles, gone to the furthest point his gaze could reach.

Once she disappeared, his vision began to blur. Then, his heart became irrevocably hollow, emptying out again and again. It was so empty he wanted to fill it with something.

In the passenger seat beside him, Rong Xian'an had looked at him more than twice, but he likely hadn't noticed at all. She had followed his gaze out the window more than once, but there was nothing special to see. There was a car in the lane next to them, and another one past that. It was a six-lane road, and there must have been a serious accident ahead, causing the entire road to grind to a halt.

After another minute, she asked with a faint smile, "What are you thinking about?"

She heard no reply. After waiting a while, Rong Xian'an leaned over and waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey! What are you thinking about?"

Wen Yanli turned his face, and suddenly he was face-to-face with Rong Xian'an at close range. The scent of her perfume filled his nostrils. Rong Xian'an had done it on purpose; although the proximity made her heart race, she feigned calmness. "What are you thinking about?"

As their eyes met, Rong Xian'an’s heart hammered against her ribs. The man before her had a truly beautiful face—sculpted features, a perfect jawline, a sharp nose, deep eyes that shone like stars in the night. His bow-shaped lips were pressed into a thin line. The light in the car was dim, but it did nothing to hide his sharp angles. Her heart was in turmoil.

What delighted her most was that she didn't pull back, and he didn't move either! The two remained face-to-face at the closest distance they had ever shared. It was so close that she couldn't help but lose the rhythm of her breathing. And her heartbeat—if it had been any louder, she suspected he could hear it.

Was he looking at her? His gaze was deep and intense, yet it didn't seem to be focused on her. It felt as if he were looking through her at someone else.

Her heart skipped a beat, and the next moment, Rong Xian'an leaned forward to press her lips against his, but she didn't touch them. He had dodged away faster. At the same time, the car door clicked open. Wen Yanli stepped out. "Go back on your own."

Rong Xian'an didn't even have time to feel embarrassed; the sudden turn of events left her stunned. By the time she opened her mouth to ask, "Where are you going?", he had already vanished from sight. The only response she received was the sound of the car door being slammed shut.

Through the window, she saw him darting through the gaps between the cars, heading in the opposite direction, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone! He had... left her stranded in the middle of the road?

What had he seen just now?

***

As for Song Mi, as she walked, she finally remembered where she wanted to go. The hotel! The hotel she stayed at the time she was stabbed by Lu Zhizhi. When she had arrived earlier, she had seen the towering exterior of that hotel through the car window.

The moment she thought of that hotel, she thought of Lawyer Wen. She missed him so much! It was manageable when she wasn't drunk, she could endure it! But not now!

The longing made her heart ache; she wished she could tie up her own brain! But she couldn't. Thinking of him now, she felt as if something had been overturned within her, or as if a piece had been torn from the very tip of her heart, impossible to plug or repair.

She missed him too much! What was he doing now? Was he with Rong Xian'an? How could she allow him to be with another woman? How could she bear the thought of him using the same lips that had kissed her to kiss someone else!

No! She couldn't! He was hers! But what could she do? She was the one who had driven him away! She couldn't! She mustn't!

At this moment, she was still fighting with herself. She was still trying to use her reason to control her impulses. If she couldn't find him, if she couldn't think of him, then where could she go? Where was she going?

For a moment, Song Mi felt a wave of loneliness—a loneliness she had never known before. This must be what they meant by: it's not the person who is lonely, it's the act of missing someone that is lonely.

She didn't know how long she had been walking or where she was; it no longer felt like a major road, as there were fewer and fewer cars. Soon, she saw a bridge across the road. Perhaps it wasn't a bridge, but the character for "Li" in the name Tongli Bridge.

Amidst the neon lights and the bustling nightlife, she looked left and right, then crossed the road toward that character.

*Beep—beep!*

"—Watch out!"

Song Mi hadn't seen anything clearly, but she was pulled by an external force and collided with a firm chest. She was stunned for a moment, but her first reaction was that it was a hallucination. She instinctively tried to break free. "Let go of me!"

"It's me!" Wen Yanli had been following her the whole way. He had even retrieved the high heels she had discarded; both were in his hands. "You're drunk!"

It was his voice, but she still didn't believe it. "Lawyer Wen?"

She pressed her hands against his chest, yet instinctively pulled back to look at him. She couldn't see clearly; the person in front of her was clearly Lawyer Wen—the nose, the eyes, the mouth, they were all his. But how could he be here? It must be a hallucination!

She remembered that Huo Qingjue had arrived in time and had gotten into a fight with Qiao Yudong. She shook her head vigorously and looked at him again. "Are you Huo Qingjue?"

Hearing this, a violent whirlpool of emotion surged in Wen Yanli’s eyes. At the same time, he heard the woman ask, "Did you win the fight against Qiao Yudong?"

"How did you know I was at Yunshangju?"

"How did you know Fu Sisi was willing to see me?"

Song Mi pushed him as she spoke. "I'm fine."

"I'm not drunk!"

Yunshangju, Fu Sisi, Huo Qingjue fighting with Qiao Yudong... In fact, he had received a call from Feng Jue not long after he got out of the car. He had answered it while walking. Feng Jue told him that Fu Sisi was hosting a girls' night at Yunshangju and that Song Mi was there.

The moment he had finally seen her again, he knew she was drunk. But now, standing before her, with her looking directly at him with her own eyes, she was mistaking him for Huo Qingjue. How could he endure this? "Song Mi, who am I?"

Feeling a sharp pain, Song Mi frowned heavily. "You're hurting me!"

"Yes, I was wrong! I thought you were Lawyer Wen!" She thought Huo Qingjue was asking this because of her earlier mention of "Lawyer Wen."

"Huo Qingjue, I thought you were a reasonable person!" Song Mi’s expression turned noticeably cold. "My attitude toward you is the same as my attitude toward Qiao Yudong."

"He sends me Snow Mountain roses, and you send me Snow Mountain roses too!" She convinced herself that the person in front of her was Huo Qingjue; even though she was clearly looking at Lawyer Wen’s face, she stubbornly believed it was a hallucination. "But I don't like them at all. I like Bird of Paradise!"

"I only like Bird of Paradise!"

"If you're going to play this game so seriously so quickly, then I’ll have to find someone else!"

As she spoke, she pulled her hand back and succeeded in breaking free. "I’m sober now. Please take me back to the hotel!"

With that, she turned and walked away.

Behind her, Wen Yanli gazed at her with long, dark eyes that were as turbulent as a river. His throat bobbed with difficulty. "Mi'er, look at me again. Who am I?"