Hu Tu couldn't sleep well due to the company's declining performance, and to make matters worse, he couldn't even secure a meeting with Ji Feng. After repeatedly pulling strings and asking for help to sound out Ji Feng, Ji Feng finally relented and sent a hint through his assistant, Xue Rui.
The message Xue Rui conveyed via an intermediary was simple: "Have your wife think carefully about what happened at the banquet that night."
Upon receiving this valuable hint, Hu Tu immediately drove home, pulled his wife out of the massage chair she was enjoying, and demanded she recall exactly what had happened at the banquet that night.
At first, Hu Tu's wife didn't take it seriously, but after he sternly reprimanded her and explained the crisis their company was facing, she sobered up and began to think seriously.
After pondering for a while, she clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Could Ji Feng be cutting off our financial lifeline because of Lu Zhenzhen?"
Hu Tu frowned and asked, "Lu Zhenzhen? Was she even qualified to attend that banquet?"
His wife said guiltily, "She kept begging me, saying she wanted to see the world, so I found a way to bring her in..."
"Fool!" Hu Tu immediately scolded his wife loudly. "I had to force my way to get you in! What qualifications does Lu Zhenzhen have? Is she worthy? By bringing her in, you've dragged both your and my status down!"
Hu Tu's wife was too intimidated to speak.
After calming down a bit, Hu Tu urged her to quickly recount everything Lu Zhenzhen had said and done that night.
"What era is this? Do I have to ask you every single question before you answer?"
Hu Tu's wife hurriedly recounted the events of that night.
"...In short, Lu Zhenzhen said a lot of bad things about Xu Miyu, and everyone followed her lead in mocking Xu Miyu." She paused, as if remembering something, and continued, "Oh, by the way, you have to admit, Xu Miyu really has a way with men. That night, first, a handsome guy came to rescue Xu Miyu from the situation, and later, another handsome guy came and left with his arm around her. It seemed like the latter was Ji Feng. That woman Xu Miyu, I have to say, is quite something. Besides those two men at the banquet, even Nie Yucheng—though he's married to Lu Zhenzhen and has a child with her—still can't forget her!"
After hearing everything, Hu Tu was so angry he raised his hand, took two deep breaths, and barely managed to stop himself from slapping her.
"Useless woman! You can't accomplish anything but ruin everything! What time is it now, and you still have the mind to gossip here? Can't you see? It's because you women were gossiping about Xu Miyu that Ji Feng cut off cooperation with our travel agency to sanction us economically! Fine, fine, keep talking! Talk the company into bankruptcy, and then you and I can go drink the northwest wind together!"
Hu Tu's wife immediately became frightened and asked anxiously, "Then what should we do? Maybe... I should contact Xu Miyu! She used to always bring me stewed meat and often helped me with massages. If I ask her to tell Ji Feng to lift the ban on cooperation, she should still owe me that favor."Hu Tu felt his blood pressure surging to the top of his head. Pointing at his wife, he scolded, "How come I never knew you were this stupid before? How dare you say those things just now? Right now, you need to beg Xu Miyu for help, not use those past times when she served you as some kind of friendship!"
Hu Tu's wife was so thoroughly scolded that she didn't even dare to breathe loudly. The proud, dignified air she carried when going out was completely shattered.
After calming down a bit, Hu Tu said to his wife, "Now I understand what Ji Feng's intention is—he wants to help Xu Miyu vent her anger. To let Xu Miyu vent her anger, it seems you all need to apologize to her. So, contact Lu Zhenzhen, and both of you go and sincerely apologize to Xu Miyu."
Hu Tu's wife cautiously replied, "Lu Zhenzhen will definitely not go and apologize to Xu Miyu..."
Hu Tu roared furiously, "If she doesn't go, Xu Miyu won't be able to vent her anger, Ji Feng will cut off cooperation, and my company will end up making no money, going bankrupt, and shutting down. Then you can just wait to divorce me and spend the rest of your life as a penniless beggar, dying in poverty!"
Terrified, Hu Tu's wife scrambled up from the sofa and rushed to call Lu Zhenzhen. She pleaded and reasoned, trying to make Lu Zhenzhen understand the company's current predicament and persuade her to apologize to Xu Miyu.
But Lu Zhenzhen, who had always curried favor with her, unexpectedly hung up the phone firmly this time, declaring that she would rather die than lower her head and apologize to Xu Miyu.
Trembling with fear, Hu Tu's wife relayed this outcome to Hu Tu.
Hu Tu angrily berated her, "Useless! You can't do anything right except spend money!"
Since the approach of having his wife contact Lu Zhenzhen had failed, he directly summoned Nie Yucheng and lashed out at him, "You really married a fine wife!" He explained the whole situation to Nie Yucheng and issued an ultimatum: "Nie Yucheng, I used all my savings to buy the equity of Changyang Travel. I won't allow it to slowly collapse like this. I promoted you to vice president, and the contract has clauses binding you. If you fail to keep the travel agency profitable, you'll have to compensate for the losses out of your own pocket. You should remember that very clearly. So, no matter what method you use today, make your wife go and apologize immediately. Otherwise, all the losses caused to the company because of this will be on you, and you'll have to pay for it yourselves!"
After learning the whole story, Nie Yucheng left Hu Tu's house, got into his car parked by the roadside, and smoked one cigarette after another. He felt heartache and guilt toward Xu Miyu, and weariness and disgust toward Lu Zhenzhen and his current life. He didn't know how he had taken one wrong step after another, gradually turning his life into the mess it was now.
Recalling the time before the divorce, when he was irritated because Jiao Xiumei had come to cause trouble again, he stood in front of the hotel mirror shaving and accidentally cut a gash on his chin. Back then, Xu Miyu had rushed over anxiously to check on him, blowing on the wound and searching for a cotton swab to clean it. The way she worried about him and tried to placate him to keep him from getting angry seemed as vivid as if it were happening right before his eyes. Yet everything felt like a lifetime ago.
He wiped away the moisture that had welled up in the corner of his eye, extinguished his cigarette harshly, and drove home.When they got home, Lu Zhenzhen was still awake, and his mother had come over too. They were having a loud argument over child-rearing matters. Lu Zhenzhen blamed his mother for overstepping and wanting to control everything, while his mother scolded Lu Zhenzhen as a deceitful enchantress who had been obedient before marriage but now opposed her at every turn after marrying. She even said that if she had known Lu Zhenzhen was such a woman, she would never have let her son divorce his ex-wife.
Nie Yucheng watched the two women arguing relentlessly, and in that moment, he felt utterly fed up with the world.
After they had finished quarreling, his mother left him with a harsh parting remark: "If it weren't for the fact that my grandson is still young, I would definitely make you divorce her!"
Nie Yucheng walked into the bedroom where the child was sleeping. He called Lu Zhenzhen out to the living room.
Lu Zhenzhen complained to him, "Your mother just said all those things about me, and you just stood there listening without saying a word to defend me!"
Nie Yucheng couldn't be bothered to respond to her and directly instructed, "Wake up early tomorrow and get ready. I'm taking you to the Sway Hotel."
Lu Zhenzhen immediately raised her voice sharply, "What for?"
Xu Miyu was stunned by his drunken smile. He always seemed to carry a hint of disdain and mockery in his expressions, but now it was purely and simply a smile.
It was a smile that struck straight at the heart.
Her heartbeat skipped a beat, and she quickly took a large gulp of wine to calm herself down.
Then she asked him, "What are you laughing at?"
Ji Feng looked at her, his voice softer than ever before.
"You remember exactly how far we've gotten with our hundred things—I'm really happy about that. It means you haven't forgotten me."
He actually remembered, and she hadn't forgotten either. That truly made him happy.
Xu Miyu immediately turned her head away, flustered, and took another large gulp of wine.
"Nonsense, I just have a good memory," she stubbornly argued.
Ji Feng humored her: "Alright, it's your good memory." After a pause, he changed the subject and said, "How about we pick up where we left off with those hundred things and play a game of Truth or Dare? Just to liven up the drinking."
Seeing Xu Miyu hesitate, he provoked her: "Are you afraid of losing?"
Xu Miyu immediately lifted her chin with a hint of proud defiance and said, "Fine, let's play."
"How do we decide who wins?" Ji Feng asked immediately.
"Let's keep it simple and straightforward—rock-paper-scissors," Xu Miyu said.
She was still somewhat confident in this game she had played since childhood.
But in the first round of rock-paper-scissors, Xu Miyu lost.
Ji Feng looked at her cheeks, flushed a pale pink from the alcohol, and felt a stir in his heart.
In a husky voice, he asked her directly, "Do you still like me?"
He saw her eyes widen in surprise at the question.
He thought she would choose to drink instead.
But instead, she looked into his eyes and nodded at him.
Ji Feng's hand trembled, nearly dropping his glass.
He forced himself to stay calm.
The next round was won by Xu Miyu.
She also looked into Ji Feng's eyes and asked him, "Do you mind that I've been married? Tell me the truth."
Ji Feng replied immediately, "No."
Two words, decisive and without hesitation.
In the next round, Ji Feng asked Xu Miyu in return, "Do you think I've ever minded?"
Xu Miyu nodded, "Yes."
Ji Feng looked at her, not knowing what to say. He tilted his head back and finished his drink, then poured himself another.
"When did I ever make you feel like I minded?" Ji Feng couldn't help but press further.
Xu Miyu moved her lips as if struggling to find the words.She also threw her head back and drank the wine, then poured herself another glass. After downing half of it, the alcohol finally gave her courage.
Turning to look at Ji Feng, she took a deep breath and said, "Every time after we... do that, you immediately go take a shower. No matter how tired you are, you rush to the bathroom without a second's delay. Aren't you doing this because you find me disgusting?"
Ji Feng's face instantly showed shock and disbelief. He angrily gulped down the wine in his glass, then turned to glare at Xu Miyu, panting slightly. "What on earth are you thinking?" he asked, almost incoherently. "Every time I move so intensely, I end up drenched in sweat, feeling all sticky... I go wash immediately because I'm afraid you'll find my smell unpleasant!"
"..." So that's what it was?
Even though he had snapped at her, Xu Miyu felt a weight lift from her heart. She was actually happy to have been scolded.
She silently lowered her head and drank, avoiding Ji Feng's fiery, indignant gaze.
Suddenly remembering something, Xu Miyu mustered her courage and temper, fueled by the alcohol, and turned to face Ji Feng again. "You just said you don't mind that I've been divorced, but there were so many times before when you clearly acted like you did mind!"
Ji Feng looked puzzled. "When? Tell me."
Xu Miyu thought for a moment, her face flushing, but she persisted. "You always want to... do that, even during work hours when you're not behaving properly. I reminded you that you were the one who said we should keep work and personal matters separate, but you said you were just starting to explore this, unlike me... Even though you didn't finish your sentence, what you meant was that unlike me, you hadn't been married and experienced it before."
Ji Feng grew anxious to explain, but Xu Miyu cut him off.
"Let me finish!"
Annoyed, Ji Feng swept a hand through his hair and tossed back the rest of his drink.
"And another time, I gave you a massage, and you said it felt good. You asked if I had learned it specifically for you. But the truth is, I learned massage for my ex-husband. You seemed to sense that, and you said it didn't matter who I learned it for. But after that, you started acting moody, getting rough with me, like you were venting your frustration!"
Ji Feng was stunned once again, his eyes wide, mouth half-open, his face a picture of injustice.
"That time, I was rough because... I couldn't handle how you were massaging me! Don't you realize that with your technique, anyone would lose control? That's why I acted so impulsively, and you actually thought I was venting frustration? What on earth goes through your mind?" As he spoke, he couldn't resist poking Xu Miyu's forehead.
Her head tilted to the side, but she seemed almost happy about it.
Ji Feng had inadvertently resolved another one of her worries.
He poured wine into both glasses and said to Xu Miyu, huffing slightly, "You're punished—drink this."
Obediently, Xu Miyu tilted her head back and drank. Ji Feng did the same, emptying his glass in one go.
After setting down the glass, Ji Feng gently lifted Xu Miyu's chin, making her look at him.
Then, with a serious expression, he said to her, word by word, "What I'm about to say is from the Ji Feng before the breakup to the Xu Miyu before the breakup."
"Miyu, your past marriage is a part of you that won't disappear. Since I've chosen to be with you, I accept all of your experiences. You need to understand—I don't mind your past. What I care about is how you feel when I accidentally bring it up.""Because every time I accidentally mention it, you tense up, and I start thinking, oh no, have I unintentionally offended or hurt you? Then I try my best to make it up to you. But from your perspective, does this come across as me being bothered by your past—venting my emotions and then desperately trying to compensate? If that’s what you think, it’s a huge injustice to me.
"And to be completely honest, thinking about your ex-husband does make me a little jealous, but not because you have an ex-husband. I’d be jealous of any man who’s ever been in your life, including Duan Aoxiang that day when he draped his coat over you. I can’t help it—as long as you’re in my heart, jealousy is something I can’t shake. And whatever you went through with your ex-husband doesn’t matter; that’s in the past. What I want to build with you is the future."
Ji Feng paused, his voice growing hoarse. "I should have explained this to you earlier. Maybe then we wouldn’t have broken up. But I’ve never been in a relationship before—I don’t know how to communicate properly."
He saw Xu Miyu’s eyes redden.
His heart felt as if someone had squeezed it tightly, aching with a faint sourness.
"Don’t cry," he commanded weakly, trying to sound firm. "It hurts me here when you cry." He pointed to his chest with his fingertip.
Xu Miyu held back her tears and smiled at him.
But he still wasn’t satisfied. "And don’t smile either!" He reached out to smooth the corners of her lips. "If you keep smiling, I might not be able to control myself."
Xu Miyu quickly changed the subject, continuing their game of Truth or Dare.
This time, it was Xu Miyu who lost again.
Ji Feng looked at her intently and asked, "Why were you so determined to break up with me?"
If he had done something wrong, she could have told him—he would have changed. But why didn’t she give him a chance? Why insist on breaking up?
It wasn’t until he asked this question that Ji Feng realized how deeply hurt he had been by the breakup. The lingering, growing pain was just a manifestation of that wound.
Xu Miyu looked at Ji Feng and finally confessed openly: "It’s my problem, my fault. I felt I wasn’t good enough for you."
Her voice choked up toward the end.
"Do you still feel that way now?" Ji Feng asked, gazing into her eyes.
"I’m trying hard to let go of that thought, to build my confidence," Xu Miyu replied honestly, her voice nasal.
The corners of Ji Feng’s mouth slowly lifted, rising higher and higher. Visible happiness spread across his face.
They looked at each other. They had never spoken so openly before.
On this rainy night that had originally kept him awake, they listened to the rain, drank wine, and opened their hearts to each other.
Ji Feng felt that this moment was one of the rare moments of happiness in his life.
He was on the verge of losing control, but Xu Miyu was still holding back.
She diverted his attention by asking, "Do you know what the next item on the '100 Things' list is?"
Ji Feng answered distractedly, "What is it?"
Xu Miyu told him, "It’s to share a story from our childhood." She clinked glasses with Ji Feng, took a sip of wine, and said, "Let me go first."
Ji Feng propped his elbow on the table, watching her intently as she began to speak."Let me tell you how ridiculous my family is," Xu Miyu said with a deliberately light laugh. "When I was little, Xu Mibao kept clamoring to go camping, so our whole family went camping together one weekend. During the trip, they kept ordering me around until I got so annoyed I ran into the woods to hide and ended up falling asleep. When I woke up, my family was gone, leaving only a pile of trash behind. They had already gone home. Isn't that absurd? Not one of my family members noticed I was missing when they returned home.
"I walked all night to get back, crying in fear the whole way, and finally reached home at dawn. Guess what happened then?" Xu Miyu told Ji Feng with a bitter smile. "As I entered the yard, Jiao Xiumei happened to be up early, and she thought I had gotten up early too and was trying to sneak out to avoid emptying the chamber pots for the family. How ridiculous is that? The whole night, not a single person in the family realized I was gone."
Xu Miyu laughed until tears streamed down her face, which she wiped away with a swift motion. "Back then, I wondered if it was because I wasn't good enough that I couldn't get my family's attention and love. So I worked hard, obeyed diligently, smiled constantly, and tried to please everyone, hoping to earn their notice and affection. It was from that time I lost myself and my confidence, living only to please others. Ji Feng," Xu Miyu looked at him with eyes clear as washed glass, speaking each word deliberately, "it was you who helped me find myself again when I turned thirty. Thank you, Ji Feng!" As she finished, she laughed while tears fell once more.
Ji Feng could no longer hold back. He pulled her into his arms, patting her back gently to soothe her.
He then shared his own childhood story with her.
"I've never told this to anyone. Not even my mother knows why I always suffer from insomnia on rainy nights like this."
He spoke softly, revealing a wound from his childhood that he had never exposed to anyone.
"When I was eight, I remember it was a whole month of autumn rain like this. During that endless rainy season, I learned what infidelity meant earlier than other kids my age. From my mother's hysterical outbursts and her phone calls—first pleading with my father to come home, then quickly turning into curses—I realized my father was having an affair."
Xu Miyu stiffened in Ji Feng's embrace.
He too carried such hidden pain. She began patting his back in return.
"Then one day, on a rainy night just like this, cold and damp, my mother dragged me out of bed and took me to the doorstep of my father and his mistress. She forced me to knock on the door and beg my father to come home with us for my sake."
Xu Miyu trembled as she listened. She had thought she was the only unfortunate product of a dysfunctional family, but what Ji Feng's mother did to him at eight was no different from what her own parents had done—they both hurt their children.
She pulled back from his embrace, looked into his eyes, and saw the pain deep within them.
She raised her hand to caress his face, wanting to offer him comfort."I don't want to go looking for that kind of father, especially at his mistress's house. But my mother told me if I didn't go, I couldn't return home or go to sleep. So my mother and I stood facing each other in the rainy night, staying awake the entire time. The rain that night was just like now, dripping incessantly—that sound remains like a curse to me. The sticky, damp chill of the rainwater that night was etched directly into my bones, making me lose sleep every time this kind of drizzly season comes around."
Xu Miyu looked at Ji Feng. She now understood that his insomnia wasn't pretentiousness or some rich person's ailment—it was the heavy wounds his irresponsible parents had branded onto his spirit and heart during his childhood.
She gently stroked his cheek, comforting him.
"Don't worry about me, I'm doing well now." Ji Feng looked at Xu Miyu's pained expression and comforted her instead. "You always said I woke you up, saving you from your original family. But actually, you woke me up too, helping me deal with my own family issues."
Ji Feng asked Xu Miyu: "Do you remember our conversation in the hotel suite on your birthday? You made me realize something - I used to criticize you for not being able to cut ties with your problematic family, but wasn't I the same? You helped me, someone too close to see clearly, understand what needed to be done. After that conversation, I went on a business trip. When I returned, I told my mother she had to choose between me and my father. I made her understand how she had been hurting me since childhood, that she had always been a selfish mother. If she ever tried to use me to bring my father back home again, I would completely sever ties with her and this family."
After a pause, Ji Feng's expression showed relief born of hardship: "You know, that night my mother cried silently for a long time. She began to wake up. She confessed her regrets about hurting me since childhood, finally realizing it wasn't worth damaging her son for such a husband. And from that day on, she truly never used me as a bargaining chip to make my father return home again."
"Miyu," he reached up to stroke her cheek, his eyes filled with gratitude and tenderness, "Actually, it wasn't me who changed you - it was you who changed me!"
He took her hand and pressed it gently to his lips.
"And it should be me thanking you. Thank you for being with me during this sleepless night when insomnia struck again, Miyu!"
They gazed at each other as if looking at their wounded childhood selves. They came together in a kiss, offering each other's once-hurt souls the tenderest comfort.
They closed their eyes and kissed thoroughly and lingeringly - a gentle, emotional, prolonged kiss where their lips seemed to whisper silent promises of eternity.
When Xu Miyu opened her eyes again, it was already morning. The sky remained overcast, and rain continued to fall.
The bedside was empty - Ji Feng had already left, but last night's tender intimacy still tingled through Xu Miyu's body and soul. On the bedside table lay a note Ji Feng had left for her.
He told her: "I wanted to let you sleep longer, so I didn't wake you. I've gone on a business trip. Wait for my return - I have something to tell you."
Xu Miyu looked at the note and smiled from the bottom of her heart.
She seemed to know what he wanted to say.
OpenNovel