097

She called out his name softly, over and over, until at last a hoarse voice answered from the dark bedroom.

She switched on the living room light and went toward the bedroom.

Inside, the room was black. The lamp was off, and the moment she stepped in, she reached for the switch.

Xin Xin was lying face-down on the bed, her head buried in the pillow, not moving at all.

“Xin Xin, what happened?” Xia Yuwei came over, sat on the edge of the bed, and put a hand on her shoulder. Her state looked terrible. Her voice was ragged, and her whole body seemed weak and boneless, as though all strength had gone out of her. It had nothing to do with Xia Yuwei herself, and yet seeing Xin Xin like this, clearly hurt, filled her with guilt. She regretted not stopping that reckless act.

Xin Xin rolled over and looked at her.

Xia Yuwei was wearing a beautiful dark-purple gown and a white coat, her straight hair falling over her shoulders. She looked bright and young, full of life. But only on closer inspection could one see the fatigue deep in her eyes, and the slight puffiness around them.

Why had it come to this? Why did everyone have to suffer so? Xin Xin thought, her heart aching bitterly. Xia Yuwei, after all, was her best friend. Why should the two of them both be in pain? And Xia Yuwei, if you had been honest with me earlier, perhaps I would not have fallen so deeply. In your heart, was I really your best friend?

“Yuwei, he doesn’t want me anymore. He’s abandoned me again...” Xin Xin threw herself into Xia Yuwei’s arms and murmured the words.

“What happened?” Xia Yuwei forced herself to stay calm.

“He knew what he was doing, Lu Yichen did. He only likes my body, so he took me. But after he got up, he still wanted to abandon me. He doesn’t want to take responsibility for me. He just shouted at me, pushed me down off the bed, and said I seduced him. That it was my own fault.

“Today he had someone send me a gold card worth ten million—he used ten million to buy my first night...

“Tell me, what kind of man is he? Is he a devil...?”

Xin Xin herself no longer knew which of her words were true and which were not. She only held onto Xia Yuwei, as though she had already cried herself dry.

The next day.

The gleaming gold bank card lay on the nightstand beside the bed, proof that Xin Xin’s words were no lie.

Hearing her desolate tone, Xia Yuwei felt a chill run through her heart. She could not tell what she was feeling—whether it was sorrow for Xin Xin, or for herself, or for Lu Yichen.

Though she had spent the entire day trying to adjust herself, trying hard to forget, she was still nothing more than a cowardly quail, unable to face reality. She feared injury, feared pain, and did not want to confront the cruel truth. Why, then, was she still forced to face it again and again, as though someone, deliberately or not, kept reminding her—so that she longed to flee, yet had nowhere to go?

“Yuwei, comfort me,” Xin Xin said, as if she had not noticed Xia Yuwei’s reaction, and clutched at her hand without letting go.

Xia Yuwei said nothing. She bit her lip. She did not know whether she should sympathize with her friend, or whether she should be angry and disgusted by Lu Yichen’s behavior. In any case, she was truly vexed.

“Yuwei, why aren’t you speaking? Don’t you want to stand up for me? Don’t you want to go and curse him out?”

“I do...” Xia Yuwei said.

She really did want to curse him.

He was a bastard. A cowardly bastard who dared to do but not to own up. A wretched troublemaker. A decadent rich brat. An unreliable lecher...

Just like her mother said, he was an unreliable man. A childish little boy, not even grown up, a child from a rich family who thought money could solve everything and who cared about nothing at all.

In short, Lu Yichen had been cursed in her heart with every insult she could summon. And still it was not enough. What was she supposed to do?

“Then help me find him. Help me curse him. Help me get even!” Xin Xin suddenly seemed to look forward to the two of them meeting again.

“Fine. I’ll call him right now and curse him out!” Xia Yuwei pulled out her phone and dialed Lu Yichen’s number, ready to say everything she had been holding back and vent her anger.

“The number you have dialed is switched off.”

The phone answered in a cold, standard female voice.

He had learned that trick too.

“See? He’s guilty, so he switched off his phone,” Xia Yuwei said. “Tomorrow, then. After class tomorrow, let’s go find him together and settle this.”

“No. From now on, I never want to see him again. Not even once,” Xin Xin said bitterly. She had never seen such a despicable man. “You go for me. I trust you.”

I trust that your meeting will be very pleasant.

The day broke. Another day had come.

Today was the opening ceremony of the Global Horticultural Expo. Her parents would never miss such a lively event. But Xia Yuwei had no interest in it. Early in the morning, she called to say that her classes were packed today and she could not keep them company. Besides, her foot still hurt, and they knew that. Her mother said that Senior Ye Lifeng was with them, so there was no need for her to worry.

In class, the boys who secretly admired Xia Yuwei all noticed that the beauty who had always seemed to wear a faint smile, warm and easy to approach, had somehow lost that expression over the past few days. Her face seemed colder now, with a hint of chill in it. And Xin Xin, her good friend, had not come to class today either. The two of them almost looked as though they had arranged it between them: when one came, the other left; when one came, the other was gone...

Tuesday’s schedule was full, and she stayed busy until afternoon. In the final class, Xia Yuwei chose to slip away without a sound. She knew that if she attended the last lesson, the figure waiting for her outside the door would surely be Ye Lifeng. But today, the person she wanted to see was Lu Yichen.

She wanted to see him because of Xin Xin, but even more because she wanted to see him herself, to curse him, to make things clear between them. Yes, it was foolish—but there was nothing she could do. If she did not see him, she felt she might go mad.

So, since his phone would not connect, she went directly to his residence.

The door opened. Lu Yichen looked at Xia Yuwei with complete calm.

“It’s you. What are you doing here?” He seemed not to know her at all.

Xia Yuwei stepped inside and walked toward the living room.

“I came to see you. To settle accounts.”

Behind her, Lu Yichen closed the door.