Back Then, I Adored You

He wanted to hate her and give her a hard time. He had given her some very difficult times in the past, but he had always felt worse than anyone when she was sad. He also wanted to torture her, but in the end he knew that he was the one who would feel tortured.

Last night when she had no other option but to force herself to ask him for help for her father, she had to deeply swallow her pride to do so. He should have felt pleased and flattered, as he had always wanted her and his opportunity had finally arrived, but when he had realized that she was offering only her body in the deal, he had become angry. When she had forced herself to kiss him, he had felt pathetic. These resentments had steered his ruthlessness at her later on.

After he had left the apartment, all he could think about was her big, wounded eyes. He had started to regret his actions and become upset.

I played hard because last night I hated her. I was cold and gave her the impression I didn’t care about her father, but the truth is I’m worried about her. She’s so distraught over her father’s illness and so desperate when she though I wouldn’t help. And… Does she even have food to eat?

Lu Bancheng tried to put himself in her shoes. He remembered how intense he felt when he had watched her crying and squatting in the middle of the street. Suddenly, all his worries erupted at that moment. He couldn’t care less about his painful past with her. He turned the water off, opened the restroom door, and dashed into his office.

His secretary followed after him when she saw him heading into his office. She reminded him that everyone was still waiting for him to continue the meeting in the conference room. So overwhelmed, he couldn’t even give a simple instruction to her to dismiss the meeting. He grabbed his car key and ran out of his office to the elevator.

After the elevator door opened at the underground parking lot level, Lu Bancheng ran to his car and took off so quickly that he didn’t even fasten his seatbelt before he headed to Xu Wennuan’s apartment.

Rush hour traffic had just begun, and Lu Bancheng was anxiously beeping his horn in vain. Stuck in traffic, he decided he was close enough to her apartment complex, so he navigated his car to the side of the road, parked it, and took off running to her complex.

Within 10 minutes he had covered more than a mile, at which point he stopped across the street from Xu Wennuan’s complex at a red light. He tried to catch his breath while waiting, and he took off immediately when the light turned green.

The street was wide, and halfway across he had to wait for a car that ran a red light. After it passed and he started running again, he stopped in his tracks. A familiar car was parked at the apartment complex’s entrance.

When the driver side door opened, Wu Hao got out and then walked across the front of the car to the back seat on the passenger side and opened it. Lu Bancheng predicted what would happen next, held his breath, and waited. Ten seconds later, Xu Wennuan got out of the car. She talked with Wu Hao by the car before she turned around and walked to the complex entrance. Wu Hao followed her.

Lu Bancheng stared at them until he could not see them anymore. He suddenly was aware that his blood had turned cold sometime not long ago.