Back Then, I Adored You

While Wu Hao clearly understood Lu Bancheng’s intentions, when hearing the words spoken, he was deeply impacted by what Lu Bancheng said.

“My sacrifice needs to be more worthy. If I implicate her in my current state, then what’s the point of my sacrifice?”

“Sacrifice”… I kidnapped Xu Wennuan through Jiang Qianqian so that I could play the knight who rescues the damsel in distress. I even intentionally injured myself to win her heart and be with her again. But with a twist of fate, Lu Bancheng was the one who rescued Xu Wennuan instead. He clearly has a good excuse to hold onto Xu Wennuan, yet he has chosen to give up, while the only thing I’ve been trying to do is win her over.

Lu Bancheng merely wants her to have a good life, but alI I want is to satisfy myself…

Lu Bancheng had only been describing his heartfelt intentions, but Wu Hao now felt even more ashamed of himself than he had at the word “continue” that had shamed him earlier. Wu Hao was at a complete lost for words.

When Lu Bancheng noticed that Wu Hao had remained quiet for some time, he broke the silence. “This is the last thing that I can do for her. I hope that you can help me out since I’m a willing party and this is something that you would be more than happy to see happen, isn’t it?”

“More than happy to see…”

When Wu Hao heard these words, he yearned to find a hole and hide in it. He balled up his hands, which were slouched on either side of his body, into and out of fists several times before he said to Lu Bancheng in a rattled tone that he was leaving, that he had other appointments. He then immediately turned and hurried toward the door without a word of goodbye.

Out of panic and hurry, he didn’t even tie his shoes after changing out of the slippers, but he pushed open the door anyway and fled. He hurried out of the building, ran all the way back to his car, and sped off before even daring to pause for a breath of air.

After driving some distance, Wu Hao finally exhaled slowly and stopped the car by the side of the road. He sat motionlessly and stared straight out the window at the radiant sun. He only came back to his senses when his phone had rung eight times. Glancing at the screen, he saw it was his secretary. When he answered, his secretary urged him to hurry back for a meeting.

Wu Hao ended the call and was about to start the engine when suddenly he grasped his chest. His withdrawal symptoms were kicking in again with a vengeance. He then spent a long, torturous time in convulsions before he got through the withdrawal hell and recovered to the point that he could begin to regain his breath.

He lifted his head up as he panted and, through the rearview mirror, caught a shocking reflection of himself. His eyes were bloodshot, and one corner of his lips was a bloody mess from him biting it so hard to bear the pain. A bruise had already formed on his fair forehead from when he had slammed his head onto the steering wheel during the peak of his torment.

Wu Hao stared at the rearview mirror for a moment. Then, as if the person he had seen was not himself, he whipped out a tissue and calmly cleaned the blood off the corner of his lips before he stepped on the accelerator and drove toward his office.

On his way there, he casually caught a glimpse of the words “Drug Rehabilitation Center” through his rearview mirror. He subconsciously tapped on the brakes and, for a moment, his expression seemed distant. Then, he pressed the accelerator to get to his office.

…

Xu Wennuan was at home for two full days while she rested her twisted ankle. When she was almost able to walk normally, she wore flats on the weekend when she went out to meet Qin Zhi’ai for dinner.

Qin Zhi’ai, delayed by Little Peanut when she was about to leave the house, was late by the time she arrived at the restaurant. Xu Wennuan had already waited for her for half an hour.