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墨書 Inktalez
"What do you mean?"
An Shaojie had always been annoyed by Xu Wen's ability to remain calm. It was like this during their school days, and after so many years, he was still the same. If others didn't speak first, he would never break the silence.
In the end, An Shaojie couldn't hold it in any longer and raised his voice a few notches.
"Sit down first," Xu Wen said, pulling on An Shaojie. "Can't you just talk to me calmly?"
An Shaojie shrugged his elbow away but his tone softened considerably. "Don't pull me around; we're both men."
After sitting down, the two fell into silence, looking at each other.
Finally, it was Xu Wen who smiled first. He then reached out, gave An Shaojie a light pat on the shoulder, and hugged him, saying, "An Shaojie, long time no see."
Xu Wen's heartfelt and sincere words stirred some emotions in An Shaojie, bringing back memories that made his eyes slightly moist. However, due to his nature, he still didn't know how to respond to Xu Wen's emotional hug and sudden wave of sentimentality. He stood stiffly while Xu Wen held him tightly.
Once their emotions settled and they sat down again, Xu Wen was the first to speak. "Are you really planning to leave without saying a word?"
An Shaojie looked ahead at the people coming and going. "Who do I need to say goodbye to? You? Or someone else?" He suddenly smiled brightly and turned to Xu Wen. "Our relationship in college didn't seem close enough for that, did it? After graduating, we haven't kept in touch or built any friendship; it shouldn't matter that much."
"You didn't leave right after graduation either, did you?" The sunlight outside was bright and shone through the glass ceiling into the waiting area, making it somewhat dazzling and hot. Xu Wen squinted as he adjusted his black t-shirt clinging to him.
"I originally wanted to have a heart-to-heart with you when we graduated, but who knew you would run off abroad before that day came?" Xu Wen said with a self-deprecating smile.
An Shaojie lowered his head in silence as memories flashed through his mind; his expression appeared somewhat sorrowful.
"Today probably isn't a good time for reminiscing," he said as he grabbed his suitcase and walked toward security.
"An Shaojie." Xu Wen stood up and called out from behind him. "I know you're the one who donated bone marrow to Beautiful."
The sound of the suitcase rolling on the ground abruptly stopped. An Shaojie's back stiffened for a moment before he slowly turned around. "So what if I donated?"
"Also, the reason our company was able to find a partner in Beijing so quickly is because you were secretly helping, right?" Xu Wen shouted loudly behind An Shaojie.
An Shaojie's footsteps did not stop due to Xu Wen's shouting; he continued walking forward, and the sound of his suitcase rolling on the ground echoed again, though not as forcefully or urgently as before.
"You should have talked to the doctor about how a patient's psychology affects their post-operative reactions after a Bone Marrow Transplant," Xu Wen continued to shout without giving him a moment to think.
A few minutes later.
In a café near the airport.
Xu Wen told An Shaojie everything that had happened between him and Qinglan over the years.
In the end, he asked, "You love her, don't you?"
Tears immediately streamed down An Shaojie's face.
He had held back for a long time, reluctant to nod, but he still lowered his proud and heavy head, then raised it again, and with determination, nodded once more.
This was perhaps the most difficult yet sincere nod of An Shaojie's life. He rarely yielded to others and seldom exposed the fragile emotions he had hidden so well. However, under Xu Wen's sincere and honest gaze, he lowered his head for the first time in front of someone else.
He leaned his elbows on the table and began to sob.
Xu Wen handed him a tissue. "Clearly you really like someone, clearly you love her, why do you have to torment yourself like this and make her suffer too?"
After crying for a while, he finally lifted his head; his eyes were slightly red and swollen after just a short time.
"Why are you telling me all this? Don't you love her too? And she's married to you now; there's no point in saying this to me," An Shaojie said.
"I am married to her, but I can only say that we are merely a couple in name; we just received a red certificate," Xu Wen said with a bitter smile and shook his head.
An Shaojie looked at Xu Wen in surprise, "You... she... what happened?" This news was shocking to An Shaojie, but there was also a hint of surprise and excitement.
"Because the person she loves is you," Xu Wen said with a somewhat sorrowful smile.
Then, Xu Wen recounted to An Shaojie the time before he and Qinglan got married and the reactions and actions of Qinglan on their wedding night.
A scene flashed through An Shaojie's mind from when he returned to Liu Family Village, "Beautiful must really like you. She wouldn't have reacted that way just to stop you from marrying her, right?"
Xu Wen smiled helplessly and sadly, "Yes, before coming to Beijing, she liked me very much. She even hoped that I would get along well with her Mama. But after coming to Beijing, she didn't want me to be close to her Mama anymore. Although she still likes me, she has someone else she likes even more."
"Maybe the situation isn't as you imagine," An Shaojie said uncertainly. "Beautiful is still just a child. Her actions might just be an instinctive reaction out of fear of losing love, afraid that her Mama will stop loving her after marrying you, afraid that you will take her Mama away. You should communicate with her more and explain that even after you marry her Mama, you will still love her very much. Perhaps she just can't accept it for now."
Xu Wen sighed, "If it were just Beautiful's issue, it wouldn't be this serious. A child can't break apart a love between two people who truly care for each other. The main problem isn't with Beautiful; it's with Qinglan. After so many years together, we should have had many opportunities to get married, but... there’s only one explanation: she doesn't love me."
An Shaojie wanted to interrupt Xu Wen, but Xu Wen raised his hand to signal him to continue speaking. "Let’s not say she doesn’t love me outright, but at least we can say that she hasn’t let go of you in her heart. She has been waiting for you. A person can only accept a new relationship after the previous one has ended. Her unwillingness to truly accept my feelings only shows that she hasn't finished with her past relationship."
Xu Wen stared into An Shaojie's eyes while An Shaojie looked down.
"You saw Beautiful during her first hospitalization, right?" Xu Wen asked while playing with the cup in his hand.
"Yeah," An Shaojie responded with a sound from his nose.
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