Chapter 83: Now Let Me Love You

Shen Yanlie certainly hadn’t forgotten that Mai Xijun suffered from night blindness. His lips curled ever so slightly. “You silly little rabbit pig. You clearly need the nourishment of meat, yet you stubbornly insist on only eating carrots.”

What nonsense. Mai Xijun paid him no mind and went straight to the sofa, settling herself and pulling the plush bear into her arms.

“Where did you go today?” she asked, picking an orange from the fruit platter and beginning to peel it, not bothering to look at Shen Yanlie.

But Mai Xijun failed to notice Shen Yanlie’s somber expression as he stared at the coat rack. His face, as always, was frosted and inscrutable—one could never tell how much his mood had shifted from before.

“Tomorrow’s the weekend. I won’t have to work, right?” Seeing Shen Yanlie ignore her, Mai Xijun pressed on. She was still considering another visit to the rehab center, but Shen Yanlie was such an oddball, a true eccentric. What if he demanded a hundred yuan per minute again? She was flat broke and couldn’t pay him.

“You may. One hundred yuan per minute.”

“….”

The orange she had just bitten into flooded her mouth with sweet and sour juice, but upon hearing those damned words, everything suddenly lost its flavor.

“What exactly is my job? Assistants and secretaries in other companies work nine to five, with weekends off. Why don’t I?” Mai Xijun protested for herself. Even if he paid her overtime, it wouldn’t help; she needed free time lately for her own affairs.

“Because you belong to me.” Shen Yanlie turned away and slowly walked toward Mai Xijun, gripping her chin. “If you weren’t mine, it wouldn’t matter. But if you are mine, then you can only be mine.”

It was his fierce, domineering possessiveness. As a man of ambition, he could never tolerate his woman being fickle. In declaring ownership, he would always follow through with action.

The silver-gray suit hanging on the rack, and her waving goodbye to a car as he arrived at the company that morning—all evidence that there were other men around her…

His silence didn’t mean he could ignore it. In a certain sense, Shen Yanlie was far from generous, at least in matters of the heart.

Mai Xijun frowned, for Shen Yanlie had suddenly grown cruel, his chilling presence reminiscent of the first time they met—no tenderness, no affection. It was as if, should she abandon him one day, she’d be courting disaster.

“I’m tired. I want to sleep.” Shen Yanlie abruptly released her chin and walked to the bed, laying down without another word.

At some point, a thin mist seemed to cloud Mai Xijun’s vision.

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Saturday morning arrived, and Mai Xijun was unable to escape the tragic fate of going to work. Shen Yanlie woke before her; naturally, when she rose, the room was already empty.

Yet she distinctly remembered falling asleep on the sofa last night—how had she awakened in bed? Could it have been Shen Yanlie, that scoundrel, who carried her there?

Mai Xijun immediately looked down to check her clothes. Well, she’d overthought it… Shen Yanlie was, in fact, a gentleman.

﹡　﹡　﹡　﹡　﹡

As the saying goes, the day’s plan starts in the morning. Mai Xijun was vexed and troubled, her brows knit from dawn until she entered the office, never once relaxing.

She gently pushed open the office door, and the composure she’d carefully gathered froze the instant she saw what lay ahead. Her steps faltered, for the vivid tableau before her was something she could not accept...

Yuwen Si had been attentively watching Xie Yunting’s every move, until the sound of the door brought his gaze to Mai Xijun. He wanted to speak, but in the end, words caught in his throat.

“I’m sorry, Yanlie. These years have been hard on you…” Tears slid from Xie Yunting’s eyes as she clung to Shen Yanlie’s narrow waist, pressing herself against his strong back.

Shen Yanlie said nothing, but his usual cold expression could not conceal the pain that twisted within him. A deep furrow marked his brow. If only he could be as ruthless toward the woman he once loved as he was in the business world—he would have pushed her away long ago.

Or perhaps she would never have appeared before him again.

Mo Shaoxing glanced repeatedly at Mai Xijun, wanting to approach but afraid to disturb Xie Yunting’s monologue. In the end, he chose to remain quietly in place.

“Yanlie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you. Even though I know there’s another woman at your side now, I still can’t let you go… I’ve thought for so long, and I want to confess everything to you. Now… now, I only beg you for time to explain. Don’t interrupt me, just listen in silence.”

Xie Yunting spoke each word with a slight tremor, tears falling like rain.

After steadying herself, she slowly released her hold on Shen Yanlie’s waist, stepped past him, and stood before him.

Mai Xijun held her breath, her eyes wide in shock. Yet Shen Yanlie failed to notice her—failed to notice she was even there.

“Five years ago, I didn’t leave you for a dream. You know my health has never been strong. Before pursuing further studies, I had to undergo a physical, and the results showed my immune system was deteriorating. The doctor said if I didn’t seek treatment promptly, it would only get worse. I love you. I wanted, even in old age, to show you my best and most beautiful self.

But this wish came at a price. I didn’t want you to see me growing weaker, so I used the excuse of going abroad to leave you. Yanlie, I never intended to leave you. I was so proud—how could I let you witness me suffering, so wretched from illness?”

How could she? Without your love, my pride, my pain, my confusion, my dreams—none of it would be so poignant.

While she spoke, Xie Yunting’s tears did not flow in torrents. It was as if she were simply recounting, her hands entwined with Shen Yanlie’s, holding them in her palms and gazing up at him.

In Xie Yunting’s world, Shen Yanlie was nothing short of a god.

That man, like a deity, wore an air of tranquility. In the depths of his dark eyes, memories flickered, making his gaze shimmer, waves of tenderness rising and falling.

“These five years, the person you saw wasn’t the real me. Those scenes of performances were all meticulously arranged by my father for me. I’ve spent these years undergoing various treatments, but I feared you’d hate or resent me, so I repeatedly showed you only the side of me that seemed to be thriving. Every major performance cost me so much energy to recover…

Yanlie, I haven’t returned to beg you—I’ve come, carrying my love for you, to tell you that I never truly left…”

With that, it seemed as if the uneasy atmosphere in the air stilled for a moment. Hidden pain stirred in Mai Xijun’s heart, yet she could do nothing. She was helpless.

It hurt so much… She had promised herself and him that, as long as he was sincere, she would never betray him. But now she found herself fighting alone, because his beloved had left only because she was forced to.

Mai Xijun’s pain was far greater than her calm exterior suggested. How strong must she be to hold back her tears, when she was so prone to crying…

Such tender affection—Mai Xijun, from her vantage point, could see it all.

The office held five people, none fully untouched by the moment. Even Mo Shaoxing, witnessing his little Pudding’s sorrow, slowly stepped toward her. He wished always to stand behind her, even if only silently, even if the whole world turned its back on her, he would never forsake her.

“Yanlie, we’ve known each other so many years. You should know I’d never lie to you. Moreover… my heart, it is still burning. Every time I see you, it beats uncontrollably. It still remembers you…”

Xie Yunting gripped Shen Yanlie’s left hand, raising it and placing it over her heart. Though the touch was gentle, it was nonetheless fervent, her heartbeat wild and erratic beneath his palm.

The chaos and pain lasted only a moment. Watching this scene, Mai Xijun wanted to turn and leave, but her feet felt impossibly heavy, as if filled with molten lead.

Unable to leave, unable to let go…

Xie Yunting was so thin, not as tall as Mai Xijun, nor as full. Yet standing before Shen Yanlie, her porcelain skin, upturned face, and childlike delicacy made her seem created to be cherished in the palm of his hand.

Shen Yanlie, so deeply passionate, a master of cooking, though fierce and sometimes harsh, had somehow been cataloged by Mai Xijun as one of the ‘good ones.’

At the very least, he always appeared when she needed him most, always pulling her from the depths of her distress.

“Let’s be together. Start over. This time, let me love you.”

With that, Xie Yunting rose onto her toes, her hand tightly holding Shen Yanlie’s, slowly moving toward his face… Mai Xijun’s aching eyes watched the moment unfold, unable to blink, as if her entire being was no longer under her own command. But in the next instant, she was swallowed by darkness.