Meng Weixi sneered, "Brother Zhou, how are you any different from me now? According to you, the name Zhao Xiyin had nothing to do with you three years ago. Neither of us is more noble than the other. Her real boyfriend back then was still alive. How long have you been thinking about her? What have you done? Have you really forgotten?"
Zhou Qishen narrowed his eyes, sparks flying from them. "Back then, she was my rightful wife. How long have you been clinging to that memory? Have you forgotten what you've done?"
Meng Weixi's expression remained unchanged, showing complete composure.
Zhou Qishen was enraged by his attitude. The reason for his divorce from Zhao Xiyin had become a dead end. Years had passed, his family was broken up, his lover was gone, and he had too many regrets in his life. This was the biggest price he had paid. Zhou Qishen was not afraid of the future, but he was truly bothered by the past.
A man's pride is limited to his career and women.
He had slapped Meng Weixi in the face, and Meng Weixi, being a gentleman who takes revenge even after ten years, returned the favor with a resounding slap.
When Zhou Qishen and Zhao Xiyin broke up, it was such an ugly scene. It was like a dagger in his heart, still secretly digging at his bones and reminding him of the old wound.
"During the Spring Festival of 2016, you called my house right at midnight, Meng Weixi. Do you know what you were doing?" Zhou Qishen said through gritted teeth. "Don't you know how to avoid suspicion, or don't you know she's already married?"
Meng Weixi's gaze was fixed straight on him. "You really think I didn't see the messages you sent her when Xiaoxi and I were on vacation at Mangshan? Brother Zhou, you've been going through my Moments a lot, haven't you? You even liked the posts I made when Xiaoxi and I had just gotten together. She was mine back then, not yours!"
Zhou Qishen's face was gloomy and he remained silent.
"You covet what you can't resist, and once you get it, you don't cherish it. Zhou Qishen, why do you think you get all the good things in the world? Believe it or not, she didn't reply to a single message I sent her during the Spring Festival of 2016. Your distrust of her is your narrow-mindedness and prejudice, and you deserve to lose this good girl. As for now, Zhao Xiyin is divorced and single, so it's perfectly reasonable for me to pursue her. I don't need to report to you."
When Meng Weixi said these words, he was calm and resolute, as if the principles of Heaven were clear.
Zhou Qishen's emotions calmed down, a smile gradually appearing on his face as he leisurely stood up. He lightly braced his hands on the table, slightly bent over, and looked Meng Weixi in the eye, his gaze dark and hard. "Then you can try. If you lose to me once, be prepared to lose a second time. I'll bet with you, bet on who Zhao Xiyin's heart truly belongs to—do you dare?"
Meng Weixi's expression changed subtly.
Zhou Qishen saw through his confidence at a glance and became even more disdainful.
He finished the rest of his tea, then loosened his grip on the bone china cup, letting it fall and shatter.
The harsh sound ended the conversation, leaving a less-than-pleasant conclusion. Zhou Qishen seemed to have the upper hand, but the next second he looked like he was about to slam the door in frustration. Before his hand could even touch the doorknob, Meng Weixi suddenly said, "Are you also having someone investigate Washington, Los Angeles, the places Zhao Xiyin stayed three years ago?"
Zhou Qishen suddenly stopped, unable to move forward, his feet sinking deep into the ground.
"Do you firmly believe that Xiao west gave birth to your child?" Meng Weixi said, enunciating each word clearly.
Zhou Qishen turned around and punched him, yelling, "Can you fucking stop thinking about her?! Can you stop?!"
Blood trickled down the corner of her mouth. Meng Weixi wiped it away with the back of her hand and retaliated with a backhand strike, "Zhou Qishen! Keep dreaming! You don't deserve it, you don't deserve it!"
Meng Weixi's outburst was like that of a ferocious beast. He grabbed Zhou Qishen by the collar and shoved him against the wall. His eyes were red, red enough to bleed—"You two had a child. When you didn't trust Xiaoxi and pushed her to the ground, hurting her, she was already pregnant."
Zhou Qishen's resistance froze instantly, his breath trembling. "What the hell are you talking about?!"
"You argue with her every day, you doubt her every day, you exhaust her without her even realizing it. Are you even human? Huh? You still have the nerve to ask the child for help? The child is incredibly unlucky to have a father like you!"
Meng Weixi still remembered the news Guan Qian brought last night.
Zhao Xiyin was injured by a shattered glass cabinet during an argument with Zhou Qishen. After receiving basic treatment at a private hospital, she went abroad and spent two months in the United States before signing the divorce agreement with Zhou Qishen.
In fact, those injuries were not serious, but they were like a separation, a ritual to sever ties. In a sense, they completely exhausted the little affection left between them.
There are no more husbands and wives in the world, only strangers.
During that period, Zhao Xiyin felt unwell. She told Zhao Lingxia that her period was irregular, late, and she only bled a little each day. Zhao Lingxia didn't care about that and spent 24 hours a day verbally abusing Zhou Qishen.
At the wedding, he threatened to break Zhao Xiyin's legs if she treated him badly. Zhao Lingxia actually intended to do just that. She contacted a friend in Beijing, asking to use her connections and to give him a quote.
Just as the plan was starting to take shape, Zhao Xiyin was hospitalized.
Zhao Lingxia had never been a mother, and the words "miscarriage" were like a blow to her head.
Guan Qian told Meng Weixi everything he could find out: the child was miscarried naturally, the hospital said it was a natural selection process, and even with careful care, it might not have survived. The only mistake was discovering it too late, which damaged her health.
Of course, Meng Weixi wouldn't tell Zhou Qishen this part.
No amount of explanation can absolve him of his dereliction of duty as a husband.
"You keep saying you love her, but you don't trust her. You can't even protect your own children and wife. Where do you get the audacity to pursue her again? You bet with me on who her heart belongs to. I know I'll lose. But I won't lose to you; I'll only lose to Xiaoxi's deep affection."
The thrill of turning the tide had vanished. Meng Weixi's voice trembled. He had truly felt the pain of losing eight hundred of his own men in the process of killing a thousand enemies. "Zhou Qishen, ask yourself honestly, did you really understand her? In the years she was with you, how many of those times did you make her happy?"
It fell silent.
Even the occasional sounds outside the door seemed faint and ethereal. Zhou Qishen felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on his heart, leaving him no room to breathe or protest. Old fragments shattered and reappeared: Zhao Xiyin's weeping face, her lying amidst the broken glass, the resolute look in her eyes the day she signed the divorce papers…
During their fiercest argument, Zhou Qishen was so angry that he lost his mind and blurted out, "What? Meng Weixi has been abroad for so long, and you're still thinking about your first love?"
"The message he sent you could be an essay, right? Aren't you super happy?"
"You're only willing to marry me out of spite, is that it?"
"Zhao Xiyin, I will always love you more than you love me!"
The scenes pressed down one after another. This was the most heart-wrenching sentence Zhou Qishen had ever uttered in his life, but now it felt like slaps to his face, clearly and loudly reminding him how absurd and self-righteous he had been back then.
Zhou Qishen suddenly understood everything.
Dr. Ji Furong's evasive words, Zhao Xiyin's declining health after returning to Beijing, and Zhao Lingxia's constant sarcastic glances...
He understood everything.
Meng Weixi loosened his fist, his eyes filled with endless hatred. As he left, he didn't look back, only saying one sentence.
“Zhou Qishen, whether you did it intentionally or unintentionally, you are not a good husband. You have no ability to love, only arrogance and domineering behavior. You don’t even know how to love her, you are truly pathetic.”
The door opened, and the cold winter wind howled in.