While they were chatting, a few people were drinking and playing games. Someone lost and refused to accept the punishment, so the others ganged up on him, pushing and shoving him while laughing.
Several coats that were on the back of the sofa had fallen to the floor.
They drank quite a bit, and as the alcohol took effect, they started tearing off whatever they could find – collars or hems – and throwing them onto the back of the sofa. A wallet fell off one of the pieces.
I don't know which piece of clothing it came from.
The man picked it up; the wallet was face down on the ground. He looked at it and saw a photo. "Mo Yushen, your wallet."
Mo Yushen turned around; that wasn't his wallet.
The man walked over, still looking at the photos. "Xi Jia is not only handsome when riding a horse, but he's also incredibly handsome when skiing. He's my idol." He reeked of alcohol, but wasn't drunk.
Only when he got closer did Mo Yushen see the wallet clearly.
This is Cheng Weimo's; he's seen it.
Ji Qingshi turned to the side and glanced at the photo, which was a picture of Xi Jia skiing in Switzerland.
Mo Yushen looked at Cheng Weimo, and Cheng Weimo was also looking at him.
A noisy private room.
At this moment, it seemed as if only the two of them were there.
The man handed the wallet to Mo Yushen, who took it, got up, went around to the back of the sofa, and put the wallet inside Cheng Weimo's coat.
Jiang Qin felt a fear she had never experienced before—a fear that the two of them would become strangers. The reason she hated Xi Jia in the first place was precisely because she feared that day would come.
She'd seen it all before; she'd seen two brothers turn against each other over a woman.
Jiang Qin patted Cheng Weiming's arm, "I'm here for you too."
Cheng Weimo smiled and said, "It's nothing."
There are some things that are inconvenient to say in a private room, but I have to say them tonight.
He picked up a glass of wine and gestured to Mo Yushen across the distance.
Mo Yushen stood up and walked out on his own.
Ji Qingshi didn't realize it and thought they were going to talk about something related to Xiang Luo.
Jiang Qin followed them out.
The door closed.
Cheng Weiming turned around. "What are you doing out here?"
Jiang Qin said, "I came out for some fresh air; it's stuffy in the private room." She strode up to Mo Yushen and grabbed his arm. "It's a misunderstanding."
Mo Yushen did not respond.
We found a quiet corner.
Neither of them looked at the other; they were both staring out the window.
Jiang Qin tugged at Mo Yushen's sleeve. "I'm talking to you! I did all this. I've disliked Xi Jia for a long time, you know that. I was afraid that Cheng Weimo and you would both find me annoying and ignore me in the end, so I came up with this terrible idea. That way, once Xi Jia recovers, you can divorce her, and I'll be happy. That's how it is. Cheng Weimo doesn't know anything about these photos."
Jiang Qin spoke incoherently, even she herself was confused.
She didn't know what photo of Xi Jia Cheng Weimo had put in his wallet.
Mo Yushen then turned to look at Jiang Qin, "Make sure you understand the logic before you start making up lies."
Cheng Weiming pulled Jiang Qin aside, saying, "Don't make things worse, let's go back to the private room."
Jiang Qin's eyes reddened. "Can you two please stop arguing and making things awkward? Cheng Weiming liked Xi Jia, but that was before you met Xi Jia. After that, he kept everything to himself. Who's to blame? Nobody's to blame. It's because Xi Jia lost her memory later. And it's because you fell in love with Xi Jia too. What else can you do?"
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face.
She wasn't this heartbroken when she broke up with her first love.
It looked like their relationship of more than 20 years was about to collapse.
Cheng Weimo rubbed her head. "Let's go inside. It's not as serious as you think."
Jiang Qin took a deep breath and said to Cheng Weiming, "I've taken Xi Jia's photos. My assistant is a big fan of Xi Jia and says she has stunning beauty, so I'm giving the photos to her."
She turned and left.
The atmosphere was silent.
Cheng Weimo swirled his wine glass, gazing at the view outside the window, which seemed illusory.
"That was taken when I first met Xi Jia and a few friends were skiing together." He has never been willing to throw it away.
Later, Xi Jia returned to Beijing and joined a club invested in by Mo Yushen, where he served as the club's legal advisor. The two had more contact than when they were abroad.
So he asked Xi Jia out for dinner on the weekend, using the opportunity to confess his feelings.
He knew Xi Jia liked writing scripts, so he planned to go see a musical after dinner.
I specifically asked Jiang Qin for help and got two tickets for the best seats.
To his surprise, before the weekend even arrived, Jiang Qin called him and said that Xi Jia and Mo Yushen had gone on a blind date and decided to get married.
Sometimes life is more unexpected and exciting than a script.
"I'm sorry," Cheng Weiming apologized. He shouldn't have kept that photo.
Mo Yushen didn't know what to say either, and he still hadn't calmed down. Xi Jia had mentioned it before, asking him if he had ever skied with her. And later, every time Cheng Weimo inquired about Xi Jia's condition, he seemed unnatural, even though he tried his best to hide it and act casually.
At that time, he did suspect that Cheng Weimo liked Xi Jia.
It's not that I haven't considered that the person Xi Jia likes, with those captivating eyes, might be Cheng Weiming.
But he was unwilling to delve into it further.
They thought that as long as he didn't mention it, they could get through it in a muddle and deceive themselves.
“Xi Jia only sees me as an ordinary friend,” Cheng Weimo explained.
Mo Yushen clinked glasses with Cheng Weimo, downed a glass of wine in one gulp, and left.
I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say.
Chapter Seventy-Four
Mo Yushen returned to the private room, picked up his clothes, greeted Ji Qingshi, and said he would go home and wait for Xi Jia.
Ji Qingshi was playing cards and didn't notice anything amiss with Mo Yushen. He nodded and said, "I'll be back before midnight." The game continued.
When Mo Yushen arrived downstairs, Jiang Qin leaned against his car door, seemingly waiting for him.
"Aren't you cold?" Mo Yushen approached, speaking casually.
Jiang Qin was dressed lightly and was already numb with cold. The driver asked her to get in the car, but she shook her head and said no. She just wanted to stand in the cold wind and tell Mo Yushen her determination at that moment.
"Where's your car?" Mo Yushen asked again.
Jiang Qin tugged at his clothes, "You can't leave."
Mo Yushen: "I have to go back to be with Xi Jia."
Jiang Qin didn't believe her. "Are you going to stay with her, or are you going to divorce her? Hmm?"
Mo Yushen looked at her helplessly.
Jiang Qin grabbed his clothes with both hands, afraid he would run away.
She sniffed, "Mo Yushen, no one wanted to lie to you on purpose. Things just happened that way. What else could you do but stay silent? Don't blame Cheng Weimo. He always wanted you and Xi Jia to be happy together. When you wanted to divorce Xi Jia, he came to me and asked me to persuade you. Anyone else would have been happy for you to divorce."
"You don't need to blame yourself. Cheng Weimo has never resented you. It's because Xi Jia suddenly doesn't remember him. He said it's just that we weren't meant to be."
“You don’t need to worry about Cheng Weimo. He’s a lawyer, and he’s naturally rational and calm. It’s just that when Xi Jia is sick, it’s human nature to care without realizing it. Just like me, I can’t stand Xi Jia, and sometimes when I’m not busy, I think about whether she’s better or not.”
Jiang Qin was crying and sniffling. She hadn't brought her bag or any tissues, so she bent down and used Mo Yushen's trench coat to wipe her eyes.
Mo Yushen: "..." He took off his trench coat. "Here, take it."
Jiang Qin laughed, crying and laughing at the same time.
With this large sheet of paper, she continued to persuade him.
But she was still worried, afraid he would leave, so she grabbed his arm and asked, "What are your plans?"
Mo Yushen: "I don't have any plans."
Jiang Qin wouldn't give up until he said something.
Mo Yushen: "I really have no plans. What do you want me to say?"
Jiang Qin had been holding his arm, but then she ran her fingers across the back of his hand. "Back when the three of us were doing naughty things in the yard, I was slow, so you two would pull me along. Didn't we promise we'd never separate? I know that coming together and parting ways is normal in life, but we're different. You see,"
She took his clothes and wiped her face again. "The alley with the sycamore trees where we used to play is over twenty years old. The sycamore trees have all grown up. Every single one of them is thriving."
“When I acted in ‘The Rest of My Life,’ I couldn’t get over it for a long time. I was afraid that one day, you and Cheng Weimo would end up like Xiang Luo and me in the drama, with regrets for the rest of your lives.”
Looking at Jiang Qin, who was constantly shedding tears, Mo Yushen also calmed down and thought about it carefully.
The cold wind made my thoughts much clearer.
"My relationship with Cheng Weimo is not what you think."
Jiang Qin looked up, "You won't break up, right? But you'll be estranged from now on, won't you?"
Mo Yushen couldn't answer for a moment. In this relationship, he was the superfluous one.
Jiang Qin: "I don't want you two to drift apart like this. Cheng Weiming and Xi Jia are not in a romantic relationship. How many men wouldn't like someone like Xi Jia? But liking and loving are two different things."
Mo Yushen patted her shoulder, noting it was cold outside, and gestured for her to go inside. He glanced at his watch; Xi Jia was probably already on her way home.
Jiang Qin still held onto him, not letting him leave.
"Calm down." She looked at him with teary eyes. "If you go home like this, you'll find Xi Jia disagreeable and feel like she's never loved you. You'll become suspicious and jealous, and then your marriage won't be far from falling apart."
Mo Yushen: "No."
Jiang Qin didn't believe him. She just grabbed his wrist, preventing him from leaving.
Cheng Weiming also came out. He had seen from upstairs that Jiang Qin was pulling at Mo Yushen, preventing him from leaving. It was so cold, and neither of them were dressed warmly enough; if they continued this stalemate, they would definitely catch a cold.
"Jiang Qin".