I sighed and gripped her shoulders tightly. Looking into Fang Nan's eyes, I said, "I don't know what kind of life Aze told you about me now, how much he told you, or how much you actually know! But I just want to tell you. The me of today is so much different from the Xiao Wu I was back in China! I'm not the Chen Yang I used to be! You could even say I'm probably not the Chen Yang you used to like anymore! Do you understand all of this?"
Fang Nan stopped crying and looked at me. I took a deep breath, released her, and rolled up my sleeves, all the way to my upper arms, revealing a long, winding scar like a centipede. "See this?" I gave a low, bitter laugh. "You know what? I have twenty scars like this on my body now. Besides that, there are three bullet holes! Do you know what kind of life I'm living now?" I held out my hands in front of her. "Do you see these hands of mine, Fang Nan? Back then, I could be your driver, drive for you, stay by your side, do your housework, even change your lightbulbs… But now, the thing these hands do most is soak in blood and take other people's lives! I've become a person heading towards depravity and hell! A cold-blooded butcher, a dictator, a notorious underworld boss… Do you understand all of this?"
Fang Nan froze. She stared at me for a long time, looking at the ugly scar on my arm, listening to my cold words. Then she jumped up like a madwoman, suddenly hugged me tightly, and pressed herself against me desperately. Then she pressed herself against me, trying desperately to kiss me.
When those soft, sweet-smelling lips touched mine, for a fleeting moment, I almost gave in. But I resisted the urge, and though my movements were slow, I pushed her away resolutely.
"Fang Nan, what I want you to know is that I don't think I can give you happiness and joy, so... please forget me!"
The person in my arms trembled. She looked up at me with an expression of disbelief and despair on her face. Then, a look of madness suddenly appeared in her eyes, and she bit down hard on my shoulder!
She bit down really hard! So hard! She even drew blood! Fang Nan looked up, her rosy lips still bearing a trace of blood, reflecting the heartbreak in her eyes, a poignant beauty tinged with sadness…
She then pushed me away forcefully and stumbled away.
I slumped down... Although this was exactly the result I wanted, seeing Fang Nan leave disappointed and heartbroken, I suddenly felt an indescribable emptiness and exhaustion.
"You shouldn't have done this." Aze, who had been pretending to be asleep on the table, suddenly raised his head. His face still showed a hint of drunkenness, but his eyes were clear.
"Hmph, you still dare to talk back!" I said, annoyed. "You deliberately led me here, didn't you? I didn't want to see Fang Nan, just to avoid this kind of scene... Sigh, Aze, you shouldn't have done this."
“Chen Yang, that’s why I said you don’t understand women at all.” Aze sat up straight. “You don’t even understand Fang Nan’s thoughts… Hmm, I heard what you just said. You think you can’t be with her now, and you can’t give her happiness, right? So what do you think Fang Nan wants? Do you think she wants to marry you? Do you think she wants to be with you forever? Xiao Wu, she understands very well that, given your situation and her own, none of this is possible! If I’m not mistaken, Fang Nan’s requirements are very simple: she just wants to get at least a little bit of affection from you… even if it’s just to leave behind some beautiful memories. Xiao Wu, you don’t understand women, and you certainly don’t understand the heart of a woman who is over thirty and still single! Fang Nan never expected anything, but you rejected her too harshly and too far!”
"Then... what exactly does she want?"
"It's simple. A beautiful memory can add even the slightest bit of color to a pale life. Even just a tiny smile is enough to give someone something to rely on in the future. You don't understand. All she wanted was a little response, to make this poor woman feel that her devotion hadn't been wasted... And what about your attitude? To put it bluntly, your attitude will make Fang Nan feel utterly hopeless! Your cold rejection will make her feel that her deep affection for you was... a despicable act!!" Aze stared at me coldly and said, "Imagine if you treasure someone like a precious gem, but they treat you like dirt... how would you feel?"
I froze, and involuntarily stood up.
"Go after her quickly," Aze said calmly. "She must be very sad right now. She might drive out and find a secluded place to cry her heart out... If someone is so upset, they might even contemplate suicide."
"What did you say??? No way!!" I exclaimed, stunned.
"Nonsense. Do you understand women better than I do?" He pointed outside the door: "Go out and turn left, there's a small alley. Follow it, and you'll come across a ditch, but it's not wide enough to stop you. Jump across, and you can take a shortcut to get ahead of Fang Nan. Her car is parked there. Hurry up, or you'll miss it. Remember, it's a Hummer HP3 SUV!"
I hesitated for a second, then suddenly took off running!
Following Aze's advice, I left the tavern and turned left. Sure enough, there was a small alley. I ran down it in one breath, but found that the alley was getting narrower and narrower. After running two hundred meters, I found a ditch lying in front of me... but... damn it!
Who said this canal wasn't wide? And that it definitely couldn't stop me?
This canal is at least seven or eight meters wide! Even if I were an Olympic long jump champion, I wouldn't dare to jump across it in one go! I looked to the left and right, but found that there were no bridges nearby. The nearest place to cross the river in the distance would probably take at least five minutes to run there.
I was anxious to catch up with Fang Nan, so I couldn't think about anything else at that moment. I took a few steps back, took a deep breath, sprinted over, and then leaped into the air...
I pushed off the ground with all my might! And my body stretched out in mid-air... I felt like a big bird, and then...
thump!
I fell into the ditch.
I couldn't help but curse Aze for his intelligence failure. I scrambled to the other side, completely soaked, my shoes filled with water, making it slippery as I walked... Fortunately, the water in the canal was clear, and there was no litter or debris. It seems the scenic area management was doing a good job!
Ignoring my appearance, I ran after him in one breath. Sure enough, forcing my way across the canal was a shortcut. Passersby, seeing me running like a soaking wet rat, all made way for me. I ran all the way to the parking lot outside the ancient town, and from afar I saw a yellow Hummer H3 SUV among the row of cars!
In the distance, I saw Fang Nan with her back to me, seemingly opening the car door. She was standing on the ground, but her upper body was hunched over the front passenger seat... Hmm, was she crying?
My heart softened, and I ran towards the car without thinking. I grabbed Fang Nan from behind and hugged her tightly, pressing her body against mine. I whispered in her ear, "Fang Nan, it's my fault, it was all wrong! I shouldn't have hurt you. Everything I said was wrong..."
"Huh? You're not Fang Nan, who are you?"
A chill ran down my spine as I stared dumbfounded at "Fang Nan" in my arms.
Part Two: The Road to Success, Chapter 129: Fate's Arrangement
Damn, the same clothes, even the hairstyles are so similar, and from behind, it's really hard to tell them apart... And when she turned around, her face was a mixture of shyness and anger as she waited for me...
We were both stunned, and then we both blurted out at the same time, "Huh? It's you?!"
At that moment, I felt a murderous gaze shooting from not far away. I saw Fang Nan standing in front of the car, looking at me with her mouth slightly open, her eyes filled with undisguised anger!
And where my gaze fell was my palm...
Depend on!
As fate would have it, my palm landed squarely on the woman's chest in my arms, perfectly covering her left breast...
"Ah!!" We both jumped back at the same time, and her face turned bright red.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," I said awkwardly, then I smiled wryly and said, "Hi, long time no see, Ning Yan."
This woman is Ning Yan, whom I once worked with at Fang Nan's company. I remember I even helped her teach her scumbag husband a lesson and helped her get a divorce.
Ning Yan was also quite surprised to see me. However, she had already noticed her boss standing not far away, and his face looked rather grim. She simply gave me an awkward smile and said, "Chen Yang... um? What are you doing here... ah... I think you should talk to Miss Fang first."
Ning Yan was a clever woman and immediately sensed the subtlety of the situation. She quickly nodded to me, then greeted Fang Nan and ran away as if fleeing.
Fang Nan's expression was naturally very unpleasant at this moment. She stared straight at me and asked, "How did you manage to follow me all the way here?"
After saying that, Fang Nan walked over, her face full of grievance. As if unwilling to talk to me, she quickly opened the car door, jumped into the driver's seat, and started the car.
I paused for a moment, then jumped in before she could close the car door, grabbed the steering wheel, and stared at Fang Nan: "Let's talk."
"Is there anything else you want to say to me?" Fang Nan gritted her teeth, giving me a deep, sorrowful look. "If you want to explain what you just said, then don't bother. Consider it my own wishful thinking!"
“No, let’s talk!” I repeated, my tone firm.
Fang Nan suddenly burst into tears. She looked at me with those heartbreaking eyes: "Chen Yang... what exactly do you want? What do you want from me? Fine, you just shut me out, and now you're chasing after me asking for peace talks... you..."
The moment I saw Fang Nan's tears, my heart softened, and I reached out to gently wipe them away with my thumb. This intimate gesture startled Fang Nan. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked at me with a hint of surprise.
But she was still harboring resentment, and her expression hardened again: "No, get out of the car! I don't want to talk to you anymore! I've tortured myself enough! Enough!" She tried to push me, but how could she possibly move me? I pulled her into my arms.
Fang Nan struggled a couple of times, then stopped moving. Perhaps she never really intended to struggle in the first place.
There were quite a few people around the parking lot. I thought for a moment, then simply carried Fang Nan over and switched places with her. I sat in the driver's seat. Fang Nan was already quite light, and she was startled when I carried her, letting out a soft gasp. Without saying a word, I fastened her seatbelt and started the car…
The car quickly left the ancient town. Fang Nan sat next to me, looking at me with a complicated expression. A glimmer of hope flashed in her eyes, followed by a sense of uncertainty. In the end, she simply didn't dare to look at me anymore.
The car had been driving for a full five minutes before I finally asked, "Where are we going?"
"I don't know," Fang Nan said stubbornly. "I was driving! You were the one who chased after me!"
I smiled and said, "I was chasing you in a hurry, and there were people all around that parking lot. It wouldn't have been good for the two of us to be crying there. What about you... where were you planning to drive to? I know you arrived here much earlier than me, so you should be more familiar with this place."
"Hmph." Fang Nan snorted, then looked at the road sign ahead, thought for a moment, and quickly said, "Take the right at the intersection ahead, then make a U-turn onto the other road ahead, and keep driving."
I followed her instructions, and under her guidance, about fifteen minutes later we had driven out of the city of Lijiang and onto a highway...
On the vast plateau, in the distance lies the majestic Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Below the mountain is a dark blue expanse, while the clearly visible white at the summit is naturally the year-round snow and ice covering it.
Looking at the direction the road was heading, which seemed to be directly towards Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, I couldn't help but glance at Fang Nan: "Hey; you weren't in a bad mood earlier, so you're planning to climb Jade Dragon Snow Mountain right now, are you?"
“Of course not.” Fang Nan shook her head, glanced at me, and said, “I’m not interested in mountain climbing.”
"Where are you planning to go?" I asked in a low voice.
"Do you care about me?" Fang Nan suddenly looked at me and asked in a deep voice.
I chuckled and pointed to my soaking wet clothes and hair: "Didn't you notice how I look? I jumped into a ditch and waded through water to take a shortcut to catch up with you!"
"Really?" Fang Nan's eyes lit up, a hint of surprise flashing across her face. Then her gaze softened considerably. She turned around, leaned towards the back seat, and rummaged around for a while before pulling out a large towel and handing it to me: "Here, wipe yourself off! It's quite cold at the foot of the snow-capped mountain."
Creak!
I slammed on the brakes, and we switched places, with her taking the driver's seat again. After restarting the car, I sat in the passenger seat, unbuttoned my clothes, and dried my upper body and hair with a towel... but I couldn't take my pants off.
“There are blankets in the back.” Fang Nan tried to sound calm, but her voice was trembling. Her cheeks were flushed, and she didn’t dare to look at me. Instead, she stared at the road ahead. “There are blankets in the back row. You can go to the back row to change your pants and then wrap yourself in the blanket.”
I was a little embarrassed, but my pants and underwear were soaked through, sticky and cold against my skin, which was really uncomfortable. I thought for a moment, then climbed into the back seat, ready to take off my pants, when I suddenly glanced at Fang Nan, who was driving: "Fang Nan..."
"Hmm?" She gripped the steering wheel tightly, so tightly that her knuckles turned white from nervousness. "What is it?"
"Could you please... close the rearview mirror? I'm about to take my pants off," I said half-jokingly.
Fang Nan immediately spat out a mouthful of scorn and anger, and said in a low voice, "Hmph, now you're pretending to be a gentleman! I wonder who was it that secretly hugged me when I was drunk?" As she said this, she still managed to flip the rearview mirror on the driver's seat back.
I retorted, "You deliberately got drunk that time, how can you blame it on me?"
“But there was another time when you broke into my house to spy on me…” Fang Nan only got halfway through her sentence before she suddenly shut her mouth. I didn’t notice, however, that even the back of her neck turned red.
I didn't care at all, and reflexively retorted, "That time you didn't answer the phone, so I barged into your house to see if anything had happened to you. I didn't know you weren't wearing any clothes at the time..."
Finally, as I got to the last sentence, I realized it was a bit too awkward to say, so I quickly shut my mouth. I secretly glanced at Fang Nan from behind and saw her shoulders trembling slightly.
"Do you still remember those things?" Fang Nan asked softly without turning around.
I fell silent.
Suddenly, I realized that I had never really forgotten Fang Nan.
No, there really isn't.
The entanglements and events between Fang Nan and me back then, every single one of them, remain so vividly in my memory.
I remember encountering that gigolo at the barbecue restaurant. He insulted Fang Nan, and I beat him up. Fang Nan twisted her ankle, and I carried her out. I remember the first time I went to Fang Nan's house, she deliberately made me do housework for her, from fixing the drainpipe to changing the light bulb, intentionally exhausting me. I remember her crying and sobbing after getting drunk, curling up weakly and helplessly in my arms like a child… I even remember that incredibly embarrassing "romantic encounter": I held her and slept all afternoon, only to find some red bloodstains on her pajama bottoms when I woke up… It turned out she had her period… The bloodstains even smeared on my pants.
There was laughter, there was pain, but more than anything, there were those deep emotions that stirred the heart.
"I...I haven't forgotten." I answered the question solemnly. Fang Nan's body trembled upon hearing this. Although she was still driving, she turned her head and gave me a deep look. Her beautiful eyes were full of joy and happiness.
After driving for about half an hour, Fang Nan finally slowed down and smiled, "We're here. I've been wanting to come here for a while, but I haven't had the time. I just remembered when I got on the road. Since I had nothing else to do, I thought I'd come and take a look."
Looking out the car window, I saw two totem poles with distinct ancient Naxi style not far from the roadside. Behind them was an area about the size of a football field, in the open field beside the highway, with countless Naxi ethnic sculptures of various sizes, made of stone and wood, with long wooden platforms on both sides, as well as beautiful murals and cloth paintings...
"Where is this place?" I sighed, wrapped in a blanket.
“Dongba Sacred Garden.” Fang Nan thought for a moment. “I only know that Ai Dongba is an ancient Naxi term of respect for leaders, those in power, or clan elders. It seems to have a bit of mythological and religious connotations. I’ve only heard that there are many strange Naxi sculptures and artworks here. I’ve been in Lijiang for three days, and only today did I have time to come and see it.” She turned to look at me. “Let’s go for a walk.”
"I... how can I get out of the car like this?" I smiled wryly, waving the blanket covering my upper body. I wanted to refuse, but I saw the pleading in Fang Nan's eyes, and my heart softened. It seemed I had never done anything for her... Back when I worked at her company, I mostly caused a lot of trouble. And after we became entangled in a relationship, it seemed I had never done anything for her either.
Thinking about it this way, I realize that I owe her a great deal.
Driven by this desire for compensation, I steeled myself and thought, "Fine, I'll go!" It's not like I'm actually running around naked; at least I can wrap myself in a blanket.
What does it matter if I do this little thing for the woman who loves me so much?
I simply took off my shoes and socks, wrapped myself in the blanket, and jumped out of the car. Underneath the blanket, I was only wearing my underwear. Fang Nan was overjoyed that I would do such a thing for her. She quickly followed me, her face beaming with happiness.
There were quite a few tourists here, especially foreigners. My "strange" attire immediately attracted the attention of those around me.
The blanket I was wearing was clearly a Naxi ethnic handicraft that Fang Nan had bought locally, bearing strong Naxi-style patterns and designs. Wrapped tightly in the blanket and barefoot, I walked on the cold ground. This makeshift outfit immediately led many tourists to mistake it for traditional Naxi clothing.
Some curious foreigners even came up to chat with us, praising my outfit as incredibly cool, and some even asked where I bought the land. Others took out their cameras and started snapping pictures of me.