Wherever you go, please let me know, okay?
Because of the force of the impact, her nose felt a little sore. After Shu Yi'an recovered, she didn't rush to push him away. Instead, she slowly reached out her small hand and wrapped it around Chu Mu.
"Can this be considered a farewell?"
Shu Yi'an was all too familiar with his scent, and she took a deep breath, almost greedily. She began to use her parting words as the final leverage to force him to let go.
"Chu Mu, you're a man, can't you be a little more carefree? At least, don't let Shu Yi'an hold you back so tightly."
The grip on her waist didn't lessen at all, and Shu Yi'an squeezed her eyes shut with difficulty. "Chu Mu, I don't love you anymore. Let me go. You can't let me be unhappy just because you're unhappy. You've already ruined the first half of my life, do you still want to monopolize the rest of my time?"
Her fingers suddenly loosened, and she could clearly feel Chu Mu's body stiffen. Slowly pulling away from her body, she picked up the box that had fallen to the ground and took a few steps back without looking back.
"Don't look for me, goodbye."
From this day forward, through countless miles of clouds and snow-covered mountains, we will be even, with no debts owed to each other.
Nothing is colder than the April and September days of the human world. Chu Mu watched Shu Yi'an turn around and walk away from his sight step by step. His heart ached, but he was helpless. She was right. He had already ruined the first half of his life and could no longer interfere with her future.
No one knew that Shu Yi'an, carrying Chu Mu on her back, was already in tears. No one knew how much resolve she had taken to say those words, nor did anyone know the extent of their impact on Chu Mu, causing him to wake up at night staring blankly at the empty space beside his bed, repeatedly questioning himself and unable to fall back asleep.
Actually, what Shu Yi'an really wanted to say was, Chu Mu, I won't be by your side, so please take good care of yourself. Remember to get up early and eat breakfast, and iron your shirts and suits yourself. All the medicine in the house is in the left drawer of the study on the second floor. Remember to take stomach medicine and hangover pills every time you drink alcohol. Every time you go on a business trip, remember to check the weather there and don't forget to bring yourself a coat to protect you from the wind and rain. Also, if you have a new wife, please don't tell me, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back my tears. Finally, if you are still alone decades later, if I am still alive, please remember to tell me, so that no matter where I am, I will come to see you off on your final journey. It will be a way to repay your determination and tenderness in marrying me despite everything.
Goodbye, Chu Mu. Take care.
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That night, Chu Mu turned off his phone and sped off alone to a mountaintop in the suburbs, where no one could contact him.
Looking at the city shimmering with light at the foot of the mountain, at the city where he had grown up, he suddenly felt lost and disoriented. In that moment, he forgot what he had ever possessed; his mind was filled with thoughts of what he had lost.
He recalled a weekend three years ago when he returned to his alma mater to deliver a very important document to an old professor. He parked his car directly at the back gate of the school. Because he had chatted with the professor in his office for a while, it was already time for students to leave get out of class when he came out. As he slowly walked out with the crowd, he inadvertently turned his head and saw Shu Yi'an.
At that time, his memory of Shu Yi'an was limited to that sunny afternoon, a young girl who was struggling with her French assignment and hesitated to go into her tutor's office.
Her gentle face, tinged with the youthful innocence and smile typical of college students, led her out with her classmates.
He couldn't help but glance at it a couple more times, his gaze casual and unnoticed.
When he got back to the car, he had to reverse and turn the car around because it had rained heavily the night before, and the road surface was uneven with puddles of varying depths under many trees. To avoid splashing pedestrians, Chu Mu deliberately slowed down the car.
Just as the reversing alarm was beeping, a small truck suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind him, honking its horn and speeding towards him. Fortunately, Chu Mu reacted quickly and slammed on the brakes, otherwise it would have been another serious traffic accident.
The truck was traveling at high speed, splashing mud and water into countless puddles, startling a group of students on the roadside. Many of them had splattered mud and water all over their trousers and clothes. Some of the hot-tempered young men rolled up their sleeves and started cursing, aggressively chasing after the truck for a few steps. Many girls, who cared about their appearance, also frowned and swore fiercely.
Among the many students harmed by the sewage, Shu Yi'an was one. She and her friend hadn't recovered from the truck's high-speed movement; if her classmate hadn't pulled her back, she might have been swept off the truck.
Chu Mu glanced at the person standing dumbly behind his car in the rearview mirror, then rolled down the window and leaned out.
Did you bump into it?
Startled by his shout, Shu Yi'an snapped out of her daze. "No, no." After saying this, she looked at Chu Mu and realized he seemed vaguely familiar. "It's you...?"
Chu Mu, with one hand on the steering wheel, smiled at the still-shaken girl. "What? Did you figure out the French direct object pronoun?"
Shu Yi'an knew it referred to the French assignment and nodded somewhat awkwardly. "I figured it out... I didn't have a chance to thank you that day, thank you."
Chu Mu looked at the large water stains on her skirt with a meaningful smile, then pointed to the passenger seat. "Need any help?"
Shu Yi'an, somewhat wary, pulled her friend to stand on the steps next to his car, nervously clutching the book in her arms. "No need, goodbye!"
Chu Mu shook his head helplessly, his smile undiminished as he rolled up the car window again and nimbly drove away. Looking at the increasingly smaller figure in the rearview mirror, he couldn't help but laugh at himself. When did he start flirting with a young girl like that bastard Ji Hengdong? It really was…
The person in his memory slowly overlapped with the figure in his present state. Chu Mu rubbed his head, which was starting to feel hallucinate due to the alcohol, and leaned slumped against the car. What was that saying again? "Memories are like treating human life as dirt?" He really couldn't resist thinking about it; the more he thought about it, the more his heart ached. The only way he could force himself to stay awake was to stand on a mountaintop and let the cold wind blow on him.
A dozen or so empty bottles lay scattered on the ground, and cigarette butts had almost piled up at his feet. He knew he was punishing himself in this most insignificant way, even if it was completely useless.
Later, rumors circulated that Chu's eldest son had been hospitalized for unknown reasons. The Chu family and his brothers kept it a secret, and no one knew why. It was also rumored that while Chu Mu was hospitalized, his wife wasn't there to care for him, but rather Chu's youngest daughter stayed by his side, suggesting a breakdown in their marriage and that they had both found new lovers. After Chu Mu was discharged from the hospital, it was said that he became increasingly diligent and ruthless in his work, employing methods and tactics that left many behind-the-scenes manipulators unable to evade him, and his position rose rapidly.
But what exactly happened to this man remains unknown to everyone.
Author's Note: While writing this chapter, I was listening to Hebe Tien's "Still Want to Be Happy" as I finished. When I typed the words "Take Care," tears were already welling up in my eyes.
Miss Shu is gone, leaving Chu Mu alone to slowly learn the lessons he missed in his marriage. Suddenly, he doesn't know what to say. Those who still have loved ones by their side, cherish them.
Chapter 56 Torture Chu Zha
That night, he was exposed to the cold wind on the mountaintop all night. The next day, when Chu Muqiang managed to drive back, he immediately collapsed from a high fever. It wasn't until Chu Weiyuan came to visit him at home that she discovered him. He was rushed to the hospital emergency room, but due to the effects of alcohol, the infection from the knife wound in his chest, and the fact that he hadn't rested for ten days straight, Chu Muqiang finally couldn't hold on any longer. Chu Weiyuan looked at her brother lying on the bed and cried until her nose was red.
When Ji Hengdong, Zhan Cheng, and Jiang Beichen found out, they all came to the hospital to visit him. In their minds, Chu Mu, who was always strong and all-powerful, would never appear in the hospital. But now that they saw him in person, they were all speechless.
"How could you get yourself into this state? What happened?" Zhan Cheng was an impatient person. He had just returned from training and was completely unaware of what had happened to Chu Mu recently. He grabbed Ji Hengdong and wouldn't let go.
Chu Weiyuan sobbed, hugging her legs and trembling, "My brother... my brother and... and sister-in-law... divorced."
"What?!"
Zhan Cheng's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and he stood there speechless for a moment. Divorced... divorced?! "Then, where is Sister Shu?"
"have no idea……"
The group of childhood friends looked at the person receiving an IV drip with concern, their hearts filled with mixed emotions.
Sui Qing and Chu's father rushed to the hospital as soon as they returned from abroad. Upon hearing that their son and daughter-in-law had completed their divorce proceedings, Sui Qing nearly collapsed at the airport. When she arrived at the ward and saw her son's dejected state, she felt both pain and anger.
"You deserve it! You lost your perfectly good wife just like that. Chu Mu, how come I never realized you were so decisive!"
"Alright, alright, Sui Qing!" Father Chu sighed and stopped her from saying anything more, then pointed to the door, "Go ask the doctor how he is. I have something to say to him."