At this critical moment when both sides were furious, he didn't want to kiss Bie Yunzong—he was afraid of spitting in his enemy's face!
"Do you think I didn't ask around about you before I even met you? You womanizer, you were already partying and having countless romantic encounters when you were only fourteen or fifteen, and you're a womanizer at heart! Do you dare say that your purpose in approaching me wasn't just to take advantage of my face?"
Su Yanxi got angry just thinking about it, and kicked Bie Yunzong away through gritted teeth.
"Countless beauties have asked you to take care of them, and many more have gotten close to you! So many people yearn to be financially secure because of you, so what's wrong with me saying you're their long-term meal ticket?"
Su Yanxi's every word pierced Bie Yunzong's heart like needles. Bie Yunzong was both angry and aggrieved. He wanted to lash out but couldn't find the words to explain the situation. He was so frustrated that he was on the verge of madness.
Chapter 49
"Yes, I admit that I initially approached you because I was attracted to your beauty, but I..." Bie Yunzong didn't know how to describe his emotional changes, "I really never thought about 'keeping' you!"
"Wasn't the three months we spent together before we officially became a couple a normal period of ambiguous intimacy?"
Su Yanxi frowned and asked in return, "So what if you're ambiguous? Would you give someone a luxury car and gifts during the ambiguous period and ask them to go shopping and stay in hotels with you?"
He wasn't doubting Bie Yunzong without any evidence; Bie Yunzong had indeed said, "If you accept my things, you have to spend the night with me!"
"You may only want to flirt with me, but why did you say that if I accepted your things, I should spend the night with you?"
"Gifts without any exchange are what make things ambiguous. What is this one-for-one transaction if not a form of keeping a sugar daddy?"
Bie Yunzong was once again unable to explain himself when asked: "I..."
"Leaving aside our time together after we became a couple, let's just talk about those three or four months. The truth is, you were lusting after my beauty and wanted to get something out of me; I was also lusting after your wealthy family background and wanted to use you as a long-term meal ticket." The more Bie Yunzong spoke, the uglier his expression became. Su Yanxi sensed something was wrong, but she still insisted on finishing what she had to say.
After he finished speaking, he tentatively asked further questions.
Isn't that right?
"I don't know, I can't figure out what's going on anymore."
Bie Yunzong had nothing to say. He went into the bedroom, took a black windproof jacket, put it on, sat down on the low stool next to the door, and started putting on his shoes.
"You're absolutely right, that makes perfect sense. I'm only just realizing now that we're not actually in love or like each other, but rather it's a one-on-one exchange."
"So it turns out we weren't attracted to each other, but rather using each other! Thank you for your explanation, Su Yanxi. I finally have a deeper understanding of our relationship."
Su Yanxi's heart tightened upon hearing this. Seeing his nemesis putting on his shoes and about to go out, he asked in a fluster, "Where...where are you going?"
“I’m going upstairs to sleep. Given this situation tonight, where both sides have their own reasons, neither of us can win an argument.” Bie Yunzong picked up his phone and wallet. Usually clingy and affectionate, he was unusually cold tonight.
To cover for Su Yanxi and also to provide an extra meal service, Bie Yunzong booked an additional suite upstairs. Every time he returned to the hotel, he would not only deliberately stagger his return time, but also take the elevator back to the presidential suite before going downstairs through the fire escape to find Su Yanxi.
These necessary procedures are quite tedious, but Bie Yunzong has never complained. Every day, without fail, he climbs the stairs, giving up a more comfortable suite to squeeze into a double room with Su Yanxi.
"you……"
Su Yanxi wanted to keep Bie Yunzong, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't utter a single coherent word.
"There's no need to keep me here." Bie Yunzong patted his sleeves and smoothed out the corners of his clothes. "I have a lot of grievances to say, and you also have a lot of bitterness to vent. Rather than getting angry together, it's better to separate and calm down."
Su Yanxi swallowed and said, "Mm."
Bie Yunzong turned the doorknob and opened the door. He had just stepped out when, as if remembering something, he turned back and emphasized to Su Yanxi.
"No matter how you misunderstood me in the past, I want to tell you: Su Yanxi, I never thought of 'keeping' you."
"You are beautiful and pure in my heart, comparable to the snow lotus on the Tianshan Mountains. I may have used the wrong methods and attitudes, but I will never treat you with the intention or manner of keeping a sugar daddy."
Bie Yunzong stood in the gap between the open door and the door, his body half-covered in shadow. Su Yanxi couldn't see his expression, but she saw him purse his lips, as if he was extremely angry and aggrieved.
“I really always thought we were in love with each other, that it was mutual, but you—” Bie Yunzong drawled out the last syllable.
Su Yanxi stared at Bie Yunzong, waiting for him to finish speaking.
But before he could finish speaking, Bie Yunzong sighed and slammed the door shut.
With a loud bang, the door slammed shut. The chaotic world, previously filled with arguments and quarrels, fell into a deathly silence after this thunderous pronouncement.
Looking at the closed door, Su Yanxi slowly squatted down. As his consciousness slowly returned, he felt a pang of sadness in his nose; his heart ached so much that he couldn't bleed, and the tears could only flow from his eyes.
"husband……"
The next morning, Su Yanxi woke up on the sofa.
Perhaps because the sofa was uncomfortable to sleep on, he felt his limbs were sore and about to fall apart, which was even more painful than being pressed down on by Bie Yunzong all night.
My head was throbbing so badly that the world was completely dark the moment I opened my eyes.
With blurred vision, he felt someone walking around him. He was initially delighted, thinking it was Bie Yunzong returning, but he couldn't sense any of the familiar aura of his nemesis husband. With a mixture of vigilance and suspicion, Su Yanxi regained his senses and forced himself to sit up.
"……who?"
The person with his back to him turned around, looking surprised: "Young Madam, why are you awake? There's no rehearsal today, you can sleep a little longer."
Seeing that it was someone familiar, Su Yanxi breathed a sigh of relief, threw off the air conditioning blanket, and got up: "I'm not going to sleep anymore, I'm feeling annoyed."
He looked at Lin Xiaohai, thinking about the room key. He had two room keys for his room, one of which he kept and one for Lin Xiaohai as a spare. After Bie Yunzong came to Guangcheng, he took Lin Xiaohai's spare room key for himself. Logically speaking, Lin Xiaohai should not have a room key.
Now that Lin Xiaohai can come and go freely, does that mean—
"Young Master has returned to Beicheng?" Su Yanxi concluded. "When did he return?"
"So... less than an hour after leaving home? He's probably at the airport now, checking in." Lin Xiaohai showed the room key given to him by Bie Yunzong. "I had just woken up this morning when the young master asked me to come and help pack my luggage."
"I see."
Su Yanxi nodded knowingly, then lowered her head and pondered for seven or eight seconds before speaking again.
"Xiao Hai, how about this? I don't have any big productions coming up. The important scenes were filmed a couple of days ago, so there's nothing much to do here. You'll just be sitting here doing nothing."
Chapter 50
"Pack your things and head back to Beicheng later, okay?"
Lin Xiaohai shook his head with difficulty: "Young Madam, I'm afraid it's not feasible..."
“I know you’ve been serving tea and water and carrying things for a while now. I know you’ve worked hard and want to take a break for a couple of days, but I’m worried about Yunzong.” Su Yanxi took Lin Xiaohai’s hand and patted it gently and pleadingly. “We had a big fight yesterday, and I saw that his expression was also very strange. Please go to Beicheng and keep an eye on him for me. Make sure he doesn’t do anything foolish or extreme.”
Lin Xiaohai looked even more troubled and gently withdrew his hand: "Brother Yanxi, Madam, I really can't go back."
The clumsy male assistant bit his lower lip, and after a fierce internal struggle, he mustered up the courage to confess.
"It was the young master who instructed me to stay! Before he left, he said something similar to you, telling me that I must stay by your side and take good care of you no matter what!"
Su Yanxi was slightly taken aback: "He instructed you like that?"
He was so sullen yesterday, yet this morning before leaving, he was still thinking about instructing his assistant to take good care of him.
This is exactly the same hypocritical behavior as "making sure to take the kitchen waste downstairs to throw it away before a big fight and running away from home," which makes Su Yanxi feel helpless and amused. After all, they have been married for seven years, and the way they care about each other when they are angry is so similar.
"He's trying his best. This disagreement shouldn't escalate to the point of no return." Su Yanxi felt a little lighter, and with a sigh, she went into the bathroom to wash up. "Alright, then you can stay."
Lin Xiaohai scratched the back of his head, feeling guilty, and said, "Young Master told me not to tell you that he had instructed me to say these things. But seeing you two arguing so fiercely, I really couldn't help myself."
"Young Madam, aren't you going to chase after him to the north of the city and talk things out with the young master?"
"Why would I chase after him?" Su Yanxi spoke to Lin Xiaohai with the door open, her words muffled by bubbles in her mouth. "He was right last night, we should all calm down."
"Just calm down?" Lin Xiaohai was terrified. "Don't let the coldness dissipate and destroy the feelings between you two... You and the young master have been together for seven years. You don't have to argue over yesterday's nonsense news, do you?"
Su Yanxi spat out the foam, rinsed her mouth, and washed her face towel with warm water, shaking her head as she did so.
"It's understandable that he's angry because I said something wrong. We've been together for seven years, and once a conflict breaks out, the old grievances we can settle will be seven years in the making."
"Is it because of that 'long-term meal ticket'? I think it's fine... Outsiders might not understand, but considering you're married, maybe it's just for fun?"
"Some married couples even call each other 'father' and 'son.' Isn't that even more outrageous and shocking than a long-term meal ticket?"
Su Yanxi hung up the washcloth and looked at Lin Xiaohai strangely: "You know quite a lot?"
"I... I listen to a lot of gossip." Lin Xiaohai awkwardly touched his face.
"It's because of that sentence, but it's not because of that sentence either. Yunzong's anger is mainly due to a collapse of his understanding."
"He never expected that his dearest wife would say such arrogant and heartless words with such an expression and in such a tone." Su Yanxi sat back down on the sofa and poured herself a glass of warm water.
Recalling Bie Yunzong's words "beautiful and holy," Su Yanxi felt a tightness in her chest and a headache.
It seems he has disappointed Bie Yunzong's expectations of him? He is not that beautiful, nor that pure, and is not worthy of being compared to the Tianshan Snow Lotus.
But if we really look into it, didn't Bie Yunzong also disappoint him? After all, those romantic pasts weren't just rumors; the unfamiliar perfume on his clothes and the strange room key in his pocket were real.
In seven years of relationship, too many misunderstandings have accumulated and run deep; they simply cannot be explained away with a single word or phrase. Instead of getting caught up in a heated argument about who is right and who is wrong, it's better to calm down, sort out your emotions, and prioritize solving the more pressing problems.
"We've been sweet and clingy for seven years, it's time for us to cool off and clear our heads. Once I've sorted out my thoughts, I'll take the initiative to go to him."
"Let's not talk about Yunzong anymore. Xiaohai, go find Sister Tong for me. I have some work-related matters to discuss with her."
Lin Xiaohai obediently went out, turned around, and went upstairs to look for someone.
Using those few short minutes, Su Yanxi clicked on yesterday's trending video and calmly watched it through.
The video is less than three minutes long and has no background audio narration, only subtitles. The video is mainly composed of three segments and one picture: a candid video of Su Yanxi backstage at university, a candid video of Su Yanxi holding Bie Yunzong's arm while standing at the hotel front desk, and a video of her picking up her car at the Aston Martin flagship store, which was recorded from the front.
The last image in the video is a receipt, with the words "别允纵" (meaning "Don't allow me to do this") clearly written in the customer's column.
Su Yanxi frowned, having already recognized the source of the picture and the last two videos.
However, the first piece of footage he was secretly filmed during his university years left him completely baffled, and upon reflection, he felt a sense of dread and horror.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Zhou Tong rushed over, sat down on the sofa with a smile, and made a teasing remark without knowing the situation.
"Did you clear up the conflict from last night? Oh dear, young people should talk things out, why are you making such a fuss about divorce? Really."
"No." Su Yanxi said bluntly, "Not only did it not make things clear, but Yunzong was so angry that he went back to Beicheng early this morning."
Zhou Tong's smile froze instantly: "Back to Beicheng?"
"Damn it, then hurry up and go after him! Marriage is a big deal, chasing after a husband is more important than anything else!? Go, go, buy a plane ticket, I'll ask Director He for leave from the film crew for you!"
"Okay, okay, don't worry!"
Su Yanxi made a Calmdown gesture.
"Sister, please calm down. Don't worry, we've known and loved each other for seven years. We won't get a divorce so easily over a little argument—I was just joking when I mentioned divorce yesterday!"
Chapter 51