The woman immediately said, "Handsome, women are easy to coax. Do you hope your ex-wife will have a change of heart and continue to be with you?"
The woman was a regular here, fond of fishing for rich men. The man before her was indeed her top choice to seduce. Mature, handsome, and distinguished, he seemed out of place in this bar, exuding an aura of noble elegance. However, she also knew she couldn’t handle such a superior man. A little flirting might be okay, but getting too involved would be too hot to handle. After interacting with him for a bit, she realized this man was both innocent and deeply affectionate, only here to drown his sorrows because of a quarrel with his ex-wife.
There are actually such men in the world, with privileged backgrounds, handsome looks, and who don’t cheat?
Fu Tingzhou raised his hand to rub his brow; after several drinks, he was still very sober. The woman next to him wore a strong, cheap rose perfume that was irritating his nose, and he frowned, "I don’t know if I want her to change her mind, I just... hope to keep her and the child by my side."
"You have a child, huh? Children are always a woman’s Achilles’ heel. A woman with a child is bound and loses her freedom, unable to fly far. If it weren’t for my child, who stays with my ex-husband while I visit every week, I would have left this city long ago."
"Handsome, couples only divorce when they can’t go on anymore, especially women. As long as a woman feels she can make do and bear with it, sometimes, even if the husband cheats, she will grit her teeth and swallow it. That’s just how women are, even independent ones, because family around you will advise you, men are all , there isn’t a man who doesn’t stray. There’s no perfect man in the world. For the sake of the child, you just make do. A woman who has remarried loses value, with that label on her, unless there’s no other way out, and she really can’t bear it any longer, otherwise women wouldn’t divorce."
Now, it was the woman’s turn to start muttering to herself while drinking.
Fu Tingzhou leaned back in his chair, continuously massaging his temples and brow.
As if there was a thorn inside his temple, piercing his nerves mercilessly.
The woman next to him, with her heavy perfume scent, kept nattering on, talking about divorce, liking, love, and children.
Fu Tingzhou spoke faintly, seemingly bewildered, "What is liking someone? I don’t know if I like her or not."
"Oh, you don’t know if you like her? Are all you rich people arranged marriages? But by the looks of it, you seem to like her. A man who goes out to drink because of a woman, who would believe there’s no affection?" The woman rested her chin on her hand, under the dimly lit, amber lights of the bar, her red lips appeared especially seductive, "Do you often find yourself thinking of her, unintentionally during work, or while eating, recalling her face? When she unexpectedly comes close, do you feel elated, and upset when she ignores you? Happy when she’s happy, and down when she’s sad? Can’t stand her being hurt or bullied?"
"Is that what liking someone is?" Fu Tingzhou looked up, downing the last drink in his glass, then he unsteadily stood up, "No, then I don’t like her." After saying that, he walked away with big strides.
The bar was dimly lit, gloomy yet dazzling, with stylish music, and Fu Tingzhou’s figure was swallowed by the light and darkness.
He didn’t get far before leaning against a trash can and vomiting.
Then he staggered over to his car.
He leaned against the car, the night breeze gently blowing through his hair.
Fu Tingzhou felt his brain was a mess, his head aching severely.
So painful it was unbearable.
He sat in the car, found a packet of cigarettes in the storage compartment, smoked a few, filling the car with the heavy scent of smoke. He rolled down the window, letting the smell dissipate, continuing to smoke one after another until half the pack was gone.
Sweat beads the size of beans emerged on Fu Tingzhou’s forehead.
His head was splitting.
Feeling as though his head was about to tear apart.
Fu Tingzhou’s vision darkened.
The entire person lay powerlessly over the steering wheel.
The man’s breathing was laden with a suppressed sensation of pain.
Fu Tingzhou took out his phone, vision blurred with sweat; he unlocked it to the contacts, his gaze landing on the first line with Tang Xi’s name, his fingers trembled slightly, then he dialed Shen Duan’s number.
And then slowly closed his eyes.
Tang Xi received the call the next morning.