Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
The fork fell on the table. Xu Xiyan felt sick, as if there was a gun pressing into her.
The first thing Huo Yunshen had asked her when she woke up was whether she remembered who he was. She had been puzzled by the question, but now she knew what was up.
Shit, I’m done! It’s true what they say, you reap what you sow!
“You finally remember?” Huo Yunshen narrowed his eyes, his handsome face smiling lightly. Oh, how wonderful it was to be remembered.
“500 yuan was a lot. In romance novels, the woman usually pays the man 100 yuan, so I’m already more than generous. Besides, why should I cheat you? You are a man, and I am a woman. I’ve never complained, and besides, I gave my first time to you. Dude, you’re the one who got lucky, okay?”
Xu Xiyan was eager to get rid of the suspicion of her being a cheater. If he really wanted to get serious about it, asking her to compensate him for his loss, what could she do?
Had she been reading too many romance novels?
Huo Yunshen saw her panicking and decided to tease her.
“Is that so?” he asked. “Why do I have the feeling that I’ve been swindled? You must have known my identity beforehand and deliberately set up a scandal between us so you could take advantage of my status!”
Xu Xiyan immediately held up three fingers. “I swear! I didn’t know you at the time, and I never would have thought of taking advantage of your position. That night was honestly an accident...and if anyone gained anything from it, it was you!”
Xu Xiyan truly felt that she was the unlucky one, not him. What was he talking about?
“Besides,” she continued,”if I had really wanted to exploit your stardom, I would already be famous by now, but I’m still a nobody.”
She was really suspicious now. He had been kind, helping her to his home. But was it simply so he could settle their accounts?
Huo Yunshen watched her anxious face. It looked as if she was about to cry. He held back his smile, continuing.
“Then why do I feel that I was the one who got short-changed? I’m a movie star, the current president of Yunhai Entertainment, and you’re just a... nobody. And did you know? It’s all because of you that I had a car accident.”
Nani? (1)
All because of her? What did she have to do with the car accident?
She had gone abroad. How would she know a damn thing about it?
Xu Xiyan was incredulous. “Because of me? How is that possible?”
Huo Yunshen continued, “I gave you a chance to look for me, but you had forgotten all about it. If you hadn’t shirked your responsibilities and left just like that, I wouldn’t have gotten into a car accident while rushing to catch you at the airport. You tell me, isn’t this all your fault?”
Xu Xiyan was speechless: “...”
His accusation was clear enough. If she hadn’t fled after sleeping with him, he wouldn’t have had any reason to find her. And if he hadn’t looked for her, he wouldn’t have gotten into a car accident.
It was because of her that he was now doomed to live with his current condition.
So... if she really thought about it, then it really was all because of her.
After a few seconds of silence, Huo Yunshen looked sad and said, “when you left....do you know how much grief the car accident brought me, for that entire year?”
“...” Xu Xiyan couldn’t think of anything to say.
Huo Yunshen remembered how five years ago, he had been a proud, confident, strong and domineering man. Now his pride and confidence had been rolled flat, turned to dust by this confinement to a wheelchair.
In such times of darkness, feelings of self-loathing were inevitable.
That car accident had destroyed Huo Yunshen’s sense of pride.
Xu Xiyan had heard Fang Xiaocheng say that after he was severely paralyzed, he could no longer do “it,” which meant he could not have children.
For a man who was in his prime, it was as good as a death sentence.
It was just too cruel.
Xu Xiyan could not bear to think about it. What if she had been the one in the car accident? Would she want to commit suicide?
Endnotes:
Nani means “what” in Japanese