She stood at the door of 1901, taking a deep breath. It felt like she was about to enter not an office, but an execution ground.
But why was Qi Sui so panicked? Not because she was about to face the man who had intruded into her marriage, but because of a little uncertainty in her heart.
Admittedly, she had seen the chat records between "Xiang Yu" and Qian Jin, and part of the truth. But when facing Xiang Yu, she always developed more and more complex curiosity, and in the hotel, those inexplicable feelings.
This was shameless. Qi Sui had to admit. It was as if both she and Qian Jin had been bewitched by this inexplicable third party.
But this was disgusting, wasn't it? Yet, so what if it was disgusting? People just couldn't admit their emotions; they find beautiful decorations when they feel lowly. But mistakes are mistakes, and they should be corrected in time.
Perhaps, from beginning to end, what she couldn't face was actually her own curiosity and exploration of Xiang Yu.
If it had been someone else—ugly, bad-tempered, inconsiderate—she could have strode in, slapped the documents on his desk, and vented her emotions freely, couldn't she?
She knocked, then pushed the door open.
The man was as usual, bent over his desk, which was cluttered with many things: a box of pills, a pair of glasses, several messy spray bottles, many pens of different colors, and piles of files, some open, some closed, stacked on the corner of the desk. Today, he wasn't dressed beautifully or preened like a peacock. He simply wore a fitted black T-shirt. His neck was clean, no tie. Before she even realized it, Qi Sui felt relieved. His hair was fluffy and casual, as if he had just blow-dried it after washing and gone out.
Xiang Yu looked up, his gaze calm.
"President Xiang, this is the previous filing from the Sample Factory. I've already shown it to Sister S. You need to review it and confirm there are no issues."
Xiang Yu looked down at his watch; it showed 12:01.
He said, "It's lunch break now."
Qi Sui was taken aback. She neatly arranged the documents on his desk and said, "Then you can take a look this afternoon." She turned to leave.
The man behind her put down his pen, watching her back, and suddenly spoke: "You look so haggard."
"Why are you always so haggard?"
Qi Sui froze in place.
"Sorry, I don't want to answer questions outside of work."
Xiang Yu seemed not to expect an answer. He stood up and walked toward her step by step, the sound of his heels like stepping on her heart.
"Why did you curse at me on the phone?"
"Did I do something wrong?"
"Or do you hate me?"
He stopped in front of Qi Sui, raising his hand as if to touch something, but lowered it when he met her cold eyes.
Xiang Yu asked softly: "Do you hate me?"
Qi Sui didn't want to answer. She didn't want to answer such an obvious question. Yes, she hated him. But was she wrong? Was it wrong to hate the other man who had intruded into her marriage? No.
What she detested was—since he had already intruded into her marriage, why did he pretend to be aloof and cold in front of her? This appearance repeatedly reminded Qi Sui of how stupid and ridiculous she was.
The man counted: "You called me a bitch and a whore."
"What did I do?"
He seemed genuinely confused.
Qi Sui took a deep breath, looked up, and met his face.
"My husband had an affair."
"I applied for divorce yesterday."
"You should be happy."
Xiang Yu made no comment.
"Yes."
Qi Sui stepped closer to him, close enough to smell each other's scent.
"You intruded into someone else's marriage. You should be happy, be proud, because you succeeded."
"Does this feel exciting? Hearing that I'm divorcing, you must be overjoyed, right?"
"So when I called you a bitch and a whore, was I wrong?"
Xiang Yu's expression was blank. He opened his lips and said:
"Yes, you weren't wrong."
He leaned in, approaching Qi Sui, his words popping out as if from his lips and tongue, self-degrading:
"I am very, very pleased."
"I intruded into your marriage. I became a shameless homewrecker. I am happy."
"You're right to curse me. I am a bitch, I am a whore."
"But why aren't you happy?"
"Do you still love that damn man?"
He frowned,
"You should be happy, you should be proud, because even though you were already in a marriage, your attraction to me is immense."
"You are not a worthless woman. You have outstanding work ability, you are beautiful with a great figure, you graduated from a prestigious university, and you balance family and work well."
"I don't think such an excellent woman should feel sad about leaving a marriage that drags her down."
"Qi Sui," the man reached out, gently stroking her thin jawline with his fingertips, moving upward along the jaw, the warm touch climbing to the corner of her eye, softly wiping the reddened eyelids.
"Have you ever thought that your moral sense is just too high? At the moment he cheated, he wasn't worth you turning back. When you cursed me, was it because you couldn't bear to part with him? When you called me a bitch, was it because of my intrusion? When you called me low and despicable, was it because I seduced you?"
"You are not wrong. You are just too excellent, too beautiful, too attractive, and I am deeply attracted to you, willing to stoop low."
"A beautiful flower is not at fault; the fault lies with those who pick it but do not care for it, who do not give it a comfortable environment."
Qi Sui lowered her head, unwilling to look at Xiang Yu's flushed face. He was like a soul-snatching demon, trying to grab her heart and gnaw on it.
The man half-bent, still in that familiar—bottom-up—posture, looking up at her adoringly.
His crimson lips parted slightly, and he spoke with honeyed words:
"You don't hate me, do you?"
"You like me too."
"You like my pectorals, you like looking at my neck, you like me begging for your love like a dog."
"Suisui, you just made a trivial mistake. You just petted a dog."
Qi Sui gritted her teeth.
"Lowlife!"
The man smiled.
"I'm not wrong either. I just like you."
From a long time ago.
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Author's Note: Suisui, don't curse him. The more you curse, the more he enjoys it.
Writing this chapter tortured me. I'll post a portion first, and then I'll grind out another six thousand around midnight.
Since this book goes on the shelf on the 28th, these three thousand plus the midnight six thousand count as the updates for these two days. I'll update again at 11 PM on the day it's on the shelf.
Thank you for the support, baby teachers. Ah Jin doesn't need to manually click to thank for nutrient solutions anymore, it's really good (you understand what I'm hinting at, right? hehe [Cai Dog])